When Yang Jun said that, all of us, including Hao Zhengyi, were startled. Hugo rolled his eyes and said, "Yang, I appreciate your sense of humor, but this really isn't the time for jokes. Going down the well... that's a complicated issue. We can discuss it later. Right now, Shen Song and I are holding you up—if you can walk in a straight line by yourself, it's already God's mercy." I chimed in, "Yang Jun, just listen to Director Hugo. I've known him six months longer than you have. For a foreigner, he's not the type to talk nonsense." As I spoke, I kept winking at Sun Fatty. When it comes to talking nonsense, even if you doubled both mine and Hugo's efforts, we still couldn't compare to Sun Fatty.
Sun Fatty first glanced at Hao Zhengyi, trying to read the reason behind Yang Jun's reckless decision to go down the well. But at that moment, Hao Zhengyi also looked baffled, staring at Yang Jun with the same surprise. Sun Fatty blinked rapidly, his eyes shifting between Yang Jun and Hao Zhengyi—that was practically his trademark gesture whenever he was deep in thought.
Unfortunately, before Sun Fatty could speak, Hao Zhengyi suddenly said, "Looks like we'll be going down the well together with Mr. Yang Jun.""No way!" Hugo, Sun Fatty, and I shouted in unison.Sun Fatty immediately followed up, "Director Hao, come on now, it was agreed that your Religious Affairs Commission would be the ones going down the well, and we from the Bureau of Paranormal Investigation would give you a proper send-off. What's going on now? Not to be rude, but do you even realize how many times your own decisions have been overturned since we got here?"
The smile vanished from Hao Zhengyi's face. He gave Sun Fatty a cold look before turning his gaze back to Yang Jun. "It seems Mr. Yang Jun knows something that even Crow and I do not. Given the current circumstances, we truly need Mr. Yang Jun's help. Of course, as I've said before—aside from Mr. Yang Jun, the rest of you may choose for yourselves whether or not to go down."
When Hao Zhengyi said these words, it was as if he had become a completely different person. The easygoing, cooperative tone was gone, replaced by a firm, no-nonsense attitude that left no room for argument. Still, Sun Fatty pressed on, "Director Hao, with all due respect, Yang Jun is technically one of Director Wu's people from Room Six. Aren't you at all wary of Wu Rendi?"
Hearing Wu Rendi's name made Hao Zhengyi's expression turn slightly awkward. But after a brief pause, he looked off toward the dry well in the distance. His voice grew firm again. "There are too many things in this world that I have to be wary of..." With that, he stopped responding to us and made a hand signal to Crow. Then he turned to Yang Jun and said, "I'll go first, you'll be in the middle, and Mr. Crow will bring up the rear..."
Watching Hao Zhengyi already assigning the order of descent, I saw Yang Jun being handed off from Hugo and me to Crow, trembling as he began to head toward the well. My temper flared and I shouted, "Wait! You stop right there!"
My outburst startled Sun Fatty. "Lazi, calm down, if you have something to say, say it properly." He lowered his voice and muttered, "Don't do anything stupid. If you want to do something, wait till Master Xiao gets back. Yang Jun's going down—that's bad enough. Don't throw yourself in with him."
Sun Fatty saw right through me. But at this point, there was no way I could just stand by and watch Yang Jun go down the well with Hao Zhengyi and Crow. Hao Zhengyi turned back to me and sighed. "I hope you know what you're doing." I took a deep breath and said, "I'm going down too. Whatever Yang Jun saw down there, I saw it as well. It won't make a difference if you add me to the team." Hao Zhengyi gave a bitter smile and beckoned. "Since you put it that way, I have no reason to refuse. Walk alongside Mr. Yang."
I turned to glance at Sun Fatty, who was clearly still struggling with indecision. In a low voice, I said, "Dasheng, wait here for Master Xiao to return. I'll leave a mark below—follow that and you won't go wrong." Sun Fatty had been regulating his breathing with his head down, but when I finished, he looked up and glared at me. "You really love asking for trouble, don't you?" With that, he shoved a small, slender canvas pouch into my hand. I held it and felt through the fabric—it was the mini crossbow he had pilfered from Wu Rendi. I hadn't expected him to carry it with him.
