He was the last to come down, and by the time he did, the rats had already rushed to the fire, so he wasn’t poisoned. However, as an ordinary person, he didn’t possess Jin Zijin’s agility, and it took him forever to climb out of the twisting, tortuous rat holes.
No sooner had he finished speaking than Gu Youyou heard some strange noises.
Not just the sounds of rats, but also... water?
Water was gushing into the cave loudly. Positioned beneath a funnel, if her guess was right, this deep cave was already below sea level, so they must be under the sea now.
If the seawater were to backflow, the consequences would be unimaginable...
But as fate would have it, the more they worried, the more it happened. The earth shook violently, and water started leaking from the cracks in the stone walls around them. One, then two—more and more fissures began seeping water.
Gui Yunxi’s face turned deathly pale; he regretted ever having climbed out.
He immediately grabbed Searcy’s hand and ran toward the rat hole. Searcy was confused for a moment, then forcefully yanked her hand free and yelled, pointing at the rat hole, "Why run? Do you think we still have time to escape through this hole?"
Indeed, the rat hole was only half a person tall and very long with several twists and turns; they would be drowned long before they could get out.
"What do we do?" Gui Yunxi looked like he was about to cry.
Searcy snapped, "Who asked you to come? Didn’t I tell you to stay at the inn and watch our horses and carriage?"
"..." He didn’t want to come either, but Jin Zijin and Xiao Jinyan insisted on dragging this scapegoat along, claiming it was to avoid being caught off guard.
He didn’t understand what they were talking about.
Gu Youyou calmed down and yelled at them, "Come here quickly! We can’t make it through there. We have to swim up from the sea."
Everyone realized the severity of the situation as more and more water flowed in, gradually submerging their ankles, then their knees. The rats that squeezed into the cave swam on the surface, choking on the water.
Ordinary rats could swim, but it was unknown whether these mutated ones could.
Jin Zijin approached the area where the water sound was the loudest and the stone walls seemed thinnest, and began to fiercely smash the stone wall.
He told everyone, "Once we break through here, we can escape from this spot. This hole should be not much lower than the sea level; we can swim out."
Gu Youyou, a strong swimmer, couldn’t help but worry about the others, "Can you all swim?"
Ziyuan nodded, then went to help Jin Zijin break the wall.
Gui Yunxi also nodded and said, "I can."
Searcy dithered, her demeanor suggesting she couldn’t, which only increased Gu Youyou’s concerns.
She said, "Then stick with me, I’ll take you out."
After speaking, she quietly instructed her on how to hold her breath and breathe, emphasizing that the most important thing was to stay calm; if she held her breath, there was no need to be afraid—she would bring her out.
Suddenly, there was a loud splash—the stone wall broke.
A huge hole ten feet in diameter opened up, and a massive influx of sea water poured in, filling the cave in an instant. They held their breaths as the seawater flooded in and began to swim out.
She had told Searcy not to panic, but Searcy did panic, blindly grabbing around with her eyes closed.
Gu Youyou momentarily couldn’t grab her hand, but spotting the rope still tied around Searcy’s waist from earlier, she grabbed the rope and pulled, just as effectively leading her out.
But unexpectedly, someone else was quicker than her and snatched Searcy away.
It was Gui Yunxi, the coachman who had fallen for Searcy’s trick.