Qinglian Chronicles - Chapter 75

[In this chapter, Jinzi DIES (not really.)

Remember that reposts aren’t allowed, aggregators are bad, blah blah blah, enjoy.]

When Yao Jinzi ran into the ship’s hold, he didn’t see Jinfeng. There was only that little girl Qiaochu had picked up, seemingly called Xiao something. Turning his head, he sees Qiaochu hadn’t come with.

The ever-calm and self-assured Yao Jinzi can’t help but feel a moment of helplessness: does he turn around to find Qiaochu, or continue on to find Jinfeng?

Hesitating like this, water has already started to pour in from the cabin door.

It would be impossible for anyone who couldn’t swim to not panic in this kind of situation, no matter if they’re a matchless hero or not. How could the forces of nature be dealt with? Hurrying into the room, Jinzi luckily recalled that Qiaochu had told him to hold his breath before, consequently grabbing onto a wooden table in the cabin and taking in a deep breath. Suddenly noticing that pale and sickly-looking little girl huddled up into the corner as if she was terrified, he paused, but still went and grabbed hold of her.

(Please read on chichilations~ aggregators are rude~)

The little girl is still staring blankly, looking at him foolishly. “Hold your breath,” Jinzi says in a frosty voice, not looking at her anymore.

A lot of water has spilled in now. White bubbles floated up, and pieces of wood chips, torn cloth, wooden barrels, and a thousand other strange things swept by. There was a jumble of voices from outside. Jinzi was greatly anxious but nevertheless let go of the table, rushing out as he carried the young girl.

The deck is now underwater, the water submerging him up to his thighs. The lanterns have long gone out, the moonlight not being distinct in any way, and he can’t make out Qiaochu and Jinfeng’s figures. A few plops could be heard, as some people obviously plunged into the water to escape with their lives. There isn’t a single person left around.

When he looked around the water had not yet reached his neck. It was too late to anything. Jinzi didn’t think much; his fingers grabbed onto a wall of the cabin and, exerting a bit of force, firmly tore off a plank. Hoping to rely on the board’s buoyancy, he holds his breath again so he can escape with his life.

The water engulfed the ship’s mast, making it seem as if the boat had never existed, swallowed up by the river without a sound. Jinzi is somewhat tense, then suddenly remembered to raise the little girl in his hands a bit lest she chokes on water and drowns.

The water engulfed the ship’s mast, making it seem as if the boat had never existed, swallowed up by the river without a sound. Jinzi is somewhat tense, then suddenly remembered to raise the little girl in his hands a bit lest she chokes on water and drowns. Qiaochu having gone to a lot of trouble to save her, he’s afraid that he’d be distraught by her death. That person gives the outward appearance of seeming shrewd and capable, but is in fact ferociously maternal and soft-hearted, his thoughts acutely sensitive. When he smiles comfortably, he may have been hurt inside without being aware of it. Thinking about it now and then, it’s truly unfathomable that there could be such a man.

But… maybe he’s a woman.

However, a woman couldn’t possibly have this kind of knowledge and burden-carrying attitude. And if he’s a man, there’s many areas that don’t make sense.

He really wants to know where he came from.

Jinzi’s wild imagination had incredibly bad timing and he wasn’t at all aware of the danger of this moment. Having not learned modern physics, mechanics, and so on, he also wasn’t aware that when a boat sinks, it creates a vortex.

He found that point out because the board he had wasn’t floating as lightly on the water as he expected, instead getting pulled down by some force, his own self seemingly getting pulled down as well, and then he found that the water’s surface wasn’t calm.

For a non-swimming dry duck, this matter is clearly a cause for panic, and Jinzi, as a true dry druck, quickly goes under, gulps in water, and thus gets even more panicked. The cold water despairingly converged over his head, his hair drifting within it, giving a very strange feeling.

Why is Jinzi a dry duck? In truth, he played with other kids in the water when he was young, but the learns-anything Yao Jinzi solely could not learn how to swim. Even when the most looked-down upon, most stupid child could grasp the gist of it, he still couldn’t learn it.

‘It’s nothing more than a minor side-branch skill,’ the arrogant Yao Jinzi told himself when he was very young, though his tone wasn’t very pleased. He doesn’t like the feeling of being in the water anyways, where his feet can’t stand on the ground, his body floats weightlessly, powerful outside forces are hard to resist, and he can only get a sense of drifting with the currents. It’s aggravating.

Regardless of when it is, Yao Jinzi loathed the feeling of not being completely in control.

By the time he finally understands that no matter how powerful a person is, there will always be a powerful external force they can’t oppose, and there will always come a time when they have no choice but to drift with the currents. Now he no longer has the opportunity, freedom, and time to learn how to swim.

Yao Jinzi tried his utmost to calm himself and relax, slowly harmonizing his chaotic movements, but the dragging force of the vortex is really too strong, still pulling him down.

