"Master, it looks like there's someone ahead."
Duoduo pointed to the woods in front of them, where the light of a fire was flickering.
"Shh!"
Li Jin turned his head and signaled for Duoduo to stay quiet.
He crouched down, using the surrounding rocks and trees as cover to edge closer.
Bending low, Li Jin ran forward swiftly and hid behind a tree to peer inside.
In the woods, several men were holding torches, searching for something unknown.
Li Jin quietly observed them.
These men were not guards from the prince's manor.
Li Jin patted Duoduo and pointed upward, indicating that he was going to climb the tree.
Duoduo nodded vigorously.
Realizing that Li Jin could not see her in the dark, she leaned in close to him and whispered softly.
"Okay."
Li Jin nodded.
Then, with a sudden leap, Li Jin sprang up into the tree.
Duoduo felt as if she were riding the clouds and mist before suddenly finding herself up in the branches.
Li Jin kicked off the trunk and quickly swung over to another tree.
Had the timing not been so inappropriate, Duoduo would have cheered out loud.
So this was how the master moved around after climbing a tree!
It was amazing!
Duoduo secretly made up her mind to study martial arts diligently under Li Jin.
In the future, she could be like Yingniang, a righteous heroine who roamed the world upholding justice.
Hehehe!
Duoduo covered her mouth, laughing silently.
Li Jin soon positioned himself directly above the group of men.
He flattened his body, blending in seamlessly with the tree trunk.
"Did you find him?"
"No, what about your side?"
"Nothing on my end either."
"Could the Prince of Pingyang have drowned down there?"
"He's a cripple and can't move. He definitely couldn't have survived."
"We've been searching for so long. Even if he could hold his breath, he surely couldn't hold it for this long."
"Then let's go back and report to the master!"
The men under the tree huddled together and muttered for a while before quickly leaving.
Hearing her father's title mentioned, Duoduo looked down over Li Jin's shoulder.
It turned out that at the edge of the woods was a pond.
Her father was in the water!
Duoduo remembered the golden words.
"Master..." Duoduo urged Li Jin to get down from the tree.
"Shh!"
Li Jin turned his head anxiously, stopping Duoduo from making a sound.
Duoduo covered her mouth.
The two stayed in the tree for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and the same men from earlier returned.
"There's no one here. Did you hear wrong earlier?"
"But I clearly heard a noise."
"Flap, flap!"
Just then, a bird flew through the forest.
"So it was just a bird. It made me think someone was here!"
"Ugh! What a false alarm!"
"What do we do now? Do we keep looking or leave?"
"Forget it. We've been looking for half a shichen. Even if we find him, he's probably dead as a doornail by now."
"The rain is getting heavier. Let's go, let's head back. This really isn't work fit for a human!"
A man who appeared to be the leader waved his hand.
Soon, the men below left once again.
Li Jin lay flat on the tree trunk, remaining completely motionless.
After a full incense stick's worth of time had passed, Li Jin saw that the men had indeed not returned.
Only then did he lightly jump down from the tree.
Li Jin walked a lap around the pond.
The pond was quite large and seemed very deep.
From what those men had just said, the Prince of Pingyang must have fallen into the water.
His own swimming skills were not very good. What should he do?
He thought of the vines from earlier.
If he tied a vine around his body, he could go down into the water and feel around.
With this in mind, Li Jin shared his idea with Duoduo.
"Master, there are vines on that tree too."
Duoduo pointed to the large tree they had just been hiding in.
"Master, put me down so it will be easier for you."
Duoduo struggled, wanting to get down to the ground.
Li Jin knew that he would have to put Duoduo down anyway when he went into the water.
"Alright, Princess, please wait a moment."
Li Jin untied the knot at his chest, then crouched down and placed Duoduo on the ground.
As soon as Duoduo touched the ground, her embroidered shoes were instantly soaked.
"Master, hurry and cut the vines."
Ignoring her own discomfort, Duoduo pointed upward and urged Li Jin to hurry.
At this moment, Li Jin also understood that saving the man was the priority.
"Princess, be careful!"
After speaking, Li Jin leaped up the tree, grabbed a very long vine, and began to chop at it.
Once the vine was cut, Li Jin inspected it. Seeing that it was long enough, he climbed down.
He tied one end of the vine to the trunk of the tree closest to the pond.
The other end, he tied securely around his own waist.
Li Jin took a deep breath and jumped into the water.
Duoduo stared at the surface of the water, filled with worry.
After jumping in, Li Jin sank downward. He felt around in all directions but found nothing.
Soon, he could no longer hold his breath.
Pulling on the vine, Li Jin broke the surface of the water.
"Master, did you find him?"
Not daring to speak too loudly, Duoduo walked to the edge of the pond.
"No, this pond is very deep. I didn't reach the bottom just now."
"I'll try again!"
As Li Jin spoke, he took another deep breath and dove back down.
Unable to hold his breath any longer, he surfaced once more.
Duoduo watched as Li Jin went up and down, down and up.
She was extremely anxious.
Staring at the water, Duoduo's mind raced as she tried to think of a solution.
Suddenly, she noticed the fish in the water scattering in all directions, startled by Li Jin's diving.
Duoduo seemed to think of something.
Duoduo walked right to the edge of the pond just as Li Jin surfaced.
Li Jin wiped his face, moved to a different spot, and plunged down once again.
Duoduo crouched down and placed her hands into the pond.
"Come!"
Duoduo murmured softly.
Soon, ripples began to form in the pond.
The next second, the fish in the pond swam toward Duoduo, scrambling over each other.
Duoduo did not step back; her hands remained submerged in the water.
Li Jin knew that the golden window for rescuing a drowning victim was the first half hour.
The men from earlier had said they had already been searching for half a shichen.
That meant the Prince of Pingyang had already passed the optimal time for rescue.
After diving into the water several times, Li Jin had roughly figured out that the pond was shaped like the bottom of a wok.
If the Prince of Pingyang had fallen in, he would definitely be in the middle.
Therefore, Li Jin chose the center spot and dove straight down.
The pond was not only deep but also full of silt. If one accidentally got stuck in it, they wouldn't be able to pull themselves out.
Moreover, there were unknown water weeds at the bottom.
Li Jin's foot got tangled in a clump of weeds, and it took him a long time to struggle free.
Just as he was about to swim upward, he suddenly felt his foot kick against something.
He reached out to feel it, only to sense a massive suction force.
It felt like the power of a whirlpool, pulling everything in the water relentlessly in one direction.
Li Jin tightly grabbed onto the object by his feet and desperately held onto the vine around his waist.
In a split second, the immense pressure in the water completely vanished.
Li Jin, who had been suspended in the water, suddenly plummeted downward due to gravity.
Smack!
Li Jin crashed heavily onto something.
