Ashalina sat down beside Bai Youwei and began working through the cave patterns together with her. The sooner they cracked the riddle of the labyrinth, the better A’qing’s chances of survival.
What they knew so far: there was one mother cave, with seven corresponding child caves.
Reversing out from the mother cave brought them back to the entrance.
Moving forward from the mother cave led to the seven child caves — and choosing any child cave brought them back to the entrance all the same.
Ashalina asked: “Could it be a Möbius strip? No matter which way you go, you end up back where you started — you have to break the pattern to escape the loop.”
“I’ve considered that possibility,” Bai Youwei said, brow lightly furrowed. “The spatial-looping characteristics support it, but then what explains the seven child caves? A Möbius strip only needs a single passage to form its loop — but what we’re facing is seven passages. And the fish monsters don’t fit that framework either…”
“Cave 1 and Cave 3 both had fish monsters. Could it be that every odd-numbered cave has one?” Ashalina said. “Like… 1, 3, 5, 7 all have fish monsters, while 2, 4, 6 are safe?”
Bai Youwei didn’t think the distinction would be so simple as odd and even, but it was a viable line of thinking.
“Either way, we’ll have to verify it tomorrow,” she said. “Tomorrow, we go through Cave 2.”
Ashalina nodded.
Then, from the direction of the living room, came what sounded like drinking.
Both of them froze at the same moment.
Ashalina instinctively assumed A’long had felt sorry for A’qing and given him some water — but when she turned to look, A’long was still sound asleep on the sofa. A’qing, on the other hand, was craning his neck forward, eagerly gulping water from a spoon held before him.
Where had a spoon come from?
She stood for a better look, and her eyes went wide with shock!
A severed hand was cradling a spoon and feeding water to A’qing!
Bai Youwei had seen it too. Fury flashed through her, and she said in a sharp, low voice: “Who let you out?!”
The severed hand startled! It gave a frightened flinch, dropped the spoon, and scrambled under the sofa!
The water in the spoon spilled across the floor.
A’long had been jolted awake by the commotion. He opened his eyes — he didn’t see the severed hand, only A’qing, who was straining against the ropes, pressing his face to the ground and laboriously stretching out his tongue to lick up the water from the floor—
“A’qing!” A’long scrambled to pull him away.
Not far from them, Ashalina’s feelings defied expression.
She stepped over in a few strides and grabbed A’qing by the collar with both hands. “A’qing! Get ahold of yourself! You cannot keep drinking water!”
A’qing’s expression was dazed. After a long moment, he finally focused his eyes on Ashalina in front of him, and tears rose to a grown man’s eyes as he choked out:
“Big Sister… let me drink, please… I really can’t… I can’t bear it anymore… It doesn’t matter anyway, I’m going to die either way — just let me… die without suffering so much…”
“Shut your mouth! Who said you’re going to die?!” Ashalina’s voice was fierce, hard-edged. “We’re only going without water for a few days. That won’t kill you!”
“Big Sister, please let me drink… I can’t take it anymore… I’m begging you all — let me drink… I need water…”
No matter how desperately he begged, Ashalina kept her jaw set and gave no response.
This time, she and A’long not only tied him more securely, but gagged his mouth as well — ensuring that A’qing would receive no water by any means.
A’qing was already weak to begin with. Once bound like this, he no longer had the strength to struggle.
Watching her companion reduced to this, could Ashalina’s heart possibly feel easy? She held back the ache welling up inside her and said to A’qing: “Hold on a little longer — just a little longer… You’ll get better. Once we’re out of the labyrinth, you’ll definitely get better.”
—