Игра в убийство в Лиге плюща

Глава 31

As he was making fun of himself, a piercing telephone ring suddenly came from the front yard.

Tao Rujiu knew this was the ringing of the public telephone at the front yard shop. Sometimes, when there was a meeting in the control room or when a notice needed to be issued, this number was always used to notify the people in the opera troupe.

It seemed that he was the only one awake in the yard, so Tao Rujiu jogged to the front yard and picked up the phone.

“Hey…” he asked, “This is the Emerald Oriole Pavilion.”

"Hello!" came the anxious voice of the control room staff on the other end of the phone. "Hello... is President Ling with you?"

Tao Rujiu replied, "He was at Cuiying Pavilion last night, he probably just left."

"Huh? You mean he was at Cuiying Pavilion last night?" The voice on the other end of the phone suddenly turned strange. "How is that possible? This morning, the answering machine in the control room was full of calls from President Ling from the villa!"

The central control room in Hailing City was originally guarded 24 hours a day, but after the underground palace incident, very few people dared to linger in the city at night, and Ling Li had no intention of making things difficult for them. So, when people came to work this morning, they heard more than a dozen recorded messages on the phone, all of which were Ling Li's voice, demanding that the staff on duty come to his villa immediately.

This is, of course, a trick played by Dongli Bupo.

Ling Li's villa was built in such a secluded location that few people ever visited it. Even if his staff needed to contact him, they would simply call his cell phone. Perhaps it was because of this that Ling Li overlooked the possibility of someone breaking into the villa.

"You haven't left yet, have you?" Tao Rujiu immediately became anxious. "Whatever you do, don't go near that villa!"

"But..." came the completely bewildered reply from the other end of the phone, "Actually, we already sent people over to check, the villa was a complete mess, and we couldn't find Mr. Ling anywhere, and we couldn't get through on his phone either, so we thought to call you..."

Tao Rujiu felt a buzzing in his heart. He realized that Dongli Bupo had been released and was probably chasing Ling Li and the others down into the underground palace!

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel nervous, and because of the noise from the phone call, the other people in the yard seemed to slowly wake up as well.

He hesitated for a moment, then turned and ran towards Hua Kai's bedroom. Qi Linpo and Ling Li had left Cuiying Pavilion early in the morning and were heading towards the Netherworld Palace.

The desolate underground palace was in complete disarray. The buildings within the park had long been destroyed by ghosts and reduced to ruins. The park had then put up a "Construction in Progress" sign at the entrance, and new construction plans were already in the works. Ling Li and Qi Linpo, carrying ropes and emergency lights, climbed over the wall and found the entrance to the underground palace from memory.

The once clean and spacious cement steps are gone, replaced by a narrow dirt path less than two meters wide that slowly sinks into a gap in the ground. Glistening shards of glass and dilapidated yellow and white skulls are scattered all over the ground, interspersed with paper money and props that have been washed in from elsewhere. If you see these at night, it really does give you the feeling of descending into the underworld.

Qi Maoxian walked ahead, searching for the hidden malevolent energy in the environment. It seemed that after the three ghosts were subdued, the underground water flow had temporarily returned to its original state.

They entered the first level of the underground palace.

As expected, the scene inside the underground palace resembled a giant slaughterhouse. Numerous wax, silicone, and resin dummies lay sprawled on the ground, their severed limbs and remains scattered throughout any visible area. In some low-lying areas, where the water had not yet receded, mangled skulls and exposed legs were submerged, their protective films bulging and white, resembling floating corpses.

The scene before us was eerie, but in fact, it was not dangerous. At most, the smell of rotting leaves and rodents was pungent.

Without lingering or sighing, Qi Ling and his companion quickly found the entrance to the second floor, pushed aside the crooked corridor walls, and stepped on countless severed limbs and remains to find the bronze door leading to the third floor.

Despite being called a bronze door, it had actually become a black hole after Wang Baihu's impact. Below it was a pitch-black underground cave, with a chilling wind blowing and the faint sound of an underground river flowing.

