The spiral staircase was long, and the two descended cautiously, the flashlight beam cast down through the central opening revealing only darkness.
After a long while, Zhang Haike keenly caught the sound of rippling water.
The spiral staircase had not ended; it extended directly into the deep, murky pool at the bottom, as if the path lay within the water itself.
Zhang Qiling stopped, looking around.
Where the flashlight beam could reach, the water surface was calm and deathly still, like a piece of giant ink jade.
"Clan Leader, this—"
Before Zhang Haike's words had even traveled far, with a "plop," Zhang Qiling had already jumped into the water.
His movements were decisive and swift, as if Zhang Haike's last sentence had been a switch.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Haike sadly realized he was becoming somewhat accustomed to this, so he sighed, tightened his bandages, and followed him in.
The water was pitch black inside, making it impossible to see one's hand in front of one's face. Zhang Qiling swam for a while before finally having a "conscientious realization" and stopping to wait for Zhang Haike behind him.
...Actually, he hadn't intended to wait. The main reason was that it was too dark in the water; even he couldn't see the path clearly.
...If it were ◎◎◎, they should be able to see clearly.
Who was ◎◎◎?
He pondered for a moment, and for some reason, a strange sense of disdain gradually filled his heart, so he decisively gave up trying to recall.
At this moment, Zhang Haike finally caught up. The flashlight beam illuminated a section of the water ahead.
The water inside wasn't as dark as the surface. The slightly turbid water rippled gently, and clusters of strange red granular objects floated within, resembling red beans or grape clusters.
The light beam hitting them gave them a jade-like texture, with what seemed like patterns showing through, exquisitely detailed.
Zhang Qiling glanced at them, uninterested in these insect eggs, and continued to dive on his own.
But Zhang Haike's expression was a riot of colors, and he almost blurted out a curse.
...These beautiful-looking things were, in fact, the egg sacs of leeches! With so many of them here, if they all hatched, a hundred Zhang Haikes stacked together wouldn't be enough for them to feed on!
He could only be grateful that he had wrapped his wound so tightly; the smell of blood wouldn't leak out anytime soon.
Thinking of this, he dared not linger and chased directly after Zhang Qiling.
He quickly caught up to Zhang Qiling, whose figure in the black hood floated motionlessly, as if waiting for him.
But the moment he got close—
Zhang Qiling suddenly turned, and what greeted his eyes was a pale, withered human skeleton!
Zhang Haike's hair stood on end. He had already drawn his saber, but upon closer inspection—
Behind the skull, Zhang Qiling's familiar, expressionless face was slowly emerging.
Zhang Qiling looked confused for a moment, then pushed the skeleton forward further, gesturing for Zhang Haike to get a good look. It seemed he had found a dead person in this part of the underwater area.
Zhang Haike: ...
With a complex feeling, he took the skeleton and immediately examined the bones of the right hand, finding the two unusually long finger bones. This was a Zhang family member, perhaps the one who lost the key into the belly of the ghost bear worm.
Logically, Zhang family members were powerful. After death, to prevent corpse transformation, the family would cremate their bodies, leaving only the right arm to be buried.
But this old fellow...
Zhang Haike: It was a miracle that the bones remained after being submerged in water full of leeches for so many years.
He sighed inwardly and placed the bones steadily on the bottom of the pool beside him.
The bottom of the pool was made of an unusual material, a large expanse of milky white, semi-transparent stone. Zhang Haike approached with a hint of curiosity, only to find Zhang Qiling seemingly staring intently at something.
He followed Zhang Qiling's gaze, and his pupils contracted sharply!!!
Within the milky white stone, a patch of blood, still bright red, was solidified. The bloodstains were dispersed in linear patterns, faintly forming the shape of characters!
(One ◎◎ sacrificial... altar?)
Zhang Haike managed to decipher a few words, but the others were a jumbled mess, too indistinct to see clearly. Immediately, his mind became deeply puzzled.
...The sacred altar was their destination. Every clan leader entered the sacred land to replenish the energy of the Bronze Mother Bell at the divine stone of the altar. If the Mother Bell wasn't found along the way, it must be at the altar.
Why was there a blood inscription of an altar here? How did this blood get into the stone at the bottom of the pool? What did that "one" mean?
Zhang Haike couldn't figure it out, but he glanced at the skeleton beside him and suddenly felt a chill from the depths of his heart.
He looked at Zhang Qiling. Zhang Qiling's expression was hidden in the shadow of his hood, indistinct in the rippling water.
After a long while, Zhang Qiling finally shifted his gaze from the blood inscription. He looked around, his attention focusing on a large area of red tiles not far ahead.
The red tiles were roughly patterned, vaguely forming the shape of a qilin. Zhang Qiling extended a finger and gently touched the qilin's eye, seemingly understanding something.
He reached out and took the flashlight from Zhang Haike, then lowered his head and began his extreme operation.
Zhang Haike watched Zhang Qiling perform his mechanism-solving skills again (even after watching, he couldn't quite keep up), feeling that such methods were not easily learned.
If one were to compare it to a math problem, Zhang Haike solved mechanisms step-by-step, with each step traceable. Zhang Qiling, however, skipped steps madly, jumping from the first step to the hundredth for some unknown reason.
So, after watching for a while, Zhang Haike decisively gave up and returned to the spot where he had been looking at the blood inscription.
The light from Zhang Qiling's side was faint, illuminating the blood inscription and making it appear even more chilling. Zhang Haike hesitated, reaching out to touch the milky white stone at the bottom, wanting to understand the principle of how the blood got in.
But the moment his finger touched the stone—
The milky white stones suddenly grew, directly encasing his finger within the floor tiles!
Zhang Haike was startled. Seeing the milky white substance rapidly rising, he decisively drew his cold saber in an instant and stabbed directly at the stone tile beneath his finger!
The stone tile shattered, and a thin line of blood seeped out. In the blink of an eye, Zhang Haike used his saber's flourish to churn the substance encasing his finger into pieces, but his finger was also cut by the sharp fragments!
...Not good!
He wrapped his finger with his clothes in the shortest possible time, but it was too late!
A rustling sound came. Attracted by the fresh blood, the leech egg sacs began to split open, one by one!
...The Clan Leader's mechanism isn't solved yet!
Zhang Haike didn't look at Zhang Qiling behind him. His mind raced, and with a grit of his teeth, he unwrapped the bandage on his wrist!
A large amount of blood instantly filled that area of water. He stared intently at the leeches, and the moment they lunged, he pushed off with his legs, retreating like an arrow under the counterforce of the water!
He re-wrapped his bandages. Most of the leeches were attracted by the dispersed blood, with only a few clever ones choosing to follow Zhang Haike.
Just as he was about to draw his cold saber and have some fun with the leeches, his collar was suddenly grabbed. Amidst the sound of a rumbling hidden door and the intense rush of water, he was dragged by Zhang Qiling and plunged headfirst into the vortex!