In the ruins, the scales had disappeared, replaced by the head of a beast with a single horn.
The monster opened its gaping maw. Inside were three arms made of yin energy, their other ends attached to the temple keeper.
Rubble and broken tiles were still slipping between the monster's teeth.
It was as if the monster had surged up from beneath the earth, bringing hot underground springs with it as it devoured the ruins above.
The yin energy pouring from the temple keeper was clamped firmly in its jaws. He couldn't break free. With the monster's movements, he was slowly dragged into a cavern beneath the ground.
In the blurry footage, the rubble in the monster's mouth wasn't being crushed so much as slipping through the gaps between its teeth. Only then did people notice that there was a corpse in its mouth. It was the same corpse I'd seen in my dream—the one the temple keeper ghost had grabbed.
Another thunderous crash, and the monster, the corpse, and the temple keeper all vanished beneath the ground.
A massive amount of water gushed out, like an oil well erupting. The sight was spectacular.
The camera dropped again.
Ye Qing and Liu Miao were probably hurrying to put on their diving gear. In fact, the heavy equipment they'd brought had all been left on the shore of the island.
I didn't know if they'd managed to get ready. The water had already surged toward them and swallowed them up.
The footage on the screen became a chaotic mess. Bubbles gurgled up and darted everywhere. Rubble and broken tiles tumbled through the water. The whole scene looked like a hot pot, with all sorts of things rolling around in boiling water.
Liu Miao and Ye Qing appeared now and then in