Chapter 1253: The Entrance to the Secret Room

The Divine Bone Necklace had been dormant for a long time, but it reacted as he approached the clearing by the river. The closer he got to the water, the warmer the necklace became.

So, what secrets lay beneath the river?

The underground river's water was crystal clear. He Lingchuan took out his Soaring Dragon Spear and thrust it down, but couldn't touch the bottom.

"It's quite deep," he murmured. "No wonder the current slows down here."

It was no surprise the Soul-Capturing Mirror couldn't detect anything, as water had always been the best medium to block spiritual perception.

Fu Liushan threw an acorn figurine into the water to survey the riverbed. He then sat down, closed his eyes, and meditated.

Several specters floated behind, watching with interest. Seeing this, they said, "Let us help too."

After saying that, they silently slipped into the water.

Half an hour later, Fu Liushan opened his eyes and said:

"The riverbed is about one zhang deep, with many pits and crevices, but I didn't find anything unusual."

The other specters gradually emerged from the water, all reporting that they hadn't seen any hidden entrances or exits.

After listening, He Lingchuan took out a tortoise pearl and placed it in his mouth, then entered the water.

Those on the shore, both humans and specters, watched as He Lingchuan took out a glowing spore for illumination underwater and swam directly toward the deeper parts, as if he had a very clear destination.

Guided by the Divine Bone Necklace, he circled twice before confirming the direction.

At the bottom of the river were two dark green, sturdy rocks. They were no different from other stones, ordinary in size, shape, and texture, completely unremarkable.

Whether human or specter, anyone swimming nearby would likely not notice them.

However, as He Lingchuan swam around them, the Divine Bone Necklace in his palm felt hottest.

Did the rocks contain a treasure that the Great Square Flask desired, or was the dwelling located here?

He raised the glowing spore, inspecting the two rocks. Incidentally, he drew out Fusheng to test their hardness.

If they were some kind of key mechanism, they should be protected by divine powers or formations before becoming obsolete.

But Fusheng easily pierced them, as if stabbing into two pieces of cake.

What's going on?

"Inside!" the Soul-Capturing Mirror suddenly prompted him. "In the rock crevice, there's something!"

He Lingchuan held the glowing spore deep into the crevice and shone it, and indeed saw something lodged within.

He reached out and poked it a few times, discovering it was a pagoda-shaped...

...snail shell?

This snail shell was about the length of a middle finger, with black and gray patterns. Tucked into the crevice, it was truly inconspicuous.

Furthermore, a few snail shells in any river were perfectly normal.

So, neither the acorn figurines nor the specters who entered the water earlier had found anything unusual here.

After all, there was a significant amount of debris underwater: branches, wood chips, algae, and rotting fruits brought in from outside. A snail shell amidst all that was like a tree hidden in a forest, unlikely to attract attention—except for He Lingchuan, who was specifically searching.

Moreover, the riverbed was covered in green algae, but only this snail shell's surface was remarkably clean, suggesting it had been touched recently.

He touched the snail shell and gently tried to lift it.

It didn't budge.

He Lingchuan exerted considerable force, but the snail shell didn't break at all.

The hardness of this thing was not like an ordinary shell.

He then tried rotating the snail shell. It felt like twisting a screw, heavy and substantial.

With a "bipop" sound, a string of bubbles suddenly emerged from the crevice.

The Soul-Capturing Mirror cheered, "Aha, an underwater secret chamber!"

This isn't difficult at all! It's not as troublesome as the time they cleared out the White Bear King's den.

However, He Lingchuan waited for a while underwater, but didn't see any rocks opening or any new openings appearing on the riverbed.

Yet he was very certain that he had twisted the snail shell.

So, where was the entrance to the secret chamber?

He searched around underwater, but found nothing unusual.

As he pondered intensely, the Soul-Capturing Mirror suddenly said, "Turn off the light."

He Lingchuan heard this and put away the glowing spore, and the riverbed returned to complete darkness.

And then?

The mirror then said, "Look up at the surface."

He Lingchuan looked up at the water's surface, which was pitch black.

What's the problem?

But he immediately realized, without needing further explanation from the mirror, and began kicking his legs to surface.

The clearing by the river grew luminous moss, which looked very bright from underwater. How could it be pitch black?

He had searched every crevice on the riverbed, but had only forgotten to explore upwards!

Earlier, holding the glowing spore, the area around him was brightest, causing him to overlook the anomaly on the shore.

He Lingchuan surfaced, shaking his head.

Although he couldn't see his hand in front of his face, he could feel that the surrounding scenery had changed.

He quickly took out the glowing spore for illumination.

Indeed, the moss, specters, Fu Liushan, Dong Rui, and others were all gone. Before him was only a stony beach and a narrow, elongated cave entrance.

It was dark and quiet.

In the most prominent position on the rock wall, an indented circular niche had been carved, holding another snail shell with identical black and gray patterns.

Needless to say, this was the mechanism to open and close the secret chamber from the inside.

He Lingchuan took two steps forward, twisted the snail shell in the niche, then turned around and jumped back into the water!

In the clearing by the river, Dong Rui and Fu Liushan were waiting by the bank when they suddenly saw the light at the bottom of the water vanish.

"Huh?" Dong Rui leaned forward. "Did he turn off his light, or has he entered the secret chamber?"

Fu Liushan spread his hands, indicating he didn't know.

However, his expression immediately turned serious. He pulled two green candles from his robes, placed them on the ground, one on the left and one on the right, and lit them.

The candlelight was also a faint green, looking particularly eerie.

Then, he drew a circle between the two candles, gesturing to Dong Rui and the two monkeys:

"Quick, stand inside!"

Dong Rui complied, asking, "Why?"

"The malevolent qi is coming!" Fu Liushan pointed around them. Only then did Dong Rui and Lingguang realize that black mist was slowly drifting from the passageway and rock crevices.

This was earth fiend qi.

With He Lingchuan present, the malevolent qi wouldn't bother them.

Now that the malevolent qi had returned, Dong Rui shrank into the circle.

"I hope he really found the secret chamber."

As the drifting malevolent qi touched the flame of the green candle, it burst with a "hiss," emitting a puff of white vapor.

The flame flickered violently twice, as if encountering a strong wind, and these wisps of malevolent qi seemed to avoid the flame, no longer approaching.

Fu Liushan said gravely, "These two qi-expelling candles won't last long. He'd better come out quickly."

Only with He Lingchuan gone did they realize how troublesome the malevolent qi was. Without He Lingchuan, this human-shaped "bug," they would have to fight monsters while dispelling qi, making it impossible to defeat the ghost king.

Dong Rui nodded, and squeezed the ring on his middle finger.

Actually, this ring contained a Dragon Punishment Pillar, which could also absorb malevolent qi.

Their preparations were thorough. In case they were separated in the underground palace, Dong Rui would also be immune to malevolent qi damage.

However, this Dragon Punishment Pillar was not needed, because a few minutes later, the glowing spore lit up underwater again.

Immediately after, He Lingchuan surfaced from the water, and the surrounding malevolent qi was instantly absorbed by him.

He waved to the two of them, "Come down, I've found the entrance."

The three surfaced and walked onto the stony beach. The two monkeys vigorously shook the water from their bodies.

Fu Liushan examined the cave entrance under the spore's light, his face full of curiosity. "Well, how in the world did you find it?"