Pinned in the Water Grass

The sunlight was lovely today, shining down on the water. Even underwater, she could see clearly.

She was actually lying at the bottom of the lake, inside her Sanctum.

All around her were swaying water plants, with fish darting back and forth. Nearby was Elder Shane.

Thinking back to what just happened, Grace realized—she’d fallen into the lake.

The Dragon Scale on her neck kept sending a strange energy into her body, making her feel even more comfortable in the water than on land.

But wait, it’s winter—the lake water should be freezing! So why did she feel so warm and cozy?

Just as she was wondering, she spotted Cutie Pie.

Apparently, it had been resting on her chest this whole time and was now poking its head up to look at her.

Grace reached out and grabbed it, pointing at it, then at herself.

She meant: Was it you who cast the spell to keep me warm?

Cutie Pie nodded.

Grace gave him a little kiss, tucked him into her Sanctum, and started floating upward.

She was worried about that little girl—how was she doing now?

After swimming up for a while, she heard voices from the shore.

It sounded like a bunch of people had arrived, all talking at once about fishing someone out.

Soon enough, another boat rowed over in her direction.

Were they here to fish her out?

Grace thought about it, but didn’t rush to the surface.

Who was trying to hurt her? Now was the perfect time to observe.

She spotted a willow-covered island in the middle of the lake not far away, swam over, found a hidden rock, and poked her head out from behind it to watch the crowd.

She spotted her aunt, shouting and directing the boats to move toward the center.

Her dad and older brother, along with Shen Sui and the others, were already in the lake, diving in and out, clearly searching for her.

Elder Shane’s eldest daughter-in-law held a little girl—the same one who’d fainted earlier.

She noticed the little girl had changed into fresh clothes.

Wan Xuezhen was on the shore too, looking especially anxious.

But when she turned her back to the crowd, she exchanged glances with Liu Xu and gave a sly smile.

Grace narrowed her eyes—could it have been them?

But she’d been tailing them on the way back; they couldn’t have acted so fast.

Even if they were involved, they definitely didn’t do it themselves.

"Cousin, be careful!" Grace was still thinking when, suddenly, from the other side of the island, she heard a woman’s soft warning.

Grace peeked over and saw that the speaker was Liu Ruyan!

There was also a man, who’d stripped off his outer clothes and was wearing a tight outfit for swimming, ready to dive in.

That man was Sun Hongguang.

He was Sun Xiangjun’s older brother.

Back on the mountain, when he was sparring, his sword had randomly flown toward her.

"Wait here for me," Sun Hongguang said, then dove into the water.

The lake was icy in winter, but with her dad and brother’s cultivation, they wouldn’t get sick.

Grace didn’t rush out, but dove back underwater.

She hid among the deep-water plants.

Watching Sun Hongguang dive down, Grace pretended to be drowning and struggled toward him.

Sure enough, Sun Hongguang spotted her and swam over.

He grabbed Grace tightly.

Then dragged her deeper underwater.

He definitely wasn’t here to rescue her!

He was here to finish her off.

Grace sneered and let him drag her into the water plants.

Then he untied a rope from his wrist and tried to strangle her with it.

Suddenly, Grace twisted his arms behind his back and pressed him down into the water plants...