Chapter 72

This sudden and bizarre scene caught everyone completely off guard. Gao Yanqing's face changed with shock. What was even stranger was that he felt like the creatures behind the door weren't trying to get in, but...but trying to escape!

There was no doubt the creatures outside were ghosts, and these ghosts were actually afraid. Something that could scare ghosts... Gao Yanqing's breathing quickened, and he didn't dare to think any further.

And the most terrifying thing was that the unspeakable, terrifying existence was right behind the door, not far from them!

"Let's go!"

Gao Yanqing turned and fled. Zhu Jie stared at the strange phenomena behind the door, seemingly not fully recovered. Tang Qisheng pulled her along and followed Gao Yanqing.

"Don't go further in, let's get out!" Tang Qisheng's voice was steady, a calming presence in this environment. "To the courtyard we were just in!"

Gao Yanqing immediately changed direction, heading towards the courtyard. Hearing the cries for help behind them, Zhu Jie couldn't help but look back. Countless figures gathered behind the door, pressed against it, their shapes extremely distorted. Some had even deviated from the category of "human." Even more terrifyingly, the doors shook violently, as if they would be smashed open any second, and the ghostly things behind the door would rush out and devour them all.

A large amount of sewage sprayed from the door seams into the room, much faster than before. The sewage emitted an indescribable, rotten stench, like silt accumulated at the bottom of the deepest waters for countless years.

The water grew deeper and deeper. Each step sank into the mud. Gao Yanqing and the others moved slowly in this environment. Finally, they managed to get out, only to find the situation in the courtyard was no better. A whirlpool had formed near the mud-brick house used as a kitchen. Under the pull of the whirlpool, the mud-brick house was teetering, and it was only a matter of time before it collapsed completely.

"Where to now?" Gao Yanqing roared at Tang Qisheng. The current situation was a dead end. He hadn't found a single clue to survival, and it had all happened so suddenly.

Tang Qisheng wiped his face and pointed towards the mud-brick house. "There! That's the only way out!"

"Are you crazy? There's a whirlpool there!" Gao Yanqing couldn't understand what Tang Qisheng was thinking. Judging by the size of the whirlpool, there must be a large hole underneath. Anyone who got close would be sucked in.

"Only by entering the whirlpool can we escape from here!" Time was of the essence. Tang Qisheng pulled Zhu Jie, constantly moving closer to the whirlpool. Zhu Jie was injured and had been soaking in the cold lake water for too long. Her face was as white as paper, and her blue lips trembled continuously.

"Think about it, is it normal for this whirlpool to appear?" Tang Qisheng shouted, trying to explain. "The ship we're on is about to sink, and there's a big hole in the bottom. The water should be rushing in through the hole, so how could there be such a whirlpool!"

Gao Yanqing's pupils widened at these words. Tang Qisheng was right. The whirlpool was indeed strange. It was shaped like a funnel, more like a drain trying to remove the accumulated water from the cabin.

Although he didn't know how this drain had formed, something abnormal was bound to be ominous. To some extent, this might be the only way out.

At least it was more reliable than turning around and going upstairs to find Zhang Qizheng and his group. The water was getting more turbulent, and besides, going upstairs meant passing through the front hall, and the figures behind those doors were... were about to break out!

In a daze, Gao Yanqing thought of something else. Sewage was constantly spraying out along the seams of those doors, as if the rooms behind them were full of water. Judging by the ghostly figures, the rooms behind the doors were full of danger. In other words, on this sinking ship, water represented the greatest crisis. What happened at the Fu'an Inn also proved this point. So, could it be understood that as long as they left the ship through that abnormal whirlpool, they could survive?

The current situation didn't allow Gao Yanqing to think too much. His mind was a mess. He didn't like water, never had. It was a psychological shadow left by a previous mission. He had almost drowned in that mission, but fortunately, he had snatched a respirator from one of his teammates and escaped from that dark, cold underwater cave.

