Chapter 673: Chapter 673: Go Back
Securing the latch and still not feeling reassured, Asarina dragged several bamboo poles over, laying them side by side across the wooden hatch of the lower deck. The ends of the bamboo poles were wedged into the gaps of the iron railing, locked tight!
Along and Aqing weighed down on the bamboo poles with their bodies!
Chewing noises could be heard emanating from beneath the deck, a gnashing, crunching sound, interspersed with occasional thumping, as if two Fish Monsters were fighting over food.
This commotion continued for three to five minutes before the Fish Monsters realized that they were locked up.
They began to struggle.
With their claws, their teeth, their tails! They struggled desperately! But the confined space of the lower deck suppressed their strength. Each time they nearly forced the hatch open, Asarina and the others pushed it back down!
A few minutes later, all was finally quiet below the deck. Whether the Fish Monsters had exhausted themselves or had died from being out of the water for too long, they were unsure.
They dared not casually open the lower deck to check.
Asarina’s back was soaked through and sweat trickled down her face as she maintained the pressure on the wooden hatch. She looked up at Bai Youwei, drawing in heavy breaths.
“Two of them.” Asarina gasped.
— Two Fish Monsters in the third cave.
So, the number of Fish Monsters wasn’t increasing according to the sequence of the caves, but with the number of their mistakes.
If they made a mistake once, a single Fish Monster would appear.
If they made a mistake twice, two Fish Monsters would appear.
If they made a mistake three times…
Asarina paled. Given their strength, could they withstand three Fish Monsters?
Bai Youwei furrowed her brows, squeezing the ears of the plush rabbit in her hand. Half of the rabbit’s power was already depleted.
“Let’s leave this place first.” She said.
The fishing boat had already retreated halfway out of the cave. Pan Xiaoxin returned to the cockpit, steering the vessel, continuing their retreat, all the way out of the cave.
They were back in the vast open waters.
On one side was a single cave, whilst on the other side, seven distant caves echoed their presence, forming a semi-circle.
Asarina stared at these identical caves, feeling utterly powerless.
“One Fish Monster in the first cave, two in the third cave, yet none in the fourth cave… Could the exit be in the fourth cave?”
But, entering the fourth cave just brought them back here. It couldn’t possibly be that they should choose the fourth cave every time, right?
“We continue retreating.” Bai Youwei said calmly, stroking the rabbit. “Now, we can be pretty sure that the number of Fish Monsters is related to the number of mistakes we make, but is it about each singular mistake, or does one mistake lead into a series of subsequent faults?
I think for safety’s sake, we’d best return to the starting point and walk through it again.”
Along couldn’t help but ask, “If we continue retreating and enter the first cave, will we encounter another monster?”
They were all almost exhausted.
Bai Youwei pressed her lips together, responding, “If it’s only one, we should be able to handle it. As soon as we go in, let Xiaoxin navigate the boat out of the cave at full speed.”
Asarina pondered for a moment before nodding. “Fine, let’s do it. If it’s only one, it shouldn’t be too difficult to handle. We still have some tools left.”
With that decided, the fishing boat continued its retreat after exiting the third cave.
They stayed onboard, nerves fraying, eyes fixed on the dark waters, unable to predict where the Fish Monster might spring from.
Perhaps it was due to the tension, but Aqing couldn’t stop drinking water, looking increasingly agitated.
Along cautioned him, “Drink slowly. We only brought four bottles, and we don’t know how many days we’ll be stuck here.”
Aqing just murmured in response, his grip on the water bottle unyielding as he kept drinking.
Meanwhile, Pan Xiaoxin had navigated the fishing boat out of the first cave.