Chapter 526 - The Stone Chamber for Sacrifices (2/2)

In a moment, a square opening the size of the little finger appeared before them.

“I suppose this is where the mechanism is. Step back so I can try to operate it.”

Long Tianyu volunteered to try the mechanism. However, no matter what method he used, the stone door would not budge.

When Long Tianyu was at his wit’s end, someone thrust a plum flower pattern seal at him.

“Why don’t you try this?”

Lin Mengya was wearing a brilliant smile on her face. She had just remembered this.

When the old Taoist priest handed her this seal, she could not figure out its use.

She would not have thought about it if not because the little opening appeared to be the same size as the seal.

Long Tianyu took over her seal, took a quick glance at it, then carefully inserted it into the small opening.

“Click” and the two objects fit into each other perfectly.

A grinding sound followed and the stone door lifted from the ground.

The four people simultaneously looked through the door, feeling anxious and excited at the same time.

However, what came into sight was shocking.

“This—”

Behind the stone door stood a huge stone room.

Standing there was a giant statue whose features were somewhat worn out. However, they could make out that it was a statue of the king of herbs, the founder of medical knowledge.

At the bottom of the stone statue was a table covered with dusk. The joss sticks and candles on the table were covered with cobwebs. Many years ought to have passed since the last time anyone visited this place.

However, there were two skeletons covered by dried-out skin from wind, sitting back to back on rush cushions below the table for sacrifices.

The clothes on the two skeletons were long torn and tattered.

Nevertheless, Zuo Qiuyu dashed over, looking all shaken.

With a “plop”, he fell on his knees before the two skeletons.

“Master! You… so you’re here. Master, your disciple here has let you down! I’ve let you down!”

It was a rare sight to see Zuo Qiuyu weeping so badly and looking so distraught.

However, the other three people had heard him clearly. One of the skeletons was Zuo Qiuyu’s master.

“So this was where Old Mister Yuan lived. No wonder the emperor and the prince had failed to find his remains.”

Yu An sighed as he commented.

However, there did not seem to be any hidden mechanism here. Lin Mengya pondered for a moment, and then she had Long Tianyu remove the seal.

There seemed to be some kind of installation on the wall that could control the stone door.

Long Tianyu took a look at it and concluded confidently that this place was not only for people to make sacrifices, it was also a place of refuge.

With a loud noise, the stone door closed once again, but the four of them were not feeling as frightened as before.

Zuo Qiuyu was still weeping and apologizing to his master, so Lin Mengya, Long Tianyu, and Yu An decided to leave him alone for a moment and proceeded to size up the huge stone room.

At the back of the stone room was a spiral staircase. The three of them had a feeling that there would be another exit up the steps.

If this was a place of refuge, it would mean that like the stone door, the mechanism to open it would be inside the stone room.

In this case, they did not feel as desperate and frightened as before.

Inside the stone room, there were still joss sticks and candles scattered all over. There were even daily necessities that had been weathered over time.

Lin Mengya looked at the two skeletons and concluded that although they had been weathered over time too, they did not seem to have been murdered, judging from their posture.

As she approached the bodies, she spotted a green jade token at the foot of the body wearing a green outfit on the left.

Lin Mengya conveniently picked it up and wiped away the dust covering it. On it was engraved clearly with the word “Shen”.

“Look. What’s this?”

Zuo Qiuyu, who was still weeping bitterly, turned around and saw the jade token. In that instant, he froze.

“This! This is the Chief Elder’s token of authority! He carried this token with him always. Could this other person be the Chief Elder?”

Zuo Qiuyu’s quivering voice surprised even Lin Mengya.

She flipped the token over and saw the lifelike pattern of a plum flower.

Could the plum flower be the true representation of the Pavilion of Herbs?

The Chief Priest had disappeared before this year. According to the state of the skeleton and the tattered state of the clothes he was wearing, it was likely that the Chief Elder had died here.

However, why was Zuo Qiuyu’s master here too?

All these were mysteries yet to be solved. Even Lin Mengya, who was exceptionally intelligent, was unable to come up with an explanation.

“Don’t be overly grieved, Cousin Yu. Do you think there’s something about the manner that your master and the Chief Elder had died here?”

With great caution, Lin Mengya persuaded Zuo Qiuyu to gradually stop weeping.

Meanwhile, Long Tianyu and Yu An had thoroughly gone through the stone room. There was indeed another door at the top of the steps where they could exit.

If one could enter and leave this place freely, why then did the Chief Elder and Zuo Qiuyu’s master die here?

At that moment, Lin Mengya was unable to come out with an answer to this contradicting mystery.

“What came to my mind was that my master had been plotted against by some evil people before he went missing! Perhaps it was the same for the Chief Elder!”