Chapter 329 - 258: The Good Swimmer Drowns

’I can’t let him catch me,’ Su Yue thought. She immediately started swimming away, putting distance between them.

Thanks to her superb swimming skills, honed by countless idle hours in her family’s pool, Su Yue handled Lin Li’s attempts to catch her with ease.

Every time Lin Li got within ten meters of her, Su Yue, graceful as a mermaid, would always pull away in an instant.

Then, she would laugh and tease Lin Li for his doggy paddle.

Lin Li, now determined to catch Su Yue, naturally wouldn’t let her words distract him. He stubbornly kept at it with his persistent doggy paddle.

The chase continued, one fleeing and one pursuing, and time flew by.

Twenty-some minutes later, the smile on Su Yue’s pretty face, who had been darting through the water like a nimble mermaid, gradually vanished.

She watched, panting, as Lin Li slowly swam toward her, still maintaining his initial pace. She muttered to herself in astonishment.

"How does Lin Li have so much stamina? He’s been swimming like that for over twenty minutes, but he hasn’t slowed down at all. This is so strange...

’This is not good. If this keeps up, he’s going to catch me...’

She thought about how she’d been gleefully mocking Lin Li just twenty minutes ago. It would be so embarrassing to get caught now.

’No, I can’t let Lin Li catch me.’

Su Yue thought to herself, then called out to the approaching Lin Li.

"Hey, we’ve been swimming for a long time. It’s getting dark, so we should get out and have dinner. Let’s call it a day and continue tomorrow..."

Hearing this, Lin Li stopped. He glanced at the sun, which was still hovering above the horizon. ’There’s still a good thirty or forty minutes until sunset,’ he thought. ’It’s still early!’

"Su Yue, you’re only saying that because you think I’m about to catch you, aren’t you!" Lin Li said, turning his gaze from the sunset back to the breathless Su Yue.

Her bluff called, Su Yue obviously wasn’t going to admit it. "Of course not!" she argued. "I’ve already given you more than twenty minutes, and you still haven’t caught me. The result will be the same if we keep going, so let’s not waste any more time."

With that, Su Yue announced, "I’m heading ashore first," and quickly swam toward the beach... or rather, fled. If she stayed in the sea, her exhausted body would give out, and Lin Li would catch her in no time.

’This woman is so cunning! She starts playing dirty the moment she knows she’s going to lose,’ Lin Li muttered as he watched Su Yue quickly swim for the shore.

He then slowly followed after her. There was nothing he could do about her being a sore loser.

With her remaining energy, Su Yue would have no problem reaching the shore. And at his current speed, Lin Li wouldn’t be able to catch her before she got there.

However, this experience made Lin Li decide to properly work on his swimming technique over the next few days. He would fix this weakness so that Su Yue could never mess with him like this again.

SPLASH, SPLASH, SPLASH...

A beautiful mermaid swam ahead, and thirty-odd meters behind her, a salted fish followed closely.

"Hah..."

Panting, Su Yue felt utterly exhausted. She had been so focused on teasing Lin Li, and in her excitement, she hadn’t felt it. But now, fatigue washed over her like a tidal wave.

The more she tried to rush to the shore, the heavier her limbs felt.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot up from her right leg.

"Ah!"

Su Yue cried out in pain and stopped dead in the water. Then, her body began to slowly sink.

’Oh no, my right leg is cramping,’ Su Yue thought in panic as she began to struggle violently.

’What’s this woman doing now? What kind of act is she putting on?’ Lin Li, who was single-mindedly doggy-paddling toward the shore, was filled with confusion as he saw Su Yue stop and start splashing in place.

’Wait. This isn’t an act. The idiot is drowning.’

After observing her doubtfully for a few seconds, Lin Li saw that Su Yue was actually starting to sink. His heart leaped in alarm, and he sped up, swimming toward her.

SPLASH, SPLASH...

As she thrashed her arms, sending water splashing everywhere, Su Yue finally couldn’t hold it in anymore and cried out to Lin Li for help.

"Lin Li, hurry and help me! My leg cramped up..."

The moment her cry for help left her lips, a figure appeared right in front of her.

He reached out, grabbed her flailing, slender arm, and pulled her into his embrace.

Her right leg seized by a cramp, Su Yue clung to Lin Li like a lifeline, wrapping her arms around his neck like an octopus and panting, her breath fragrant.

"And you! Bragging about how good your swimming is! And now look at you!" Lin Li said gruffly to the woman in his arms.

"It was an accident. If my right leg hadn’t suddenly cramped, I’d have been on shore long ago," Su Yue said softly, catching her breath. She was embarrassed by her mistake, and her voice lacked its usual confidence.

’So stubborn,’ Lin Li grumbled internally.

At the same time, holding Su Yue by her slender waist, he felt an immense pressure. Even though they were both in the water, their bodies were pressed together, and the sensation was incredibly distinct.

’No, I have to get this woman to shore right away, or I’m going to embarrass myself.’

Mentally chanting the Purifying Heart Spell, Lin Li started swimming quickly toward the shore with Su Yue in tow.

"Don’t be in such a hurry! It’s okay to go a little slower..." Su Yue said, worried that if Lin Li swam too fast with her, he’d run into trouble too.

"I know what I’m doing, don’t worry." Without stopping his internal chant of the Purifying Heart Spell, Lin Li reassured her, but continued swimming toward the shore at the same speed.

"Okay." Since Lin Li had said so, Su Yue didn’t argue. She gave a soft hum of agreement and slightly loosened her grip on his neck.

A short while later, at the water’s edge, SPLASH, Lin Li helped Su Yue stand up from the water.

Because of her cramped leg, Su Yue could only stand on one foot and was completely unsteady.

Seeing this, Lin Li scratched his head, then bent down and swept Su Yue up into his arms.

"Ah!"

Su Yue hadn’t expected Lin Li to actually pick her up. She let out a startled cry and instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Your leg is hurt, so I’ll carry you over there to rest," Lin Li said, too embarrassed to look down at Su Yue in his arms. He kept his eyes fixed ahead and started walking.

"..." Onshore, passing tourists all turned to look. Being held in a princess carry, Su Yue couldn’t help but think, ’Maybe getting a leg cramp isn’t such a bad thing after all!’

There were many beach umbrellas on the sand with lounge chairs underneath them, all set up by the local beach management.

To use these lounge chairs, you had to pay a small fee.

Lin Li carried the incapacitated Su Yue to an empty lounge chair and gently set her down.

"You sit here for a bit, I’ll go pay the fee..."

"Okay." Su Yue nodded obediently, watching Lin Li walk toward a lounge chair attendant in the distance who had been looking their way.

Averting her gaze, Su Yue began to massage her cramped right leg. She thought about how Lin Li had chased her in the sea for so long, then brought her back to shore.

And then he had carried her a long way. After all that, he didn’t even seem out of breath. She couldn’t help but marvel at it.

’Lin Li’s stamina is really amazing! When I get back, I need to work out more. I can’t lose to him.’

...