Chapter 348: The Shadow

I looked at that humanoid shape, and for no reason, goosebumps broke out all over me.

At first glance, I felt it was actually a stone statue, but then I realized that was impossible, because the form was too lifelike; it really felt like a solidified hanged man. In that era, even if someone wanted to carve such a shocking thing, they wouldn't do it so realistically. Although there were many evil spirits in the southern barbarian regions, they mostly took an exaggerated style, not realistic.

The strange events along the way had been so numerous that I dared not take it lightly. It was very possible that the green light just now came from this thing, and its position seemed just right.

Carefully approaching that humanoid shape, as I swam closer, the feeling of a waxen corpse became more apparent. On the other hand, I found that its right hand was broken off at the wrist, the entire hand missing. It wasn't cast that way originally, but had been damaged.

"Little thing! Trying to imitate Venus but not quite getting it!" I hesitated, then carefully used the military bayonet to scrape off the white deposits, wanting to see its original color.

Scraping off a piece to take a look, I was startled. The thing itself was actually black and red mottled patterns, but not very bright, dimly tangled together, like mildew. Scraping more, I found that the black and red patchy mildew patterns were actually rust—this thing was made of iron.

"No way! Is it an iron figurine?" Summoning my courage, I pinched it with my hand; it was indeed solid iron. Some parts might have been well quenched and not yet rotted; I could even see very delicate patterns carved on it, while the other surfaces were completely rusted with dark red spots.

I gradually realized something, and immediately scraped all the attachments off its body. A very peculiarly shaped iron figurine soon appeared before me.

I was a bit stunned, because just now the impression this thing gave me was that it was lifelike in shape but rough on the surface. But now looking again, its surface had originally been polished and buffed. Although it was now terribly rusted, I could be sure it was once very exquisite, covered with beautiful patterns—a work of art. Touching it with my hand, I felt that these patterns were exactly the same as those on the iron block found under Poker-face's bed.

I understood! What those archaeological teams salvaged underwater was this! Those iron blocks were fragments of this kind of iron figurine.

Is this thing considered a cultural relic? Does it have archaeological value?

Then I recalled that Poker-face said those iron blocks were very dangerous. I became cautious, stopped touching it, kept my distance, and observed carefully.

I had no research on ironware, but I had considerable knowledge of gilt bronze. I had seen iron figurines in antique markets—they belonged to tin-iron wares, all small pieces; I had never seen one this big. For one thing, iron was very expensive in ancient times. A figurine this big, not to mention anything else, had an astonishing consumption of material. For another, iron objects were not easy to preserve; they rusted too easily. Many Ming Dynasty iron Buddha statues were actually hollow.

If this thing's craftsmanship throughout was the same as that iron block from Poker-face, then it was basically solid; it might contain something inside but wouldn't be too empty, and could be very heavy. Something so heavy—could it be a large Buddhist iron ritual implement used to seal some demon? I let my mind wander, but I also knew there was no way to figure it out. With no leading thread connecting all the events, no amount of pondering would be useful.

I wanted to look at the patterns on the iron figurine, but it was too rusty to see the whole thing, and I couldn't make out anything elsewhere. Pan Ma once said there were many iron blocks; could there be more than one iron figurine here? But all around was empty, nothing else. Something this big couldn't be hidden under the debris and not be seen. Where did the archaeological team salvage those iron blocks from?

Could it be that every Yao village here has the same iron figurine, distributed throughout the entire stockade? Or are they hidden elsewhere inside the ancient tower? Subconsciously turning my head, I saw the gate behind me.

Recalling that photo, there was a corridor on one side of the screen. I adjusted my position and found that the location of the corridor in the photo was, here, the back door of the rear hall.

In an ordinary old house, behind this door should be the first courtyard, but here there was only the front facade of the ancient tower, so behind this door you would go outside, where there was the blue stone street of the ancient stockade—it couldn't be a corridor.

Yet in my memory, the door frame in the photo was exactly the same as here. No doubt about it: the photo was taken at this spot. How could there be a discrepancy? Could it be that when the photo was taken, there was a corridor here, but it was later demolished?

My sense of time was completely confused. It seemed that the time when that photo was taken and the time when this ancient stockade sank both had to be reconsidered.

Swimming closer to look, the carved door showed no signs of decay. I pulled at it and found that although it looked like wood on the outside, it was actually an iron door. Then I shone my exploration light and was stunned: I didn't see the blue stone road outside. Behind this door, there really was a corridor.

The corridor was not flat; it sloped downward, leading deep underground. The situation on both sides was exactly the same as in the photo.

I became even more certain that the location of the photo was right here. A shiver went through me. I thought, "No way? If the structure is like this—the back door of the rear hall connected to a corridor that leads underground—does it mean this ancient house has a rear section, and that rear courtyard is built underground?"