The moment his hand was grabbed, Lu Zhi's scalp tingled, and he instinctively wanted to kick out. A beam of light suddenly lit up from the front, the glow from the torch held by Seventh Sister. Though the firelight was faint, it allowed Lu Zhi to see clearly who had grabbed his arm: it was the woman in the white dress.
"Save me, save me..." the woman's eyes were terrified and tearful, her face pale, her whole body trembling.
Lu Zhi pursed his lips and pulled away the woman's hand, saying, "There's nothing behind you." He paused, "Don't scare yourself."
The woman shook her head in despair, her eyes filled with panic, crying out, "No, no, no, something, something grabbed my skirt."
"What's going on?" Seventh Sister, holding the torch, walked up to them.
Perhaps it was the firelight, but Lu Zhi seemed to see Seventh Sister's dark pupils momentarily turn into beast-like vertical slits.
Seventh Sister squatted down, frowning, and said, "Your skirt is too long, it got caught on a branch." She reached out and tore off the part of the woman's skirt that was snagged by the branch.
The scare turned out to be nothing, but everyone's expressions were grim.
The woman was still sobbing, weak and helpless, but no one present paid her any mind.
With the light of the torch, their fear of being engulfed by darkness had diminished considerably. The surrounding trees gradually thinned out, and the gravel path underfoot slowly turned into stone slabs. A massive temple, built from stone, loomed before them.
What shocked them most were the two giant stone pillars, nearly ten meters high, standing before the temple entrance. On top of them rested two glowing orbs, the size of human heads. https:/
"There's a rule on Sea God Island, shipwrecked outsiders must undergo a three-day purification in the Sea God Temple before they can live in the village." Seventh Sister stuck the torch into the ground and was the first to enter the temple.
They looked at each other, then finally followed Seventh Sister into the temple. They had expected to see a magnificent statue of the Sea God and exquisite palace decorations, but found it to be empty. In the center was a pool of water, about thirty square meters in size. On four stone pillars, each as thick as an adult and three meters tall, were embedded fist-sized glowing orbs.
The light from the orbs was limited, barely illuminating a distance of three meters.
Lu Zhi's gaze fell on Seventh Sister's retreating back. Inside the palace, beyond the edge of the pool, it was pitch black. Yet Seventh Sister seemed unaffected by the darkness. Less than thirty seconds later, she emerged holding a stack of clothes, saying, "Three days of purification. Every night, you must cleanse yourselves in the Sacred Pool and then pray at the Sea God Tree."
The middle-aged man who had spoken by the sea asked impatiently, "So, we have to bathe in the pool now?"
Seventh Sister's dark pupils turned to the middle-aged man and she said, "Cleanse yourselves in the Sacred Pool."
The middle-aged man fell silent, cold sweat beading on his forehead, frozen in place. He watched as Seventh Sister's dark pupils slowly turned into golden vertical slits before everyone's eyes.
For a moment, the room was eerily silent; no one dared to speak.
"It's getting late, and you've all had a tiring day. Rest early. The rooms are on the left," Seventh Sister smiled as she handed the clothes to the middle-aged man, then gave one to Lu Zhi and each of the others. Finally, she said, "Tomorrow morning, I will come to take everyone to pray at the Sea God Tree."
With that, she walked out of the temple under their silent and apprehensive gazes.
Only when Seventh Sister was completely out of sight did the suffocating sense of dread gradually subside.
"Is, is she human?" the female student in the school uniform said, her face pale, "Her, her eyes."
Lu Zhi looked thoughtfully at the clothes in his hands. The white garments were light and airy, their style resembling the attire of Eve and Adam in Western mythology. The men wore short pants, and the women wore dresses that reached past their knees.
Someone in the group asked, "Should we listen to her and purify ourselves in the Sacred Pool?"
Another replied uneasily, "It's the first day, there probably won't be any danger, right?"
