Chapter 195: The Third Person in the Dark

Third Uncle thought of this, and although he couldn't believe it, he still broke out in a cold sweat. He put down Xie Lianhuan and quickly looked around.

After sweeping his gaze once, he saw nothing—the quiet tomb chamber was empty, but as the dim yellow beam of his flashlight passed over the walls, an inexplicable chill seeped into Third Uncle's guts.

Third Uncle was different from us. For someone who had played underground since childhood, dead people were not scary; they were just objects, harmful but incapable of ambushing you. Living people, however, were another matter. The moment Third Uncle thought there might be a third person in the tomb, he became frightened.

That heavy blow to the back of Xie Lianhuan's head could have been serious or not. In any TV show or movie, knocking someone out just takes a hit to the back of the head. In reality, men like Third Uncle knew that the force needed to knock someone unconscious was the same as the force to kill them. Whether the victim lived or died was pure luck. Hit too lightly, and you'd only daze them for a few seconds. The real way to knock someone out without killing them was to strike the back of the neck; a skilled fighter didn't even need to hit—just a squeeze would do.

So Third Uncle wasn't sure how Xie Lianhuan was doing after that blow. He only knew that if a person had struck him, that person had clearly gone for the kill. A fall could never cause such a severe injury—even a fatal fall would cause internal bleeding, not a scalp torn open like that.

But how could there be a third person here?

If this were an ancient tomb on land, running into an acquaintance, though uncommon, was still plausible. But this was the seabed. Could someone else coincidentally know about this place and dive in?

Impossible—the odds were far too low. Third Uncle's mind worked quickly, and he soon thought of a possibility.

Damn it, could someone on the boat have seen him and Xie Lianhuan dive in? Followed them down? Now that he thought about it, it was entirely possible. There were unlikely to be any other boats nearby, and when he had grabbed Xie Lianhuan, there had been a bit of a commotion. Could someone have been woken up then? Instead of calling out, they had tailed them all the way?

It had been pitch black at sea—the ocean is black, a chaotic darkness where nothing is clear. If someone had followed, there was no way to spot them. Besides, the two of them had been focused on hurrying and hadn't even considered such a thing.

To be honest, Third Uncle hadn't taken that archaeological team seriously at the time. He figured that even if they were discovered, Wenjin could cover for them. The team might suspect something, but they couldn't do much. So when he and Xie Lianhuan dove in, he hadn't been too concerned about whether anyone would know. He never expected someone to secretly follow them.

Who could it be? He knew most of the team members. Though there were a few unfamiliar faces, he was usually a good judge of character—aside from Xie Lianhuan, no one seemed suspicious. Could it be one of the boatmen? That was possible. Had a boatman seen them dive and followed out of curiosity? But getting here required diving gear. Those boatmen were strong swimmers, but they probably didn't know how to operate diving equipment. So it must be someone from the archaeological team. But who?

Third Uncle couldn't figure it out. He thought to himself: Regardless, if the person had just happened to follow, they would have called out by now to negotiate. Staying silent and delivering such a heavy blow to knock out Xie Lianhuan—without hearing any shouts, it must have been a sneak attack. That was definitely suspicious. I'll subdue him first and see who he really is.

These thoughts flashed through Third Uncle's mind like lightning. As soon as he realized this, he turned off his flashlight. The surroundings went dark, leaving only the wavering beam from Xie Lianhuan's light. Then he crouched low, lay flat on the ground, and rolled to the side.

This was to prevent the enemy from knowing his position. With the enemy visible and himself hidden, he had the best chance. Lying flat was a habit of Third Uncle's, a precaution against the enemy throwing something after hearing his movements. Someone like Chenpi A'si, for instance, could hit you just by listening to your heartbeat if you were standing.

After rolling a dozen paces, he felt he was far enough from the iron coffin. He steadied his breath and strained to listen to the sounds around him.

The tomb chamber had been extremely quiet—so quiet you could hear a pin drop. When Third Uncle fell silent, it became even stiller; he could hear his own heartbeat, loud as thunder.

Beyond his heartbeat, he did detect some strange sounds, very faint, impossible to pinpoint, but definitely all around him. It sounded like breathing, or perhaps the faintest rustling, sending a chill down his spine.

