"Clan Chief, the map shows the altar is just ahead." Zhang Haike's voice suddenly rose, filled with the excitement of completing his mission and returning to the clan to initiate the rebellion.
Zhang Qiling glanced sideways at Zhang Haike, unsure why he was so agitated. However, thinking of completing the transaction and finding the two people faintly present in his memory, even the usually steady young Zhang couldn't help but quicken his pace.
But just as they were about to step into the altar's space—
A decaying aura rushed towards them. Zhang Qiling abruptly stopped, looked up, and slowly placed his hand on the Black Gold Ancient Saber.
Numerous long, narrow black shadows were hanging from the ceiling, swaying slowly in the air.
...But there was no wind here.
Zhang Haike instantly raised his flashlight, its pale beam striking directly, revealing the true nature of those objects.
Inside this so-called altar space, countless dried human arms were hanging!
Threads of tattered black fabric still clung to the arms. The dried, blackened blood at the severed ends emitted a strange odor. The blood flowed downwards, reaching the curved fingers.
And those unnaturally long fingers, shriveled and dry, were particularly striking.
...These were the arms of Zhang family members.
"...Legend has it that the sacred land was also a burial ground for Zhang family members. For those who died and were too powerful, their bodies would be cremated, leaving only the right arm to be sent here for burial, to prevent harm if they reanimated," Zhang Haike explained softly to Zhang Qiling, his tone filled with reverence for these Zhang family ancestors.
Zhang Qiling remained noncommittal about these peculiar and abnormal Zhang family customs. The fact that these right arms had not completely rotted after so many years indicated their strangeness. If complete corpses had been left behind, they would undoubtedly have been zombies no less formidable than blood zombies.
However...
He glanced again at the arms hanging from the ceiling like cured meat, then slowly turned his face to Zhang Haike, his calm tone tinged with a hint of doubt:
"Burial?"
He had seen it all now; apparently, burial in the Zhang family meant hanging cured meat.
Zhang Haike fell silent for a moment, truly unable to fathom the thoughts of the Zhang family members of the past. Surely they hadn't intended to hang their hands here as door curtains?
So, after careful consideration, he finally said, "This... perhaps it was their preference at the time."
Zhang Qiling: ...?
Zhang Haike: ...
Both fell silent for a moment, tacitly agreeing not to delve into the thought processes of the past Zhang family members.
From a distance, amidst the hanging cured meat, a magnificent altar stood.
The altar was three-tiered, each layer narrower than the one below. And on the highest tier, a massive, oval-shaped stone emitted a faint cyan glow!
The stone was covered in holes, its uneven surface resembling the surface of the moon. Looking at its unappealing appearance, one would never imagine it was the divine stone that had diligently provided energy for the Zhang family's Mother Bell for over a thousand years.
"Clan Chief, this is the altar. The Mother Bell should be nearby!"
Zhang Haike cast a fleeting glance at the divine stone, finding nothing particularly special, and quickly dedicated all his attention to searching for the Mother Bell within the space.
While Zhang Haike was practically itching to pick up each piece of hanging cured meat for a closer inspection, Zhang Qiling slowly walked towards the divine stone.
...For some reason, this stone felt very familiar.
A massive bronze door flashed in his mind, bringing an uncontrollable throbbing pain. Zhang Qiling raised a hand to his forehead, closed his eyes, and forcefully suppressed the agony.
...Bronze door?
Where on earth did the Zhang family find this stone?
Just then, Zhang Haike's voice reached him, carrying a hint of startled uncertainty.
"Clan Chief, look at this!"
He had already reached the innermost part of the space but still hadn't found the Mother Bell.
However, Zhang Haike's attention was no longer on the Mother Bell.
He stared fixedly at the vast, thick, milky-white jade-like object before him, instinctively taking a step back, a terrifying sense of dread coursing through his entire body.
(Altar)
Several ghastly blood-red characters reappeared in his mind. Zhang Haike's lips trembled as he realized that this jade-like wall was the brick in the pool beneath the spiral staircase.
Now, freed from the concealment of the water, these milky-white objects were fully exposed.
Zhang Haike examined them carefully. Behind them, he saw a complete stone wall. These milky-white objects were not intentionally constructed by the builders; they were things that had grown out of the original wall!
A soft footstep sounded. Zhang Haike saw Zhang Qiling looking up, his tense body relaxing slightly for some reason.
"Clan Chief, these are the bricks from underwater," Zhang Haike said urgently, fearing Zhang Qiling might reach out and touch them. "I suspect these things are alive; they grow instantly and hunt any flesh that touches them."
Zhang Qiling grunted, his gaze focused on the milky-white substance before him. His eyes seemed to pierce directly into its deepest core.
After a long pause, a subtle expression of realization appeared on his face:
"There's something inside."
"Wh—" Zhang Haike suddenly turned, staring intently at the wall.
After receiving the hint, the dark objects within the milky-white substance, which he had initially mistaken for patterns, began to appear suspicious. Zhang Haike stared at them intently, and in a daze, he felt as if those shadows were actually people embracing each other!
...How could there be people inside?!
A guess flashed through Zhang Haike's mind like lightning, and he was immediately struck with a jolt of fear.
"Clan Chief," he asked with a sliver of hope, "who are these?"
His answer was the clear sound of a blade being drawn. Zhang Qiling calmly looked at the shadows within, the Black Gold Ancient Saber already in his hand.
"It's your Clan Chief."
And the moment his words fell, the thick, milky-white substance before them exploded as if struck from within!
Zhang Haike's hair stood on end. He flipped backward, evading a lunging shadow, and heard the clang of swords colliding!
When he looked up, the white substance in that area had scattered on the ground, slowly rolling and merging on the floor like mercury.
In its place stood over a dozen gaunt figures in black. Their hands, like withered branches, emerged from their tattered sleeves, their unnaturally long fingers gripping the hilts of their sabers tightly.
...So, that's how it is.
Zhang Haike suddenly realized the problem—
Throughout their journey, apart from the skeleton at the bottom of the water, they hadn't seen a single corpse belonging to any previous Clan Chief!
How was this possible? Where had all the deceased Clan Chiefs gone?
The mystery was finally solved:
Their Clan Chiefs had all died because of this milky-white substance that had appeared in the sacred land at some unknown time. Their bodies, wrapped by this substance after death, had not decayed for so many years.
...And these intact corpses had clearly now all transformed into some kind of unknown, eerie existence!
The eerie presence formed by over a dozen Clan Chiefs... The thought alone filled Zhang Haike with an overwhelming sense of despair.
There was no hope; this was a complete dead end.
He glanced at Zhang Haike, forcing himself to stand up.
His cold saber had already been used to shoot a snake. Zhang Haike was even unarmed at this moment. Gritting his teeth, he prepared to charge in with his bare hands!
But just then, Zhang Qiling's voice reached him—
"Run!"