Calm and undisturbed — no fish monsters appeared.

Everyone let out a collective breath of relief.

After entering the labyrinth, their sequence of cave entries had been: the middle cave, the first cave, and the third cave. So just one more retreat, and they would be back at the entrance.

The fishing vessel continued reversing.

Backward and backward, further and further, until there was nowhere left to go.

The entrance was gone.

There should have been a cave here that connected back to the open sea — the very passage they had come through — but now, in exactly the same spot, there was nothing but a solid stone wall.

Except for the seven identical cave openings, they truly had nowhere to go.

They hadn’t been inside the labyrinth for that long, yet the dim, cold, damp environment wore on a person — the darkness was oppressive, and the appearance of the fish monsters had added another layer of psychological burden. A faint shadow of gloom had settled over everyone on board.

Anxiety and unease permeated every one of them.

A’qing’s water bottle was already empty. He clutched the hollow bottle and paced back and forth across the deck, the plastic squeaking under the pressure of his grip.

Ashalina and Bai Youwei were quietly discussing their next course of action.

The noise A’qing was making set her nerves on edge. Irritated, she said: “A’qing! Can you go wait in the cabin?!”

A’qing snapped back to awareness, scratched the back of his head, and shuffled into the cabin.

A’long kept watch near the hold hatch, ready to respond to any movement from the two mermaid monsters below.

On the other side, Ashalina and Bai Youwei spoke in low tones:

“When we entered, we chose the middle cave — the fourth one — and didn’t run into any fish monsters… Doesn’t that suggest the fourth cave is the correct route? If we take the fourth cave again, will we pass through safely?”

“What do you think the odds are that we just happened to guess right? One in seven… Now we’ve already been through the first, third, and fourth caves. I think we should try one of the others.”

Ashalina was uneasy: “But if we choose wrong, according to your theory, we’ll be facing three fish monsters.”

Bai Youwei shook her head slightly. “It doesn’t make a difference. There’s no way to avoid the risk regardless. Even going through the fourth cave now might lead to fish monsters — because we still haven’t figured out the underlying pattern of these seven caves…”

Not far away, A’long glanced at Ashalina, then looked toward A’qing inside the cabin. After a moment’s hesitation, he called out: “Big Sister, something seems off with A’qing.”

Ashalina heard this and turned to look into the cabin.

A’qing was rifling through their backpacks — the bags that held their everyday supplies: short blades, lighters, moisture-proof mats, compressed rations, water, and so on.

He was searching frantically, as if looking for something specific, and everything inside had been thrown into disarray.

“A’qing!” Ashalina called out to him.

A’qing startled and looked up.

“What are you doing?” Ashalina asked, brow furrowed.

A’qing touched his own throat. He seemed to be in some discomfort. “I… I’m looking for water…”

“Water?” Ashalina grew more suspicious. She walked toward him. “Water is right there in the bags. What’s wrong with your voice? It’s gone so raspy…”

She had just reached the cabin doorway when she noticed the empty water bottles on the floor and stopped dead in her tracks.

A’qing hadn’t failed to find water. He had already drunk every drop he could find.

“A’qing…” Ashalina stared at him with a look of stunned disbelief. “What is wrong with you? All that water — you drank all of it?!”

“I’m thirsty…” A’qing’s voice was abnormally hoarse. He kept touching his throat, and even his breathing seemed labored. “Big Sister, I’m so thirsty… I’m so thirsty…”

Ashalina’s expression turned severe.

Four full bottles of water — enough to sustain the three of them for two days at minimum, and A’qing had consumed all of it within the span of a few minutes. This was clearly not normal.

A’qing kept rummaging through bag after bag as if in a trance, muttering over and over: “Water… water… I need water…”

—