Volume 2Chapter 3: The Big Storm

Li Sidi was a good swimmer and was in charge of all the water work. He said, “There will definitely be a huge storm here within an hour. This is evidence that the sea is receding. Later, when the sea water sucked in by the low pressure rushes over, it will be a small tsunami. We only have three small kayaks here, so I’m afraid it’s not very optimistic.”

He was being very tactful, but Uncle San looked at his expression and clearly thought they were already dead. These people had never seen anything big, and they were all scared and pale. Several girls were crying.

Uncle San took Wenjin’s hand and found that her palms were sweaty. He knew that she was also very scared. At that time, Uncle San had never dealt with this kind of thing before, but he was a professional grave robber and had very good psychological qualities. At that time, he reminded himself not to panic. If he panicked, there would really be no hope!

He counted the number of people. There were ten of them when they arrived, but now one was dead and another had to go back with the big boat to report the accident and the discovery of the sea. Now there were only eight people left. Uncle San asked Li Sidi, “How long will the storm last?”

Li Sidi said, “This kind of summer storm is very short. It will probably pass in a few tens of minutes, but by then the sea will have risen at least five or six meters, and all these reefs will be flooded.” He shook his head. “These few tens of minutes are no joke. If you get caught in the waves, you’ll either be killed by hitting the rocks or swept into the deep sea. I’m not trying to scare you, but this is really a big problem.”

Uncle San’s mind was quick, and several plans had already been proposed and rejected in an instant. Paddling back in a kayak was a death sentence. Paddling as fast as you could wouldn’t be fast enough to outrun the storm. Using a breathing apparatus to hide in the water wouldn’t work either, as the deepest part of the sea near the reef was only seven meters deep.

Uncle San saw the seabed, which was almost visible to the naked eye, like a flash of lightning in the dark. Suddenly, a very risky plan came to mind. At that time, he was not allowed to discuss the feasibility of the plan. He said to the others, “Let’s not think about it too much. Let’s gather our oxygen tanks and see how much air we have left. Let’s go into the tomb to take shelter!”

Uncle San was familiar with the tomb, so he didn’t think it was a big deal. But the others were all nerds, and this proposal was too bold. As soon as he said this, everyone was in an uproar. Uncle San saw that there was no consensus, so he hurriedly analyzed the pros and cons for them.

He pointed to the sea level and said, “Look at this storm. We don’t feel it yet, but everyone has seen a documentary film about tsunamis. This thing is no joke. If we wait for the storm to pass here, we will definitely not survive. We will definitely not find our bodies. And under the sea, there is a ready-made refuge. We already know that there is definitely air in this ancient tomb. The air in this sea cave is actually alive because it is connected to live water, so the air quality inside should be passable. We are not many people, and staying in there for an hour and then coming out is the only chance of survival!

Uncle San had a talent for inspiring people, otherwise his business would not have grown so large. Everyone listened to him attentively, and a glimmer of hope appeared in their hearts. They gathered all the diving equipment and deflated and stacked the three kayaks. Everything was ready. Uncle San first taught them some hand signals for underwater activities, then took them underwater. He himself turned on a waterproof flashlight and was the first to climb into the tomb passage.

The diving equipment at that time had a large helmet on top, which looked very heavy, but it was very sturdy. If there was a large sea creature in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to swallow it all at once with this helmet. Uncle San tried to relax himself as much as possible, swimming and looking at the same time. The tomb passage turned out to be getting narrower and narrower. According to this trend, it was a question of whether they could pass through in the end. Fortunately, he had all his tools on his body. If it really didn’t work, he could still break a way out.

There were many reliefs of human faces on the walls of the tomb passage, but now they were covered with a thick layer of deposits, making it impossible to tell which dynasty they belonged to. These people had never seen the big world, and they had forgotten their current situation. They surrounded the faces and studied them, causing Uncle San to have a headache and to have to stop them frequently.

They had swum for fifteen minutes and made several turns, and they had lost their bearings. Uncle San felt that these people were too chaotic and should be rectified, so he made a gesture to stop the people behind him. He asked Wenjin to count the number of people to see if anyone had fallen behind. Swimming in this narrow tomb passage was exhausting, and the people were exhausted.

Uncle San looked at them helplessly, thinking to himself that it was really not easy to be the leader. He used a flashlight to look ahead, and at this time, Wen Jin patted him on the leg. Uncle San turned his head and saw that she was very frightened. He felt a chill in his heart and thought to himself, “Is it true that someone has fallen behind?”

Wen Jin was flustered and didn’t know how to express herself. She held up one finger and kept waving it in front of Uncle San. Uncle San didn’t know what she meant and asked her, “Is there one less?” Wen Jin looked at Uncle San’s mouth and shook her head. She spread her palm out and held up four fingers with the other hand, then put the two hands together. Uncle San was very puzzled. He looked at Wen Jin’s mouth carefully and suddenly realized that what she was trying to say was “there is one more person!”