Chapter 285 Vengeful Spirits Demand Retribution
Chapter 285 Vengeful Spirits Demand Retribution
Melinda also raised her hands high, showing that she hadn't touched the boat at all. Her voice was choked with tears,
"I really didn't!"
Both Melinda and Dylan held their hands up high, but the boat they were in kept rocking violently. The boat had already started to tilt,
and icy lake water was seeping in along the edge of the boat, quickly soaking their pants.
"This is bad, our boat's going to flip!"
Dylan was terrified. He quickly threw down his oar and rushed over to Melinda in just a few steps, trying to grab her hand.
He knew that even if they fell in, he could swim and protect Melinda.
Besides, falling in wasn't the scary part - what was scary was being trapped under an overturned boat.
In that case, no matter how good they were at swimming, they could easily drown.
Sophie's boat wasn't far from Melinda and Dylan's boat.
She was still holding up her streaming equipment, the camera recording this heart-stopping scene in real time.
Seeing Melinda and Dylan's boat rocking violently, Sophie's heart jumped too.
Sophie quickly turned around and paddled hard toward Melinda's boat,
then used her oar to hook firmly onto the edge of Melinda's boat, shouting loudly,
"You two, don't panic! Dylan, don't move either. Just sit still and let the boat settle down!"
The viewers in the live stream had already gotten really excited. Comments were rolling by like a waterfall, filling up the entire screen:
[Wasn't everything peaceful just a moment ago? Sunshine, lake, boats, beautiful people - such a nice scene. How did someone suddenly fall in the water and now a boat's about to flip? This is so scary!]
[Could the haunting stories about Royal Peaks Manor actually be true? I'm getting scared!]
[Didn't you hear what those viewers who left the stream earlier said? Royal Peaks Manor is seriously haunted. Lots of people who stayed there had nightmares at night, and some even packed up crying in the middle of the night and left!]
[Even though some people don't believe it and keep going to stay at the hotel or visit the haunted house there, every single one comes back crying and scared. Many viewers watching streams have said this, so I've never dared to go!]
[I can't believe even Isabella and the others are being targeted by the 'ghost' at Royal Peaks Manor? This is going to be interesting!]
[What ghost? You're all talking nonsense! These kinds of currents on the lake are totally normal and have nothing to do with ghosts. For example, if the oars move in one direction only, it creates a whirlpool. When the boat is caught in a whirlpool, it can easily flip. As long as two people sit at opposite ends of the boat, don't move around, and stay calm, everything will be fine once the whirlpool disappears.]
[That's easy for you to say! But look, except for Ms. Collins's boat, the other two boats are rocking so badly. Could there really be two whirlpools on the lake at the same time? That's way too much of a coincidence!]
[Right! Something's definitely off! Did any of you see those dark shadows passing by at the bottom of the lake? I saw them! At first I thought they were schools of fish, but now I'm thinking, could they be the spirits of people who drowned?]
[But I haven't heard of anyone drowning in the lake behind Royal Peaks Manor? Where would these spirits come from?]
[Exactly! Could there be some kind of monster in the lake?]
[Stop reading so many comics! What century is this? Still believing in monsters!]
The viewers in the live stream were arguing fiercely,
supporters and doubters each sticking to their views,
getting red in the face. But Sophie had no time to pay attention to any of this. She gritted her teeth, stretched out her long legs, and stepped down hard on one side of Melinda and Dylan's boat,
trying to use her body weight to steady it. Maybe this human intervention worked, plus Melinda and Dylan were too scared to move,
sitting obediently in the boat. The rocking gradually became gentler, and the water in the boat stopped rising.
On the other side, Isabella reacted quickly.
She grabbed Charles's arm and with a little effort, pulled him up from the water,
her movements clean and efficient,
as if the dangerous moment had just been a minor accident.
Charles was soaking wet, sitting slumped in the boat, gasping for air, his heart still pounding.
Three people in three boats slowly gathered together on the lake. The surface temporarily returned to calm, but the danger lurking underwater still hadn't disappeared.
Isabella turned to look at the distance from the middle of the lake to the shore, and her heart jumped.
Without realizing it, they had already rowed out nine hundred feet.
At this distance, if the boat really flipped, even people who could swim would have a hard time swimming back to shore.
After all, most people's swimming experience was in 75-foot pools. Swimming a few laps in a pool was one thing,
but in this bottomless lake, few people had experience with long-distance outdoor swimming.
And if they hadn't properly warmed up before exercising,
jumping in and swimming nine hundred feet could easily cause leg cramps. Being helpless in the lake at that point would have terrible consequences.
Isabella narrowed her eyes, her gaze sharp as a knife, staring intently at the dark shadows moving back and forth at the bottom of the lake. Those shadows seemed to sense her watching,
and darted around even faster in the water.
She didn't hesitate any longer. She quickly pulled out several tarot cards from her bag, flicked her fingers,
and suddenly, the tarot cards flew like unsheathed swords straight into the lake.
Everyone on the boats held their breath, staring at the lake surface without blinking, not daring to breathe.
After a moment, something amazing happened.
Those dark shadows seemed to be intimidated by the tarot cards. They scattered in all directions, quickly diving into the depths of the lake, not daring to show themselves again.
The lake surface temporarily returned to calm.
Just when everyone thought the crisis was over, Charles suddenly went stiff, his face instantly turning pale.
He felt that hand that had grabbed the back of his neck earlier - it was back!
That hand was still ice cold, gripping even harder than before,
as if it wanted to crush his bones. He quickly reached out to grab the edge of the boat,
while shouting desperately at Isabella,
"Cousin, save me!"
Before he finished speaking, a huge pulling force suddenly grabbed Charles's back, quickly dragging him from the bow to the stern.
Suddenly, Charles was pulled into the icy lake water once again, splashing up a huge spray of water.
On the other side, Dylan and Melinda both felt an invisible, powerful force pulling at their ankles, dragging them toward the bottom of the lake.
That force carried a cold, eerie feeling that sent chills down their spines.