Of course, the snatching process hadn't been so smooth. He had cut the other person with a knife. After getting the respirator, he swam forward desperately. As if possessed, he heard his teammate calling out. He turned around and saw the teammate not far behind him. That pale face was appearing and disappearing in the murky water, and a pair of bleeding eyes were staring at him, filled with despair, helplessness, and anger, as if just those eyes could drag him into the abyss.

Recalling this scene, Gao Yanqing shuddered violently. He didn't want to dive underwater. The memories of the past were eroding him, but there was no other way. If he waited any longer, there would really be no chance.

"Everyone, dive down together!" Gao Yanqing shouted at Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie.

"Okay, she's not a good swimmer, we'll follow behind you." Tang Qisheng dragged Zhu Jie and shouted back to Gao Yanqing. Zhu Jie's condition was visibly poor. She was trembling constantly from the cold, perhaps also from fear.

Under normal circumstances, Gao Yanqing would have hated hearing someone say they would follow behind him, because it meant he had to bear the risk of exploring the way, but this time, he gladly accepted.

Having had similar experiences, he knew very well the risks of diving, especially diving into an unfamiliar body of water. The underwater situation was unknown, but it could be anticipated that it was quite complicated. He might have to hold his breath and swim a long distance, and the situation at the hole in the bottom of the ship might be very chaotic, perhaps piled with a lot of debris. In this case, it was a great test of the diver's psychological quality, physical fitness, and adaptability.

In his opinion, Tang Qisheng was obviously qualified, while Zhu Jie, who was already injured, was obviously not. If Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie took the lead, then once underwater, if Zhu Jie went crazy or something unexpected happened, she might block the exit and block their way out, and the consequences would be unimaginable.

At the same time, Gao Yanqing also thought of the six corpses that had been eaten at the Fu'an Inn. Obviously, there were terrifying creatures hiding underwater that they didn't know about. Forcibly clearing the fear from his mind, Gao Yanqing took a deep breath, then nodded to Tang Qisheng and plunged into the water.

Sure enough, as he immersed himself underwater, a bizarre and strange scene appeared. The water, which had only been up to his chest, was now many times deeper. Especially closer to the whirlpool, the water was deeper and more rapid. What made him uneasy was that the water below was very turbid and the visibility was very poor. He could only grope his way forward.

On the surface of the water, Tang Qisheng supported Zhu Jie, and the two struggled to hold on. The accumulated water was getting deeper and deeper, already up to their chests. If it continued like this, it was only a matter of time before they were completely submerged.

"This ship is going to sink," Tang Qisheng couldn't help but say.

Zhu Jie's hair was wet, clinging to her face in strands. She looked very disheveled, but her eyes were very firm. "We can't dive down there. It's...more dangerous!"

"That's right, you noticed it too, didn't you." Tang Qisheng shifted his gaze and stared at the location of the whirlpool. Many debris were floating near the whirlpool, including firewood, clothes from who knows where, a few porcelain bottles, and a few faintly visible white sheets. These things were entangled together.

"What kind of water can make porcelain bottles float? I don't understand." Tang Qisheng stared at the spinning porcelain bottles and said bluntly, "There's something wrong with this water, and there's something wrong with this whirlpool. And have you noticed that after Gao Yanqing dived down, it's gotten much quieter here. The sounds of banging on the doors and cries for help in the front hall have gradually disappeared."

"Those things are deliberately putting pressure on us, trying to force us underwater. The real danger is hidden inside this whirlpool."

"I believe that as long as we hold on, as long as we persevere, we won't die, at least...at least we won't be drowned by this sudden flood."

Judging from his voice, Tang Qisheng wasn't very sure either, but for now, he had no choice but to trust his own judgment.

Zhu Jie's pale cheeks twitched. "You're right. Did you notice those clothes? Those clothes have always been floating near the whirlpool. Logically speaking, with such a big whirlpool, those things should have been sucked in long ago. Also, those white sheets, those are..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhu Jie and Tang Qisheng both stopped and their faces changed drastically, because they saw those floating white sheets suddenly move, as if they were being pulled by something, instantly submerged in the water, and then disappeared.

