Uncle San was taken aback. He could understand if one or two people were missing, or even if everyone had disappeared. But having one extra person was utterly incomprehensible. He thought Wen Jin had miscounted, so he turned around to count again himself. He was the first, Wen Jin was second, followed by three, four, five, six, seven, and the eighth was Li Si Di, and then…

He suddenly gasped as he spotted the extra ninth person. That person was hiding at the back of the long line, fuzzy and indistinct, their shape unclear, which definitely raised suspicions.

Uncle San couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat. He wasn’t afraid of any monsters or ghosts; he just had no experience with what lay beneath the water and didn’t know what it could be. This zongzi (a traditional rice dumpling) shouldn’t be able to swim, but then again, what should he even call the zongzi in this sea? Should he call it “sea zongzi”? Or maybe “sea dumpling”?

He shook his head, thinking that Li Si Di was really slow on the uptake, not noticing such a thing following behind him. In this situation, he couldn’t rely on anyone else; he had to swim back and take a look himself. He secretly pulled out a dagger and hid it behind him as he swam back.

The ninth person stood completely still. When Li Si Di saw Uncle San swimming straight toward him, he realized something was off behind him. He quickly turned around, and as he moved, the person behind him suddenly moved too, as if mimicking him. Li Si Di was startled and took several steps back. The person also stepped back several times, seemingly copying Li Si Di’s movements. Uncle San noticed that this person’s actions were not only strange but also somewhat comical. He shone his headlamp on the figure, and the light startled it, causing it to hurriedly retreat. In that instant, Uncle San caught a glimpse of a huge, scaly face flash by, making him almost drop the dagger in his hand from fright.

Li Si Di was so scared that he turned pale and wanted to swim forward, no longer daring to stay there. Uncle San quickly grabbed him, and he shouted at Uncle San, his mouth forming what looked like “Good boy, good boy.”

He already had an accent, and speaking was a struggle for him; it was even harder to read his lips. Seeing that Li Si Di was nearly hysterical, Uncle San hurriedly pressed him against the wall. As soon as he did, the four seams of that wall simultaneously loosened and shrank inward, suddenly causing water from all around to rush into the wall. Uncle San thought to himself that this was bad; it was already too late. They were sucked into that wall hole like cockroaches in a toilet.

Uncle San didn’t know how many times he spun around; he only felt that all his insides were being tossed to one side. Suddenly, he bumped into something hard. Thankfully, his helmet was sturdy. He kicked a few times, suddenly lifted his head, and found that he was out of the water.

The others emerged around the same time. A few girls were vomiting inside their helmets; the nausea was indescribable (the worst part about it wasn’t seeing a corpse, but drowning in one’s own vomit…). A few physically stronger individuals hurried to support them, making sure they didn’t sink.

Uncle San hugged Wenjin tightly. He shone the searchlight around and found that they seemed to have reached the Underworld Palace. He took out a windproof lighter and lit it; the flame ignited, indicating there was oxygen. He made an “OK” gesture to signal that the air was fine. The group lifted their heavy helmets, and as they took their first breath, they all exclaimed in unison, “It smells so good!”

A pleasant fragrance filled the tomb chamber, faint yet invigorating. They couldn’t tell what was producing the scent, and Uncle San had encountered countless tombs with unbearable odors before, but this was the first time he had come across one with a fragrance. He couldn’t help but feel puzzled. He swept the searchlight around and realized that this chamber was not the main tomb but possibly a side chamber because there were no coffins inside, only rows of porcelain burial goods. These items must have been used by the tomb owner during their lifetime, and now they were standing in the middle of a circular fountain in that side chamber. Uncle San looked around at the decorations and grew increasingly confused. The walls were covered in murals, but due to moisture, they had been heavily corroded. He could only vaguely see that the murals depicted what seemed to be shadows of people.

The shadow-like figures came in various postures: tall, short, fat, walking, dancing—each one was incredibly lifelike, as if real people had been imprinted onto the walls. However, all the shadows looked strange; their bellies were very large, resembling pregnant women. Wenjin, who was highly knowledgeable in mural studies, couldn’t make sense of it either.

It was Li Sidi who, upon seeing these murals, turned pale with fright and shouted, “Sea Ghost! There are Sea Ghosts here! This is a Sea Ghost tomb!”

Uncle San recalled the strange creature he had seen earlier and wondered if that thing was indeed a Sea Ghost. He wasn’t sure and thought that bringing it up might cause panic, so he decided to keep it to himself for now.

Li Sidi continued to shout, but his heavy accent made everyone mishear it as “sea turtle,” which led to a burst of laughter from the group. Li Sidi was left in a dilemma, not knowing whether to cry or to laugh along. Uncle San checked his watch and told them to stay out of the water. A few of the braver ones had already started walking toward the door of the side chamber. The door was low and likely led to a passageway. Uncle San quickly pulled them back, saying, “Right now, we have no archaeological equipment and no rescue preparations. You all stay put here and don’t go anywhere. We don’t know if there are any traps in the tomb passage. We’re here to take refuge for an hour. Everyone should feel grateful, understand?”

Though the group was reluctant, they had no choice but to huddle in the side chamber and study the porcelain items. Uncle San took a look and recognized them as artifacts from the early Ming Dynasty. He was surprised; could this really be the tomb of Shen Wansan’s clan?

However, having seen so many antiques, he wasn’t particularly interested. His main concern was whether there was enough air in this space. He double-checked the number of people; it was correct this time, and he let out a sigh of relief. He had been exhausted these past few days and hadn’t had a good rest, so it was just right for him to take a nap.

He sat down against the wall, and Wenjin leaned her shoulder against him and gave him a kiss as a reward for his outstanding performance this time. Uncle San felt as if his soul had flown away. He had initially been filled with frustration from the antics of the group, but seeing Wenjin’s sweet smile made it all worthwhile—truly worth it. He would gladly go through it all over again.

They took a short break. Anyone who has gone diving knows that if you don’t have extensive underwater experience, a single dive can be very exhausting. Although Third Uncle was in decent shape, his body hadn’t yet adapted compared to those experienced divers. Now that he was relaxed, he unexpectedly started yawning. Coupled with the aroma that seemed to have a calming effect, he suddenly felt extremely sleepy. Drowsily, he said to Wen Jin, “I’m going to take a nap. If it’s time, just wake me up.”

That kind of fatigue seemed unusual, but Third Uncle didn’t have time to contemplate it. He vaguely noticed Wen Jin nodding obediently. His nose was filled with a faint fragrance, unsure if it was the scent from Wen Jin’s hair or the unique smell of the ancient tomb. In any case, he almost instantly fell into a deep sleep.