Volume 1: Spirit Marriage Chapter 65: Downstream

  I and Wu Lele were also very curious to see if the stone statue was really afraid of pain, so when Zhang Yunhao used a lighter to burn the stone statue, we didn't stop him.

  Many dangers and calamities arise from too much curiosity, or from revenge for injuries received.

  Zhang Yunhao was burning the left hand of the stone statue, and had only been burning for less than two seconds when a groan suddenly came from the mouth of the statue. We were taken aback, looking at each other in shock, when Zhang Yunhao let out a blood-curdling scream and his body suddenly flew out, followed by a loud splash as he fell into the water.

  I and Wu Lele were stunned for a moment, this thing came too suddenly, and in the flash of lightning, when we reacted, Zhang Yunhao had already sunk to the bottom of the water.

  "Brother Hao!" I shouted and was about to jump into the water, but Wu Lele grabbed me and asked what I was doing. I hastily said that I was going to rescue Brother Hao from drowning. Wu Lele shone her flashlight onto the water's surface and said: "He sank so quickly, it means there must be something underneath that pulled him down. If you go in like this, aren't you just sending yourself to death?" I asked what if I did send myself to death, was I supposed to just stand by and watch Brother Hao drown? Wu Lele advised: "It's not that we're not trying to rescue him, it's just that we can't. If you go in like this, not only will you fail to save him, but you'll also end up losing your own life. And didn't Haozi go down last time too? Didn't he come out fine? Maybe this time he'll be okay too."

  When Wu Lele said that, I hesitated and wanted to go down, but couldn't. My heart was burning with anxiety. Wu Lele asked how the wastebasket had fallen into the water earlier? I said it seemed like it was knocked in by the stone statue? As soon as I said that, I turned around and shone my flashlight on it, and once again, I was stunned - the stone statue was gone!

  I stared at Wu Lele in silence.

  It seems that the yellow talisman stuck on the stone statue's forehead is useless to it.

  I think it's very likely that the stone statue saw Zhang Yunhao use a lighter to burn it, and in a fit of rage, he slapped Zhang Yunhao into the water. As soon as Zhang Yunhao entered the water, the stone statue transformed into something unknown and quietly disappeared, apparently also entering the water. Then, it dragged Zhang Yunhao to the bottom of the water, causing Zhang Yunhao to sink from falling into the water to sinking to the bottom in just a few seconds, without even a single bubble emerging, and the flashlight sank to the bottom of the water along with him.

  After listening to my speculation, Wu Lele also thought so, and then said that since the stone statue has life and attack power, we now have only two choices. I asked which two choices, Wu Lele said: one is to leave immediately, and the other is to dive in to find Haozi. I replied without hesitation: "Of course, we must dive in to find Haozi!" Wu Lele analyzed: "Since Haozi provoked the stone statue, the stone statue dragged him underwater for so long, it's highly likely that Haozi has already turned from a live rat into a dead rat. Going down to look for him not only poses a risk but also has little chance of rescuing him, and we'll be putting our own lives in danger." I said no matter what, since we came with Haoge together, we must go back together, no matter how dangerous it is, I want to dive in to find him, even if it means death, I want to see the person die and see the corpse!

  "This way, you two brothers' feelings are really deep." Wu Lele asked quietly: "If I were to encounter such danger, would you also risk your life to save me?"

  "Of course I will." I said without hesitation: "If it were you, I would have jumped into the water long ago, and Hao Ge would also do the same as me."

  "Alright, since that's the case, I'll go take a look." Wu Lele said: "Before I came up, you shouldn't have gone down." She said as she was about to jump into the water. I quickly grabbed her and said let me go instead, what if Haoge is unconscious, how can you, a girl, carry him back up? As I spoke, I took off my clothes, taking out the wallet, phone, and lighter from my pants pocket and handed them over to Wu Lele. Wu Lele said why not try calling Huozi's phone?

  I originally thought Zhang Yunhao had fallen into the water, and his phone would definitely be out of order after getting wet. Unexpectedly, it still worked, rang four times, and the other party picked up. I immediately asked: "Hao Ge? Are you still alive?"

  "He's dead."

  I was taken aback, this voice belonged to a girl, but somehow it felt like Zhong Ling'er's voice? However, this voice sounded clearer than Zhong Ling'er's usual tone, so I tentatively asked: "Who are you?"

