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The surroundings are peaceful, and the sea breeze carries the salty and moist breath from a distance, making a subtle and long rustling sound.
This is a seaside village hidden between the coastline and low hills. It is far away from the war and looks particularly peaceful.
It was like the turmoil of the entire continent was blocked by an invisible barrier at the other end of the mountain.
The sea surface in the distance spreads into a deep blue under the morning light, with occasional white waves rolling in and then slowly receding.
Thirteen people landed smoothly, their feet stepping on the soft sand and making a few soft sounds.
They stopped in unison and glanced around, looking at this village that was different from any place they had seen before.
There are no tall buildings, nor signs of warning that are common in wars.
There are only a few narrow alleys extending zigzag. The houses on both sides are low and neat. Brown fishing nets and white coarse cloth clothes are drying in front of the door.
Long Zhanye stood on the spot, Double Pupil was running, and the light flowed in the eyes, sweeping across the entire village.
His eyes ranged from the farthest roof ridge to the lowest wall, from the old boats docked at the fishing port to the residents collecting their nets at the alley. Everywhere was taken into his sight.
After a moment, he withdrew his gaze and walked towards the center of the village without any further pause.
When passing through the village entrance, a plaque held up by two wooden paddles thrust into the ground came into view.
The wooden surface has been repeatedly polished by sea breeze and sun, showing an old silver-gray color, with three words engraved on it -
"Sea God Village".
The strokes are not neat, but they have the strength of having been carved repeatedly. It can be seen that the person who originally carved the words put a lot of thought into it.
After seeing these three words, the steps of the other twelve people all slowed down by half a beat.
They already have a different view of this village in their hearts. This name is too direct and does not allow people to think too much.
Although the entire village is named "Village", its scale is comparable to a small city.
Long Zhanye's eyes only glanced around, and he had already estimated the general outline in his mind:
The houses are distributed in an orderly manner, the lanes are narrow but well organized, and the population should be more than 8,000.
More than 8,000 people live together on an isolated coast, which itself shows that this place is different from ordinary fishing villages.
What caught his attention even more was the number of Spirit Master. Among the people he saw, Spirit Master accounted for about one-third.
Although most of those people wore coarse cloth clothes that were no different from fishermen.
But the solidity of his steps is different from ordinary people, and the sharpness of his eyes when they occasionally meet is also different from ordinary people.
Of course, there are also some who dress obviously differently from the locals.
They wear clothes with a more elegant texture, and the embroidery of marine patterns can be faintly seen on the placket or cuffs. They should be Sea Soul Master of a higher level.
When the villagers in this village saw outsiders entering the village, they became vigilant.
The old man who was originally squatting in front of the door stopped the fishing net he was weaving in his hands, and his eyes were tightened, and he was firmly tied to the visitor.
The women who were chatting and laughing at the alley lowered their voices, and even a few young men who were packing fishing gear not far away stopped what they were doing.
They stood looking over here, and although the expressions on their faces did not show obvious hostility, they had an unnatural look.
Long Zhanye ignored those gazes, his pace did not slow down at all because of those gazes, and he walked straight ahead in the direction Double Pupil had seen before.
After passing through several winding lanes and bypassing several small courtyards where old ship planks and empty wooden barrels were piled, the view suddenly broadened.
In the center of the village is an extremely spacious square, occupying 70% of the entire village, covering more than 20,000 square meters.
The ground is paved with gray-white stone slabs. Some moss has grown on the edges, but the center is still as smooth as ever.
There are five stone pillars standing on the square, standing in five directions, like the five vertices of a five-pointed star.
The surface of the column is engraved with fine lines. Although those lines have been somewhat blurred by wind and rain, it can still be seen that they are a pattern related to waves.
In the center of the stone pillar is a huge circular platform, about one foot above the ground, with regular edges and a sense of scale visible to the naked eye.
Long Zhanye's eyes stayed on it for a moment, and then he whispered, "There is nothing wrong with the place."
But he moved his brows imperceptibly and added:
"But-"
"I'm afraid this kind of arrangement is more than just an altar."
Ye Guyi stood beside him and asked softly, his voice being blown away by the sea breeze:
"Xiaoye, are you sure this is here? Why is there no one there?"
There are houses in the distance, the land is flat, but there is only the sound of wind and waves, which indeed conveys an unusual tranquility.
Long Zhanye just looked around, his eyes extending from the houses in the distance to the ditch nearby, and then back to the gray-white stone slab at his feet.
"If not here, then where else?"
He seemed to be asking others, but also seemed to be asking himself.
After a while.
He said, "Let's have a look. Maybe there is some mechanism here, or an entrance or exit."
After hearing this, the twelve people dispersed one after another, each chose a direction, lowered their heads, squatted or leaned down.
Feel for the edge of the stone slab with your hands, tap the ground gently with the sole of your boot, and use the echo to determine whether there is a cavity underneath.
Some people went around behind the stone pillars to examine the texture, some raised their heads to look at the carving details on the top of the pillars, and some squatted on the edge of the platform.
The sea breeze blew the corners of their clothes and hair, but no one complained.
Long Zhanye stands in the center of the square, and Double Pupil is like a slowly spreading network.
Layer by layer, it covers every stone slab, every gap, and every seemingly ordinary corner.
He saw extremely carefully, so finely that he even missed the shadows between the stone surfaces that were almost indistinguishable with the naked eye.
He walked around the edge of the platform, then returned to the center, repeating this process twice before finally stopping.
On the centermost stone in the north, there is an almost invisible dark mark between its edge and other stone slabs, like the wear and tear left after being pressed many times.
He squatted down and when his fingertips touched the dark mark, he could clearly feel an almost imperceptible looseness.
He pressed it gently.
"Boom--Boom--"
A dull sound came from deep underground, and the ground of the entire square shook slightly.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and stepped back, focusing on the rising figure.
Directly north of the altar, a huge stone statue slowly rose from the ground.
The figure was about tens of meters tall, its entire body was carved from blue-gray stone, and it was holding a trident, with the tip of the trident facing the sky.
The posture is tall and straight, and the rolling lines of the clothes are carved very carefully, as if the folds of clothes are indeed fluttering slightly when the wind blows from behind it.
Ye Guyi squinted for a moment, turned his head and asked, "Could it be... that he is Sea God Tang San?"
Long Zhanye shook his head. "It's different. The Tang San I've seen doesn't look like this. Maybe it looks like First-Generation Sea God."
He paused, his eyes rested on the stone statue for a moment, and then he frowned slightly.
Since the statue has appeared, it means that there is no deviation in the direction from which it came.
But there was nothing else discernible around - no writing, no markings, no trace of subsequent entrances.
Long Zhanye Standing under the tall stone statue, the sea breeze passed by the tip of the trident, making a very subtle whistle...