Что находится в пруду

Глава 25

He left the office. Leng Xin was sitting on the sofa between Yang Tianwen and Xu Sen. As soon as the lights went out, he immediately reached out to grab...

There were two of them. He did indeed grab two hands, but they were Duan Yun and Lin Ding's hands. The three of them panicked, and on the sand...

They searched the vicinity for a long time but couldn't find any trace of Yang Tianwen and the other person; it was as if the two had vanished along with the light.

It has lost its essence.

The office had only one door and one window, and the door was guarded by the principal and the dean. During mealtimes...

Lin Ding had already sealed the windows with tape, and the tape can still be seen intact. Besides this...

There were two locations, and the entire office had no other exits. But no matter how thoroughly they searched the room, they still couldn't find anything.

There were traces of Yang Tianwen and Xu Sen. Even stranger, after a while, they simultaneously felt a chilling wind emanating from the room.

A breeze blew from somewhere. Following the wind, they reached out and touched something, but it was just a wall. Then they heard Jiang Shichao ask a question.

"Are you there?" Jiang Shichao heard countless echoes, but the people inside the house heard no echo at all.

Jiang Shichao's voice sounded muffled, as if coming from behind a thick barrier. They then continued searching the house.

Hearing Jiang Shichao and Zhao Xuejun screaming in the corridor, I was naturally anxious, but I couldn't see anything in the dark.

They couldn't find it, not even the entrance. The principal and dean didn't dare leave the entrance rashly, and could only make various noises.

He gave Jiang Shichao and the others directions.

"Shichao, how did you know those two hands belonged to the Chess Saint and the Chess Maniac?" Zhao Xuejun asked anxiously after Leng Xin finished speaking.

She asked hurriedly. This question had been on her mind for quite some time. Others had the same question. You know, when...

It was pitch black; nothing could be seen. Being gripped tightly by a cold hand in the darkness—the sensation was unbearable.

Neither way was pleasant. Jiang Shichao had been terrified by similar situations before, so why did he suddenly make this decision later?

Should she try to hold onto that hand? Zhao Xuejun felt that she didn't even have time to shake it off, let alone grab it.

“I can’t be sure,” Jiang Shichao said. “I’m just guessing.”

After Jiang Shichao and Zhao Xuejun were grabbed by the feet, they simultaneously heard someone scream for help, but the people inside the house only...

Hearing their cries for help, no other sounds were heard. Like Zhao Xuejun, Jiang Shichao was also confused by these cries for assistance.

I was terrified and desperately tried to break free of the hands binding my legs. Once the cries for help faded, the hands on my legs lost their grip and slipped away.

As he fell, something cold slid across his ankle, which sparked a flash of inspiration in his mind, and many things came to mind in an instant.

Connect them.

The first thing that came to his mind was that cold little thing that had brushed against his ankle, round and somewhat like a Go stone.

Who will hold the Go stones?

He clearly heard that the people in the office had lost track of Yang Tianwen and Xu Sen. If this hand belonged to...

What about one of them? He himself didn't know why he thought of that, but once he figured it out, he felt...

That makes sense. Then, recalling the manner of death of the victims in the previous two fatal accidents, another thought struck him.

The deceased all died on land far from the lake, but their deaths resembled drowning. And tonight, Yang Tianwen and...

Xu Sen played chess to prove the connection between this matter and Go.

---Magpie Bridge Fairy

Reply [41]: If this matter is indeed related to Go, then according to their reasoning, Yang Tianwen and Xu Sen's deaths should also be related to Go.

The first four people were in agreement.

Thinking about it this way, he suddenly realized that the hands that were gripping his feet might not be trying to drag him anywhere.

Assuming Yang Tianwen or Sen were already in the midst of a bizarre "drowning" process, they themselves would certainly have felt...

As they sink into the water, just like Feng Zhengyang and Gong Hao, their hands would instinctively grab onto anything that could save their lives.

Things. And if what they happened to be grabbing at that moment was Jiang Shichao's foot, they certainly wouldn't let go easily—this was originally...

It's the instinct to survive.

And the gradual loosening of the hand after the cries for help faded further confirmed that this inference was likely correct.

This is like a drowning person who, after shouting "Help!", finally loses the strength to shout again and is powerless to grab onto anything.

What?

At the time, Jiang Shichao was not sure if his judgment was correct, and he had not even been able to fully sort out his thoughts.

He only thought that if these hands were malicious, with the enemy in the open and him in the shadows, escape would be futile; but if these hands were as he suspected...

The evidence likely belongs to Yang Tianwen or Sen. Since they are "sinking" in the water, is it possible to grab their hands?

How can we get them out of the "water"?

He thought his idea was utterly absurd, but what he encountered was even more absurd than his expectations.

Having exhausted all other options, he resorted to fighting fire with fire. Therefore, he grabbed both of their hands. He was, of course, extremely frightened.

However, it was not as terrifying as before.

As he held their hands, he became even more convinced of his deduction. Because their hands still appeared on the floor...

