Chapter 351: Jade Vein

These characters were carved very roughly, the strokes ugly, but with extreme force and clarity—the flashlight was even scratched and deformed, which was probably why it kept flickering on and off.

On the glass cover of the flashlight was a thick layer of green waterproof tape; that's where the green light came from! I cursed under my breath, that damned Fatty scared the soul out of me—even if a search team saw it, they'd probably be terrified.

The meaning of these words was very clear: they were telling me they were still alive but needed rescue, and the clue to finding them was the siphon tide.

This kind of flashlight can't last more than ten hours. It was still glowing, and the light was this bright, so it couldn't have been tied to the salamander long ago—they must still be alive and well.

That Fatty was really something! The salamander only showed up now, which meant he must have judged that I would dive right at this time. But this place was at least a thousand meters from where they disappeared—how did they manage to reach the bottom of the well without oxygen tanks?

Forget it, I didn't want to think too much. I just felt my mind clear up, and a vague, heavy stone finally settled in my gut. Knowing for sure that they were still alive—that's all that mattered.

Right now, the most important thing was to rescue them.

When I saw the siphon tide phenomenon from the shore earlier, I guessed that the lake bottom might have an opening connected to an underground river. Now looking again, that inference was correct, and the place where they were trapped was probably near that opening.

Fatty said to follow the current, but the siphon tide hadn't started yet—how could there be any current? I shook off the flashlight and tried to feel the water flow around me with my hands, but the icy lake water had numbed them. I could still feel rough objects, but fine sensitivity to the current was completely gone, and from what I could see, the water was still.

After thinking a bit more, I came up with an idea. I grabbed some sediment from the iron statue and let it drift into the water.

Under the beam of the exploration light, the white suspended particles spread out. I watched closely as they gradually settled in the water, then, extremely slowly, began to move toward the well opening.

Sure enough! There was a very, very slow current here, flowing downward into the well.

The siphon tide did exist, but it was so faint that the naked eye couldn't detect it. Looking at the direction, the oxygen pressure on the other side must be very low, causing the water here to be sucked backward toward it.

I checked the oxygen gauge—still had some time. I only had this one set of oxygen equipment. If I couldn't find them this time, I'd have to wait for Agui to bring in other gear for a second attempt, which would be two or three days later. I had to confirm whether they could hold out that long. If possible, with such a short distance, I hoped to bring them all out in one trip.

Estimating the time: after the oxygen gauge hit zero, the compressed air inside could still last about twenty minutes. If I kept the return time around ten minutes, I'd have at least ten minutes left for exploration.

No time to waste! I unfastened the oxygen tank from my back, lowered it first into the well by hand, then plunged headfirst in.

The inside of the well was very narrow, but fortunately it was dug straight. I sank all the way down, watching the depth gauge. Soon the oxygen pressure exceeded seven atmospheres, and the depth was approaching ninety meters.

With my head pointing down, the discomfort reached its limit. Earlier, my nerves were so tight that I didn't feel it, but now that I relaxed a bit, an extremely suffocating pressure brought nausea rising in my throat.

I absolutely couldn't vomit now. There was gas in my organs; if I threw up, the pressure might force everything into my windpipe. I forced it down with all my strength, almost using every ounce of my energy to focus on the spot of light from the explorer lamp.

Not long after, the blue bricks disappeared, revealing rock veins. It was clear their work stopped here—below was just crude excavation. At the same time, I began to sense something wrong. I heard a strange sound coming from the depths of the well, and the water flow was gradually picking up speed.

The more I listened, the more uneasy I felt. It sounded like the rush of very rapid water. Just as I was about to stop and listen carefully, the oxygen tank below suddenly jerked and started shaking.

I was biting the respirator, with the breathing tube hanging from the oxygen tank. It was already a strain. With that jolt, I lost my grip, and the respirator pulled free from my mouth, sinking deeper.

I immediately lunged forward to grab it. Luckily, I had a safety measure: a strap around my neck. I tried to pull the strap to bring the oxygen tank back up. But the tank sank only a meter or so before it vanished from my sight at incredible speed.

