Sixteenth Chapter: Drowning

The cave was cold and damp, and the ground was uneven, making it difficult to walk through.

Especially in the low-lying areas, there was still standing water, and when you stepped on it, there was a "plop" sound that echoed in the dim space.

Yu Xing, as the cameraman, was protected in the middle of the group, with A Bai and Song Quan on her sides.

The entrance to the cave was narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time. However, once everyone entered, they discovered that it was actually the opening of a gourd, and the interior was much more spacious.

Since the light couldn't get in, they took out their headlamp flashlights, tied the elastic bands around their foreheads, and freed their hands.

The cave suddenly became much brighter. Yu Xing scanned the surroundings and noticed that the cave walls were covered with dark green moss, and some sharp stones hung down from the ceiling, dripping water from their tips.

"Everyone, be on your guard! Report any unusual activity immediately." Nightmare shook her head, a drop of water landing on it, and lowered her voice.

The team members responded with "Yes," but Song Quan remained silent, holding a compass-like object in his hands and moving with great care.

"This cave is huge, and we haven't reached the end yet..." After walking for about three minutes, one of the teammates muttered to himself.

"Not only that," Song Quan said, gazing ahead, "There's another fork in the road ahead."

Yu Xing followed and approached. The road ahead split into two, one on the left and one on the right, separated only by a stone wall about the width of a fist. She wondered if they would eventually merge together or diverge completely.

"Which way should we go?" Yan asked Song Quan.

Song Quan reached out and let the compass spin aimlessly in his hand for a while. "To the left, I guess."

"Alright." Although no one else understood why Song Quan chose the left side when the compass kept spinning, that didn't stop everyone from handing him the choice.

We have to go to both sides; it's just a matter of which side to go first. Of course, we can't separate. There's only one medical camera, so the whole team has to go together. Otherwise, it will definitely give some undead an opportunity to take advantage.

Without hesitation, everyone walked into the left fork in the road. Suddenly, a cold wind blew in from the fork, making everyone shiver and momentarily lose their senses.

"I don't know why, but as soon as I came in, my heart sank to the ground," A Bai said, half-jokingly and half-seriously, carrying his first-aid kit.

Yu Xing: "Don't worry, it's probably because there are ghosts here."

A Bai: That's great, I'm not comforted at all.

This side road is noticeably different from the previous one in that it has more water.

Yu Xing had a strong sense of space. He sensed that the path went downwards, perhaps because it had rained here before, or because it had been flooded by the sea, and the water had flowed in and couldn't drain away.

Before long, the water had risen above everyone's shoes. But that wasn't the worst part. After walking for a while, the cave suddenly seemed to drop a bit, and the water appeared much deeper and more still.

"Whoever is a good swimmer, go and check out the depth." Yan seemed a little averse to water, so she turned to ask, and soon, a team member volunteered and went down to the lower part of the area.

As expected, he missed a step and sank completely, the ripples spreading far and wide. The teammate held his breath, adjusted his posture, and only his chest and above remained above the water.

"So deep!?" A Bai exclaimed in surprise. The depth of the water would severely hinder their movements, making everything inconvenient.

"Do you sense anything in the water?" Nightmare asked.

"No!" His teammate didn't dare to move. Fortunately, as he calmed down, the water returned to calm without a ripple, which proved that nothing was approaching him.

"The environment ahead isn't good. I think we shouldn't go any further and should try another route." Yan's suggestion was met with unanimous agreement, even Song Quan, who had chosen the left path, didn't object.

Seeing this, Yan said to the team member, "Come back."

The team members breathed a sigh of relief and were just about to move—

His expression suddenly turned terrified, and the next moment, a scream came from his mouth. Everyone hurriedly raised their guns, but they didn't see anything emerge from the water. They only felt that the team member seemed to be pulled down and was sinking.

"Help!" the team member yelled, "Shoot at my side! In the water!"

"Fire!" Nightmare immediately gave the order, and bullets flew into the water.

"Bang!"

The gunshot echoed through the cave, and a small ripple appeared on the water's surface. At the same time, the team members in the water stared wide-eyed, incredulously feeling the bloody hole between their eyebrows.

Yu Xing raised an eyebrow in surprise; it seemed no one had shot this teammate in the head just now.

"Holy crap!?" Nightmare hurriedly called a halt to the shooting and went over to try and pull the person out of the "deep water zone." The process went surprisingly smoothly, and the group worked together to pull back his... corpse.

A Bai looked at the teammate's head and sighed, "Shot right through the forehead, no hope."

"What happened? Was he killed by a ghost or by mistake?" Yu Xing's camera didn't capture anything in the water.

Upon hearing this, Yan laughed in anger, "Nonsense, our marksmanship isn't as bad as you think, there's definitely something causing this!"

So what exactly is it?

Why has every NPC's death so far in the simulation been caused by bullets?

Nightmare was also pondering this question, but before she could come up with a solution, her body suddenly lost its weight.

As if someone had given him a push, Nightmare stumbled forward, and ahead lay the deep water!

Not only Yan, but also Yu Xing, A Bai, and all the team members, one by one, fell into the water.

"Damn it, who pushed me!"

"Damn it, get up there!"

In the chaos, Yu Xing only had time to leave the camera where it was, preventing the expensive equipment from being submerged with him.

Then he looked up and saw a group of little devils on the shore!

Those little devils were short, no bigger than the palm of your hand, and squatted to the side with grins, some still in the posture of pushing people into the water.

Yu Xing recognized these little devils; they were also on the guns of Group One members. In other words, this was the sacrificial ability of the deducer!

He had long suspected that the person who made the move last night was someone from the ship, and among the people present now, there was only one person who was on the ship yesterday—paranormal researcher Song Quan.

Yu Xing looked to the side and saw that Song Quan had also been pushed into the water and was trying to leave the deep water area. As the saying goes, if you're going to put on an act, you have to go all the way. A look of panic appeared on Song Quan's face, as if he was really frightened.

"Help! I can't..." A Bai struggled in the water, unable to find a foothold. His body kept bobbing up and down in the water, swallowing a lot of water. Yu Xing scooped him up and helped him stand upright, letting his feet touch the bottom.

"I can't swim..." A Bai finally finished speaking, coughing painfully, and gave Yu Xing a grateful look.

Nightmare shouted, "Regardless of who pushed it, it's definitely not a good thing! Let's hurry up before we're attacked by the undead!"

However, a crisis in the water was already approaching.

Yu Xing pulled A Bai, who was clumsily moving in the water, toward the shore, when she suddenly caught a glimpse of something amiss out of the corner of her eye.