Ling Li took out a rope from his backpack and tied one end to a fire hydrant beside him. Then he and Qi Linpo walked into the black hole one after the other.

Under the golden light, the cave entrance led to a steep slope, entirely formed naturally from rock. They slowly descended the slope for five steps until they reached a man-made concrete platform. On it stood a half-person-high, dilapidated wall—the very screen wall that had been broken in half by the ghostly water.

The two stood on the platform and looked down. The cave stretched deep into the north-south direction. About ten meters below them was a calmly flowing underground river. On both sides of the river were banks about three meters wide, made of jagged black rocks.

“We’ll follow the riverbank now. The specific direction is…” Qi Linpo said, calming himself and focusing his mind on the direction of the blocked malevolent energy. After a moment, he pointed very clearly to the south and said, “This way.”

Following his senses, the two walked on the rugged rocks. Although the cave was deep and winding, fortunately there were not many tributaries. After walking for about half an hour, the terrain suddenly sank down.

The riverbank gradually narrowed until it was only wide enough for one person to pass through. Suddenly, a rock taller than a person appeared in front of them.

“There are words on the rock…” Ling Li held up the lamp and leaned closer to take a closer look, but Qi Linpo had already climbed up the rock in a few quick movements, held the lamp and looked into the distance, and said, “This is it.”

Ling Li then climbed up the rock. Before him appeared a row of waist-high bluestone railings. He shone his lamp on them and saw that the railings descended gently from the middle of the rock face, with traces of man-made steps and other features visible below.

“This should be part of the ancient sea god temple,” Qi Linpo said with certainty.

The two stepped over the railing and immediately felt that their feet were on flat ground; they had stepped onto a wide bluestone slab.

“These railings and steps grew out of the cave wall.” Ling Li raised his lamp and shone it into the distance. “It seems this was an entrance in ancient times.”

Qi Linpo nodded and said, "We just followed the river to find this place, and the real entrance should be here, but it was sealed off in later generations for various reasons. Over time, it was forgotten. Judging from the direction we went and the time we were in, this place is no longer within Hailing City."

Ling Li didn't care about any of that, and only urged, "Now that we've arrived at the temple, let's hurry up and find Dong Li's grave and resolve this matter."

As he spoke, he raised the emergency lights in different directions, and soon a dark blue-green brick road appeared before him.

Qi Linpo didn't argue with him and walked straight along the bluestone path.

The underground river was still flowing beside them, but its width had shrunk to about half of what it used to be, and the current had become twice as rapid. The silent cave was filled with the sound of waves crashing against the banks and the whistling of eddies.

The end of the cobblestone path remained pitch black. Only when the lamplight occasionally swept across it did it reflect a faint glimmer of light.

It turned out to be an ancient sea god temple built inside a cave.

The scale of the sea god temple before them was roughly equivalent to a small to medium-sized temple in a modern scenic area. Qi Linpo and Ling Li walked along the bluestone path for about a hundred meters, and then they came into view three bluestone archways connected one after another, each about three meters high. Behind them, a high wall was built, obscuring most of the temple's entire appearance.

The two passed through the archway, and the main gate of the temple was open. Inside, there was another screen wall, but it was bare and without any decoration. Although it had been abandoned for hundreds of years, it was still so shiny that it could reflect people. The faint light at the end of the bluestone path was reflected from it.

"That's interesting."

Ling Li held up the lamp and shone it over. The bright light hit the screen wall directly, then reflected off and landed on the seven rusty bronze mirrors high inside the temple gate, emitting a dim and unclear halo.

They took a few more steps and then discovered a bronze incense burner covered in a thick layer of ash in front of the screen wall. Ling Li quickly realized that in ancient times, people had placed candles on this incense burner and used the ingenious principle of light reflection to illuminate the entire temple gate.

