Yanzi led Old Li over. Tang Minghao, for some reason, even after letting go, took two steps forward, still wanting to grab Yanzi. Old Li saw this and sharply reprimanded him, “Minghao, if you don’t stop clinging to Yanzi, I won’t be responsible for what happens to Geng Wei.”

Tang Minghao stood there aggrieved, glancing at Old Li, then turning back to me with eyes full of pleading. I said, “Come stand here with me.” He looked reluctant again.

Xu Zhiwu finally snapped out of his daze after most of the afternoon. Seeing Tang Minghao like that, he said to me, “He’s problematic; I’m afraid he might turn out to be a menace.”

How could I not know something was wrong with Tang Minghao? But I couldn't figure out what he encountered or what had happened to him to make him like this. Had Yanzi poisoned him? Was that why he kept holding onto her so tightly? But I immediately dismissed that thought...

Old Li followed Yanzi to the side of the blood spring. The Great Kingfish seemed startled to see two people arrive. It paused, then its single human-like eye glared viciously at the pair. I saw the situation was bad; Yanzi, so soft and weak, didn't look like she could handle it. So, I quickly went over and stood by Old Li. No matter what, we couldn't leave him behind.

When I moved, the Great Kingfish shifted its gaze to me, its eyes filled with mockery. I didn't look at it; I flipped the safety off my pistol and slowly aimed for its eye. Did it want to laugh? I’ll blow your eye out and see how you laugh then!

Old Li quickly reminded me, “Technician Luo, we only have two bullets left. Unless it’s absolutely necessary, don't fire. These are for saving our lives.” As he spoke, the mockery in the Great Kingfish’s eyes deepened. It stopped looking at me, switched hands, and held Geng Wei high. After a few seconds, it pretended to lose strength; its hand slackened, and Geng Wei’s feet dropped limply into the water. Tang Minghao shrieked and then burst into loud sobs again.

The Great Kingfish grew even more triumphant, watching us provocatively, constantly swinging Geng Wei’s body left and right. Geng Wei had already fainted and was completely at its mercy.

“What’s your plan? Hurry up and save him!” I yelled at Yanzi, my patience worn thin by Tang Minghao’s crying. Yanzi habitually bit her lip, a trace of embarrassment on her face. “I... I... you all... turn your faces away.” Her voice was barely audible.

What the heck! I put my gun away and turned around. In that precise instant I turned, I heard Old Li’s sharp shout, “Technician Luo!” followed by a massive force violently shoving me to the ground. Before I could clear my spinning head, there was a thud behind me—something falling into the water—followed by Yanzi’s piercing scream: “Help! Help!”

I scrambled up groggily, thinking Yanzi had fallen in. When I stood up and looked, she was standing there perfectly fine; the solid Old Li was gone. My mind exploded, my eyes nearly bloodshot. “Old Li...” The Great Kingfish had meant to grab me earlier. Old Li had pushed me away quickly, and now he was the one... “Old Li!” I roared. It was only because Xu Zhiwu arrived and grabbed me that I didn't leap into the water to fight the Great Kingfish to the death.

Fortunately, Old Li hadn't lost consciousness. The Great Kingfish had him by the back of his shirt, though his hands and feet could still move. The monster still held Geng Wei in its other hand; perhaps it genuinely was weak, as half of Geng Wei’s body was already submerged in the water. Tang Minghao ran over again, sobbing, and started weeping the moment he saw Geng Wei’s condition. Strangely, when Tang Minghao approached, the Great Kingfish’s aggression seemed to temper slightly.

“Old Li! Old Li, are you alright?” I shouted, stomping my feet but having no idea how to rescue him. Old Li was calmer than I was and told me not to worry, that he was temporarily safe. Yanzi was still hesitating beside us. “No,” I told Xu Zhiwu, “I have to go down and save Old Li, or he’ll die!” With that, I prepared to jump into the water. Old Li quickly shouted, “Are you crazy? You have an injury on your hand! Have you forgotten Section Chief Wang and the others?”

I froze. With that injury, I absolutely could not touch the blood spring. I really couldn't. At this point, I was so frantic I almost cried out loud, “Old Li, then what about you?”

“Yanzi has a way. She’ll save me,” Old Li said calmly, looking at Yanzi.

Finally, this reluctant lady, Yanzi, stopped hesitating. She didn't turn away from us either; she reached into her collar, pulling out a small cloth pouch that settled against her chest. The air was instantly filled with an indescribable fragrance. Taking a careful sniff, it seemed faintly familiar, like a medicinal scent, but when I tried to inhale again, it was gone.

Yanzi asked Old Li, “Can you find a way to stab it (the Great Kingfish) and make it bleed?”

Old Li looked down; he couldn’t reach the fish’s body and shook his head helplessly. The Great Kingfish’s eyes suddenly looked somewhat dull, laced with a hint of fear. Tang Minghao, who had been wailing, stopped abruptly, not even sobbing anymore.

I volunteered immediately, “I’ll do it! You two look after Old Li.”

