With a splash, Zhang Tie's head broke the surface. Looking at the patch of sky above the water and the surrounding ridgelines, Zhang Tie let out a long breath. Damn it, he had finally made it out of the water.
This was a deep pool in the mountains, situated within a valley beside a river. There was no sign of human habitation nearby; dense trees grew everywhere. In the distance, a waterfall came crashing down, and water flowed through this place. Beneath the deep pool lay an underground river. It was around eight or nine in the morning. The sun had just risen, and the thin mist in the valley had yet to fully disperse.
Two small deer-like beasts were drinking at the edge of the deep pool. When they saw Zhang Tie emerge and the water rippled, they were so frightened that they hurried away.
As expected, Zhang Tie had traveled upstream beneath the water. After bursting out of that enormous underwater vortex zone, he had only circled a few times through waterways that resembled a three-dimensional maze. Because he simply could not remember the route he had taken before, he became lost and could no longer find the path by which he had descended.
Under those circumstances, traveling upstream meant drawing closer to the surface. Zhang Tie gritted his teeth and simply charged upward along one waterway.
Halfway up, that waterway merged into a vast new underground river flowing southward. Seeing that the underground river headed south, Zhang Tie was relieved. Following the current, he shot swiftly through the water like an arrow. Nearly two days later, fresh streams flowed into the underground river from above, and Zhang Tie chose to head upward again. After doing this several times, just moments ago, he had spotted a glimmer of