Chapter 2454 — Trouble

Kang Jinglong's scream drew the attention of Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan, but when they saw that he had merely fallen into the lake, Wei Zhao naturally paid him no further mind. He was not far from the shore, after all, and the water there was shallow enough that he could not possibly drown.

Having fallen into the lake, Kang Jinglong decided not to hurry back out. Enduring the cold, he reached into the water and groped about, hoping to catch a fish or two to roast. But the fish were clever and would not let themselves be caught. He felt around for ages without snagging a single one. Just as he was growing discouraged, his hand closed around two objects at the bottom of the lake. He had no idea what they were and simply hauled them up—only to discover a soft-shelled turtle, and clutched in its claws, a small bottle!

Once Kang Jinglong had caught the turtle, it released its claws and drew both head and limbs back into its shell, and the little bottle dropped into Kang Jinglong's hand.

"Hey, not bad luck after all—no fish, but I caught a turtle!" Kang Jinglong chuckled to himself. A turtle would do; he had never eaten roast turtle before and wondered how it tasted. So he stopped groping for fish, clambered straight up the bank, and came running back. Holding the turtle up before Wei Zhao and Wang Xinyan, he said smugly, "Well? Pretty fancy, huh? This stuff sells for a premium in the market!"

"Oh. Then you eat it," Wei Zhao said, glancing at the turtle without much interest. He had never heard of roasting a soft-shelled turtle—how could anything with a shell that thick be roasted?

"Xinyan, will you have some?" Kang Jinglong had no intention of offering any to Wei Zhao at all; his target was Wang Xinyan.

"No, thank you. I'm full," Wang Xinyan said, shaking her head. She found the turtle rather frightening.

Kang Jinglong warmed himself by the fire while preparing to roast the turtle, but when it actually came time to do it, he found he had no idea how. The turtle had pulled in its head and all four limbs, leaving him nothing to work with!

"What is this thing?" Kang Jinglong looked at the little bottle in his hand. It was a transparent bottle containing some unknown, faintly blue liquid. He had no idea what it was. After a moment's hesitation, he decided not to open it and find out.

After all, the thing had come out of the lake—who knew whether it was poison or some kind of chemical? If it turned out to be toxic, that would be no joke!

At that thought, Kang Jinglong wanted to toss the bottle away.

"Wait," Wei Zhao said, stopping him.

"What for? You want it?" Kang Jinglong asked.

"What if it's some kind of chemical explosive? You throw it and it blows up—then what?" Naturally Wei Zhao would not admit that he had taken a fancy to the little bottle in Kang Jinglong's hand. He merely frowned and spoke in a very unpleasant tone.

"Pfft, trying to scare me!" Though Kang Jinglong's words were full of scorn, his heart skipped a beat. He had indeed thought earlier that whatever was in the bottle was probably nothing good, and had even considered that it might be a chemical—but it had never occurred to him that it could be a chemical explosive. If it really was, wouldn't dropping it set it off?

At that thought, Kang Jinglong handed it to Wei Zhao as though it were a scalding hot potato.

"I'll go throw it somewhere far off," Wei Zhao said, rising and walking out of the cave. But he did not throw the little bottle away. Instead, keeping his expression perfectly calm, he asked, "Elder Jiao, why do I feel like this might be something good?"

"It is indeed something good. It contains an immensely powerful water-element energy—but I don't know what it is either," Jiao Yazi's voice sounded by Wei Zhao's ear.

"Mm... well, as long as it's something good, we'll hold on to it for now!" Wei Zhao quietly tucked the little bottle into his robes, then returned to the cave.

By now Kang Jinglong was roasting the turtle over the fire. Because the shell was so thick, he had simply tossed the whole turtle into the flames to cook, figuring that this way, no matter how thick the shell, it would cook through.

Once the little turtle was thrown into the fire, it was clearly most uncomfortable. It struggled to crawl back out, but the moment it emerged, Kang Jinglong kicked it back in. Over and over it went, and Kang Jinglong, as though kicking a ball, was having the time of his life.

Wang Xinyan frowned at the sight. Soft-shelled turtles were human food, true enough, but the way Kang Jinglong was abusing this one repelled her. However you looked at it, you simply could not kick a turtle around like a ball, could you?

After the little turtle had been kicked into the fire again and again, its struggles grew weaker and weaker; clearly it could hold out no longer. The sizzle of flames licking at its shell was somewhat grating on the ear, and Wang Xinyan simply turned away so as not to watch Kang Jinglong torment the little turtle.

But just then, Wei Zhao suddenly sensed an incomparably powerful aura flare up out of nowhere, carrying a distinct air of danger—and at that very moment, the jade pendant at his chest sent out a warning signal!

The pendant's warning signal only ever went off when Wei Zhao himself or a recognized member of his team was truly in danger, and Wei Zhao trusted that signal utterly. Combined with the sudden sensation from before, he instinctively grew vigilant.

He wanted to take Wang Xinyan by the hand and leave the cave. Small as the cave was—one glance and you could see its end—Wei Zhao sensed that the danger did not seem to come from inside it, but from outside!

So Wei Zhao wanted to get out of the cave at once. If he was too late, it would be too late indeed, and they would be trapped inside!

But the danger came too fast. From the moment Wei Zhao sensed it to the moment it arrived was only a matter of seconds. Before he could even get Wang Xinyan out, the danger was upon them!

At the sight of the enormous creature that had abruptly appeared outside the cave, Wei Zhao drew a sharp breath. There was no help for it—he could only pull Wang Xinyan and retreat swiftly deeper into the cave, hoping against hope that the colossal thing would not come in after them and get itself wedged in the cave mouth.

Kang Jinglong, however, seemed not to sense the danger at all. He was still cheerfully kicking the little turtle, enjoying himself immensely.

"Ah!" Pulled by Wei Zhao, Wang Xinyan looked up and realized something was wrong. She gave a great start and cried out instinctively.

"ROAR!" With a furious bellow, a gigantic claw plunged into the cave mouth, sent Kang Jinglong flying with a single swipe, and snatched up the little turtle from the fire!

Though Kang Jinglong was not struck squarely, the force of the blow still flipped him over, and he tumbled head over heels, cracking his head against the cave wall and immediately pouring blood. He still had no idea what had happened and was about to curse aloud when he looked up and froze on the spot! (To be continued.)