But what was truly strange was that only these sheets moved, while the nearby floating objects continued to drift with the current, circling around the whirlpool.

"What is that?" Zhu Jie exclaimed.

Tang Qisheng covered her mouth, his voice very low. "Don't shout, I saw it too. Those two white sheets seem to be alive. That movement just now...it's like there's someone inside, like there's someone covered in there."

They had recognized the source of the white sheets long ago. They were the sheets that had originally covered the six corpses at the Fu'an Inn, but for some reason, those six corpses had been secretly transported here. The strange events of tonight had started from here.

Zhu Jie swallowed nervously, because she realized that only two sheets had disappeared just now. The remaining four were still around the whirlpool, constantly spinning, as if waiting for the two of them.

Soon, even Tang Qisheng couldn't remain calm, because he saw the remaining four sheets approaching them in an incomprehensible manner.

The sheets were moving in a very strange way, as if something was pulling them forward from below.

As the distance gradually closed, Tang Qisheng couldn't bear it anymore. He took out his phone, turned on the flashlight, and shone it forward. The light pierced through the darkness and penetrated the turbid water. What followed almost made Tang Qisheng drop his phone.

Under the white sheet closest to them, a human face was vaguely revealed. The face's eyebrows were raised and the corners of its mouth were curved into a grotesque smile. Even more terrifyingly, they had seen this face before. It was the woman with the contact lenses at the Fu'an Inn!

The four white sheets rapidly approached the two of them!

…

Underwater, Gao Yanqing's situation wasn't good either. Even though he had made enough mental preparations, the complexity of the underwater situation still greatly exceeded his expectations.

What was even more terrifying was that the visibility was too low. He could almost only rely on the direction of the water flow to sense the direction of the hole. He reached out his hand, blocking it in front of him. All sorts of strange things floated towards him. Some could be pushed away directly, but some larger things, such as wooden cabinets, he could only avoid.

Fortunately, his breath-holding time was still sufficient. He had trained specifically for it, which was one of the reasons why he had survived several times. He was a person who was ruthless to himself, as everyone who knew him said.

Suddenly, he felt a chill coming from behind him. This feeling was very strange, because the lake water was already cold enough. His whole body was frozen stiff, and he had almost lost the sense of cold, but now, something more terrifying than the cold of the lake water was staring at him.

That's right, it was staring at him. He was also a very sensitive person, and this feeling wasn't the first time it had happened.

He quickly kicked the water and turned around. Two figures were following behind him.

Seeing the figures, Gao Yanqing's heart calmed down slightly. The two figures were naturally Tang Qisheng and Zhu Jie, and at this moment Zhu Jie's pale face was even a little scary underwater. Seeing him turn around, Tang Qisheng quickly made a gesture to him. Gao Yanqing, who was familiar with diver's sign language, immediately understood that the other person was saying there was danger behind him.

Seeing this situation, Gao Yanqing didn't hesitate any longer and turned around as quickly as possible, continuing to dive deeper with the current.

The underwater world was gloomy and terrifying. Gao Yanqing remained vigilant. He had enough confidence in his ability to hold his breath. At least so far, he didn't have any feeling of discomfort in his lungs.

He began to let his body move forward with the current. Slowly, Gao Yanqing trembled. He actually... actually saw light, underwater!

Judging from the direction of the water flow, that was the location of the hole in the bottom of the ship.

Gao Yanqing suddenly had an ominous premonition, but reason controlled him, telling him that it was all his psychological effect, that this was the way out, that he could swim out from the hole in the bottom of the ship and survive!

There was no turning back now, and besides, the two people behind him also indicated that if he turned back now, there were more dangerous things waiting for them behind him.

As he got closer and closer to the light, the premonition in Gao Yanqing's heart became stronger and stronger, and even began to control his thoughts. Countless complex and terrifying images flooded into his mind. He actually stopped and began to sort out his thoughts. As his thoughts gradually cleared, he suddenly realized one thing: until now, he hadn't had any difficulty breathing. How long had it been?

How long had it been since he dived underwater?

"Oh... oh no..."