Several hours later, it was 8:20.
Alone in his room, Yang Yi made his next move. He got up, entered the large room with the double bed, and shifted the bed base aside. Beneath it was a circular opening that had already been cut out and concealed with a wooden cover-Xiaoji's handiwork.
Since there were no other buildings nearby, Yang Yi's little villa had been built directly over the water. All he needed to do to slip underwater was cut a hole in the floor.
He lifted the cover. The belt he wore had already activated and transformed into the Synthetic Sharkskin Swimsuit. Then he leaped in without so much as a splash.
Just after he disappeared, several red, hand-tipped tentacles reached out through the opening and restored everything in the room, including replacing the cover and shifting the bed base back.
At almost exactly the same moment.
The "nun" Su Na was wandering outside as usual, possibly on her way to church. As she walked along the water's edge, she passed a corner and vanished.
The already inconspicuous Cui Xiya disappeared as well, along with Xiaoji, who often turned up fishing in inexplicable spots where hardly anyone could be seen.
All four members of Yang Yi's group disappeared from public view.
About ten minutes later.
Yang Yi was the first to arrive underwater near the enormous goddess statue, at a depth of roughly three hundred meters. He carefully watched the area above him.
The shadows of boats drifted overhead. Together with the light shining down, they left only mottled patches of light and shadow underwater, flickering between bright and dim.
For this reason, and because of the noisy crowds above, no one was actually paying attention to the water below. Even if they looked down, their eyesight would not