“How could this be such a coincidence? It collapsed right as I was about to leave?”
Coughing, Xia De leaned on the door and stood up, confirming that the path he had come from had indeed collapsed. He couldn't help but feel confused.
But thinking about it, there seemed to be some coincidences tonight that led him directly from Sophia's Great House to this underground iron door. For example, in the tavern, he heard the professors' conversation with just three uses of Miracle, and thus learned more secrets directly.
“Damn it, did the puppeteer's notes bring me here? But last time it was the luck of that night; this time it just seems to have provided me with convenience to get here.”
But there were no other options anyway. Although he could stay put and wait for the Witch's rescue, after all, the Witch couldn't abandon her ring. The problem was that the passage still had a very high possibility of collapsing, and Xia De couldn't stay put and wait to be buried alive.
“I can only open the door. Anyway, I still have a drop of divinity on me, so I shouldn't be that unlucky.”
He reluctantly got up and patted the dust off his body. Looking through the crack in the iron door, it was pitch black inside; even the silver light from his fingertips couldn't illuminate the dense darkness within.
Xia De placed his hand on the door, and as the ring glowed, his palm rotated slightly until the spell could no longer be used, and the door opened.
He stepped back two paces, and nothing rushed out from behind. So Xia De pushed the door, and it let out an unusually loud “creak~” sound. As his hairs stood on end, that gentle push actually opened the door completely.
He used his clothes to turn the large book in his hand into a toy to carry on his person, then illuminated the front with his left hand, and drew the Moonlight Greatsword from the air with his right hand. Xia De stepped into the darkness behind the door.
Although it was impossible to illuminate the inside of the door from the outside, once inside, the silver light from his fingertips could illuminate the entire space.
Behind the door was not a narrow passage, but a small, square darkroom. In the center of the darkroom was a pool occupying three-quarters of the space, and on the other side of the pool, there was an iron door identical to the one Xia De had pushed open.
Xia De stood at the doorway, not daring to move forward. As soon as he entered, the voice in his ear reminded him that a strong whisper element was present in this darkroom.
There was a faint light inside the darkroom, coming from the gurgling pool, as if there was not only a spring but also a light source beneath the pool.
Xia De stood there motionless. He clearly felt that something was in the darkroom; something had already set its eyes on him.
He couldn't describe this feeling more accurately, but his current sensation was more terrifying than when the spider crawled up his neck a short while ago.
His hairs stood up slightly, and panic made him want to turn and flee. But behind him was a dead end only a few meters long; turning and running was meaningless.
And at this moment, from the pool with the strange blue-white light, with a splash, a smooth arm stretched out. The skin was so delicate, the hand and arm so alluring. Even the Outsider, who prided himself on always being able to reasonably control his desire, almost couldn't control the urge to go forward and investigate.
“Oh!”
A short light blade appeared on his fingertip, and Xia De slashed at the arm. The pain immediately suppressed that strange urge. Although he was injured, it was worth it.
The collapse outside was still ongoing; he could no longer retreat. And the arm extending from the water surface danced gently above the pool, its hand seemingly boneless, making strange movements and poses, but it just wouldn't let Xia De at the doorway see its shoulder and body.
The arm glided across the water, the sound of water unusually clear in the quiet space. At the same time, a strange fragrance gradually diffused. If this scene hadn't occurred in a sealed underground darkroom, it probably would have given Xia De many romantic imaginings.
But at this moment, he only wanted to leave, to get away from that pretty hand, to get away from this pool. Whatever relic this was, it certainly wasn't a good thing.
“Hehe~”
Laughter came from the pool. It was a woman's laughter, like the clear sound of silver bells, refreshing, and like a cold drink on a hot summer day, invigorating the heart.
The laughter appeared intermittently, gradually gaining a seductive meaning. Although Xia De had never encountered a similar voice, it was undoubtedly a voice that stirred primal human desire.
However, compared to the arm that could dance gracefully on the water surface with just its arm, this voice had no attraction for Xia De whatsoever.
After all, having grown accustomed to the laughter of the woman's voice in his ear, other laughter seemed too ordinary to Xia De.
“Should I thank you for your compliment?”
“If you have time to mock me, why don't you help me figure out what to do now?”
Xia De's hand gripped the doorframe tightly, veins almost popping out of his arm. It wasn't nervousness, but an almost uncontrollable urge to step forward.
“It's simple. Don't you have a Cult's scripture on you?”
Xia De suddenly understood and hurriedly restored the book, then searched for records about this thing. It was just that the damned Cultists hadn't created an index for their religious scripture, so Xia De could only flip through page by page, forced to read those evil and terrifying Knowledge.
The book had over two hundred pages.
A splash startled Xia De. Looking up, the dancing hand had already retracted below the water surface, and in its place, a woman's leg extended from the water. Again, only the leg was visible, not any other part of the body. Toes painted with red nail polish were slightly curled, and the fair skin had a milky luster.
Xia De had to admit, at this moment, he was truly tempted.
“To test me, an Outsider, with something like this.”
Although tempted, he still firmly gripped the doorframe, not letting go. If Xia De had any virtues, he believed his self-control was very strong.
“Why couldn't these damned Mermaids write summaries at the beginning of each chapter and conclusions at the end?”
He inwardly cursed the Mermaids for their complete lack of academic spirit, trying his best not to look up.
However, the sound of the woman's leg stirring the water really made him associate it with many images. And even if he plugged his ears with cloth, those sounds still entered his ears unobstructed.
The woman's soft laughter and the sounds of splashing water constantly teased Xia De's nerves, making him want to look up or walk forward.
“This is…”
Fortunately, the content appearing in the book in his hand temporarily attracted all of Xia De's attention. He didn't find information about the creature in the pool, but rather saw records about the “Golden Pearl.”
This section of the record was placed together with the Scarlet Cult's ritual of evil god worship, describing in the tone of religious mythology the scene of the evil god descending into the material world in ancient eons.
The Mermaids built a huge temple for the deity in their Mermaid city in the deep-sea abyss. The Saint occupied the body of a giant Mermaid, spreading terrifying Knowledge to believers in the temple and accepting bloody sacrifices.
Before the deity left, to reward the believers' piety, He killed half of the Mermaid population at that time, using the tears of joy, ecstasy, fear, and pain to create a golden pearl, to hold the power He bestowed upon the Mermaid race.
