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墨書 Inktalez
As I approached the Copper Door, a shadow suddenly flashed by me. I focused my gaze and saw that Cold Bench had already jumped down.
My heart tightened, and I instinctively reached out to grab him, but he moved with such speed and agility that by the time I realized it was him, he was already two meters away, beyond my reach.
At that moment, everyone gathered around, watching as Cold Bench's expressionless face sank deeper into the Quicksand. Gradually, the lower half of his body was buried, yet his movements did not cease. No one knew how far he was from the critical point.
The passageway fell silent, with only the unsettling sound of the Quicksand swallowing its prey, sending chills down our spines.
Cold Bench's eyes were dark as ashes, wearing an expression of impending death, as if he had no fear of dying at all. Instead, he appeared calm, indifferent, and unconcerned... Is there really someone in this world who is not afraid of death?
Surely everyone fears death! Once you're dead, there's no turning back—wait a minute... could it be that he is seeking death?!
I suddenly shivered and quickly pulled a Safety Rope from my backpack, tossing one end to Cold Bench. "Grab this! We'll pull you up!"
For the first time, a ripple appeared in his lifeless eyes. He looked at me and said, "Don't worry, I'm not seeking death." With a glance toward the Quicksand Sea, he added, "The sinking force has changed."
I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. Deep down, I still considered Cold Bench one of us. Seeing him in danger triggered an instinctive urge to save him. Yet his actions were so unpredictable that I hoped his "betrayal" had some hidden meaning behind it; that would ease my mind a little.
After about five or six seconds, the Quicksand gradually stopped pulling toward Cold Bench; his body truly came to a halt. At this point, the reddish-brown Quicksand had reached his chest, just seven or eight centimeters from his shoulders. His arms were raised and resting on top of the Quicksand but hadn’t fully settled in; there were still a few centimeters of space left. This way, his arms could move freely within the Quicksand.
Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief as Cold Bench cautiously tried to shift his shoulder backward. The moment he moved, the surface layer of Quicksand surged toward him. He immediately halted his movement; once the Quicksand settled from that wave, he slowly shifted his other shoulder back. Taking advantage of the gap created by the displaced Quicksand, he quickly adjusted his position and managed to move back about three centimeters.
Old Qiao stroked his beard, nodding in satisfaction as he explained, "It's done! The average density of an adult human body is 1 gram per milliliter, and the density of this Quicksand should be greater than that value. So as long as you don't struggle violently, you won't sink. But you must be cautious; if your body experiences sudden movements, you could be swallowed whole at any moment."
The junior brother asked, "If I lie flat on top, will it be easier to float?"
Liuzai unloaded his backpack, hanging it on his arm while responding, "Curious? If you're curious, give it a try!" With that, he jumped into the Quicksand Sea with a splash.
Third Granduncle Master, the old fox, couldn't wait any longer and followed closely behind Liuzai, landing smoothly in front of him with far less noise than Liuzai.
The junior brother huffed defiantly, "Hmph! I'll try it too; who’s afraid?" Just then, he saw A Chen preparing to jump in and grabbed him. "Want to go together?" A Chen smiled and waved his hand dismissively. "No thanks, I want to live a few more years." "Coward!" the junior brother rolled his eyes.
After A Chen went in, it was my turn—A Li. I also declined the junior brother's invitation.
Once I entered, I realized that this "sea of sand" was even more exhausting than swimming through oil! The thick sand squeezed me like a stuffed bun; breathing was impossible, and even keeping my heart beating normally was a challenge! My body felt utterly incapacitated; any movement was out of the question. If I wanted to shift my shoulders back like Cold Bench did, it would take at least ten to twenty times more effort than swimming underwater. No wonder Liuzai had stopped bickering with the junior brother after jumping in—who had any energy left for that?
And Cold Bench had somehow managed to not even gasp for air earlier; he still had the energy to chat with us. I couldn't fathom how he did it… Suddenly, I remembered that during his second shoulder movement, he seemed to have taken a breath. Could it be that he treated this place like a swimming pool and held his breath while "floating"?
Thinking about it, I decided to give it a try. As I shifted my shoulders back and prepared for the surface Quicksand to pour down over me, I took a breath. Although my body was still being compressed painfully, my movement speed noticeably increased.
Old Qiao was rich in theoretical knowledge but lacked practical experience. He hesitated above, gripping the doorframe tightly. He lowered one foot down; as soon as it got stuck in the Quicksand, he immediately pulled it back up. This back-and-forth happened several times, causing the junior brother behind him to fuss incessantly. It was clear he wanted to kick Old Qiao down himself. Old Qiao remained patient, saying repeatedly, "It's fine; it's fine..."
Just when Old Qiao finally resolved to jump down, the junior brother suddenly grabbed him. "Wait! We all went down; how do we get back up later?"
Everyone froze at this question; none of us had considered it before—if we were all buried in sand without any external help, there was no way we could climb out by ourselves! Those who swam quickly had already moved four or five meters away; there was no turning back now.
Liuzi immediately relied on sheer strength, trying to pull himself up. Old Qiao quickly shouted, "Don't move! The harder you pull, the faster you'll sink. You might even drown!"
Liuzi instantly lost his momentum, but that last effort had already caused him to sink a few more centimeters. The quicksand was now almost level with his armpits. He strained to stretch his neck upward, taking deep breaths in and out, his round face turning red from the effort. Breathing had become extremely difficult for him.
A Chen, relying on the Turtle Breathing Technique, was the one who could hold his breath the longest among us. He finally took his first breath and said as steadily as he could, "How about this: we let the lightest person go out first, and the rest of us form a human bridge in the quicksand, allowing that person to step on our shoulders... to get over there for help."
One of the disciples immediately countered, "But how far is the quicksand layer? What if we don't have enough people to reach?"
A Chen seized the opportunity to take another breath, clearly struggling more than before. "Well... we'll only know if we try. Master Zhao is closest to that end; we can let him swim over first to take a look." He slowly turned his head to look at Cold Bench, seeking his opinion.
Everyone followed his gaze, but after looking around, no one could find him. Where had Cold Bench gone?!
At that moment, Liuzi suddenly shouted hoarsely, "Damn it! My master... my master is also missing!"
My heart sank as I immediately thought of the flattened head not far ahead. Could it be that Cold Bench and Third Granduncle Master... had already started a massacre?
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