Chapter 62: Going Underwater

Receiving the compliment from Gong Xiao, Ding Longyun felt lighthearted. He chuckled, looking slightly smug. “These dishes are nothing. It’s just a shame we lack the right ingredients. Otherwise, I could make some of my best dishes, like braised pork ribs, fish with pickled cabbage, steamed pork with rice powder, and chicken feet in a dry pot. Those are my specialties.”

Gong Xiao smiled. “There will definitely be a chance. I believe it’s impossible for every place to be submerged. There must be unflooded land somewhere. As long as we find it, we can return to our old lives.”

Ding Longyun responded, “I hope so.”

At the table, Ding Longyun did most of the talking, asking Gong Xiao all sorts of questions. Su Li ate quietly, listening. He learned that Gong Xiao was 21 years old and currently a university student. However, she already owned a small company. In addition to her studies and work, she had a wide range of hobbies, including surfing, fencing, boxing, and baseball.

Learning all this, Su Li felt a pang of emotion. He realized Gong Xiao was likely the kind of “genius” in many people’s eyes—excellent in every regard. Compared to her, he was far inferior, just an ordinary person. If this great flood hadn’t occurred, he might not even have had the standing to speak to her, let alone meet her and eat at the same table.

“Brother Ding, Su Li said you are already a Level 4 Spiritual Source Wielder. I wanted to ask, how were you able to acquire so many Spiritual Sources?”

As Gong Xiao asked, her eyes sparkled, clearly very interested in the topic.

Ding Longyun’s interest was piqued. He chuckled and said, “It’s because I’ve figured out some of the patterns of these monsters’ activities.” He then explained how he proactively hunted them at night.

Gong Xiao’s eyes flashed with brilliance as she listened. She quietly acknowledged, “I see.”

Ding Longyun smiled. “Now that we have you, our strength has increased even further. After we eat, let’s rest up. We can hunt together tonight.”

Su Li, who had been silent, suddenly spoke, “Brother Ding, I want to go underwater to check things out later. Are you interested?”

“Go underwater?” Ding Longyun turned to look at Su Li.

Su Li nodded and recounted how Xu Xuehui had looked at the water and spoken about corpses, a flower, and a treasure.

“Xuehui’s eyes are different from ours. Since she mentioned it, there must be a reason. Maybe there is some special treasure underwater. Furthermore, she mentioned twice that we must get it, which suggests this object is extremely important.”

Ding Longyun addressed Xu Xuehui, “Little girl, did you really see a treasure underwater? What exactly is it?”

Xu Xuehui shook her head. The trance-like state had come upon her suddenly. Now, when asked to describe the treasure, she couldn’t articulate it.

“My desire to go underwater isn’t entirely because of what Xuehui said,” Su Li added. “The 29 floors of this building are submerged, but some of the residents’ supplies should still be usable—like vacuum-packed food that won’t spoil even after being soaked for days. And on top of that, I want to practice my swimming skills.”

Although he knew how to swim, his skill was very basic; he couldn’t compare to a master swimmer like Ding Longyun. In this city submerged by the flood, being proficient in swimming meant having an extra survival skill.

He recalled the escaping Ni Jianrong. If his swimming skills were as good as Ding Longyun’s, Ni Jianrong might not have gotten away.

Ding Longyun smiled upon hearing Su Li’s reasoning. “That makes sense. I thought about checking it out before, too. With so many submerged units, there must be a lot of usable supplies, but it felt too risky, so I never fully explored it.”

Su Li said, “We can go down and check. If it gets dangerous, we can come right back up.”

Ding Longyun nodded in agreement. “Alright then, the two of us will go down and look.”

Gong Xiao interjected, “I’ll go with you.”

Ding Longyun shook his head. “It’s too dangerous. You’re a girl; you should stay up here.”

Gong Xiao’s eyebrows raised slightly. She challenged, “Brother Ding, I didn’t realize you were a chauvinist, looking down on women. Why can’t I go on an adventure if you two can?”

Ding Longyun rubbed his hands together. “You misunderstood me. That’s not what I meant.” In his urgency, he suddenly looked at Su Li and said, “Su Li, talk her out of it quickly.”

Su Li said, “If she wants to go, let her come along. Having one more person to look out for each other makes things safer.”

He thought that the woman had a strong-willed personality. Rather than trying to stop her, it was better to bring her along. Only by experiencing the danger herself would she understand the risk. Saying more now would be useless.

Ding Longyun was completely surprised by Su Li’s agreement. After a moment’s pause, he knew he couldn’t stop her. He gave a wry smile and shook his head. “Fine. But you must be extremely careful. Going underwater is ten times more dangerous than being up here. By the way, Gong Xiao, how are your swimming skills? This is no joke. A slight mistake could cost you your life.”

He looked at the beautiful Gong Xiao and genuinely didn’t want her to die.

Gong Xiao replied, “Brother Ding, don’t worry. One of my favorite hobbies is surfing, so I’m naturally proficient in the water.”

Since Gong Xiao put it that way, Ding Longyun no longer had any reason to stop her.

After the meal, the three took a short break and then began preparing to go underwater.

As for Xu Xuehui, they dared not take her with them. No one knew the true nature of the underwater world. It might be safe, or it might be fraught with peril. Under such uncertain conditions, they couldn’t take Xu Xuehui, as she would be of little help and could easily become a burden.

Xu Xuehui herself understood her situation. She was very obedient and didn’t insist on joining them.

“Xuehui, you stay here quietly, lock the door, and don’t wander around. We’ll come back for you,” Su Li instructed her.

Xu Xuehui looked at Su Li and nodded. Her lips moved, and she finally managed to utter one sentence: “Be careful.” Her large eyes were filled with worry.

Su Li saw her concern and smiled slightly. He reached out and touched her head. “Don’t worry. We will be careful.”

He left his dagger with Xu Xuehui and walked out, carrying the iron rod he was used to.

Gong Xiao left her baseball bat behind and instead carried the machete that Wang Kaikang had used. In the underwater world, the sharp machete would be far more lethal than a baseball bat.

Ding Longyun still used his steel shovel.

(End of Chapter)