Chapter 96: A Different Stone Statue
The stone door that was integrated with the stone wall silently slid inward, and a strange smell rushed out. Zhang Qiling frowned, turned on his flashlight, and walked inside. Fatty sniffed, suddenly changed his expression, and stopped Lin Yan and the other two: “This smell is off! It seems like the smell of blood?”
“Smell of blood?” Lin Yan and Wu Xie immediately stopped in their tracks, while Zhang Qiling turned a deaf ear and continued striding straight inside with steady steps.
Through the flashlight’s light, they could see Zhang Qiling’s figure gradually being swallowed by the darkness after walking twenty or thirty meters inside, reaching a place beyond the reach of their flashlight beams, but ahead was still a passage chiseled out of the mountain rock. Thinking that they hadn’t encountered any danger in the underwater tomb before, Wu Xie gritted his teeth: “Shall we follow too?”
Lin Yan looked at the stone door: “This thing won’t close by itself, right? What if it closes and we can’t open it?”
Wu Xie thought for a moment, took an alloy entrenching tool from his backpack, and placed it at the door, so even if the door slid shut, the shovel would block it from closing fully, and even if the mechanism automatically closed it, it wouldn’t matter.
With a backup plan in place, the three exchanged glances, quickened their steps, and chased toward the depths of the passage where Zhang Qiling had disappeared. Zhang Qiling hadn’t made any movement so far, indicating there probably weren’t any mechanisms inside.
Sure enough, when they saw Zhang Qiling’s figure again, they had already reached the end of the passage.
Unlike the huge white coral hanging with bronze bells in the underwater tomb, what appeared before their eyes was not a stone carving replica of a white coral tree, but a stone statue of a person.
This statue was different from that eerie grinning dry corpse; although it also pointed one finger to heaven and one to earth, it had a somewhat immortal and ethereal air. Wu Xie looked it up and down a few times and suddenly realized that although the stone carving was a bit rough, it could still be seen to be Early Ming Dynasty attire. Associating it with the person related to the Early Ming Dynasty in the underwater tomb.
He hesitated and guessed: “Wang Canghai?”
With a “whoosh,” both Fatty and Zhang Qiling’s gazes turned to him. Fatty’s gaze was purely curious, while Zhang Qiling’s had a bit more sharpness. When the two looked at Wu Xie and startled him, Lin Yan’s heart skipped a beat, and his gaze instead turned to Zhang Qiling.
He wasn’t sure if this was Zhang Qiling’s intention here, whether it was time to reveal the existence of Wang Canghai and the Wang Family to Wu Xie, or if this was just a simple coincidence.
Looking at Zhang Qiling’s gaze full of tension and scrutiny, he finally confirmed that their arrival here was indeed an accident. Even if it wasn’t an accident, it wasn’t part of Zhang Qiling’s plan.
But could it really be such a coincidence that they randomly came to an island built by Wang Family descendants? Good grief, another unsolved mystery added. If it was Wang Family descendants, they wouldn’t have been unable to enter the underwater tomb, right? If they could enter, then what was the point of this replica stone palace? Were the crew and the expedition team the work of Wang Family people? But why did they spare them specifically?
Thinking of this, Lin Yan suddenly discovered a flaw. The group from twenty years ago and the group twenty years later might not be the same batch! Assuming there really was an unknown force twenty years ago that spared the expedition team… most people?
At least from what could be seen now, only Huo Ling had become a Forbidden Woman, Chen Wenjin was unknown, perhaps she had amnesia and no longer participated in this circle. Leaving aside Xie Lianhuan and Wu Sansheng’s group, and Zhang Qiling as a special Zhang Family member, then no one died?
But twenty years later was different; the bloody smell on the ship indicated at least someone was injured or dead, and given the scene where the entire ship left no clues, it was probably not good. Associating it with the bloody smell here, could the corpses be hidden here? Was this really done by Wang Family people?
Thinking of this, Lin Yan hurriedly looked around. Previously attracted by Wang Canghai’s stone carving, he hadn’t carefully observed the place. But as far as the eye could see, there was nothing here except this statue, so where was the bloody smell coming from?
After arriving here, the bloody smell was several degrees stronger than outside, mixed with a faint rotten stench, which made Lin Yan’s stomach feel a bit uncomfortable.
Over there, Wu Xie was startled by the sudden gazes directed at him: “What’s wrong?”
Fatty asked him curiously: “How are you sure this is that Early Ming Dynasty eccentric Wang Canghai? Just based on the clothes in this carving?”
Facing Zhang Qiling’s scrutinizing gaze, Wu Xie carefully said: “It’s not, it’s from analysis. Look, there’s a Heavenly Palace model in the underwater tomb, so the tomb owner is either Wang Canghai or someone related to him. But here, there should originally have been a stone carving white coral tree, now replaced with a statue. If the dry corpse stone carving outside corresponds to the tomb owner, then this statue should correspond to Wang Canghai, right?”
After he finished speaking, the scrutiny in Zhang Qiling’s eyes faded, and he turned his gaze back to the stone carving. Wu Xie looked at his back and quietly breathed a sigh of relief; he himself didn’t know why he was so nervous facing Zhang Qiling’s gaze.
Lin Yan, seeing Zhang Qiling’s strange attitude toward Wu Xie, couldn’t help but recall Wu Xie’s strange behavior in the bronze bell illusion in the underwater tomb. The way Zhang Qiling had just looked at Wu Xie didn’t seem like he was looking at Wu Xie, but rather at someone… he was wary of? Was he judging if Wu Xie had made a mistake? Plus, when Wu Xie was trapped in the illusion, he kept muttering “Who am I” and such—could the current Wu Xie no longer be Wu Xie? Or… did Wu Xie unknowingly carry something similar to what he had?
That thing that could take over his body?
Thinking of this, Lin Yan felt a chill down his spine, and when Wu Xie looked at him, his forehead was already covered in cold sweat.
After Wu Xie explained, he looked around; Fatty had already lost interest in the stone carving—for him, it didn’t matter who it was—and seeing Lin Yan staring blankly at the statue, his body involuntarily trembling as if trapped in an illusion.
“…Lin Yan? Are you okay?” Seeing Lin Yan not react even when he walked right up to him, Wu Xie worriedly waved his hand in front of his eyes. If he remembered correctly, Lin Yan should be immune to hallucinations, right? They hadn’t been affected by hallucinations, so why would Lin Yan be? Could it be… He looked at the little zombie on Lin Yan’s head that they had forgotten about for a long time.
The little zombie was still perched on Lin Yan’s head like a white fur hat, completely motionless.
“…I’m fine.” Facing Wu Xie’s worried gaze, Lin Yan forced a grin. He didn’t recall any mention in the original work of anything in Wu Xie’s soul; had he missed it? Or was this a hidden setting of Third Uncle that had never been revealed? Damn… he was dumbfounded! How was he supposed to play this now?
Lin Yan now had an ominous premonition that the original plot had already run wild like a horse off the reins, never to return; along this journey, there were too many unknowns and things to think about, and he needed time to figure out what to do next.
Should he continue following Wu Xie in this plot he was no longer familiar with, or… as if there was no other choice; he smiled bitterly inwardly and glanced at Zhang Qiling.
Before this play was finished, would they let him leave?
Impossible.
PS: Five updates today, with another five tomorrow.
