Bai Youwei's body was sinking.
Sinking continuously…
From the moment she fell, she hadn't struggled at all. Instead, she remained motionless, allowing her body to slowly descend in the water.
The surroundings were dim, the area above slightly brighter, illuminated by the light leaking from the attic.
Occasionally, dark shadows flitted past, seemingly the water monster chasing the light.
Someone must have dropped a flashlight. The beam of light stimulated the monster's nerves. Like a bull seeing a red cape, it furiously lunged forward, biting and crunching the flashlight into pieces! It swallowed everything, then swam away, wagging its tail.
Fortunately…
Although it was a crazed monster, the underwater environment was pitch black. As long as she didn't make too much noise, it wouldn't see her hiding there.
Bai Youwei stayed still in the water.
Her elaborate dress made movement underwater difficult, but it also provided camouflage. The wide skirt floated in the water, resembling clusters of seaweed.
Her hand slowly explored her surroundings.
Wooden floorboards, a steel bed frame, rough wallpaper… Judging by the location, she must have fallen from the attic to the bedside of the second-floor bedroom.
The bed planks had been removed by Yan Qingwen's men, leaving only a bare bed frame.
She couldn't swim. If she wanted to return to the attic, she would have to go around to the door and climb up the damaged stairs.
No rush.
The monster was still around. It would be better to wait until its three-minute rampage was over before going back.
Anyway, she had eaten the fish. Staying in the water a little longer shouldn't matter.
However…
The water was truly cold…
Bai Youwei thought of Shen Mo.
Was he somewhere on the second floor as well? Perhaps he was very close to her, but they couldn't see each other because it was too dark underwater.
Was he safe?
Was he alright?
…No, he would be fine. With his intelligence, he should quickly realize the water monster's poor eyesight. As long as he stayed still, he could avoid being detected.
Speaking of which, fish generally had poor vision.
Folklore said that eating fish eyes could improve eyesight, but in reality, almost all fish were highly nearsighted, and the vision of deep-sea fish had mostly degenerated, relying on other sensory organs to navigate.
…Wait a minute.
What was the clue that Li Li had found?
[The water monster's home is in the deep water, and its home holds sparkling treasures.]
Deep water…
At a depth of 100 meters, the light intensity is only 7% of that at the surface. As the depth increases, the light intensity rapidly decreases, reaching almost complete darkness at around 2000 meters.
Without light, the pearls wouldn't "sparkle." So how would people discover "sparkling treasures"?
The pearls were indeed a misdirection.
The so-called "sparkling treasures" must emit light.
Bai Youwei's body was icy cold in the water, and her mind, as if stimulated by the cold water, became incredibly clear.
So, it was that thing…
It emitted light…
It emitted electricity…
The water stirred, as if something large was approaching.
She slowly curled up, pressed herself quietly against the wall, opened her eyes, and remained motionless.
In the murky water, the light was so faint it was almost non-existent.
She saw the behemoth slowly swim past. It seemed the three-minute rampage was over. It sluggishly moved its pectoral fins, occasionally bumping into the door frame or furniture. Then, it would open its large mouth and irritably gnaw here and there!
Bai Youwei stared at its long fin spines, her eight-tenths certainty becoming absolute.
She knew the answer.
…