Echoes
The boat slowed down more on the return journey. After the Moon Tide, the flow of the dark waters weakened, and the boat's speed decreased to that of a normal ocean current. Long Tian leaned against the bow with his eyes closed, the Origin Return Pearl continuously spinning at a low speed, reviewing in his mind the spatial layout and the location of the stone slabs he had sensed in the lower hall and that small room, like repeatedly examining an old road he had traversed many times before.
As dawn broke, the ship sailed out of the end of that light-colored band. The seawater, which had been a pale silver-gray, returned to the deep blue of the open ocean. The morning light from the shore spread across the horizon, dividing the sky and sea into two parallel bands of light. Long Tian sat up straight at the bow, took out the silk map from his leather pouch, spread it on his lap, and examined it again in the morning light. His finger paused for a moment at the center mark, then closed it again.
They returned to Longfish Bay the following afternoon. The man at the stern docked the boat, secured the mooring lines, and said little, only nodding to Long Tian before picking up the old net from the stern and spreading it out on the deck, as if it were a routine task he performed daily, showing no signs of having just returned from a long voyage. Long Tian Yu Jin went ashore and walked along the dirt road beside the dock out of Longfish Bay. The late spring sun was already quite strong, making the loose soil on the road slightly hot. After walking for a while, they rested in the shade of an old willow tree by the roadside. Long Tian sat on the roots of the tree, emptied the fine sand that had filled his boots, and tightened the straps of his leather bag.
They knew the way back to the stone house from Longfish Bay all too well. There were more ruts on the road than last time they had walked it, and the ruts were going in both directions, as if the traffic in this area had increased recently. When they passed a fork in the road Long Tian squatted down to examine a relatively new rut—wide wheel track, deep ruts, indicating a considerable load, and the soil at the edge of the rut hadn't been completely dried by the wind, suggesting it was left within the last few days. He didn't follow the direction of that rut and stood up to continue walking.
It was already dark when they returned to the stone house. Long Tieshan sat by the stove, reheating the remaining porridge in the pot. Long Tian and Yu Jin each filled a bowl and sat around the table to drink. The porridge contained dried vegetables and chopped salted meat, which, with the continuous heating, formed a uniform mixture. Long Tian drank two bowls, placed them on the table, and recounted the news he had brought back from the Great Abyss. He didn't deliberately slow down his speech, as if he were organizing a complete set of information. Long Tieshan didn't interrupt from beginning to end, only slightly raising his gaze when Long Tian mentioned the connection between the stone slab and the dark gray bead, before returning his gaze to the table.
That night, Long Tian and Yu Jin rested in the stone house. The next morning, before dawn, Long Tian got up, packed his leather bag, put away the tide record, the silk map, the fish skin paper, and Shen Mo's note, and went out with Yu Jin. They walked along the official road for most of the day, arriving at the fork in the road outside the Shrek Academy in the afternoon. Tang San was sitting cross-legged in an open space behind the academy, with several books and a map of the Spirit Hall area spread out in front of him. He looked up in Long Tian's direction, his gaze lingering on the layer of light on Long Tian's shoulder that continued to shine in the sunlight, then pointed to the ground opposite him, gesturing for him to sit down beside him.
Long Tian squatted down beside Tang San and spread the silk map out on the ground in front of him. He pointed to the center mark on the map and the extended path interrupted by wavy lines, explaining the structure of the Great Abyss, the reliefs on the low platform, the walls engraved with Universal Language slogans, and the circular stone slab in the room that resonated with the dark gray bead. Tang San listened, his gaze following the lines of the silk map, pausing briefly at the center mark, before saying, "If that circular stone slab resonates with the bead, it means it's currently sealed, not damaged. The fact that it reacted when you brought the Yu Jin Bead near it means it's still functioning."
Long Tian nodded. Tang San's gaze lingered again on the end of the abruptly cut-off path on the silk map, then he pulled out a book from the pile beside him, flipped to a certain page, and turned it to show Long Tian its contents. The page contained a simplified diagram similar to the marked area at the end of the silk map, but with thicker, simpler lines, like an illustration copied from an old textbook. Below the diagram was a line of small print. "Southeast Sea Abyss - Speculated Relic - Unverified."
Long Tian examined the illustration and the silk map side-by-side for a moment, confirming the differences and overlaps, before putting the silk map back into his pouch. Tang San closed the book, not asking for further details, only saying, "If you go down again next time, try embedding that bead. The area that reacts corresponds to the interface groove, not the entire surface of the stone slab—you might have touched the wrong contact surface the first time."
Long Tian remained seated, replaying the sentence in his mind. There was a gap between the area of the interface slot and the size of the dark gray bead, as if a margin had been left in the design. He nodded, stood up, slung the leather pouch over his shoulder, nodded in Tang San's direction, and then turned and walked back along the road. Yu Jin emerged from the shadows by the courtyard wall and followed him. As they returned to the fork in the road, Tang San lowered his head again and opened the book. Behind him, a page turned with a soft sound, carried away by the wind.