Chapter 179 The Water Trap
At first, only two or three drops fell.
Then it became a torrent.
Water poured down in heavy streams, gushing into the chamber as though it meant to drown me alive.
I froze on the spot.
"...What the hell?! This trick again?!"
The system calmly added,
"Host, please remain calm. You have survived in deeper water before."
"Lian saved me that time!"
The system fell silent.
Leaving only me and the ever-rising water staring each other down.
The water rose faster and faster.
I couldn't help shouting,
"Hey! Is this supposed to drown me?! System! Say something!"
The system finally answered at its usual leisurely pace.
"Host, your current situation is indeed dangerous."
No kidding!
Splashing through the rising water, I yelled,
"Then hurry up and think of something!"
The system sounded as though it were flipping through reference materials.
"Host, please wait. I am currently searching—"
By then, the water had already reached my ankles.
I had no patience for its painfully slow response. I began feeling frantically along every wall.
"Search faster! I don't want to die in such a pathetic way!"
Just as I was slapping the walls in desperation, trying to find an exit—
My hand suddenly pressed against something with a sharp click.
The rushing water stopped instantly.
The entire dungeon trembled with a deep rumble.
I froze.
The system said calmly,
"Congratulations, Host. You have discovered the mechanism."
"...You really forced me into becoming a genius."
Furious, I shouted,
"Who the hell was trying to drown me?! This is murder! Attempted murder!"
The system answered coldly,
"Host, please remain calm. I have detected no human presence near the opening."
I blinked.
"No one? Then who released the water? A ghost?"
The system replied lightly,
"Unknown."
"That's practically the same as saying nothing!"
Ghost or not, the fact that the water had stopped meant...
Perhaps it really had been a mechanism.
I wiped the water from my face and said bitterly,
"Don't tell me I actually activated the mechanism by accident? Was it because my heartfelt prayers finally moved the heavens?"
Then I thought about my utterly miserable life.
"No... impossible. If Heaven really cared about me, I wouldn't still be stuck playing the useless male lead."
Standing waist-deep in the water, I continued fumbling around while muttering,
"System, help me out! The water's so deep now I can't even feel the bottom. How am I supposed to escape?"
The water had already reached my waist, making every movement painfully sluggish.
My foot slipped, and I nearly fell flat on my face.
The system suddenly let out what sounded almost like a sigh.
"Actually, before the water began pouring in, I had already detected signs that this room had been flooded before."
I exploded.
"And you didn't think to mention that earlier?! At the very least I could've taken my shoes off!"
Then I froze.
"Wait... you said this room has flooded before?"
"Then there has to be a drain."
"There's no way they'd leave this room underwater all year. Besides, when I woke up, I didn't smell any stagnant water. That means it must have drained away before."
For once, the system sounded almost impressed.
"Host, you have indeed become smarter."
I lifted my chin proudly.
"That's what comes from experience."
An idea suddenly struck me.
If that really had been a mechanism...
I immediately felt around the same spot and slapped it again.
Click.
Sure enough—
The water obeyed as though responding to an order.
It drained away at astonishing speed.
Within moments, the entire chamber was dry.
If not for the fact that half my body was still soaked and numb, I would've thought the whole ordeal had been a hallucination.
"...Well."
"This place is more sophisticated than I expected."
As I muttered to myself, I noticed an almost invisible sliver of light on the opposite wall.
My heart skipped.
Wading across the damp floor, I reached out to touch it.
"Huh?"
"There's a door here!"
I immediately pushed with all my strength.
The hidden stone door opened with a deep, grinding creak.
Outside—
There wasn't a single puddle.
The floor was cleaner than my face.
Yet somewhere in the distance I could still hear running water.
The sound rose and fell rhythmically, almost like breathing, though it wasn't nearby.
Beyond the doorway stretched a winding underground passage.
It disappeared into darkness.
I asked the system,
"Left or right? This time I swear I'll listen to you."
The system replied coldly,
"All hints have been exhausted. The rewards contained within that remaining forty-five percent probability have already been borrowed in advance."
"From this point onward, all decisions must be made by the Host."
I spat on the ground.
