"How do we go down there?" Bajie asked.
"No need to ask, monsters can hold their breath for 30 minutes," Wukong said, rolling up her right sleeve, ready to dive into the lake.
"Wait, I can't hold my breath that long," I said.
"Huh? I thought the master was at level 7 or something? Isn't 'master' supposed to be impressive?" Bajie said to me.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but the master is only level 1, weaker than even level 1,"
"What? The master is that weak?!" Bajie exclaimed.
"Weak to the point where the master is no different from an ordinary person,"
'Calm down, calm down. She said the truth' I felt hurt but said nothing.
"I have an idea," Yu Long raised her hand, catching the attention of me and the other two.
She took a breath and dove into the water. Then she blew up a big bubble and looked at us.
"This bubble is very sturdy, enough to last for 20 minutes and can withstand sharp arrows."
"Great! Let's go now!" Wukong immediately jumped into the water.
Bajie followed, jumping into the water.
I gathered my things and got into the bubble before jumping into it.
Yu Long held the bubble and swam deeper.
Diving deep, we saw many fish. The lake had more fish than I expected from a normal lake.
And it was wider down here than anticipated.
While Wukong was diving, she saw a fish with a human face staring at her.
She thought about slapping the fish, but it quickly swam away. Bajie gestured with body language, looking at Wukong.
"What are you doing??" Bajie asked.
Wukong replied with body language, "It was annoying me, so I wanted to slap it."
"You have too much free time. Want to slap anything that annoys you?" Bajie scoffed.
"I'm always honest with myself," Wukong said.
"Whatever," Bajie said dismissively, continuing the dive.
I looked around inside the bubble. Normally, the deeper you dive, the less light there is, but it was unexpectedly bright down here.
Yu Long remained silent, pulling the bubble deeper.
Continuing the dive, we immediately spotted a light at the bottom of the lake.
"That must be the entrance," I said to myself.
As we approached, the light intensified, pulling us all inside. We were all surprised, unable to react before being sucked in.
Afterward, the light returned to normal.
***
"AGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Bajie scream
"HOW THE FUCK ARE WE FALLING??" Wukong shouted
For some reason, we were falling from the sky.
I thought we would see Atlantis, but instead, we were plummeting at an incredible speed.
"YU LONG! DO SOMETHING!" I exclaimed.
Upon hearing that, Yu Long immediately transformed into an Eastern dragon and accelerated our descent.
Then, she created wind to slow down our fall.
We landed safely on Yu Long's back.
"Phew, I almost broke a few teeth..." Bajie wiped her sweat.
"So... where are we? I thought we were supposed to appear in some underwater kingdom or something?" Wukong looked around.
"Look over there," I pointed out, seeing a kingdom made of stone under the sea, adorned with coral reefs and seaweed, typical of underwater landscapes.
"It's quite beautiful."
"It looks familiar..." Wukong squinted, as if she remembered being here before.
"Let's land somewhere and explore," I suggested.
Everyone agreed, and Yu Long landed near a coconut tree.
"The sand is quite smooth," Bajie remarked, a bit excitedly.
"Wait a minute... something seems off," Wukong pointed to the sky.
We all looked up and saw a fish swimming in the air.
"If Newton saw this, he would definitely commit suicide..." I muttered.
"It's possible... we might be underwater, but it's strange that there's sunlight and we can breathe," Wukong speculated.
"Why can't we swim then?" I asked.
"Who knows, I'm not from around here," Wukong shrugged.
"Or maybe..."
"Hmm? Did you just think of something?" I asked.
"Oh, it's nothing, master," Wukong waved her hand dismissively and continued walking.
I heard that and didn't say anything, just followed Bajie and Yu Long.
The whole group approached the entrance of the kingdom, only to be stopped by two guards.
"Race?"
'Huh? Don't they need identity verification?' I was surprised.
"Monsters, except for me,"
"Monsters... please wait a moment," the guard said and went inside to speak with someone.
After a while, the guard came out.
"You're allowed in, but monsters must abide by a few laws."
"Please tell us," I said.
"Nothing too big, monsters are not allowed to harm anyone, or they will be vigorously hunted down and killed on the spot."
"That's it?"
"Yeah."
'The laws are quite strict for monsters, but also quite simplistic,' I thought as we all entered.
Walking inside, I was surprised to see so many people.
The buildings were stacked next to each other, with a strange but intriguing design.
The locals were bustling with conversation, and all the shops along the streets were selling everything imaginable, with everyone smiling.
But what stood out the most was the variety of different races.
"It's quite rare to see this. Usually, when different races meet, there's only conflict and violence," Wukong remarked.
We walked around to admire everything, and I must say, it was beautiful.
The locals were enthusiastic, chatting away as if they never grew tired of it.
There was even a stage where a sun-tanned girl dressed in a revealing dancer's outfit was dancing for everyone to see.
"It's like a kingdom from a dream," Bajie admired.
"I wonder if our money works here?" I took out my wallet to check.
Even though it was a kingdom, it felt more like a tourist destination.
"Let's find a place to have breakfast," I suggested.
"Great! Finally, some food!" Bajie's mouth watered.
"What a pig, hungry right after waking up," Wukong teased Bajie.
"Shut it! I'm hungry, so what?"
"But what if I don't like it?"
"Calm down, both of you. Let's go eat first," I intervened to stop their bickering.
So, we all went to find a nearby restaurant.
Everyone was excited, except for Yu Long, who had a slightly troubled expression.
She looked up at the castle, seeming to feel something uncomfortable that she couldn't explain.
"Hey, why are you standing still?" I asked.
Yu Long looked for a moment, then turned back to us and follow.