The stream suddenly grew turbulent, and my back slammed hard against a hidden reef. Amidst the searing pain, the jade pendant slipped from my grasp, tracing an eerie arc through the moonlight.
"No!" I lunged desperately, but only grabbed the cold stream water.
Just as the jade pendant was about to sink to the riverbed, a dark figure flashed across the water. An old man wearing a bamboo rain hat caught the jade pendant steadily, tapped his bamboo pole lightly against the surface, and drifted to the bank like a phantom.
Chapter 120