"Buddy, you mean...?" Hearing Man Niao Niao's words, I secretly wondered if this fellow shared the same thoughts as me.

"Look here, no path forward, no way to retreat. Since that's the case, why don't we take a look at that lotus-picking boat? Perhaps we'll find something else," Man Niao Niao laid out his plan, which indeed matched my own thoughts.

Before I could speak, Qin Bing'er interjected, "But... won't that lotus-picking boat be dangerous?"

Man Niao Niao smiled dismissively. "Danger is inevitable, of course, but isn't it better than staying here to die? Besides, haven't we faced enough danger already during this time? We're still perfectly fine now, not even missing a single hair!" I was greatly astonished. How come Man Niao Niao seemed like a changed man since entering the subterranean Imperial City? He spoke so articulately and philosophically, a stark contrast to his former hesitant demeanor. Did Ji Ye's harsh chop with the knife really have an effect? This was truly an unbelievable turn of events.

"What if... what if there's something unclean on the boat?" I ventured to ask tentatively.

"...?" Man Niao Niao paused, momentarily blank. "Something unclean? You mean a 'Half-Puppet,' right? Well... I don't feel so terribly afraid of that anymore. Besides, I really haven't seen any unclean things around lately... Brother An's methods are indeed brilliant; I feel like my 'Flame' is much higher than before!"

To feel that his 'Flame' was higher? How did he feel it?

Qin Bing'er also caught on to this and pressed, "Such a strange thing? Tell us, what sensation are you having?"

"This..." Man Niao Niao hesitated for two words, then abruptly raised his voice, "This is something that can be understood but not described in words. You wouldn't get it anyway, so I won't talk about it!" Hearing Man Niao Niao being intentionally obscure, I inwardly mused that the fellow must have a difficult secret he couldn't disclose, likely due to Qin Bing'er being present. Usually, even if a man lacked three drops of sanguine essence, he still possessed three measures of uprightness. While Man Niao Niao was normally carefree, he wasn't so degenerate as to completely abandon propriety and shame. As a fellow man, I deeply understood that some things simply were not to be spoken of.

"Enough, enough!" I quickly stopped Qin Bing'er from digging deeper, helping Man Niao Niao out of his bind. "I don't care if Uncle Niao's 'Flame' is high or low. As long as you're bold enough to venture forward with me, your 'Scale' can finally match my 'Weight'..."

Man Niao Niao gave a contemptuous chuckle. "The cold wind blows, the war drums beat! Who fears whom in this world today? As long as you dare to charge, this old master will surely accompany you to the very end!"

Qin Bing'er quickly cut off our boasting session. "Since we've decided to board that black lotus-picking boat, we should figure out how to get there first. Save your talent for blowing hot air until later, alright?"

Seeing that the torch in my hand was nearly burnt out, I worried that Qin Bing'er and Man Niao Niao wouldn't see the environment clearly in the darkness and might meet with an accident. I hastily prepared another torch in the same manner and handed it to Qin Bing'er to light.

I surveyed the terrain. "Our only move now is to carefully cross the bridge surface beneath the water. I poked around with my stick earlier and found what seems to be an oval platform submerged below the surface. When you walk, you must test each step before putting your full weight down. After crossing that platform, we need to leap quickly onto that turtle's back, and then use its momentum to jump onto the black boat... Do you understand?"

Man Niao Niao nodded repeatedly. "Got it, got it! How about... I go first as the vanguard?"

"Fine, this glorious task is yours! But you need to be careful. If you sink like a dead pig, I won't bother pulling you out."

"Can't your cursed 'Boyi' mouth spit out a couple of tusks? Cursing me before we even take a step!" Man Niao Niao was extremely displeased. He muttered under his breath, got his things ready, snatched the stick from my hand, and began testing the water surface. He then cautiously stepped onto the oval platform I had mentioned, which was submerged beneath the water, and continued moving forward like a shy bride, taking small, careful steps.

Although the water only reached halfway up Man Niao Niao's calves, he dared not relax. After covering a distance of about two meters, he turned back to Qin Bing'er and me. "Alright, buddies, I've scouted this path. You can come across now!" I instructed Qin Bing'er to go first, following the exact track Man Niao Niao had taken, moving forward step by step. Qin Bing'er complied, shuffling forward directly behind Man Niao Niao under my watchful gaze.

