Chapter 197: God's Ten Minutes

Third Uncle panicked, but he knew he absolutely couldn't get nervous at this moment. He unfastened his oxygen tank, kicked it away, and then connected Xie Lianhuan's tank to continue searching for the entrance.

Actually, at this point, the situation was already extremely bad. When Third Uncle shone his flashlight around, he found that everything around him was deep, dark darkness, and he couldn't even tell which direction he had come from.

It seemed he had been too naive. Third Uncle cursed under his breath, and a heartbeat even more intense than the fear of being trapped in an ancient tomb began to appear. That was when he realized that he might be doomed.

But after this extreme terror, Third Uncle instead calmed down. He told himself he still had ten minutes. Maybe hope lay in those ten minutes. If he couldn't find it, so be it—it was just a matter of dying sooner or later.

Relying on instinct, he began searching again. Soon, Xie Lianhuan's oxygen tank was also empty. He unfastened the air bladder and started breathing the air inside it. However, everything around was still pitch black. This feeling was extremely frustrating, especially when you were looking for something but couldn't find it no matter how hard you tried. Third Uncle began to despair. Just then, misfortunes never come singly—suddenly, Xie Lianhuan's flashlight flickered and went out, plunging everything into complete darkness.

Third Uncle looked and thought, "It seems Heaven wants me dead; there's nothing I can do." At that moment, he suddenly saw a green light spot in the darkness ahead.

"Ah, it's the dancing ancient corpses!" Third Uncle turned on his waist lamp and shone it there, and sure enough, he saw that group of ancient corpses drifting back, and they were very close to him—only five or six meters away.

A glimmer of hope appeared in Third Uncle's heart. He thought, "That's right. The path of these ancient corpses passes that entrance. If I follow these bodies, I can find the entrance."

So he swam over, entered the midst of those ancient corpses, and followed them forward.

As soon as he got close, he noticed that the corpses seemed to be following a current. He also plunged into that current and began drifting forward automatically, while shining his lamp upward to see the situation.

However, what made him extremely anxious was that the corpses drifted very slowly. Soon, he had almost completely consumed the first air bladder, yet he still hadn't found that entrance.

Third Uncle told me that at that time he was almost going crazy, but there was no other way—he could only keep following. He had to place his hope in a miracle. In other words, he no longer had the heart to be afraid, nor could he think about the oxygen situation; he only hoped to see that entrance immediately.

However, by the time he finally saw the entrance appear above his head, the second air bladder was almost empty as well. The air in the two bladders could last at most two minutes. Entering now would be suicide. If he just let the current carry him down, there was still hope of returning to that tomb chamber.

Third Uncle looked at the entrance, then at the darkness below. At that moment, he made a decision: he had to take a gamble. Going down meant dying a little later. Two minutes—though it seemed impossible—he had to try; he didn't want to wait to die.

He took a deep breath and swam upward. But the moment he swam out of the current, because the water outside was slower, he tumbled and slammed into an ancient corpse.

The force of the current was considerable. Third Uncle couldn't control his posture, so he quickly hugged that ancient corpse and tried to stabilize himself.

At that moment, a sudden flash of inspiration struck him. He saw that from the mouth of the ancient corpse, gas was actually spurting out. "Huh?" He was startled. He pressed the corpse and instantly discovered that it wasn't a real person. It was a human figure woven from bamboo or something similar, coated with stone gum and mud oil on the outside. Moreover, it was clearly hollow—there was air inside!

"No way," Third Uncle thought. He immediately pulled out his dagger and stabbed it in. Bubbles immediately gushed out from the breach.

Third Uncle pounced on it like he was sucking blood, inhaling the air inside. After just one breath, he knew there was a way. Although the air inside was extremely foul, it wasn't poisonous—it was breathable.

Thinking quickly, he grabbed two of the ancient corpses and pushed them out of the current, then entered the entrance.

It sounds incredible, and no one would believe it, but Third Uncle really did successfully snatch his life back like that.

