The entire main hall was empty and silent.
Shen Qing was still soaking in the water. She could only make sounds by outputting spiritual power. However, she heard that sound just now extremely clearly, as if she were on land.
Shen Qing was afraid of such supernatural things. She tightly held onto Wu Wang in her hand, and sweat began to break out on her palm.
Ling Zhou was also nervously looking around, afraid that something might suddenly pop out.
"Master, have you noticed anything?"
Ling Zhou shook his head, then remembered that Shen Qing couldn't see, and quickly said, "I'm going crazy. I really can't notice anything in the Merman Palace. It's as if my five senses have been sealed. If it weren't for my eyes, I'd think I couldn't see anything."
Hearing her master's voice sounding a bit crazy, Shen Qing could only sigh secretly.
It seemed that she had to rely on herself for everything.
Shen Qing slowly walked towards the corner where the sound came from. In front of her were small hills made of gold and jade.
They still reflected a dazzling light in the water, but in this context, Shen Qing only felt that they were more like tombs.
After bypassing several small hills made of gold, Shen Qing came to the wall near the warehouse.
She stopped, her hand trembling slightly, and even her breathing became disordered.
A female merman was sitting in the corner by the wall. But since she had lost her life, her body had become a mummy. Even though she was soaking in the water, her appearance hadn't changed at all, except that she had shriveled a lot.
However, there was one thing about the emaciated body of the female merman that made Shen Qing extremely uncomfortable. Her belly was bulging high. Her two hands hung limply on both sides, dry and thin. The scales on her fish tail had also completely lost their luster.
Shen Qing couldn't bear to look and turned her eyes away. An indescribable feeling filled her chest, making her feel unbearable.
"Master, I don't know why, but I feel really uncomfortable."
After a while, Ling Zhou's voice slowly sounded: "Little apprentice, I don't know how to comfort you, because I'm not feeling well either..."
The female merman was lying quietly in the corner. In front of her were the treasures piled high, so Shen Qing hadn't noticed her when she was swimming around.
Shen Qing squatted in front of the female merman and found that her belly was stretched almost transparent. Getting closer, she could even see that there were originally two little lives in the female merman's body.
But with the passing of the mother's life, these two little lives didn't have the chance to come into this world.
Shen Qing stood up silently and, like a crazy person, pushed down all the small hills made of gold and jade to see if there were other evidences that could prove what had happened in the Merman Palace.
But apart from the diary signed by Xie Yuan, there was only the body of this female merman.
"What on earth happened in the Merman Palace!"
After being reborn, even when facing the main temple, Shen Qing had never been so confused. As soon as she came here, she felt that there were mists everywhere. The truth was hidden behind the thick mists, and no one could tell.
"Little apprentice, calm down..."
Although Ling Zhou's mind was also very confused, he was still calmer than Shen Qing. Whenever they were in such a frustrating situation, they needed to stay calm.
Seeing that there was nothing useful here, Shen Qing quickly rushed downstairs and rummaged through the lower floors. But after exhausting herself, Shen Qing didn't find anything useful.
She stood blankly on the first floor, looking at the so - called statue of the clan chief.
"Right, the murals!"
When she and Li Xian came here, they saw the murals made of pearls outside the Merman Palace. There should be something on those murals that she and Li Xian hadn't noticed.
So Shen Qing turned around and opened the door of the Merman Palace. But as soon as she opened the door, there were densely packed dragon - horned fish on the coral not far away.
They were swimming leisurely among the coral reefs, opening their mouths to make sounds from time to time and spitting bubbles cheerfully.
Shen Qing didn't have time to investigate why the dragon - horned fish had suddenly appeared here. She quickly swam towards the wall.
The mural made of pearls on the wall was still the same as before. The chief of the merman clan was leading the mermen to build the palace.
But Shen Qing just felt that there should be something unusual about this mural. She used talismans, the formation - breaking stone, and knocked on it with Wu Wang several times. After all her efforts, there was still no change at all.
"Little apprentice, what on earth are you looking for? I've checked with my spiritual sense. These are just ordinary pearls. There's nothing special about them."
Ling Zhou's voice was full of confusion, but Shen Qing shook her head. She didn't think so.
In her annoyance, Shen Qing wasn't careful enough, and her fingertip scraped across the shell - made decoration around the mural. Blood flowed out.
It was just a small wound and a bit of pain, so Shen Qing didn't take it to heart. But this small stream of blood was diluted in the water and drifted towards the dragon - horned fish with the current.
Some of the dragon - horned fish that smelled the blood rolled their eyes and swam nimbly towards the source of the blood.
Slowly, several huge dragon - horned fish gathered behind Shen Qing and stared at her with their giant eyes.
But because of the formation outside the Merman Palace, they could only look at her from a distance and didn't dare to come closer.
Shen Qing was still concentrating on studying the pearls on the mural and didn't notice that the dragon - horned fish had appeared behind her. It was only after Ling Zhou's reminder that she suddenly remembered that the dragon - horned fish liked the smell of blood.
Those dragon - horned fish were looking at Shen Qing irritably but couldn't cross the formation.
They made low growls from time to time, as if venting their dissatisfaction.
"Little apprentice, look! The pearls on the wall have changed!!"
Shen Qing turned around but saw that the pearls on the wall were still the same as before. They hadn't changed as Ling Zhou had said.
"Master, you're lying to me."
Ling Zhou was so anxious that he wanted to stamp his feet. He had clearly seen that some of the pearls were flashing red light just now, and the whole picture had changed under the light of the red pearls.
But for some reason, as soon as Shen Qing turned around, those red pearls disappeared again, and the whole picture returned to its original appearance.
Shen Qing was a bit disappointed. Just as she was about to go back into the Merman Palace, those few dragon - horned fish let out angry roars when they saw Shen Qing leaving.
At the same time, Shen Qing saw the pearls on the wall flashing red light. One of the pictures of building the Merman Palace turned into a sacrificial picture.
"Look, look! I didn't lie to you, did I? It really has changed!"
But when the sound of the dragon - horned fish disappeared, the red light of those pearls was hidden again.
Shen Qing understood that in order to make those pearls emit red light, she had to make these dragon - horned fish make low growls.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing didn't hesitate at all. She picked up Wu Wang and made a cut on her palm. Blood gushed out and was diluted in the water, attracting more dragon - horned fish.
Those dragon - horned fish smelled the blood and rammed around maniacally, constantly making low growls. Taking this opportunity, Shen Qing finally saw those pearls emitting red light.