Thinking of this, An Xin's heart trembled slightly. Even if these people were death row inmates, they were still living, breathing human beings! She had tested the Heavenly Silk Armor; it wouldn't easily get wet, and even that makeshift oxygen tank wouldn't disappear so easily! Could there be something terrifying at the bottom of that lake?
Once exposed to this poisonous gas, both humans and animals will perish; there would be no living creatures at the bottom of the lake!
An Xin couldn't wait any longer. She grabbed the silkworm robe she had brought and put it on, saying, "No, I have to go into the water and take a look."
Yan Zhen frowned and said, "No, everything at the bottom of the lake is unknown. Going down rashly would be extremely dangerous."
An Xin remained expressionless and said, "These are ten lives, are we just going to give them away like this? Waiting here will never lead to anything, don't stop me."
"Xin'er!" Yan Zhen's eyes darkened, but she met An Xin's extremely cold gaze. She was taken aback and sighed, "I will go into the water with you. I will not feel at ease if you go alone."
An Xin's expression relaxed a little, and a warm feeling washed over her, but she still said coldly, "Tie the rope to me. If I do anything wrong, just pull the rope and you can pull me up. If you go down, who will save me?"
Yan Zhen said calmly, "I never do anything uncertain. You are not allowed to go down!"
An Xin was furious. She had seen all sorts of faces—lazy, insincere, scheming, angry, even adorable, cute, and arrogant versions of everyone—but this kind of forceful decisiveness was something she had never seen before. And ironically, this kind of forceful decisiveness was what she disliked most, even though it was for her own good. 123456789
"Then just wait here! When the capital becomes a ghost town, you'll be satisfied!" An Xin said angrily as she continued to dress.
"As long as you're alright, even if the whole world turns into hell on earth, I'll be very satisfied!" Yan Zhen's tone left no room for argument, yet he stepped forward and casually began to strip An Xin's clothes off.
An Xin hurriedly jumped back, her expression unusually unpredictable, and said as she stepped back, "Don't come any closer, Yan Zhen! The situation is critical, so be serious!"
Yan Zhen said calmly, "I'm very serious! Since you like swimming, I'll have a large pond dug in your mansion for you to swim in as you please. This place won't do!"
An Xin retorted angrily, "Am I swimming?! I'm saving the people of the world!"
Yan Zhen said impatiently, "Saving the common people is someone else's business. What does it have to do with you? One more person won't make a difference, and one less person won't make a difference either!"
An Xin was speechless. She had seen irresponsible people before, but never anyone this irresponsible! Was he really the Right Chancellor?! How did someone like him become the Right Chancellor?! If people like him had always existed, the country would cease to be a country, and families would cease to be families!
"Stop right there!" An Xin shouted as she retreated to the lakeside. "If you take another step, I'll jump in!" An Xin rarely resorted to threats and inducements. She really had no way to deal with Yan Zhen. Was this bastard Sun Wukong?! His personality was so unpredictable!
Yan Zhen indeed stopped in her tracks, her gaze cool and cold, and her voice, unlike her usual lazy and alluring tone, simply said: "If you come here, I will not go to you."
An Xin felt a lump in her throat.
No one has ever dared to so openly anger her to the point of being unable to utter a single word.
"Splash—" A figure suddenly rushed out of the water. An Xin turned around abruptly and saw Zhang San, pale-faced, poking his head out and panting heavily.
An Xin suddenly asked with delight, "Zhang San, where are they?"
Zhang San struggled to climb ashore and said, "I don't know. The bottom of the lake was too dark. It took me a long time to find the bottom. When I floated up, something got tangled around my foot. If I hadn't brought my own dagger, I probably would have suffocated to death!"
An Xin's gaze darkened: "There's something at the bottom of the lake!? Is it water plants?"
Zhang San shook his head: "I don't know, it feels slippery to the touch, like a snake."
An Xin lowered her eyes. Snakes? How could that be! If there were no poisonous gas in the lake in this volcanic crater, it would be one thing to have snakes, but this place clearly contains terrible poisonous gas. How could there be any living creatures here?
"Is the stone in place?" An Xin was most concerned about the stone, as it was related to the amount of sea salt that could be transported.
Zhang San said, "I felt my way in the dark, and as soon as I touched the bottom of the lake, I found a place to tie it up."
An Xin said, "Okay, let's rest. There's no need to go back into the water." If those people don't come up soon, their chances of survival will be slim. After all, how long can a person endure suffocation? According to the time calculations of her previous life, it would be no more than three minutes.
"Splash—" Someone else rushed out of the water. An Xin's heart skipped a beat. Then she saw that Li Si seemed to be entangled by something. An Xin hurriedly looked at Yan Zhen.
Yan Zhen looked away!
An Xin was furious. At a time like this, he still had the mind to be angry with her!
An Xin jumped straight into the water, determined to find out what was entangled with Li Si. Just as she was about to jump, someone grabbed her and pulled her backward. Then Yan Zhen flashed over and grabbed Li Si, along with a string of black, snake-like things.
Li Si was thrown to the ground with a "thud," rolling around in fear. An Xin rushed forward, but Yan Zhen disgustedly raised her hand and wiped her body.
An Xin's lips twitched, but she ignored him and took out a dagger from her waist, swiftly cutting off the things on Li Si's body.
Li Si was terrified and crawled forward desperately. An Xin's eyes were deep as she examined the dark thing. Even after she cut it, the thing was still rolling around. An Xin made another cut, and the thing broke off, but it was still rolling around.
What is this? An earthworm?
But earthworms aren't that big and wide! Besides, earthworms live in mud, right? They don't live in water! And this color is something I've never seen before.
Its body resembled a flat blade of grass, yet it was clearly movable and could stretch out, making it look extremely eerie.
In her past life, Anxin's knowledge of plants and animals wasn't exhaustive, but she knew most of them. She had never seen anything like this before! Could there be creatures in this world that didn't exist in her past life?!
An Xin tugged at Yan Zhen's sleeve and asked, "Do you recognize this?"
Yan Zhen ignored her.
An Xin tugged at him again and said, "I'm asking you a question."
Yan Zhen said coldly, "We're just sulking!"
An Xin: "..." Petty!? Isn't it said that a prime minister's belly can hold a boat? With this kind of narrow-mindedness, it can only hold a paper boat at most!
An Xin looked at Li Si, who seemed still in shock and completely terrified.
"Have the stones been placed yet?" This was still her biggest concern.
Li Si nodded, then shook his head.
An Xin frowned: "Is it true or not?"
Li Si said tremblingly, "There were so many snakes, so many of them, I don't know where I threw the stone."