Chapter 186 In the Depths of the Blood Lake

In truth, the Beinz Blood Lake did possess an unsettling energy. The locals' mix of reverence and fear toward the lake wasn't entirely superstitious—the lake demonstrably affected the surrounding environment, shaping dangerous areas like the Twisted Woodland and the Venomous Plains. For ordinary people, diving into the depths of the Blood Lake was practically suicide.

Hao Ren considered this. Before diving, he had Nangong Wuyue test the waters (no pun intended). The conclusion was that the siren girl's control over water was still effective here. Nangong Wuyue could shield against the Blood Lake's negative effects. Added to that, everyone's physical constitution was as tough as vajra, and only then did the group dare to explore. If someone like Becky were present, even with Nangong Wuyue's help, she probably couldn't withstand the strange energy field at the bottom of the lake.

Nangong Wuyue swam a quick circle in the lake, confirming that her water manipulation abilities were still effective here, and then beckoned everyone to enter the water. Izhaks, bold as he was skilled, led the way, followed closely by Hao Ren, and then a slightly hesitant Vivian. Nangong Wuyue's magical power controlled a considerable area of water, so the others didn't have to worry about their clothes getting wet or being unable to breathe. This feeling was quite interesting no matter how many times they experienced it. Finally, Vivian craned her neck in the water and called out to Lily, "Are you coming down or not? What's taking you so long?"

Lily was still squatting on the shore, the fur on her ears and tail standing on end in nervous prickles. Like a water-fearing puppy, she cautiously extended her paw, touching the water surface repeatedly, her voice almost tearful, "I don't like diving... I almost drowned fighting a submarine once."

Turns out she had a psychological shadow.

Vivian was utterly baffled, "Why the heck were you fighting a submarine?"

Lily, with a woeful expression, continued to carefully dabble her paw in the water while explaining, "The first time I went to the beach, I heard there was good food in the water. When I went down to catch fish, I accidentally swam a little too far, and ended up mistaking an American submarine for a shark in the open sea. I went up and bit it, and got a good whack on the head from the propeller, and lost a few teeth—that was the first time I ever saw a submarine."

"...Stop talking nonsense and come down, or you can wait on the shore," Vivian said, hands on her hips. "I'm not even afraid of the water, what are you afraid of?"

Hao Ren rolled his eyes: Vivian had the nerve to say that. As a vampire who ate garlic, drank holy water, wore a crucifix, and worked part-time at a church, she dared to fly two hundred miles to dig wild vegetables in the mountains in broad daylight. How could such a powerful creature be afraid of water like other vampires?

Lily pouted and hesitated for a long time, finally closing her eyes and jumping into the lake with a splash.

Hao Ren watched Lily plant face-first in the shallow water near the shore, feeling both sorry for her and belatedly reminding her, "...Forgot to tell you, the water's shallow near the shore, don't jump straight in..."

Lily pulled her head out of the shallow water, dog-paddling toward the others while wailing, "That's why I hate water! Hate it! Hate it!"

Hao Ren: "..."

Thanks to Lily's spirited behavior, the group turned and headed towards the center of the lake with cheerful hearts (?).

The lake water was a deep crimson, and since it was late at night, darkness enveloped the small exploration team shortly after they submerged. Izhaks summoned an Unquenchable Flame to float in front of the group. This demonic flame, which would not extinguish even if frozen in ten thousand years of ice, emitted a bright light, improving the surrounding visibility somewhat. However, even with this flame leading the way, Hao Ren's vision was still filled with red.

Nangong Wuyue's control over the water prevented him from feeling the pressure of the current against his body, but the endless red in his field of vision instinctively made him feel depressed and irritable. It was said that large areas of red could easily cause psychological agitation. Hao Ren didn't know how the others in the team felt, but he thought this theory made sense.

Fortunately, he wouldn't have to stay in this environment for too long: Nangong Wuyue propelled everyone forward with the current, and they were moving quickly. It was estimated that they would reach the bottom of the lake soon.