  "What do you think?" he asked back.

  I asked in a low voice: "Are you Zhong Ling'er?"

  The other party was silent for two seconds, then said a word: "Yes."

  "What's wrong with Ge Hao? Is he okay?"

  "He's dead."

  "What?" My heart sank, and I hastily asked: "Really dead? How did he die? Don't lie to me!"

  "He said: 'I killed him.'"

  I was stunned on the spot, not daring to believe what I had just heard. To be exact, I didn't want to believe it. Wu Lele saw my strange expression and asked me what's wrong. I stared at her without making a sound. Wu Lele then leaned in to listen, but the other person had already hung up the phone.

  "Bang!" My phone also fell to the ground.

  How could it be? How could Zhong Ling'er kill Zhang Yunhao? Was she possessed by an evil spirit? Even if she did kill Zhang Yunhao, why would she admit to it? I'd rather not know this truth.

  Wu Lele picked up my phone and asked: "What's wrong with you? You're so distracted, is Haozi okay?"

  I came to my senses, and I couldn't stay here any longer. I wanted to go down and take a look at the situation, and also ask Zhong Ling'er why she did this! Thinking of this, I told Wu Lele that I was going down to take a look, but Wu Lele said she would go instead. I firmly said: "I'll go down, you stay up!" After saying that, I handed my phone over to Wu Lele, took a glance at the flashlight and worried that it might get wet and not work, so I took the lighter from Wu Lele's hand. With one hand holding the flashlight and the other gripping the lighter tightly, I shone the light into the water, took a deep breath, and jumped down to where Zhang Junhao had fallen in earlier.

  The water is very cold. But even colder, compared to the yin-yang sword, it's just a small trick. Since I held the yin-yang sword, everything in the world seems hot to me.

  Because I can't stay in the water for too long, or I'll suffocate, and also to avoid being attacked by monsters in the water, so I must quickly sink to the bottom of the water and reach where Jing Ling'er answered the phone. Judging from how she answered the phone with me, if I'm not mistaken, she should be at the same water pool that Zhang Junhao and Niu Niu arrived at last time, and they should be on the shore of the water pool.

  When I was a kid, I often went to the creek with Dahei to catch shrimp and fish, so I'm not unfamiliar with water. However, last time I was scared by Shuishengzi He Suo, which made me afraid of deep water afterwards. Now, I have to dive into the bottom of the water, that kind of invisible fear is imaginable. But I have no choice, I must get into the water. There are some things I need to figure out. Besides, if I don't go into the water, Wu Lele will, and I won't let her take this risk.

  I quickly reached the bottom of the water, and although my eyes could open in the water, there was a kind of gritty feeling that made me want to close them. In front of me, everything was dark and murky, even with a flashlight, I could only see within one meter. That is to say, anything more than one meter away from me in the water was completely invisible.

  I felt a sound of water coming from behind me. How to say it? To be precise, it should be the sound of flowing water, because I was in the water, and this sound seemed to be right next to my ear. I thought maybe there were fish swimming behind me, so I shone my flashlight backwards, but found nothing behind me.

  Breathing is getting more and more difficult, I must find the water pool Zhang Yunhao said, and get ashore as soon as possible, otherwise I will suffocate to death in the water.

  Then, I quickly swam forward. I swam very fast, according to Zhang Yunhao's description, if the direction was correct, I should be able to reach Shui Tan soon. However, I couldn't confirm whether the place I was currently in was the bottom of Shui Tan or not, so I had to swim up and take a look.

  Suddenly, someone touched my back!

  I had a sudden start, hastily turned my head to look back, but found nothing. Was it just my illusion? However, the feeling of being touched earlier was very real, no, it should be a hand that slipped over mine, really! It wasn't a fish or water plants, it was indeed a hand!

  But if it was a hand, then it would be human, but why didn't that person show up? If it wasn't human, what exactly was it? Was it the Water Monkey? I couldn't help but feel a chill run down my spine, and I quickly shone my flashlight around me.

  As I turned around again and looked clearly at the situation in front of me, my heart sank, and with a sound of "ah", a mouthful of water poured into my mouth.

  In the water less than half a meter in front of me, a human face suddenly appeared!