Then he did something that surprised Snow Empress. He put the copper coins back into his storage ring, untied the silver cord from his waist and held it in his hand, turned to face the pool of dark red liquid, and slowly, extremely slowly, squatted down.
Snow Empress didn't stop him, but her grip on the sword tightened. Yin Wujou squatted about three feet in front of the liquid, letting one end of the silver wire dangle into the surface. The silver wire made a soft hissing sound as soon as it touched the liquid, and a layer of grayish-black oxide film quickly appeared on the silver surface. Yin Wujou didn't let go; he held the silver wire and slowly stirred the surface of the liquid, as if he were stirring a pot of thick paste.
The vortex spun faster in the direction he stirred it. The dark light beneath the surface of the liquid was thrown into disarray and scattered. A low gurgling sound came from the crack in the cave ceiling, and the purple tentacles on the entire cave wall tensed up at the same time, as if gathering strength.
Yin Wujou pulled the silver rope back. Most of the rope had been corroded, and tiny bubbles were hissing from the broken ends. He threw the broken rope on the ground, and as he stood up, he exchanged a very brief glance with Snow Empress —a very short glance, but Snow Empress understood what he was trying to say: when he was stirring the liquid just now, he felt something moving along the direction of the vortex below, not just one, but many.
That's their nest.
Yin Wujou took three steps back, retreating all the way to the entrance of the cave. He reached into his storage ring and took out a roll of blank talisman paper and a box of cinnabar. He squatted down and quickly drew a talisman on the paper. The strokes of the talisman were extremely intricate, and when he finished, a fine layer of sweat had appeared on his forehead. He folded the talisman paper into the shape of a paper crane, blew on it, and the paper crane actually flapped its wings and wobbled towards the top of the cave.
As the paper crane flew near the inky black light, the gap suddenly widened, and a thick stream of black air burst forth, engulfing the paper crane. The paper crane was instantly shredded into countless pieces of paper, but just before it shattered, Yin Wujou, through the faint connection between the paper crane and his own Spiritual Power, finally saw the scene inside the gap—behind the gap was a deep, vertical cave about two zhang in diameter, the walls of which were densely covered with those purple tentacles. In the deepest darkness, a huge, scale-covered body was curled up, slowly rising and falling, with a pulsating light emanating from beneath the scales on its abdomen.
The Demonic Flood Dragon, alive, is right below.
Yin Wujou withdrew the last bit of Spiritual Power from the scraps of paper, his face paling slightly for a moment. He stood up and leaned against the stone wall for support. Snow Empress reached out and supported his arm, feeling the muscles in his forearm taut as if he were using a great deal of strength to keep calm.
"Down there," he said softly, "It's down there. And—it's been moving upwards since it woke up. Yesterday its tentacles were about three feet higher than today. It's rising towards the ground."
Snow Empress didn't loosen her grip on his arm. "How much longer?"
"Based on the height difference between today and yesterday, if it maintains this speed, it will rise to the level of the rock platform in about seven days. At that time, it will break through the rocks on the platform and directly break through the ground."
Seven days.
"Seven days." Yin Wujou repeated, turning his head to look at Snow Empress. The lamp—no, there was no lamp here, only the white light of the night-shining pearl illuminating her profile, making the stray strand of hair hanging down her cheek look like silver. He suddenly reached out and tucked that stray strand of hair behind her ear, the movement extremely light and quick, as if afraid of being seen by something.
Snow Empress was slightly startled, but didn't pull away. She looked up at him, an arm's length apart. The heavy throbbing in the cave echoed in her ears, and the inky light from the cave ceiling continued to watch them. But for a moment, those sounds and lights seemed to be separated by a layer of water, indistinct and unclear. Yin Wujou's fingertip touched her earlobe and then withdrew it. When he withdrew his hand, there was a little bit of dark purple sticky liquid on his fingertip—it had accidentally rubbed off on the stone wall. He looked down at his fingertip, wiped the sticky liquid on the hem of his clothes, and when he looked up again, his expression had returned to its usual calm.
"Let's go up first," he said.
They exited the cave and walked back along the passageway. The return journey was more difficult than the way in; the purple viscous liquid seemed to continue seeping out, and in some places, a thin layer of dark purple puddles had accumulated, requiring careful footing. Yin Wujou walked in front, with Snow Empress following behind, about two steps apart. Neither spoke; the only sounds in the passageway were the faint patter of water underfoot and the occasional dripping from the stone walls overhead.
The exit of the crevice was just ahead. A sliver of grayish-white sunlight shone through the cracks in the rocks, casting a narrow, elongated patch of light on the purple stone wall. As Yin Wujou squeezed through the narrowest part, a large patch of purple liquid splattered off his shoulder, splashing onto the back of his neck. The liquid was frighteningly hot, like being scalded by hot oil. He frowned but didn't stop until he had completely squeezed out of the crevice and stood on the rock platform. Only then did he reach out and touch the back of his neck—a small swelling had appeared there, burning with pain.
Snow Empress then squeezed out as well. She immediately noticed the redness and swelling on the back of his neck, and reached out to touch it, Yin Wujou stepped aside to avoid it. "It's nothing, just put some medicine on it when we get back."
She withdrew her hand without saying anything. When the two climbed back up the cliff to the top of the valley, Daoist Yun was squatting in meditation between three array flags. Sensing their arrival, he opened his eyes, stood up, and dusted off his knees. "How was it?" he asked, but seeing their expressions, he knew the answer.
Yin Wujou briefly explained the situation. After listening, Daoist Yun remained silent for a long time. Suddenly, he squatted down, took out a small shovel from his pocket, and dug a shovelful of soil at his feet. The soil was a normal ochre red, but after digging down about two inches, it changed color, turning into a dark grayish purple, and emitting a fishy smell much stronger than that in the air.
"It's already seeped this far." Daoist Yun turned the shovel of soil over to show Yin Wujou. "The surface sealing array can only stop the aura from rising, it can't stop it from seeping from underground. In three more days, this soil will turn purple, then the grass will wither and the stones will soften."
Yin Wujou stared at the shovel of purple soil, his gaze calm. He seemed to have already processed the fact and was now considering countermeasures. After a while, he looked up at the sky—the sun was high in the sky, its rays pouring down directly overhead, making people feel somewhat dizzy. He took out the animal hide scroll from his storage ring and spread it on the ground. The three of them squatted in a circle, examining the earth vein map.
"The essence of the demonic vein mixed with its bodily fluids to form that pool of liquid," Yin Wujou pointed to the Soul-Severing Gorge mark on the map, "That pool of liquid is the medium through which it draws nourishment."