Supreme Alchemist
Chapter 2489: 2479: The Eyes in the Sea of Blood

Chapter 2489: Chapter 2479: The Eyes in the Sea of Blood

After coming out of the secret passage, Chu Lu was still sighing endlessly. But on second thought, wasn’t he becoming a mercenary because of money? In essence, everyone was no different.

“Will I become like that after I die?”

Chu Lu touched his chin and surprisingly started to seriously contemplate this question, only to be greeted by Zhu Ying’s pink fist.

“What are you thinking about? It’s ominous.”

Zhu Ying gave Chu Lu a sidelong glance, apparently, in such an eerie environment, the word death was a taboo.

After Zhu Ying reminded Chu Lu, he suddenly realized and, chuckling, rubbed the back of his head.

“Look, Ying’er, I’m just thinking wildly; don’t take it seriously.”

Everyone was amused by Chu Lu’s demeanor. Although this place was incredibly strange, it wasn’t so scary with a crowd.

Long Yan had to admit that bringing this group was the right choice.

“Brother Long, didn’t you say this place was very dangerous last time? Why haven’t I seen any enemies?”

Chu Lu walked cheerfully to Long Yan’s side. He’s a restless person; if he can’t take action, he’ll definitely talk, and asking him to wait quietly would be harder than killing him.

“Because I explored up to here last time. The road afterward might be dangerous, so you must be careful.”

Long Yan knew Chu Lu meant no harm, so he responded with a smile. Chu Lu uttered an ‘oh’ sound, then brought the greatsword from his back into his hand.

With the click of Long Yan opening the lock, the other three all took out their weapons, prepared for battle. But in the next second, everyone was dumbfounded as they found themselves outside; they were standing in a corridor.

Long Yan tested walking out but found it was ordinary apart from being dilapidated. But why would such a corridor be built inside a temple?

Leaning against the railing, Long Yan saw outside was a pond, but unlike a proper pond, it was surging with blood instead of water, although the area was small, it emitted a foul stench.

“Sea of Blood?”

Long Yan frowned at the sign beside him. It’s just a pond, yet it dares to call itself Sea of Blood; Master Shiran must have something wrong with his head.

Speaking of Sea of Blood, there was a legend: once Hou Tu created the Six Paths of Reincarnation, fearing that sins committed during life would carry into the next, she created Meng Po’s Soup. But sins created while alive were cast into a place called Sea of Blood.

So actually, the Sea of Blood isn’t blood; it’s just sins, hence the name, but essentially has nothing to do with blood.

But the real Sea of Blood is in hell. Master Shiran has quite the nerve; does he intend to create the Six Paths of Reincarnation next?

Wait, Long Yan felt like he forgot something. Beside the pond called Sea of Blood stood a vigorously thriving Bodhi Tree, but the most terrifying part was the long string of skulls hanging on its branches, just skulls with no bodies, making the seemingly meditative Bodhi Tree unusually horrifying.

Seeing Long Yan flip over the railing, it was clearly the place of the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch. But after looking at the constantly reeking Blood Pool, Long Yan hesitated to reach out.

But intuition told Long Yan there must be something in there, possibly the key to unraveling the temple’s mystery.

“I’ll do it.”

After seeing Long Yan’s tangled expression, Chu Lu spoke lightly. What’s rotten blood? He had seen filthier places on the mountain, let alone in the Sea of Blood.

Long Yan hesitated but told Chu Lu to be careful before stepping aside from the pond.

Chu Lu rolled up his sleeves and reached out at a spot closer to the Bodhi Tree. Within moments, he took out a small pouch from the Sea of Blood.

“Here.”

Chu Lu washed his arm and the small pouch with a water bottle he carried. This might be the item the statue’s mouth spoke of.

“What’s this?”

Long Yan opened the pouch and almost retched from the contents: inside were two blood-red eyeballs, looking as though forcibly removed from their sockets, pupils filled with blood.

“What exactly is this strange thing asking us to find?”

Chu Lu grimaced, feeling creeped out just looking at them, not to mention Long Yan, who was initially unaware. Despite his experiences, he was startled by the bloodshot gaze.

Long Yan closed the pouch again; who knows where this might be useful, best to keep it on him for now.

“Heavenly Stem Yi Wood, Earthly Branch Wei Earth. Heavenly Stem Yi Wood, Earthly Branch Wei Earth.”

Before everyone caught a breath, the small statue Tian Luo Yi held spoke again but only once this time, thanks to Tian Luo Yi’s constant attention on it. Otherwise, it might have gone unnoticed.

“A bit strange.”

Tian Luo Yi frowned and told Long Yan. His intuition felt off; last time, the statue kept repeating the words, but now only once, something was strange, not to mention a terrifying matter he hadn’t said aloud.

Just now, the statue’s words carried a sharp tone, like someone clutching its neck.

Right after Tian Luo Yi finished speaking, the statue in his hand began to crack gradually, then transformed into a handful of ash, dissipating into the air.

“This is truly eerie.”

Even the carefree Chu Lu felt a bit unsettled; everything went wrong since entering the temple. Now, with the statue gone, they could only rely on the phrase “Heavenly Stem Yi Wood, Earthly Branch Wei Earth” to continue investigating.

“Heavenly Stem Yi Wood is actually common flowers and grass, and Earthly Branch Wei Earth is probably dry soil. These two aren’t difficult; they’re just literal meanings.”

Tian Luo Yi gently shook his head, interpreting the words.

“No, earlier it was two eyeballs; surely not two more this time?”

Zhu Ying seemed unusual, her breath heavy. Long Yan noticed her eyes gradually turning red.

“Stop her!”

As Long Yan spoke, Zhu Ying let out a piercing scream, startling Chu Lu beside her, then her sturdy body knocked him down.

Without looking back, Zhu Ying ran towards the hall across the corridor.

“Zhu Ying!”