Chapter 1414: Hunter and Prey

"Didn't any of you see those massive, monstrous waves?" Now it was Zu An's turn to be astonished.

"What waves?" The three women looked even more bewildered. Yu Yanluo shook her head. "We only saw you drifting further and further from the shore. Then the river surface became covered in mist, as if a fog had risen, and your figure disappeared into the dense mist."

Zu An was taken aback, completely unprepared for their description of what they had witnessed. He then roughly recounted his recent experience.

Upon hearing how dangerous it had been, the three women's expressions changed.

"Are you hurt?" Yu Yanluo anxiously began checking Zu An all over. Yan and Yun, the two women, also looked at him nervously. At first, they hadn't realized the danger, so when they saw he hadn't been bitten by the monster, they genuinely believed he was unharmed.

Zu An waved a hand. "I'm really fine. My blood and qi are a bit turbulent, but I have a tough constitution, so I'll recover quickly."

Yan Xuehen released his pulse. "Indeed, your internal energy is somewhat disordered, but your vitality is strong. Your recovery ability is truly impressive." She suddenly thought of his seemingly endless stamina, and her cheeks couldn't help but flush.

Yun Jianyue, standing nearby, found it somewhat perplexing. "Ice Maiden, why are you blushing?" She had noticed Yan Xuehen blushing quite frequently recently.

"I'm not blushing," Yan Xuehen denied, feeling guilty, and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, what do you think about what Ah Zu just said?"

Yun Jianyue's attention was indeed diverted. "There are two possibilities. One is that little Anzi was affected by something, perhaps the mist was toxic, causing him to hallucinate..."

Zu An shook his head. "That was definitely not a hallucination, I'm very sure. Besides, given my constitution, it would be quite difficult to poison me."

"In that case, only one possibility remains," Yun Jianyue said with a solemn expression. "That the Weak Water was created by the will of this land's heavens and earth. It's not a true physical entity, similar to our domains. What you just experienced was merely to prevent you from crossing this Weak Water."

"Exactly," Yan Xuehen nodded. "This also explains why we saw it as a normal river from the mountain, but when trying to cross it, it felt wider than the sea. If I'm not mistaken, even if you had enough strength to break through those giant waves and continued flying deeper, you would never reach the other end."

"That's possible?" Zu An was dumbfounded. "Is there a solution?"

Yan Xuehen shook her head. "Unless your power can surpass the will of this heaven and earth, allowing you to directly transcend its rules, or you find that sliver of hope."

"A sliver of hope?" Yu Yanluo asked, puzzled.

Yun Jianyue explained, "As the saying goes, 'The Great Dao has fifty, Heaven's will operates on forty-nine, leaving one thread of life.' It's impossible for such an unsolvable dead end to truly exist without meaning. What we need to do now is abandon the idea of forcing our way across the Weak Water and instead find that sliver of hope."

Yu Yanluo listened, feeling both admiration and inadequacy. As expected of grandmasters, their insight was far beyond her own.

Zu An's heart stirred. "Ya Yu!"

The women nodded. "That's what we were thinking too. This Weak Water can't even float a feather, yet the Ya Yu can freely roam within it. Such a clear anomaly must be the hint."

Zu An suddenly understood. "It seems this is the first trial on the Path of Trials, as mentioned by Shun. Now there's a problem: that creature is hiding in the Weak Water. How can we deal with it?"

Yu Yanluo suggested, "Ah Zu, aren't you naturally attuned to water? You could try in the shallow areas by the shore, see if you can enter the water." If he could enter, it would be much easier to find or deal with the Ya Yu.

Zu An nodded. "Good!" He had been thinking the same thing. He hadn't dared to try in the middle of the river, fearing he wouldn't be able to get back out, but the water near the shore was so shallow that any unexpected situation would be easy to handle.

After speaking, he went to the water's edge, eager to try. The three women quickly urged him to rest and recover first, but he shook his head. "My recovery ability is astonishing. My internal injuries are mostly healed already. Let's try it now."

The three women couldn't persuade him and had to agree, but they all made one final request: he must have protective measures on him.

"The water's so shallow, is that really necessary?" Zu An looked at the water by the shore, which appeared to be only one or two feet deep, somewhat dismissively.

Yun Jianyue shook her head. "What you see isn't always real. We saw this river as a normal width from the mountain, but it changed dramatically when we got closer."

Hearing this, Zu An realized they had a point. The discussion then turned to what kind of protective measures to use.

Seeing their gazes fall on her, Yan Xuehen was both shy and anxious. "Why are you looking at me?"

Yun Jianyue smiled slyly, eyeing her slender waist. "Of course, we need to borrow your sash again."

Yan Xuehen's face flushed. "You all have sashes! Give him yours."

