Chapter 41: The Clue, Re-entering Danger

Chapter 41: Clues, Plunging into Danger Once Again

"The general meaning of the writing on this is that someone named Wang, or something similar, was a master tomb builder specifically responsible for selecting auspicious burial sites for high-ranking officials and nobles. To prevent his own tomb from being robbed, he chose to build a massive ship and sink it into the seabed."

"However, the cost of doing this was unimaginably high. Therefore, while he built tombs for many dignitaries of that era, he secretly robbed those ancient tombs behind their backs, using the funerary objects to construct his own final resting place. The text here mentions things like entering a heavenly palace and countless treasures—damn it, I need to take a picture of this and study it properly later!"

"If that's the case, this old bastard really knew how to play, utterly sinister." Hearing Wu Tianzhen's words, Fatty couldn't help chiming in, "Then the owner of this sunken ship tomb should be pretty much confirmed, right? After all, throughout history, people with the capability to pull off a stunt of this magnitude can be counted on one hand."

"Yeah, pretty much!" Tianzhen stroked his chin and nodded.

Yet, while the two of them sang in harmony, they completely failed to notice that neither Wu Yu nor the Zhang Family Qilin (Poker-Face) was paying them any attention. Meanwhile, the water inside the grand hall had unknowingly risen to calf height.

At that moment, Poker-Face, who had been staring intently at the roof, suddenly underwent a drastic shift in aura. His entire demeanor seemed strangely bewitching as he swayed his body, batting his eyelashes, making faces, painting his lips, and brushing his hair, resembling nothing less than a bride-to-be about to be married!

"T-Tianzhen!" Fatty secretly tugged at Wu Tianzhen. "Look at what those two are staring up at! Why do I feel like Poker-Face is acting a bit weird?"

Hearing this, Tianzhen looked up as well, and he was completely dumbfounded—Poker-Face's state was indeed far from normal.

"Found it!" Poker-Face suddenly lowered his head to look at the group. "I remember now. I've been here before. There are mechanisms here; everyone, hurry over and wait with me for the correct door to open!"

"The correct door? What do you mean?" Tianzhen and Fatty hurriedly walked over, looking around vigilantly.

"The door behind the stone tablet will gradually open due to the water pressure here. But what opens isn't necessarily the right one. Once the water reaches a certain level, one door will close while another opens. Amidst all this, we must find the correct door; otherwise, stepping into any other means certain death with zero chance of survival!"

"So we're just going to wait here like this?" Fatty also noticed the rising water levels, and anxiety crept into his voice.

"We have no choice. These stone doors aren't opened manually; we can only wait for them to trigger during their own cyclical rotation. According to the records, we have to wait at least until the water reaches our chests, and enter when this stone tablet opens." With that, Poker-Face walked ahead to stand before a stone tablet. "Remember, this stone tablet will only remain open for five seconds. We must get inside at the very first moment!"

"From the sound of it, getting in seems a bit difficult!" Wu Yu raised an eyebrow, a bad premonition welling up in his heart.

"Yeah!" Poker-Face nodded. Suddenly, a squeaking sound echoed through the cavernous hall, and the next second, a streak of blue fluorescent light shot straight toward them.

Poker-Face was quick-witted and agile, stepping in front of Fatty just in time. With a flick of his Seeking-Dragon Fingers, he snatched the object out of the air. When he pulled his hand back, they realized it was a strange fish, about twenty centimeters long, equipped with a pair of dragonfly-like wings.

"Flying Tooth-Shark?" Wu Yu's ominous premonition intensified. "These things always travel in packs!"

As his voice fell, as if to verify Wu Yu's words, a chorus of shrill squeaks erupted, filling the air and blocking out everything else.

In the distance, within the murky water, countless Flying Tooth-Sharks began to surge forth. Streaks of blue light shone dazzlingly bright in the pitch-black environment.

"Pah, these little things aren't even enough for Fatty to snack on!" Fatty said with utter disdain.

