Chapter 508: Incomparable (15)
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Gu Nianzhi was shocked to see the violet electric sparks s.h.i.+mmering on the sea’s surface above her, and it left her speechless for a long time. Swimming a few circles in the water, she wanted to struggle out of Huo Shaoheng’s grip to see what was happening above them. However, Huo Shaoheng gripped her firmly by the arm to prevent her from leaving his side. Gu Nianzhi knew she couldn’t hide behind Huo Shaoheng at a time like this, or all three of them would die. Lifting her hand, Gu Nianzhi signalled in sign language to Huo Shaoheng, “I’ll go up to see what’s going on. I already shot all the solar panels, so there is no way of generating power. Where did these violet electric arcs come from?”
Huo Shaoheng squeezed her hand and quietly looked at her through the diving mask for a while as he wrote on her palm stroke by stroke, “…The circuitry is not that simple here. There is no way there’s only one circuit system.”
Gu Nianzhi instantly understood. Even her WiFi at home had an auxiliary backup power supply, so how could a ma.s.sive setup like this not have one? The auxiliary power must’ve been activated. Now she had even more reason not to back down. Since she came down to the blue hole, she must rescue the two men. Gu Nianzhi squeezed Huo Shaoheng’s hand back and frowned at Zhao Liangze, who was hoisted over Huo Shaoheng’s shoulder. “Brother Ze, have you heard enough?”
Huo Shaoheng froze and instinctively glanced at Zhao Liangze, because he a.s.sumed he woke up. Gu Nianzhi took the opportunity to wrench her hand free and swam like a fish to escape Huo Shaoheng’s clutches. She quickly swam up to the surface.
She had dared to trick him. She was getting bolder by the day… Jerking his head up violently, Huo Shaoheng followed her while carrying Zhao Liangze. The seawater was abnormally resistant, and he also had to carry another person, so despite Huo Shaoheng’s excellent swimming skills, he couldn’t catch up to Gu Nianzhi.
…
Gu Nianzhi quickly swam near the blue hole’s surface and could sense that the violet electric arcs were bright enough to blind through the thick diving goggles. Gritting her teeth and wrapping her arms around her head, she swiftly propelled her legs against the sea water to break the surface.
Zap–!
The electric arcs crackled loudly on the surface, and Gu Nianzhi once again felt like she was crawling through a hill of needles. Countless tiny needles as fine as cow’s hair p.r.i.c.ked her body. Though she didn’t bleed, the pain was trapped in the marrow of her bones and was enough to suffocate her. However, Gu Nianzhi didn’t pa.s.s out, and the pain actually sparked her courage. Glaring at the violet electric arcs in front of her, she clenched her fists and thought, Then let’s try it out! We’ll see what’s more powerful, the arcs or me!
Closing her eyes, she rushed up to the surface once again. As soon as her head popped up from the water, a giant line of violet electric arcs zapped her, accompanied by the sound of thunder clapping! Not daring to open her eyes, Gu Nianzhi endured the searing pain and quickly dove back down into the water. Would the shocks fry the hair off her head, making her bald? As anxious as Gu Nianzhi was to rescue them, she couldn’t help worrying about her appearance… If she could bear the pain, how could she not bear the prospect of baldness!?
Gu Nianzhi reopened her eyes in the water and looked up at the violet electric arcs on the surface for a while before rus.h.i.+ng up once again. This time, she endured longer than the first time, but it still was painful to the point that even her joints were on fire. Luckily, she had a very high pain tolerance, because normal people would have either pa.s.sed out from the shock or died from it. Gu Nianzhi was actually able to break surface twice, and although she couldn’t escape the electric arcs on the surface, she was much more impressive than a normal person.
…
The people on both He Zhichu’s and Gu Yanran’s yachts looked at the brilliant violet electric arcs on the sea’s surface. They had all closed their eyes regretfully to give Gu Nianzhi a moment of silence when they first witnessed her burst up from the surface and have her head fried by the violet electric arcs. They thought she was doomed without a doubt, so they were completely floored the second time they saw Gu Nianzhi break the surface and get beaten down by the violet electric arcs once again. There had been no one who could escape the electric arcs alive! But they just saw someone survive after getting shocked by the violet electric arcs?! Interest grew, and everyone took out binoculars to watch Gu Nianzhi emerge over and over again, only to be forced back down into the water by the shocks.
…
He Zhichu regained consciousness and walked to the bow of the yacht solemnly. He accepted binoculars from someone to watch Gu Nianzhi persistently battle with the sea of violet electric arcs. The corners of his mouth couldn’t help twitching. This child had always been so stubborn. When she first arrived at his side at the age of six, she loved playing in the small garden. One time someone put a small Taihu stone on the garden path she frequented because it melded with the natural landscape and was an interesting addition to the path. He Zhichu’s father also loved Taihu stones, so everyone agreed it was nice. However, they didn’t consider that Gu Nianzi frequently went on the path alone, while He Zhichu’s father didn’t go there often. Gu Nianzhi didn’t like the stone, so she asked for the obstacle to be moved away. He Zhichu didn’t take notice at the time and only thought it was a stone, so there was no need to be so serious about it. But Gu Nianzhi was extremely stubborn. She secretly woke up at night when there was no one to help her move it. She would run to the garden and move the rock, throwing it into the gra.s.s before happily going back to bed.
