It Could Still Go Up

Fortunately, he had turned back, because the voice was coming from nearby.

If he had kept searching on the left side of the yard, he wouldn't have found them even if he searched all night.

In the pitch-black sky, a sudden flash of lightning tore through the dark clouds, illuminating the surroundings, followed by two or three consecutive flashes.

Boom!! Boom!!

Two deafening claps of thunder immediately echoed in the sky, and bean-sized raindrops began to pour down.

Su Yang couldn't care less about the rain now; he sprinted toward the source of the voice.

The closer he got, the clearer the voice became.

"Is anyone there!!! Help, save us!!"

The torrential rain soaked Su Yang to the bone in just seconds. Recognizing Pan Ning's voice, he shouted back, "Panpan!! Yixue!! I'm coming!!"

"Over here!!! Over here!!"

This time, Su Yang pinpointed the exact direction: the lake.

He quickly turned and leaped into the tall grass on his left. Pushing the grass aside, he found a dirt path leading to the lake.

The rain made the muddy path incredibly slippery.

However, this didn't slow Su Yang down at all. With large strides, he reached the lakeside in a matter of seconds.

Two silhouettes immediately came into view. Pan Ning and Shen Yixue had both fallen into the lake, one on the left and one on the right.

The shore at this spot had a significant drop to the water level; it wasn't flat.

Su Yang could roughly guess what had happened: Shen Yixue probably slipped and fell in, and Pan Ning jumped in to save her.

But Pan Ning knew how to swim. Seeing her floating there motionless, Su Yang couldn't quite figure out the situation.

With no time to ask questions, he took a flying leap into the lake.

Splash!

A huge column of water splashed high into the air.

Su Yang's head popped out of the water as he swam toward Pan Ning, shouting, "I'm here!"

The moment she saw Su Yang, Pan Ning's hanging heart finally settled.

Having calmed down slightly, she glanced at Shen Yixue not far away and yelled to Su Yang, "Don't worry about me right now! My foot is tangled in waterweeds, so it'll take some time to free me. Go save Yixue first, I'm fine for now!"

Seeing that Pan Ning was clinging to a large piece of driftwood with both hands, Su Yang figured she wouldn't sink and would be fine for the time being.

He turned to look at Shen Yixue, who was over ten meters away. She was gripping some vines trailing from the shore into the lake, shivering violently and occasionally sinking a little. Her situation looked much more urgent.

Su Yang turned his head and replied, "Okay, don't move!! I'll be right back."

"Yeah, go quickly, be careful! Make sure you don't get tangled in the weeds."

"Don't worry."

Su Yang turned and swiftly swam toward Shen Yixue.

He covered the ten-meter distance in the blink of an eye. Reaching Shen Yixue, he supported her waist and asked, "Yixue? Are you okay?"

Shen Yixue was completely soaked, her lips purple and her body trembling uncontrollably. It looked like she had been in the water for at least ten minutes and had probably swallowed quite a bit of lake water.

"Su... Su Yang, you're finally here..."

"Don't speak. I'll get you up there." Wrapping one arm around Shen Yixue, Su Yang used the other to paddle toward the shore.

He quickly reached the edge of the lake. Because there was a drop of about fifty or sixty centimeters between the bank and the water, and the rain had made it incredibly slippery, it would be very difficult for a girl to climb up.

Su Yang had no choice but to climb up first so he could pull Shen Yixue up.

He pushed Shen Yixue to the edge. "Yixue, hold on here and don't move. I'm going up first."

Shen Yixue's face was covered in rainwater, her wet hair plastering half of her face.

Her teeth were chattering so hard she couldn't speak, so she just nodded continuously.

Seeing she had a firm grip, Su Yang swam to the side, found a slightly better spot, and slammed his right hand into the soft, slippery mud. Pressing down hard, he propelled himself upward.

As he shot up, his left hand grabbed a handful of weeds on the bank, and he nimbly scrambled ashore. He went over to where Shen Yixue was, lay flat on the ground, grabbed her arm with one hand, and said, "Yixue, let go."

Shen Yixue let go, and with a gentle pull, Su Yang hauled her onto the bank.

Without wasting a second, he leaped back into the lake and swiftly swam toward Pan Ning, reaching her in seconds.

"I'm here. Which foot is tangled?"

"The right foot. I went under earlier to try and clear the weeds, but there were too many. I couldn't get them off and it drained a lot of my energy."

"It's fine, let me do it." Without another word, Su Yang quickly submerged himself.

Pan Ning knew his swimming skills very well, so she wasn't worried at all.

Underwater, Su Yang followed Pan Ning's body down to her right calf, which was tightly bound by a thick tangle of long, slippery waterweeds.

It was nearly pitch-black underwater, but Su Yang didn't care. He resorted to brute force.

He grabbed the weeds and yanked hard.

Rip, rip, rip. In just a few pulls, he tore away all the weeds binding Pan Ning's leg.

Splash!

Su Yang broke the surface of the water and shouted, "Done."

"Let's go, let's get up there quickly."

He put an arm around Pan Ning and quickly brought her to the edge of the lake. Repeating his previous maneuver, he climbed ashore first and then hoisted Pan Ning up.

