They possessed little human emotion and were therefore never bound by feelings.
Li Ye strode to the spot on the floor where Zhang Haiyang had disappeared. This time, they were prepared, and prying open the floorboard was effortless.
The scene beneath the floorboard surprised Ning Wei greatly, for beneath it was water, and it connected to the pool in front.
"No wonder he specifically changed his clothes during his performance, that's why," Ning Wei connected the dots from what had happened earlier and immediately understood Zhang Haiyang's intentions.
It was a shame they reacted too late. If only they had thought of it sooner, they would have jumped in to chase him then and perhaps dealt with that scoundrel then and there.
They could only blame themselves for overthinking and being too frightened by the "human skewers" to make any rash moves.
"Shall we go down then?" Ning Wei glanced at the depth, unable to see the bottom.
"Or I could go alone. If I find anything, I'll come back up to call you."
Li Ye was incredibly loyal, which astonished Ning Wei.
However, she was not someone who hid behind others. Her master had taught her that when faced with a situation, one must act! Even if she couldn't win, she had the Taoist temple as her backing.
Through her master's teachings and personal example, Ning Wei had developed the good habit of taking initiative.
"We'll go together!" Ning Wei patted Li Ye's shoulder, indicating her determination.
Li Ye thought Ning Wei was worried about him going alone, and a strange feeling stirred within him.
What a beautiful misunderstanding this was!
If Song Zhi were present, such misunderstandings would not exist.
With his mouth that had to clarify everything, both Ning Wei and Li Ye would have fully understood each other's intentions.
Although they agreed to go down together, Li Ye still swam ahead.
The pool was deep, and one wondered if there were any mermaids within.
As they descended, Ning Wei, being a normal person, could not hold her breath for long. Prompted by Li Ye, she slowly ascended.
This pool was too deep, feeling at least ten meters.
The pool had a bottom, much like a swimming pool.
Li Ye was now searching for a mechanism below. Zhang Haiyang could not have vanished into thin air; there had to be some hidden area at the bottom of this pool.
Ning Wei, soaked through, wrapped herself in a jacket and waited for Li Ye by the pool's edge.
Occasionally, she could see Li Ye's figure, and her eyes followed him.
Because he had been underwater for too long, Ning Wei even splashed the water surface vigorously.
Soon, Li Ye surfaced. He rested his arms on the edge of the pool, reaching up to grab his wet hair.
"What is it?" his voice was low and cold, perhaps from being in the water for too long.
"You were down there for too long. I was afraid you'd suffocate," Ning Wei spoke the truth.
Li Ye was speechless and retorted, "Do you think I need to breathe?"
In his interactions with Ning Wei, Li Ye had repeatedly lowered his guard, completely unaware of it himself.
At this moment, he still didn't grasp the difference between his behavior towards Ning Wei and others.
"If you can't find it, it's fine," Ning Wei changed the subject.
"I'll go down again. If you encounter any danger, you can call me," Li Ye said and submerged himself once more.
Ning Wei thought to herself, *If I encounter danger, I'll handle it myself. I won't call you.*
This time, Li Ye indeed made a discovery.
He felt a lock at the bottom, but he didn't have the skill to open it, so he had to come up to find Ning Wei.
Upon hearing him, Ning Wei's face lit up with a hint of triumph: "You still need me, don't you? It seems you can't do without me!"
For once, Li Ye didn't retort. He lay by the pool's edge, waiting for her to join him.
The two soon reached the spot Li Ye had mentioned. Ning Wei effortlessly opened the lock with a piece of wire.
She was so fast that even she was surprised. Perhaps Zhang Haiyang, being older, had a diminished capacity for thought and believed this place to be foolproof, thus presenting Ning Wei with an opportunity.
After opening the lock, Li Ye pulled, and a passage less than two meters wide appeared before them.
Li Ye pointed to the passage, asking Ning Wei for her opinion on whether to go down.
The passage was deeper. Ning Wei glanced at the passage, then at Li Ye.
Li Ye gazed at her quietly, indicating his full support.
Ning Wei thought for a moment, then pointed at the passage and nodded with great resolve!
Li Ye had expected as much. The passage was wide enough for both of them. So, Li Ye took Ning Wei's wrist, and they swam downwards side by side.
After swimming for about ten meters, faint light began to appear on both sides of the passage.
Looking straight ahead, the end was a narrow space.
There was a button on top of the space, likely to open it. Li Ye boldly pressed it, and it indeed opened.
Holding hands, they descended. Li Ye casually closed the obstructing door.
Outside this space was a large, empty room. Below was a drainage pipe. The water that had flowed in to help them enter the space quickly drained away.
"Quite user-friendly," Ning Wei smiled at Li Ye.
Li Ye scanned the surroundings, confirmed there was no danger, and then led Ning Wei out.
"I didn't expect you to be right. There really is a hidden world beneath the pool."
"Of course. I'm the smartest one in the team!" Ning Wei was very confident in her intelligence.
Hearing this, Li Ye couldn't help but laugh.
There was no time for idle chatter; important matters took precedence.
The room contained many clothes, certainly not Zhang Haiyang's. They most likely belonged to the innocent people he had captured and used as test subjects. httpδ:/m.kuAisugg.nět
"Shall we change?" Both their clothes were soaked. Li Ye didn't mind for himself, but he worried Ning Wei might be reluctant to wear someone else's clothes.
Ning Wei nodded, picked out a set of clothes, and then gestured for Li Ye to turn his back.
With their backs to each other, they both efficiently changed into dry clothes.
In matters of great importance, Ning Wei never procrastinated, which was precisely what Li Ye admired about her.
After changing, they continued to walk outside.
This time, they saw the monitoring room and the control room. Ning Wei happened to see from the monitoring room that Mei Nan and the others had smashed the tank containing jellyfish. Seawater and jellyfish cascaded onto the floor.
Seeing them having such a good time, Ning Wei was somewhat speechless.
"Is this how they cause destruction?"
"Let them be. This can actually be a way to provoke Zhang Haiyang. He built this place so well precisely to attract more test subjects, right? Now that they've destroyed the marine park, no more tourists will come."
Li Ye's reasoning made sense, but seeing Mei Nan and the others behave like this, Ning Wei found it too childish.
Especially Teacher Mei, she couldn't believe he was leading everyone in smashing things.
The monitoring room was large. Ning Wei and Li Ye scanned the screens one by one, finally finding Zhang Haiyang.
He was in a bright white operating room, intensely performing a suturing surgery to connect a human body with a fish tail on someone.