While they discussed whether to follow Seventh Sister's instructions, change their clothes, and enter the Sacred Pool for purification, Lu Zhi walked to the temple entrance and looked out at the dark forest and the dark sea in the distance. The night sky was devoid of stars and moon, making this temple the only source of light in the darkness.
Lu Zhi withdrew his gaze, took a torch from the wall beside the entrance, turned to the people in the group, and asked, "Does anyone have a lighter?"
They all looked at him. One of the young men spoke up, "I do, I brought one."
"Thank you," Lu Zhi said, asking the young man to light the torch for him.
Seeing Lu Zhi preparing to walk further in with the torch, the young man quickly said, "Can, can I go with you?"
Lu Zhi glanced at the young man's expression and nodded, "Alright."
The others exchanged glances, hesitating whether to follow Lu Zhi further inside, yet fearing the unknown dangers lurking in the darkness.
Lu Zhi wanted to explore further inside because Seventh Sister had mentioned the rooms were on the left.
The torch's illumination was limited, and Lu Zhi walked cautiously. The young man behind him swallowed nervously, "H-hello, my name is Li Chaoyang. You, you're really brave."
Lu Zhi politely introduced himself as well, raising his torch to shine on the wall. He squinted and said, "It seems there are carvings on this wall?"
Li Chaoyang turned to look upon hearing this, "It seems there are, but the light is too dim to see clearly."
Lu Zhi moved closer with the torch. Indeed, there were carvings on the stone wall, but these patterns were more like a child's scribbles, with messy lines. Unfortunately, the carvings were extensive, and Lu Zhi and the other could only see up to a height of three meters, unable to see anything above.
"Lu Zhi, look." Li Chaoyang excitedly pointed to the direction to their left, where a closed wooden door stood. "Perhaps this is where we'll be resting?"
Lu Zhi was unsure, "Let's go take a look."
The torch moved away from the wall, and the two continued further in. Suddenly, Lu Zhi stopped.
Li Chaoyang stopped with him, "What's wrong?"
Lu Zhi held the torch behind him and shone it back on the wall. "Did you hear anything just now?"
Li Chaoyang shook his head blankly, and they both fell silent for a moment.
Suddenly, a faint sound came from behind them. Lu Zhi commanded, "Come out."
Li Chaoyang, startled like a cat with its fur bristling, quickly hid behind Lu Zhi, exclaiming in fear, "Who, who? Is it a person or..." a ghost.
A blue and white school uniform appeared in the light. The female student awkwardly raised her hand, "Hi."
"Damn it, what are you lurking around for?" Seeing it was a person, Li Chaoyang's frightened courage returned.
"I, I saw you coming this way just now, so I got curious and followed," the female student quickly waved her hands. "I, I have no ill intentions, really."
"If you wanted to come along, you could have just said so. Why sneak up behind us like that, trying to scare us?" Li Chaoyang rolled his eyes.
"I, I'm sorry," the female student's eyes revealed her unease. "I, I'm scared."
"Scared?" Lu Zhi's gaze calmly assessed her. "Isn't it more frightening in here than out there where there's light?"
The female student shivered, her voice filled with dread, "I, I don't know how to describe it, it's just, when I'm with them, I, I feel a very uncomfortable sensation."
Lu Zhi's eyes flickered, remembering the last sentence of the trial prompt.
"Gentle reminder: Be careful not to be deceived by sirens disguised as companions. If you die, Lord Sea God will be sad."
Could this female student have triggered a special ability upon entering the trial grounds, allowing her to sense danger nearby?
With this thought, Lu Zhi looked at Li Chaoyang and asked directly, "Why are you following me?"
Li Chaoyang sheepishly scratched his head, "Ah? Well, I just felt that following you would be much safer."
Lu Zhi pondered. If only one person said this, it might be a misconception. But if both felt uneasy, did that mean...
Among their group of twelve, was one of them disguised as a siren?