Zhang Heng spent some time searching the bottom of the pool once more to confirm that Jermaine Gardner was indeed not here. Just like the pit above, there was no other entrance or exit to the pool.
Thus, Zhang Heng shifted his gaze to the head of the stone carving snake. This time, Zhang Heng was no longer attracted by the pair of ruby eyes. He no longer paid attention to the lifelike carving techniques, focussing his gaze instead on the mouth of the snake.
Zhang Heng’s heart skipped a beat. He suddenly understood what this stone carving was used for.
It was not an underwater sculpture of a work of art but a door!
The entrance to this door was in the snake’s mouth, which was wide open.
However, even if an ordinary person realized this, it would probably be difficult for them to overcome the fear in their heart and really swim into the snake’s mouth. This was especially so when coupled with the outstanding knife skills of this stone carving, not to mention the pressure that the snake’s mouth was exerting.
However, Zhang Heng did not have such concerns. Ever since he joined the game, he had been losing his emotions, especially when it came to fear. It had been a long time since Zhang Heng had experienced what fear felt like.
Before entering the snake’s mouth, he carefully examined the stone carving. After confirming that there were no traps or traps on it, he grabbed the Hidden Scabbard and swam in.
What greeted Zhang Heng was darkness.
Since the Filter Lens couldn’t be used, Zhang Heng could only illuminate a small distance in front of him with his flashlight. Furthermore, the moment he entered the snake’s mouth, he was sucked into a turbulent flow.
This surprised Zhang Heng as well. The pool didn’t seem to have any fluctuations from the outside, and during his descent, he didn’t encounter natural currents other than the ones he had created himself. With Zhang Heng’s current control and perception, he could clearly feel that the pool was completely stagnant.
However, after entering the snake’s mouth, it was as if he entered another world. The current suddenly became faster, and it was apparent that there was more than one. Zhang Heng felt as if his body was being pulled by countless hands.
He tried to control the current to counteract the impact and stabilize his body. However, thanks to the irregular current, the variance, and the power in each force, the only thing that remained was that there was no sign of it appearing or disappearing. Zhang Heng himself found it difficult to shake off the influence of the water thoroughly, so he could only try not to crash into the walls around him.
He did not know how much time had passed, but he was carried along by the flow of water until a hole appeared in front of him, which ended the exciting roller coaster ride.
Zhang Heng noticed that the flow of water around him slowly slowed down until it disappeared, and he even saw a glimmer of light he hadn’t seen in a long time.
Had he already returned to the outside world from the abandoned subway line?
If he had known that he would be able to leave here, Zhang Heng would have asked Fan Meinan and Ma Lu to come down as well. Even though they both couldn’t breathe underwater as he could, Zhang Heng could easily make a diving suit with the Infinite Building Block around. Thus, he brought the two of them out one by one. Of course, it wasn’t too late. He could turn around and pick them up.
However, since he was already here, Zhang Heng decided to explore the surroundings first. At least he knew where he was now. He looked at the starfish in his hand. It had been about 15 minutes since he had entered the snake’s mouth. By multiplying the speed of the current, he could calculate how much distance he had traveled. The environment he was in now was different from before; it was very spacious.
This way, Zhang Heng could lock onto the reservoir or the river near the station.
But then, Zhang Heng was stunned because he noticed the figure approaching him not far away.
This was the first time he had seen a living creature after entering the tunnel. The one swimming toward him was a fish, a very common one at that. However, according to Zhang Heng’s common sense, this fish should not be here.
—because it was a clownfish.
The clownfish got its name from the white stripes on its face, much like a Beijing Opera clown. However, the problem was that it was a tropical saltwater fish, and it could not survive in freshwater.
Could this clownfish be an illusion created by Yemengarde? Zhang Heng swam forward for a while, but he saw more saltwater fish. Other than that, there were corals and sea anemones. This further confirmed that he was indeed in the ocean.
However, just 15 minutes ago, he was still in the underground pit of the abandoned subway line, at least 200 kilometers away from the nearest coastline. Zhang Heng noticed that this place did not look like any coast that he was familiar with. At the moment, Zhang Heng was a little confused about where he was.
He brought himself out of the water by controlling the current and saw a red island in the direction of his right hand. It was about six to seven kilometers away. This distance was not a problem for Zhang Heng. However, he was not in a hurry to leave.
The current situation had deviated from his previous plan. Zhang Heng had originally entered the pool to lure Yemengard ashore to deal with him. Unexpectedly, he did not even see Yemengard’s shadow under the pool. Instead, he inexplicably came to this ocean.
If everything went according to plan, the small island in front of him should be Yemengard’s nest.
Zhang Heng now had two choices. He could either go to the island and fight Yemengard or return to the pool and wait for Yemengard to reappear. The advantage of the latter was that Zhang Heng could try to ambush Yemengard once. With the Pestilence Bone Bow and Paris Arrow in hand, he still had a considerable success rate in ambushing Yemengard.
Zhang Heng quickly ruled out the latter option. Based on his information, Yemengard went to the abandoned subway line to feed the snakes there. Snakes in the wild could eat a second meal every ten days or half a month after one meal.
That said, Zhang Heng, Fan Meinan, and Ma Lu could not wait that long. Even though Zhang Heng had solved drinking water, he did not have any good ideas for eating. He couldn’t be eating snake for every meal, right? So, the earlier the war started, the better the situation would turn out for the three of them.
Instead of rushing onto the island, Zhang Heng didn’t rush onto the island. He first turned back to the pond and took the clothes and props that he had left there. Then, he followed the flow of the water back to the ocean. After another half an hour, Zhang Heng finally stepped onto the red island.
Before sunset, Zhang Heng spread his clothes and arrows on the rocks beside the island to dry them in the sun. Only when there was almost no water on them did he put on his clothes properly and end his celestial state.
While he was drying his clothes, Zhang Heng also started to observe the island. The entire island looked extremely desolate. There were no animals or plants on it, only red soil.
