Chapter 40: The Mermaid in the Tomb!

Chapter 40: Mermaids in the Tomb!

"Thunder and Fire String!"

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

"Thud!"

Another wave of bodies collapsing echoed from the darkness. Although nothing could be seen, victory seemed to be beckoning them. However, some creatures in the distance were still making that bizarre noise, as if struggling fiercely in resistance.

"Spring Wood String!"

"Sharp Metal String!"

As the third string sounded, absolute silence fell over the dark tomb passage.

Seeing this, Wu Yu stopped playing.

He touched the strings to mute the sound.

Taking a deep breath, he unhurriedly packed away his guqin, and looked back at Wu Tianzhen and Fatty, who were standing there in a daze. "Let's go, the path is clear."

"Gulp!" Both of them swallowed hard, gazing at the large zither case on Wu Yu's back with a hint of terror.

Though they knew Wu Yu's music possessed miraculous power, only today did they realize just how terrifying it truly was.

As they pressed onward, the darkness seemed to cower, continuously retreating before them.

The creatures revealed in the illumination startled the group immensely.

"What on earth are these?" Fatty nudged one with his foot, but upon seeing the grotesque face, he scrambled backward in fright.

"Mermaids!" Wu Yu smiled. "These are the so-called mermaids from fairy tales. I always thought they were just legends, but I never expected this sunken ship to be farming so many of them!"

"What the hell! Master Yu, don't bully me just because I'm uneducated. Are these things supposed to be mermaids?" Fatty asked with a strange expression.

Yet, they did closely match the descriptions of mermaids in fairy tales—except, of course, for those spine-chilling faces.

"They should be," Wu Tianzhen said, recalling local lore. "They used their voices to lure passing sailors, enchanting them into jumping overboard to live and breed with them." He paused, then added, "Though, judging by the piles of bones everywhere, the sailors were clearly just treated as food."

"Those skeletons aren't just human," Wu Yu noted. "There are even more water monkeys and creatures of their own kind. These things are utterly ferocious; they're one of the few species with zero sense of kinship, capable of ambushing and devouring even their own kind. Be careful if you encounter them in the future. If you're not confident in your ability to resist their sonic waves, run as far away as you can as early as possible."

"Huh? Master Yu, is that a treasure?" At that moment, Fatty suddenly pointed upward.

Unbeknownst when, the darkness lingering throughout the tomb passage had seemingly been absorbed, finally gathering at the ceiling into a shrinking sphere.

Wu Yu waved his hand, and the Sanjin Sword unleashed a wave of sword Qi that severed it, bringing the object down into his palm.

It resembled a glass marble, yet swirling smoke seemed trapped within its core.

Poker-Face stepped forward to take a look. "Black Ink Pearl. It's found within the belly of a deep-sea ancient octopus. It can emit a dense black fog to shroud its surroundings, used for ambushes while hunting."

"No wonder we couldn't see anything in here earlier, and it only revealed itself after all those mermaids were killed," Wu Yu murmured. "It requires a drop of your blood to bond with it, and then you become its new master."

Hearing this, Wu Yu nodded without hesitation.

This item was practically an essential tool for murder and pillaging. Operating on the principle that if he couldn't use it, he certainly wouldn't let anyone else keep it to cause trouble for him later, Wu Yu decisively claimed ownership of the object first.

Judging by its size, it would fit perfectly right in the center of the ring of his White Emperor Jade Pendant when he returned. It actually looked like it would suit it rather well!

The journey ahead grew somewhat aimless, but they had no choice-but to keep moving. The system had heavily modified the entire world, and the undersea sunken ship tomb had also deviated from the original timeline, making it impossible for Wu Yu to rely on the original plot for predictions.

Along the way, mechanical traps and hidden arrows turned out to be the simplest hazards; with Poker-Face leading the way, these mechanisms were disarmed with ease.

However, when faced with locations that looked genuinely ominous, even they had to choose to take a detour.

"Huh, it feels a bit damp!" Fatty remarked, sensing the change in the surrounding air.

"Be careful!" Wu Yu walked in front and soon discovered a layer of standing water on the ground ahead. After taking two steps, he found it wasn't deep—reaching barely above their ankles.

"Follow the riverbed!" Poker-Face spoke abruptly, his hazy gaze carrying a sharp edge.

"Move!" Wu Yu didn't hesitate, immediately picking up his pace.

He knew Poker-Face could sometimes recover fragments of his memory through specific triggers, though the windows were brief. Seizing those moments would add a significant layer of convenience to their expedition.

Sure enough, they soon arrived at a grand hall lined with numerous stone steles, though their path ahead was blocked once more.

"There's... something strange here!" Tianzhen inspected the area and said, "The path should be behind these steles, but how do we—ah, skeletal remains!"

Upon hearing this, the three of them hurried over, and sure enough, a skeleton lay behind one of the stone steles.

"The clothes haven't completely rotted away; judging by the style and material, it's been at least thirty years," Wu Yu observed. "This is probably one of the companions Third Uncle brought back then. Did Third Aunt's notes mention anything about this?"

"No!" Tianzhen shook his head. "Third Aunt's notes only recorded that after entering this place, Third Uncle and Uncle Xie disagreed and had a heated argument. Afterward, someone of great influence seemed to have intervened to stop it, but because things got too hectic, Third Aunt never got around to writing down what happened next."

"If that's the case, then the person in the photograph probably wasn't Xiao Ge, right? No matter how advanced plastic surgery is, it's impossible to turn someone back into how they looked thirty years ago!" Fatty walked up, offering a joking remark.

Wu Tianzhen nodded upon hearing this, but Wu Yu remained silent.

"Judging from the skeleton, it looks like it suffered an impact; the sternum has collapsed, though it shouldn't have been fatal on its own. As to why it was left here, who knows?" Wu Yu stood up. "Still, we can imagine that this place is definitely not safe, so everyone be careful and don't randomly touch or poke anything!"

With that, Wu Yu cast a pointed look at Fatty.

He might not remember much else, but Fatty's penchant for meddling hands rivaled Tianzhen's constitution of opening a tomb and invariably causing a corpse to rise.

"Heh heh, Fatty's not touching a thing. I'll just stand here like a wooden post!" Fatty laughed awkwardly and stepped back, retreating to Tianzhen's side.

"There must be some kind of mechanism here, and these steles are probably the key," Tianzhen began studying the carvings and seal script on the massive stone steles.

Wu Yu glanced around the grand hall, and after confirming there was no immediate danger, he nodded.

It was then that he noticed Poker-Face, ever since arriving in this hall, had turned exceptionally gloomy, his eyes constantly clouded with gravity, making him look ready to strike at a moment's notice.

Wu Yu wanted to say something, but he stopped in his tracks.

He watched as Poker-Face suddenly walked to the exact center of the hall and raised his head to look upward. Following his gaze, Wu Yu realized the ceiling was actually constructed from a massive bronze mirror dozens of meters high!