"This passage shouldn't be long. I swam a bit into it earlier," Wang Yang said. "There must be an entrance inside, and it's definitely not flooded."
He looked at me, as if asking for my opinion.
After a moment's thought, I said, "Then let's go in and take a look."
Wang Yang replied, "We need to leave someone here. Otherwise, if we can't find this place later, we'll get lost."
"I'll stay here. You two go ahead," Song Bing offered.
I nodded. "Brother Song, we'll have to trouble you then."
"No problem."
After we agreed, I took a deep breath and exchanged a glance with Wang Yang.
"I'll count to three, and then we'll go into the water."
"Okay."
"One... two... three..."
As soon as Wang Yang finished counting, we practically dove into the water simultaneously, swimming inward with our searchlights.
The passage was huge; I suspected it was at least three meters high and two meters wide.
We didn't hesitate. With me behind and Wang Yang in front, we swam deeper.
About halfway through, a dark shadow suddenly flashed past in front of us!
I couldn't make out what it was, but judging by its general shape, it was definitely not a fish!
It looked more like a child!
The thought sent shivers down my spine!
A child in this deep sea?
It seemed utterly impossible!
Wang Yang wasn't any better off. He turned back and made a gesture, urging me to return quickly.
Fortunately, Song Bing was still at our previous spot with his searchlight, and he soon made his way back.
Surfacing, I gasped for air. "Did you see that?"
Wang Yang's expression was grim. He nodded. "I did."
"What was it..."
"I don't know..."
Song Bing asked, "What did you see?"
I licked my lips, the salty seawater tasting a bit dry. "It looked like there was a child in the water..."
"A child?" Song Bing blinked. "Are you sure you didn't misidentify it?"
I looked at Wang Yang, who said, "Based on the shape, it really did look like a child."
"How could there be a child in here?" Song Bing was puzzled.
I shivered and asked, "Brother Song, when you went into tombs before, did you ever encounter 'little zombies'?"
He shook his head. "Never. I've only encountered a 'big zombie' once..."
"So what do we do now?" I asked. "Do we continue forward or turn back?"
Wang Yang said, "We've come this far. I'm not willing to turn back without seeing what's inside."
To be honest, I felt the same way.
Having finally found this place, I didn't want to leave without investigating.
After all, Yang Hanxue was likely in there. He'd been missing for over thirty hours and was probably trapped. We had to find him, no matter what.
Just as we decided to press onward, a giggle sounded less than ten centimeters from my ear: "Heeheehee..."
My scalp immediately prickled, and I whipped around. "Who?!"
As the searchlight swept across the water's surface, something dove down.
Suddenly, my foot was grabbed by something, and I was yanked underwater!
The force pulling me down was so immense that I had no time to react.
I kicked desperately with my foot, and we distinctly felt that we had kicked something.
Damn it!
Gritting my teeth, I ignored everything else and struggled fiercely in the water with whatever had grabbed me.
After I kicked it several times, it seemed to realize I wasn't an easy target and quickly let go.
Seizing the opportunity, I surfaced.
"What happened?"
Wang Yang and Song Bing both looked at me.
When I said something had grabbed me from below, their faces turned grim.
"Are you sure?" Wang Yang asked.
I nodded. "Whatever grabbed me was definitely a hand! I'm absolutely sure!"
Even as I said it, goosebumps rose on my skin.
Song Bing drew the "Nepalese" knife he carried at his waist, shone his searchlight downwards, and then submerged his head into the water.
After a few seconds, he emerged. "There's nothing down there."
Still unnerved, I felt a growing fear of the water and didn't dare to investigate further.
Wang Yang's expression became peculiar, as if he had remembered something.
I asked him what was wrong. He hesitated before saying, "I know what that thing is."
"What is it?"
"A water tiger."
"Water tiger?" I was a bit confused.
Wang Yang nodded. "I heard about it from the older generation. Water tigers usually live in caves on underwater mountain walls, but they're generally found in the Yellow River basin. They're rare in the sea."
I still didn't understand what a water tiger was. He continued, "That thing is about the size of a child, covered in scales, with hands and feet, and a pointed snout..."
"Are you talking about a kappa?" I asked.
Wang Yang shook his head. "A kappa is a kappa, and a water tiger is a water tiger. How to explain it... that creature is also called a Kappa in Wokou Country. It's recorded in ancient texts like 'Shui Jing Zhu · Mian Shui', 'Compendium of Materia Medica', and 'Xiang Mian Ji'..."
As he spoke, the more cryptic it became, sending a chill down my spine.
Especially in this enclosed space, his words were quite chilling.
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
Wang Yang was at a loss for a moment. Song Bing spoke up, "No matter if it's a water tiger or a kappa, if it grabs me again, I'll deal with it!"
Soon after, the three of us proposed to swim in together.
This time, Song Bing took the lead, I was in the middle, and Wang Yang brought up the rear.
Perhaps due to our newfound apprehension of the water tiger, we forgot all about holding our breath.
This time, we swam at least ten meters further and quickly reached a stone door.
The stone door was carved with a large cauldron, filled with various treasures of gold and silver.
At the bottom were three large characters in running script, reading: "Treasure Gathering Cauldron."
Seeing these words, my heart leaped. It seemed this stone turtle was indeed Shen Wansan's tomb!
Without further thought, I quickly signaled to Song Bing. He understood and inserted his Nepalese knife into the gap of the stone door, pushing hard. The stone door creaked open.
We all squeezed in and discovered that there was a flight of stairs inside.
Following the stairs upwards, we actually emerged from the water.
At this moment, a splash erupted behind us, and the stone door closed on its own.
After climbing the stairs, I surveyed the surrounding structure and realized it was clearly a side chamber.
The stone walls around us glowed with a faint blue light. I reached out to touch them and discovered they were made of jade!
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Hetian jade!
To use Hetian jade for walls, what an immense undertaking!
As expected of boss Shen's tomb, the materials were certainly lavish.
Wang Yang and Song Bing had clearly noticed this too. They touched the walls, their expressions filled with shock!
Looking further up, even the ceiling was covered in jade...