Yuanyuan struggled to stay afloat, while Bai Xue and Zhu Yulian quickly swam over and grabbed her hands.
With their support, they finally broke the surface.
Li Zi'ang and Song Zhi were already waiting by the edge. Yuanyuan had swallowed a lot of water and felt groggy. If not for her will to survive, she would have passed out in the water long ago.
The moment she got air, her body relaxed, and she fainted before even reaching the shore.
Bai Xue and Zhu Yulian held her underwater, while Li Zi'ang and Song Zhi pulled her from the bank. Together, the four of them managed to get her out.
Bai Xue and Zhu Yulian also climbed out and pressed on Yuanyuan's abdomen to help her expel the water. Zhu Yulian even gave her artificial respiration.
With their help, Yuanyuan's eyes slowly fluttered open, and she whispered, "Don't mind me, go catch the mermaid."
"Don't worry, Ning Wei and the others are below," Zhu Yulian said, holding Yuanyuan's hand and comforting her softly.
Yuanyuan smiled faintly. "I'm a bit tired, I want to sleep for a while."
"Sleep, we'll be out soon," Bai Xue said, gently removing stray hairs from Yuanyuan's face and calming her.
Yuanyuan had only swallowed a few mouthfuls of water. Apart from that, there were no major issues. Combined with her prolonged lack of food, she was weak.
Hearing their words, Yuanyuan felt reassured and slowly closed her eyes.
Fortunately, it wasn't too cold here, but Li Zi'ang and Song Zhi still pulled over heavy black curtains to cover Yuanyuan.
Meanwhile, Ning Wei's team.
The mermaid was incredibly fierce, and with everyone's movements restricted in the water, so many of them were unable to subdue her in a short period.
In the water, only Mei Nan and Li Ye had ivory, and they bravely led the charge, working with the others.
The rest distracted the mermaid, while Mei Nan used the ivory to attack.
He plunged the ivory fiercely into the mermaid's back. Blood seeped out, no different from human blood.
Li Ye was not one for sneak attacks, so he chose to confront the mermaid head-on with the ivory.
Ning Wei was experienced in knocking people out and waited for an opportunity to do so, thus eliminating the threat completely.
The longer they stayed in the water, the more perilous the situation became for them.
Everyone cooperated, each with their designated roles, and finally, Ning Wei seized an opportunity.
The mermaid had sustained several cuts, and her blood spread in the water, slowing her movements.
Ning Wei seized the chance to get close, gritted her teeth, and used her hand chop to strike the mermaid's neck forcefully. Three consecutive strikes were needed to finally knock her unconscious.
After she fainted, the mermaid began to sink. Li Ye and the others quickly grabbed her hands and slowly pulled her up.
Ning Wei's hand, where she had struck, throbbed faintly from the exertion.
The light in the water was poor, making it difficult to see the exact situation.
Li Ye noticed Ning Wei frowning and immediately swam over, taking her hand to examine it.
The area had turned bruised, clearly from excessive force.
"I'll take you," Li Ye said, exhaling bubbles.
They lagged behind the others, who were already bringing the mermaid ashore.
The mermaid was dragged onto the shore, and everyone else collapsed on the floor, exhausted.
Ning Wei and Li Ye came ashore one after another. Ning Wei glanced at her hand and saw it was indeed bruised.
She then looked at the mermaid's neck, which also had a large bruise. It seemed like a fair trade.
Ning Wei was still worried about Yuanyuan, as she was the only one who couldn't swim but had gone into the water.
Zhu Yulian walked up to Ning Wei. "Don't worry, she didn't swallow much water, and Bai Xue and I pressed it out. She's just tired and sleeping now, no major issues."
Ning Wei nodded. "Once we get the key, we can all go back to our rooms to rest."
Bai Xue, Zhu Yulian, and Wang Jing went to the mermaid and began searching her.
The mermaid was unclothed. Before pulling her out, Bai Xue had used the mermaid's own hair to cover her most private areas.
"Nothing found," Bai Xue said with a frown.
Mei Nan sighed. "If the key is really on her, then it can only be..."
He left the rest unspoken. Faced with such a pitiful face and her circumstances, Mei Nan couldn't bring himself to suggest dissecting her.
The others understood the implication and gave the mermaid a deep look.
Zhang Haiyang approached the monitor. Seeing them gathered around the mermaid but hesitant to act, he flipped another switch. A faint white smoke began to emerge from a small hole in the ceiling.
The smoke flowed out continuously. Although it was small at first, given enough time, it would certainly fill the entire space.
Prompted by Li Ye, everyone soon noticed the smoke but were unsure of its effects on humans.
As they began to discuss it again, Zhang Haiyang's voice rang out, "This is a slow-acting poison. The more you inhale, the more damage it does to your body, and in the worst case, it can lead to death."
"I've experimented. One hour is enough to fill the space. If you don't want to die, quickly retrieve the key from the mermaid's stomach and leave here!"
Zhang Haiyang's hint was clear enough, even indicating the key's location.
Everyone looked at the mermaid's stomach. She was a young woman, only in her early twenties, at the peak of her youth.
A flower in full bloom, about to end its season.
Their eyes were filled with reluctance, not because the mermaid was young and beautiful, but out of reverence for life.
The mermaid was still unconscious and unaware of what awaited her.
The white smoke drifted from above, growing thicker.
A few people broke out in a cold sweat. "What do we do? Should we...?"
Forced by Zhang Haiyang, they had to make a decision, and the sooner, the better!
To open her stomach, they would need the ivory.
Currently, only Li Ye and Mei Nan each had one. The others could only watch helplessly.
"If you've decided, I can do it," Li Zi'ang said first. He didn't want to die here. If this mermaid had to be sacrificed, he admitted he was selfish enough to act immediately.
"I can too!"
"I can too!"
More and more people echoed Li Zi'ang's sentiment, indirectly showing their stance.
Mei Nan sighed. He couldn't bear to do such a thing, especially since the mermaid was around the same age as Ning Wei and the others.
He felt a protective paternal instinct towards Ning Wei's group, and that same feeling made it impossible for him to harm the mermaid.
He placed the ivory on the ground and said, his head bowed, "If you... whoever wants to do it, go ahead."
Everyone exchanged glances, their eyes conveying a resolute will, the determination to sacrifice anything for survival!