This statement is both true and false. My third uncle said that, firstly, the day was indeed not good, and secondly, he wanted to frighten Jie Lianhuan a bit, which is also part of the game mentality. If there had been an older brother in the family, he might have understood my third uncle’s thoughts at that time; the older ones always want to scare the younger ones to assert their own status.

However, Jie Lianhuan was no fool and remained unmoved, merely sneering and choosing not to respond, leaving my third uncle feeling embarrassed.

The reef was not large, and several rocks protruding from the water were quite conspicuous. Although they didn’t know where the cave entrance was, it probably wouldn’t be too hard to find. Jie Lianhuan rowed the boat while my third uncle lit a lantern, starting to shine it on the reefs one by one. Soon, they found the entrance to the cave beneath a molar-shaped rock on the western side of the reef.

The entrance was about two people wide and appeared to be bottomless. It seemed to grow out of the rock, with faint signs of previous human polishing visible along the edges, indicating that the cave had been artificially excavated. The entrance was submerged underwater, recessed at the base of the rock; without prior knowledge, it would be impossible to see from the surface.

My third uncle donned his gear and was about to enter when Jie Lianhuan stopped him, saying that the underwater route was complex and that he knew the way better, so it would be better for him to go first. This made sense, and my third uncle couldn’t insist, so Jie Lianhuan entered the cave first, followed closely by my third uncle.

After swimming about thirty meters into the cave, they realized that it was a naturally formed hollow within the reef. Inside, the reef bones were intertwined with twisted coral formations, resembling giant bones embedded in the walls of the cave. However, the ends of these “bones” blended into the surrounding rocks, making them look more like countless bizarre sea urchins clinging to the walls.

Diving into an underwater cave is quite dangerous, yet both of them, lacking experience, had no awareness of what they were doing. They made no preparations and just kept swimming deeper inside.

After crawling through the cave for about ten minutes, my third uncle spotted a fork in the path. The cave branched out like the tentacles of an octopus, with numerous openings to explore—some shallow enough to see the end with a flashlight, while others were frighteningly large, deep holes that seemed bottomless. Due to the lack of sunlight, there were few sea anemones and corals here, but many colorful small fish, along with sea urchins and sea cucumbers, made the cave feel less lonely.

Under Jie Lianhuan’s guidance, my third uncle navigated through this extremely complex system of giant caves, like a mouse scurrying through a maze. To keep a record, he used a diving knife to mark various junctions to avoid getting lost.

Half an hour later, they swam out of the cave. When my third uncle illuminated the surroundings with his underwater lamp, he realized that they had not entered any ancient tomb; instead, they found themselves in a bewildering place.

It seemed to be a massive pit formed within the reef, surrounded by darkness. Looking up, he saw coral hanging down from above, but when he pointed the lamp downwards, he found nothing but a bottomless abyss.

Years later, even though the events of that day were terrifying, my third uncle couldn’t remember all the details clearly. So, after rambling for a long time, I still couldn’t understand exactly what kind of place they had arrived at. In the end, I had to find a piece of paper and asked him to sketch a rough drawing of it.

My uncle’s painting is quite terrible, even worse than graffiti. However, it is concise in its meaning. With my imagination and my uncle’s explanation, I gradually began to understand it, even if only by guessing. According to my understanding, it should depict a large, hidden cave within a reef, though its exact location cannot be verified. The exit of the reef cave that my uncle was navigating is located at the very top of this cave, and below his feet is complete darkness, as if he has entered a realm of black void. The size of this cave must be quite impressive.

At this point, there were no further passages for my uncle and his companions to advance; all around them was nothingness. Under the beam of the exploration light, there were numerous white sea particles in the water, and below them was an abyss. When the flashlight was pointed out, there were no reference points except for the rocks behind them. In my uncle’s own words, it was like floating in outer space.

