Under Li Zha Si's not-so-standard Mandarin explanation, I had a general understanding of what he meant.
According to his description, the room they were just in had flipped and collapsed.
He spoke quite exaggeratedly, and I wasn't sure whether to believe him.
This was a stone chamber, not a box; how could it possibly flip?
Furthermore, this was deep in the mountains. No matter how ingenious the mechanisms, it was impossible to flip an entire room.
I was more inclined to believe that I hadn't understood his explanation.
Scanning my surroundings, I found that the only passage was the one we had entered through. We didn't linger any longer and headed into the passage.
Not long after walking, I heard the sound of water. Emerging from the passage, a water pool the size of a basketball court appeared before us.
Li Zha Si hid behind me and told me that this was the place they had entered before, and there were monsters in this pool.
I stared at the placid water pool, feeling a bit nervous. Fortunately, with the experience from previous tomb raids, I wasn't too flustered, just a little tense.
I opened the backpack that Xiao Ding had given me and rummaged through it, finding only a folding entrenching tool.
Grasping the shovel, I asked Wang Yang if we should turn back the way we came or go through this water pool.
Wang Yang was also hesitant. After a moment, he said to me, "I'll go check it out first."
Saying this, he walked towards the water pool. Li Zha Si and I stood at the entrance of the passage, watching him approach the pool, and we couldn't help but feel anxious.
Li Zha Si's hand involuntarily grabbed my arm, making me feel both annoyed and helpless.
You're a grown man, what's the big deal?
Wang Yang reached the edge of the water pool, observed it for a while, and then reached his hand into the water. With a "splash," he pulled something out of the water.
I shone my flashlight on it and saw that he was pulling out a backpack.
This backpack must have been the one Li Zha Si mentioned, dropped by someone attacked by a water monster.
Wang Yang dragged the backpack and walked back.
I noticed that this backpack was much larger than the one Xiao Ding had given us, clearly containing more items, and it was also a waterproof backpack.
Opening the backpack, it contained not only some essential tools but also a signal flare and an old-fashioned Browning. 138 Reading Network.
Wang Yang removed the magazine from the Browning, checked it, and then skillfully reassembled it.
Seeing his action, my heart filled with more questions. It seemed this guy wasn't new to handling firearms.
"Take this bag with you later," Wang Yang said.
I nodded and handed the waterproof backpack to Li Zha Si.
After all, I already had two backpacks on me. One was mine, containing some food and spare flashlight batteries, and the other was from Xiao Ding, containing some wilderness survival tools.
Li Zha Si said nothing, shook off the water stains from the waterproof backpack, and put it on.
Wang Yang walked to the edge of the water pool again and shone his flashlight into it for a while, then waved me over.
When I walked over, he pointed to the water pool and said, "The water isn't deep. We can walk across."
The water in the pool was not murky but crystal clear. I crouched down and touched it, finding the water not too cold.
Wang Yang said, "See the passage on the other side? That should be the way they came. Go across and follow that path back, and we should be able to get out."
"Get out?" I was surprised and asked.
He looked at me and said, "You don't want to get out?"
My heart was conflicted. Of course, I wanted to get out, but not now.
We haven't found Zhou Yongxiang and the others yet, and we're just leaving?
Wouldn't that be a wasted effort?
But if we didn't leave, who knew what other dangers this damned place held.
"I know what you're thinking," Wang Yang said. "If this were an ordinary tomb, I wouldn't advise you to leave. But if the legends are true, then anyone who enters this tomb is practically doomed."
"So we're just going back like this?" I still said reluctantly.
Wang Yang said, "Let's get out first. We've been in here for several hours. Aren't you tired?"
It was better that he didn't say anything, but once he did, I really did feel a bit tired.
In the underground palace, my nerves had been constantly taut, and I hadn't rested along the way. It was impossible not to be tired.
I sighed and said, "Alright then, let's get out first."
Wang Yang told us to follow him and then was the first to step into the water pool.
I followed behind him, holding the entrenching tool, constantly monitoring the situation in the water.
Li Zha Si trembled all the way behind, looking like he was about to cry.
The distance from one side of the water pool to the other was about fifty meters.
The water quickly soaked through my shoes and pants. As I walked forward, the water level rose. In the middle section, the water reached my chest.
Just as I was thinking about why the water monster hadn't appeared yet, I suddenly heard a "splash" not far away, as if something had jumped into the water.
Almost instantly, our flashlights were aimed in the direction of the sound. We saw something swimming towards us from the water surface not far away.
Speak of the devil.
Wang Yang grabbed me and told me to go first, while he fired two shots at the approaching thing.
I didn't know if he hit it, but as soon as the gunshots rang out, the thing swimming towards us suddenly submerged.
I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that the monster must have been hit by the bullets.
But who knew, there were suddenly continuous "splashing" sounds. Just as I thought it was the water monster, a stone suddenly hit in front of me, almost hitting my head.
I raised my flashlight to shine upwards and then saw that stalactites from the ceiling had fallen.
Looking at the densely packed stalactites, my heart sank.
It seemed the gunshots had shaken the already unstable stalactites above.
While I was distracted, several more stalactites fell.
One of them hit Li Zha Si. Fortunately, he blocked it with his hand, but the impact was not light. His scream made me involuntarily swallow.
There was a dense sound of "splashes," and Wang Yang shouted to me, "Dive into the water!"
Hearing this, I immediately complied, crouched down, and plunged into the water. I then placed the backpack on my head to reduce the impact.
The moment I fell into the water, my backpack was hit several times. Fortunately, the resistance of the water greatly reduced the force. If I had been hit on the surface of the water, I would have likely lost my life.
Time passed agonizingly slowly. I didn't know how long I could hold my breath. Gradually, my chest felt like it was burning, and I was struggling to breathe...