Into the sea

Everyone that was participating in the dungeon run was basically collectively thinking about attack the small group of people that was able to collect the rewards because of the restriction against other people. Soon, barrages of attacks came flying towards them and the group was split halfway in the cave that the dungeon occupied. Thankfully, Ang Siu had dodged from the range of the attack protecting both Fangsu and himself. But, the sudden movement caused Fangsu to clutch her wounds where the blood was seeping through her clothes, revealing that it was quite a severe injury. Fangsu felt weakened as more blood continued to flow out. Her vision began darken as she wobbled in her stance, leaning on Ang Siu for support. It was obvious she couldn't survive from bleeding out so much. The leader of the group sneered at The weakened Fangsu, "Be a good girl and hand over those plants or else," He outstretched his hand expecting Fangsu to hand over those precious plants that she desperately held onto.

Seeing that Fansgu was unfit to be able to keep herself standing by herself; Ang Siu took Fansgu in his arm running deeper into the dungeon. Soon, crowds of people began chasing the both of them until they were backed up to descending dark hole that was filled with the scent of the ocean. Their eyes filled with greed and envy for the items that Fangsu held in her spatial ring but those ingredients were needed for her medicine so that she could live. But, the path ended into a pit of darkness where there was endless but there was the sound of water sloshing against the rocky walls. Wu Song, Xiulan, Sim Siu and Fangsu's uncle were trying to push their way through the crowd however they were outnumbered by people trying to obtain their treasure knowing full well that those few people were able to receive the best treasures within the dungeon that belonged to the infamous spiritual cultivator.

Spiritual cultivators are a rare anomaly of cultivators that have a bountiful amount of resource dedicated to themselves since there was already a small population of them already and it was also very difficult to cultivate spiritual energy as the requirements to be a spiritual cultivator is incredible difficult but also that it was essentially a lost form of cultivation. Fangsu who usually had a calm expression surprisingly smirked at the man who would arrogantly expect such a thing from her, "I think I rather not," Her limbs started to tremble underneath her weight but she kept vigilant upon keeping her stance against the overwhelming numbers of cultivators against her. She began rubbing the spatial ring nervously that was on her thumb. Staring at Wu Song and Xiulan who were struggling against the sheer amount of cultivators blocking their reach to Fangsu. Her ash grey eyes stared at them, as she summoned a small amount of Dragon Leaf in her hand, "If you want it so bad! Catch!" Throwing the Dragon Leaf across the room which caused everyone to scramble for the valuable precious plant.

Meanwhile, the majority of people chased after the small quantity of Dragon Leaf, the man before wasn't as easily fooled, "Since, you don't want to give to me," He thrusted his sword at Fansgu's direction, "I will have to forcibly take it away from you,", Ang Siu parried the attack sending back a materialized sword made from Qi when to attack the man but the sword pierced the ground causing cracks to form in the ground.

This unfortunately caused the portion of the ground that Fangsu was standing on to crumble underneath her weight, "Get out of here! Run! I will find a way!" Desperately trying to grab anything that could save her from falling down into the dark water underneath that could lead to the ocean, however, there was nothing for her to grab onto and she fell into the dark waters leading to her possible watery burial . Additionally, Fangsu would be incapable to swim in the darkness with her wounds.

Everyone screamed at the falling Fangsu who couldn't move to catch her but Ang Siu was the closest one, "Fangsu!" Chasing after her and plunging himself into the water despite the high possibility of both Fangsu's and his own death. But, he didn't care. He was only scared that Fangsu would disappear for good and he would feel only regret if he didn't try to save her.

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Once Fangsu's body plunged into the shivering dark cold water; the salt stinging her wounds. It was stung painfully as she couldn't find any bearings with her surrounding, she was completely surround by nothing. But, she could hear the sounds of water swishing past her soon she was able to adapt to the cold temperatures which enveloped her completely like an embrace. But, there was a sudden change in the environment; a different movement in the water being pushing away. Someone was in the water with her but she could barely tell who it was yet only where they were. As she went to aimless feel towards the movement; the movement of the water was getting stronger as she got closer to the person. Her fingers brushed against another pair of hands which quickly went to seize her hands; huge hands belonging to Ang Siu's. She could tell.

Those hands were warmer than her own; callouses lined the upper parts of his palms probably from sword training which completely engulfed her small hands that were the size of a child's. Soon, light began illuminating their surroundings but they were soon going to soon air and they had to quickly search for an exit. Fangsu's eyes were stinging from the salt that was infiltrating her eye as she trying to find some sort of exit with her blurry vision. Soon, a figure came swimming towards them; it was the same mermaid that had saved her previously. Producing two bubbles both Fangsu and Ang Siu desperately breathed for air but their lungs first from the sudden intake of oxygen. The mermaid held onto their arms and began swimming through the dark cave-like tunnel which eventually lead out to the open sea. They soon reached the surface and the mermaid quickly depart as quickly as she had arrived.

Opening her eyes in what seemed like an eternity, the brightness was quite harsh on her eyes that were adjusting to the lighting, "I never thought that we would survive that," Ang Siu was the one that save her was actually quite worried for her wellbeing, "Skinny Duck are you ok?" Fangsu tried to shake her head to snap herself out of her dazed state. To Ang Siu, Fangsu was pale, dehydrated and too weak to respond to him. Ang Siu took Fangsu into his arms and went to a nearby doctor clinic that was relatively reliable who diagnosed that Fangsu's body had undergone significant trauma and would require a few days of rest. The doctor gave Ang Siu a prescription that would help nourish the body and help with overall recovery. For the next few days, Ang Siu clumsy care for the weak Fangsu by feeding her congee and giving her the medicine that was prescribed by the doctor was quite endearing to the people in the inn thinking that the Ang Siu was the husband that was caring for his ailing wife.

