“Last year, a female college graduate drowned in the Xilin City Swimming Center. This swimming center measures 50 by 25 meters and is the largest in the area.”
Qiao Yunxue swept her flashlight around, groping her way forward in the pitch-black swimming center.
“Due to some design flaw, the suction at this swimming center’s drain is abnormally strong. That female college graduate was sucked into the drain. Shen Yao?”
“I’m listening.” Shen Yao followed behind her. “Say, we just pried the door open and barged in like this, aren’t we going to get caught by the Police?”
“The Police are busy; they don’t have time to bother with us.” Qiao Yunxue continued,
“It’s said that the girl was stuck to the drain for a whole hour before being discovered. By the time she was rescued, almost all her intestines and half her internal organs had vanished. In the end, the Firefighters followed the drain and found her missing organs.”
Shen Yao let out a disgusted sound. “She must have felt so hopeless before she died? Watching her own insides get sucked out bit by bit? Just like in a Chuck Palahniuk novel?”
“Worse than that.” She finally found the power switch, and with a gentle flick, the swimming center’s lights gradually came on.
“There’s a rumor that people have seen floating hair under this pool. That’s the urban legend we’re here to investigate tonight. I’ve codenamed it ‘Underwater Corpse.’ What do you think?”
“Not very creative.” Shen Yao asked, “So? How do you plan to start?”
Qiao Yunxue put her backpack on a chair and took out various recording devices.
“Same as last time—since you’re more sensitive to the supernatural, you take the initiative to approach the anomaly and try to lure it out.”
Shen Yao raised his brows slightly. “Sounds dangerous. Last time, I nearly died, you know.”
“This time you don’t need to get too close. Just dive underwater and use the camera to try to capture the hair from the urban legend.”
Qiao Yunxue handed him a camouflage-painted camera.
“Nikon E300. Waterproof to fifty meters. Just observe the process of the anomaly appearing from a distance—if the camera fails, memorize what you see and tell me afterward.”
Shen Yao glanced at the dry swimming pool. “Underwater?”
Qiao Yunxue pointed at the safety corridor behind her. “Go open the valves to let in the water, I’ll get things ready here.”
“Why am I always the errand boy? Miss Qiao, you’re really living easy.”
“Of course. You’re The Companion, of course you run the errands.” Qiao Yunxue shot him a glare.
Shen Yao thought Qiao Yunxue was born to play a shady Capitalist—top hat, fake mustache, cane, speaking fluent London Accent: “Oh, my dear Companion, thank God!”
He reached the water treatment room and found there were no old-fashioned round valves like in the movies, only a series of levers of various sizes, each with different symbols and stickers. Shen Yao could only recognize ‘Ozone’ and ‘Water Circulation.’ Not knowing what to do, he simply pulled the biggest switch.
When he returned to the pool, Qiao Yunxue’s backpack sat off to the side, but the red-haired girl was nowhere to be seen.
The pool was already filled with water.
Shen Yao called out several times but got no response.
He frowned slightly, his heartbeat picking up. He was worried Qiao Yunxue had encountered something strange ahead of schedule.
At that moment, a red blossom bloomed in the water.
Qiao Yunxue shot up from the pool like a fish, her red hair whipping through the air in a graceful arc.
She slicked her hair back from her face, her eyes shimmering with reflected light from the water, looking every bit like the Red-haired Mermaid Princess from a Disney movie.
Unlike most girls, her brows were sharper, the corners of her eyes slightly upturned.
Without her soft, long hair framing her face, she looked even more cold and striking.
She laughed, “Look at you, like a lost puppy—can’t even stand not seeing me for a minute?”
Shen Yao was used to her sharp tongue. “So next time you disappear, I should just go home and sleep in peace.”
He walked to the pool’s edge, swirled the surface with his fingers, then sniffed them. “Is this water clean?”
Qiao Yunxue climbed out from the guardrail, and only then did Shen Yao notice she’d changed into a one-piece black Swimsuit.
The Swimsuit clung tightly to her body, outlining the delicate curves of a young woman.
“You should eat more,” Shen Yao couldn’t help but say.
She was too thin. Maybe girls liked chasing after this kind of weight, but to him it didn’t look healthy or attractive.
He still preferred Cheng Orange’s body type—a bit of softness, well-proportioned, sturdy.
Come to think of it, hadn’t he been comparing Qiao Yunxue and Cheng Orange in his head a lot lately?
Qiao Yunxue’s expression changed a bit, and she clutched her chest. “Pervert.”
Shen Yao was speechless—there wasn’t much to cover there anyway.
If he’d known, he should have sworn brotherhood with her instead.
Of course, those words could only stay in his heart, never to be spoken aloud.
Qiao Yunxue raised her chin, pointing to the backpack. “There’s a Swimsuit and Mask in the bag I brought for you.”
Shen Yao looked at the pool, which wasn’t all that deep.
“It’s just a pool, do we really need all this gear?”
But even as he spoke, he obediently changed into swim trunks and put on the Mask and snorkel.
Luckily the swimming center was closed; otherwise, if someone saw him treating a swim like a deep-sea dive, they’d laugh themselves silly.
Qiao Yunxue reminded him, “Remember, don’t get close to the anomaly—just take photos from a distance. If the anomaly notices you, get out immediately, I’ll cover you.”
Shen Yao held the waterproof camera in one hand and gave her a thumbs-up with the other.
Standing at the edge of the pool, he peered down and could see the patterns on the pool’s ceramic tiles, with no sign of anything strange.
But… if he was the one going into the water, why had Qiao Yunxue changed into a Swimsuit too?
He dismissed the question at once—he knew he’d never figure out what Qiao Yunxue was thinking.
He took a deep breath and jumped into the pool.
He thought this investigation would be simple.
The pool wasn’t deep, and the urban legend had no reports of anything dangerous.
Everything suggested this was less risky than the last time with the telephone legend.
But things turned out completely differently from what he imagined.
As soon as he hit the water, everything went black. A powerful current surged around him, nothing like the gentle flow of pool water.
After a while, his eyes gradually adjusted to the sudden change in light, and he realized he was surrounded by dark water.
The ceramic tiles that had just been visible were nowhere to be seen.
Below him was a bottomless abyss, with bubbles occasionally rising from the depths.
Looking up, the water’s surface was far, far above.
This wasn’t a pool at all.
He was just floating in the void, surrounded on all sides by pitch-black water, with only the sound of the current echoing in his ears—oppressive and hollow.
This was the Deep Sea.
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.