Chapter Forty: The Mystery of the Reservoir

As soon as her words fell, a surge of black, sinister energy began to emanate from the priestess. In the next instant, the darkness rapidly rushed back into her body, and black veins appeared all over her, visible to the naked eye.

“Do you know why this book is called the Netherworld Tome? Because it can only be learned by the dead who have descended into the underworld. When I stole the book years ago, I never dared to peer into its contents. My original plan was to use your greed against you, but unexpectedly your Nine Yin Fate benefited from it. Later, when you dared to kill me, it turned out to be my blessing!”

“For twenty years, I was sealed inside Luo Xiu’s living corpse, day and night studying the Netherworld Tome. Though imprisoned, it gave me the perfect opportunity to master its forbidden arts. Eventually, I fully learned a spiritual forbidden technique from the book, allowing me to extend my control across the entire White Street. That’s how your precious grandson fell into my trap!”

“Now, I possess the Netherworld Tome, I am a fierce ghost, and I have reclaimed my Dao body. Do you still think you are my match?”

By now, her face had become wildly deranged. She suddenly grabbed Grandfather’s wrist and, with a forceful twist, tore his entire arm off.

Seeing this, I completely lost it and shouted for her to stop.

The priestess turned her head, her face twisted with malice, and said to me, “You want me to stop? Fine, then jump down right now!”

“Alright!”

“No, Wu Dao, don’t!”

Grandfather’s voice kept trying to stop me, but at this moment, I had no choice left. Though he was already dead, his soul still resided within the bus driver’s body, and the priestess could easily make his soul vanish forever.

I could not accept watching my grandfather’s soul dissipate before my eyes. No matter what, I had to jump, even though I didn’t know what secrets lay beneath the reservoir, nor how dangerous it might be. Regardless, there was no other way.

“If I bring up that object, will you let my grandfather go?”

The priestess smiled and nodded. Grandfather tried to protest, but she knocked him out with a single blow. “That treasure is a great seal. Once you go down, I’ll give you seven days. If you don’t return in seven days, I will make your grandfather’s soul disappear forever!”

“Seven days?”

I was momentarily stunned, and the priestess explained, “Don’t worry about oxygen. The world beneath the reservoir is not as simple as you imagine. Remember: a great seal. I’ll wait for you here in seven days!”

“Alright.”

I took a deep breath, stopped thinking further—since the priestess had spoken so, she had no need to deceive me. I closed my eyes and jumped straight into the reservoir.

No sooner had I jumped than I heard a splash behind me. Turning, I saw that Wang Feiyang had followed me. Before I could react, another splash sounded, and Lu Li also leaped in after us.

Shock filled me. The priestess had only demanded that I jump to retrieve her item, not Wang Feiyang or Lu Li. The reservoir below was extremely perilous; I couldn’t fathom why those two had followed me.

But under these circumstances, I had no opportunity to question them. I could only steel myself and swim downward. The feeling was much like diving in a swimming pool—holding my breath, uncomfortable—but unlike the clear water of a pool, the water here was murky, black tinged with red. The deeper I went, the black faded, and the water became purely red.

I didn’t know how long I’d been sinking—it felt like only a few seconds, yet also like several endless years. At first, the pressure of the water weighed on me, but suddenly, my body felt light. Instinctively, I took a breath, expecting to choke, but to my surprise, I inhaled a lungful of fresh air.

“What’s happening?”

My dizzy mind cleared, and in the next moment, I felt myself suspended in midair. A second later, I crashed heavily onto the ground.

Staggering to my feet, I was utterly stunned by the sight before me.

Directly ahead, seven blood-red coffins floated in the air. Each coffin was bound by thick iron chains, arranged in the pattern of the Eight Trigrams. In the center, encircled by the coffins, stood a massive round iron gate. The gate was ajar, and a red liquid flowed continuously from it—like blood—spreading outward in all directions.

Only now did I realize that these coffins exerted a strange magic, forcibly creating a pocket of space underwater. Yet this space had been damaged, revealing a crack. Water from outside could not seep in, but the red liquid within escaped through the fissure, merging with the reservoir outside.

So this was why the water in Dongmen Reservoir could never be fully drained, and why it had turned red: the crack let the red liquid blend with the reservoir’s water.

I stared fixedly at the seven floating red coffins and the iron gate, utterly baffled by their purpose and what lay beyond the gate.

At that moment, two thuds sounded behind me—Wang Feiyang and Lu Li had dropped down as well.

Their faces were equally filled with astonishment at the scene. I turned to them, helplessly asking, “Why did you follow me down here? Did the priestess force you?”

Wang Feiyang shot me a cold look. “I jumped because I wanted to. Is that any of your business?”

I felt a wave of exasperation. Though his words sounded harsh, I understood he regarded me as a brother, which was why he had jumped in after me without hesitation.

I understood Wang Feiyang’s motivation. But what about Lu Li? Both of us turned to him, puzzled, asking why he had jumped in as well.

Lu Li gave us a righteous grin. “I’ve always followed my master on Mount Shu, rarely venturing down the mountain, so I have few friends. Unexpectedly, I met you two here. Now that we’ve faced life and death together, if you jumped, of course I’d follow!”

Lu Li had always struck me as a straightforward, honest fellow without a hint of scheming—just as the priestess had said. It was strange that someone so simple could master the Sword Decision, a technique reserved for the chief disciples of Mount Shu. But to me, Lu Li was the perfect kind of friend.

Seeing the varied expressions of these two companions, a warmth rose inexplicably in my heart. They, too, now noticed the seven eerie red coffins and the round iron gate at the center.

“How could there be seven coffins and an iron gate beneath this reservoir?” Lu Li asked, puzzled.

I shook my head. “I don’t know. The priestess sent me down to fetch her treasure, but didn’t explain what’s beneath the reservoir. Now, it seems her so-called treasure might be inside one of these coffins—or perhaps behind that iron gate.”

Once more, I gazed at the iron gate, watching the red liquid seep out, feeling a chill in my heart. I quickly shifted my attention to the seven chained red coffins.

Suddenly, I noticed that the coffins’ surfaces were covered in dense inscriptions—lines upon lines, each no wider than a strand of hair. Though the script was tiny, I could make out the patterns, but regrettably, I couldn’t read the language.

Wang Feiyang and Lu Li had noticed the writing as well. Soon, Wang Feiyang spoke up, “These are burial inscriptions.”

“What do they say?” I knew Wang Feiyang could read them and hurriedly asked.

After studying them for a moment, Wang Feiyang softly read aloud one inscription: “Liu Haoqiang, born in the year of Xinwei, month of Gengzi, day of Dingchou; died in the year of Renchen, month of Jiyou, day of Eyou; cause of death: traffic accident; imprisoned: thirty-eight.”