"It's all red, it's so annoying," Nangong Wuyue swam ahead, swaying her long fish tail. Her voice was transmitted directly into everyone's ears. Apparently, Hao Ren wasn't the only one who felt uneasy about the red view, "There's a strange feeling in the water, like... being watched by something."

"I don't feel anything," Hao Ren said, turning his head, constantly watching for anything that might appear in his field of vision, "But this place is definitely weird. I heard a story from a missionary at the campsite. He said that every pope had to die in the small church in the center of the lake, but no one ever actually saw their remains. Those popes stayed in the church alone for a month, and then disappeared as if they had evaporated from the world. The church said that they had turned into holy relics to protect this holy land—thinking about it, doesn't that just mean they rotted in the lake water?"

Vivian quickly swam over and bumped him, "Are you trying to gross us out?"

Then, the vampire girl thought for a moment, "I think the color of this lake is pretty good. It gives me the illusion that I can eat my fill, at least it's quite appetizing."

Izhaks also chuckled, "Actually, I feel quite at home here. There are a lot of lava fields where I come from, also all red."

Lily hadn't said much since she entered the water. She was completely immersed in fighting the psychological shadow left by fighting the submarine, and at first, she even subconsciously held her breath for a long time, not daring to breathe. Hearing everyone chatting lively at this time, she couldn't help but dog-paddle to Hao Ren's side, "Hey, is the color of the water really that serious? I don't feel anything when I look at it..."

Vivian kept her distance from Lily, "You're colorblind, aren't you? Did you forget you're a husky?"

"What's wrong with being colorblind!" Lily angrily charged towards Vivian, "And even if I'm colorblind, I can still distinguish red! I just don't feel anything!"

Hao Ren silently glanced at Lily. The girl's flailing appearance really did have a bit of a *雌犬の狂乱.avi* vibe... (female dog's frenzy.avi)

At this moment, he felt something wriggling in his arms, trying to get out. He looked down and saw that it was Dou Dou: the little fellow seemed very excited when she entered the water. To prevent this little thing from running off, Hao Ren had been holding her all the time. Now Dou Dou was starting to protest again. Hao Ren knew that a considerable area of water around them was under Nangong Wuyue's control, so he hesitated for a moment and released the little mermaid, "Don't run too far, the water's poisonous if you swim too far."

After Dou Dou broke free from Hao Ren's arms, she immediately spun around a few times in the water excitedly, and then quickly swam back and forth between the others like a small fish fry, looking very happy: she didn't seem to feel anything about the red lake water either. Lily chased after Dou Dou enthusiastically, wanting to catch the fish, but the latter's slippery tail made the dog-girl only able to flail around blindly. Finally, when the little fellow got tired of flailing, she didn't return to Hao Ren's side, but instead leaned directly against Nangong Wuyue's side, gently wagging her tail as she moved forward with the water currents stirred up by Nangong Wuyue.

Nangong Wuyue looked at the little fish baby following beside her in surprise, "She actually knows how to hitch a ride in the water? Is this a talent of her race?"

Hao Ren sighed with emotion, "I think everyone's talents are quite unique—before I met Lily, I never thought anyone could dog-paddle so fast..."

Nangong Wuyue swam with Dou Dou for a while, and suddenly had a whim to switch her body form. Instantly, the golden-red mermaid tail turned into a three-meter-long seductive snake tail.

In that instant, Dou Dou's entire outlook on life and worldview were once again greatly impacted.

The little mermaid froze in the water like an idiot, until she bumped into Hao Ren's chest with a *thud*. After she came back to her senses, she began to vigorously flail her tail. Seeing this, Nangong Wuyue laughed so hard that she almost curled up into a ball, "You can't make your tail grow longer no matter how hard you flail it—pulling on it won't help either!"

Hao Ren sighed. He really couldn't understand the humor of these bizarre creatures around him, especially the point of a race between two fish to see who had the longer tail—and it was still a hundred-year-old adult fish competing with a small fish fry over this.

The world of monster girls is really too profound.

They continued to plunge and dive, the Blood Lake journey wasn't boring. Finally, the team approached their destination, a faint shadow appeared at the end of their vision.

Nangong Wuyue's body paused slightly: "There's... a strong magnetic field in the water?"