Chapter 40: 40. The Sound of the Sea
In the days of vacationing by the seaside, Lin Zichen only did two things every day.
One was to have Shen Qinghan do various underwater actions in the sea during the day, while he observed from the side, trying to uncover the secrets Shen Qinghan might be hiding.
The other was to dive into the sea at night when no one was around and intensely train to improve his various abilities in the water.
Several days passed by just like that.
Time quickly brought them to the last evening of their seaside vacation.
That evening, after finishing dinner, Lin Zichen lay on his bed, watching videos on his phone, learning all kinds of knowledge related to the ocean.
Not long after he started watching, Shen Qinghan sent him a message on WeChat.
[Han Han: Xiao Chen, come over to my room now, I have a surprise for you!]
[Zi Chen: Okay, coming right now.]
After replying to the message, Lin Zichen got out of bed and headed to Shen Qinghan's room to see what surprise she had prepared.
...
"Han Han, open the door."
In front of the door, Lin Zichen knocked and spoke.
Ever since the last time when he entered the room without knocking and accidentally saw Shen Qinghan wearing a diaper, he had become much more cautious.
"The door isn't locked, just come on in."
Shen Qinghan's voice came from the room, carrying a hint of nervousness and shyness.
Lin Zichen sensed the unusual tone of her voice and became very curious.
What kind of surprise had Shen Qinghan prepared that made her voice sound so nervous and shy?
With that thought, he opened the door and walked in.
What he saw was Shen Qinghan standing by the bed wearing a swimsuit, her face flushed as she shyly watched him enter.
The swimsuit was different from the one she wore to the beach during the day.
It looked more normal, more revealing, not much different from just wearing underwear.
"Xiao Chen, do you think it looks good?" Shen Qinghan suppressed the shyness in her heart, walked up to Lin Zichen, and twirled around to show off her swimsuit-clad figure.
This swimsuit had been prepared by Xu Meng when she was at home, thinking she would wear it after arriving at the seaside.
Unfortunately, she was too embarrassed to wear it; throughout the whole vacation by the seaside, she hadn't worn it even once.
And for that reason, feeling that it would be a waste not to wear it, she decided to put it on in her room for Lin Zichen to see, hoping to get some sort of feedback.
"It looks very good, particularly suited for you to wear."
Lin Zichen took a few glances at Shen Qinghan in her swimsuit and gave her this very honest answer.
"Really?"
"Really."
Lin Zichen wasn't speaking against his conscience; what he said was all true.
After all, Shen Qinghan in her swimsuit, whether it was her face or body, was incredibly perfect, and they matched together beautifully.
If she were to walk along the outside beach, she'd get a second glance from at least 80% of the people.
"By the way, it's pretty comfortable walking on the beach at night with the sea breeze blowing, do you want to come down and experience it with me?"
Lin Zichen, at the full flush of youth, knew that looking at Shen Qinghan in her swimsuit any longer might lead to inappropriate thoughts, so he made this suggestion.
Without any hesitation, Shen Qinghan said, "I must experience it, wait for me a moment, I'll go change my clothes."
As she spoke, she picked up a set of casual clothes on the bed and went into the bathroom that came with the room to change.
She wasn't at all embarrassed in front of Lin Zichen and didn't ask him to wait outside the room.
...
On the beach at night.
A gentle breeze blew softly.
Lin Zichen and Shen Qinghan, both without shoes, walked barefoot on the beach, enjoying the sensation of the sand grains through their toes.
"Xiao Chen, walking on the beach at night really is so comfortable. I can't believe I didn't come to the beach for a walk the last few nights; it's such a pity."
Shen Qinghan said, feeling like she had missed out.
Lin Zichen smiled: "It's okay, there will be plenty of opportunities to come to the beach in the future, we can come every summer vacation."
"That's right, during every holiday, our two families can come to the seaside to play, swim together, play beach volleyball together, barbecue on the shore, and eat all kinds of delicious meat skewers!"
When it came to meat skewers, Shen Qinghan couldn't help but swallow her saliva, obviously craving some.
Seeing her like this, Lin Zichen was reminded of scenes from when they were children, shopping in the mall.
Back then, Zhang Wanxin loved to shop and often invited Xu Meng to join her.
Shen Qinghan, who came along with Xu Meng, could never help but drool whenever they passed by snack stalls, and she would stop and refuse to move, saying in her baby voice that she wanted to buy snacks to eat.
It was the same every time, without exception.
Thinking about it, Lin Zichen couldn't help but look over Shen Qinghan, comparing her to the little foodie from those years.
In a word, women change greatly as they grow up.
