A row of grimacing Buddha statues stood still at the base of the wall. Zhang Qiling, moving among them, felt a strange sense of amusement.
He felt as though the protagonist in this scene should be a monkey with a golden staff, not the two inexplicably black-clad figures they were.
Thinking that Hei Yanjing felt the same, he aptly drew another large monkey, its backside sticking out, in the center of the statues' line of sight.
...At least this time, he had carefully switched to yellow crayons.
For a moment, Zhang Qiling couldn't imagine what later visitors to this forbidden land would think upon seeing a path littered with green turtles and colorful monkeys.
The thought sent a shiver down his spine.
Hei Yanjing collected some fallen poisonous thorns and wrapped them in cloth, presumably intending to use them as makeshift daggers.
With the formation broken, exiting the labyrinth became effortless.
The labyrinth exit was a tightly shut grand door. The doorframe, reaching from floor to ceiling, completely divided the cavern. The two pushed together, and the door slowly creaked open!
But in an instant, blinding light enveloped them!
Having spent so long in darkness, the sudden glare caused Zhang Qiling's eyes to sting.
Yet, he did not close his eyes to shield them. Underground, danger often lurked in the light.
The light emanated from the cavern's ceiling. Zhang Qiling looked up, momentarily stunned into speechlessness!
Shimmering streams of light, a confluence of stars!
The ceiling was adorned with a dazzling, bright "starry sky"!!
A "full moon" hung high in the center, radiating milky white light, while the surrounding "stars" slowly revolved around it in a swirling pattern.
His speechlessness was brief. Soon, Zhang Qiling realized this was not a true moon, but a peculiar, massive luminous pearl.
And the surrounding twinkling stars...
"Oh my~" Hei Yanjing, standing beside him, propped his hand on his sunglasses as if to shade his eyes. "So many glowing insects gathered together, it's truly a rare sight~"
Legend told of the First Emperor igniting eternal lamps with mermaid oil, making the underground as bright as day; and using mercury to power rivers that flowed through the coffins, patrolling the nine provinces of China.
Such feats were already extraordinary, but the scene unfolding before them now was not far inferior!
Beneath the brilliant starry firmament, there stood a vast, ruined city!!
The city walls were towering, the trees verdant. Though now shattered remnants scattered across the ground, it was not difficult to imagine its former glorious appearance!
"Wow! 'Journey to the Center of the Earth'?" Hei Yanjing sighed.
It was a novel by Verne, about a professor who, with his nephew Axel, discovered a new world with an ocean deep within the earth.
Zhang Qiling remained noncommittal, but unexpectedly, Hei Yanjing followed up with another sentence.
"What do you think, Axel?"
Hearing Hei Yanjing's playful voice, Zhang Qiling felt the man's sinister intention to be his uncle was already obvious.
"..."
Slowly turning his head, Zhang Qiling gave Hei Yanjing a steady look. Without a word, he withdrew his gaze and walked away.
But for some reason, Hei Yanjing felt as though he had just been scolded with his face.
...And judging by his expression, that particular remark might have been quite vulgar.
---
Ignoring Hei Yanjing's self-doubt, Zhang Qiling had by then reached a plain, dust-covered giant stone in front of the city.
Wiping away the dust, several ancient Xiangxiong characters were revealed.
"Qionglong Silver City"
This was the capital of the legendary ancient Xiangxiong kingdom.
Hei Yanjing ambled over from behind. Perhaps due to his height, he directly walked into a tree branch hanging down beside the giant stone.
The cool leaves brushed against his forehead, the sensation startlingly real.
Hei Yanjing pushed his sunglasses up and carefully picked up a leaf to examine it, only to discover it was made of a peculiar textile material.
To be so lifelike, the strength of the ancient Xiangxiong kingdom was truly unfathomable.
Yet, such a powerful ancient kingdom had vanished without a trace one day four thousand years ago.
What had happened back then? And what caused its capital, Qionglong Silver City, to sink underground?
Just then, a deafening explosion! A dilapidated house before them was instantly blown to smithereens from bottom to top!
The two immediately became alert. A thick column of water shot skyward, its immense force even flinging debris to the ceiling, disturbing some of the "stars."
A pungent odor wafted over, but it was not toxic.
"...Let's go in first."
Doubts were meaningless at this point. Zhang Qiling drew the Black Gold Ancient Sword, raising his vigilance to the highest level, and led the way into the ancient city.
Inside the city, it was deathly silent. Dust swirled around, and the air was thick with the scent of decay.
The two arrived at the spot where the explosion had just occurred.
The water column had dissipated, revealing a massive pit in the ground. Listening closely, one could faintly hear the sound of flowing water from below.
"Water volcano."
This was a phenomenon that occurred in high-altitude cold regions, often caused by uneven freezing and expansion of groundwater.
Looking at the surrounding ground, they could already see three to four inconspicuous bulges. It was likely that the frequent eruptions of water volcanoes were the cause of the city's current dilapidated state.
Exchanging a look, the two tacitly avoided the raised ground and continued their steady advance.
The city was generally shaped like an eight-petaled lotus, with buildings of various functions encircling it in layers. In the distance, they could see a nine-tiered golden mountain, entirely golden, at the very center of the city.
Zhang Qiling wanted to explore the surrounding buildings more closely. With a slight pause, he saw Hei Yanjing walk past him directly towards the golden mountain, his steps unhesitating.
It felt as though he had known about the existence of the golden mountain all along, and perhaps, he had come for it.
Having traveled together until now, they had never asked each other about their reasons for venturing into the forbidden areas of Tibet. It seemed Hei Yanjing's purpose was now revealed.
After a moment of silence, Zhang Qiling chose to follow.
Now focusing his attention on Hei Yanjing, Zhang Qiling suddenly noticed something.
...He had stepped on several water volcano bulges consecutively.
---
The square space inside the golden mountain was extremely confined, containing only a single box.
Hei Yanjing consciously stepped back, allowing Zhang Qiling to examine the box's mechanism. However, his eyes beneath the sunglasses were fixed on the box, and the smile that always seemed to be pasted on his face had, at some point, flattened.
Since they had met, this was the first time Zhang Qiling had seen him so flustered.
The box opened, revealing nothing inside except for a line of ancient Xiangxiong characters carved at the bottom.
Zhang Qiling showed it to Hei Yanjing.
Hei Yanjing subtly pursed his lips, and instantly put on a smile again.
"Oh, I can't read this. You keep it, mute~"
...This was not what he was looking for.
Zhang Qiling understood instantly. He closed the box but did not immediately try to decipher the characters' meaning.
"What happened to your eyes."