Two minutes later, Su Man came ashore.

She had eaten the salmon from the spring bear and could hold her breath for a long time — but the visibility underwater was terrible. No matter how long she could stay down, it was useless, because she had absolutely no idea which direction to search.

Su Man came back looking dejected. She told Lu Yuwen and Zhang Ke: “Visibility underwater is too poor. The moment I move in the water, the silt and sediment at the bottom kick up and the water turns cloudy — I couldn’t see a thing.”

“Of course the water turns cloudy when you wade in.” Zhang Ke frowned. “You should find a boat and go in from the center of the lake. Arrows are usually concentrated around the center of the square!”

Lu Yuwen shook his head. “There might not be a boat nearby, and we don’t know the depth at the lake’s center. Diving blindly is too dangerous.”

Zhang Ke’s face clouded with displeasure. “How will you know if there’s no boat unless you look? The way you two are searching along the bank, you’ll be at it until nightfall without finding a single arrow!”

Su Man had her reservations about Zhang Ke, but she couldn’t deny that this actually sounded reasonable. She looked at Lu Yuwen uncertainly. “Should we…”

“Let’s keep trying here for now — it’s safer.” Lu Yuwen held firm, his tone unhurried. “Su Man, sorry to trouble you to go back in once more. You don’t need to hold your breath long — about a minute — just get a feel for the underwater environment near here.”

“Lu Yuwen, have you lost your mind?” Zhang Ke finally lost his temper. “What good is one minute? Are you just too reluctant to let this woman dive?”

Lu Yuwen kept his gaze fixed on the surface of the lake, still perfectly composed. “She and I are partners. I’m concerned she’ll run into danger underwater — isn’t that a perfectly normal thing, Zhang Ke? If you’re not satisfied, figure something out yourself. But I’m not going to let Su Man take risks.”

Zhang Ke gave a contemptuous snort. “A lame man and a one-handed woman — quite the matched pair.”

“You—!” Su Man’s brow shot up, about to blow her lid.

Lu Yuwen held her back and shook his head. “Don’t mind him, Su Man. Go in one more time — try a different spot this time. We’ll take it slowly. Safety comes first.”

Su Man bit her lip and gave him a small nod.

This wasn’t the time for hot-headedness. Finding the arrows was the most urgent matter.

Su Man prepared to enter the water.

Zhang Ke muttered: “A pair of idiots.”

Then he turned and walked away.

……

Su Man’s second dive also turned up nothing.

When she came back ashore, she couldn’t help saying to Lu Yuwen: “I think Zhang Ke’s suggestion isn’t without merit — maybe we should find a boat and dive from the center of the square…”

Lu Yuwen handed her a towel. “No rush. Zhang Ke will go find a boat.”

Su Man took the towel, and blinked at this. “…We’re not going to help him?”

Lu Yuwen shook his head. “Zhang Ke doesn’t fully trust us yet. Rather than letting him be suspicious and on edge, it’s better to let him figure things out for himself. Even if we want to use a boat, it should come from him proposing it first.

Because when someone comes up with a plan themselves, they don’t just let their guard down — they’ll put their full effort into seeing it through. That’s a basic instinct of psychological self-defense. So right now, we just need to rest.”

Like in a company meeting, when one person proposes a plan, they’ll instinctively keep finding arguments to justify it whenever others question it — that’s psychological self-defense at work.

Su Man’s eyes slowly went wide, filling with wonder and admiration. “So you did it on purpose?!”

Lu Yuwen glanced at her, gave a small smile, and said nothing.

Su Man’s excitement flared. “Lu Yuwen! You’re incredibly smart!!!”

Lu Yuwen looked awkward, adding hastily: “It’s just common psychological knowledge — hardly clever…”

Su Man also realized her reaction might have been a bit over the top, but she was still excited, her eyes bright as she looked at him: “Even if it’s just common knowledge, I never would have thought of it… I wish I were that clever too.”

As she said it, she lowered her head and looked at the water-soaked state of her clothes. Without quite realizing it, her mood sank:

“Lu Yuwen — if I hadn’t met you, I would never have made it out of this labyrinth on my own.”