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Chapter 554: Chapter 360: Slacking Off
Xue Yuantong struggled to climb the slope, and as she ascended higher, her fear grew stronger, her calves trembling atop the slope.
She reached for the roots of a tree above her head and tiptoed, stretching her arms earnestly, but her hands fell short and she couldn’t touch them despite several attempts.
She thought about changing positions, but when she looked down, she suddenly realized how far away from the ground she was.
Xue Yuantong pondered, How should she get down?
On another side, Jiang Junlong was also climbing the slope; being male, he was in slightly better physical condition, but a ten-meter high slope was truly terrifying.
Imagine climbing alongside the wall of a third-floor building, and you’d understand what an exhilarating experience it was.
Xue Yuantong hung there for three minutes, motionless.
Jiang Ning shouted, "Can you still climb? If not, just come down."
Xue Yuantong felt miserable inside, ’You think I don’t want to get down? As if I can just come down...’
Jiang Ning saw through her vulnerability, walking to the front of the dirt slope and opening his arms:
"Jump down, I’ll catch you."
Xue Yuantong didn’t want to hang there anymore; she felt like a melon, but three meters was too high, she dared not jump.
"Scared already?" Jiang Ning said gleefully.
"Who said that!"
Angry, Xue Yuantong closed her eyes, let go of the tree roots, and twisted her body, her petite frame falling from mid-air.
Falling from over three meters could definitely lead to severe injuries, however, Xue Yuantong never doubted based on numerous previous experiences.
Jiang Ning would surely catch her securely!
Shen Qing’e hadn’t climbed the slope; she was waiting below and happened to see this scene.
Jiang Ning stimulated his Spiritual Power, creating an upward supporting force, and Xue Yuantong landed securely in his arms, her arms hooking around his neck without sustaining any injury.
Jiang Ning slightly bent down and put her on the ground.
Then touched his neck, where the mud from Xue Yuantong’s hands left prints:
"You’re dirty."
Xue Yuantong listened and didn’t respond, just having been held in his arms, she truly lacked the courage to retort.
Initially worried, Shen Qing’e’s heart gradually eased; if Xue Yuantong had truly fallen, it was surely something nobody wanted to see.
At this moment, observing their expressions, Shen Qing’e slightly furrowed her brows, ’Their intimacy seems a bit excessive.’
’It doesn’t seem like a simple neighborly relationship.’
Following that, she glanced at the petite Xue Yuantong, especially at her naive face, finding it hard to suspect anything romantic.
From her understanding of Jiang Ning, if there was such a possibility, it should at least be Geng Lu or Bai Yuxia, not Xue Yuantong.
Before Shen Qing’e could ponder further, suddenly a noise echoed.
She turned around and saw a motorcycle bursting out of the wheat field.
Startled, Shen Qing’e moved closer to Jiang Ning.
Duan Shigang rushed out of the wheat field, executed a sleek tail sweep, and the motorcycle stopped at the edge of the field; he examined the few people present.
His gaze first swept over Jiang Ning, then Xue Yuantong, and finally settled on Shen Qing’e’s face.
"A schoolgirl!" Duan Shigang, like a hound sniffing out a bone, sensed something appealing.
A look of slight disgust appeared on Shen Qing’e’s face.
Deng Xiang from the north drew closer and then recognized Jiang Ning.
Seeing his face, Deng Xiang nearly turned around to leave.
Originally, to retrieve face for his sworn sister Gong Xuan, he had led people into Class 8. That day, he was once unstoppable, single-handedly dominating a class, and they fought eight against one.
However, he had been severely beaten by Jiang Ning, knocking Deng Xiang out of Jianghu, placing him in a semi-retired state since.
Behind him, Ge Hao also recognized Jiang Ning.
During a previous sports meet, in the high jump event, Jiang Ning claimed he would jump blindfolded, which Ge Hao disapproved of, making a bet by kneeling, but Jiang Ning actually jumped over blindfolded.
