Chapter 1497 - 1494: The Underground Palace

Fang Wushang, without any findings, walked over to Ye Qiu's side and sighed, saying, "I haven't found anything."

After a moment, Fang Wushang realized that Ye Qiu wasn't paying attention to his words at all and didn't respond to him.

Fang Wushang nudged Ye Qiu and said, "What are you doing? Did you hear me speaking?"

With Fang Wushang's nudge, Ye Qiu suddenly realized and said, "Look at the direction those stone cocoons are facing."

Upon hearing Ye Qiu's words, Fang Wushang immediately looked at those stone cocoons. At first glance, it seemed nothing unusual, but upon closer inspection, he found that the features of those stone cocoons were extremely ferocious, each one looking like it had crawled out of Hell.

"Why do these stone cocoons look so frightening?" Fang Wushang frowned and looked at Ye Qiu while speaking.

Ye Qiu ignored Fang Wushang's words and instead said, "Look at their eyes. Their eyes are all looking in one direction, towards the altar, yet not exactly."

Hearing this, Fang Wushang followed the gaze of the stone cocoons and found that they were looking underneath the altar.

"Indeed," Fang Wushang said as he looked at the stone cocoons, "they seem to be looking below the altar."

Ye Qiu nodded, then moved forward to the side of the altar. Only then did Ye Qiu notice that there was a stone slab behind the altar that could be lifted.

Ye Qiu crouched down and tapped on the stone slab, producing a hollow sound.

"It's hollow under this stone slab," Ye Qiu looked up at Fang Wushang and made a remark, then drew his sword and used the tip to lift the stone slab.

"What's inside here?" Fang Wushang asked, looking at the contents beneath the stone slab.

Ye Qiu gazed at the revealed contents which included a circular groove, similar in shape to the stone he held in his hand.

"It seems this is what the stone is for." With that, he placed the stone he held into the groove.

After placing it in, Ye Qiu and Fang Wushang waited for a while, but there was no change in the stone or the altar.

"It doesn't seem to work," Fang Wushang said, puzzled as he looked at Ye Qiu, "Did we make a mistake?"

Upon hearing Fang Wushang's words, Ye Qiu shook his head and said, "No, did we overlook something?"

Ye Qiu thought for a moment, then gently rotated the stone.

As soon as Ye Qiu rotated the stone, a sound like gears turning was immediately heard.

In an instant, the entire altar began to shake, and Fang Wushang immediately grabbed Ye Qiu, looking at him in confusion.

As Ye Qiu looked at the surrounding vibration, he frowned and pulled Fang Wushang over, then swiftly picked up the black cat.

Just as Ye Qiu completed these movements, the stone slabs beneath their feet suddenly dropped, and they began to fall, as if plunging directly into the mountain.

Ye Qiu quickly formed a protective barrier around them, and in no time, they landed on the ground, with Fang Wushang still held tightly by Ye Qiu, unscathed.

"What is this place?" Fang Wushang, somewhat bashful, raised his head from Ye Qiu's embrace, looked at the surrounding environment, and said, "This place is so vast!"

"It seems this is an underground palace," Ye Qiu placed the black cat on the ground, looked around, and said, "I'm just unsure how old this palace is."

Indeed, the place where Ye Qiu and Fang Wushang found themselves was an underground palace. The surrounding walls were still lit with azure lamps and glazed tiles, making the palace not dark at all; every detail was visible.

"How did we end up in an underground palace?" Fang Wushang looked at Ye Qiu with confusion and said, "Did we fall straight down from the altar to here?"

Ye Qiu nodded and said, "It seems that stone is the key to the underground palace, though whether it's the only entrance, we don't know."

As he spoke, Ye Qiu led Fang Wushang further into the palace.

"Ye Qiu," Fang Wushang suddenly spoke, "Look, there are murals here too."

Fang Wushang pointed to the columns in the palace.

Ye Qiu followed Fang Wushang's finger and indeed saw murals carved on the stone pillars of the palace.

This time, every mural depicted the black-robed man, and seeing these murals, a joy arose in Ye Qiu's heart, suggesting that this palace is related to the Jade Mountain Kunlun Mirror.

"This underground palace is indeed vast," Fang Wushang said, his eyes unable to take in everything around him, "I wonder who built such a massive palace here."

Upon hearing this, Ye Qiu shook his head and said, "This palace is likely ancient, even if it's not that old, we have no idea who built it."

Hearing Ye Qiu's words, Fang Wushang immediately nodded and said, "Indeed, but since that black-robed man is in these murals, there might be a clue regarding that mirror here as well. Let's find it quickly!"

Saying this, Fang Wushang began to carefully search around each column.

Ye Qiu watched Fang Wushang's back, honestly feeling quite touched. He thought Fang Wushang was a very sincere person. After all, he was helping him find something that wouldn't bring him any benefits. After experiencing so much hardship, meeting such a genuine person was truly a rarity.

Thinking this, Ye Qiu also continued his search. Fortunately, the underground palace had only one level. Though it was vast, searching through it was rather quick.

Ye Qiu looked at a seat in the main hall of the palace, which resembled a king's throne, appearing quite luxurious.

Strangely, Ye Qiu was inexplicably drawn to the throne, his feet moving unwittingly towards it.

Fang Wushang did not notice Ye Qiu's odd behavior, but the black cat, seeing Ye Qiu approach the throne, followed him.

Ye Qiu's eyes were fixed intently on the throne, walking straight to it, and then he sat down on it.

When Ye Qiu looked down again, Fang Wushang's figure was no longer visible; all he saw were people kneeling throughout the palace.

A black-robed man stood next to him, holding an ancient carved mirror in his hand, looking at him with utmost respect.

"My king, you have finally returned."

The black-robed man's face was hidden beneath a hood. From Ye Qiu's vantage point, the black-robed man's face was completely obscured, yet for some reason, Ye Qiu's heart began to race under the man's gaze.

With a smile, the black-robed man glanced at Ye Qiu, then turned to the people kneeling on the ground and said, "Our king has returned. As long as the Jade Mountain Kunlun Mirror is here, no one can kill our king."