Seeing that both women agreed, Jiang Yang nodded and descended into the secret passage first.
Whoosh!
The instant Jiang Yang landed, the lamps on either side of the passage flared to life in successive rows, stretching deep underground.
Even utter darkness would not have hindered Jiang Yang and the others, but seeing firelight illuminate their surroundings still brought a surge of reassurance.
The two women descended after him. Jiang Yang called for them to follow, then led the way down.
The passage was long, slanting straight downward without a single turn. Even the three of them speaking softly produced loud echoes.
At first, Jiang Yang moved very slowly, constantly sweeping his Spirit Sense through their surroundings, wary of stumbling into restrictive wards or mechanisms blocking their way.
When the path proved unobstructed, he quickened his pace a little. The entire passage was smooth and level, with nothing else out of the ordinary.
Soon, the three reached the end of the passage. In the hazy firelight, they could see a great door standing before them.
The door was wooden in substance, yet bore a metallic sheen, and stood a little over ten feet tall. Its frame was not particularly broad, and gray dust covered it, lending it an ancient, austere appearance.
A statue stood on either side. Both depicted feathered beasts, green above and crimson below, shaped like ducks, each with a single wing and a single eye. They looked bizarre.
Jiang Yang could not help taking a few extra looks. Feathered beasts were rarely used to guard mansions and homes; most people preferred divine beasts of the scaled variety.
"What are these?"
Shang Qingzheng asked softly, curious.
"I don't know."
In ancient times, there had been hundreds of beasts, thousands of feathered creatures, and over ten thousand kinds of shelled