He returned to the boat. By then, the sky was already light, and the sun was about to rise. As soon as he got on board and put away his gear, he saw a third set of wet equipment placed in the corner. At that moment, he immediately confirmed that the person who wanted to kill him was definitely part of the archaeological team.

However, when he went back to the cabin, he found that everyone was sound asleep. He looked at each person one by one, but he couldn't tell who was acting strange at all.

In normal times, he would have tied them up one by one and interrogated them, but now, out of consideration for Wenjin, he couldn't do that. He had to endure it and pretend to sleep as well. It wasn't until two hours later, at dawn, that he pretended to discover that Xie Lianhuan was missing, and then they began

Third Uncle said to me, "I don't know how he got out. Judging from the situation at the time, it's possible that after he woke up, he found the oxygen tank missing and that he was all alone. In his panic, he forced his way out and then drowned. I really didn't expect him to be so stupid, but thinking back now, I suppose I caused his death."

I sighed deeply and said to Third Uncle, "When you came up, you should have gone back down to save him immediately. Then this wouldn't have happened. And you actually went to sleep?"

Third Uncle nodded and also sighed. "At the time I felt it was too dangerous to go down and save him immediately. I didn't know which person on the boat wanted me dead. Going back in would likely lead to me falling into someone's trap again. Anyway, after they woke up, they would immediately notice Xie Lianhuan was missing and would definitely go looking. I had left the inflatable boat we came in at the reef spot back then. As long as I lured them there, then slipped into the cave in the chaos, it would take at most half an hour round trip. Otherwise, if I went out to sea alone at night with two sets of equipment, not only would it arouse suspicion, but after rescuing Xie Lianhuan, it would be hard to explain." Third Uncle shook his head. "Now you know why I didn't want to bring this up. This is the thing I regret most in my life."

Speaking of this, I recalled the blood letter. Now it was clear why Xie Lianhuan thought Third Uncle had harmed him. Dammit, with the back of his head ambushed, Xie Lianhuan certainly didn't know who did it. He couldn't have imagined that a third person had followed them into the tomb. When he woke up, the first person he would think of was Third Uncle. Then seeing his diving equipment gone, of course he would think Third Uncle wanted to kill him.

A monumental injustice. I immediately thought of those unsolvable misunderstandings in Jin Yong's novels. I used to think they were literary exaggerations, but I never expected something like this could actually happen.

In the end, where Xie Lianhuan got the Snake-browed Bronze Fish and how his body ended up beneath the reef could no longer be verified. Presumably, in his despair, he found some way out. But in an underwater ancient tomb, even if he could get out, he couldn't escape that stretch of seawater. Xie Lianhuan ultimately could not escape his fate.

I decided privately that it was better not to tell Third Uncle about Xie Lianhuan's misunderstanding, to avoid making him feel bad after hearing it.

Third Uncle continued, "What happened next, I already told you in Jinan. Of course, at the time I didn't want you to know that Xie Lianhuan's death was related to me. So when Wenjin and I went into the underwater tomb a second time, I didn't mention the later part. Actually, when I went in that time, I was indeed pretending to be asleep, because I was afraid they would reach that tomb chamber. I didn't know what Xie Lianhuan might have left inside, so I wanted to go take a look before they arrived. Also, I knew that once we were down there, the person who attacked me would definitely reveal himself. I wanted to use that to find him and avenge Xie Lianhuan."

At this point, I recalled what Poker-face had told me. Thinking it over, it seemed that the one who proposed exploring the tomb was Poker-face himself. Suddenly enlightened, I asked Third Uncle, "So did you figure out who it was? Was it that Zhang Qiling?"

His skills and background were both extremely mysterious. If it were him, things would be easier to explain.

Third Uncle frowned. "After they went out, I followed behind them. That person was indeed quite suspicious, but there were even more suspicious people. In the end, after watching for a while, I couldn't figure it out. I found everyone suspicious. But personally, with that young man's skills, my lousy kung fu wouldn't have been enough — I probably would have been killed on the spot. It's unlikely it was him."