Ge Hao, of course, did not kneel.
This caused him to hold a grudge against Jiang Ning, evaluating Jiang Ning, then looking at the boys on the slope, contemplating that they had three people on their side. If a conflict really broke out, they would have the advantage with three against two.
Deng Xiang and Ge Hao were buddies who hung out together, but regarding his humiliating incident in Class 8, it had been well-kept, not widely spread, so Ge Hao was not aware.
When Gong Xuan saw Jiang Ning, her gaze became extremely complex, filled with both fear and admiration.
As for Qiu Die behind her, she looked at Xue Yuantong.
After getting off the vehicle, Xue Yuantong recognized Qiu Die.
Qiu Die was her middle school classmate, a dominant girl in class with significant influence.
Under Qiu Die’s pressure, Xue Yuantong copied her homework, even helped her cheat during exams, and all these were coerced.
With a gang of girls behind her, Qiu Die once dared to burst into the girls’ dormitory to teach someone a lesson; if Xue Yuantong dared defy, the consequences were unimaginable.
But also because of Qiu Die’s clout, Xue Yuantong was never bullied in middle school.
The last time at the barbecue stall, she saw Qiu Die, who still liked causing trouble as before.
Xue Yuantong didn’t greet her; she disliked Qiu Die as a person, now she could finally refuse things she didn’t want to do.
When Jiang Junlong saw the newcomers, he didn’t continue climbing but retreated down the slope.
He glanced at the newly arrived individuals, not looking like good people by appearances, Jiang Junlong asked:
"Brother Ning, do you know them?"
"We don’t," Jiang Ning said, "Let’s go have a look at the reservoir."
He passed by the group, pushing the mountain bike, Xue Yuantong picked up the fishing net, and trotted behind him.
Ahead of the small dirt slope was a reservoir, approximately thirty meters long and wide, with a small river adjoining it to the west.
That small river was a tributary of the Huishui River.
The north and south sides of the reservoir were built with slopes, laid with uneven flagstones, ensuring that anyone standing on them wouldn’t slip off.
Jiang Junlong looked at the dark, bottomless reservoir, asking, "How deep is this water?"
Jiang Ning said, "It’s probably pretty deep, but I’m not sure exactly."
Xue Yuantong volunteered after hearing this, "I’ll measure it."
After speaking, she looked around and found some abandoned bamboo poles from a greenhouse construction nearby.
She gathered several poles and tied them together with rope to form a giant long pole.
Xue Yuantong dragged the bamboo pole laboriously towards the east side of the reservoir’s railing, and despite the barriers, she was still very careful.
She leaned back entirely, cautiously lowering the bamboo pole slowly into the water, looking terrified.
Jiang Ning laughed, "The bamboo pole is crooked."
Xue Yuantong pretended not to hear and dared not approach the reservoir.
Jiang Ning couldn’t stand it anymore, he took the bamboo pole and probed it straight down.
Until the bamboo pole couldn’t go any further, still failing to reach the bottom.
Jiang Junlong exclaimed in shock, "The bamboo pole is over ten meters long?"
More than ten meters, that meant that the slope he had climbed before could be thrown in without sticking out.
The most terrifying thing was, they hadn’t measured the bottom of the reservoir.
A voice came from the distance, "The reservoir is 18 meters deep, and every few years, someone drowns in there."
Duan Shigang was from the southern village and knew the area well.
He chuckled, "This reservoir is quite eerie; nobody dares to swim here anymore."
Hearing his story, Shen Qing’e’s face changed, seeing as if there lay some great terror within the bottomless waters.
Jiang Ning released his Divine Sense towards the surface of the water, and everything in the reservoir was suddenly crystal clear.
Indeed, it was 18 meters deep, and the bottom was covered with a lot of silt up to more than two meters thick, enough to trap a full-grown adult completely.
After checking out the reservoir, Jiang Ning said, "Let’s go, it’s time to head to our destination."
