Chapter 78
Chapter 78
The white Divine Shrine was empty, and Aman’s question echoed through the space.
Han Lie’s ears buzzed, and it felt as if his very soul was being pulled from his body. The wooden bead against his chest and the vermilion brand in the center of his heart burned simultaneously.
In the dream induced by the Dream-Embracing Grass, he had seen the Supreme Deity.
Intuition told him that the eyes at the ceiling of the Divine Shrine were related to the Supreme Deity. To be more precise and rigorous, the eyes at the top of the shrine might belong to the Young Supreme Deity Qin Ying.
These sacrificial offerings kneeling in the cauldrons were all meant for Her.
Han Lie’s mind was in turmoil, but he honestly recounted what he saw.
Outside the box, Qin Ying raised a hand to touch the red mole at the corner of her right eye, a layer of sweat breaking out across her back. She cleared her throat and asked, “Can you tell roughly how old the owner of those eyes was?”
Han Lie did not know what she was thinking. He focused his gaze and replied, “They should be… like those of a human child of three or four years old.”
Three or four?
Qin Ying searched her memories and found she had no recollection of this at all. When she was little, her biological parents had a decent relationship and lived with her in another city.
Qin Ying only had an impression of one thing-a white kindergarten, where there were only five or six students in the class, and the honeydew melon at lunch was particularly sweet. Also, she seemed to have beaten up a classmate who tried to steal her melon.
She couldn’t remember anything else.
Seeing her silence, Han Lie became anxious inside the box. “Supreme Deity, are you alright?”
Qin Ying rubbed her temples, feeling a slight headache. She took a deep breath and said, “I’m fine. You two continue.”
Standing in the Divine Shrine, Han Lie opened and closed his mouth several times, but ultimately did not dare to pry further. He said to Aman, “Move forward. Be careful.”
While they were inside the Divine Shrine, Qin Ying would be unable to protect them if they encountered any sudden danger.
When viewed from a high vantage point, the back half of the Divine Shrine appeared to be embedded into the mountain. Only by actually walking through it could one discover the vast space within.
The further they went, the emptier it became, and the light grew increasingly dim. Han Lie and Aman were forced to light their makeshift torches, searching inch by inch for clues regarding this shrine.
To their disappointment, the Divine Shrine was hollow. Aside from those White Stone Giant Cauldrons holding the sacrificial offerings, there were no other clues to be found.
Han Lie felt as if a heavy stone was pressing on his chest. Just as the torch in his hand flickered unsteadily, the scene ahead suddenly changed.
Amidst a soaring red glow, a massive jade disc stood at the end of the path. Even from a distance, the two of them could feel waves of scorching heat hitting their faces.
Reaching the edge, Aman took one look and immediately pulled his head back.
In front of the jade disc was a sheer, vertical pit. The edges were neatly constructed by hand, and molten magma flowed within. The height was enough to make one’s head spin and legs go weak.
Aman couldn’t help but take two steps back.
Han Lie, however, looked delighted. He leaned in closer to examine the jade disc before the fire pit.
On the white jade, simple lines were carved into a picture. A person with long, disheveled hair had their hands and hair bound together, suspended from a giant tree.
“It is Wei Imprisoned in Shu Shu,” Han Lie recognized the content of the mural behind the firelight.
Outside the box, Qin Ying fell into a sudden silence-what on earth was that?
The Supreme Deity didn’t know, and the Supreme Deity was currently contemplating how to ask without losing face.
Fortunately, Aman was there.
Aman asked the very question Qin Ying wanted to ask most: “What does ‘Wei Imprisoned in Shu Shu’ mean?”
Han Lie suddenly snapped out of his daze and explained, “The man in the mural is named Wei.
“In the ancient myths of Great Xia, Wei and Er Fu together killed Ya Yu, a being with a human head and a serpent’s body.
“Later, the Heavenly Emperor used the elixir of immortality to bring Ya Yu back to life. However, Ya Yu, who had originally been honest and kind, became mentally deranged and violent after his resurrection, transforming into a monster.
“To punish those who murdered Ya Yu, the Heavenly Emperor imprisoned Wei on the legendary Shu Shu Mountain. He shackled Wei’s right foot, bound his hands and hair together behind his back, and hung him from a tree.”
Aman had spent time studying in Luoyang, so he could grasp the general meaning of Han Lie’s explanation.
He scratched his face, which was burning hot from the heat of the magma, and asked, “Then… could Golden Saddle Mountain be the legendary Shu Shu Mountain?
“Is Wei still imprisoned here?”
To his surprise, Han Lie shook his head. “That is not the case.
“Murals of ‘Wei Imprisoned in Shu Shu’ are commonly painted in prisons and cages.
“It simply signifies…”
Aman finished the thought for him. “It signifies that this place is a cage?”
Han Lie nodded silently.
Aman couldn’t help but scratch his head again. “This matches what the Supreme Deity said.”
Qin Ying had suspected earlier that something might be imprisoned within Golden Saddle Mountain, with the lightning-shrouded Thunderbird serving as its jailer.
It seemed she had stumbled upon the truth.
Han Lie’s gaze swept over the mural of Wei Imprisoned in Shu Shu twice more. When his eyes inadvertently landed on a certain spot, his pupils constricted, and he strode toward it.
Aman hurried to follow, but after taking two steps, he gasped.
There, at the edge of the vertical pit, someone had actually driven stakes into the stone to support a rope ladder leading downward.
Aman stepped forward quickly and tugged at the ladder with his thumb and forefinger. “It’s woven from Sand Lizard skin.”
Specially crafted ropes like these were impervious to fire and water, remaining resilient for hundreds or even thousands of years.
Sand Lizards were only active near Golden Saddle Mountain, and the only ones who knew how to weave ropes from their skin were the local Sand People tribes.
Aman couldn’t help but look at Han Lie. “The people from the Guifang Tribe went down.”
They had descended into a cage surrounded by blazing flames.
Aman’s mouth felt dry. He hardly dared to imagine the state of whatever was imprisoned beneath the magma of this Divine Shrine.
He suggested, “Why don’t we find a way to take one of the sacrifices from the great cauldron? Surely that would be enough evidence…”
Aman’s voice trailed off as he lost confidence in his own words.
Han Lie’s face was as grim as still water. “I’m going down to investigate.”
He didn’t actually need to take such a risk.
Although the Supreme Deity had given no such command, the brand in the center of his chest was pulsing with heat. He felt instinctively that there was something very important down there.
The Supreme Deity had mentioned before that He couldn’t even see the starry sky. Perhaps… He was the one imprisoned somewhere.
At this thought, Han Lie’s resolve to descend grew even firmer.
Aman was stunned. “No matter how formidable a soldier of the Jade Balance Army is, he’s still made of flesh and blood. There’s magma down there-how can you possibly withstand it?”
As he spoke, Han Lie had already stripped off his leather armor and inner tunic.
He took out a waterskin containing Fei Yi gallbladders and crushed one, smearing the bitter, yellow bile over his body.
He quickly and efficiently finished his preparations to descend.
Realizing he couldn’t talk Han Lie out of it, Aman could only assist by helping him apply the bile.
This bile would help him resist the intense heat to some degree.
Once ready, the two agreed on a time limit of one hour.
Bare-chested and muscular, Han Lie gripped his Ring-Pommel Saber between his teeth and began to climb down the Sand Lizard skin rope.