Chapter 132: The Underwater Cave

All the patterns on this wall were carved in and then dyed with gold paint, yet the surface still felt smooth to the touch. As I walked, I searched for a mechanism, firmly convinced that there must be a secret chamber here; otherwise, it would be impossible to hide three waist badges.

“Yaoge!” Suddenly, someone shouted from the other side. I turned toward the voice.

A classmate was waving at me, seemingly having found something. I hurried over, with Chen Chen and Li Zijian following close behind.

By then, all the other classmates had been drawn to that spot, waiting for me. When I arrived, the classmate showed me something.

“Look at this. It seems to be some kind of mechanism, but I can’t figure it out,” he said.

I looked down and saw a hexagon, each side painted a different color. It seemed each segment could be removed and then put back in place.

“What is this…” I was puzzled, yet it felt oddly familiar.

“Hey, this looks like the pattern on the stone door we passed earlier,” Li Zijian reminded me, and I immediately recalled it.

“This must be about arranging the colors in the correct order,” Chen Chen agreed.

I then removed all the sides and asked everyone, “Who remembers how to arrange them?”

Fortunately, the classmates didn’t disappoint; each recalled part of the sequence. With their help, the order quickly became clear, and I began to put the pieces back together.

Once all the sides were restored, a sound came from the southeast of the palace. Drawn by the noise, we all turned our attention that way.

There, a small door had mysteriously opened, barely wide enough for one person to pass through.

“I’ll go check it out with Li Zijian. Everyone else keep looking around,” I said, then dashed toward the southeast with Li Zijian.

The distance was not short, and I broke into a light sweat.

“Yaoge, do you think we’ll be stuck in here? This feels like one of those escape room games,” Li Zijian joked nervously. I could only smile wryly at him.

When we reached the small door, I crouched to peer inside.

There was light inside, but the walls were covered in moss, as if no one had been here for a long time.

“Oh man, this place looks pretty scary. Maybe we shouldn’t go in,” Li Zijian said, usually timid, but he would follow me no matter what.

“Enough talk. Do you want to stay here forever?” I said, then led the way inside. Though reluctant, Li Zijian followed.

As soon as I stepped in, a foul stench hit me, like a long-sealed sewer, making me want to vomit.

“Who’s been using this as a bathroom?” Li Zijian complained, holding his nose.

Inside was a narrow stairway leading downward, with mud beneath our feet and water dripping from above.

The lamps were enshrouded in moss, emitting only faint light.

Thankfully, the path was short, and soon we reached the bottom.

There was a small room of less than ten square meters, with a wooden table upon which sat a wooden box.

Clearly, this was the work of the Ghost King; the setup was always the same.

I picked up the wooden box and slipped it into my ring pocket, preparing to leave.

Suddenly, my legs felt locked in place, refusing to move.

“What’s going on?” Li Zijian asked, staring at my immobilized legs in confusion.

I struggled hard, feeling as if my legs might snap, but they wouldn’t budge.

“Hiss…” I had never encountered this before. I recited many Taoist incantations, but none had any effect.

Just then, the room started to tremble, softly at first but growing more violent.

“Damn, is it about to collapse?” I quickly pulled out the wooden box and handed it to Li Zijian.

“Take the box and get out. Don’t worry about me,” I said.

At that moment, large cracks appeared in the ceiling, water beginning to pour through them.

I braced myself for the worst — dying here today seemed like a real possibility.

“Hurry up, what are you waiting for?” Li Zijian hesitated, wanting to stay.

I glanced up at the widening cracks and the rushing water ready to flood in, realizing we had no choice.

I threw Li Zijian out first, just as the ceiling split open.

Then I began quickly forming hand seals, conjuring a Bagua formation before me. I lifted my hands, trying to hold on a little longer.

Rocks rained down relentlessly, and the Bagua array began to crumble.

Before I could form another seal, a heavy stone slammed into my back.

I groaned and spat out a mouthful of blood, but to my surprise, my legs were free again.

I tried to escape, but the room couldn’t withstand the water’s force; the ceiling fully collapsed.

The suction was strong. I reached for a nearby ledge but to no avail.

Soon, the water swept me upward, and to my shock, I found myself in an underground water channel.

It plunged down into bottomless darkness, like a vast cavern filled with water.

I had always feared water, and in this situation, panic rose within me.

Fortunately, as practitioners, we could breathe underwater using our spiritual energy.

The small room was now flooded, and the path back was blocked. I had to find another way.

Judging by the layout, going deeper down was impossible; the only way was upward.

I looked up and saw some light filtering through, suggesting this place led outside.

I began to kick my legs, swimming upward with all my might.

I didn’t understand why my legs had suddenly stopped moving earlier—most likely a trap set by the Ghost King. I cursed him silently.

“Shameless... always digging pits for me, not just pitfalls but flooded ones, and even nails in the water…”

But complaining didn’t help; I kept swimming.

Luckily, I had plenty of spiritual energy stored within me; otherwise, I couldn’t have swum this far.

I didn’t know how to swim properly; I could only rely on my legs to propel me upward slowly.

The underground cave was deep, certainly more than a couple hundred meters, and vast. The surrounding stones were coated with an unknown liquid.

Fortunately, after some time, I felt no discomfort. If there had been poison in the water, I would have died here.

My efforts paid off as I approached the light above.

After a while, I finally reached the top. It was merely a small hole; to get out, I had to pass through this narrow opening.

Thankfully, the hole was shallow, and I easily surfaced at the very top.

I surged out of the water, greeted by a rushing waterfall.

Though not large, the waterfall’s flow was astonishing. The water in the cave below all drained through this cascade.

Yet it seemed perfectly balanced, flowing endlessly without overflowing.