Chapter 32 Diving

A person's breath-holding time in the water is related to their lung capacity. Generally, people can hold their breath for about one to two minutes. Holding your breath for too long can lead to oxygen deprivation and damage to the body. So, Bai Ma Shan and Lü Mao Wang each dove down for about a minute or two before surfacing for air.

"Did you find anything?" Hu Si Xiang shouted from the stairwell.

Lü Mao Wang wiped the water from his face. "It's too dark, I can only feel around. There are so many metal frames down there, I almost cut my hand."

"Big Brother Bai, what about you?"

"I found two cans." Bai Ma Shan said as he swam towards Hu Si Xiang. He had tried to dive to the bottom, and as soon as his foot touched the deck, he felt several canned items. He reached out in the dark and found two cans of compressed biscuits that had been washed onto the deck by the current.

"Nice!" Hu Si Xiang bent down, took the two cans from Bai Ma Shan, and placed them on the stairwell to the next level.

"Big Brother Bai, you're the best." Sun Jiao Jiao had stayed, ostensibly to help retrieve items, but she only had to receive what they brought up, which was much easier than carrying luggage.

Lü Mao Wang had boasted about his swimming skills before going into the water, but now Bai Ma Shan, who was older than him, had already found something, while he had found nothing. So, he plunged in again.

Bai Ma Shan guessed that the fallen cans should be close to each other. He asked Sun Jiao Jiao to hand him the fishing net, then turned and dove back down.

The second time Lü Mao Wang came out of the water, he had two boxes of luncheon meat. He was about to show off when he saw Bai Ma Shan emerge from the water with the fishing net full, scooping up seven or eight cans at once.

Sun Jiao Jiao was overjoyed, taking the net from Bai Ma Shan and pulling out a pile of luncheon meat and compressed biscuits. "With these, we can last a few more days."

The two continued to dive. Bai Ma Shan knew that the ship's most pressing need was fresh water, so this time he specifically looked for bottled water. Holding his breath, he slowly felt around the bottom of the ship. Although the current inside the ship wasn't as turbulent as outside, it still had some force. He struggled forward in the dark water, using his hands and feet to identify the objects he touched, surfacing for air only when he could no longer hold his breath.

In this repeated process of surfacing and diving, Lü Mao Wang was the first to find a water barrel. He struggled to tie the lifeline around the middle of the barrel, relying entirely on touch.

Once he was almost done tying it, he surfaced and gave the other end of the rope to Hu Si Xiang, asking him and Sun Jiao Jiao to pull hard from above, while he and Bai Ma Shan pushed from below.

With the four of them working together, they managed to pull up a ten-liter barrel of purified water.

With the first success, they successively retrieved two more cases.

Anna said that there were originally eight barrels of water on the ship, but four had been used up yesterday and during the barbecue last night. So, there should be four barrels in the storage room. Now that they had retrieved three, there was still one missing.

Lü Mao Wang had been using brute force instead of technique, and was now panting heavily.

Although Bai Ma Shan was also tired, he was in better shape than Lü Mao Wang, so he told Lü Mao Wang to rest while he continued to search.

After diving multiple times, he had gained some understanding of the conditions below, which would save him some time. After all, with each dive, his breath-holding time was getting shorter.

Even though it was pitch black, Bai Ma Shan quickly dove to the deepest part. He slowly reached towards a corner he hadn't explored before, when his foot suddenly bumped into a large, round object.

He was overjoyed. As he squatted down to tie the barrel, his body brushed against a nearby shelf. The next moment, something heavy struck him on the head. He instinctively dodged, but a sharp edge cut his arm. The pain in his head and arm made it impossible to stand. He couldn't hold his breath and water flooded into his nose, causing a suffocating sensation. He wanted to surface, but the dizziness and pain left him unable to exert any strength. He could only tug violently on the lifeline around his waist, hoping Hu Si Xiang would pull him up.

At that moment, Lü Mao Wang was chatting with Sun Jiao Jiao on the shore. Hu Si Xiang, standing beside them, didn't join the conversation, but was focused on calculating how to divide the retrieved food and water, paying no attention to the rope.

After he finished counting, he realized that Bai Ma Shan hadn't come up yet.

Hu Si Xiang nudged Lü Mao Wang, who was still chatting enthusiastically. "Big Brother Bai has been down there for too long. Something might have happened."

Lü Mao Wang reacted and quickly pulled on the rope. When the three of them pulled Bai Ma Shan up, he was no longer breathing.

Hu Si Xiang was terrified. "I... I really didn't feel him pulling the rope."

"Stop talking nonsense, unbutton his shirt," Lü Mao Wang said quickly, pressing on Bai Ma Shan's chest to perform CPR.

Having grown up by the sea, he knew this life-saving skill.

The commotion attracted everyone else who was carrying luggage. Jia Wen Jun also knew CPR and took turns with Lü Mao Wang to press on Bai Ma Shan's chest.

After more than ten minutes of alternating efforts, Bai Ma Shan finally coughed up water and recovered.

Jia Wen Jun exhaled, collapsing to the ground from exhaustion.

"He's bleeding a lot from his arm." Sun Jiao Jiao saw that Bai Ma Shan's shirt sleeves were torn, and the wound inside looked quite deep.

"Quickly, get him to a room," Lü Mao Wang said, asking Hu Si Xiang and Grandpa Wang to help carry Bai Ma Shan to the room where Gong Da Long was lying.

Perhaps from exhaustion and weakness, Bai Ma Shan fell asleep again.

Two injured patients, one with a hand injury and the other with a foot injury, lay at opposite ends of the bed.

Lü Mao Wang and the others continued to retrieve items, while the rest went back to carrying luggage. Jia Wen Jun brought the first-aid kit to disinfect and bandage Bai Ma Shan's arm.

She had now become the ship's doctor, tending to anyone who was injured.

Jia Wen Jun carefully unbuttoned Bai Ma Shan's sleeves. Most people on the ship were wearing short sleeves, but Bai Ma Shan wore long sleeves and pants to go into the water, which was normal considering his steady personality.

She rolled the bloody sleeves up Bai Ma Shan's arm, rinsed it with precious mineral water, and applied anti-inflammatory medicine. As she lifted his arm with one hand and held the gauze to bandage it with the other, she suddenly saw four fingernail scratches on the inside of his arm. They looked like they were left by someone scratching him hard, and based on the skin's condition, they must have happened recently.

Bai Ma Shan hadn't argued or fought with anyone since boarding the ship. How could he have women's scratches on his arm?

Jia Wen Jun suddenly remembered Zhao Di's faint cry for "Help!" Her heart sank and her hand trembled.

The wound was extremely hidden. If she hadn't rolled up his sleeve to bandage him, she wouldn't have seen it. He wore such concealing clothing when he went into the water – was he trying to hide something?

The more Jia Wen Jun thought about it, the more frightened she became. Looking at the sleeping man on the bed, a chill ran down her spine.