The rain was still pouring heavily, washing relentlessly over the three of them.

Pan Ning had a better physique, so she was mostly fine, but Shen Yixue wasn't faring so well.

She had been soaking in the water for ages and had swallowed quite a bit of it. Now, battered by the heavy rain, she was shivering violently from the cold.

Pan Ning went over, hugged Shen Yixue, and asked, "Yixue, are you okay?"

"I'm... I'm fine, just so cold."

"Then let's hurry back."

"Okay..."

The two of them helped Shen Yixue to her feet, but having been in the water for so long, her struggles had drained her energy. Her legs were weak, and she simply couldn't walk.

Pan Ning looked at Su Yang and said, "You carry her on your back. I can walk by myself."

"Alright, that'll be faster." Su Yang didn't waste time and quickly hoisted Shen Yixue onto his back.

Because the ground was covered in slippery yellow mud, Su Yang freed one hand to hold onto Pan Ning as they made their way toward the road.

Soon, the three of them made it back to the dirt path.

Wiping the rain from her face, Pan Ning said, "You're fast. Take her back first so she doesn't catch a cold."

"Then wait for me here, I'll be right back to get you."

"Okay."

Carrying Shen Yixue on his back, Su Yang sprinted toward the courtyard.

Pressed against Su Yang's back, completely drenched, an unprecedented sense of security suddenly welled up from the depths of Shen Yixue's heart.

Earlier in the lake, she thought she was going to die. With Pan Ning trapped, she couldn't swim at all.

It had been dark, the rain heavy, and she had felt a profound despair, as if there was no one in heaven or earth who could hear her pleas.

In that moment, the first person she thought of wasn't Zhang Ziming, but Su Yang.

And just as she thought of him, Su Yang actually appeared, like a ray of light in the dark, stormy night, illuminating her world.

The moment she saw Su Yang, she knew she wasn't going to die.

Now, resting on Su Yang's back, she felt at peace, completely unafraid.

She pursed her lips and said softly, "Su Yang, thank you for saving my life..."

"No need to thank me. Let's get back to the house first."

[Ding. Detected that Shen Yixue's affection for the host has increased to 95. Rewarding 5,000,000.]

Damn, what is this girl thinking? It can actually still go up.

Su Yang didn't think twice. Carrying Shen Yixue on his back, he hurried back into the house, completely ignoring how soaked he was. He carried her straight into the first-floor bathroom and turned on the hot water in the bathtub at the very back.

"Yixue, once the tub is full, get in and soak for a bit, you hear me?"

"Okay, hurry up and go get Panpan~"

"Alright, can you walk on your own now?"

"I'm fine, don't worry about me. Just go."

"Okay, I'll be right back." Su Yang stepped out of the bathroom and quickly dashed out of the house, running toward Pan Ning.

Two minutes later, he spotted Pan Ning's lonely figure in the heavy, dark rainstorm.

A sudden, inexplicable pang of heartache hit him. He rushed to her side and scooped her up into his arms.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm carrying you back."

Saying this, Su Yang quickly ran back to the courtyard. After entering the house, he set Pan Ning down and turned on the air conditioner.

"You don't need to turn that on, it's the middle of summer."

"I was just worried you'd be cold."

"I'm okay, just a little tired."

"Hurry up and take a hot bath. Yixue is in the bathroom, you can soak with her."

"I'm not used to taking baths with other women."

"Then go upstairs and use the one in the bedroom."

"Alright." Su Yang scooped Pan Ning up again and ran upstairs.

Arriving at the master bedroom on the third floor, he put Pan Ning down, went into the bathroom, and turned on the hot water. Pan Ning followed him inside.

Soon, the bathtub was filled with hot water. Pan Ning took off her clothes and stepped into the tub.

"You can go out now. Wait!"

"What is it?"

"I don't have any clothes to change into..."

"Damn, you're right, there aren't any spare clothes here. It's fine, I bought some bath towels. I'll go look for them, you just soak for now."

"Okay, go check on Yixue first and see how she's doing."

"How am I supposed to check on her now? She's taking a bath too..."

"Oh, right. Well, just go ask her if she's alright."

"Got it. Don't worry about it, you're not feeling well yourself and you're still worrying about others. Just soak, I'll go downstairs and ask."

Saying that, Su Yang walked out of the bathroom and closed the door behind him.

He quickly went downstairs to the first-floor bathroom door. However, because he had rushed out earlier and hadn't closed the door, Shen Yixue hadn't closed it either and had gotten directly into the bathtub to soak.

Standing at the door, Su Yang could see Shen Yixue's bare shoulders exposed above the water.

He turned his head, pulled the door shut, and then asked, "Yixue, are you feeling any better?"

"Much better."

"Are you still cold?"

"Not anymore. Where's Panpan?"

"She's taking a bath upstairs."

"Oh, good. Is she okay?"

"She's fine. What about you? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

"My whole body just feels weak right now, but otherwise I'm fine."

"Weak? Does your head ache?"

"No, my head doesn't ache."

"That's good then. Soak a little longer, I'll go find some bath towels for you two."

"Okay, thank you, Su Yang."

"Don't mention it."