In that instant, I saw the bottom of the well. Below it was a channel perpendicular to the well, with a very swift current that instantly sucked the oxygen tank away. Just as I was about to curse, the strap around my neck tightened with such force it nearly strangled me.

Seeing myself being dragged into the torrent, I gritted my teeth and tried to use my neck strength to haul the tank back, but after a few seconds I knew it was impossible. Besides, the blood vessels in my neck were compressed, and my brain was losing blood supply. I cursed Fatty in my mind—why didn't he write this down? I thought about undoing the strap with one hand, but if I did, wouldn't I die? I was almost unable to think by then, so I just let go of my hands and feet, sank down, and decided to go with the flow—after all, Fatty had told me to follow the siphon tide.

Before I could feel anything, I was yanked downward by a tremendous force. Half a second later, I was pulled into the channel, spinning and carried along by the current. I tried to keep my posture, but my shoulders kept banging into the walls. Fortunately, the channel was wide enough for two or three people and had been smoothed by years of torrent, so there were no sharp edges—otherwise, those impacts would have torn my skin open.

As luck would have it, the oxygen tank spun around in the water and bumped into me. By then I was already out of breath, almost giving up, so I grabbed it without thinking.

After a struggle in the turbulent current, I finally found the snake-like breathing tube and shoved it back into my mouth. Before I could take a breath, I hit a steep downward slope, tumbling several times, my head bouncing off the cave walls like a pinball machine all the way down.

That fall stunned me completely. For a long time I didn't know what was happening, just instinctively biting down on the respirator. I don't know how long I was carried forward when suddenly there was a loud bang—the oxygen tank ahead had hit something blocking the channel.

I snapped back to consciousness and tried to protect my head, but there was no time to react. I crashed into the same thing with a dull thud, utterly dazed. Unlike the oxygen tank, I didn't have any bounce; after the impact, I was pinned against it by the current. I reached out and felt a metal grate. Using all my strength, I turned around and felt around—no gap.

Was this the destination? I looked up, but there was no passage anywhere, just solid rock walls—a dead end.

I didn't believe it. I adjusted my position and shone the explorer lamp carefully—really nothing there.

Damn it! How strange! Fatty said following the siphon tide would lead to them—why was this a dead end? Then I thought again and broke out in a cold sweat. Damn, could Fatty's location be in the middle of the channel? Had I been knocked senseless and missed it?

The speed was too fast earlier; I never thought to look around, and my reaction wasn't quick enough to spot any exit and enter it immediately. But I felt I hadn't been carried that long—if the entrance really was in the channel, it shouldn't be far.

This place was relatively spacious. I put the oxygen tank on my back and tried to crawl back against the current, grabbing the rock. But after just two steps, I realized the problem: the current was too strong! Even with handholds, I would have to use all my strength to move, and the rock walls were incredibly smooth.

I tried every method, every angle—all failed. My best attempt got me about ten steps from the grate, but one slip and I was washed back, completely exhausted.

Pressed by the current, I grew more and more uneasy.

This place looked ordinary, but it was an absolute trap. I was trapped without a cage. Why didn't Fatty write down this detail?

If I really couldn't get out, he would have killed me this time!

I checked the oxygen gauge—the reading was gone, meaning it could run out any minute. I panicked a little, grabbed the iron bars and shook them hard, trying to see if I could pull them loose and go back, but I found they were cast into the rock with molten iron—solid as hell.

Behind was pitch black. Shining the exploration light, I saw the waterway drop sharply, and the current became even more turbulent. Perhaps it was for this reason that iron railings were built here, to prevent people from being swept into even narrower channels.

For a moment I was truly panicked, even having trouble holding the respirator in my mouth. I quickly took deep breaths and told myself to calm down.

In the past, I had always been able to come up with some way out when trapped, because humans are creatures that can unleash enormous potential as long as there is a glimmer of hope. I began to think rapidly, while constantly looking and feeling around, hoping to find some inspiration.

At first I was full of confidence, believing that heaven never seals off all exits. But what made me despair was that this time was different from before. Although it was an open environment, it was very simple. After feeling around for a long time, I only became more certain that I couldn't overcome the current or tear down the iron railings.

Even though I continued to think, a thought had vaguely emerged in my mind: There's no escape this time!

Certain death without a doubt.