He drew back his gaze without changing expression. Good. No need to save her.
"What are you standing around for? Get up here," Mei Chengyu called to the two people in the water.
Xing Chun asked in a hollow voice, "Is this really the right time for us to get out?"
"Then stay in the water and wait to die," Mei Chengyu said.
Only then did Xing Chun and Zhongli Shan make for the shore and climb onto the statue. As they went, they asked Yu Sui, "What are you doing here? You couldn't have come at a better time! Your senior martial brother's been poisoned, and we're short-handed as it is."
"Senior Martial Brother hadn't come back for a long time, so I came to look for him. On the way, the sea eye changed, alarming Mechanism Island and the academy's Sage. I secretly followed the Mechanism Clan's ship here." Yu Sui pointed upward. "When I heard the sound of Crushed Ice, I hurried over. I found that all the fire around here had gone out, so I was able to get in."
"It went out?" Xing Chun jolted at that and, after reaching the statue, looked around.
The rings of Sea Fire that had clung to the stone walls really had vanished.
Zhongli Shan wondered, "Could this underground river put out those Sea Fires?"
Yu Sui had snuffed out the Sea Fires, but saying they'd been extinguished by icy water was more convincing and easier to understand. It would also keep anyone from getting suspicious.
Mei Chengyu climbed up last. Yu Sui's gaze stayed fixed on him, her eyes following his every move. Only when he came to stand beside her did she ask, "Senior Martial Brother, where are your clothes?"
The question left all three of them