Watching the old man step into the whirlpool and disappear into the blood water, Hao Ren was a little stunned. Gelton looked old and weak, but deep down he was a hoodlum. He did not even hesitate to step into the whirlpool.
He wanted to say that he had a detector on his side, but it seemed that he did not need it now.
The mages who came along, be they members of the church or Ophra's subordinates, were shocked to see this scene. Vivian could not help but frown. "... While it is good to be religious here, the bishop did not have to go so far... He could have had other ways to explore the whirlpool first."
At this moment, a pale golden light suddenly rose from the bottom of the whirlpool, interrupting Vivian's words. Ophra saw the light and nodded. "It's a signal from His Excellency the bishop. Looks like it's safe down there."
As she said this, she adjusted her equipment and turned to her trusted aides behind her. "You guys wait here. If the whirlpool cannot return the way we came, we will use the teleportation stone to return to the church in town. Then we will contact each other as usual."
After that, she looked at Hao Ren and the rest. "It seems that the situation here is worse than we expected back in town. The situation in the whirlpool is unpredictable. You have the right to quit. As mercenaries, you have far surpassed your peers. No one will laugh at you if you quit here..."
Before she could finish, Hao Ren stood up with a righteous look on his face. "What are you talking about! Our Good... Mercenary Group has always kept our promises. If we say we will, we will. Do you want to jump first or should I? " He could not help but be righteous: Big Beardy and the other three were watching from behind. Judging by the stubbornness of the four vajras, they would not be satisfied until the group of "chosen ones" were tossed into the whirlpool.
Ophra took a deep look at Hao Ren, the meaning in her eyes was hard to fathom. She then turned and stepped into the whirlpool. Her body was wrapped in a translucent shield that pushed the surrounding water away. In a blink of an eye, she disappeared into the vast whirlpool. Behind her, the old werewolf who was following her also jumped down.
Becky grabbed Hao Ren's hand and said, "You have to make sure that the 'outside' button is working …"
Before she could finish her sentence, Lily rushed forward excitedly, "Let's go, let's go!" She knocked down a group of people.
"May the Goddess bless us." Big Beardy and the other three also made a religious gesture in front of their chests and entered solemnly.
The torrential rain poured down, and the whirlpool was still there. The group of people quickly disappeared in the boundless blood water, as if they had never appeared.
Hao Ren felt the world spinning around him. Even though he had a shield around him to block the lake water, he was still dizzy from the whirlpool. He felt as if he had been thrown into a washing machine and was being churned crazily. Everything in front of him was a sea of red, and he could not tell which way was up or down. He could only tell that he was rapidly approaching the deep water based on the dimming light around him. In his dizziness, he could not help but think of the benefits of Nangong Wuyue — if he had the siren to help him, he would be much more comfortable! Nangong Wuyue was a godlike assistant that could let people take a stroll in the deep sea trench!
God knows how long he had been in this crazy whirlpool. Suddenly, Hao Ren saw a bright light before his body began to fall rapidly. He felt like he was being washed into a deep pool by a waterfall-like current. He struggled for a while before he finally floated to the surface.
Lily's voice came from the side. "Pfft — I'm dying, I'm dying, I'm dying … This is probably what it feels like to hang on a ceiling fan and spin in fifth gear for a day …"
Then, Hao Ren felt a furry head bumping into his arms. Lily was still dizzy. After a few paddles in the water, she instinctively swam towards the familiar scent.
"Is everyone okay?" Hao Ren tried to regain his vision as he shouted for the others. Then, he heard Vivian, Ophra and the rest responded. A moment later, a particularly loud splashing sound came from behind. Y 'zaks's muffled voice was heard. "I'm coming down too."
After a while, he heard Y 'zaks splashing and fishing behind him. "I think I hit someone …"
Hao Ren heard this and cold sweat trickled down his neck. He thought to himself, Y 'zaks was such a powerful man that falling from any height was equivalent to a lead weight of the same size. Who was unlucky enough to get hit in the head by this man? Just when he was curious, Big Beardy's indifferent voice came from Y 'zaks's side. "It's okay, it's okay. This is the goddess' test …"
Hao Ren turned his head and quickly said, "Master, please stop the bleeding on your head first …"
"It's okay, it's okay. The goddess' test is always sudden …"
"Cut the crap. The goddess doesn't test your hematopoietic ability and tetanus resistance!"