"You're no different from someone who borrows money and then disappears."
Resigned to my fate, I wrung out my half-soaked sleeves and walked a few steps to the left.
No wind.
No light.
No movement.
I turned around and tried the passage on the right.
The same.
Only the sound of rushing water remained, neither near nor far, as though deliberately teasing me.
I thought for a long moment before inspiration suddenly struck.
"If the water isn't on the left... and it isn't on the right..."
Without warning, I dropped to my knees.
Pressing my ear tightly against the stone floor, I listened.
"The water..."
"It's underneath us?!"
The vibration beneath the floor was several times stronger than before.
The system commented mildly,
"Host, you appear to have reached that conclusion rather quickly."
I slapped the floor.
"Whether I'm right or not, I'm assuming there's an underground river!"
The system remained silent for two full beats, apparently deciding not to discourage me.
Following the vibrations, I searched deeper into the tunnel until I finally found a slightly loose stone.
Joy surged through me.
"A mechanism!"
"It has to be!"
I pressed it.
Nothing happened.
"..."
The system replied calmly,
"Host, that is merely an ordinary brick."
I knew it wouldn't be that easy.
Still unwilling to give up, I continued deeper into the passage.
The farther I went, the damper it became.
Moss covered the walls.
Every now and then I stepped on broken fragments scattered across the ground.
For all I knew, they might have been bones.
Each crunch beneath my feet made me nearly jump out of my skin.
Eventually, the tunnel divided into two even narrower branches, stretching outward like the legs of a spider.
I asked the system,
"Any hints left? Even one sentence would do."
The system answered,
"No hints remain."
"But I can offer you a blessing."
I blinked.
"A blessing?"
"Good luck, Host."
"..."
Left with no better option, I forced myself into the passage on the right.
It grew narrower and narrower until my shoulders nearly scraped both walls.
A faint fragrance drifted through the air.
Not incense.
It smelled...
Like damp grass.
Before I could think about it further, the ground suddenly disappeared beneath my feet.
"Whoa—AHHHHHH!"
I tumbled head over heels down a steep slope.
After rolling several dozen feet, I finally slammed into the bottom, nearly biting my tongue in half.
Groaning in pain, I struggled to my feet.
Then I looked up.
Before me stood an enormous stone gate.
Its surface was carved with intricate, mysterious patterns.
Even more alarming—
Voices came from the other side.
One of them asked quietly,
"Is he dead yet?"
Another voice answered impatiently,
"Hopefully. It'll save us the trouble."
My heart nearly stopped.
Lian!
Hua!
Mu Cangli!
Hua Xiang...
Had they all been captured?
I pressed myself tightly against the damp stone wall, desperately trying to hear more.
But fate refused to grant me even that small mercy.
Without warning, a violent current burst from somewhere in the darkness.
I didn't even have time to cry out.
Splash!
The torrent swept me away.
Freezing water flooded my mouth and nose.
I kicked and struggled wildly, but the current was unstoppable.
It felt as though someone had tipped me out of an enormous jar.
I spun helplessly through the rushing water, unable to tell up from down or how long I remained submerged.
Suddenly—
A flash of light appeared overhead.
With a tremendous splash, I burst through the surface and gasped desperately for air.
Coughing violently, I wiped the water from my face.
"Huh?"
"Why am I in a river?"
Indeed, I had never found my way out through the underground passage.
Instead, the current had simply carried me out—
Straight into another body of water.
Fortunately, the river wasn't very deep.
After splashing around cautiously, I finally found footing.
The water reached exactly to my chin.
Another inch higher, and I might truly have been on my way to the Western Paradise.
Just as I was about to quietly climb ashore, laughter drifted toward me.
My heart sank even further.
Several tiny figures appeared on the distant hillside.
People.
Friend or foe—I had no idea.
In a panic, I grabbed handfuls of waterweed and threw them over my head.
I figured I looked more or less like those drowned assassins we'd encountered before.
Unfortunately, I didn't have a hollow reed to breathe through.
All I could do was crouch low in the water, leaving only my nostrils above the surface.
Like a river loach waiting to be caught.