"The wisdom of the ancients is by no means inferior to that of you modern people," Qi Maoxian said, turning to him. "Moreover, sometimes we are better at using ingenuity, rather than arbitrarily trying to change the world."

“Perhaps,” Ling Li replied sharply. “But since you breathe modern air, you can’t call yourself an ancient person. You also have a part of the power among those who arbitrarily try to change the world.”

As the two argued, they had already walked around the screen wall. The Sea God Temple was indeed not large; behind the screen wall was a three-tiered incense burner, with two lanterns for starting fires standing on either side. And less than twenty steps in front of them was the main hall of the Mountain God Temple.

There is no other way.

Qi Ling and his companion entered the main hall, carrying lanterns and looking around. The hall was about two stories high, mostly a wooden structure. Strings of banners hung from the intricate beams, their vibrant colors still preserved despite years of lack of sunlight, though clumps of cobwebs and dust clung to them. Several apricot-yellow prayer cushions lay scattered on the bluestone floor, crumbling into a dusty mess with a gentle kick.

Ling Li looked up and gazed at the very center of the hall, where a clay statue stood amidst the tattered blue curtains. Golden fish-scale armor, a silver sea eagle mask—it was none other than Dong Li Bu Po's appearance.

"What do we need to do now?" he asked Qi Linpo. "Remove the mask from this statue?"

Qi Linpo shook his head and said, "This is just an ordinary clay sculpture. What we need to deal with is Dong Li Bupo's corpse."

"A corpse?" Ling Li looked around again, but saw no other passageway leading elsewhere. His gaze instead fell on a smaller clay sculpture next to Dong Li Bu Po.

With silver hair and a silver robe, he looks like the famous Bai Zi from the Dongli family.

He stared blankly at the white "divine child." During this time, Qi Lingpo had searched the entire hall. Finally, he tore down a curtain covered with talismans on the wall, revealing a locked small door.

"Go this way."

With a light kick, the rotten wooden door collapsed, causing the entire hall to tremble and shake. Qi Linpo and Ling Li rushed out of the hall, only to find themselves in a stone maze.

While it's called a maze, it's not entirely accurate. It's simply a series of man-made steps and buildings crammed together due to the limited space, leaving only a narrow central walkway that twists and turns, resembling a Western maze.

“This must be where the temple priests used to live,” Qi Linpo explained. “Living in this dark underground place must have been quite an achievement.”

Ling Li continued to follow behind him, and the two slowly walked along the gradually ascending steps into the depths of the "maze".

Within a meter or so to the left and right were various ancient wooden houses, the thin paper covering the windows almost hardened into yellowish-black sheets stuck to the window frames. Looking inside from the outside, the houses were fairly well-furnished. It was clear that some rooms were kitchens, some were temples, some were fortune-telling rooms, some were the bedrooms of temple keepers, and there were even several rooms storing memorial tablets. From the outside, there were rows of wooden shelves with scattered, unclaimed memorial tablets whose names were unclear.

Ling Li then recalled a similar memorial corridor in the underground palace. However, unlike the prop-filled scenic area in Hailing City, everything here was completely real. Each memorial tablet represented a life that had once existed. Were these the eternal inhabitants of the Sea God Temple?

Ling Li frowned, trying to get used to this strange feeling, but then another question came to mind.

"Since this is the Temple of the Sea God, why has it been abandoned? A temple in a cave with this unique style should be considered a rare sight in Hailing City."

Qi Linpo replied, "Hailing was originally just a cape, which changed over time to become the island it is today. The abandonment of this sea god temple was probably around that time. Perhaps the locals thought that the sea god was no longer satisfied with this small temple, so they built a new one elsewhere."

As they spoke, they had climbed up the steps to a height of about two stories, and looking back, all that could be seen was the dark roof of the Poseidon Temple.

"How much longer do we have to walk?" Ling Li asked Qi Linpo. "Are you sure Dong Li Bu Po's tomb is in this Sea God Temple?"

