The scattered debris exploded outwards like hailstones, smashing the dagger from the old man's hand onto the ground. His blood followed, splattering onto the once elegant and ornate dagger, making it resemble a deadly weapon.
The hole revealed after the turtle shell was shattered was pitch black and bottomless. The tunnel descended at a steep angle, emanating a chilling cold.
Zhang Qiling stared fixedly into the darkness.
The sun had risen high by then, its brilliant light casting shadows behind him, making him appear as a boundary dividing light and darkness.
"Clan Leader, how could you—"
"Silence." Zhang Qiling turned slowly, his gaze still sharp despite the sunlight, cutting off the old man's words.
...This door indeed required a special bloodline to activate. Zhang Qiling could discern its intricate mechanism.
But it certainly didn't need so much blood.
Zhang Qiling didn't know if they were truly ignorant or harbored ulterior motives, but regardless, their actions disgusted him.
He said no more and walked straight past a group of kneeling figures into the darkness.
Zhang Haike's emotions were complex; he was unsure whether he was shocked by the desecration of the sacred land or by this act of defiance against tradition.
This was the Clan Leader.
He felt as though he had discovered a new path.
Zhang Haike hastily acknowledged the old man with a perfunctory nod and followed him into the depths of the darkness.
—
The tunnel was treacherous. Zhang Haike cautiously explored downwards, but there was nothing but endless blackness, not even a shadow of Zhang Qiling.
...Good heavens, he really wasn't planning on using a map.
Muttering to himself, he encountered a sudden drop ahead. Zhang Haike gauged the height and leaped down, bracing himself with one hand.
The drop wasn't insignificant. Despite adjusting his posture, Zhang Haike felt a sharp pull at his wound as he landed, letting out a soft "hiss."
"Why did you agree?"
At that moment, a sound suddenly reached his ears. In the Zhang family's sacred land, where countless had perished, someone was speaking. Zhang Haike nearly jumped out of his skin. Upon closer inspection, he realized it was the long-absent Zhang Qiling.
Following the sound, he looked to the side. Indeed, a small Zhang, about that size, slowly emerged from the darkness, looking at him with a blank expression. Noticing his pale face, the young Zhang tilted his head slightly in confusion.
After a moment's thought, Zhang Qiling seemed to understand something.
"You're afraid of the dark."
Zhang Haike: ...Please, Ancestor, don't state things you're unsure of as facts. Could you at least add a question mark so I have room to deny it?!
"The Clan Leader is correct, I am afraid of the dark," Zhang Haike managed, suppressing his reaction and forcing a respectful smile.
Zhang Qiling nodded, indicating he understood. "I didn't bring a light."
Zhang Haike: ...You actually believe that?
He felt a strange weariness and chose to answer Zhang Qiling's first question:
"The Zhang family's ancestral teachings are deeply ingrained in my heart. I am willing to charge into battle for the Clan Leader."
This was, of course, a fabrication. Zhang Haike wasn't so brainwashed as to willingly charge into this sacred land with its terrifyingly high mortality rate for such a nonsensical reason.
...He just suddenly felt that if he didn't come, Zhang Qiling wouldn't find a reliable person.
It was a fleeting thought, but somehow it dictated his actions at that moment, making him act as "selflessly" as the mentally unstable members of the inner clan.
When Zhang Haike accepted the command, he also saw the old man's relieved expression, as if he were saying "a promising youth." Honestly, that expression could make Zhang Haike feel disgusted for years.
Regardless of Zhang Haike's inner thoughts, the words he spoke were so perfunctory that even Wu Tianzhen would have recognized it.
Zhang Qiling remained noncommittal about Zhang Haike's statement. He simply nodded again, indicating he understood, and turned to continue his exploration.
Zhang Haike unfolded the map and followed, walking up to Zhang Qiling and pulling a flashlight from the (old man's prepared bag) to illuminate the dark space ahead.
Without light, exploration was difficult.
But the moment the flashlight flickered on, Zhang Haike saw Zhang Qiling glance at him, a hint of "as expected" in his clear eyes.
Zhang Haike opened his mouth but said nothing, yet he knew that his fear of the dark had likely taken root in Zhang Qiling's mind.
...Thinking on the bright side, at least Zhang Qiling wasn't the type to blab secrets everywhere. He didn't seem to talk much, so his secret would probably remain safe.
Zhang Haike: No, this isn't my secret in the first place.
Unaware of Zhang Haike's inner turmoil, Zhang Qiling was silently contemplating the so-called token.
Those people said the token was a hexagonal bronze bell, as large as a fist, possessing the power to control other bronze bells—a mother bell that only the Zhang family leader could possess.
Upon hearing the words "bronze bell," fragments flashed through Zhang Qiling's mind again. Although the fragments vanished as quickly as they appeared, the sense of caution remained.
...The bronze bells were very dangerous.
They could cause hallucinations.
Just then, Zhang Haike, after studying the map for a long time, spoke softly, "Clan Leader, the formal entrance should be not far ahead."
Zhang Qiling responded with a hum.
The two walked tens of meters forward, and a colossal beast's head suddenly appeared in the beam of light!
Its scales were distinct, its whiskers and mane seemed to dance, and its body shimmered with a faint, translucent black, like jade.
It was an enormous, obsidian qilin!
The qilin's body clung to the stone wall, its head bowed, its mouth agape, revealing rows of menacing teeth. The gaping maw was precisely the entrance.
Zhang Qiling looked up and met the lifelike qilin's gaze, paused for a moment, and walked directly into it.
His back disappeared into the qilin's mouth, as if being swallowed whole.