novelsite Chapter 30 Coral Tree
Chapter 30 Coral Tree
Qin Yuan and Zhang Qiling exchanged a glance and stepped into the deep hole in the wall first, followed closely by Wu Xie and Fatty, who were warily watching their surroundings.
The air inside the cave was foul, filled with an indescribable stench of fishiness mixed with decay.
After walking for about several dozen meters, the passage ahead turned a corner, and the faint crying sound seemed to become clearer. Rounding the corner, a dark figure curled up on the ground appeared; the sobbing was coming from this figure.
The dark figure seemed startled, the crying stopped abruptly, and it suddenly raised its head, revealing a face stained with dirt but still recognizable in shape—A-Ning!
However, she was in extremely bad shape at the moment. Her hair was disheveled and stuck to her forehead, there were several obvious bloodstains on her face, her wetsuit was torn, and her eyes were empty and lifeless.
When she saw Qin Yuan and the others, instead of asking for help, she let out a scream and tried to run away using both her hands and feet!
But she was no match for Zhang Qiling. With a swift movement, Zhang Qiling casually placed one hand on A Ning's shoulder and, with a slight exertion, pinned her firmly to the spot, unable to move.
The fat man squeezed forward and, seeing Ah Ning's disheveled appearance, couldn't help but tease her, "Oh ho! Isn't this our Miss Ah Ning? What happened? You've become such a miserable mess after being apart for so short time?"
However, Aning did not respond to his words, but struggled in vain, her eyes still unfocused, and she made meaningless sobs.
Zhang Qiling examined her condition and said in a deep voice, "She is delirious and unconscious; she has suffered a great shock."
"Exciting? That's easy! I have an ancestral awakening technique!" The fat man rolled up his sleeves, eager to try, and was about to step forward to treat the patient.
"Fatty, what are you doing?" Wu Xie quickly stopped him.
"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing!" The fat man walked past Wu Xie, stood in front of A Ning, took a deep breath, and swung his arm.
"Slap! Slap!"
With a swift left and right motion, two crisp and loud slaps landed squarely on Ah Ning's face!
Ah Ning's cheeks swelled up instantly at a visible speed, but she was only knocked to the side by the blow, her eyes still glazed over, showing no signs of waking up.
"Hey! You're pretty stubborn!" The fat man was a little embarrassed.
"Alright, Fatty! Stop hitting her!" Wu Xie couldn't stand it anymore and pulled Fatty back. "She's clearly not just having a moment of distraction; hitting her won't help. Let's leave her here, go inside and check the situation ahead, and bring her back when we find a way out."
The fat man reluctantly withdrew his hand, muttering, "That woman got off easy."
The group settled the unconscious Aning in a corner, making sure she wouldn't wander off, before continuing their exploration. There was another bend ahead, and just as they rounded it, they saw a massive coral tree growing at the far end of the cave.
The coral tree almost occupied the entire space, its branches and roots intertwined, and on those dense coral branches hung countless small, exquisite bronze bells covered with green rust!
Upon seeing this scene, the fat man's eyes widened instantly, his breathing quickened, and he pointed at the coral tree, his voice trembling as he asked, "My... my goodness! Black... Blackie, is this... this tree valuable?"
Qin Yuan looked at the enormous coral tree and said, "Such a large natural coral tree would have been an absolute treasure in ancient times, priceless. It would have been enough for your Fatty to eat hot pot for ten lifetimes."
The fat man's mouth was practically watering, his heart pounding, and he asked in a trembling voice, "Then... what about now?"
Qin Yuan couldn't help but laugh at his greedy look, shattering his illusions: "Now? Sold by weight, it probably wouldn't even be worth as much as that tattered diving suit you're wearing."
The fat man's ecstatic joy froze instantly, then he collapsed, pounding his chest in anguish, "What a waste! What a waste! The treasures of our ancestors, how come they're worthless now!" Undeterred, he pointed to the bells, "Then... what about these bells? They're bronze, they must be quite old, right?"
This time, Wu Xie spoke up, his expression unusually serious as he stared intently at the bells: "Fatty, don't touch these bells! I've seen similar things before. These bronze bells are extremely sinister; once they ring, they produce a powerful hallucinogenic effect. There are so many hanging on this tree; if we accidentally ring one, it could trigger a chain reaction, and we'll all be dead! Don't touch them!"
Upon hearing this, the fat man shrank back in fright. Although he was heartbroken, he knew his life was more important, so he had no choice but to give up the idea of stealing.
Qin Yuan carefully sensed the coral tree and the bell, and was slightly disappointed. He had thought that this strange thing would contain some special energy that he could absorb to strengthen his bloodline, but after careful examination, he found that apart from the bell's peculiar mental interference properties, the coral tree itself was just an ordinary biological fossil with no special energy fluctuations.
Since they had gained nothing and it was not advisable to stay there any longer, the group decided not to delay any longer. They returned the way they came, taking with them the still dazed and confused Ah Ning, and left the eerie cave, returning to the main tomb chamber with the model of a celestial palace.
Back in the relatively spacious main burial chamber, Fatty looked at his empty hands and the still unconscious A-Ning, and plopped down on the ground with a worried expression: "What do we do now? The oxygen tank is gone, and going back to that tomb raider's tunnel is probably too difficult. Are we really going to be trapped and die in this underwater coffin?"
Upon hearing this, Qin Yuan calmly pointed to himself and said, "Don't worry about the oxygen problem, I have spares here." He had previously stored some spare equipment in his system space.
Wu Xie slapped his forehead: "That's right! I almost forgot about you, this mobile warehouse!" He breathed a sigh of relief, then perked up again, pointing to the structure of the tomb chamber and saying, "I just observed it carefully, and combined with the fragments in Uncle Three's notes, this should be the very top of the entire shipwreck tomb! Look at this dome, as long as we can chisel open the top, there's seawater outside, and we can float directly up!"
Upon hearing this, the fat man immediately perked up and stood up abruptly: "Then what are we waiting for? I'll climb up and take a look!" As he spoke, he ran to the edge of the tomb chamber, grabbed a supporting golden nanmu pillar, and began to climb up using both hands and feet, muttering as he climbed: "This pillar is valuable too, I wonder if Master Qin can take it with him."
Unfortunately, climbing pillars was far too difficult for the overweight Wang Pangzi. He struggled for less than two meters before slipping down and having to give up, grumbling as he went.
"Let us do it." Qin Yuan and Zhang Qiling exchanged a glance and, like geckos, nimbly climbed up the smooth wall to the dome. Zhang Qiling chose another pillar, and with a few quick maneuvers, easily reached the top beam as well.
Because the Black Gold Ancient Sword was too long, Zhang Qiling drew out the dagger he carried with him, put all his strength into it, and chiseled down at the tomb top, which looked like ordinary blue bricks!
"clang!"
A crisp metallic clang rang out, and a few sparks flew from the tip of the dagger, leaving only a white dot on the top of the tomb.
Zhang Qiling frowned slightly and tried several other places, but the result was the same. He sheathed his dagger and shook his head: "No, the top of the tomb is solid and sealed with molten iron. We can't break it open with the tools we have."
Qin Yuan had long anticipated this outcome. If he were willing to bleed, he might be able to slowly erode a hole through the top of the molten iron by relying on the strong corrosiveness of the alien bloodline. However, he was not a masochist. Knowing that there was a simpler and faster method, why would he suffer that pain?
He didn't suggest bloodletting, but instead subtly shifted his gaze, gesturing with his eyes to the miniature golden cloud palace model on the stone slab below, and the dark, desiccated corpse sitting on the model.