"The Mother Wall can replicate spiritual communication characteristics?"
Li Chengfeng found Zhou Xuan’s idea quite bold.
"Take me to meet the Mother Wall. Conveniently, she wants to meet me too."
Zhou Xuan instructed Li Chengfeng to lead the way. The two proceeded one after the other, leaving the Suture Cultivation Room and stepping into the corridor, heading toward its far end.
When they reached the corridor’s end, an iron door blocked their path.
Li Chengfeng pulled out a key and unlocked the three large padlocks on the iron door, one by one.
Zhou Xuan observed the somewhat rudimentary iron door, its locks even rusted. A strong, ordinary person could probably kick the locks apart in just three or four kicks.
"Old Li, why is the door protecting the Mother Wall less secure than the one guarding the Blood Well?"
"Young Master, this door is purely decorative, not meant to guard against the Mother Wall.
The Mother Wall can’t be contained by just a door, and besides, we’re not worried about her coming out... The Bone Elder Association has already mastered ways to subdue the Mother Wall."
With the locks removed, Li Chengfeng pushed the iron door open with a creaking sound. It had been a long time since anyone came here, and the metal hinges of the door had grown stiff. As the door opened, vibrations shook loose flakes of dust from its surface, causing them to fall softly.
Behind the door was a stairwell. Zhou Xuan followed Li Chengfeng down. The staircase was long; the two moved quickly, descending for at least a full minute.
By the time they reached the third basement level, Zhou Xuan found himself stepping into knee-deep underground water.
The air was thick with a pungent, overwhelming smell of mold, permeating everywhere.
"This third underground level feels no different from some natural caves."
Zhou Xuan lightly covered his nose with one hand while gently waving the other, attempting to disperse the mildew spores around him.
"The Mother Wall likes environments —we made sure of it deliberately. Let me turn on the lights," replied Li Chengfeng.
"There are actually lights down here?"
Zhou Xuan was quite surprised.
Familiar with the layout, Li Chengfeng walked to a corner and flipped a switch.
"Click, click, click..."
After dozens of electric bulbs turned on, the third underground floor lit up clearly.
Zhou Xuan’s gaze fell on the wall at the farthest end of the third level.
The wall stood nearly twenty meters tall and over a hundred meters long. It exuded a certain sense of grandeur coupled with an inexplicable eeriness.
Two-thirds of the Mother Wall’s surface was fleshy in color, while the remaining third retained the dull gray hue of the original wall.
Scattered across the wall were countless white stains, and the fleshy sections of the wall pulsed, swelling and contracting rhythmically.
A sigh resonated from the immense body of the Mother Wall, as if greeting Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan waded through the underground water, his footing unsteady, inching closer to the Mother Wall.
Reaching the base of the Mother Wall, Zhou Xuan looked up and finally saw clearly... The white stains on the wall were actually human skulls, embedded one by one into the surface.
"Are all these skulls on the wall the Bone Elders’?"
Li Chengfeng had also reached Zhou Xuan’s side, holding a cloth bag in his arms.
The bag had been retrieved from a stone table in the corner of the third level.
Its opening was already loosened, filled to the brim with dried orchids.
The faint fragrance of the orchids helped neutralize the musty smell. Zhou Xuan found the air considerably more tolerable.
"The Mother Wall needs to eat. Her body is still growing," explained Li Chengfeng, pointing toward the bone-laden wall as he continued, "So, every month, the Bone Elder Association brings one hundred people to feed her."
"Where do you find the people?"
"All death penalty convicts from Mingjiang Prefecture, delivered by the authorities."
"Feeding on humans." Zhou Xuan gazed upward at the Sighing Mother Wall. He asked, "You didn’t summon me here for feeding, did you?"
The sigh sounded again. This time, it wasn’t cold and emotionless but carried a certain note of sentiment.
Zhou Xuan noticed an almost comforting feeling within it, as if the Mother Wall were reassuring him not to worry.
A squelching, slippery noise soon followed as a fissure formed in the Mother Wall’s immense body.
The fissure slowly expanded, resembling a gaping mouth stretched to its extreme.
From the depths of the "mouth," a fleshy tendril in the shape of a human hand extended, gently beckoning to Zhou Xuan.
"The Mother Wall is calling me over. Is there any danger in that fissure?"
"Nothing out of the ordinary," replied Li Chengfeng. "Our Bone Elders comprehended the Blood and Flesh Mystery by entering that fissure, letting the Mother Wall envelop us."
"Go ahead, no need to worry," Li Chengfeng said with a slight shake of the orchid-filled bag in his hands. "With this here, the Mother Wall wouldn’t dare to act out of line."
"This orchid—is it the way to restrain the Mother Wall?"
"Yes. As soon as the orchid touches the Mother Wall, it causes her unbearable pain. It’s a method devised long ago by our Bone Elder Association’s ancestors," explained Li Chengfeng.
With the assurance provided by the orchid, Zhou Xuan hesitated no longer and stepped boldly into the body of the Mother Wall.
As soon as he entered, the fissure closed behind him.
The surroundings felt like a room bathed in blood-red hues.
The sigh echoed once more, this time laced with palpable excitement.
The red flesh of the Mother Wall began to bulge. These bulges formed into one symbol after another.
After producing over a dozen symbols, the Mother Wall quieted, waiting silently for Zhou Xuan.
Zhou Xuan observed the symbols. Though he couldn’t decipher their meaning, from their number and the context of the Mother Wall presenting them, he surmised: these symbols are the Mother Wall’s form of writing.
"I don’t recognize these characters," Zhou Xuan admitted candidly.
The Mother Wall let out another melancholy sigh. From her fleshy body, dozens of bloodied, sinewy hands extended, their tips sharp and pointed, attempting to burrow into Zhou Xuan’s head.
Naturally, Zhou Xuan wasn’t keen on this. He gripped the Armored Horse talisman, ready to teleport out of the Mother Wall’s body.
The Mother Wall extended another hand, this time shaking it gently. The motion was subtle, as if to tell Zhou Xuan: Don’t be afraid.