Swimming pool rules

Everyone quickly composed themselves and entered the swimming pool.

A gust of damp, sticky air hit them, carrying a fishy-sweet smell.

Tao Yu reached for the weapon inside her clothes and looked down. The floor was slick, as though covered in a film of water, and a careless step could send someone slipping. If they had to flee in terrain like this, something was bound to go wrong.

She frowned and turned her gaze to the most conspicuous—and most dangerous—thing here: the vast expanse of the deep blue pool.

Wang Ningshui stopped three meters from the pool, his steps heavy. He stared somberly at the clear, blue water, every muscle in his body trembling as if by reflex.

The first time they came in, they hadn't known what the strange entity here was. Ten people had entered, and two had vanished in the blink of an eye, without even a corpse left behind.

Only later did they learn that the water ghost had killed them. They had dissolved directly into the water and become part of the strange entity, with not even their bones left.

"If you hear anything strange later, make sure you close your eyes, cover your ears, and don't listen or think about it. As long as we don't enter the water of our own accord, the water ghost can't attack us on its own."

Wang Ningshui repeated the warning. The others nodded, and after setting up the recorders, they split into two teams to investigate.

Although they knew smaller groups were in greater danger, they couldn't afford to spend too long here, or it would only become more dangerous.

As the people with the most experience here, Wang Ningshui and Tao Yu paired up and quickly used their instruments to check the showers and lockers.

Normally, the spread of a strange entity's energy field meant one of two things.

First, it had eaten many people and had ample energy but wanted more. Second, they didn't know enough about its killing rules, and this strange entity had other abilities.

Tao Yu held up the detector and carefully scanned every spot. The energy reading on the instrument remained steady, without the slightest fluctuation. Even so, she didn't dare let her guard down and continued scanning with her head lowered, moving carefully but quickly.

Behind her, unnoticed, a shower switch suddenly moved on its own.

Click.

The faint click of the switch sounded. Tao Yu sensed something in an instant and looked up.

"Hm?"

The incandescent light overhead suddenly switched on, its bluish-gray light illuminating the dim room.

Tao Yu wondered only briefly why the light had come on before lowering her head and continuing to check the surroundings.

Hiss—

No, this is...

Tao Yu was startled as realization flashed through her mind. She looked up in shock. There was no lit incandescent light. Instead, a huge showerhead had appeared above her, the sound of rushing water coming from its densely packed holes. The water seemed to be surging rapidly from somewhere!

That showerhead definitely hadn't been there where she had just been standing!

A few drops fell from the holes first, striking her cheek. The flesh on her face melted almost instantly, the flesh at the edges of the wound curling and receding to reveal stark white bone.

Seeing that the water overhead was about to burst out, Tao Yu ignored the searing pain in her cheek and reacted as quickly as she could, raising her arm over her head to keep it from dissolving while rapidly retreating!

Sploosh—

"Aaaah!"

The water quickly poured down, striking her arm and the uncovered parts of her body. In an instant, she could feel half her body rapidly dissolving, her flesh sloughing off, strands of hair falling onto the slick floor with her scalp still attached. Her whole body was like a pool of smooth cream dripping as it baked in intense heat.

The rules. The rules said there are no dissolving floors or bodies in the swimming pool. If there are, close your eyes and believe you're clearheaded.

But she stared in terror at the thin streams of water surging toward her. If she closed her eyes now, the water would drench her from head to toe. She would dissolve into a puddle and vanish from this world without a sound!

She instinctively backed away, step by step, gritting her teeth as she prepared to close her eyes and brainwash herself—

Shing!

The long hair over her forehead flew up, and a flash of silvery blade light swept past her eyes. A pair of wolf-like, green eyes flashed within it.

An icy chill suddenly pressed close to her back. Though nothing touched her, goosebumps rose all over her body, and the cold at her back instantly froze her retreat.

The real pain in her cheek abruptly brought Tao Yu to her senses. She jolted as though waking from a dream and looked up again. There was no showerhead in front of her. Instead, one more step back would have put her beneath a dense cluster of them!

"Fuck..."

Tao Yu quickly took two steps back. Her body hadn't dissolved either; her hands were still attached, and everything around her was quiet, as though nothing had happened.

She broke out in a cold sweat. Shivering, she first moved far away from the showerheads, breathing rapidly as she tried to calm herself down.

After taking a moment to recover, she dazedly touched the long, narrow wound on her cheek. She warily checked every blind spot around her, but there was no one there.

The wound felt as though it had been made by a weapon such as a long blade. It was this wound that had just awakened her from the water ghost's enchantment. Who had saved her?

"What happened?"

Wang Ningshui had been checking the lockers in the changing room. When he noticed Tao Yu's footsteps had become somewhat erratic, he immediately came over, only to find her clutching her face, pale and looking as though she still hadn't recovered from a shock.

Tao Yu hurriedly pulled him out of the showers. She was about to say something when they suddenly heard the three by the pool shouting urgently.

"Don't go over there! Fang Yue! That's the pool!"

"Quick, hold him back!"

"Close your eyes and stay clearheaded!"

"Fang Yue, snap out of it! You can't jump!"

Both of them turned pale. They quickly grabbed their weapons and ran toward the voices.

By the pool, the other three team members who had come with them were struggling with one another. Two of them each had hold of one arm of a delicate-featured young man, trying to stop him from walking toward the pool.

But he remained fixated, struggling wildly to jump into the water. He seemed to have seen something he desperately wanted, his throat bobbing as he repeatedly swallowed.

Although two well-trained adults were hanging on behind him, he continued moving toward the pool one step at a time. His strength at that moment was astonishing, and the two adults could only be dragged along.

Wang Ningshui's gaze drifted to the edge of the pool, and he shrank back slightly. Taking a deep breath, he stepped forward, grabbed the young man by the hair, and yanked him back. The young man's head tipped back, his scalp and the skin of his cheeks pulled taut, but his expression showed no pain at all. Instead, he wore an entranced smile.

"I have to get over there... Let me through..."

He muttered incessantly, the corners of his mouth raised in a blissful smile. His feet seemed glued to the floor, and he put immense effort into every step. All three people pulling at him were dragged sliding toward the pool.

This was very abnormal. He shouldn't have been this strong. The young man had only joined recently and was the weakest of them physically. How could they possibly be unable to restrain him?

At that moment, Wang Ningshui seemed to see the fate that had befallen his former teammates.

Once an entranced person jumped into the water, death was certain.

"Fang Yue, you fucking idiot! Didn't you say you'd treat us seniors to a feast when this was over? What the hell are you doing now?" The man holding his left arm cursed angrily as he struggled to pull him back, his voice full of anxiety.

But Fang Yue's steps didn't slow at all.

"Captain, what do we do?" the other man asked, looking helplessly at Wang Ningshui.

As he watched the pool draw closer and closer, Wang Ningshui seemed able to smell the fishy stench of the water and sense a pair of malicious eyes in it, watching them expectantly.

Cold sweat beaded on his nose, and his fingers rested on the weapon at his waist.

"If we really can't stop him, let go," Wang Ningshui said.

Crack—