After making sure everyone was safely on the ground, Hao Ren had the time to look around and find a place to go ashore. He looked up and immediately found himself in a vast, majestic, and frighteningly huge hollow.
This place looked like a roughly circular cave with an unknown circumference. Its scale could almost be seen as an underground universe. There were pieces of strange shimmering substances on the walls of the cave. It was unknown whether they were minerals or light-emitting fungi. These light sources made the underground space not pitch-black. With their super eyesight, Hao Ren and the rest could move around without any hindrance. Hao Ren saw many cave-like structures on the wall in the distance. He guessed that they should lead to somewhere far away — maybe even to the root system of the Gnarled Grove.
The terrain in the middle of the cave was deeply sunken and had now become a pool. The red liquid in the pool indicated that it was the water from the Blood Lake. Hao Ren looked up at the dome of the cave and found that the dome at the very top had an unusually neat structure. It was like a perfect half-bowl, as if it was man-made. The dome was upside down on the top of the cave, and there was a big hole in the middle. The red lake water poured down like a waterfall, and the whole cave echoed with the sound of water.
That was the place where everyone had fallen.
Hao Ren saw that Ophra and Gelton were already ashore by the pool and quickly swam over. But before he could swim far, he felt something on his back. A swarm of little bats grabbed him and sent him ashore. Vivian's figure then formed beside him. "You're the captain. You need to be gentlemanly. I didn't expect your swimming posture to be so ugly without Nangong Wuyue's help."
Hao Ren was instantly embarrassed. Lily was flailing about in the water as she yelled at Vivian. "You're biased! Why didn't you help me! "
Vivian smacked her lips. "You're pretty cool when you dog paddle …"
Hao Ren ignored the two and looked back at the pool. The water pouring down from the ceiling of the cavern was still pouring into the pool, but it was not obvious that the pool was expanding. The size of the latter was really not small. If the hole at the bottom of the blood lake did not continue to expand, they should not have to worry about this place being completely submerged for the time being. Also, when Hao Ren saw the cave entrances around the cave, he felt that the underground world was much bigger than he had imagined. Even if the entire Blood Lake were to pour down, it might not be able to fill up the place.
As everyone had their own means of avoiding the water, even Becky had taken a life-support shield generator from Hao Ren. So, they did not have to dry their clothes after they got ashore. After a short rest, they began to explore the place. Big Beardy and the rest were a little excited. This magnificent underground cavern was like a miracle to them. It perfectly matched the characteristics of the 'sacred cavern'. So, they were even more convinced that Hao Ren and the rest were the 'Chosen Ones'.
Hao Ren was also a little hesitant. After seeing such a huge underground world, he was instinctively shocked. So much so that he was in awe of the first pope who explored this place three thousand years ago. He whispered to Vivian. "Is it really because we are the Chosen Ones that they opened up such an amazing place?"
Vivian looked up at some of the rock patterns on the dome. Suddenly, a strange expression appeared on her face. "… I'm afraid not. We've made a mess again."
"Huh?" Hao Ren was stunned.
Vivian pointed at the glowing lines on the dome. "That's some kind of magic circle. Although I've never seen it before, I'm guessing that this magic circle is used to sense the Chosen Ones. It has a typical long-range detection structure …"
Hao Ren was confused about the magic circle. "And then?"
Vivian pointed at the big hole on the dome. "The magic circle did not open because it sensed the Chosen Ones. It was … destroyed by the explosion of the spaceship. I'm afraid the real Chosen Ones have not arrived yet!"
Hao Ren was speechless.
Sure enough, the fairy tales made up by mortals were not reliable. The secret treasure that could only be opened by the fated one was nonsense. In the face of all the talk of "chance", a big bang could solve all the problems. The gate of chance in the Sacred Cavern, which was used to detect the Chosen Ones, was not opened. It was really blown up!
Hao Ren wiped the cold sweat off his forehead. "Don't tell Big Beardy and the rest about this for now …"
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