Chapter 87: You’re Really Persistent!
Zhang Qiling was stunned by this scene. He scooped some seawater and applied it near the wound, slightly dissolving the coagulated blood and smearing it on the parts of Fatty and Wu Xie that were not yet submerged. This indeed slightly hindered the Forbidden Woman from entangling their feet with her hair, allowing them to merely hack wildly with their daggers underwater.
As Zhang Qiling joined the hair-hacking ranks with his knife, the parts where the Forbidden Woman had entangled them were quickly cleared. Perhaps out of fear, they could vaguely see the Forbidden Woman’s hair not far from them, but it stopped advancing towards them.
“This thing wasn’t scared of fire, is it scared of having its hair cut off?” Lin Yan, holding a dagger, stared warily into the water, waiting for the Forbidden Woman to grab its hair and slash it wildly. Wu Xie rolled his eyes at him: “This Forbidden Woman only has so much hair. We burned half of it before, and now we’ve cut it like this. Even if it’s a strange entity, it should have an instinct for self-preservation, right? I hope we can just coexist peacefully like this and go our separate ways once we get out.”
The water had now risen to their waists. With a desolate, drawn-out sound, the crossbeam above completely broke, and half of it fell into the water, splashing a huge wave. For a moment, seawater poured in wildly from above. Just as they thought the changes above were complete, the pillar supporting the treasure ceiling broke.
In a matter of seconds, the water rose from their waists to their chests. It was foreseeable that in another dozen seconds, this tomb chamber would be completely submerged by seawater. If they didn’t get out before then…
The four exchanged glances. Zhang Qiling supported Fatty, and Lin Yan supported Wu Xie, and they began to swim towards the cave entrance blasted through the top. Fortunately, the sea level was rising quickly, and the height was enough for them to float. Wu Xie’s ribs had just been set, and any movement caused a searing pain. It was difficult for Lin Yan to swim with him held by one hand. He whispered in Lin Yan’s ear, “Give me your bag. You can throw it away too; it’ll be easier to carry me like this!”
Lin Yan also felt this wasn’t working and nodded. He quickly threw the bag to Wu Xie, then, amidst Wu Xie’s muffled groan, grabbed Wu Xie’s hands and put them around his neck, carrying him on his back towards the cave. Zhang Qiling and Fatty saw this, exchanged a look, and did the same. Zhang Qiling also carried Fatty on his back. Perhaps because Fatty was too heavy, after Zhang Qiling put him on his back, his entire body was almost submerged in the water.
Perhaps sensing Zhang Qiling’s unspoken frustration, Fatty chuckled awkwardly twice and said, “Uh… I’ll definitely lose weight! I’ll start as soon as we’re out!”
Fortunately, Zhang Qiling didn’t say anything. He laboriously carried Fatty on his back and swam towards the direction of the cave.
Lin Yan reached the cave entrance first. He looked back and saw Zhang Qiling and the others still two or three meters behind. Estimating they could make it out without his help, he called out to him, “We’re going out first, hurry up!” With that, just as the seawater completely filled the tomb chamber, he led the way, drilling out by clinging to the edge of the opening.
Fortunately, the Xisha waters were clear. Even with the remains of so many blue bricks mixed in, they could clearly see the scene outside. Outside, a whirlpool had formed due to the water flow changes here. They were now at the center of the whirlpool. To get out safely, they could only float directly upwards; otherwise, they would eventually be dragged down by the whirlpool’s edge.
This is insane. His only prior swimming experience was during this trip to the underwater tomb, and that was drifting in a storm, learning instinctively. Now, right as he surfaced, they’ve thrown him into a hellish challenge, which is really expecting a lot from him!
However, thinking of Wu Xie, who was enduring the pain in his ribs and holding his breath on his back, he tried to judge the water flow by the surrounding churned-up blue bricks and slowly floated upwards, fearing that a single misstep would drag him back down.
