Corpse Recovery Diver
Chapter 360 - 64_2

Chapter 360: Chapter 64_2

Li Zhiyuan wasn’t disappointed either, because that thing was at the very top. Even if he could climb up there, he might still encounter it.

At this moment, lights started signaling from the opposite bank, first with rapid high-frequency flashes, followed by vertical shaking.

"Brother Runsheng, Brother Liangliang has found something, let’s go over."

"Okay."

Just as Li Zhiyuan was about to hang his flashlight back on himself, the flashlight’s beam swept over a human figure.

At first, the boy thought he was seeing things, as in the predominantly dark environment, he trusted his ears more.

When the flashlight shone back, the figure appeared again, standing there, holding onto the rock wall with his right hand, his right leg extended slightly, revealing half a face as if peeping.

Run Sheng immediately took two steps forward, arriving beside the boy, and evidently, he had seen it too.

"Xiao Yuan, do you want to go check it out?"

Run Sheng knew that the boy would normally choose to be cautious when in danger, but this time, the boy’s response was:

"Brother Runsheng, let’s move forward."

"Okay."

Out of caution, Li Zhiyuan had only explored the surroundings after getting onto the bank earlier. He hadn’t been to the area ahead, but from the figure’s posture, it was clear that to the left of the person, there was a recessed area.

Either there was a protruding edge there, or there was a new cave entrance.

He roughly estimated the time taken for his group of four to slide through the tunnel, and the time taken for a free fall after leaving the tunnel, making a rough calculation of the vertical drop. In this kind of drop, blindly following the direction of the underground river, what awaited him most likely wouldn’t be sunlight after exiting Shuilian Cave, but something further downward.

The best way to leave this place was to find a path leading upwards.

The flashlight continuously stayed on the "peeping" figure, who, instead of evading, remained motionless.

Could it be, not a person?

When the distance was close enough, the fine details reflected by the flashlight’s light revealed the texture of stone, and Li Zhiyuan relaxed, it indeed wasn’t a person, but a stone sculpture.

However, the design of this stone sculpture was rather eerie.

Li Zhiyuan wasn’t sure if the sculpture was originally painted, as he couldn’t make out any color now. Judging from the body shape and posture of the sculpture, it appeared to be a woman.

She wasn’t peeping... she was observing.

The two words are similar, but their implied tones are completely different; the former focuses on Run Sheng and himself, while the latter centers on the character of the sculpture.

Li Zhiyuan shone the flashlight towards the left and behind the sculpture, revealing a cave with stairs inside.

Then, Li Zhiyuan once again shone the flashlight on the statue, this time on its back.

This angle clearly showed female characteristics, and he could even see the design of the skirt. Thanks to admiring Alii’s clothing every day, Li Zhiyuan could now reconstruct the skirt design in his mind based on the existing patterns of the sculpture.

She wasn’t sculpted and placed here; she was directly carved out of the rock wall here, with many parts of her upper body integrated with the rock.

Li Zhiyuan took several steps back in the direction they had come from, with Run Sheng also backing up, and the two returned to a position facing the statue.

"Xiao Yuan, it’s a bit scary..."

What scared Run Sheng was never the object itself, but the atmosphere.

And that atmosphere was exactly what Li Zhiyuan wanted to rediscover.

As he approached step by step earlier, he felt a sense of familiarity, and now, that feeling came back to him, and he remembered where it might have come from.

At many ancient burial sites, at the position right above the main chamber where the owner’s coffin was placed, on the wall, there would be a "woman opening the door" painting.

There are many scholarly guesses about this, and Li Lan agreed that it symbolizes that after the owner’s death, another world in the afterlife opens its doors to welcome him.

Of course, this afterlife isn’t referring to Hell under King Yan’s rule, but varies depending on different times, places, and religious beliefs. Some are meant to welcome one to ascend to immortality, others simply to welcome one back to another abode, no less than the earthly one, where one can continue to enjoy life as before.

In short, it’s not a place for the living.

Thinking back to the cave behind with the stone staircase...

This place isn’t the location of the main burial chamber, nor is it on a normal burial pathway. So, whom is the sculpture meant to guide here?

Li Zhiyuan turned his body and looked towards the turbulent underground river.

When rational thinking got him nowhere, he had to switch thinking styles.

If the underground river could be likened to something like the Huangquan yin river, then wouldn’t the staircase and woman opening the door sculpture standing here be meant to welcome the spirits from Huangquan to visit?

If this place really was a tomb, how incredibly hospitable must the tomb owner have been in life, to still be welcoming spirits from all directions after death?

Li Zhiyuan looked towards the opposite bank; after signaling, the light stayed on, occasionally swaying lightly to indicate they were still alive.

The boy began to signal, gesturing for them to come to his side.

Both sides had discoveries; deciding where to gather would depend on who was more persuasive in the group.

Soon, the other side responded, and they entered the water.

Run Sheng went to the bank to wait; soon, two drenched figures were helped up by Run Sheng.

"Huff... huff..." Tan Wenbin kneeled on the ground catching his breath.

Xue Liangliang just spat a few times before walking towards Li Zhiyuan: "Xiao Yuan, we found a boat on our side, but it’s a stone boat, carved together with the rocks on the shore."

"Then take a look at what we have here."

Xue Liangliang held the flashlight, first observing the sculpture, then looking at the cave’s stone stairs inside.