Qi Linpo nodded, but before he could speak, a faint light suddenly appeared in the darkness in the distance. A male voice could be faintly heard.

“Qilin Soul…Qilin Soul… Sharp and fierce…”

Upon recognizing the voice, he whirled around sharply. Tao Rujiu, holding Qin Hua in one hand, carefully made his way through the dark underground cave. If it weren't for the endless ropes along the way, he would hardly have believed that such a natural cave existed on the third level of the underground palace.

The phone call from the control room staff informed him that Dongli Bupo had broken free from the magic array outside the villa and was likely heading towards the underground palace. Tao Rujiu didn't know if Qilinpo and Ling Li were a match for Dongli Bupo. But if Qilinpo and the others were attacked without their knowledge, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Not to mention, the Temple of Poseidon originally belonged to the unbroken eastern fence!

Tao Rujiu dared not imagine any further. He immediately rushed into the house, woke Qin Hua, and pulled him towards the underground palace. In his view, only the blooming of flowers could stop Dongli Bupo from doing anything reckless.

Driven by this simple thought and an urgent urge to help, Tao Rujiu ran down three levels of the underground palace in one breath. He then followed the rope markers left by Ling Li to find the Temple of the Sea God.

But the rope ended up tied to the railing by the river, and the person he was looking for was nowhere to be found.

At this moment, Hua Kai realized where she was and suddenly wanted to say something to Tao Rujiu. Unfortunately, she had neither a phone nor paper and pen, so she could only keep gesturing. Tao Rujiu didn't understand sign language and assumed she was afraid of the dark, so he comforted her softly for a while, saying that he was only there to mediate and wouldn't harm Dong Li Bu Po in any way. But Qin Hua trembled more and more violently, her eyes constantly darting around.

What are you looking at?

As Tao Rujiu was asking questions, he suddenly felt a chilling wind rise in the dark and cold cave. He shivered and unconsciously turned around, catching a glimpse of something white retreating into the darkness behind him.

"ah!"

He was certain it wasn't an illusion, because Qin Hua had simultaneously gripped his arm tightly.

That white thing was definitely not human; it was only as thin as a sheet of paper and floated around.

Tao Rujiu shielded Qin Hua behind him, steadied himself, and looked at the spot where the white figure had disappeared. Behind the triple archway was the dark entrance to the Sea God Temple.

Everything was quiet; there was no living creature in sight.

At this moment, Qin Hua grabbed his arm hard again. Tao Rujiu reflexively turned around and hugged him, taking a few steps back and looking around.

Sometime later, a patch of water had accumulated on the ground behind them.

Tao Rujiu was shocked and took several steps back towards the cave wall, but unexpectedly bumped into something.

This thing was not hard; it was just like a piece of paper or a curtain. It floated away slowly after being bumped and gently brushed against Tao Rujiu's face.

But it hurts so much!

Tao Rujiu felt as if his face had been lightly slashed by the side of a piece of paper, a momentary pain shooting through him. He abruptly pulled Qin Hua into his arms and ran a few steps across the open space in front of the temple.

But where is a safe place?

Fortunately, the white figure never reappeared. Tao Rujiu quickly calmed down again. After comforting the equally frightened Hua Kai, he decided to try his luck and see if Qi Linpo and Ling Li were nearby.

“Qilin Soul…Qilin Soul… Sharp and fierce…”

He was lucky, for shortly after he called out the two men's names, a series of hurried footsteps broke the silence.

Less than half a minute later, a beam of light shone from the dark temple door, followed by a tall figure running out—it was Ling Li.

"Tao Rujiu!" Ling Li shouted sharply, "Why did you come here? Don't you know it's dangerous!"

"I..." The young man was about to explain Dongli Bupo's matter when Ling Li grabbed his chin and stared intently at his face.

What happened to your face?

Tao Rujiu was stunned for a moment, then felt a warm, wet sensation on her face. When she touched it, she found a two-inch-long, thin wound on her cheek.