Xiaotao and I took turns breathing, managing to last this way for about half an hour before my skin started to burn, the feeling resembled being soaked naked in bleach.

Wang Yizhou must have poured a large amount of swimming pool chlorine that contained strong acidic components. The skin discomfort was secondary — what really bothered me was the burning sensation in my windpipe, probably caused by choking on water at the beginning!

The other thing I noticed was the nylon ropes about a finger’s thickness tied to the two sharp ends of the surfboard. I initially assumed that we could slowly propel the surfboard towards the edge of the swimming pool if we worked to sway it in a coordinated move. But in fact, the nylon ropes at the ends of the surfboard made this impossible. We could only turn up and down.

In such a situation, it was truly a challenge to remain calm and composed. Yet any anxiety and fear would magnify the danger of our situation infinitely. I couldn’t help but seriously consider the consequences of my death.

Would my family feel sad? Would the murderer continue to commit crimes with impunity? Would I go to the underworld after death?

In order to preserve our strength, we hardly spoke during this period. The pin-drop silence only served to worsen our fears and I was afraid Xiaotao would be affected. “Don't worry,” I comforted, hoping to distract her from any loss of confidence. “Wang Yuanchao and Song Xingchen will definitely find us. When this case is finally over, I'll go to your place and we’ll live like pigs for a few days, watching all the horror movies from the classics to the latest releases, domestic and foreign!"

Despite having said that, I couldn’t fight the growing doubt in my heart. Would they arrive in time?

Thirty seconds later, Xiaotao came up to breathe and said, "Song Yang, there’s something I have to say to you."

I froze in puzzlement, then listened quietly.

Xiaotao's voice echoed in the empty room, "I’ll be honest with you, I don't feel anything for you. I’ve only been pretending to like you this whole time. In fact, I'm just using your feelings for me to tie you to my side so that I can solve more cases and climb up the ladder. I’m sorry to say that you were deceived by my acting skills."

Hearing these words, I felt a stabbing pain in my heart that almost made me yell, but I refrained.

It suddenly dawned upon me that Xiaotao was deliberately provoking me so I would choose to live. She wanted to sacrifice herself!

When I turned to the surface, I cried, "Xiaotao, what are you talking about? Are you hoping I’ll let you drown so I can live? Don't lose faith! Believe me, we will survive!"

Thirty seconds later, Xiaotao sobbed, her voice spilling out in an incoherent mess. "Song Yang, I don't like you at all... You don't have to keep trying so hard for me... I hate you... I hate it so much!"

Xiaotao had fallen into despair but these insincere words couldn't deceive me. Her desolate cries gripped my heart like a vice.

After five minutes or more of bleak heaviness between us, Xiaotao refused to cooperate when I tried to switch sides with her. She knew I couldn’t flip the board on my own and seemed to have made up her mind to sacrifice herself.

I shook the surfboard frantically, rapping the edge with my fingers. "Don’t do this!” I begged. “Just calm down and listen to me. I’ve already thought of a way to get out of here. Please come up and breathe. I promise I’ll tell you my plan in 30 seconds!"

I was merely buying time. Right now, Xiaotao was extremely fragile. Even if it was a lie, I hoped my words could impart a bit of hope, much like the effect a mirage had on a lost person in the desert, I prayed she would have the courage to make it through.

To my utter relief, Xiaotao obediently cooperated with my movements and exchanged positions with me. Meanwhile, I was concentrating all thought on how to escape.

Truthfully, I felt that we were trapped in a hopeless predicament. But as time went by, I was struck with a flash of inspiration. It suddenly occurred to me that in the human pig case, the faceless slave once used the method of biting off his thumb to break away from his handcuffs. Naturally, doing the same was impossible in my present position but I could still break my thumb. After all, this method had been successfully employed by many criminals before me.

When I resurfaced, I said, "I have a way to free my hand, but I’ll need several attempts so please be patient. I promise we won’t die in this short period of time.”