They rode on until they reached a small bridge.
The channel under the bridge was approximately four meters wide, typically used for irrigating farmlands.
The water was clear and not polluted.
After crossing the bridge, Jiang Ning didn’t continue south but followed the path along the channel.
To the south were vast wheat fields, to the north flowed the channel, and beyond that, green forests stretched out as they strolled down the country path.
After walking a hundred meters, the channel suddenly widened, and the water became bottomless.
Xue Yuantong said, "This is an excavated channel."
Jiang Ning noted, "We’re almost there."
Shen Qing’e heard the sound of water splashing ahead, and she couldn’t help but quicken her pace.
Finally, she reached the place, the terrain suddenly dipped creating a two-to-three-meter difference in height, with water cascading from above into a shower of white spray, hitting the smooth bluestone surface.
Xue Yuantong’s eyes fixed on the waterfall before her, the smell of water filling her senses,
Below the waterfall was a babbling creek, and Jiang Ning said, "If you want to have some fun, go down and enjoy."
Shen Qing’e looked sideways and asked, "How did you find this place?"
He had barely been in the city for a year, so why was he so familiar with it?
Jiang Ning replied, "I heard it from someone."
In reality, he was very clear about the entire area for dozens of miles around.
By flying on a Flying Boat and sweeping with his Divine Sense, he could map the nearby domain in his mind.
Xue Yuantong ran to the creek to play and actually discovered something interesting.
Xue Yuantong caught several crabs, leaping with joy, but unfortunately, these crabs were too small to be tasty, so she released them back.
Jiang Junlong looked towards the creek, slightly puzzled, "Can you fish here?"
"Follow me," Jiang Ning said.
They walked another hundred meters, and a dried riverbed appeared in front of them running from north to south. Though termed dry, it was not entirely so, as there were two very small streams in the riverbed.
The channel running from east to west met the small north-to-south river, forming a sort of T-junction terrain.
To the south of the riverbed lay a rectangular large stone, splitting the river into two, with scarce water flowing from gaps at the edge of the stone.
Jiang Ning stepped onto the riverbed, looking at the stone that reached his waist, with a light jump, he easily leapt onto the large stone.
His graceful movement left Shen Qing’e in awe.
Jiang Ning stood on the large stone, looking at the river water blocked by the stone. Twenty meters ahead was another large stone blocking the river path with water flowing over that stone, eventually causing a shallow water area between the two stones.
He took out a bamboo pole and placed it into the river water, about 50 centimeters deep.
"Let’s fish here," he said.
Jiang Junlong on the shore was stunned, "I thought it was just a small ditch, but we are really going down to fish in the river!"
Xue Yuantong sprinted over from the small waterfall, surprised to hear about fishing in the river, as rivers are generally perceived to be deep.
Jiang Ning took off his shoes, stepping into the river, the water barely reaching his knees - the riverbed clean and the mud shallow, as his feet felt comfortable. He scanned the river section multiple times with his Divine Sense, ensuring there were no dangerous creatures.
Jiang Ning watched the fish swimming and reached down to grab one, catching a palm-sized crucian carp.
He lifted his hand, and Shen Qing’e saw the dazzling sunlight fall on the fish scales, casting a silvery glimmer, as the fish thrashed its tail, struggling fiercely.
"Get a bucket," Jiang Ning reminded.
Shen Qing’e belatedly picked up a white bucket.
Xue Yuantong was quicker; she dashed to the riverbank, taking off her shoes and rolling up her trousers.
She imitated Jiang Ning, rolling her trousers up to her knees.
Jiang Ning glanced at her, "Roll them up higher."
Xue Yuantong retorted, "Aren’t you just rolled up to the knees?"
Jiang Ning glanced at her petite figure, earnestly saying, "One must be aware of their limitations."
Xue Yuantong begrudgingly rolled them up higher. Her steps into the water easily surpassed her knees, reaching her thighs.
She waded towards Jiang, intending to join him.
