My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

136  In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.

It took about an hour of running, and even though he came across some minor inconveniences like snakes attempting to ambush them or some tracks left behind by fights, he didn't stop and, while always keeping his surroundings in check, reached the bank of a majestic river.

Yue Li looked at it with relief while Han Li calmly looked around his surroundings. "As I expected, nobody is here," Han Li said, his red eyes glinting mysteriously. His voice was calm as he looked at the flowing water that stretched far into the distance. It was the Southern Dragon River, a river that had no ruler but a lot of resources.

Calmly, he walked into the river, the water climbing up to his thighs in no time. "Xiao Li, what are you doing?"

Han Li smiled. "Underneath this river, there is a cavern; if we enter it, we can walk through that, and no one will find us. Just hold on to me and hold your breath."

Yue Li nodded and took a deep breath, puffing her cheeks full.

Han Li expanded his Soul Sense into the water and, with a smile, walked deeper into it. Soon enough, his head was underwater, and they were holding their breaths. Both of them had rather powerful Endurance; Yue Li had eaten the Fruit that made it better, while Han Li's body was superior all around.

He swam deeper and deeper, his hands moving like an experienced swimmer while Yue Li held on to him for dear life. Her swimming was far below par, so her lifeline was Han Li under the heavy water of the river.

Even Han Li was cautious inside the river. He had to be.

He was not a Power Born who could fly; if something held him back long enough, he would die, and his mother would die even sooner. But he was confident in his experiences.

While on the surface, a bloody, rusty sword gently jumped into the water along with them. On top, a man sat in the lotus position, his decapitated head calmly held in his hand.

That was the person who had injured Hou Mang. He had been waiting here to ambush Hou Mang, but of course, he could do that in the underworld now.

Deep in the water, Han Li felt his sword sinking towards him and smirked while swimming faster to the center of the river. By now, he was deep in the river, and his cold red eyes found what he was looking for.

A dark abyssal entrance tucked between two obsidian underwater rocks. It was a long distance away, and he could feel his mother growing restless behind him. With a simple move, he snatched the rainbow fruit and quickly devoured it along with some water.

His speed increased quite a bit as if his weight had lessened, but his strength had increased. He moved swiftly, and as his mom was growing even more restless, he entered the cave. The dark rocks surrounded him in darkness, and even his Evolved eyes found it difficult to pierce, but immediately after, he and his mom surfaced their head out of water in an underground cavern, shortly followed by a dark sword.

Han Li's chuckles echoed while his mom breathed heavily.

"Scary," she said, leaning on him while water dripped from her wet hair.

"Don't worry, I know how deep this river goes, and even if you did grow breathless, nothing a kiss won't heal."

"Would it really?" Yue Li scoffed.

"I would not dare put you in danger. I was not sure of escaping."

"What would you have done if a Power Born attacked us?"

Han Li smiled.

"Starlight Head won't attack us; Raven Clan Head and I have a short relationship; I could leverage on that, and the Rock Clan head is a genuinely benevolent man; if he sees us, he will understand we're no demons after seeing your Awakened Cultivation and my 'No cultivation at all,' so he won't do anything either."

"…what if we met the villainous Power Born, that woman Li Ming talked about."

"If that happened," Han Li's eyes flickered. "I would have had to tell her about some secrets. I am sure she is a curious woman, so it won't be that hard to keep her engaged for a while, but it would still have been rather worrisome. So you wanna know what I did?"

"What?"

Han Li showed her the Life Sword.

On its dark surface was a small note written in discernible letters. `Follow this sword to find the Power Born Demonic Ice Fairy.`

"I would stall her while this sword would alert the other Power Borns without her knowledge. They will come for rescue, and she won't even know we were the culprits so that she won't release her anger on us; she wouldn't want to lose her box of secrets to unveil after all. An Evolved at the age of eighteen is far too interesting. So she would protect us if it came to it. And just in case she planned to threaten me with you, I will tell her you have a bigger secret than me. She would be stalled. In the middle of the chaos, we will escape and let loose the Elephant Rock, then escape to somewhere they can't find us."

Yue Li sighed. She was leaning on him as he floated atop the water, and she couldn't help but think, for the first time in her life—her son had grown up.

For some reason, that realization was rather painful. Especially because he had a lot of secrets.

"But these schemes have a lot of loopholes, Mom. Improvisation was the key, and I am sure I would have been able to, so don't rely on selling your secrets; it is a cheap last resort I like to use that is rather effective once used well," he said and swam towards a rock. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Xiao Li," she made him pause his words. "Let's talk when we're safe."