The technique was to forcefully pull my thumb beyond the working angle of the joint. If all went well, I would be able to release my hand from the shackles. But there was another unresolved variable, that is, I wasn’t sure if there was a lock on these shackles. If so, I could try picking the lock, and right now, this was our only bet.

I gritted my teeth, jaw clenched as I pressed my thumb on the surfboard in the opposite direction of the joint, plucking up all the strength I had. Breaking my thumb was much harder than I ever imagined. The subconscious reflex of self-preservation virtually inhibited my movements.

For three minutes I tried but to no avail, until I finally hardened my resolve, snapping my thumb off in one move and tearing the skin between my thumb and index finger. As the blood spewed from my wound, an indescribable pain ravaged my nerves and my tears came streaming down uncontrollably. But in spite of the unbearable pain, I was filled with excitement and a zealous desire to live as I carefully pulled out my hand from the shackles.

I knocked on the surfboard once more, my voice coming out in ragged breaths, "Xiaotao, I can move my right hand now. Please come up and take a breath first."

"Song Yang, how did you do it?” Xiaotao asked as soon as she came up for air. “I heard a click. Did you break your thumb? I’ll do it too!"

When we exchanged places again, I said, "It's okay, it's just dislocated. I can pop the bone back in later. I'm going to take a hairpin from your head to try to unlock the shackles."

One free arm meant a quarter of my body could be moved and an improved range of vision.

While keeping my balance, I sat up and observed the design of the shackles. Unfortunately, it was a U-shaped metal loop with both ends tightly screwed to the surfboard.

The surfboard was made of durable material so it was unlikely I would have enough strength to pull out the screws with my bare hands. "Do you have anything on you that I can use to unscrew the shackles?” I asked. “It's your turn to come up and breathe."

"The murderer took all my belongings and left me with nothing," Xiaotao said in dismay.

Her reply greatly frustrated me. There was nothing worse in the world than to realize you’d reached another dead end even after fighting with all your heart and strength.

"Song Yang, is there no other way?" Xiaotao anxiously asked.

I kept my eyes closed whenever I was submerged in the water for fear that the corrosive liquid would enter my eyes. Perhaps, the effect of the chemicals had started taking a toll on my body. After soaking in the water for such a long time, I felt unwell. I thought I might as well open my eyes and examine the pool. There was nothing above that could help us escape but perhaps there might be something underwater. Who knows? Maybe the previous visitors might have dropped something.

I no longer hesitated, opening my eyes and trying to ignore the stabbing pain that felt like countless needles pricking my eyeballs. The pain almost made me choke on my own saliva but I fought back the excruciating sting and scanned the waters. Suddenly, my eyes were drawn to something.

"It's your turn to breathe!" shouted Xiaotao.

The water sloshed around as we exchanged positions again. "I’ve found a way!” I exclaimed. “There’s a water outlet below. If I can free both of my hands, I’ll be able to reach it with my height. If we drain the water, we can definitely make it till dawn."

The lure of survival motivated me to break my other thumb, and this time I succeeded very quickly.

As my upper body broke free from the shackles, the surfboard suddenly lost its balance and swung back and forth a few times. Then, I crashed into the water.

"Are you all right?" asked a worried Xiaotao.

Underwater, I grabbed my thumb and forcibly pushed it back to its original position. I was thankful for the cold water that eased much of the pain.

Then I proceeded to dive down, reaching my hands out to the bottom of the pool. In my heart, I repeatedly thanked my dear old mum for giving me my height.

The floor of the swimming pool was covered with blue ceramic tiles but the steel plate of the water outlet was a different color. With acrobat-like movements, I hooked my fingers around the edge and pulled hard. The water pressure from the entire swimming pool acted on the steel plate, heavy as lead.

I wasn’t sure how long I remained in that position until my fingernails had started to crack. My lungs felt like they were about to run out of air, my hands cramped from the force. But right then, the steel plate moved a few centimeters apart and a strong suction came from the edge, slowly forming a small whirlpool in the place where water poured in.

I was overjoyed. I had succeeded!