When she stopped, the wind around her didn’t brake but instead crashed into Lin Yi’s face with a strong, ethereal fragrance.
Lin Yi had not expected this at all, no, it was his first time encountering such a scenario where a member of the opposite sex walked through a public space.
He was somewhat at a loss, but the Sports Student surveyed Lin Yi’s surroundings with a clear aim.
She quickly spotted the half-open changing locker and saw the white note inside.
"’Do not swim, escape fast’?’" she stretched out her hand, tore the note off, and then slammed the locker shut.
She glanced at Lin Yi and said lightly, "I knew you would always bump into something strange."
"It’s enough to just read about this sort of thing; only regulations and signboards will not deceive you." She waved the note, crumpled it, and threw it in the trash bin, then strode towards the swimming area.
"Coming!" Lin Yi stood erect, feeling that if he dallied any longer, the crumpled note in the trash bin would be his example.
Indeed, the Gymnasium regulations clearly stated:
[In the Gymnasium, you can unconditionally trust the Sports Teachers and Sports Students.]
[When a Sports Student invites you to participate in a gymnastics class or a swimming class, please agree as much as possible; they have your best interest in mind.]
On the route from the changing room to the swimming area, there was a curtain of water, beneath which was a small, square pool, the water in it barely covering the ankles.
Following the Sports Student through the water curtain, Lin Yi distinctly felt the temperature around him drop a bit.
But he knew this was normal, as the water on his body evaporated naturally, taking some of the heat from his body with it, and he would get used to it once he was in the water.
After walking through the water curtain and leaving the corridor, a vast swimming pool directly unfolded before his eyes.
Under the illumination of the LED lights above, the water of the entire pool sparkled, clear enough to see the white tiles at the bottom.
With the ripple of the water, the rectangular lines of the tiles seemed to twist.
"Whoosh... Whoosh... Whoosh..."
The water in the pool, along with little bubbles, was continuously gushing out, entering the drain, resembling the sight of waves rushing onto a beach.
From a broader view, Lin Yi suddenly realized that this seemingly small pool appeared to be enormous; a regular pool is only a few to several meters, but this one, at a glance, seemed to have no end...
Even though the Gymnasium was only so large, the swim lanes in the pool seemed to extend infinitely forward, spreading beyond his field of vision.
At the end of his vision, the lanes disappeared into a darkness that even the lights could not reach.
That dark endpoint appeared like a Wind Tunnel; as he stared at the dark hole, an image of a cliff with a waterfall flashed through his mind.
It seemed that at the end of the darkness, there was a cliff carved inside a mountain, the pool’s water spilling over, then transforming into countless droplets falling to the cliffs below, continually plummeting into an endless abyss.
The depths of the Wind Tunnel were unknown, the height of the cliff was unmeasurable, but as Lin Yi focused, he could almost hear the air swirling and howling in the tunnel, the continued collision against the mountain’s inner walls, as if he could see the droplets breaking apart in the wind, ultimately shattering into mist.
He felt his vision expanding, he felt he was continuously approaching that pitch-black abyss.
But his vision also began to brighten gradually...
Suddenly, he spotted a dim yellow light at the mouth of the cave...
He slowly made out the source of that dim yellow light...
It was... an Ancient Lamp.
Contrary to the saying, "Ancient moons are unseen by contemporary men, yet the current moon once shone upon the ancients," an Ancient Lamp from a bygone era was still radiating light.
As his vision brightened, he saw that the Ancient Lamp was being held by someone.
It was a figure as formidable as a tower, standing there like an impregnable barrier.
Seemingly perceiving something, the person slowly turned around, the sound of iron chains clanking, "clang clang clang...," sounding as if it was right next to one’s ear.
In the darkness, he directed his gaze towards Lin Yi.
Lin Yi noticed he had eyes brighter than the Ancient Lamp, their amber glow burning like tiny suns.
In the darkness, Lin Yi could only see the light of the Ancient Lamp and this dazzling gaze.
"!!!" Lin Yi’s pupils slowly dilated, and that figure was not someone else but...
"A Security Guard, standing at the end of the pool?"
"Wait a minute?! Swimming pool...?!"
He suddenly realized something and, in a sudden shock, discovered that there was no swimming pool around him!
Beneath his feet was a pitch-black rocky expanse, and ahead was a cliff.
The wind howled around his ears, mixed with the sound of an Irish tin whistle and ancient lamentation...
"I’m... not in the Gymnasium?!"
He reflexively thought, wanting to look at his hands, to see his attire, but he restrained himself.
He dared not look, fearing his "cognition" might be distorted.
He also dared not turn back.
He feared seeing again that Gothic castle mixed with wild Cubism and futuristic, bizarre styles.
He dared not look around, only managing to shift his gaze from the Security Guard’s immediate presence to the Ancient Lamp in his hands as swiftly as possible.