Yanzi scoffed, “Going to your death? As soon as your hand touches the slightest bit of blood spring water, your cultivation, Luo Lian, will be ruined. You might not fear death, but I’m afraid someone will hold me accountable!” I assumed she meant Old Li or Xu Zhiwu would seek revenge for me, so I didn't pay it much mind. Only later did I realize she had a deeper meaning.

Yanzi finished speaking, readjusted her diving mask and gear, and prepared to enter the water. Unexpectedly, the Great Kingfish seemed to understand Yanzi’s intent and retreated in terror. But the pool was so small that after only two steps back, its body hit the edge of the pit. Seeing this, I immediately rushed forward, drew my dagger, and stabbed hard into the triangular area on its back. Blood immediately gushed out profusely. The Great Kingfish roared in pain, let go with a snap, and both Old Li and Geng Wei tumbled into the blood spring water. Fearing it would turn to attack me, I quickly dodged away.

Yanzi immediately rushed over, holding the small pouch, carrying a wave of fragrance. The Great Kingfish had already turned and was about to lash out at me, but upon seeing Yanzi, its expression drastically changed. It ducked low and suddenly dove into the water, reaching out to pull the limp Geng Wei. After a few bubbles broke the surface, it vanished without a trace.

Old Li was badly frightened, thrashing and screaming for help in the blood spring water, urging us to pull him out quickly. Yanzi anxiously said, “Don’t move around, be careful not to get hurt.”

Hearing this, Old Li held his hands high, afraid to touch the bloody water, daring not to struggle further. I immediately ran over with Xu Zhiwu and pulled him out together. “Barely managed to cling to life,” Old Li gasped, regaining his composure once ashore. “Old Li... I...” I wanted to thank him for risking himself to save me earlier, but the words caught in my throat. Old Li patted my shoulder, said nothing, and went aside to shake the blood spring water off his clothes. Yanzi kept urging him to clean it off thoroughly, suggesting he might as well take the clothes off and air them dry if necessary.

As for Tang Minghao, he surprisingly knew to walk over and help Old Li. With Geng Wei dragged away by the Great Kingfish, his hysterical crying had stopped. Thinking of Geng Wei, Xu Zhiwu and I exchanged uneasy glances; we feared... he was likely doomed. Sure enough, Yanzi’s face was ghostly pale, and her expression was full of grief. “Master Geng... ah... how will we explain this when we return.” With that, she turned and tucked the small cloth bag back against her chest. I suspected it was a scented sachet used by girls, though hers was clearly extraordinary. But being thin-skinned, I didn't feel comfortable asking.

Old Li still took off his clothes to let them dry before putting them back on, as Yanzi insisted it wasn't safe to wear them if they weren't completely dry. While waiting for his clothes to dry, I kept trying to work up the nerve to ask how Geng Wei could be saved. If she said there was no way to save him... then at least I wouldn't feel so conflicted about fleeing for my own life. Besides, if the matter got out, it wouldn't look like we abandoned him to die (I admit, at that moment, I was deeply selfish; apart from Old Li, truly no one else was worth me risking my life for). But every time I saw Yanzi’s eyes fixed solely on Old Li, I felt awkward interrupting her focus. I couldn’t tell why she suddenly seemed so interested in him. Finally, Xu Zhiwu, relying on his seniority, asked Yanzi, “Since you have something that can handle the Great Kingfish, we can’t just stand by and watch Geng Wei be taken away without any way to help him, can we?”

Yanzi finally drew her gaze away from Old Li and retorted, “And how do you plan to save Geng Wei? Find a hole in this blood spring and crawl in after him? Or perhaps move all these flagstones to see if the Great Kingfish hid him under one of them?”

Her words actually reminded me. “Could the Great Kingfish really have hidden Geng Wei under a flagstone? After all, the pool is only about a meter or two square, and there isn't much water overflowing or anything, which means even if the Great Kingfish wanted to escape, it shouldn't have such a large tunnel to flee through?” Speaking of fleeing, I finally had a legitimate opening to ask about her little medicine bag. “Right, what was in that little cloth bag of yours? The Great Kingfish seemed terrified of it.” I asked.

Yanzi smiled, offering no reply. By this time, the fragrance in the air had almost dissipated, and Old Li’s clothes were nearly dry. Suddenly, Tang Minghao walked over in two steps and sat down next to Yanzi, his face blank and confused again. Yanzi was used to Tang Minghao’s fits and ignored him.

“Perhaps in another place, we might still encounter Geng Wei,” Yanzi said suddenly after a long silence, a statement entirely out of context. I asked doubtfully, “You mean—a corpse?” Xu Zhiwu quickly interrupted me, chiding, “Ptooey, ptooey! Little Luo, you’re so young, why are your words so unrestrained and thoughtless.”

Yanzi looked at Xu Zhiwu with a strange expression: “Do you assume Geng Wei is definitely alive?” Xu Zhiwu was momentarily stunned, unsure how to answer. Yanzi ignored him and continued, “What I said was perhaps, only perhaps. Of course, it could be a corpse, or it could be... something else entirely.”