Spring Winds

"Bleugh!

Cough, cough!"

What the f*ck just happened?! (# 3 _ 3)!?

Vomiting whatever water I had left, I heaved up whatever water was left within me.

I think I might have swallowed a fish raw…

"Bleugh!" Suddenly, a small fish came flopping out of my mouth before frantically swimming away.

Ugh…

I don't think I could ever eat or think of fish in the same way ever again.

Trying to stand, my legs felt like noodles as I tried to get a feel for my new watery surroundings. Stomping on the damp ground with my foot, I was pleasantly surprised that it was solid stone.

Whew, does that mean I've reached the bottom of this place?

"Whoa!" Suddenly a large fish swam past, forcing me to step aside.

That's the biggest fish I've ever seen! I wonder if it's tasty! (O v O)

Wait! What am I thinking?

I should be focusing on getting out of here, not food!

"What even is this place?" Looking up, I could see schools of colorful fish glide on like birds as giant sea anemones swayed like tree branches in the wind. The sun could barely be seen as lonely rays of light danced on the seafloor.

Wow, this is quite the view!

Where am I even?

And how is it that I can even breathe here, while literally, fish swim past me?!

How does that make any sense?

Wait!

C-could it be that I'm dead!

Slumping back onto the ground, the weight of my situation started to weigh down on me.

Aiyah! I can't be a ghost, right?! I barely even got to live life!

All of the treasures that I've yet to see!

All of the delicious food that I've yet to eat!

And all of the cool places that I've never been to!

Plus, I didn't even get to tell Senior Sister that I liked her and get her answer to my question!

Aiyah! The life of this auntie is so cruelly short and unfortunate ah. (i - i)

I wonder if anyone will even remember if I existed…

"Ouch!" Suddenly a tiny sand crab pinched at my clothes. Flicking it away, I rubbed at the sore spot.

Okay, maybe I'm not dead…

Yet.

Hah, if I'm not dead, then where am I, and why am I here? And most importantly, where is the beast that dragged me down here!?

Whatever dragged me down here didn't feel like a powerful current or some stray water weeds…

Ahh, it wasn't some freakish monster that wanted to eat me, right? It can't be!

Senior Sister didn't mention anything about water monsters, only land beasts…

"Ahh, it's probably fine, haha…."

Maybe. (;; — v—)

Haha, whatever it may be, I'm sure I'll be able to take it on… even if it is an invisible squid or some sort of octopus monster.

Ahh, it's okay! Regardless of what it is, it's merely a bigger fish, that's all!

I wonder how many points I might be able to earn if I killed it. After all, for a monster of that size and caliber, its value wouldn't be a small number.

Hmm, but first things first!

One, find if there's anything of value around here! Treasure, beasts, whatever can get me the most amount of points to outdo Senior Sister!

Two, find something to eat! These rations that I packed will not be enough to last me the duration of this trip. Maybe if I find a big enough fish, that should last for some time.

And finally, find how to escape this place! It wouldn't matter how much treasure I've gained or how many points I've earned if I don't leave this realm in the set window of time.

"Alright!" Hitting my palm with my fist, I've created an utterly goof-proof plan! As long as I stick to my schedule, there's no way that I could fail!

---

"Wahhh!" This place is f*cking loaded! (*O v O*)

I definitely hit the jackpot here!

"Squeak!" Huffing, a tiny pink squid brought my attention to it.

Its beady little eyes and tentacles pointed to the make-shift rope that I've wrapped around its body.

"Hehe, alright, you little thief, I'll let you go now since you've led this auntie to such a treasure!

And remember, don't go around taking advantage of others' kindness and stealing their food.

Some might not be as merciful as this auntie." Letting go of the tiny pink squid, the little beast dared to huff at me before disappearing in a puff of ink!

Hey, you were the one who decided to steal my food! (# o_o)

I worked hard for that giant tuna, and suddenly the tiniest creatures managed to eat away at the whole thing, leaving me with just a small portion!

Hmph, if it wasn't for those gold taels, you coughed up and my magnanimous heart, I would've roasted you on the spot! ( # - _ -)

Aiyah, never mind, never mind.

I suppose this little monster is wise enough to repay their debtors, unlike a particular black-bellied child of mine…

Hmph, whatever. It is grown-up now so that it can take care of itself.

But this treasure, however, hehe… ( — v—)

Well, surely this poor neglected treasure needs the careful care of this generous auntie!

Mountains of golden taels covered the entire floor as embedded coral-colored gems peeked out from the walls!

Not to mention, look at all of those legendary weapons sticking out from that massive pile! I am sure that there are many of them in there, just waiting for a new owner!

Sure, a few look to be a bit worse for wear, but with a bit of polishing, I'm sure that it will be back to its mighty self.

"Hehe, with this, I should be able to defeat Senior Sister ten times, no, a hundred times over!"

Pulling out my interspatial bag, I've unfortunately come across another roadblock.

"Umm" — I looked between my bag and the massive pile of treasure — "Is this even going to fit inside?"

Hopefully, there isn't a capacity limit to how much I could put in here, right?

I mean, if it was able to hold several giant monsters and a bunch of other stuff, the entirety of the room should fit, right?