Just as he started to lose hope, suspecting that he really was going to perish right then, there was suddenly an opposing force pulling at his side.

He finally remember the little girl who was grabbing his other hand, faintly sensing the very skinny thing doing everything she could to pull him, legs kicking with great skill, and with an unexpectedly great amount of strength.

He can’t help but smirk. The girl had lived on the bank of the Yellow River; being in the water was just a matter of course. He hadn’t even thought about it.

The girl is very experienced. She doesn’t rush to go up as it’s too difficult to fight directly against the whirlpool, so she swims away horizontally to get them out of its range and then float upwards.

That method being very effective, Jinzi let go of the plank, and after a short moment, the downwards force gradually let up. The girl began to bring him up.

Bit by bit, the moonlight penetrated through the water’s surface, the clear rays of silver and black intertwining in the translucent liquid. The dull and unremarkable little beggar girl was as nimble as a fish in the water.

He really hadn’t expected to be saved by her.

Strong and clever as he is, there will be a time when he’s powerless like so; just as for one nobody little beggar, there came a time where she was very useful. People and fate are not things that can be easily seen through.

Would him having to rely on something for once not alter his meaningless pride?

At last, they break the water’s surface, breathable air shrouding him. He took big gulps of it, also loudly choking and coughing, but in any case, his still-distinct joy of being alive couldn’t be overlooked.

Yet Jinzi was then promptly worried about Qiaochu and Jinfeng. The former would be okay, as he could swim, but the latter is a dry duck like he is.

Even so, there’s nothing he can do.

He can’t swim, and doesn’t even know which part of the river he’s in.

“Young… Young Master Yao…” That young lady at his side timidly called out to him.

Yao Jinzi returned to his senses, knowing that the first thing he had to right now was to keep his own life. He held his breath, allowing the girl to pull him as she swims forward. His hands and feet follow her paddling motions and actually look decently-paced, almost making him believe that he can actually swim…

Finally getting to shore, exhausted, Jinzi choked up a few mouthfuls of water. It’s truly been a long time since he’s been in such a sorry state. His heart ablaze, he’s a tad restless, thereupon climbing up and following the riverbank to search. They had been sent out quite far by the water, walking a dozen or so li before they saw the ferry crossing where they’d boarded earlier. They had searched all the way until daybreak like this and hadn’t found any traces, which was then they decided to return to the crossing seeking a boat to cross the river and keep searching. For all their impatience there wasn’t even a ferry; one could only be found at noon, and they crossed shores.

Once again finely combing every cun of land along the river back for a long time, they found evidence of people and horses having been there in the river shoal. Combing deeper, there was a piece of torn cloth hanging in the shrubbery; a hem of Jinfeng’s clothes.

Jinfeng is fine.

Yao Jinzi let out a huge sigh of relief.

Qiaochu wouldn’t have fallen to the water. The biggest possibility is that he’s fallen into the hands of Bao Yun and the one who chiselled a hole in the boat. Then, for a little while, he won’t have to worry about his life, and at most he’ll have to endure a spot of physical suffering…

Bringing to mind the last time Qiaochu was caught by Bao Yun, a nameless fire pranced from the bottom of his heart, causing him to sit down and regulate his breathing from the burning anxiety. After restoring a bit of his physical strength he would continue to do his utmost to find them out, but at the moment, to Xiao Zhu’s eyes at the side, she saw the matchlessly handsome, unrivalled-in-martial-arts Young Master Yao suddenly not looking anymore. His unfathomably cold face is now resting on his knee as he kneels on the ground, and she doesn’t know why he’s doing so.

After his breathing gets under control, Jinzi stands up. Noticing that little girl still unnaturally following him at the side, he can’t help but knit his brow. Remembering that the other had just saved him, he relaxes his tone a bit, yet still speaks with a voice cold as ice. “You saved me. This Yao will repay your kindness. If there’s anything you want, you may as well ask for it.”

Hearing that, the sickly-looking girl looked at him with sparkling eyes. “R-Really?” she asked, voice trembling with disbelief.

Jinzi feels a big headache coming on from that look, but he coldly nods.

The girl clasped her hands before her chest, a devout look of wishing on her face as she spoke bashfully, “I- I want- Xiao Zhu wants to serve Sir Zhang and Young Master Yao forever…” She then looked hopefully at Jinzi, whispering, “C-Can I? Young Master Yao…”

Jinzi hadn’t thought that she’d say that. He’d expected her to ask for wealth and treasures, and was most afraid that she’d want to follow him. After a bout of staring, he said indifferently, “Sir Zhang will have to be asked about that.”

A flash of disappointment flashes across Xiao Zhu’s face. She obediently bows her head. “Yes, Young Master Yao.”

Yao Jinzi doesn’t pay her any more attention. Just as he was about to set out, he suddenly heard the sound of people moving in the distance that was getting closer. His heart jumps, and he grabs Xiao Zhu and lightly jumps into the tree to hide.