The three of them soaked in the seawater. Without the full protection of diving suits, the icy, bone-chilling cold wrapped around them like venomous snakes.
Pangzi clung tightly to Zhang Qiling, trying to use the Qilin tattoo as a portable electric heater. As he exerted himself, a thin stream of blood flowed from his arm. Zhang Qiling knew it was from a scratch by a sharp spike.
The whale slowly ascended, and they followed suit to avoid the spikes, quickly surfacing.
A thin layer of mist clung to the sea surface, obscuring their vision. Zhang Qiling glanced into the distance, only catching a faint glimpse of the ship's tiny silhouette through the haze.
... No, if this continues, Wu Tianzhen will also be in danger.
It would take time for them to get on the ship and for the ship to set sail. During this time, the spikes might still emerge from the water.
At that moment, they might pierce the bottom of their ship.
With this thought, Zhang Qiling patted Pangzi's arm, signaling him to let go.
"You stay here and bandage."
To be honest, Zhang Qiling's way of breaking sentences had a unique logic. Pangzi didn't understand at first until he saw the direction of Zhang Qiling's gaze and realized the cut on his hand.
"This is nothing, just a drizzle. I'll go with you—"
"No."
Xiao Zhang's firm tone broke Pangzi's heart. Just as he was about to plead further, he saw Zhang Qiling exchange a glance with Hei Yanjing, and with a whoosh, they had already dived back into the water.
It was pitch black underwater. Zhang Qiling turned on his searchlight again. The spikes below were slowly rising, very close to them. The light glinted off them with a cold hue.
Between the sea surface and the spikes, it was deathly silent. For a moment, it felt as if they had been exiled to the edge of the world, quietly awaiting death in this boundless, dark prison.
What had happened so far had been too fast, and none of them had observed properly. Now, holding their breath to study, Hei Yanjing found the dilapidated diving cap obstructing his vision. With a swipe, he tore it off, finally allowing his beloved sunglasses to see the light of day.
Zhang Qiling happened to glance over and saw that the peculiar combination of the diving goggles over the sunglasses had indeed put a great strain on Hei Yanjing's superior nose bridge. Now, a deep red mark had appeared on his cheek beneath the sunglasses.
... How to put it, Zhang Qiling felt that Hei Yanjing's action of tearing off the diving cap just now carried a hint of personal vendetta.
(Found it!)
Just then, Hei Yanjing suddenly waved at Zhang Qiling from ahead, signaling him to come over!
His sharp eyesight pierced through the obstruction of the waves, looking directly below the spikes. Excluding the complex entanglement of the spikes, by looking at their root positions, Hei Yanjing suddenly realized that these points seemed to form a familiar pattern.
So, Zhang Qiling watched blankly as Hei Yanjing called him over and then suddenly began to take off the lower half of his diving suit.
The discarded diving suit floated up leisurely, and Pangzi's exclamation came from above:
"Holy crap, are you guys molting down there?"
"Damn it, I thought you guys had sprung a leak from the spikes down there!!"
Ignoring Pangzi's arrogant words, Hei Yanjing quickly fumbled through an inner pocket of his clothes after shedding the suit and pulled out a turtle shell.
The patterns on the back of the turtle shell were still clear after thousands of years of wind and frost. Hei Yanjing held it up to Zhang Qiling's searchlight to examine it closely, then revealed a confident smile.
(This spot is the location of the mechanism.)
Hei Yanjing pointed to a white spot on the turtle shell, then looked down and pointed out that spot's location within the palace complex to Zhang Qiling.
(Go, mute, it's decided you're the one!)
He made a gesture of throwing a Poké Ball. Even in the seawater, he couldn't stop his mischievous inclination. Then Hei Yanjing turned his head and saw Zhang Qiling's expression of calm indifference (but seemingly looking at an idiot).
Hei Yanjing: ... Wow, this guy is really boring.
Zhang Qiling stared at the (idiotic) Hei Yanjing for a moment, then slowly turned his head back to look at the palace complex.
Hidden by the spikes, he couldn't quite make out the situation of the palace complex. However, during that fleeting glimpse, Zhang Qiling had already memorized the general structure of the palace complex. Therefore, with Hei Yanjing pointing out a spot, he could imagine its location.
With a "crackling" sound of bones, Zhang Qiling's body instantly shrunk considerably.
The diving suit no longer fit and slipped off. Hei Yanjing pushed it up with the waves, and within these few seconds, the shrunken Zhang Qiling had already shot out like a swimming fish!
Pangzi, who was scooping up his diving suit from the surface: ... You two really know how to play.
Zhang Qiling was unaware of Pangzi's thoughts. At this moment, he cautiously navigated through the narrow gaps between the spikes, each passage testing the very edge of danger.
In fact, using the bone-shrinking technique was not suitable for strenuous activity. As he maintained his shrunken form and swam rapidly, almost every major movement caused his twisted bones to ache with waves of pain.
Zhang Qiling had become accustomed to pain, but habit did not diminish the suffering.
The spot Hei Yanjing indicated was very precise. The moment Zhang Qiling arrived, he recognized the location of the mechanism by instinct.
Using his Faqiu Finger, he delicately probed the bricks below. After a slight pause, he instantly inserted it into a gap and pried out a stone brick—beneath it, a finely crafted interlocking gear mechanism was revealed.
"Click—"
Hei Yanjing waited above for not long when a crisp sound, as if ringing in his ears, was heard, followed by the sound of dense metal friction.
... The spikes below had begun to slowly retract.
Zhang Qiling did not leave immediately. He stayed in place, looking up as countless metal rods retracted from above him. For a moment, he felt a sense of liberation and a return to light.
His bones recovered amidst intense pain. The water pressure made him uncomfortable, but a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.
... It's been so long, and Wu Tianzhen hasn't arrived. Could something have happened?
This concern made him feel a sense of urgency. Noticing Hei Yanjing beside him, he made an upward gesture and intended to ascend.
However, at that moment, the mechanism beneath his feet, which had already been unlocked and damaged, suddenly vibrated—
A metal partition was instantly pushed open from the inside, and a thick sea snake covered in serrated teeth lunged out, poised to bite Zhang Qiling's ankle!
Zhang Qiling's reaction was a step too late. As he instinctively dodged, the snake had already turned into an afterimage and flown past his eyes!
And what followed was the sound of a gunshot!!
The snake instantly exploded into a cloud of blood mist, swept away by the current without a trace—
(Not bad, Pangzi~)
Hei Yanjing gave a thumbs-up to Pangzi, who was poking his head out from above. The moment the snake was pulled out and flung away by him, Pangzi's bullet had already arrived. This level of accuracy and prediction was remarkable.
"Hmph, who do you think Pangzi is~"
"Biting Xiao Ge right in front of me, do you think Pangzi is dead?"
Just as Pangzi raised his head, intending to recall and admire his heroic posture, he suddenly heard Wu Tianzhen's voice from afar—
"Damn it, Pangzi, get out of the way quickly!!!"
He looked in the direction of the voice with horror and saw that Wu Tianzhen, for some reason, was steering the boat directly towards him. The speed was like a runaway horse, and it looked like if he didn't dodge, his skull would be shaved off by the boat!
"Oh my god!!!!" Pangzi scrambled and rolled in the water to make way. The boat passed by him with barely a clearance!
"Pangzi, are you guys okay?" Wu Tianzhen even asked.
So, as Zhang Qiling and Hei Yanjing surfaced, they heard Pangzi jumping up and down:
"We're fine... Do I look like I'm fine?!"
"Tianzhen, I now declare your boating license revoked!!!"