"Heh!" Wu Tianzhen retorted ungratefully, "Flying Tooth-Sharks? I read about them in my grandfather's notes. It's said they look somewhat like hairtails, but half of their bodies are just heads. They have very long jaws with sawtooth-like shark teeth, and when they bite, they tear flesh. What's even scarier is that they can fly—leaving the water surface by forty or fifty meters is a breeze for them. Every time they appear, they blot out the sky and earth. Even great white sharks give them a wide berth. They are one of the apex predators in the water."

"Are you serious, Tianzhen? Fatty here hates pain!" Fatty swallowed hard and trembled.

"I'll take the front. Poker-Face, protect these two!" Finishing his sentence, Wu Yu drew the Chengying Sword and stepped to the vanguard, blocking the majority of the Flying Tooth-Sharks.

"Damn it, from now on Fatty's eating fish every single meal! These bastards actually hurt!" Fatty let out a yell, yanked a Flying Tooth-Shark that had burrowed into his trouser leg, and tore it in half with his bare hands.

"You motherfuckers, stop bullying Fatty!" Cursing angrily, Fatty pulled several makeshift flamethrowers and high-concentration alcohol bottles from his backpack. "Tianzhen, grab one!"

"Fatty, you look like you're heading out for a picnic!" Tianzhen never expected Fatty to have packed such bizarre items.

Yet these tools indeed provided a great deal of convenience. At the very least, those Flying Tooth-Sharks couldn't fly over anymore. However, a new problem arose: though they couldn't fly, they were still fish after all, and they could swim right up by lurking in the water.

Seeing this, Poker-Face wielded his Black Gold Ancient Sword, beginning to hack away at the Flying Tooth-Sharks in the water. But as the water level continued to rise, the number of Flying Tooth-Sharks multiplied exponentially.

"I'm coming!" Wu Yu slowly retreated from the frontlines to stand side by side with Poker-Face, slashing left and right. Meanwhile, the flamethrowers lost their effectiveness underwater, plunging the two of them back into a passive defensive state.

For a moment, the others could only watch as the duo wielded blades and swords with blinding speed, fending off wave after wave of Flying Tooth-Sharks, utterly powerless to help.

Just as time was running out, a series of pale white figures materialized once more, causing Poker-Face's expression to shift abruptly: "The Jinpo (Hair-Witches) are here!"

"Heh! These freaks actually dare to show up again. They really don't learn their lesson, do they?" Wu Yu sneer coldly. "Poker-Face, lend me some of your Qilin blood!"

"Mn!" Poker-Face nodded, unhesitatingly slicing open his arm. The Qilin blood dispersed into the surrounding water, driving away evil spirits and subduing demons, showing everyone what true auspicious majesty looked like.

Meanwhile, Wu Yu slapped his zither case, and nine sharp blades burst into the air. Terrifying sword qi churned through the entire grand hall, leaving nothing alive in its wake. Cutting right through the swarm of Flying Tooth-Sharks without stopping, the blades sliced the Jinpo to pieces first.

"It's open!" Tianzhen shouted at that moment, diving swiftly through the gap, followed closely by Fatty and Poker-Face.

"Little brother, hurry over!"

"Coming!" As Wu Yu recalled the nine swords, a grappling hook shot out from within the zither case, successfully latching onto the inside of the door at the very last second.

"Holy cow, what kind of treasure is that box of yours, little brother?" Tianzhen blurted out in sheer disbelief.

He had always thought it was merely meant for holding a zither and a sword, but now that he had witnessed the grappling hook as well, it was obvious the contraption possessed numerous other functions.

"You'll find out in due time." Wu Yu smiled, offering no further explanation.

"So, where do we go from here?" Fatty asked.

"Next, we head to the Heavenly Palace in the Clouds," Poker-Face said coldly.

"The Heavenly Palace in the Clouds?" Tianzhen's eyes lit up. "You mean that palace mentioned on the stone tablet?"