I realized that too, so I nodded. Poker-face usually looked soft and weak, like he was always sleepy. But when he got fierce, he would just directly twist someone's neck. That was the fastest way to kill someone. Third Uncle was definitely no match for him. So I asked again, "Then what happened next?"

"Next... After that young man led the group out, I secretly followed behind them. Inside the tomb, after they entered that tomb chamber with the pool, I didn't know at the time there was a passage under the pool. I thought they would make a round and then come out. I stayed in the darkness of the corridor and waited for a while. They didn't come out. My heart stirred — worried they might be in danger — so I followed them in. As for what happened after that, that young man should have told you. I was just following behind; his account should be clearer than mine."

At this point I remembered a detail and asked, "And what about him saying you dressed up as a woman and looked in the mirror to guide them through the Eight Gates formation — is that true too?"

Third Uncle hummed. "What do you mean by woman?"

I repeated what Poker-face had said at the time. Third Uncle's eyes suddenly went wide. "Something like that happened?"

I grinned, thinking to myself that he definitely knew. But Third Uncle actually gasped, stood up, and paced a few steps: "He really said that?" "Given the circumstances, I definitely couldn't have misheard."

Third Uncle narrowed his eyes and asked me to repeat it in detail, so I tried hard to recall what Poker-face had told me and laid it out carefully.

After hearing me out, Third Uncle stroked his chin and shook his head repeatedly: "No, no! He's lying!"

"Lying?"

"I was on the stone steps, and the fog was too thick—I didn't see what was happening at the time. I can swear by Wenjin that I never went down below, and I had no idea there was any mechanism inside. That young master's one-sided story can't be trusted just like that."

I frowned: "But given his situation back then, I don't think he had any reason to lie to us. He could have just not mentioned this at all, and we wouldn't have been able to do anything about it."

Third Uncle tapped his head, thought for a moment, and said: "That's true, but if we assume he's telling the truth, there's still a problem. Look at what the kid said: 'I' was crouching there, and he only saw 'my' back. Their entire judgment was based on that back. Throughout the whole process, except for that Huo Ling who might have seen 'my' face, everyone else judged it was me solely based on a diving suit..."

I let out an "Ah," and recalled what was said, realizing it was true. "So you're saying the person who led them through the hidden formation wasn't you, but someone who looks similar to you from behind and even in appearance?"

Third Uncle nodded, his expression turning very serious: "If what that young master said is true, absolutely. And didn't you notice? That young master never saw my face—he had a chance to, so why didn't he?"

I recalled the scene Poker-face described and shivered: "Huo Ling—she blocked him!"

Third Uncle nodded: "Right, that's the detail. I never knew about this. I never thought that in those extremely short minutes, such a thing could happen..."

I felt a headache coming on. Indeed, the situation was so chaotic and visibility so low that Poker-face could have easily been mistaken. And looking at it this way, the conclusion that the person was Third Uncle had been proposed by Huo Ling from start to finish—only she had seen that person's face. If she was an accomplice of that person, it could have been a clever trick. Then Poker-face and the others might have wrongly blamed Third Uncle.

I suddenly thought of what Poker-face had said at the time: "If this really is your Third Uncle." Was he also doubting that the person wasn't Third Uncle? But then I thought again—that didn't work. Poker-face hadn't only seen Third Uncle that one time; he had seen him before he passed out, and had seen his face. That couldn't be faked by a back view. How to explain that? I raised this question, and Third Uncle sighed: "I wouldn't know about that. Maybe the young master mis-saw in his delirious state. Think about it—he came in thinking he was chasing me, and by then he was dazed; he might have been hallucinating."

I shook my head and said to him: "That's too forced. A guy like him isn't likely to make a blurry mistake."

Third Uncle said seriously: "If that's the case, then he must be lying, because I'm not deceiving you."

Hearing this, I sighed deeply in my heart. This was what I feared most. All along, whenever I heard overlapping parts of Third Uncle's and Poker-face's experiences, I got very nervous, afraid of contradictions. That would mean one of them was definitely lying.

