Chapter 160: A Desperate Measure

Judging by Bai Shenxian’s expression, he didn’t seem to be joking. However, the story he told sounded like a fairy tale to me, the supposed protagonist. That said, I quickly connected it to some strange occurrences from my hometown.

I’d heard my grandfather talk about many instances of children crying incessantly at night. In mild cases, they just wouldn’t stop sobbing; in more severe cases, they would sit up in bed unconsciously, talking to themselves or making strange, muffled cries. Usually, these oddities happened after midnight. Back home, if people said a child had been “Yandao-ed,” this was usually what they meant.

But this kind of “Yandao” was entirely different from a common nightmare. After a nightmare, you eventually wake up and regain clarity. Being “Yandao-ed,” however, meant the person’s true consciousness would not return throughout the entire process. Whether they were talking to themselves or making strange noises, the person involved would have absolutely no memory of it when they woke up the next morning.

When my grandfather first told me about it, my first reaction was that it was just sleepwalking. Looking at it now, there was a clear distinction between being Yandao-ed and sleepwalking. I didn’t know how to explain it properly, but a sleepwalker was highly unlikely to walk a full circle around a chamber in a strange ancient tomb and then accurately strike a mechanism to open a caisson ceiling.

I knew that was exactly what Bai Shenxian was referring to. I had just been Yandao-ed by something.

“Forget it, let’s not talk about that for now. Someone who’s been Yandao-ed has no memory, so asking you is useless. We should focus on solving our current predicament first.” Bai Shenxian sighed, bracing his hands on his knees as he stood up from the ground.

“One piece of bad news, one piece of good news. Which do you want first?” he asked me with a grin.

My mind was still a mess. “I don’t think I can handle any more bad news. Tell me the good news first.”

I watched as he rummaged through the multi-purpose pouches at his waist for a long time. Finally, he pulled out a small bottle encased in a plastic bag. He tore the bag open and handed the bottle to me.

I gripped the bottle and turned it over. It contained some stone powder scraped from the walls. Looking closer, I realized it wasn’t just simple stone dust; it was mixed with vibrant, multicolored pigments.

“What is this?” I looked up and asked him.

“Poison,” Bai Shenxian said.

I immediately went on high alert. Bai Shenxian continued, “I think I know where the poison came from. The interior of that stone Tomb-guarding Beast was coated with this pigment to ward off grave robbers. After being submerged for so long, the pigment detached from the stone and dissolved into the water. Since we went under, have you seen a single living fish around here?”

As he spoke, I handed the bottle back. “Are you saying that Lu Ayao and Fourth Brother were accidentally scratched underwater, and then when they entered the beast’s head, their unhealed wounds were infected by these toxins dissolved in the water? But if there are no wounds, one shouldn’t be infected, right?”

Bai Shenxian stowed the bottle away and gave me a faint smile. “Not necessarily. I haven’t done a chemical analysis; this is just a guess. This pigment is definitely toxic. Who knows what happens if you stay in a place filled with it for too long? You entered a hallucination for no reason – who’s to say it didn’t have something to do with the poison on these walls?”

I scrambled up from the ground and gave him a nudge, then picked up my gear from the corner and urged him, “Don’t just stand there. Since we know the source of the poison, we need to get back and save them quickly.”

Bai Shenxian stood beside me without moving. “That’s the other piece of bad news I wanted to tell you.”

“After I knocked you out, I went into the pool myself to scout. We were washed down a very long distance. My lung capacity is excellent, and at a normal swimming speed, I can dive over a hundred meters. However, the tunnel at the bottom of this pool is longer than a hundred meters. Based on the oxygen levels in our tanks right now, we probably won’t make it to the end.”

He lifted his oxygen tank to show me the gauge. Bai Shenxian was clearly more composed than I was; he had maintained a steady breathing rhythm ever since we went down, so his tank was relatively full, with about twenty minutes left. In contrast, mine was running low – I had ten minutes at most.

“With this amount, trying to get both of us out is too dangerous. We might as well do nothing.” Bai Shenxian threw up his hands and sat back down against the wall. He leaned back, staring blankly at the turtle carved into the caisson ceiling.

I wasn’t as detached as he was. The thought of Fourth Brother and Lu Ayao being in mortal danger upstairs made my heart race. It was impossible for us to be trapped here forever because I had instructed Xiao Wu before going under: if I was submerged for more than twenty-four hours, they were to organize a rescue.

But lives were at stake. The poisons used in tombs to stop robbers were usually lethal. Besides, it would take time for Xiao Wu to organize the men for a rescue, and I had no idea what the current situation was inside that beast’s head. Fourth Brother and Lu Ayao couldn’t wait. If we delayed any longer, I was terrified that by the time we were rescued, they would already be long gone.

Frowning, I pressed my forehead against the wall, letting the damp droplets of water trickle down my face. My mind raced for a viable solution. Soon, an idea came to me.

“You go out,” I said, stopping my train of thought and speaking decisively to Bai Shenxian.

Bai Shenxian came from a family of doctors. He was the only doctor on the ship and the only one who could save Fourth Brother and the others. To save them, we couldn’t both be trapped here waiting.

After weighing the options, I planned to give my oxygen tank to Bai Shenxian. Our combined oxygen should be enough for one person to make it through the tunnel. I had hesitated for a long time before making this decision; after all, in an underwater tomb like this, oxygen was your only sense of security.

“Are you sure?” Bai Shenxian looked at me in shock. Sitting on the ground, he said, “If I take your oxygen tank, you’ll lose all control over your situation here.”

I hesitated, my gaze instinctively flickering toward the pitch-black corners of the chamber that the flashlight didn’t reach. Then I took a deep breath and handed him the tank, urging him, “It’s useless for me to go up. Take the gear and go save them first. I… I’ll just sit here and wait for you to come back for me. As long as it’s not more than three days, I shouldn’t starve to death.”

Bai Shenxian stood up, brushed off his pants, and took the oxygen tank from my hand. He gave me a meaningful look. “I think I finally understand why those guys surnamed He and Lu have always protected you like this.”

Without waiting for me to respond, he continued, “Tell you what, I’ll leave all my gear for you. There’s a knife, canned food, and water. It should last you about two days. I’ll go up, treat them, and get help. You stay here and wait for us to rescue you.”

I was actually terrified, but this was the only way. I had to do it. I nodded to him and told him to hurry up and strip off his unnecessary gear.

Bai Shenxian moved quickly. He soon sat by the edge of the pool, pulled on his fins, adjusted his respirator, and pulled down his diving mask. He said to me:

“Gan Ji, you’ve got to hold on. I’ll bring people back for you as fast as I can.”

With that, he plunged into the water. He descended very quickly, and the beam of his flashlight disappeared from my sight within two minutes.

In an instant, most of the chamber was plunged into darkness. In such a vast space, a single flashlight felt woefully inadequate. It was so quiet that only the sound of my own breathing echoed. I sat by the water’s edge for several minutes, dazed.

When I finally snapped out of it, my heart was racing. I didn’t dare look up at that terrifying turtle on the ceiling. I swallowed hard to ease my nerves and, staring into the dark corners, began stuffing the food into the backpack Bai Shenxian had left behind.

I was right in the middle of packing when a sudden, thunderous metallic crash rang out. I didn’t dare aim my flashlight toward the sound, terrified that the beam would land on some long-haired female ghost. Instead, I could only stumble back into a corner, pressing my back against the wall with my eyes squeezed shut. I held my backpack up like a shield in front of my face, feeling so overwhelmed in that moment that I was on the verge of tears.

I must have done something terrible in a past life to deserve this. Lu Ayao, He Yu—when are you two coming down to save me?