Peerless Bodyguard of a Stunning Beauty

Zhao Rong covered the old turtle with a plastic bag and then said with a laugh, ”Old Turtle, do you feel like you’ve entered the water now?”

Hearing Zhao Rong’s words, the old turtle replied, utterly amazed, ”How strange... I’m clearly on the shore, but I feel like I’m swimming. This is awesome!”

When the assistant saw the old turtle, with the plastic bag on, starting to ”swim” on land, she widened her eyes in surprise and said, ”Zhao Rong, the old turtle is obviously on land, so why is he ’swimming’ on the ground? Isn’t that hilarious?”

Hearing the assistant’s remarks and watching the old turtle’s bizarre actions, Zhao Rong laughed and explained, ”You see, Assistant, although this plastic bag looks ordinary, it’s actually a simulated-environment plastic bag. Once the old turtle put it on, he felt as though he were in the water, even though he wasn’t.”

Listening to Zhao Rong’s explanation, it dawned on the assistant. She said, ”So, Zhao Rong, you mean the old turtle is just hallucinating right now?”

Zhao Rong shook his head and clarified, ”Of course it’s not a hallucination. It’s a sensation he can actually feel...”

The assistant asked curiously, ”Zhao Rong, when the old turtle goes onto land with us and we enter the canyon, he won’t dry out after putting on this plastic bag, will he?”

Hearing her concern, Zhao Rong said with a laugh, ”Don’t worry, Assistant. As long as the old turtle has this protective plastic bag over his head, it will ensure he’s always in a very humid environment. Not only will he avoid drying out, he could even drown...”

Before Zhao Rong could finish, the old turtle immediately took the plastic bag off his head and said joyfully, ”Young man, your plastic bag is simply wonderful! I think with this, I can cross from the lake bottom into the canyon without dying of drought...” With that, the old turtle agreed to lead the assistant and Zhao Rong through the black hole at the bottom of the lake to the world outside.

Seeing that the old turtle was willing to lead the way, Zhao Rong and the assistant hugged in celebration. Zhao Rong immediately bought two more diving suits and four oxygen tanks. Carrying two tanks each on their backs, they followed the old turtle into the water.

After the three of them descended, the old turtle led the way, while Zhao Rong and the assistant followed behind in their diving suits. Along the way, the assistant kept a watchful eye on their surroundings and said nervously, ”I hope we don’t run into that lake monster from before. Otherwise, we’re in for a major battle...”

Zhao Rong held his mouse weapon at the ready. ”We have milk tea for guests, but for predators, we have the mouse. Even if we encounter that lake monster, we don’t need to be afraid. We’ll just aim the mouse at it and spam-click...”

Listening to their conversation, the old turtle swimming ahead mocked them, ”What’s there to be afraid of with that lake monster? I, the Old Turtle, have been in this water for eight hundred years and I’ve never been afraid of it.”

When Zhao Rong and the assistant heard that the old turtle wasn’t afraid of the lake monster, they exchanged a look and said admiringly, ”Old Turtle, we really admire you! That lake monster has fangs sharp enough to crush a person’s bones in a single bite... Yet you’re not afraid of her. That’s truly impressive.”

Hearing their praise and admiration, the old turtle boasted, ”I’ll tell you the truth. In this lake, besides the lake monster, there are also aquatic cockroaches. But I’ve never been afraid of either of those monsters. What’s more, when those two creatures see me, they have to show me some deference...” With that, the old turtle burst into hearty laughter.

When Zhao Rong and the assistant heard that there was another creature called an aquatic cockroach in the lake besides the detestable lake monster, they looked at each other in bewilderment, unable to imagine what it could be. The assistant scratched the back of her head, trying to picture what a cockroach looked like. Observing the movement in the surrounding water, she said, ”I think an aquatic cockroach must be like a land cockroach, just a particularly small insect...”

Zhao Rong, however, felt that an aquatic cockroach couldn’t be that simple. Otherwise, why would the old turtle have specifically mentioned it?

So, Zhao Rong curiously asked the old turtle, ”By the way, Old Turtle, what kind of creature is an aquatic cockroach? Is it dangerous?”

The assistant chimed in with concern, ”Yes, Old Turtle, tell us! Between the aquatic cockroach and the lake monster, which one is more terrifying? Which one is more dangerous to us humans?”

The old turtle, swimming leisurely ahead, turned back to look at them and said, ”The two monsters are about the same. If I had to say, the aquatic cockroach might be slightly more dangerous than the lake monster...”

Hearing this, Zhao Rong and his assistant immediately began to imagine what this strange creature looked like. But no matter how hard they tried, they just couldn’t picture a cockroach that lived in water.

However, just as they were lost in their imaginations, the old turtle suddenly pointed to a spherical creature up ahead and exclaimed in terror, ”Damn... Speak of the devil! Look, that creature up ahead is an aquatic cockroach!”

When Zhao Rong and the assistant heard that the dark, spherical object not far ahead was an aquatic cockroach, their eyes widened, and they immediately prepared for battle. As the aquatic cockroach approached the three of them, it revealed its ferocious face. When Zhao Rong and his assistant saw that it looked remarkably similar to the aliens from Hollywood movies and was just as terrifying, they were scared witless.

The assistant, shivering all over, looked at the old turtle and said, ”Old Turtle, didn’t you say that both the lake monster and the aquatic cockroaches have to show you deference? So why does it look like this one is about to eat all three of us?”

Zhao Rong also looked at the old turtle. ”Old Turtle, didn’t you say you weren’t afraid of this thing? Then go on and drive it away! It’s blocking our path and slowing us down.”

Listening to them, the old turtle began retracting his head into his shell and said helplessly, ”I was just boasting! Did you two actually believe me? Sorry, but when I see a monster this ferocious, I hide in my shell. You two are on your own...” With that, the old turtle retracted his head, limbs, and tail into his shell. He lay motionless on the lakebed, leaving Zhao Rong and his assistant to face the aquatic cockroach’s attack.