It must be said that Lin Yan’s cautious approach, though unintentional, avoided “decompression sickness” – a condition that can occur from ascending too quickly during diving. This happens when nitrogen in the blood forms large, bizarre bubbles, causing the diver’s body to expand and potentially leading to death.
Just as they predicted, the seabed was only about ten meters below sea level. Although they couldn’t see the ship, they were definitely in the same sea area and not too far away. They could just float for a while, recover their strength, and then look for the ship.
Just as Lin Yan’s lungs felt like they were on fire from holding his breath, they finally reached the sea surface. The sun was setting, and looking at the fiery clouds on the horizon, he felt a sense of familiarity, like the rising sun. They had truly survived and made it out!
At this moment, he felt his shoulder loosen as Wu Xie withdrew his hands. He quickly turned to look at Wu Xie, who was laboriously clutching his chest and coughing, apparently having swallowed some water. Lin Yan quickly swam behind him and gently patted his back. Wu Xie finally managed to catch his breath and said, “Damn it, we finally made it out!”
After enjoying a few seconds of the joy of being alive, he looked behind him and asked, “Where are they?”
Lin Yan shook his head. Zhang Qiling and Fatty were behind him and would likely be a little later. He submerged his head underwater and saw Zhang Qiling and the others a few meters below. Fatty was holding his breath so hard he was about to roll his eyes! He quickly raised his head and pulled Wu Xie aside to avoid obstructing their ascent. “It’s okay, they’ll be up in a few more seconds!”
Wu Xie also looked down reassuringly and breathed a sigh of relief. It was good that they could come up! Huh? Wait… is there something down there?
His expression tensed, and he looked down again through the clear Xisha waters. Behind Zhang Qiling and Fatty, a black figure was clearly following them, swimming towards them as if unaffected by the water currents – it was the Forbidden Woman! Damn it, that thing really hadn’t given up!
His own ribs were still burning with pain, so he couldn’t help much at this moment. Fortunately, Lin Yan was still nearby, and he had his dagger. He quickly turned to look at Lin Yan, who was still gazing at the sunset, and said, “Lin Yan, this is bad, the Forbidden Woman is chasing us!”
Lin Yan was greatly surprised: “No way, it’s still chasing? How persistent is this thing!” Wu Xie rolled his eyes at him: “Alright, stop joking. It’s almost caught up to Mute Bottle and Fatty! If you don’t go save them, Fatty will probably suffocate down there!”
Lin Yan saw the urgency of the situation and his expression turned grave. He nodded, took his dagger, and dove back down.
Only after he plunged into the water did he realize that the Forbidden Woman wasn’t just “almost catching up” to Zhang Qiling and the others – she had already caught up! Zhang Qiling had let go of Fatty to let him swim up first, and was now cutting his own hand and confronting the Forbidden Woman in the water with his knife. Fatty was already suffocating, involuntarily starting to choke on water.
Lin Yan saw that he was struggling to swim with one hand and worried he wouldn’t be able to reach the surface. He glanced at Zhang Qiling, who he estimated could hold on a little longer, and then supported Fatty from behind, helping him quickly ascend the last meter or two.
“Holy crap! Damn it, I almost suffocated!” Fatty gasped for air after surfacing, then gritted his teeth and, holding his dagger, prepared to go down to save Zhang Qiling. Wu Xie grabbed him, saying, “We’re both injured; going down would just be a burden. Let’s wait here!” One of them had a rib injury that pained him with every movement, making even treading water agony; the other had a severe left shoulder injury and couldn’t swim well, let alone dive! Going down now would only cause trouble; it was better to just wait here!
“But…” Fatty gritted his teeth and spat viciously, “Damn it, that Forbidden Woman got off easy. Otherwise, Fatty Ye would have shaved her bald!”
“Don’t worry, those two can handle it!” After comforting Fatty, Wu Xie looked down into the water with worry. Zhang Qiling was powerful and Lin Yan possessed immense strength. At this point, Wu Xie could only trust that the two of them could handle it; otherwise, even with him and Fatty, two injured individuals, it wouldn’t be enough, and they’d all be wiped out here!
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