But the corpse's hair remained; hair was the slowest part to decay and decompose.
A glass hairpin was tucked into it.
Gu Xiang Kai felt a slight sense of relief as he removed the hairpin and released the corpse, watching it slowly sink into the fine sand until the white sand gradually covered it.
Gu Xiang Kai suddenly had a thought: could this fine white sand be... bone ash?
These corpses, thrown into the bottom of the well, had transformed into this spectacular sight over the long years.
But... how long would it take for water alone to decompose bodies to this extent?
Not to mention, just how many corpses must there be?
Gu Xiang Kai didn't linger; he could still hold his breath for forty seconds.
He gripped the bead flower and swam back toward the path he came from.
The water temperature suddenly became bone-chilling, and as he stroked through the water, he clearly heard something behind him.
Gu Xiang Kai didn't need to look back to know it was that corpse, dragging its mostly decomposed body as it pursued him.
He didn't stop or investigate, simply quickening his strokes.
In ten seconds, he would be back at the surface.
As long as he didn't have to worry about breathing, Gu Xiang Kai wasn't afraid of anything.
Unfortunately, his speed in the water was still limited, and just as Gu Xiang Kai was about to break the surface, a cold, steel-like hand clamped firmly onto his ankle.
It yanked Gu Xiang Kai back down into the depths.
Countless white figures crawled out from the white sand, swarming toward Gu Xiang Kai.
"A-Nan, did I just see the water ripple?"
Zhu Xi Ning had been staring at the water; she had seen a ripple just now and thought Gu Xiang Kai was coming up, but the surface had returned to calm.
Nan Yue was counting the time; it had already been three minutes and twenty seconds, and Gu Xiang Kai should be reaching his limit.
He wasn't the reckless type; even if he hadn't found the hairpin, he would have come up for air just to be safe. The fact that he hadn't returned meant something had gone wrong.
Nan Yue couldn't use her black mist; it was too aggressive, and since she couldn't see what was happening underwater, activating it would result in an indiscriminate attack on friend and foe alike.
Nan Yue turned to Jiang Siyan. "Can your ability help?"
Jiang Siyan had a healing ability, which should be able to buy Gu Xiang Kai some time in a state of suffocation.
Jiang Siyan shook his head. "I can't do it if I can't see the target."
His ability was actually quite similar to Nan Yue's, though one was hard while the other was soft—one for attack, the other for protection.
Thus, what Nan Yue couldn't do, he couldn't either.
Nan Yue's expression darkened. "Twenty seconds. If Gu Xiang Kai doesn't come up, I'm going down."
Nan Yue didn't interfere too much when her teammates were on missions or facing their own challenges, as doing so would show a lack of trust in their abilities and a lack of respect.
She could worry about them and fuss over them like a shepherd dog.
But she couldn't wound their pride.
However, all of that was predicated on their lives being safe.
The reason they formed a team was that no matter how strong a person was, they could still encounter accidents and unexpected situations during a mission.
Everyone's ability had its own focus; no one dared to say their power was suitable for every circumstance.
That was why teammates were needed—to stand behind one another when help was most required.
Nan Yue took off her coat, having already prepared herself to enter the water.
Suddenly, the surface of the water erupted into a wild boil. As everyone looked at each other in surprise, Nan Yue had already climbed into the well, hanging by one hand from a gap in the bricks to peer down.
What... was going on?
A second later, Nan Yue saw black, thorn-like branches spreading across the water's surface, climbing up the well wall like ivy.
They stopped halfway up, but it was clear they had emerged from deep within the bottom of the well.
What was this?
Nan Yue climbed down a bit further to examine the things before her.
The objects looked like thorns, but they weren't plants; instead, they possessed the hardness and sharpness of steel.
Nan Yue reached out to touch the iron thorns. To her surprise, they were highly aggressive, instantly piercing her finger and even attempting to surround and strangle her.
The black mist passed through the iron thorns, wrapping around them as if alive before instantly crushing the thorns that had wound around Nan Yue's finger into powder.
The iron thorns seemed to realize they had met a formidable opponent and silently retreated to their original position. Looking down from above, they resembled an iron-colored flower blooming within the well.
This wasn't something the Zhou family should have, nor did it seem like a ghost or monster. Unless the Zhou family had done something in the well, this was far too abrupt.
Wait!
Nan Yue's eyes lit up as another possibility occurred to her.
A few seconds later, Gu Xiang Kai burst from the water, gasping for air.
The blooming iron thorns below swirled around him, enveloping him within their midst. Nan Yue could see clearly that they weren't attacking Gu Xiang Kai.
"Gu Xiang Kai!"
Nan Yue called out. Gu Xiang Kai looked up and saw her clinging to the well wall; he raised an eyebrow triumphantly and mouthed a message.
"My ability has awakened."
Once Gu Xiang Kai climbed back onto the ground, the iron thorns vanished along with his movements. Seeing that this was his ability, no one pried further.
Gu Xiang Kai was soaking wet. He opened his hand to reveal an exquisitely crafted bead flower.
Gu Xiang Kai leaned on his knees and coughed a few times. This time had been truly dangerous; he had nearly lost his life.
In reality, as long as one was patient enough to make multiple trips and wake the returning spirits at the bottom while having plenty of oxygen, they wouldn't attack beyond obstructing movement.
But at that moment, Gu Xiang Kai had almost reached his limit and was nearly drowned alive.
In those final moments, the ability he had tried everything to awaken—yet failed to—had finally appeared.
Steel Thorns bloomed from his body, isolating him from the surrounding returning spirits.
"There are many dead people at the bottom of the well."
Gu Xiang Kai briefly explained the situation, though the others had already guessed the dangers of the well before he went down.
It made sense; the Zhou residence was like a massive tomb, with places to dump bodies everywhere and vengeful spirits of the wrongfully dead at every turn.
"The well water is flowing, but there's no life in it."
Gu Xiang Kai waited for the water on his body to dry before putting on his shirt. In the bullet comments, some people were still lingering, trying to stop him from dressing with tips.
Although it was dark and he was oxygen-deprived underwater, Gu Xiang Kai could feel that the well water wasn't stagnant; there was a current.
But this posed a problem: if it was living water, there should be things like aquatic plants, fish, and shrimp at the bottom.
But there weren't.
It was possible this was due to the influence of the resentment at the bottom, but it was also possible the water source itself was the issue.
【Ding ding ding】
【Congratulations to the 20 streamers who have successfully qualified for the third day of streaming.】
Nan Yue's heart sank. Eleven people had died.
It was too fast.
Although half of them were NPCs, they were streaming under the same conditions, so they could be considered companions to some extent.
Dying so quickly... at this rate, everyone would be wiped out in two days.
Rate on N.U.
