"The first layer of the outer perimeter has been sealed off," he said, jumping down from the rock and walking up to the two men. "But it only seals off the surface seepage. If that thing underneath exerts even a little force, this layer won't hold for long. What did you find in the library?"
Yin Wujou took out the animal skin scroll and unfolded it for him to see. Daoist Yun leaned closer, his expression gradually darkening as his gaze swept over the earth vein map and the vermilion annotations below. When he straightened up, he unusually didn't joking or laugh, remaining silent for a long while before softly saying, " Demonic Flood Dragon Remnant. I thought these creatures were extinct long ago. Wasn't the Demonic Flood Dragon lineage wiped out after that ancient great war?"
"That's what the records say," Yin Wujou, putting away the animal skin scroll. "But it just so happens to be at the bottom of Soul-Severing Gorge, where it has lived for countless years, silently shedding its skin seven times. You all saw the reaction below yesterday. After I probed that pool of liquid with my short knife, the living skin on the entire cave wall was wriggling—it has awakened."
Daoist Yun paced back and forth a couple of times, his boots clattering on the gravel. "You're planning to go down?"
"Um."
Are you alone?
Yin Wujou glanced at Snow Empress. "Two people."
Daoist Yun followed his gaze and glanced at Snow Empress. His lips twitched, but he only managed to utter, "Alright. I'll keep an eye on the array flags from above. If there's too much commotion down below, I can remedy the situation from the outside." As he spoke, he seemed to remember something and pulled three copper coins from his pocket, handing them to Yin Wujou. "Take these. They're carved from the heartwood of a tree struck by lightning. They can protect you from impurities. Don't think they're too shabby; these are the only three I have left."
Yin Wujou took it and put it into his storage ring, then cupped his hands in greeting to Daoist Yun. He and Snow Empress returned to the edge of the rock platform from that day and slowly climbed down the cliff face. The daytime light was much stronger than yesterday, but the layer of hazy mist around the rock platform was still there, filtering the light into a hazy state. The entrance to the crevice was as narrow as yesterday. Yin Wujou first tied the silver thread rope securely to the rock, then squeezed sideways into the crevice. Snow Empress followed behind him, and the two of them descended along the path from yesterday.
The fishy smell in the passageway was even stronger than yesterday. The rocks underfoot were more slippery than before, with some places covered by a thin layer of sticky water, requiring extra caution when stepping on them. The light from the luminous pearl shone on the passageway walls, revealing that the dark green, sticky substance was noticeably thicker than yesterday, and its color had changed—from dark green to deep purple, like the color of bruises. The temperature rose as they went down, and the oppressive, stifling feeling in the air felt like a solid weight pressing on their chests, making each breath a struggle.
The throbbing sound resumed, clearer and stronger than yesterday, thump-thump, thump-thump, like a giant heart slowly contracting. The rhythm was also faster than yesterday; Yin Wujou silently counted, about three beats per breath. The pool of dark red liquid was just ahead; the entrance to the cave was already visible, and dark red light emanated from within, staining the exit of the passageway a murky orange-red.
Yin Wujou paused for a moment at the entrance of the cave. He turned his head to look at Snow Empress Snow Empress, who nodded slightly at him. The two of them stepped into the cave almost simultaneously.
The changes inside the cave made Yin Wujou's pupils shrink. The pool of dark red liquid had swelled to almost double its size compared to yesterday, filling the original depression and smoothing the surface like a dark mirror. At the center of the pool, where bubbles had appeared yesterday, a fist-sized vortex was now slowly rotating, and a deeper layer of dark light could be faintly seen moving beneath it. Most terrifying of all were the cave walls—the dark green, viscous substance had all turned a deep purple, and its writhing motion was astonishingly large, like countless thick, short tentacles repeatedly coiling and stretching across the stone wall. When the light from the luminous pearl shone on it, the purple substance gleamed with an oily sheen, like the damp surface of some kind of reptile.
Yin Wujou stopped about ten feet above the surface of the liquid. He raised the luminous pearl high, its beam probing the thick darkness above the cave ceiling—he couldn't see the ceiling yesterday, but he could today. At the farthest point the luminous pearl's light could reach, in the depths of that darkness, hung a vaguely outlined object, round, about two feet in diameter, its surface covered with a layer of deep purple, scale-like patterns, like an inverted giant bowl.
The center of the object was slightly concave, and in the center of the concave was a crack that was now slowly opening. As the crack opened, it made an extremely soft and sticky sound, like wet mud being broken apart. A denser and deeper light shone through the crack, not dark red, but almost pure black, so black that even the light of a night-shining pearl was swallowed up when it shone through.
The pulsating sound suddenly intensified, booming like drums. The vortex on the surface of the liquid spun even faster, and the tentacles on the purple walls wriggled and contracted wildly. The entire cave seemed to come alive in an instant, every inch of the stone walls breathing.
Yin Wujou's hand was already on the hilt of the short sword at his waist. But he didn't draw the sword—he remembered the words in his master's notes. "Do not disturb." He slowly removed his hand from the hilt and instead took out a palm-sized bronze mirror from his storage ring. It was an ancient Fuxi Trigrams Mirror, its surface worn with fine scratches, but the trigrams on the back were still clear. He activated the mirror with his Spiritual Power, and the bronze mirror hummed, a faint golden halo appearing on its surface.
He slowly turned the mirror toward the circular object at the top of the cave.
The moment the mirror light shone on them, the entire cavern shook violently. The surface of the liquid swelled up and then collapsed, splashing dark red liquid onto the rocks, hissing and emitting white smoke. The dark crevice in the center of the circular object on the cave ceiling suddenly widened, and a thick cloud of black mist gushed out from the crevice, enveloping Yin Wujou and Snow Empress.
Snow Empress stepped forward, her sword drawn half an inch from its sheath, a flash of cold light on the blade. But the black mist, upon touching the golden light of the bronze mirror, recoiled violently as if burned, hissing like a snake flicking its tongue. A fine crack appeared on the surface of the bronze mirror with a click, and the golden light flickered twice before dimming.
Yin Wujou retrieved the bronze mirror and pulled Snow Empress back two steps. The black mist retreated into the crevice at the top of the cave and did not surge out again, but the inky black light shining through the crevice became even more intense, like a giant eye watching them from the darkness.
"It's watching us," Snow Empress said softly.
Yin Wujou did not respond. He took out the three copper coins carved from the heartwood of lightning-struck wood from his storage ring, and held them in his palm. The copper coins were warm from his body heat. He stared at the "eye" on the cave ceiling in silence for a long time, his gaze calm and without any fear, but deep in his eyes was an extremely solemn caution, like a hunter assessing a beast he had never seen before.