That night, a curious He Zhichu followed the tiny Gu Nianzhi to watch her slyly evade the guard, crawl across the hallway, avoid the lights, and crouch her small body as she stole to the garden path. With heavy grunts and mustering all her strength, she finally moved the small Taihu stone and threw it away… Just like now, she had determined the violet electric arcs to be her obstacle, so she would stop at nothing to overcome it, even if it meant beating herself b.l.o.o.d.y. He Zhichu ma.s.saged his temples, his indifferent eyes softening. He ordered someone to take a megaphone to shout at the blue hole’s waters, “…Don’t go upwards! Go from the bottom! It’s easier!”
The person relaying the message didn’t quite understand what it meant, but He Zhichu knew Gu Nianzhi would understand. When Gu Nianzhi emerged once again and was shocked by the violet electric arcs to the point that even her marrow was burning, she heard the message called out from He Zhichi’s side. As Gu Nianzhi sank back down into the water, Huo Shaoheng finally caught up to her and grabbed her to prevent her from hurting herself on the surface again.
Gu Nianzhi pried off Huo Shaoheng’s hand before gesturing to him, “Huo Shao, I also want to save myself. I don’t want to die here.”
Huo Shaoheng hugged her before letting go and using sign language to say, “Wait for me here. I’ll take him out first and come back for you.”
Gu Nianzi pulled him back and pointed to the violet electric arcs above. She solemnly wrote in his palm, “Don’t go. If you pa.s.s out, I can’t carry both of you. I’d let go of Brother Ze for sure. Huo Shao, do you want to see Brother Ze die like that?”
Huo Shaoheng remained silent as he stared at her hard with emotion. She had truly grown up by his side, so she knew him all too well. He certainly wouldn’t allow Zhao Liangze to die, but he also didn’t want to see Gu Nianzi perish. If it was possible, he would rather die for the two of them.
“I’ll be fine, Huo Shao.” Gu Nianzhi c.o.c.ked her head with a giggle, stretching her arms to swim in a circle. “See, I’m fine. I’m really fine, I won’t die. These shocks are nothing to me. I was just thinking about how to get you and Brother Ze out of here. The shocks don’t affect me, but you guys are different. I’m worried the voltage is too high, and you guys won’t be able to endure it.”
Huo Shaoheng knew Gu Nianzhi had a special body const.i.tution and had personally witnessed Gu Nianzhi break the surface of violet electric arcs several times, yet she was still able to bounce around. He began to trust her words but couldn’t help feeling pained. Gu Nianzhi grew up under his care, and other than tripping during a long distance run, she had never suffered such torture.
“We’ll try again, but this time instead of going from the surface, we’ll go from the bottom.” Gu Nianzhi pointed in the opposite direction. “Those are normal waters over there. Let’s go.”
“There are also electric fences over there. We tried earlier.” Huo Shaoheng shook his head with a wry smile and gently swung Gu Nianzhi’s hand in the water. “Here, let me carry you both and break the surface.” Huo Shaoheng planned to use his body as a s.h.i.+eld to deliver Gu Nianzhi and Zhao Liangze out of the electric fence on the blue hole’s side. If they couldn’t go from the surface, then they could only force their way through the electric fence they couldn’t see.
“No–!” Gu Nianzhi quickly shook her head, causing a swirl of bubbles. “Let me go try first. Maybe it’ll be different than before?” Wrenching herself out of his grasp, she swam over horizontally.
She quickly arrived where the blue hole’s waters and the normal ocean intersected. It was only a shallow distance of less than three meters below the surface, because underneath was all limestone that couldn’t be moved, even if it was dug out. Gu Nianzhi had to pa.s.s a vertical area of sea water less than three meters deep in order to leave the electric fence in the blue hole’s waters and return to the normal ocean. Huo Shaoheng watched her nervously. He and Zhao Liangze had tried there earlier, too, but had both pa.s.sed out for a few seconds from the shock. Losing consciousness in the ocean could be fatal. He immediately prepared himself to rush over to save her as soon as she pa.s.sed out.
…
Gu Nianzhi swam above the limestone. The seawater’s pressure at a three-meter depth was not as high. Her body instantly relaxed. Reaching out, she probed for the invisible electric fence in front of her.
Zap…!
A searing pain traveled from her fingertips and wrenched at her heart, but it was much weaker than the violet electric arcs on the surface. Gu Nianzhi’s mind spun into gear. Even she couldn’t withstand the violet electric arcs on the surface and had been beaten down into the water over and over again. However, the voltage here was much lower, so was the auxiliary power supply only buffing the strength of the violet electric arcs on the surface? Was it true that the entire electric fence had been inevitably weakened by her? Hope rose in Gu Nianzhi’s heart as she shut her eyes, crossed her arms around her chest, and propleed her legs forward to surge towards the unseen electric fence in front of her! Electric shock! The pain rattled her bones, but this time, she successfully escaped!