Chapter 271: Third Night: Shadow Fight

This time I absolutely cannot let her get away, I thought to myself. We have too many questions that need to ask her.

We ran out of the camp, before entering the broad area of the jungle. In such a place, Poker-face was extremely fast, and in an instant he forced her near a large boulder. The three of us surrounded her again. She leaned against the boulder, seemingly with no way to escape, and only the sound of her panting could be heard.

"Big sister, what exactly are you afraid of?" Fatty asked. "We're good people. Stop running. You're making us look like Japanese soldiers chasing girls."

Wenjin suddenly shouted something. I didn't catch what she said. She suddenly turned and climbed up the boulder in a few moves. Her movements were extremely agile; obviously she had practiced martial arts, as there wasn't a hint of hesitation.

Among us, only Poker-face could follow. He immediately flipped over and grabbed Wenjin from behind. As Wenjin struggled, the two rolled together, rolling behind the boulder, and then there was a sound of water, as if they had fallen into a pool.

Fatty and I chased over and saw that behind the boulder was the same kind of pool we had seen before. Below was the low-lying part of this temple, bottomless, with corridors and passageways leading into the interior of the ruins. After Poker-face fell in, he had to let go to avoid drowning Wenjin. He floated to the surface. I thought to myself, we've definitely caught her this time. Fatty and I each guarded a spot on the bank, ready to hold her down if she climbed up.

However, with three of us—two on shore and one in the water—even after the ripples on the water had calmed, Wenjin still didn't come up.

After waiting a few seconds, I thought to myself, damn it. Could it be that she can't swim and sank? That would be us killing her. Poker-face immediately dove straight down, plunging into the water to search.

Bubbles kept rising from the water. He thrashed around for half a minute before surfacing and said to us, "This connects to other places down there. She's gotten in!"

"Then what do we do? Isn't she as good as dead? We have to get her out immediately!" I said.

The structure inside these ruins is extremely complex, with crisscrossing corridors and certainly a lot of collapsed areas everywhere. Even with an oxygen tank, going in would be more dangerous than safe.

"No, the few pools here all seem to be connected." As soon as he said that, from a place behind us came the sound of someone emerging from water and gasping heavily.

We immediately turned and rushed toward that place. After running a few steps, we saw that it was indeed another pool. The edge of the pool was wet, and footprints led straight into the forest. Clearly, Wenjin was extremely familiar with the waterways under this temple.

We immediately followed the footprints in a mad chase. After running a few steps, we heard urgent panting and footsteps ahead and immediately sped up. Just then, a heavy darkness appeared above my head. In alarm, I realized we had chased into the rainforest.

I hesitated for a moment, thinking to myself, not good. Just running in like this, what if we get lost? In that instant of hesitation, Poker-face and Fatty immediately ran far ahead. I cursed loudly and could only follow. Now I could only hope that Poker-face, being in front, would catch her immediately, or else I felt things would turn bad.

Although Fatty had analyzed that the mist in the forest was not poisonous, who knew if his guess was correct? If we suddenly went blind in there, it would definitely be the end.

But Wenjin was like a loach in the rainforest, darting through gaps in the trees as if there were no obstacles. This chase was utterly frantic and disorienting. Finally, my head slammed into a low-hanging branch, knocking me over, and I stopped. By the time I stood up, Fatty and Poker-face were long gone. Only the sound of someone moving through bushes came from afar, and I couldn't tell the direction anymore.

I saw stars, squatted down, and gasped for a long time before recovering, feeling like my lungs were about to cramp. I looked up around me but couldn't tell which direction was which, and panic immediately set in.

I chased for a few meters in the general direction, then stopped, not daring to continue. I started shouting, telling them to stop chasing, that it was too dangerous.

After shouting a few times, I heard the rustling of leaves and panting, as if they were running back. I immediately chased toward the direction of the sound.

After crossing several nearly impassable clusters of vines, I lost the sound again. I thought to myself, this is like filming Tom and Jerry, always going in circles.

I tried again to locate the direction by the sound. At that moment, suddenly right behind me, someone called out, "Third Young Master."

The voice sounded like it was pinching its nose, extremely shrill. It was a woman's voice, chilling to the bone. I was startled and immediately turned around, shining my mining lamp. "Wenjin?"

Behind me, thick fog filled the air, I couldn't see anything. But that voice was genuine; I knew I hadn't misheard. I immediately asked, "Who?"

From deep within the thick fog, someone called out again, "Third Young Master?"

I immediately adjusted the direction of my mining lamp and shone it that way, taking a couple of steps, but still saw nothing.

I felt a bit strange. The voice was very close to me, should be within arm's reach, definitely within the flashlight's range. Why was there nobody? Was the person hiding?

"Who are you?" I asked again.

No answer. I felt something was off. I shone the flashlight around, trying to find something to defend myself, but it was too dark to see anything. And I didn't dare keep the flashlight beam away from my front for too long.

"Are you one of Third Master's people?" I said again.

"Third Young Master?" The voice sounded again, and it had moved to my left. I was startled and immediately shone the mining lamp there. Still no trace of anyone.

This guy must be hiding. I felt creeped out, but then I reconsidered. No, if it can speak, it must be human. And calling me Third Young Master, definitely knows me. It should be one of Third Uncle's men. From the sound, it seems he's circling me. Could it be that he can't see clearly here either and doesn't dare show himself rashly? Thinking that, I immediately said, "I am Third Young Master. Which branch of Third Uncle's are you from?"

There was no reply from that side. I thought to myself, what exactly is he hesitating about? I immediately swung my mining lamp and walked toward the direction of the voice, saying as I walked, "Come out. I'm a person, not a ghost."

After walking about six or seven meters, a large tree appeared ahead, but I still didn't see anyone. I grew puzzled. Hesitating for a moment, suddenly from behind that large tree came another, "Third Young Master."

This guy must be deaf, I thought to myself. I raised my voice and shouted, "I'm right here!"

The bush behind the tree suddenly shook. I thought to myself, no time to waste with you like this. I rushed over and, reaching behind the tree, shone the light. Unexpectedly, behind the tree was a cliff. Before I could steady myself, I stepped into empty air and fell.