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墨書 Inktalez
"What are you looking at?"
Xu Qingyuan had unknowingly stood behind He Shuo.
Hearing this, He Shuo turned his head to glance at Xu Qingyuan. "Don't you think the patterns on these stone walls look a bit strange?"
"What's strange about them?"
Xu Qingyuan stepped forward and gently touched the texture of the mural on the stone wall. "Aren't these just ordinary patterns used in rituals by some tribes?"
"It's not that simple." He Shuo carefully brushed away the dust, his expression focused. "The deities they worship seem to be a bit different."
Where He Shuo pointed, the painting showed colors mottled at the boundary of day and night. One could vaguely see their deity stepping out from the sea, with faint blue scales visible on its outstretched arm.
Unfortunately, most of the body was difficult to discern due to severe paint fading; only one arm could be barely made out.
The fingers depicted on the stone wall were vastly different from any known deity. The tips of those fingers bore claws about half the length of a finger—sharp and pointed—looking less like divine fingers and more like the claws of a monster.
"Why do their deities' fingers... look so much like... chicken claws?"
Yang Luo frowned, his face full of disdain and confusion. "It's hard to understand how such a ghostly creature could be worshipped as a deity. I really don't get what their ancestors were thinking."
"It does look a bit strange, but it's not surprising."
As Xu Qingyuan spoke, he took out an optical brain and began to record and photograph seriously. "In places where social systems are not well developed, especially in primitive tribes like these, central authorities often fabricate deities to strengthen their control over the people. To intimidate their tribesmen, they often choose parts of animals as components for their divine images to achieve a powerful deterrent effect."
He Shuo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "That makes some sense, but I can't shake the feeling that I've seen this painted arm somewhere before."
"Seen it?"
Yang Luo couldn't help but laugh, "What are you joking about? This is the deity of their tribe; where have you ever seen one?"
He Shuo rolled his eyes at him, ignoring Yang Luo, and instead looked at Bai Qi, who was sitting on the ground, staring blankly at the severed arm of the deity.
"I say, brother, it's been a whole day. Shouldn't the evil spirit you encountered in front of your own deity be gone by now?" He Shuo squatted down and asked curiously, "Do you know what this deity originally looked like, my friend?"
Bai Qi's dazed eyes slowly turned, and he gradually looked back at He Shuo, meeting his gaze. "I don't know what's wrong with me. I just woke up... hiss—"
He reached up to wipe the corner of his mouth and looked down at the blood in his palm before raising his gaze to Xu Qingyuan and the others. "And I've already become like this."
Yang Luo looked at the large gash on both sides of Bai Qi's mouth, a hint of pity crossing his eyes. "Bai Qi, are you really possessed? What were you doing earlier with your hand... putting it in your mouth?"
Bai Qi shook his head vigorously, his voice hoarse. "I don't know. I only came to my senses when I saw these stone walls. I really can't remember what I did before."
After a pause, Bai Qi seemed to recall something. "Did I put my hand in my mouth?"
Bai Qi pointed his index finger at his mouth, looking incredulous.
Yang Luo felt overwhelmed and instinctively rushed over to force Bai Qi's hand down. "I'm really scared of your hand being close to your mouth right now; you better not raise it."
Bai Qi looked confused. "Huh?"
Yang Luo glanced again at Bai Qi's split mouth. "Why don’t you wear a mask or something?"
Bai Qi was even more puzzled. "Huh?"
"What are you talking about?" Bai Qi pushed Yang Luo's hand away. "I'm not sick."
Yang Luo raised his voice, "You're not sick, but you've been possessed!"
Bai Qi widened his eyes, "Huh?"
"Alright, since you're awake, take us to the place where you used to live," Xu Qingyuan said, looking at the lifeless readings on the optical brain, his voice low and somewhat eerie.
"Huh?" Bai Qi still hadn't fully grasped the situation.
Yang Luo pulled him over and briefly explained the situation.
Two minutes later.
"Um, Professor Xu, aren't we waiting for them?" Yang Luo asked nervously. After all, it had only been less than an hour; leaving like this seemed a bit unethical.
Xu Qingyuan remained expressionless. "There's no need to wait for them; they have already perished."
Yang Luo and the others immediately gasped, "Ah."
"But... but, Professor Xu, it's only been a short time. How can you be sure they are dead? They were with us searching along the coastline for you; you can't be so heartless."
Yang Luo stood up straight, his voice suddenly louder, his emotions appearing somewhat agitated.
Xu Qingyuan calmly projected the life signs of the staff members from his optical brain.
Almost every one of their life signs was displayed on the screen; except for those present, everyone else's heart rate graphs were gray, indicating that their hearts had stopped beating.
Due to his agitation, Yang Luo's heart rate was still over 110 and racing.
This information is undoubtedly true.
Xu Qingyuan did not care about their shock; he still had to be responsible for the lives and deaths of others.
The dead are never more important than the living; their bodies could only be searched for together at dawn.
"Alright, Bai Qi, you lead the way."
Bai Qi was taken aback, realizing that Xu Qingyuan was calling him. "Um... okay..."
Aside from suffering some mental strain, Bai Qi did not sustain any serious physical injuries.
Soon, they exited the forest.
"What’s going on here?"
In a typical forest, as long as one follows the direction of the compass, they would see the edge. On an island like this, the forest area shouldn't be very large, yet they had been lost inside for nearly two hours, which was indeed unusual.
Bai Qi forced a smile, but the pain on both sides of his face made him quickly suppress it, covering half of his face as he led the way ahead.
"The climate here is unpredictable, and the island's magnetic field is extremely unstable. This place is not suitable for human habitation. However, I heard from the clan leader when I was young that our ancestors made a deal with the siren. As long as we worship it as a deity, it will protect us from any harm while living here."
This seemed to connect with the patterns on the stone wall—worshiping the siren as a deity?
"I remember that the siren is also a deity from some country. Why does the half-arm of that deity painted on your stone wall look like a monster with such long nails? Honestly, it looks more like a female ghost," Yang Luo remarked, unflinchingly giving his harsh opinion.
Bai Qi's forehead was lined with black marks.
"You don't understand, so stop talking nonsense. The colorful paintings on this stone wall were drawn by our first priest based on the true form of the Siren. Every year during the sacrificial ceremony, we worship it. Even if you've seen images of the Siren in other countries, they are their deities, not our Siren."
"Alright, alright, I was wrong." Yang Luo followed behind him, quietly pouting and muttering, "Deities also have regional cultural limitations."
"What did you say?"
Yang Luo quickly shook his head like a rattle drum. "I didn't say anything."
Bai Qi squinted his eyes and shot a fierce glance at Yang Luo before turning around to continue leading the way.
Yang Luo and Bai Qi walked at the front, clearing the path, while Xu Qingyuan and He Shuo followed at the back.
"Do you think it was that mermaid who did this?"
Stepping over the tangled weeds, He Shuo finally couldn't hold back his anxiety and wanted to ask Xu Qingyuan.
If he hadn't gone to the Laboratory Module to open the drainage system at that time, that mermaid might not have escaped and would have remained trapped in the sunken ship at the bottom of the sea.
But now it was too late to say anything.
The identities of prey and hunter had instantly reversed; they had become the trapped beasts.
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