Zhang Ke’s existence kept Su Man and Lu Yuwen both on edge, unable to rest at ease.

The next time she searched for an arrow, Su Man deliberately chose a position where the water ran deeper, just as Lu Yuwen had suggested.

When Zhang Ke came back to the boat to rest, he asked Su Man where the next arrow to lash was located, and she pointed it out for him.

“From here, go down about three or four meters…”

“Is it three meters or four meters?” Zhang Ke raised an eyebrow, somewhat displeased. “You went in without your brain? How could you not know?”

Su Man shot back without missing a beat: “I went in with my brain just fine! But I left my tape measure at home! It’s underwater — I can’t exactly measure it. Did you expect me to give you an answer to the centimeter?!”

Zhang Ke sneered: “You’re genuinely brainless. Look at the wet line on the rope you’re wearing — that tells you exactly how deep you went, doesn’t it?”

With that, he rose and started pulling at the rope attached to her body.

Su Man’s heart immediately lurched into a panicked gallop! She’d never been good at putting on a performance under pressure, and now that Zhang Ke was checking the rope, she was so anxious she could barely hold herself together.

“How is your rope completely soaked?” Zhang Ke frowned at the rope in his hands.

Lu Yuwen explained calmly: “Every time she comes back aboard, the rope gets coiled up together. The dry sections naturally pick up water from the wet ones.”

Zhang Ke furrowed his brow but said nothing.

After a brief rest, he leaped from the boat at the position Su Man had indicated —

Su Man immediately sprang to her feet, gripped the railing, and stared down into the water below.

“What if he comes back?” She kept her eyes fixed tensely on the surface. “I’m not so sure right now… what if the arrow isn’t deep enough?… Or what if he thinks it’s too deep and swims back halfway?”

Zhang Ke was no fool. Whether or not he found the arrow — whether or not he’d managed to lash it — he would certainly keep some breathing margin in reserve for his own safety. Because nothing mattered more than his own life.

Lu Yuwen said: “He averaged about seventy seconds per dive for the earlier ones — for him, that must be the safe threshold. Suppose his absolute limit is twenty seconds beyond that, so ninety seconds. As long as I jump overboard before the seventy-second mark, and get the rope tangled in the trees, he’ll have no chance of surviving.”

Su Man’s eyes went wide. “Then what happens to you?!”

Lu Yuwen gave a faint smile. “Don’t forget — I can hold my breath too. Though not as long as either of you, staying under for thirty seconds should be manageable.”

Su Man jumped to her feet, unable to contain herself. “No! This plan is too risky! What if—”

Her words were cut off by the boat lurching violently beneath them!

Something shifted in the depths below like a great beast turning over — a tremendous tremor surged through the water! The still lake surface broke into waves!

The color drained from both their faces at once. They both knew this was the sign that an arrow was turning direction!

Lu Yuwen immediately rose to his feet, words tumbling out in rapid urgency: “I never told you this — but the most dangerous moment in this plan isn’t finding the arrows, or even lashing them! It’s the instant the arrows turn! When the square shifts, the water will form a massive whirlpool! Zhang Ke has tied the rope to me — whether I jump into the water or not, I’ll be dragged into that whirlpool! Su Man, remember this — no matter what happens, stay on the boat! Otherwise, everything we’ve worked for will be completely wasted!”

“Lu Yuwen!” Su Man reached out and grabbed him, refusing to let him go in!

But then a wave hit — the entire boat tilted violently to one side in an instant!

She lost her footing and could only throw out her hand to grab the railing, watching helplessly as Lu Yuwen fell into the water!

And the small pedal boat she was riding lurched like a skipping stone flung through the air, heaving into the sky — then crashing back down onto the surface with a tremendous impact!

Su Man, still aboard, was thrown into the railing by the force — her head swam and her vision went dark!

Before she could react, the pedal boat reversed at speed, pulled along by the current! That was the lake water rushing to fill the empty slot as the square moved into place!

If the whirlpool swept Lu Yuwen into the empty slot, that would be a dead end with no way out!

Su Man’s heart hardened. She flipped over the railing and threw herself into the water.