"Hehe, well, I suppose there's only one way to find out!" (*^ ^*) hehe.

Rolling up my sleeves, I got to work on the nearest pile. Picking up a gold tael, I stuffed it into my bag.

Checking the jade tablet, my eyes nearly popped from their sockets!

<Sixty-nine points.>

"Wah! One tael is worth ten points?!"

With all of this, I'll be able to beat Senior in no time!

Hehe, I better pick up my pace then! After all, Senior Sister could be earning even more points now, so I better hurry up and widen the gap between us as soon as possible!

---

"Whew!"

It was hard work, Naran, but you did it!

You picked this entire room clean of any gold and gems under a few tireless hours! Aside from that giant pile of weapons, the large room laid barren of any treasure.

Hehe.

Now to get into the meat of things, the weapons!

However, the question is, how does one approach a massive pile of weapons haphazardly thrown in a pile?

Although admittedly, I'm no stranger to danger, even this is something that I should probably approach with caution.

After all, one wrong move, and I could end up like the rest of those unfortunate skeletons that I've found buried between all of the gold and gems.

Compiling each skeleton into their own separate piles, I dug a small hole to house their remains. Leaving behind a gold tael for each one, I prayed that their soul had a safe journey to the after realm and managed to reincarnate safely into their next life.

Once that was complete, I am now able to continue with my task guilt-free.

"Herm, how should I do this?"

The large pile of swords, sabers, and whatever else balanced precariously on top of one another. Thus, if I pulled the weapons at random, the whole thing would surely collapse upon itself, maybe even breaking some of the older weapons.

Hmm, it looks like I have no choice.

"Tsk looks like I need to pick from the top."

Standing proudly above the rest of the weapons, a rusted sword sealed the rest of the weapons below it, entrapping them for eternity.

Well, not for long, hehe.

"Up we go." Taking out the standard-issued sword I was given, I tried to imagine it hovering just above the ground.

Slowly getting onto the flat blade, I felt it wobble slightly from my weight.

Whew, this sure is going to take some time getting used to.

"Alrighty, slow and steady now." Soon enough, the sword was within my reach. Now just to pull it off…

Grabbing onto the sword's hilt, I tried to slowly wiggle it free from its restraints as the weapons below started to tremble from the movement.

Ahh, slow and easy now… come on…

However, no matter how much I tried to wiggle and twist the sword free from the pile, it just wouldn't budge.

Ahhh, it's not stuck in something, is it?

Geez, this is going to be tricky.

"Come on now, come to this auntie!" Leaning back, I tried to put my weight into it as I pulled at the sword.

"Creek!" Soon, the rusted blade started to title free!

Yes, just a little bit more!

Putting more weight into it, I pulled back even harder. Come on, come on!

It's so close!

"CREEK!" With a final yank, the sword finally sprang free from its restraints!

"Wooo! And it's not even broken, aha!" Waving around my trophy, I momentarily enjoyed its presence. With just a few repairs here and there, this thing will be back in its prime condition!

Hehe, I wonder how many points I could get from this?

Unfortunately, my victory was cut short as strange noises started to come from the pile of weapons.

Huh? What's going on!

"Creeek!

Crack!"

"ROAR!" Suddenly, a scaled claw ripped from underneath the mountain of swords and into the air!

What the f*ck was that!?

Soon the pile of weapons began to crumb away as an enormous beast crawled out from the mountain of broken swords.

"H-hah?!"

The beast's large amber eyes flickered around the empty room, letting out another enraged guttural sound before its eyes landed on me, holding the sword.

Its pupils dilated as it looked me up and down before opening its wide and disgusting mouth in a cruel grin.

Oh sh*t.

---

H-Haha… it's over! (i A i)

This is the end of the line, Naran!

"Grrr…." The low growl of the beast grumbled from behind me as it started to close in. Its enormous body slithered closer as its front claws scraped the ground menacingly, crushing any, unfortunately, any critters who had the misfortune of crossing its path.

That's going to be me soon enough! (TT A TT)

"H-hah, g-good, sea monster." Feeling the wall, I tried to find any cracks I could hopefully squeeze myself into.

However, it was a dead-end!

It looks like this is it, Naran!

No weapon, no more spiritual qi, and no escape! You've really tested your limits this time!

As if savoring my panic, the monster approached slowly, forcing me to anticipate when it might decide to attack!

Hah, even if I could take down this monster with my bare hands, there's no telling if there's any hidden trick up that monster's sleeve!

Ahh, goodbye world, it was nice knowing you!

"Hiyah!" Lunging right towards the beast, I used up the last of my qi to create a palm seal. Seeing me jump forward, the monster decided to meet me halfway as it opened its mouth, revealing its sharp yellow teeth!

Please!

Just for once, land successfully!

However, before it could reach me, the monster suddenly dropped dead! Rubbing my eyes, I couldn't believe what I was seeing!

"HUH?!"

Did I do that?!

Just one moment ago, that monster was ready to swallow me up in one go!

"Hey! Little lady, are you alright?"

Looking up, I realized that someone was standing on the monster's back, his sword impaled into its spine.

Huh?! (OoO)

Who the hell is this weird guy?!

And who the heck is he calling little lady?! (# - _ -)