Looking at the stele in front of them, everyone fell silent.
Elder Liu whispered to Chen Jie, "Jiu Si, what does this mean?"
Chen Jie said, "Trespassers shall die!"
Hearing this, Elder Liu said, "Right, what’s with all this gibberish, isn’t it just trying to say that?"
Ah San also said, "Babbling on and on, since we dare to enter this place, who isn’t indifferent to life and death? They can’t be thinking that erecting a stele will scare us brothers off, haha..."
Ah San’s laughter made everyone’s gaze tighten slightly.
Indeed, having come this far, who could return empty-handed? There was no sense in it.
They could only rely on their own fate now.
Thinking this, Zhao Ya said, "Light the torches, into the cave."
Everyone lit their torches and proceeded straight into the cave.
Everyone held their torches cautiously, with Ah Da and Ah San in the lead and Ah Er Yelu covering the rear. Zhao Ya and Chen Jiusi were in the middle.
So the group moved forward through the passage. Initially, the passage was very narrow, but as they walked on, it suddenly opened up.
At this point, the group raised their torches high, instantly illuminating the entire cave. Inside the cave, they saw many bizarre stone statues standing around. The statues had strange appearances.
Human bodies, but their heads were encased in clamshells, with eyes sticking out of the shells, like two snail tentacles, but alas, without pupils.
Holding swords in their hands, they stood static as if they were like terracotta soldiers.
Chen Jie, upon seeing these figures, was even reminded of the demons from the West Journey he had seen in TV dramas.
These Clam Demon soldiers stood so, and Chen Jie and the others counted them—there were more than a hundred.
And at the very front of these demon soldiers stood a young general on a raised platform.
The general had a handsome face, clad in armor, holding a treasure sword, gazing forward as if inspecting his army.
The group arrived here and was somewhat shaken by the sight. They wondered who could have created these things. At this time, Zhao Ya looked around, with Ah Da and Ah Er following behind the Commandery Princess.
Chen Jie and Liu Laoguai were observing the surroundings.
Only Ah San had the guts, actually tapping on the head of every soldier, as if to confirm whether they were made of clay or stone.
Seeing his actions, everyone was startled, Ah Da bellowed angrily, "Ah San."
Ah San, startled, immediately withdrew his hand and said, "Ah, what— you scared me."
Ah Da roared, "Don’t touch anything, be careful of traps."
Ah San said, "Got it."
After speaking, he stopped messing around.
At that moment, Zhao Ya walked beneath the reviewing stand, her eyes fixed on the young general in front of her, sweeping over his body.
And the young general continued to maintain his posture, gazing forward.
Zhao Ya stopped in her tracks.
Seeing this, Chen Jie stepped forward to ask, "Commandery Princess, what are you looking at?"
Zhao Ya said to Chen Jie, "Look at his eyes."
Chen Jie looked and saw that the young general’s eyes were blood-red. Chen Jie slightly squinted, "Made of ruby?"
But Chen Jie quickly realized something was wrong, for from any angle he looked, the stone statue general’s eyes seemed to be staring at him.
Instantly, Chen Jie felt a sense of being watched.
He placed his hand on the hilt of the Chrysalis Blade at his waist and half-squinted, "Commandery Princess, have you noticed as well?"
Zhao Ya said, "It seems you’ve felt it, too, correct."
"His eyes seem to be watching us at all times."
Chen Jie squinted and said, "Indeed, such a peculiarity. Commandery Princess, be careful."
The two exchanged glances, feeling that this place was filled with malevolence. Just as they puzzled over the stone statue general before them, suddenly Liu Laoguai stepped forward, bowing deeply in homage to the statue.
Chen Jie and Zhao Ya were taken aback and said together, looking at Liu Laoguai, "What’s the matter with you, are you bewitched?"
Liu Laoguai said at that moment, "No, this, this is General Clam, a deity to us Dan people!"
Hearing this, they were both startled, squinting their eyes, "General Clam?"
Ah Da and Ah Er also came over, looking at Liu Laoguai, "What’s a General Clam?"
Upon hearing the question, Liu Laoguai thought for a moment and said, "Do you know Mazu?"
Zhao Ya and Chen Jie both nodded. Who didn’t know Mazu, the goddess of the southern seas, especially venerated among Fujian people for protecting the southern seafarers.
But what did General Clam have to do with Mazu?
Liu Laoguai said, "The status of General Clam in the hearts of the Dan people is like the status of Mazu in the hearts of the Fujian people, and there is a tale associated with it."
Chen Jie said, "What tale?"
Zhao Ya also said, "Tell us, it might help us."
"Um, this tale is called ’Pearl Gatherer and General Clam’."
Liu Laoguai said, "It’s an ancient tale passed down only among Dan people. It’s about a long time ago, when our Dan people had a daughter, very beautiful, who was skilled at gathering pearls, thus everyone called her the Pearl Gatherer."
"One time when she went pearl diving, she was bitten by a Fish Monster in the river. In pain, she swam away to escape and accidentally stumbled upon a place full of giant clams, a paradise for any pearl gatherer."
"The Fish Monster didn’t dare to advance near this place and turned to flee. The Pearl Gatherer was saved and, in this magical place, looked for a way out and met a handsome, armored general."