Chapter 189: Floating Corpse

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In the dark depths of the water, that ancient corpse wrapped in white gauze, soaked for who knows how many years, the white gauze already decayed, indistinguishable as male or female, because the distance was still far, the corpse's features were all blurry, no way to tell its preservation state.

Third Uncle broke out in a cold sweat, but immediately calmed down. Apparently, since it was a shipwreck tomb, having a floating corpse here was not strange.

However, as Third Uncle gradually released the hand covering the exploration light, he saw that in the cold white light, in the darkness beside that ancient corpse, another ancient corpse appeared, dressed in the same way, gloomily hidden in the gloomy sea water.

Third Uncle had a premonition of misfortune. He continued to move the exploration light and indeed found that in the darkness below, there were actually a large number of white-gauze ancient corpses floating, as many as thirty or forty. Countless white flowing gauze garments truly gave one a bone-chilling coldness.

Because of the exploration light, it was now impossible to know where the faint green fluorescence was emitted from on these ancient corpses. And the most hair-raising thing was that the group of ancient corpses was not still; the stiff bodies floated in the water, actually moving slowly.

Third Uncle's heart almost jumped out of his throat. Inside the airtight helmet, his head was covered in cold sweat. He thought to himself that it was a good thing he had pulled back Xie Lianhuan. If he had just swum straight over and turned on the light only when he was right next to the group of corpses, he would have been scared to death. These corpses must have been soaking here for nearly a thousand years. Ordinary ones would have long dissolved. How could they still be floating in the water? Could they have become zongzi?

When he came down, he had no preparation at all. He never thought he would face such a perilous situation; he hadn't even brought a donkey hoof. Honestly, it was extremely unfair. Following this damned Xie Lianhuan, Third Uncle had long forgotten that all this was self-inflicted.

Looking at Xie Lianhuan again, he also had a terrified expression. It seemed that his earlier carefree behavior of approaching was due to not knowing the real situation. It looked like the foreigner hadn't told him what he would see.

Third Uncle's thoughts were like lightning; in a flash he had foreseen several scenarios. At this moment, the distant group of ancient corpses gradually drifted closer, unhurried, the white gauze slowly flowing. If not for the surrounding darkness and the blurry facial features, such a scene would truly be like celestial beings treading on clouds in the heavenly palace.

As Third Uncle watched, suddenly a flash of inspiration struck, and he realized something.

He lowered his body, dove down a few meters, to get closer and look carefully.

The ancient corpses did not seem to be completely decomposed. Although their features were blurry, one could still make out human appearances. Each assumed various postures: some like holding a tray, some like playing the flute, some like plucking a zither or beating a drum. There were over a dozen of them, and although they were stiff as iron, their postures were incomparably graceful. Third Uncle then understood what he was seeing.

On the murals of many ancient tombs, such a scene is often depicted: the tomb owner ascended to heaven after casting off the mortal body, the Heavenly Gate wide open, a gathering of immortals welcoming him, auspicious clouds swirling, divine birds soaring, and heavenly light shining everywhere. In such murals, there is inevitably, above the cloud ladder on which the tomb owner steps, a painting of 'Celestial Masters Playing Music and Dancing', with countless old celestial musicians playing drums and zithers in harmony.

But here, the tomb owner apparently felt that a painted 'Celestial Masters Playing Music and Dancing' was not satisfying enough. The scene formed by these dozens of ancient corpses was a real-life version of celestial masters playing music and dancing, drums and zithers in harmony. It was simply unbelievable.

He instantly understood why Xie Lianhuan was looking for these ancient corpses. Because the route of the celestial masters playing music and dancing was the immortal path of the tomb owner's ascension. Following the ancient corpses would surely lead to the tomb owner's location.

Xie Lianhuan, beside him, recovered his composure and signaled Third Uncle to follow. Because of tension, his movements were awkward.

Third Uncle tried to calm his heartbeat. He knew he had definitely entered an extraordinary place, but at this moment he was not panicked. Since he now knew this place, and the tomb wouldn't run away, with such insufficient preparation, he had a perfect excuse to convince himself to retreat.