They were sinking, just like they were constantly sinking in water. He held their hands even more firmly.

As it turned out, his judgment was correct. However, whether Yang Tianwen and Xu Sen survived because of this remained to be seen.

It can be known by means of knowledge.

"You're right." Yang Tianwen had woken up sometime earlier, and Xu Sen had also sat up. The dean had been...

They are being taken care of.

"Are you alright?" Seeing them awake, everyone immediately surrounded them, asking. They looked listless and pale.

Bai hadn't fully recovered yet, but thankfully there were no other injuries. Zhao Xuejun poured two cups of boiling water and handed them to her.

The two drank a few sips, and their faces regained some color. Xu Sen, however, was physically weak and could barely stand for long.

He lay back down. Yang Tianwen, however, was much stronger and, after resting for a while, was able to get up and walk.

Seeing that they were alright, everyone was eager to know what had happened to them.

“Things are roughly as Shichao imagined,” Yang Tian asked.

"As soon as the lights went out, I felt a sudden emptiness beneath me, as if the sofa and floor had vanished. My heart..."

I panicked a little and was about to shout when my body was suddenly immersed in icy water. The water quickly covered my mouth and nose, making me...

I couldn't make a sound. At first, in my panic, I choked on several mouthfuls of water. After a short while, I suddenly realized that this was...

This was something Xu Sen and I had been waiting for. When it finally happened, I surprisingly remained calm. You see, I'm a good swimmer.

Holding my breath underwater for a minute or two is no problem. I immediately held my breath and swam upwards. Just like that...

In the blink of an eye, I had sunk to an unknown depth in the water, and after swimming for a long time, I still hadn't reached the surface. I...

While swimming, I worried about Xu Sen, wondering how he was doing. After a while, I finally managed to grab a hand. I didn't...

Knowing whether the hand was friend or foe, and still hesitating, a small, round object was offered to me from that hand. I touched it...

Then I knew what it was. It was Xu Sen's black chess piece. After the incident involving Long Yingshui and the others, Xu Sen and I...

Feeling deeply guilty, each of them took a chess piece from that time and hung it around their necks as a reminder. Xu Sen's piece was black.

"It has the character 'regret' engraved on it, and mine is white, with the character 'ashamed' engraved on it." He then showed...

Show everyone a small black chess piece, and sure enough, the character "悔" (regret) is engraved on it as thin as a mosquito's leg.

"When I touched the character 'regret,' I was still certain that the other person was Xu Sen. Xu Sen must have felt the same way."

He came up with this plan because he wasn't sure who I was. I immediately tore a white chess piece from my chest and stuffed it into his hand. He took the piece.

She immediately gripped my hand tightly. We swam for a while longer, but I felt increasingly suffocated and uncomfortable. I thought I...

They might be dying soon, but they were at peace with themselves.

Just then, we heard Shichao's voice shouting, "Are you there?" He was calling for you, but...

To us, this naturally meant that he had seen us. We were overjoyed; though we weren't afraid of death, the thought of survival filled us with immense relief.

Who wouldn't want to live? It was pitch black underwater; we couldn't see anything. We could only grope our way towards the sound.

They swam in that direction. Fortunately, Shichao and Xuejun kept talking, their voices coming through the water, muffled and strained. Finally...

We could vaguely make out their voices coming from above, so we each reached out and grabbed at the top of our heads, clearly feeling our hands...

They had already surfaced. After a few frantic grabs, each of them managed to grab one hand. At that moment, Shichao and Xuejun were clearly terrified.

They immediately shook off our hands. Jiang Shichao and Zhao Xuejun both looked somewhat ashamed. Yang Tianwen smiled slightly and patted them on the shoulder.

He patted them on the shoulder and continued, "We're exhausted, and even though we know they're scared, we had no choice but to grab him."

They wouldn't let go of their legs. Because we were holding onto their legs, we finally managed to pull our heads out of the water and shouted, "Help!"

"Help!" Unfortunately, the sound was very faint; Xuejun's cries were much louder than our shouts. After shouting several times, they finally...

There was no response; it continued trying to shake us off. We couldn't hold on any longer; our strength had given out.

Qi slowly loosened his grip. Unexpectedly, just as we were about to sink, Shichao suddenly grabbed both of us.

They pulled us up with all their might. "Saying this, Yang Tianwen was a little out of breath, so he sat down to rest. Xu Sen took his..."

He continued, "When we let go, we knew we were doomed. Then I suddenly remembered the purpose of our game of chess..."

The goal is to uncover the truth. If we were to die, it wouldn't help at all; it would only confuse you further. At that time...

I was tightly holding the white chess piece of Tianwen in my hand, and I tried my best to pass it out, hoping to get it into Shichao's hands and make him understand.

What happened. Unfortunately, I simply didn't have enough strength; the chess piece only slipped on his foot before I couldn't lift it any further.

Unexpectedly, this one move allowed Shichao to guess what had happened. The Seven Star Child truly lived up to his name!

---Magpie Bridge Fairy