There was indeed someone.

Third Uncle cursed under his breath, closed his eyes, and tried to listen more carefully to determine the direction of the sound.

But after just a moment, the sound vanished, as if the other person knew they had been discovered and held their breath.

Third Uncle's heart raced as he slowly got up. If the person was nearby, lying flat would put him at a disadvantage if he accidentally got stepped on. He was about halfway up when he suddenly heard a joint crack from his left rear, extremely close. Panicking a little, he turned and tried to back away from the sound.

At that instant, he felt a slight breeze by his face. He knew something was wrong and tried to duck, but it was too late. In the darkness, a sudden gust of wind came, and someone lunged at him, slamming him to the ground. Then Third Uncle felt the flashlight tucked into his belt being yanked out. The attacker's grip loosened, and Third Uncle tried to arch his back and break free. Suddenly, his jaw went numb—someone had struck him hard with the flashlight, filling his mouth with blood.

Damn it, the other guy can see me! That thought flashed through Third Uncle's mind in that split second.

In total darkness, to attack so accurately and immediately pull out his flashlight, the person must have seen clearly.

How was that possible? Did he have cat's eyes? Startled, Third Uncle jerked his head to the other side, but the second blow still landed precisely on his nose. It was a heavy hit; his head drooped, and a salty taste surged into his mouth.

Now Third Uncle was truly enraged. He had been the king of the kids since childhood—when had he ever suffered such humiliation except when beaten by his grandfather? He immediately decided to kill. He raised his head and slashed with his dagger.

But he didn't hit anything; instead, he took another heavy blow to his chin. It was a killing strike. Third Uncle's chin went numb—he couldn't even feel pain. Then the hand holding his dagger was grabbed tightly.

Lying down, he had no leverage. His hand was pressed to the ground. Third Uncle cursed loudly, thinking, "Are you trying to rape me or what?" He raised his head and spat a mouthful of blood and saliva.

From the sensation on his body, he knew the other person dodged. In that split second, Third Uncle twisted his whole body and broke free. The attacker hadn't expected him to escape and bent down to press him with a knee, but that fell into Third Uncle's trap.

In a common fight, if someone is pinned and the pressure suddenly eases, their first instinct is to break free. But since the opponent is on top, it's easy for them to regain control. So Third Uncle feigned a struggle, and when the person pressed down again, his other hand grabbed his waterproof bag filled with a skull and swung it hard.

He had no idea where it hit, but he heard a muffled grunt and the person tumbled away. Third Uncle laughed, rolled over, and scrambled to his feet. He grabbed the waterproof bag and swung it toward where the grunt had come from.

Unfortunately, the bones inside were probably already shattered, so the bag didn't have much force. Third Uncle didn't care if he hit anything. Stumbling, he rushed toward the beam of Xie Lianhuan's flashlight, grabbed it, and shone it behind him.

The idea of stalking in the dark was now useless. Since the other person could see him, his earlier actions of turning off the flashlight and rolling on the ground were just ridiculous. To subdue him, he had to force him out.

But as he swept the flashlight beam in an arc, he saw no one. The attacker had vanished.

By now, Third Uncle was boiling with rage, no longer calm. Seeing that the person had hidden, he burst into curses and went looking with his dagger. He had only made it once around the coffin when he heard a splash from the spot where he had entered the water.

Damn, he ran? Third Uncle leaped up and chased after him. When he reached the entrance, he saw the person had already dived in; ripples still spread on the water surface. In his fury, Third Uncle wanted to jump in headfirst, but seeing the black water under the flashlight, he realized the enemy might be waiting in ambush below. If he jumped in, he'd be in deep trouble. He forced himself to stop and cursed loudly at the water.

Since he didn't know who it was, he cursed out every person on the boat except Wenjin.

But as he cursed, he felt something was off. There was a strange hissing sound nearby that made his ears itch.

Third Uncle shone the flashlight toward the sound and saw something that turned him ice-cold, nearly making him faint.

It turned out that the valve of his own oxygen tank had been twisted open at some unknown time, and oxygen was hissing out.