"Back in the Divine Realm of the DC Universe, all those broken-down, declining creatures of Western mythology barely amounted to two wisps of rule power."
Solomon set down his teacup and slowly rose from the Grand Tutor's Chair, anticipation gleaming in his eyes.
"I wonder what surprises this Eastern hidden realm, at its peak and teeming with divine beasts, can offer me?"
At that thought, Solomon willed it, and the young Shang-Chi and Xialing, frozen on the Training Ground, began walking against their will. Like sleepwalkers, they entered the ancestral hall, obediently removed the two emerald pendants around their necks, and presented them to Solomon with both hands.
These two emerald pendants, left by Ying Li to her son and daughter, were precisely the keys to activating Ta Lo's Water Map and finding the entrance passage!
Solomon casually put away the pendants, glanced at Wenwu, who stood before him with his head respectfully lowered like a marionette, and gave an indifferent order:
"Come on. Take me to the entrance to that bamboo forest."
Solomon led the puppet-like Xu Wenwu into the side hall containing the Water Map altar.
With a casual toss, he slotted the two emerald pendants taken from Shang-Chi's and Xialing's necks precisely into the recesses in the stone carvings on either side of the altar.
Whoosh-!
Clear spring water instantly welled up from the dry floor of the altar. As though alive, it raced along the intricate channels in the floor, outlining a mysterious, flowing, three-dimensional Water Map in midair in the blink of an eye!
The Water Map clearly marked the forest coordinates leading to Ta Lo, along with the only safe route for forcing a passage through the maze of the Bamboo Forest of Life and Death outside the Qingming Festival.
"So that's it. A