I tidied my gear and noticed the thick vines Man Niao Niao had pulled down lying on the ground. I picked up a few, tore off the rotten branches and decaying leaves, and haphazardly wrapped them around my waist. I did this because I considered that if we couldn't jump onto the lotus-picking boat using the turtle shell, throwing these vines up first would be a good idea. While it might not guarantee pulling the boat closer one hundred percent, it was better than nothing, offering at least some psychological comfort. Or, if someone happened to fall into the water, these vines might genuinely become a lifeline in the pitch-black pool. This is the principle: preparation ensures success; lack of it ensures failure.

While I was busy strapping on the vines, Hua'er had already hopped back onto the giant turtle's shell with a patter-patter sound, treading the water surface.

Once prepared, seeing both Qin Bing'er and Man Niao Niao turning to look at me, that sense of smug superiority welled up inside me. I chuckled inwardly, thinking, Look at the wimpy way you two crossed; not an ounce of the spirit of the Vanguard Commander. Watch me! With a thud, I jumped into the water. Before my feet were steady, the ground beneath me suddenly sank, followed by a sharp scream from Qin Bing'er, and Man Niao Niao's angry curses began to erupt. The oval platform I remembered was shaking violently. In just two seconds, I watched Qin Bing'er and Man Niao Niao's bodies suddenly elevate, while more than half of my own body had already plunged into the water.

Before I could even process what had happened, Qin Bing'er and Man Niao Niao's bodies slammed violently into me. With a plop, I completely submerged. The last sight remaining in my vision was a massive, dark, oddly shaped hemispherical platform.

It happened in an instant. Once my entire body was completely underwater, my first instinct was to immediately use the classic dog-paddle stroke. However, in my panic, the vines wrapped around my waist unexpectedly loosened. As the water rippled, they entangled my arms and legs. My usually effortless swimming style was completely useless. Flailing in desperation, I accidentally gulped down two big mouthfuls of cold water. I panicked. I quickly clamped my mouth shut and tried to pull the vines off my body. But the more anxious I became, the more chaotic things got. The vines, which hadn't been too tangled before, now completely scattered, churning beneath the surface and tightly binding me like a net bag.

Damn it, I cursed silently. My legs kicked wildly, my hands pulled frantically, and I dared not open my mouth. My nostrils instinctively drew a breath, but instead pulled in a large surge of cold water, burning painfully inside my nose. The same sensation I encountered in the gas pool began to reoccur in my chest.

As I struggled desperately, two dull thumps sounded, and two dark shapes plunged into the water, sending up two great plumes of snow-white bubbles.

Although my chest felt ready to explode, astonishingly, my vision was quite clear. I could distinctly make out that the two dark shapes were Qin Bing'er and Man Niao Niao. At that moment, I had no time to dwell on how they had also fallen into the water; all my focus was on struggling to break free from the vines' restraint.

I don't know what kind of plant that cursed vine was. It had been dry and should have snapped easily with a hard tug, but now, after soaking in the water, it had become incredibly tough. No matter how much strength I exerted, I couldn't break the vines. My eyes were already blurring from holding my breath, and my head began to buzz.

I had originally planned to desperately break the vines, surface for air, and then come back down to save Qin Bing'er and Man Niao Niao. But the current situation was that I was a muddy Bodhisattva crossing a river—I couldn't even save myself—how could I possibly rescue others as intended? Fortunately, neither Man Niao Niao nor Qin Bing'er were complete landlubbers; they could both manage somewhat in the water. After floundering underwater for a bit, they surfaced to gulp down air.

I could hold it no longer. Instinctively, I opened my mouth wide to suck in oxygen, but the result, naturally, was drinking more cold water. With gurgling sounds, streams of snow-white bubbles shot up from the corners of my mouth, like the final fireworks celebrating my life... I drank water faster and faster, my stomach swelled, and my senses grew increasingly hazy.

I gave up struggling, sighing with the last vestiges of my consciousness: This time, it’s finally over!