But listening all the way through, I found that their stories mostly matched. I had started to feel relieved, thinking that even if it wasn't a hundred percent truth, it should be close to the facts. But now, just as we were about to reach a conclusion, we hit this snag. It was frustrating, and this snag was crucial. If Third Uncle wasn't inside, then someone else had knocked them out, and Third Uncle would be completely innocent. If Third Uncle was inside, the opposite would be true, and he'd be a sinister villain. This one point represented two completely different outcomes.

Between the two, I was still more inclined to believe Poker-face, because he had narrated it when there was absolutely no need for him to tell us. Whether he deceived us or not made no difference to him. However, Third Uncle's account this time was very clear and had no obvious flaws. If he were lying, he couldn't have fabricated the story to this degree. I felt he probably wasn't deceiving me this time. Moreover, with only this one contradiction left, if he wanted to fool me, he could have easily glossed over it. He could have said he followed them in and passed out, then woke up to find them gone—and I'd have no way to find a flaw.

This seemed like a Rashomon situation, with no way to unravel the mystery. It seemed like both were telling the truth.

At that thought, a strange idea struck me. If I assumed neither Third Uncle nor Poker-face was lying, could there be a scenario where both of their accounts held true? This was a bit like Fatty's way of thinking—simple and direct, breaking things into three parts, and if the first two were confirmed, the third, no matter how impossible, had to hold.

I shared my idea. Third Uncle was also thinking, and after a moment he shook his head: "How is that possible? For both versions to be true, there would have to be two of me in that tomb."

"Two Third Uncles?" I pondered. That seemed absolutely impossible. Third Uncle had no twin brother and couldn't split himself—there was no logic to that assumption. But if we followed Fatty's way of thinking, we didn't need logic; we just needed to list all possibilities—exhaustive enumeration.

I took out a piece of paper and started writing possibilities. But as I thought, I realized that under the premise that neither of them was lying, there was only one result: Third Uncle was outside the mystical formation, and the person Poker-face saw inside was someone who looked like Third Uncle.

So the real question wasn't how there could be two Third Uncles, but where this resembling person came from. Enumeration gave a few possibilities: one, a stranger from the sea; two, someone who had been hiding in the tomb all along. Both were far-fetched. The more likely possibility was that the person was one of the ten men.

This had some basis. Recalling Poker-face's account, the two sightings of Third Uncle were both peculiar—it was entirely possible that someone among the group that went into the underwater tomb did it.

But I had never heard Third Uncle mention anyone in the team who looked like him. If such a person existed, he should have thought of it by now. I had also seen the photos, though they were blurry and everyone looked similar, so they weren't reliable.

Could it be disguise? I thought of that young master's skills. But then I realized it was impossible. A disguise takes three to four days of preparation and five to six hours of makeup. Given the situation at the time, how could he have managed that?

I hit another dead end and felt frustrated. I let out a long sigh.

Third Uncle saw my expression and asked what I was thinking. I recounted my reasoning. Third Uncle laughed and said I was learning Fatty's crooked way of thinking.

But he laughed only a few times before he seemed to think of something. His expression changed, and he sucked in a cold breath: "Hey, not bad. Damn it, could this be what happened?"

I quickly asked him: "What is it?"

Third Uncle's face turned pale: "You know, that Fatty has some skill. With your analysis, I think I understand how this thing played out. But if it really is like that, then this is very wrong—almost eerie."

I urged him to explain quickly. He said: "You said there was someone in the tomb who looked like me. That makes sense, but I think that person didn't need to look exactly alike. Consider that the young master was poisoned and disoriented, and it was just a few seconds before he passed out. Even a slight resemblance could have caused a misidentification."

I nodded: "Right. But was there such a person in your team? If there were, you'd probably have noticed long ago, since it's rare for two people to be so similar in the world."

Third Uncle's expression was strange. He took a breath and shook his head: "You're thinking wrong. In fact, there is one situation in the world where two people being similar is not strange, and in the archaeological team back then, there was indeed someone who was about seventy percent similar to me. But no one found it strange."

I let out an "Ah" and thought, no way. I asked quickly: "Who?"

Third Uncle stared at me and replied: "It's Xie Lianhuan, of course."