Chapter 54: Plant Growth Liquid

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: Plant Growth Liquid

In an instant, a massive column of water shot out from the Water Gun, instantly blowing away all the players in front of Wang Peng. The player closest to him was blasted to smithereens by the torrent.

The water pressure was so immense that Shi Zhile was thrown backward by the recoil. The moment she was sent flying, Wang Peng and Jiang Jing grabbed hold of her.

Then, all three of them plunged into the water.

As the bone-chilling water enveloped them, Shi Zhile and the others instinctively tried to swim. The next moment, Jiang Yuxing’s voice echoed in their minds.

"Don’t swim. Just sink."

Shi Zhile gritted her teeth and forced herself not to struggle. She reached back, grabbing onto Jiang Jing and Wang Peng, and gestured for them to keep sinking.

But struggling is human nature. Jiang Jing and Wang Peng each grabbed one of her arms and began pulling her swiftly toward the surface.

At the critical moment, Shi Zhile broke free and pulled them both into the Planting Space.

Ignoring the astonished Wang Peng, Shi Zhile started a video call with Jiang Yuxing.

On the other end of the call, Jiang Yuxing was dragging Chuyi ashore while Jiang Yu sat by a fire, warming herself.

"Where are you guys?"

Jiang Yuxing wrung out his clothes. "We’re in an undercurrent at the bottom of the lake. Once the water from the Medicine Lake gets on you, you can’t be exposed to moonlight, rain, or snow, or you’ll be frozen solid in an instant."

Seeing Jiang Jing beside Shi Zhile, Jiang Yu breathed a sigh of relief. "Where are you?"

"The Planting Space."

’If it weren’t for these two stubborn mules, we’d probably be in that undercurrent by now.’

Wang Peng came over carrying a hen, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Shi Zhile. He held the chicken up in front of her. "It just laid an egg!"

Shi Zhile pushed it away, her expression blank. "It’s a hen. Laying eggs is what it does. Let it go. We need to get out of here."

She paused for a moment and looked at Jiang Yuxing. "So we just let the current take us down?"

"That’s right. Let the current pull you down. Don’t struggle."

After ending the call, they left the space. The muffled rush of water was the only sound, and their vision was obscured by the murky lake.

As they sank, another series of figures dropped into the lake from above, like dumplings into a pot.

But those figures struggled frantically, all of them left half-floating on the surface.

Peering through the murky water, she could vaguely see the players who were struggling on the surface turning into ice sculptures one by one.

Her chest tightened, and the sensation of suffocation flooded her mind. Just as she felt she was about to pass out, a pair of hands caught her.

Then, they pulled her further down.

After what felt like an eternity, Shi Zhile was pulled from the water.

She collapsed weakly onto the ground, soaked to the bone.

Jiang Yu draped a long coat over her before sitting back down.

In the pitch-black cave, flames danced. Water trickled down the stone walls and dripped into the undercurrent below, creating concentric ripples.

Wang Peng coughed a few times while thumping his chest. "There’s no way to clear the instance from here. Don’t tell me we have to wait until the third day is over?"

Shi Zhile opened her panel and saw three words under her instance tasks: "Instance Task Completed."

Thinking about the conditions for clearing the instance, she brought them up again.

One: Survive for three days.

Two: Kill any player on the leaderboard.

Three: Drink the lake water and make a wish.

The first path was undoubtedly the safest, but with 23 hours still remaining until the end of the third day, there was no telling what else might happen.

She dismissed the second option for the time being and focused on the third.

Considering the initial description of the Medicine Lake, it wasn’t hard to deduce that any wish would require an equivalent exchange.

Clearing the instance this way was possible, but the price would undoubtedly be steep.

’But... it’s worth the risk.’

The group sat around the fire as Jiang Yuxing opened a map and pointed to the undercurrent cave. "This is our current location. I was teleported here two days before the instance began and have explored the whole place."

"This Desert Island has nothing but sand and the plants surrounding the Medicine Lake."

The Medicine Lake was huge, taking up almost half of the Desert Island. However, because it was located so close to the center, it was completely invisible from the perimeter.

Jiang Jing poked the fire with a branch. "An instance like this has to have a purpose. Resources on this Desert Island are scarce, and aside from the Medicine Lake, everything else seems far too ordinary."

"Sometimes, the most normal-seeming things are actually the most abnormal. The Medicine Lake stands out too much in this desert, which means it must be the key to clearing the instance—and also the most dangerous location."

Jiang Yu added, "And that danger probably doesn’t come from other players. It seems like it’s built into the instance itself."

Shi Zhile took out a torch and surveyed her surroundings.

They were in a small cave. Just outside was the subterranean river, its current flowing inward. It was clearly a one-way channel.

She ran her hand along the walls. They were uneven and pitted, covered in the green moss typical of a perpetually damp environment.

’Could I have been wrong? Is this place really just the bottom of the Medicine Lake?’

She crouched and scooped up some of the river water. A panel materialized before her.

[Medicine Lake Water: Water from the undercurrent at the bottom of the Medicine Lake. It is fresh, potable, and rich in minerals. (The water on the surface and I are both known as the water of the Medicine Lake, but I am not it. Between us is life and death. We never meet, yet we see each other all day. If you can understand my meaning, perhaps I can help you.)]

Shi Zhile rubbed her forehead and waved the panel away.

She took out a deck chair and sat down, casually pulling out a fishing rod and casting a line into the undercurrent. "Jiang Yuxing, what does your panel say about this water?"

Jiang Yuxing came over, summoned a deck chair of his own next to hers, and lay back to fish as well.

"Potable Medicine Lake water. Unlike the initial description, this water has no medicinal properties and no special effects."

’Medicinal properties!’

’That’s it! The Medicine Lake is keenly interested in players with a pharmacy station. Maybe what the lake wants *is* the pharmacy station.’

"Have you tried making potions with the Medicine Lake water?"

Generally, as long as you had materials with medicinal properties in your inventory, the pharmacy station’s panel would display available crafting recipes.

Jiang Yuxing immediately set down his pharmacy station.

This was the first time Shi Zhile had seen a pharmacy station in person. It was a simple device that looked something like a large, hand-cranked meat grinder.

The moment the pharmacy station materialized, the panel was flooded with dozens of notifications.

Shi Zhile was closest to it. She sat up a little and began to scroll through them.

The instant she touched the panel, the dozens of notifications vanished, leaving only two.

[Powder for Anesthesia: Requires Mafei Grass x2. Yields Powder for Anesthesia x4. Craft?]

[Plant Growth Liquid: Requires Lake Water with Unknown Medicinal Properties x1, Seed x1. Yields Plant Growth Liquid x2. (Note: The Plant Growth Liquid must be used within 12 hours. Please craft the item to see specific usage instructions.) Craft?]

Jiang Yuxing cleared his throat. "You don’t have many medicinal ingredients on you, so the pharmacy station is showing fewer craftable recipes."

"However, that second recipe... ’Lake Water with Unknown Medicinal Properties’... isn’t that the water from the surface of the Medicine Lake? Since the option is there, we might as well give it a try."

Shi Zhile tapped "Craft." A moment later, a bottle of green liquid emerged from the base of the pharmacy station.

Shi Zhile held it in her hand, a growing sense of familiarity washing over her as she examined it.

She felt like she already had a bottle of this same liquid.