I didn’t dare to lower my head, but soon bubbles began to rise in the water around me. I glanced down and saw a white, human-shaped shadow beneath the surface. The shadow was almost at my feet, floating and flickering, making it hard to tell whether it was a person or a ghost. However, judging by the movements of the white figure, I felt it was more likely to be a person.

Who could it be? The fat guy was definitely not going to wake up, and Panzi was still in the temple. Even if they both came over, they couldn’t be this white. At that moment, I had no way to act; I could only remain on guard against the snake while quietly observing the situation.

The bubbles circled around me, and I sensed that the figure must have grabbed onto the tree roots underwater. The roots around me shifted slightly, creating ripples on the water’s surface. Instantly, the snake became alert, turning its head to look around, clearly confused about the vibrations. It quickly scanned the area, saw nothing, and immediately raised its head, standing upright, emitting a series of high-pitched calls resembling a rooster’s crow.

In that moment, I noticed the snake’s comb turned even redder, and its entire body swelled, as if blood was about to burst out. I couldn’t tell if it was a warning or a call for its companions. At the same time, I felt a grip on my ankle, right where I had twisted it, causing me to wince in pain. Then, the figure began to move along my calf, seemingly writing something.

This was something I often played with as a child. As soon as I felt it, I realized it wrote the word “Prepare.” I wasn’t sure about the first character, but the second one was clear. I felt a sense of relief, knowing that there must be someone alive below. I immediately moved my foot to indicate I understood, focusing my mind, though I wasn’t sure what I should be preparing for.

The snake, unaware of the underwater intrigue, called a few times, and when it saw no response, it slowly relaxed. Just then, I saw the shadow beneath the water suddenly rise. Before I could comprehend what was happening, the water in front of me exploded, and a snow-white figure shot out of the water at lightning speed, grabbing the snake’s head.

I stumbled back, slipping and falling into the water. I didn’t see what happened next, nor did I want to. I kicked off the bottom and swam towards the center of the pool, only daring to turn around and look back after swimming three or four meters.

All I could see was a splash, clearly indicating that the snake was not easy to deal with. For a moment, I didn’t know whether to flee, observe, or go help. Just as I was hesitating, a red light suddenly erupted from the splash, swirling with branches and wrapping around the pile of branches, accompanied by a series of extremely piercing sounds.

The white figure immediately shouted at me, “Hurry, it’s calling for help! We won’t have time if we wait!” With that, it dove back into the water.

Before the words had even faded, the well shaft echoed with a series of clucking sounds, as if countless snake people were surrounding us. I panicked and hurriedly swam after the shadow in the water, swimming a couple of strokes before thinking of the fat guy. I thought I couldn’t leave him behind, so I poked my head up to look for him, only to find that he had already disappeared from the well.

This is life-threatening. In the darkness, I could hear a lot of clucking sounds getting closer. I turned around twice but couldn’t see the fat guy anywhere. Up ahead, someone shouted, and after a few seconds of hesitation, I couldn’t help but grit my teeth and sigh, saying “Sorry,” before rushing after them.

The person swam extremely fast and quickly climbed up another dry well shaft ahead, disappearing into the mist. I felt a surge of panic and thought to myself, who is this person? Are they here to save me or to play with me? I followed them to the edge, but at that moment, I had completely lost my sense of direction. The clucking sounds, like the harbinger of death, made my skin crawl, and I felt an urgent need to climb up.

After trying to climb, I realized I couldn’t reach the well shaft at all. I was almost in tears, shouting a few times and using all my strength to jump up, but I still slid back down. The clucking sounds had gathered behind me, and I banged my head against a tree root, feeling almost hopeless. Suddenly, someone tightly grasped my hand and then pulled me upward with great force.

As I was dragged into the well shaft, I immediately saw that the person pulling me was wearing a gas mask, and behind them were about sixteen or seventeen other similarly dressed men, with six or seven powerful flashlights illuminating the surroundings. I was just about to ask who they were when the person tore off their gas mask, revealing a familiar old face.

“Third Uncle!” I exclaimed in shock, but before I could finish, Third Uncle slapped me, nearly stunning me. Immediately, someone handed me a gas mask, which was pressed onto my face.

I was lifted up and saw Third Uncle putting his gas mask back on. He waved his hand, and someone immediately twisted open a yellow smoke grenade and threw it into the water. The others supporting me quickly retreated deeper into the well shaft.