Back then, she was a chubby-cheeked, short-legged little loli, now she is a delicate-faced, slender-legged, youthful girl, her attribute having changed from cute to beautiful.
"Is my face really that pretty? We've walked over a hundred meters and you're still staring at my face."
Shen Qinghan couldn't stand Lin Zichen's gaze any longer, her face flushing as she spoke.
Lin Zichen laughed, "It really is pretty, prettier than a lot of so-called female stars."
"Oh, stop it with that kind of talk, you're just up to no good, trying to see me blush!"
Shen Qinghan really couldn't bear being praised like that, feeling so embarrassed she couldn't even walk comfortably.
At this time, without realizing it, the two had already walked into the sea nearby.
Their feet soaked in the cool water.
Lin Zichen, looking at the seawater under his feet and thinking of the colorful underwater world, spontaneously turned to Shen Qinghan and asked, "Do you want to dive with me and enjoy the colorful undersea world?"
"How do we dive?"
"I'll teach you."
Saying this, Lin Zichen led Shen Qinghan towards the deeper parts of the shallow area and together they dove into the underwater world that was only a few meters deep.
However, just two seconds after diving down, Shen Qinghan suddenly started frantically tapping Lin Zichen with a tense face, signaling that she wanted to surface and not dive anymore.
Seeing this, Lin Zichen quickly helped her to the surface.
The moment they surfaced, Shen Qinghan's face turned deathly pale and she said, "Quick, Xiao Chen, let's get to shore, far away from the sea!"
Lin Zichen didn't understand what had happened, but didn't press for answers, instead swimming with her to the shore first.
After reaching the shore, he asked with a puzzled face, "What happened, why did you suddenly get so nervous?"
"The sound, I heard a sound. Just as I dived to the seabed, strange sounds continuously echoed in my ears, so strange that they were a bit terrifying."
"What sound?"
"I don't understand, it might have been a language I don't recognize. All I know is that it was a woman's voice, very real, echoing non-stop in my ears until I surfaced."
Shen Qinghan said with a face far from relieved.
Lin Zichen listened, becoming even more puzzled. A woman's voice? A language he didn't understand? Constantly echoing in the ears? How come I, who was diving too, didn't hear a thing?
"Let's go, Xiao Chen, let's hurry back. I don't want to stay on this beach any longer. I keep feeling a chill on my back, it's kind of scary."
Shen Qinghan said with a face full of fear.
Seeing her so scared, Lin Zichen didn't linger on the beach, quickly taking her back to their sea-view room.
...
Late at night.
On the bed.
Lin Zichen hadn't been able to sleep, his mind was full of the thing Shen Qinghan told him — hearing a woman's voice while diving.
The more he thought about it, the more his spine tingled, uncontrollably drifting toward the idea of water ghosts.
But soon, he realized that all these were meaningless speculations, the more he thought about it, the more time he wasted.
So, in order not to keep thinking about it, he took out his phone and started browsing current news online.
Before long, he came across an unexpected piece of news.
In Shanhai City, traces of giant mutant rats had appeared again!
A fishing enthusiast went to the riverside for night fishing and was carried away by a giant mutant rat that suddenly appeared; his fate, dead or alive, remained unknown.
After reading this news, Lin Zichen was suddenly filled with a sense of urgency. Considering that he was too restless to sleep anyway, he decided to get out of bed and train.
And so… he got out of bed and began his training.
[You've done 1000 weighted push-ups, Qi-Blood +2000, arm muscle strength +2000, chest muscle strength +2000, push-up proficiency +1000]
[You've done 1000 weighted sit-ups, Qi-Blood +2000, abdominal muscle strength +2000, sit-up proficiency +1000]
[You've done 1000 weighted squats, Qi-Blood +2000, leg muscle strength +2000, squat proficiency +1000]
[Your Biological Level has advanced to Common Tier Five]
As he trained, Lin Zichen was thrilled to realize he had actually evolved!
His Biological Level had evolved from Fourth Order to Common Tier Five!
Common Tier Five, a level that could contend with an adult giant mutant rat!
"I wonder how much those three basic attributes have increased; I need to test it out…" he thought.
Thinking this, Lin Zichen immediately took out a measurement tool from his luggage and couldn't wait to go outside to test his body's data.
After about half an hour, the data for all three basic attributes were measured.
100-meter sprint in just 3.64 seconds.
Vertical jump reach of 6.98 meters.
Able to lift a car weighing around 1600kg with one hand.
Compared to when he had just broken through to Fourth Order, the improvements in the data were significant.
The 100-meter sprint time was cut by 0.85 seconds, the vertical jump height increased by 1.33 meters, and the weight he could lift with one hand increased by 510kg.
...
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