Spoiled by Eight Uncles (Lily)

Blake weaved through the crowd quickly, and saw a head bobbing about the water.

Even more strangely, there were two girls sobbing their hearts out. Both of them were drenched.

He had heard that there had been two girls who had fallen into the water. Had they been rescued already.

A middle aged woman shouted, “Give me back my daughter! My poor daughter!” She panicked as she spoke, insisting on getting into the water.

Blake pulled her out of the way at once. “Don't you go in there!” The lady refused to listen, insisting on going in. “My daughter, please save my daughter!” But, there were a few old uncles and aunties shouting by the shore, “No, it's a man... there’s a man too!” So was it a man or a woman? The middle-aged woman shoved Blake away, and was promptly yanked back.

He asked sternly, “Can you swim?” The lady shook her head.

Blake said, “Don't go in there. Wait here for me. Got it?" Upon speaking, he jumped into the water. There was a life at stake here, and time waited for no one.

Blake rowed in the direction of the floating head.

Only for the middle-aged lady by the shore to jump in anyways. The water's edge was shallow but got deeper as it went further into the center. She walked along the edge, shouting, “My daughter, save my daughter!” Before she could finish, she lost her footing and slipped and fell into the river! The lady cried out in panic, struggling and flailing her limbs.

“Help...” Blake was nothing but annoyed. He'd told her not to come in, she didn’t know how to swim— and she'd done it anyway.

He stared at the head in the middle of the river. It had stopped moving.

The middle-aged lady was closer, only two meters away.

If he were to save the person in the middle of the water, the lady might be dead by that time. The person in the middle of the river was already unmoving, and most likely dead.

Blake would obviously choose the person who was more likely to survive. One would usually prioritize that factor when saving someone, not who was more deserving of being rescued.

Blake swam back at top speed, raising the woman and hauling her to the shore, before swimming off into the middle of the river.

The woman fell into the mud by the river, crying out once before she was yanked ashore by the people nearby. Her cries could still be heard from a distance.

Bettany and Lilly could not match Blake's speed, and had only reached the shore now.

Lilly looked to the shore, and panicked at once.

“Daddy, Daddy!” She ran down.

Bettany freaked out at this. “Lilly, don’t go down there!” Lilly turned around. “Don’t worry, Grandma! | know what I'm doing. You stay safe!” Upon speaking, she ran off.

Bettany did not know what to do. She herself could not go down, that would only add more trouble.

She clutched her remote controller, backing her wheelchair up half a meter. There were too many people by the river— she would only cause more trouble if she were to fall in.

Bettany retreated to a safe spot, flagging down a passer-by to watch over Lilly.

Lilly was a pretty fast runner for how short her legs were, and reached the shore in no time. She did not act rashly, and merely cupped her hands by her mouth to shout, “Dad! Come back!” Aman ran over, hoisting her up. “Don’t go running around, little girl!” The winds by the river were strong, and Blake could only hear himself rowing. He had reached the middle of the river, and reached out to grab the floating person.

The second his fingers closed around the person's clothing, all Blake could feel was a sticky, slippery sensation.

He found that very strange. This person had just fallen into the water. Why did they feel mossy and slimy, like algae had begun to grow on them? The person was on their back, exposing a pale and lifeless face with upturned eyes. It was a terrifying sight.

It was a man.

Blake got a shock. Just then, he felt something wrapping around his ankles and pulling him into the water! “What?” How dare you trick me, of all people? Blake wrenched his feet free, stomping down viciously! Anyone would have been scared witless coming face to face with a corpse, but not Blake.

Anyone would also have been terrified if something in the water was to grab their ankle out of nowhere... but not Blake.

Blake was nothing but calm. He grabbed the floating male corpse, stomping down vigorously. He had undergone underwater training before, and was able to use his strength underwater unlike most people.

He felt like he was kicking against something round and soft— because he had lost his footing after stomping down, the round thing was probably shaped like a human head.

Blake did not have time to think about what was underwater. He grabbed the male corpse, swimming vigorously to shore.

Yet the thing underwater was relentless in its pursuit, and quickly caught up to his leg again.

Blake was dragged backwards once again. This underwater force seemed to be pretty strong.

Blake frowned. He let go of the corpse, pushing it hard towards the shore. Whether the corpse made it or not was out of his control now.

His own safety was far more important.

After doing this, he was able to swim with both hands.

Yet whatever force that was underwater had now caught both of his ankles. Blake was no longer dragged backwards, but he could not swim forwards as well. He was stuck.

His ankles felt slimy, like the corpse from just now.

Blake's mind raced. If he didn’t panic, he might just be able to hold off this underwater force until the authorities got here.

But this might not work. He did not know what he was dealing with, and if it might explode with energy all of a sudden.

Just then, a ray of green light shone across the water. A parrot was seen carrying an amulet in its mouth. It flew to Blake, stepping right on his head.

Blake thought to himself, What the...

Polly held the amulet in her beak, pecking Blake's head again and again.

Blake was speechless.

He reached out to grab the amulet.

Polly flew up immediately, crowing, “Burn it! Burn it!” Lilly had been watching from the shore nervously, and had sensed the dark energy around Blake when he was struggling in the water.

She could not go there, and the authorities weren't here yet.

In a fit of panic, she spotted Polly and an idea came into her mind at once. She reached for her backpack, fishing out an amulet and passing it to Polly for her to bring over.

Thank goodness Polly did not let her down.

Blake held the amulet, slapping it onto the surface of the water.

He had never used a yellow amulet before, and thus did not know how to do it. It was clear that Polly knocking it above his head did not work.

The water was the other way to go, then.

Sure enough, he was right. The murky water was suddenly ablaze with green flames as Blake felt the thing grabbing his foot let go of him at once.

The darkness of the water cleared slowly, reflecting the lights once again.

Blake took the chance to swim back to shore at top speed. He saw the male corpse again just as he reached.

It looked like he had been hung up by an outstretched branch.

He paid it no mind, returning to shore at once.

Lilly ran into his arms, hugging Blake tightly as tears shone in her eyes. “Daddy...” Blake stroked her head. “I'm alright.” What happened today had been very strange, but he had been in many situations that had been far more dangerous than this one.

The authorities arrived shortly after, fishing the male corpse out of the water at once.

The corpse's face was completely drained of color, his eyes widened like his death had been a wrongful tragedy. It scared the wits out of the onlookers nearby.

Blake frowned. This corpse...

Hadn't its eyes been rolled backwards? Why were they open now...