After handing me the crossbow, Sun Fatty still looked irritated and said nothing further. He watched as I helped Yang Jun along, following Hao Zhengyi back toward the dry well. By now, no more Deathborne Miasma was rising from the well, but even so, I didn't dare to go down again so casually.
Hao Zhengyi had already put his mask and goggles back on. He and Crow walked to the edge of the well and peered down, resting their hands on the stone rim. After observing for a while, Hao Zhengyi turned and said to me and Yang Jun, "The Deathborne Miasma down there should have completely vented. It should be safe to go down now."
Seeing how fully geared up he and Crow were, I couldn't help but snap, "Chairman Hao, you two have your goggles on and your masks up—you're practically armed to the teeth. Even if there's still deathly miasma down there, you and Crow won't bat an eye. But what about me and Yang Jun?"
Hearing that, Hao Zhengyi took off his mask and goggles and gave me a rather disdainful look. "What did Hao Wenming usually teach you? Never mind, I'll teach you myself. As long as there's a vent, deathly miasma will always expel itself all at once—it never leaves behind even a trace. That's just how it works."
I had read up on deathly miasma in the Bureau's archives and knew about the property he mentioned. But still—who knew what might be lurking beneath the well? For all we knew, hundreds of cubic meters of miasma could be sealed off in some other space, just waiting for a careless fool like me to trigger it again. And if that happened, Yang Jun and I would be the first ones to die…
Seeing the skepticism all over my face, Hao Zhengyi simply tossed the goggles and mask at me. "Is that good enough for you? Can we go down now?"
Before descending, I intended to hand the goggles and mask over to Yang Jun—but he pushed them back at me. Still slumped and listless, he muttered, "I don't need them. Even if there's more miasma down there, a little more won't make a difference now."
Since Yang Jun wouldn't take them, and I wasn't about to give them back to Hao Zhengyi, I ended up putting them on myself.
Given Hao Zhengyi's role as team leader this time, it wouldn't make sense for him to be the first to descend into danger. I had expected him to send me in first, so I had already stretched and limbered up, preparing myself. But to my surprise, he ordered Crow to go first. I couldn't understand his thinking—Crow couldn't speak, and if something happened below, he wouldn't even be able to call for help.
Before I could think too much about it, Crow flipped over the edge and slid nimbly down the wire we had rigged earlier. Hao Zhengyi and I leaned over the well to watch him; within moments, Crow had reached the bottom. He pulled a small spray bottle from his backpack and began spraying the well walls with it. I didn't know what liquid was inside, but after he finished a rough sweep, something peculiar happened—a glowing pebble suddenly lit up on the pitch-black wall.
Seeing the pebble, Crow didn't move right away. Instead, he glanced upward and made a strange hand gesture. Hao Zhengyi returned the gesture, then turned to me. "Is that the stone you saw before?"
"That's the one," I replied. "Tell Crow not to touch anything around it. That miasma came out from right next to that pebble earlier."
Hao Zhengyi nodded and relayed the instruction with another gesture. Crow gave him an "OK" sign, then bit open his fingertip and smeared the blood evenly across the surface of the glowing stone. Once done, he retreated to the far side of the well bottom and stared at the pebble, clearly waiting for something to happen.
But nothing did.
Even after the stone had been covered with blood, it remained completely unresponsive. Not just Crow—even Hao Zhengyi frowned at the stubborn thing. After nearly a minute, Hao suddenly glanced over at Yang Jun, who was still crouched weakly at the edge of the well, eyes fixed on the ground and panting heavily.
Seeing Yang Jun's condition, Hao turned to me and asked, "What exactly did you see down there?"
"Down there…" I looked at him. "Chairman Hao, I was just saying that to make a point. You actually believed it? I was lucky just to get out alive—I didn't exactly have time to take in the scenery."
Hearing that only deepened Hao's frown. He looked back at Yang Jun again. Before he could say anything, Yang Jun raised his head and said, "That stone is a Sea Soul Stone. If you want to open a Yin Convergence Point, you have to invert it. Only by reversing Yin and Yang can the door below be unlocked."
