"Is it a palace?" Jiang Yichun asked.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "But it gave a strange feeling, so I didn’t dare to look further."
"Did Ling Chen go inside? I don’t even know what’s living in there," Jiang Yichun said.
"Let’s head back to the surface first and discuss it with everyone," Bai Ruozhu thought for a mont and said.
"Alright, once we’re out of the space, I’ll swim up," Jiang Yichun said, wrapping his arm tightly around her waist.
Fortunately, nothing happened unexpectedly, and the two quickly swam out of the water. Jiang Yichun waited in the sea while Bai Ruozhu returned to the boat to discuss with everyone.
"A palace? Like the rfolk’s Gold Palace?" Fo Lanying asked curiously.
Bai Ruozhu shook her head, "It doesn’t seem like it, it’s gray and dull, unlike the splendid Gold Palace. Besides, the rfolk said the Gold Palace is like their origin, they never ntioned any other palace."
"Ling Chen doesn’t seem like soone who would act recklessly, she must have gone in without telling us. Should we worry about her?" Tang Feng asked.
"I’m worried the Sea Monster might have struck her down below, and she might be trapped inside, which suggests there are so secrets to it," Bai Ruozhu said.
"Whatever secrets there are, we’ll find out when we explore. There might be treasures, and then we could be as wealthy as a country," Fo Lanying’s eyes sparkled, "I hope there’s the most exquisite Celestial Girl Sea Pearl, I absolutely love them."
Fo Lanying had recently beco obsessed with Fusang’s Sea Pearls, and the highest quality ones are called Flower Pearls, with the most refined ones being the Celestial Girl.
Bai Ruozhu rolled her eyes at her, "Sea Pearls are beautiful, but life is more important. We should be more cautious."
After a discussion, Fo Lanying, Yuan Licheng, Jianqi, Tang Feng, Astrologer, and Ning Yu decided to dive in together, while Mo Beishan and others stayed on the boat on guard.
Yaxi watched Tang Feng busying himself, feeling a bit worried, but she knew she couldn’t be of help, so she quietly retreated back to the ship cabin.
Since she couldn’t offer assistance, she was determined not to hold them back.
Everyone was ready, bringing with them Waterproof Pearls and Night Pearls, and descended into the sea via a rope ladder.
Jiang Yichun swished his tail, "Follow , don’t disperse."
"Okay," everyone responded in unison.
With the Waterproof Pearls, they followed Jiang Yichun toward the seabed, and indeed after swimming for a while, they saw the vague outline below.
Bai Ruozhu pointed downward, gesturing to the group.
She and Jiang Yichun descended first, found the palace’s main gate, and confird there was no danger. Using the Night Pearl, she drew three circles in the water, signaling the others, who then swam down.
The palace’s main gate had a small gap, enough for a skinny person to pass through. Bai Ruozhu squinted, suspecting the gap was pushed open by Ling Chen.
Jiang Yichun tugged at her, indicating he would go in first to take a look.
He swam to the door, opened it slightly, and swam inside.
One minute, two minutes, three minutes passed, yet Jiang Yichun had not co out.
Bai Ruozhu couldn’t wait any longer, and led the others in.
Upon entering, everyone suddenly lost weight and plumted quickly, despite being in water, which should have created substantial resistance.
Soone instinctively cried out, taking in so water, and hurriedly closed their mouth.
They didn’t know when the water disappeared; still falling, they soon splashed into a pool below.
"Is everyone alright?" Bai Ruozhu got up and asked.
"I’m fine, what’s going on?" Fo Lanying looked around, realizing they could now breathe freely.
Ning Yu pointed overhead, "Look!"
Everyone looked up; above them lay a vast sea, blocked by sothing unknown, preventing seawater from rushing in, yet they had fallen through allowing them to breathe air here.
"Achun!" Bai Ruozhu surveyed the surroundings but didn’t spot Jiang Yichun, her heart sinking.
"Ruozhu, don’t panic yet. He may have fallen down first and, unable to inform us, went searching for a way out," Ning Yu comforted her.
No blood or hostile energy suggested Jiang Yichun was uninjured and likely safe.
Bai Ruozhu nodded, "Let’s search around first."
Everyone agreed and followed her out of the pool area, heading inside.
The area consisted of stone rooms, with the pool seemingly part of an external garden; inside housed a main hall, side rooms, a room storing musical instrunts, and further back a small weapons training yard.
However, they had encountered no one, nor any traces of habitation.
"If no one lives here and it’s abandoned, shouldn’t it be dusty and cobwebbed?" Bai Ruozhu asked, "Or if soone resides here, are they deliberately avoiding us?"
Ning Yu ford seals with his hands, releasing essence as magic techniques spiraled forth, vanishing in mid-air monts later.
"There truly is no vitality here, aning no living creatures have been around," he said.
That was bizarre.
"This place is eerie; let’s be cautious," Tang Feng suggested.
Suddenly, Fo Lanying took out Ling Chen’s conch and blew it forcefully.
Wooo... The piercing sound of the conch abruptly resounded, startling everyone.
"What are you doing?" Yuan Licheng asked, cold sweat flowing.
"If Ling Chen is here, maybe it will call her over," Fo Lanying explained.
Bai Ruozhu facepald, "This conch isn’t for contacting her through sound; it’s a special rfolk sonic wave and useless here just like on the boat. Didn’t we remind to be cautious just now?"
Fo Lanying chuckled awkwardly, "I was wrong; I’ll stop blowing it randomly, okay?"
Suddenly, a rustling sound ca from afar, changing everyone’s expressions as they huddled together.
Soon, a swarm of spiders scurried in; Astrologer prepared to use a Yin Yang Charm but was held back by Bai Ruozhu, gesturing for silence, indicating to observe first.
The spiders were large, each as wide as a bowl, with varied colors; all appeared highly venomous.
Despite their speed, they didn’t attack Bai Ruozhu and the others, seemingly oblivious to them, crawling past stone tables, chairs, and corners before leaving the room for elsewhere.
Bai Ruozhu touched a nearby stone pillar, cleaned as the spiders had just crawled over it, now spotless.
"Are those spiders tidying up?" Tang Feng’s mouth twitched, "Can spiders be trained for such tasks?"
Bai Ruozhu shook her head, "They’re not ordinary spiders; they’re chanical puppets."
"Impossible, why didn’t I notice?" Fo Lanying, focused on chanical techniques, disbelievingly asked.
"Because they’re half-spider, half-chanical, fused together," Bai Ruozhu explained.
User Comments
0 comments from readers