Lian didn’t answer right away.

  He crouched down, let his fingertips skim the surface of the water, and only after a long pause said slowly,

  “Rather than saying the water ‘poured out,’ it’s more accurate to say it’s connected to this pillar. Look—this water moves like it’s alive, yet it never spills over, never rises, never leaks. That only means one thing: it has somewhere to go. And since there’s nothing underneath us… the only place left is the pillar the water is touching.”

  I stared at him with my mouth hanging open. In my head, only the words “space,” “flow,” and “pillar” were bouncing around like loose marbles. After wrestling with them for a good while, I squeezed out, “So… is it that I’m too dumb, or are you two just talking in Daoist riddles?”

  Hua smacked my head with his folding fan—smacked, like a cartoon villain—while grinning. “You can worship our Sect Master all you want, but you also need the brains to understand what he’s saying.”

  “Huh?” My confusion deepened.

  Lian finally took pity on me and explained, “I mean we might be able to follow the water upward through this pillar.”

  “HUH?!” I almost choked on my own spit. “You—you’re saying follow the water—up? That’s not swimming upstream—that’s swimming against heaven! I’m just a mortal body! I’ll drown before I even get halfway!”

  But Hua wasn’t laughing. His expression sharpened as he dipped a hand into the water. The moment his fingertips touched it, he yanked his hand back. “Cold. Not like anything natural.”

  That scared me enough to hop two steps back. “You two aren’t the least bit worried something’s gonna pop up—like, say, a water ghost dragging us straight to the underworld?!”

  The system chimed in with its usual deadpan.

  [Relax. There won’t be water ghosts. At most, it’ll remind you to hold your breath so you don’t drown.]

  “…Huh?” My face twitched. “Should I be thanking you for that?”

  Lian raised his head and glanced at me. “There’s no other path here. If this is truly the way out, we have no choice but to try.”

  I froze. “W-wait. You’re not saying—”

  Hua snapped his fan shut. “Correct. Among the three of us, you’re the only one who complained the coffin was too cramped. Perfect time—here’s a giant water basin just for you.”

  “I OBJECT!” I backed up—

  and my heel slipped.

  Splash.

  I really fell in.

  Cold water slapped me in the face. I thrashed wildly. “Help—help—help—I’m drowning—I’m seriously—!”

  After flailing for a while, something odd struck me.

  Wait. I wasn’t drowning. Not even coughing. I could… actually talk?

  “What the—this water is breathable?!” I sputtered. I looked up just in time to see Lian drift silently down, as graceful as a celestial being. His long hair spread around him in the water like blooming lotus petals.

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  A second splash followed. Hua jumped in, still holding his folding fan with one hand and giving me a playful salute with the other. “Congratulations, Gong, for being our test subject.”

  “Shut up—ugh!” I paddled furiously toward him, ready to smack him—

  Then my body suddenly lifted.

  Like someone grabbed my collar, I shot upward, dragged along by the current. “HEY—HEY—HEY?! I didn’t swim! Who’s pulling me?!”

  Hua floated beside me, leisurely riding the current. “You always said you can’t swim. Who knew you were actually so gifted the water itself would carry you?”

  “This is NOT ‘gifted’!” I yelled. “This water is offering me up like a tribute!”

  Lian stayed composed, scanning the swirling blue currents around us. “Don’t struggle. It moves only in one direction. We follow it.”

  “Follow—?!”

  Before I could finish, the current spun me like a sock in a washing machine. I nearly collided face-first into Lian and had to jerk my head aside. “Follow nothing! I’m upside down! My life is flashing before my eyes!”

  The current grew stronger. The ghostly blue flames around us were sucked upward into streaks of light, like reverse-falling shooting stars.

  Then something yanked me forward—hard. Like a plunger sucking at my entire body.

  “HEYHEYHEYHEY—?!”

  My breath nearly left me as everything blurred—

  And suddenly we were sucked into the hanging stone pillar.

  The pillar was hollow. The water became a narrow, glowing tunnel dragging us upward. The stone walls pulsed with faint, eerie light, like we were inside an upside-down well.

  I wrapped my arms over my head, getting tossed around like laundry. “No no no—if this is really the exit, are we gonna get shot out like human dumplings?!”

  The system added helpfully,

  [Don’t worry. If anyone gets shot out first, it’ll be you.]

  “EXCUSE ME?!” I nearly drowned from pure rage.

  The rumbling grew louder, echoing through the entire pillar. Just as I thought I would be churned into salted fish—

  The current slackened.

  And then spat us out like unwanted leftovers.

  I flew through pitch-black space, couldn’t even scream, and fell straight into a freezing pool of water with a massive splash.

  “Cough—cough—am I—am I alive?!” I flailed toward the edge, hair plastered to my face.

  Hua emerged from the water with infuriating calm, fan still in hand. “Alive.”

  Lian was already standing at the pool’s edge, his long hair soaked and clinging to his back, his expression even colder than the water. “We’re above.”

  His gaze fixed on something in the darkness. “Look.”

  I followed his line of sight—

  And my scalp almost detonated.

  Rows and rows of human shapes stood in the underground hall ahead of us, packed together like they’d been waiting for us to arrive.

  “HEYHEYHEY—no way—this time they’re ACTUALLY going to resurrect, right?!”

  We scrambled onto a stone platform, dripping and miserable.

  Lian narrowed his eyes. “Don’t panic.”

  Hua flicked open his fan again, though there was tension in his voice. “Let’s look closer.”

  Once we got near enough, I realized—

  They were statues.

  Stone statues. But carved with creepy, lifelike precision. Every face was different: some grinning, some weeping, some snarling in rage, some frozen in terror, some soft and lovesick, some twisted with disgust, and one… well, that one was downright indecent, eyebrows practically spelling out “lust.”

  I counted them. Seven expressions.

  “Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, love, loathing, desire—That’s the Seven Emotions from the Book of Rites!”

  The system chimed in dryly,

  [Correct. Unfortunately, no reward.]

  “Oh screw you,” I snapped. “Ever since we stepped into this tomb—first stone giants with axes, then going up and down like crazed dungeon crawlers, dodging traps, nearly getting skewered by a coffin—and now more stone statues?! How much did this tomb owner love weird nonsense?!”

  Hua arched a brow. “Want me to fetch you another statue to cry on?”

  “Get lost!” I glared at him. “If you hadn’t scared me into falling into that water, I’d already be sunbathing and drinking on the surface!”

  Hua’s smile deepened. “My, sounds like you’re blaming me for your misfortune.”

  “Who else would I blame?!” I shot back, then whirled toward Lian. “And you! If you’d stopped him, would I have fallen?!”

  Lian lifted his gaze, expression cool. “You were the one who insisted on getting in the coffin first.”

  “I—! That was because I was worried about you!” I spluttered, hands on my hips. “And look how that turned out—both of you are fine, and I almost drowned! Completely unfair!”

  Hua chuckled. “Dear Gong, nothing in life is fair. You chose to follow us. Naturally, you accept the risk.”

  That stung more than I expected. “Oh wow, listen to you. Acting like you’re the boss of me now?!”

  And only after I finished yelling did it hit me—

  Why was I losing my temper so fast?

  When did my patience become this short-fused?