"Sea Soul Stone…" Hao murmured thoughtfully, then turned his attention back to Crow. This time, he didn't bother with hand signs. He just shouted directly into the well, "Crow, try rotating the stone!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, I felt something was off. "Chairman Hao, have you lost your mind? Crow's mute—ten mutes out of nine are deaf too. You think he can hear you?"
Still watching the well, Hao replied, "Crow isn't mute. He has aphasia—it affects speech, not hearing."
While he spoke, Crow had already turned the glowing stone 180 degrees. Before he could even step back, the stone suddenly emitted a piercing, shrieking wail—like a woman screaming in agony. The sound was so sharp it rivaled the black cat's screeches from earlier. Speaking of which, I hadn't seen that cat since we left the hotel. Though I figured it must still be hiding in Yang Jun's backpack, the pack looked undisturbed, with no sign of a stowaway.
Ten seconds later, the scream abruptly stopped. As soon as it did, the stone wall around the Sea Soul Stone split open with a sharp crack. The stones on either side parted like double doors, and within fifteen seconds, a narrow passage roughly two meters high and half a meter wide emerged.
"Let's head down," Hao Zhengyi said, glancing intentionally at Yang Jun. Yang Jun acted like nothing had happened and let me help him to his feet. Now that the danger seemed to have passed, I tied the rope to his body, and with Hao's help, slowly lowered him into the well. Crow was already at the bottom, ready to assist.
I followed next, the third to reach the bottom. Only then did I get a full view of what lay beyond that dark opening. It was pitch black—something inside was blocking my Heaven's Eye; I couldn't see through the darkness at all.
Hao Zhengyi was the last to descend. One look at the darkness was enough for him to turn back to Yang Jun. "Mr. Yang, what's the story with this Sea Soul Stone? None of my records mention any such thing embedded in the gate of a Yin Convergence Point."
Still staring at the black void, Yang Jun panted and said, "This Yin Convergence Point has been artificially modified. That Sea Soul Stone was planted by someone. Because we're near the ocean, the Sea Soul Stone's properties haven't dissipated on land."
It was clear that Hao Zhengyi and Crow knew far more about Yin Convergence Points than we folks from the Bureau. Before entering, the two of them pulled out small flashlights and a stack of bowl-shaped lamp bases the size of matchboxes. The flashlights were ordinary, but the lamp bases were clearly made from some unusual material—the reflective dishes were as thin as paper, so flimsy they looked like they might tear if held wrong. All the lamp bases were handed to Crow for safekeeping.
Before stepping inside, they used their flashlights to survey about 20 to 30 meters into the passage. With Heaven's Eye ineffective, we had to rely solely on their beams. Beyond the stone door, the entire interior was pitch black—so dark it was as if all color had been sucked from the world.
Faced with the surreal sight, I couldn't help but mutter, "What the hell is this place? Zhang Rantian had guts… he really came in here?"
Hao Zhengyi glanced at me. "You think he just stumbled in? He left out quite a few details."
That was all he said. No matter how I pressed him after that, he wouldn't continue.
Once everything was in place, we began our descent into the Yin Convergence Point. The order remained the same—Crow in the lead, I supported Yang Jun behind him, and Hao Zhengyi brought up the rear.
Only after entering did we realize that the ground was coated in a thick layer of ice. The worst part was, the ice was the same color as the walls—so black you couldn't see it until your foot slipped. A wave of bitter cold slammed into us, making our thick coats feel suddenly inadequate. Just a moment ago, near the entrance, there was no sign of this chill. It was like stepping from one world into another—this inner realm felt like something straight out of hell.
As we pushed forward, we entered a narrow, pitch-black corridor. Even with my vision, I could barely see fifty meters ahead by the beam of Crow's flashlight. Without my Heaven's Eye, my confidence waned fast. What used to seem like the most useless gear—those flashlights—now felt like treasures in Crow and Hao's hands. The way they lit the way forward, those little beams were worth more than gold.
With the surrounding darkness and Yang Jun wheezing beside me, I gave in and asked Hao Zhengyi if we could borrow two of the flashlights. His reply was blunt and immediate: "No. We didn't bring spares. Just follow Crow and stay close. That's all you need.