"Oh, but none of our sashes have your elastic function," Yun Jianyue said, reaching to untie Yan Xuehen's sash. "Besides, you already untied it for him once, what's wrong with untying it for him again?"

"Hey, don't be so hands-on!" Yan Xuehen knew she was just joking, but she felt guilty herself. Nevertheless, as Zu An's safety was at stake, she untied her sash and wrapped it around Zu An's waist, holding the other end in her hand. "If anything unusual happens, pull the sash, and I'll pull you out immediately."

Zu An smiled and nodded at her, sharing a look only the two of them understood. Yan Xuehen's heart skipped a beat. This guy was truly audacious, daring to flirt with her right in front of the others.

Soon, Zu An approached the water's edge. Being cautious, he didn't just jump in. Instead, he first scooped up a handful of water to feel it. The water wasn't poisonous; apart from being exceptionally cold, it seemed no different from ordinary water.

After testing, he finally stepped into the shallow water by the shore. The moment he entered, his expression changed drastically. In that instant, his body immediately became heavier than a lead weight, and an inexplicable suction force beneath the water began pulling him rapidly into the depths.

The women on the shore were also startled. They watched as Zu An immediately lost his balance and sank upon entering the water. Yan Xuehen instantly pulled the sash back, but her hand suddenly went slack. To her dismay, the part of the sash that had touched the water had unknowingly become incredibly brittle, snapping apart with a single pull.

"Ah Zu!""Little Anzi!"

Yu Yanluo and Yun Jianyue exclaimed. Yan Xuehen was distraught, a deep ache in her heart. She had once longed to be rid of him, but in that moment, it felt as if she had lost the most important thing. She was only stunned for a moment before flying directly into the water.

Almost simultaneously, Yun Jianyue and Yu Yanluo also moved, though they were very pessimistic. This Weak Water was too bizarre; their hope of rescuing him seemed incredibly slim.

Just then, a vibrant red ribbon flew out of the water, though it was still some distance from the women. Yan Xuehen's heart stirred. She quickly flicked her wrist, and the half-sash in her hand immediately entwined with the red ribbon.

Then, with a powerful tug, a dishevelled figure was pulled from the water. Who else could it be but Zu An?

"Ah Zu!" Yu Yanluo was overjoyed.

Yan Xuehen also breathed a sigh of relief, experiencing the feeling of immense relief at having something lost now recovered.

However, before he could celebrate, his expression suddenly changed. "Watch out!"

A monster with the head of a dragon and the body of a cat suddenly leaped out of the water again, lunging at Zu An.

"Just in time!" Zu An was already prepared. If he made the same mistake after suffering a loss once, he'd be better off dead from shame. He suddenly conjured the Qiankun Ring. The bracelet grew larger with the wind and then slammed into the Ya Yu's head with a deafening crash.

The Ya Yu's head buzzed from the impact. Its head not exploding on the spot was a testament to its high cultivation. Seeing the three women glaring fiercely nearby, it immediately realized that these individuals were not to be trifled with. It felt as if it had transformed from a hunter into prey, so it twisted its body, intending to hide back in the water.

***

Some people die, but not completely...

He gasped for fresh air, his chest heaving. Confusion, bewilderment, and various other emotions flooded his mind.

Where was this?

Then, Shi Yu instinctively looked around, feeling even more lost. A single dormitory room? Even if he had been successfully rescued, he should be in a hospital room right now. And his body... why was there no injury at all?

With questions swirling, Shi Yu's gaze quickly swept across the room, finally resting on a mirror on the bedside table. The mirror showed his current appearance: around seventeen or eighteen years old, and very handsome. His former self had been a distinguished, handsome young man in his twenties, who had been working for some time. But now, this face looked like that of a high school student...

This change left Shi Yu in a long daze. Don't tell him the surgery was successful... His body and face had changed; this wasn't a matter of surgery at all, but rather some immortal art. He had completely transformed into another person!

Could it be... that he had transmigrated?

Besides the mirror, which was clearly in a bad feng shui position at the head of the bed, Shi Yu also found three books nearby. Shi Yu picked them up, and the titles instantly silenced him.

* A Must-Have Beast-Rearing Manual for Novice Breeders* Post-Natal Care for Pet Beasts* A Guide to Appreciating Beast-Eared Girls of Other Races

Shi Yu: ???

The first two book titles seemed normal, but what was up with the last one?

"Cough." Shi Yu's gaze sharpened, and he reached out, but his arm quickly stiffened. Just as he was about to open the third book to see what it was, a sharp pain shot through his brain, and a flood of memories surged forth.

Icefield City.Pet Beast Rearing Base.Intern Pet Beast Breeder.

Beastmaster?