Now thinking back, the place they were in was simply an endless abyss. Where those ancient corpses were drifting to, and how long they would drift, was impossible to guess. If he recklessly followed, he didn't know how much more time would be wasted, and the oxygen was no longer abundant. It was indeed quite unwise.

Third Uncle fully came to his senses. He stopped Xie Lianhuan, signaling him to go back and not continue. Given the current situation, going deeper was too dangerous; his own life was still important. However, at that moment, Xie Lianhuan suddenly made up his mind again (being neurotic is a common flaw of second-generation rich kids, and it seems I have that problem too). Without waiting for Third Uncle to stop him, he headed straight after the female corpse.

Third Uncle flashed several exploration light signals from behind, wanting him to wait a bit longer, but Xie Lianhuan paid no attention at all. Third Uncle saw this and thought to himself, 'Damn, this kid probably wants to shake me off.'

Just now he had coerced Xie Lianhuan into coming down together. Xie Lianhuan must have been reluctant and unwilling. Now that it was probably near the end, Xie Lianhuan simply decided to shake him off.

Even if there was no emotional bond between them, Xie Lianhuan was still his relative, and he was the so-called older brother. Chinese people always have a blood bond and a protective instinct towards the younger in such matters. Third Uncle could not abandon Xie Lianhuan at this point. He could only suppress his rage and hastily chase after him.

(Speaking of which, I have heard Third Uncle mention his own 'having no choice' and 'couldn't help it' so many times that I can sense something odd. It seems that subconsciously, he is very emphatic about his reluctance to follow Xie Lianhuan. In fact, from what I know of Third Uncle's personality, at that time he was not the kind of person who could control his own curiosity. I can sense here that, necessarily, for Xie Lianhuan's death later, Third Uncle might bear primary responsibility.

The reason I think so is because Third Uncle took care of me for a period when I was young. At that time, because someone called him to go on a tomb raid and he couldn't take care of me, he tied me with a rope at the roadside and left me there to sunburn for a whole day, almost giving me heatstroke. Afterwards, he bribed me with many salted popsicles to keep it a secret. I was naive then, so I didn't tell anyone. But from this incident, you can see that his character when young was quite unruly and his self-control was very poor.

But when I think of the blood characters Xie Lianhuan left on the ancient tomb, I still cannot believe that Third Uncle would deliberately harm him. So hearing this, I involuntarily started to feel nervous.) The next events happened at a very fast pace.

Third Uncle, while weighing the oxygen consumption, also struggled to catch up with Xie Lianhuan. The more he thought about it, the more wrong it felt. He had never been to such an underwater tomb before; he really had no confidence.

But at this point, Xie Lianhuan was essentially fleeing, swimming very fast ahead. Moreover, Third Uncle was not very good at diving; it was obvious he could not keep up.

Following the light ahead, he swam forward in the darkness for over ten minutes. Unconsciously, many floating objects appeared around Third Uncle. He glanced briefly and saw that they were all broken wooden structures—carved windows, wooden beams—thousands upon thousands, all highly rotten, covered with white sea rust.

Immediately after, in the midst of these floating objects, Third Uncle saw a huge, tilted shadow like a

The "dancing ancient corpses" floating in the water drifted straight toward this thing, while Xie Lianhuan ahead had already passed them and closed in on the huge dark shadow. With his light, Third Uncle gradually made out the true nature of that thing.

It was the bow of a colossal ancient ship stuck in the reef. The term "colossal" here is just an overused word; Third Uncle already felt it was impossible to describe the size of this ship's bow he saw.

The wreckage of the bow extended out from the reef, stretching over two hundred meters on each side. The wreckage was completely deformed; the twisted prow was covered in white marine dust and crusted coral reefs. If not for its strange shape, one might think it was the skull of a giant sea creature.

The "dancing ancient corpses" drifted gracefully toward the wreckage and soon disappeared into the dark seawater. Third Uncle and Xie Lianhuan followed closely behind; under the illumination of two searchlights, the details of the wreckage became clearer and clearer.

On the deck of the bow, Third Uncle saw a wooden carved tower half-embedded in the reef, apparently the main structure of the giant ship. It was now tilted and almost collapsing. On top of the tower, there was a deformed and cracked white marble door, wide open like a large mouth, waiting for them to walk right into the trap.