Lost in the Lake

Flinging him down, she watched him crawl away. Suzhen raised one hand to finish him, then let it fall more slowly, his words echoing in her ears. Searching through the last few thousand years of memories, she was trying to recall an incident which might possibly enlighten her. A thousand years ago, she would have simply killed him after he persisted in attacking her, but something struck her. He seemed sincere enough. Had she really wronged him?

She came to herself in time to see him jump off the river bank, a clumsy, awkward jump with his arms flailing sideways. But the smoothness with which he entered the water and dove under the surface showed that he was no stranger to the element. A terrapin spirit, perhaps. That might explain his shuffling gait and stooped shoulders. The higher one's spirit energy levels were, the faster one could outgrow these telltale characteristics; since hers had always been advanced, she had not had to suffer any of these growing pains when she first attained her human form. But she remembered Qingqing complaining about how she had had scaly skin and slit pupils in the first few years, and not dared to show her face around people as result.

Suzhen watched the bubbles in the water disappear, lost in thought. When had she met him before? If he had only attained his human form recently then she should definitely remember meeting him, yet she couldn't remember ever having seen his face before. He was obviously much weaker than her, yet he had followed her so persistently and even attacked her. It seemed as if he had a serious grudge against her. Before she killed him, if she had to, she should at least find out why, since she had no idea what was the reason for his hostility--

Suddenly her head jerked up and she scanned the surface of the lake wildly. It was too smooth, too clear, for too long ever since the last few bubbles had disappeared. Where was Xuxian?

"Xuxian," she gasped, and ran to the bank.

She dove in and looked about desperately under the water, trying vainly to catch sight of him in the murkiness. Where was he? He was a good swimmer, but with the lungs of a human, there was no way he could have held his breath underwater for this long. She had not heard a single splash since he dove under the water, since the terrapin spirit had escaped from her...

Panic gripped her. Had the terrapin spirit gone after Xuxian when he jumped into the lake? She had thought he would only target her, but if he had been following her for so long, he definitely knew about Xuxian, and their relationship...

Surely he wouldn't be so malicious as to attack Xuxian in revenge, since he could not beat her?

In anguish, Suzhen searched the waters, straining to see through the dim waters. Time was ticking. If anything had happened to Xuxian, as she suspected, time was running out. She knew he could not survive so long underwater. He was most likely unconscious by now.

Desperately, she decided to risk it all. There was a burst of pale mist in the water and the huge form of the great white snake glowed luminously in the dark water, lighting up the shadows around it. Twisting in the water, she swam rapidly out, testing the depths in case he had sunk.

Something caught her eye--a limp form floating in the lake, legs dangling uselessly in the water...

Suzhen felt a stab of terror, even as relief flooded her. She swam over swiftly and came up under him. Xuxian's body rested against the smooth white sides of the snake, his cheek against its scales. Like an arrow, the white snake sped towards the surface, cutting through the water effortlessly.

As she broke through the surface of the water Suzhen transformed back into her human form at the same moment, and caught Xuxian in her arms. Smoothing the wet hair back from his face, she called his name anxiously, but his eyes did not open.

With Xuxian under her arm, Suzhen swam back to the bank, trying to keep calm, and dragged him up onto shore.

Gasping, she bent over him. "Xuxian. Xuxian, don't frighten me," she panted. "Xuxian, wake up--please wake up--please--"

Choking on her tears, Bai Suzhen shook him desperately, unable to control her terror. If Xuxian were to die--because of her--

"Xuxian," she sobbed, helplessly clinging on to him. "Xuxian, please look at me. I can't lose you like this, I can't--"

Fiercely, she shook his shoulders and slapped his cheeks, hoping to sting a sign of life into him, coughing and gasping with deep, convulsive sobs.

"Susu. I almost died, are you trying to kill me now?"

She froze, incredulously, and looked down with tear-streaked cheeks to see Xuxian's eyes open slowly. He smiled faintly up at her with pale lips. "You hit really hard. I hope I won't get bruises from this." he whispered.

Suzhen gave a tremendous gulp as she swallowed a last sob in a wave of sweet relief, and caught him to herself. "You frightened me so," she said in a trembling voice, burying her face against his cheek. "I thought--I thought you had drowned."

Xuxian's hand crept up to rest over hers. "How could I bear to leave you a widow so soon?" he murmured. "I've barely finished paying for our wedding expenses."

Suzhen laughed shakily through her tears. "And you can still joke at a time like this. I guess you can't be much hurt."

She looked at him questioningly with the tears still in her eyes. "What happened?" she asked lowly.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure. I wanted to stay underwater and surprise you, but something caught my leg from below. I struggled, but it held me down, and the more I struggled the deeper I sank. I couldn't breath. I felt myself passing out and I wanted to see you, so badly, one more time. But you came for me, just in time. I saw you." He smiled and caressed her cheek. "You said you wouldn't let me drown. I should have remembered that."

Suzhen stiffened ever so slightly. "You saw me?" she repeated slowly.

Xuxian leaned against her, content to rest his head on her shoulder. "Like a cloud in the water. I saw something white coming towards me, just before I passed out. And I knew it must have been you, so I was glad."

She relaxed, and held him tighter. "To think I might have lost you."

"It was probably just a weed that my leg got caught in," Xuxian said reassuringly. "I won't swim so far out again, that was foolish of me."

"A weed," Suzhen said, unconvinced. She said nothing, deciding it was better to let him think so.

She raised her eyes to look at the lake over Xuxian's head. There was a brooding look in her eyes. She had been so anxious over Xuxian she had not bothered to hunt down the terrapin spirit, but Bai Suzhen did not let her enemies go so easily.

We will meet again, terrapin spirit, she swore silently. Do not say I did not warn you.