Fangsu's complexion began returning back to its usual colour, and she was beginning to regain strength back in her body. She sat quietly in the bed staring out of the window staring out in the distance overlooking the ocean which she came out of. The door of her room opened showing Ang Siu carrying a tray filled with congee and a few side dishes, "I'm sorry that you have to be taking care of me," Fangsu was grateful for Ang Siu caring for her for the past few days, "But, we need to get back to the capital quickly," Lifting the sheets from her body she walked out of the inn.

Ang Siu quickly rushed to Fangsu side holding her as gently as possible. He forcibly set Fangsu back on the bed, "You are still recovering and your body needs to recuperate!" He reprimanded her harshly. Fangsu was quite shocked to see that Ang Siu who was quite the attentive person was lecturing about her health yet Fangsu already knew her body's condition very well. Fangsu smiled at Ang Siu who was quite unsettling at her smile as most people who were sick would be angry for have to be born with a weak constitution, "We will go to the capital, but, after you finish your business then you have focus on yourself," He wanted her to angry. To shout. To scream. But, he knew that she had already accepted her fate. He could only compromise with her stubbornness.

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They hired a ferryman to take them to a communal water canal that would lead them to the capital's waterway. During the journey; Fangsu sat quaintly at the front of the boat with Ang Siu holding onto her hands as if she were a porcelain doll that was so fragile and could break into fragments at any moment if he didn't watch her carefully. Fangsu felt quite shy holding Ang Siu's hand as it engulfed her own hands whilst warming them at the same time but she couldn't bear to shake him of since she could tell that Ang Siu felt a responsibility to look after Fansgu despite knowing full well that she could fend for herself. But, Fangsu felt comforted as his hand held her hands gently; it almost seem like an instinct that he would take care of her and protect her. As they were going to climb out of the boat to the communal station where there were many ferryman who would travel to various pathways to different location, however, the fee for the travelling to the capital was quite expensive despite it being a short distance from the communal port to the waterways of the capital.

Seeing that many of the ferrymen jumped at both Fangsu and Ang Siu wanting to take them to the capital seeing it as a quick way to earn money. The money that would cost the two to travel to the capital's waterway would amount to a month's worth of customers. Ang Siu quickly took Fangsu away from the crowd of man shielding her away from their aggressive tactics to persuade her to travel to the capital on their boats. but, Ang Siu turned his attention to a young man who seemed nervous as Ang Siu approached him giving him to pouch to take them to the Capital's waterway, "I think you can suffice for the job to take my wife and I to the capital," The young ferryman shakily helped to lead Fangsu to the boat along with Ang Siu and they soon left behind the communal port and when they were out of sight. Fishing out a bag of coin which sounded clunky and heavy seem like a huge sum for any of the ferrymen here, "Can you quickly get us to our destination; we are in quite a hurry," The young ferryman was stunned by the amount understanding that this couple was surely wealthy and the client took his hand to accept the money and the young ferryman quickly hasten his movements so that they would reach the capital at least during the afternoon.

Eventually, they did arrive at this destination where the hustle of bustle of the capital was at its peak where everyone were going out for a meal to eat during lunch time hours. Fangsu immediately went to drag Ang Siu in the direction of the Blossoming Fragrance where she was greeted by a plethora of people despite their rank and she was quickly engulfed by a pile of person, "Wah! I thought you died!" Sim Siu had jumped at Fansgu snuggling her head at Fangsu as tears and snot quickly came down leaving a stain on Fangsu's already dirty clothes. Everyone in the store quickly went to close the shop early to celebrate the safe return of their miss. Da Fu, Gui Ying and Bao Ming immediately whisked Fangsu away to refresh her and to her surprise the water had turned a murky grayish brown colour showing that she had indeed been on the road for so long that she hadn't noticed the dirt building up.

After the freshening up; Fangsu was dressed in emerald green hanfu with silver embroidery of magnolia etched into the fabric so that as she walked the magnolia look as if they fluttered at her feet as if she were an immortal. Walking out of the room; her face was much more dewy and smooth like a pearl. Xiao Cheng who just arrived from school ran into the store to greet grandpa and he was introduced to his new uncle. Uncle had began pampering the young boy with lots of presents, however, Xiao Cheng head scanned the shop as if looking for something and when he didn't find it his shoulder slumped depressingly, "Is Jie Jie not back?" He pouted cutely as his his cheeks puffed out with snacks.

Seeing the cute expression of his new nephew; the uncle gently placed his hand on Xiao Cheng's hand, "I also have another present for you," Ruffling his fluffy hair, "But, you have to close your eyes," Uncle covered Xiao Cheng's face which ended up covering his entire face. Fangsu stared at her uncle who nodded at her to come over. After witnessing the cute expression of Xiao Cheng's wanting to see her; Fangsu stepped on the railing of the balcony and jumped off.

Her clothes fluttered behind as Ang Siu ran to where Fangsu was and easily caught her in his arms, "Don't go jumping from high places!" He gingerly placing her down on the ground as he went to check if any of her wounds had split open, "You can get hurt easily!" He gently scolded her as he gently knocked her head with his knuckle. Fangsu smiled as she nodded absentmindedly as she walked behind Xiao Cheng and hugged him from behind.