This feeling was actually quite terrible, because no matter where you are, if your flashlight can still illuminate something, you at least have a sense of presence. But there, when you shone your light, there was no reflection—just more darkness. You had no idea what lay ahead waiting for you.

At this moment, the consumption of oxygen was also quite significant. Cave diving is different from regular exploration; the time for movement must be strictly controlled because you must reserve some oxygen for the return to the cave entrance. This meant that divers had to frequently check their oxygen gauges, which was a considerable psychological pressure for my uncle.

However, Jie Lianhuan seemed to be quite confident. After swimming around a few times, he actually signaled my uncle to turn off the underwater exploration light.

Without the exploration light, it was absolute darkness. My uncle was puzzled—what was this kid trying to do? They had already lost their way, and now he wanted to turn off the light. However, seeing his insistence, it was clear that this action was also indicated by the foreigner. My uncle knew he had no other choice, so he followed Jie Lianhuan’s lead and turned off the light.

Once both lights were extinguished, darkness surged in like ink. Simultaneously, the ring of luminous paint on the waterproof flashlight handle around their waists (designed to prevent losing the flashlight during night dives) gradually lit up, indicating their respective positions.

Jie Lianhuan beside him seemed to have taken off his flashlight to use it as a signaling stick. My uncle saw the light ring waving, indicating a direction.

He looked in that direction and faintly saw, deep in the dark below, a distant mass of very weak green lights, seemingly a group of some kind of creatures’ eyes, slowly moving.

My uncle’s heart sank, and he became tense because he had heard many fishermen say that anything could be lurking in the sea. Those green eyes couldn’t possibly belong to some creature hiding in the depths of darkness, could they?

Thinking this, his hand instinctively reached for his knife. At that moment, Jie Lianhuan, on the side, waved the flashlight a few times, and the beam of light began to move toward that group of green spots.

Uncle San secretly cursed. Although he usually appeared carefree, his approach to handling matters after diving was actually quite cautious. It was inappropriate for Xie Lianhuan to charge in like this. However, Xie Lianhuan’s actions clearly indicated that he knew what those light spots were and was signaling him to follow.

Similarly, despite his reluctance, Uncle San had no choice but to follow. He felt frustrated, but there was nothing he could do. Without any lighting, and only following a cold halo underwater, it felt as if he had lost his vision. This sensation of melting into the cold darkness was something Uncle San had experienced before during dives, and now he was facing it again, especially underwater, which made him feel even more uneasy.

The group of green light spots drew closer, but due to the weak illumination, he still couldn’t see what they were. As they approached, Uncle San was horrified to discover that the spots were indeed moving, and not slowly at that. The thought that they could be a group of ocean monsters grew stronger in his mind.

However, Xie Lianhuan seemed completely unaware, swimming quickly ahead. Before long, the two of them reached a point about thirty meters above the light spots. Uncle San’s fear peaked; he rushed forward and grabbed Xie Lianhuan, preventing him from getting any closer.

Xie Lianhuan was startled and stopped, unsure of what was happening. Uncle San gestured with his flashlight, and Xie Lianhuan waved back, but neither could understand what the other was trying to convey.

Uncle San was extremely frustrated and really wanted to turn on the exploration light to clarify things, but he was also afraid that at such close range, if it turned out to be something like a shark, they wouldn’t even have a chance to escape.

As he anxiously pondered how to make Xie Lianhuan understand his intentions, suddenly a white light illuminated the area. Xie Lianhuan had turned on the exploration light, clearly as frustrated as Uncle San and unable to resist asking why Uncle San had held him back.

Uncle San was taken aback; he quickly tried to cover the light while looking down. At the end of the white light, in the darkness below, a vague figure wrapped in tattered gauze appeared. As Uncle San gradually adjusted to the light, he could see more clearly, and every pore on his body tightened in response.

It turned out to be an ancient corpse suspended in the water, posed in a strange manner, its features indistinct. The massive white gauze draped around it resembled a giant jellyfish skirt, floating in the water like a huge flower from the underworld.