Lili splashed in the water, screaming, "Help! Pull me up!"

Bai Ma Shan held onto her with one hand and the rope with the other, able to keep her from sinking but lacking the strength to pull her to safety in the rushing water.

The situation was critical. Jia Wenjun, ignoring Anna, stuck the torch she held into a crevice in the reef and pulled on the rope for all she was worth, shouting towards Bai Ma Shan, "Hold on tight!"

She used every ounce of strength she had. Anna, seeing that Bai Ma Shan and the others were indeed holding the rope steady, knew that if she waited for them to come over, she'd miss her chance.

She swung her spare torch and brought it down hard on Jia Wenjun's leg joints.

Jia Wenjun's attention was entirely focused on saving Lili. Suddenly attacked from behind, she had no time to react, and her legs buckled beneath her. Her knees slammed into the reef, and even through the relatively thick waterproof pants, the oyster shells instantly tore them open. Blood flowed from the wounds, and Jia Wenjun's features contorted in pain. The rope slipped from her hands.

But the next second, she gritted her teeth and grabbed it again.

Bai Ma Shan and Lili plunged back into the sea, swept several meters further out by the current before stopping again.

Both coughed up water. Bai Ma Shan, shielding Lili, saw Anna climbing onto the reef and grappling with Jia Wenjun, who, still clinging tightly to the rope, was clearly at a disadvantage.

Bai Ma Shan, exhausted, gasped for breath. He knew they couldn't continue like this. Seeing the rope still wound around the reef, he told Lili to hold on to it herself while he went to assess the situation.

Lili didn't want him to leave her. She clung to him tightly.

Bai Ma Shan snapped, "Hold on to the rope if you don't want to die."

The dim light of the torch and the spray of the seawater made Bai Ma Shan's face look cold, even ferocious. Lili instinctively released him and gripped the rope tightly.

Without Lili weighing him down, Bai Ma Shan could easily swim back to the reef. He had told Lili earlier that he would swim over first and then help Jia Wenjun pull her up, but she was afraid they would abandon her, so she cried and refused, which had dragged them all into this situation.

As he swam back, the two women on the reef were locked in a fierce struggle.

Anna had intended to knock Jia Wenjun off the reef with one blow, but the woman was proving surprisingly resilient. She had stubbornly clung on to the reef with her knees, refusing to fall.

Forced to adapt, Anna climbed onto the reef, intending to push her off. But the woman seemed to know some self-defense techniques and was fighting back with one hand while holding onto the rope with the other.

Anna had long seen Jia Wenjun as a thorn in her side. Seeing her leg injured and her other hand occupied with the rope, leaving her with only one hand to defend herself, she raised the torch and began to beat her with it.

By the time Bai Ma Shan staggered onto the reef, Jia Wenjun was covered in wounds on her body, arms, and legs. Anna wasn't in much better shape. Her hand was already injured, and Jia Wenjun, fighting desperately, had given her a beating.

Bai Ma Shan, enraged, grabbed the two women and pulled them apart, roaring, "What do you think you're doing?"

Jia Wenjun wiped the water from her face, her chest heaving. "She attacked me from behind while I was pulling you up. She's the one who killed Zhao Di. She wants us all to die here."

Anna spat out blood. "That's a lie! You're the murderer! You killed Zhao Di and tried to kill me! If I hadn't fought back, you would have finished me off!"

Seeing them accusing each other, neither willing to back down, Bai Ma Shan said coldly, "If you want to die here, keep fighting. If you don't, help me save Lili and get out of here."

The tide was rising rapidly. What had been a large exposed reef was now reduced to just the top.

Jia Wenjun certainly didn't want to die here. She glared at Anna. "I want to save Lili, but someone won't let me."

Anna snapped, "That's not true! I came to save Lili, but you attacked me with the torch and wouldn't let me get to her!"

"Enough! Save Lili first." Bai Ma Shan interrupted their argument. He stood between them, and the rope passed from Jia Wenjun's hand to Bai Ma Shan's hand, then to Anna's. The three of them pulled together, hauling Lili in from the water.

Lili was near her breaking point in the water, close to letting go. Suddenly, she felt a tug on the rope, and she was pulled slowly towards the reef.

Anna seethed with hatred. She was so close to killing them all. Now that Bai Ma Shan was here, she couldn't act. It was all Jia Wenjun's fault.

Even if they survived this, they wouldn't be able to call for help with the phone.

Working together, the three of them finally managed to pull Lili onto the reef where Jia Wenjun was.

Bai Ma Shan pulled Lili up with all his strength. Soaked and shivering, completely exhausted, Lili didn't care about the barnacles cutting into her skin. She simply lay on her side, sprawled on the reef, gasping for breath.

With Lili rescued, Jia Wenjun, exhausted and in pain, collapsed onto the reef.

Her knee throbbed fiercely, and she didn't know if she would be able to walk later.

She could have let go of the rope earlier, which would have prevented such a severe knee injury, but she knew she couldn't. Anna had already untied the rope from the reef. If she had let go as well, Bai Ma Shan and Lili would have been lost. Then Lili would have killed her, leaving her with no hope of survival.

To live, she had to hold onto the rope and bring Bai Ma Shan back.

Bai Ma Shan probably understood the situation as well. To survive, he had to return.

So, when Anna beat her head with the torch, Jia Wenjun did not retreat. When the sharp rocks tore her knee to shreds, she didn't let go. When she saw Bai Ma Shan climbing onto the reef, she knew her gamble had paid off.

Anna, exhausted from the fight with Jia Wenjun, insisted that Jia Wenjun had attacked first and that she was simply defending herself. No one could argue with that.

Seeing everyone together on the rapidly shrinking reef, Bai Ma Shan, physically and mentally drained, knew that everyone had to save themselves to get back to the boat.

Looking at the three women lying on the reef, he gasped, "Anyone who wants to live, follow me now."

Jia Wenjun was in pain all over, but she still managed to grit her teeth and stand up.

She had examined her knee and found that it was only a flesh wound, not a bone injury, but wading back through the seawater would be agonizing.

Anna, the strongest of the three, slowly stood up as well. Only Lili remained lying motionless.

"I can't do it. Can you help me?" she asked weakly, without even the strength to move a finger.

Jia Wenjun and Bai Ma Shan said nothing. Anna walked over to her. "I'll help you walk."

She propped Lili up. Lili wasn't light, so Anna took off the backpack she was carrying and handed it to Bai Ma Shan. "You carry this."

Bai Ma Shan took it. In the torchlight, his exhausted body moved rhythmically up and down, and a clear wound could be seen on his back and left shoulder. Blood had already soaked his waist.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then handed the bag to Jia Wenjun, whose knee was injured. "I'll help her walk with Anna. You take the bag. Let's go."

Jia Wenjun's heart skipped a beat. The bag contained the phone, which could be called the hope of the entire ship.

At that moment, she felt Bai Ma Shan's trust in her. Since being suspected of setting them up, the feeling of being trusted was too precious for Jia Wenjun. Her heart ached, and without saying a word, she solemnly took the bag and put it on.