192, My heart is like being cut by a knife

"Cough... cough cough..."

On the Jinjiang Embankment, shrouded in darkness, covered in wild grass.

Xu Mingyuan coughed violently, feeling with every stomp on his chest, his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose were all expelling water.

Dizzy and disoriented, the Hanlin scholar who had taken a turn around the Earthly Realm desperately, almost greedily, drew in oxygen.

As fresh air gradually filled his lungs, he finally managed to slowly regain a bit of rational clarity.

His first thought: Am I dead? Or am I not dead?

Then he vaguely remembered that before losing consciousness in the dark waters, he seemed to have seen a shadow diving into the water.

"Awake?" A leisurely voice slowly entered his ears.

Then there was a sinister voice:

"Sir, I think this fellow is dumbfounded, why not just throw him back in?"

No—

Xu Mingyuan jolted awake, a strong desire to survive making him scramble to his feet, as the blurry vision before him gradually sharpened.