Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Octagonal Hanging Tower
Upon hearing my words, Mile stared at me with widened eyes. After a few seconds, he released my hand and said, "You must be careful. I don't want to see you being eaten by something underwater!" Without waiting for my response, Mile walked away on his own, opening the flashlights on two phones and illuminating the water surface.
I warmed up on the shore, then carefully jumped into the deep pool. As soon as my body entered the water, I immediately felt an unusually cold sensation, piercing through my skin to the bone. I couldn't help but shiver violently.
"How is it?" Miler asked anxiously from the shore.
"I'm fine. Where's the dragon heart?" I asked through gritted teeth.
"About five or six meters directly in front of you!" Mile pointed in the direction. I swam towards it, and a massive dark object gradually appeared before me. As I approached, I suddenly noticed something was wrong. Though the surface of the deep pool seemed calm, there were hidden currents below, intertwining and growing stronger as I descended.
I exerted myself to dive deeper and, under the moonlight from above, vaguely saw the appearance of the "dragon heart." It was a black octagonal iron tower engraved with Sanskrit characters. When I got close to the tower, it emitted a faint green light. Startled, I quickly retreated, and the green light gradually dissipated. Now, I could see the entire tower clearly. It was secured by sixty-four iron cables to the bottom, with a height of over ten meters and a width of four to five meters. Divided into eight layers, each layer had eight small figurines, each pulling an iron cable. The iron cables were connected to the mechanism on the cliff, and once activated, the tower would tilt, pulling the cables to open the mechanism, allowing water from the deep pool to flow into the connected tunnel, providing power to the mechanism. Currently, the tower was tilting towards the east, and the mechanism on the west side had a plate that had already opened. The underwater currents flowed continuously towards that direction, controlling the entrance to the cave. To close the mechanism, the tower needed to be balanced again.
After about a minute underwater, I hurriedly swam back to the surface, gasping for breath.
"Did you find the dragon heart?" Miler asked.
"Yes, but it's a bit tricky!" I took another deep breath, preparing to dive again. This time, my goal was simple—to see if I could use my strength to balance the iron tower. I grabbed the iron cable, trying with all my might to pull it in the opposite direction. However, the tower was too heavy, and I couldn't make it budge. I felt my body's warmth rapidly dissipating, and my lips and arms began to numb.
I had no choice but to resurface. My body trembled uncontrollably.
"Any ideas?" Maitreya asked, concern etched across his face.
"It's too heavy. I need more time to think!" I replied, inhaling deeply as I prepared to dive again. Suddenly, Maitreya shouted, "Watch out, buddy! Something's coming!"
Simultaneously, I sensed a dark entity swiftly approaching from behind and urgently swam towards the shore. However, my strength had waned, and the ominous creature drew closer, emitting a haunting cry reminiscent of a wailing infant.
I turned my head abruptly, utilizing the light from Mile's two cell phones. To my horror, I beheld an enormous fish with gaping jaws, its massive fangs distinctly visible. Unable to evade, I was violently pulled underwater by a powerful force, a massive undercurrent originating from the nearby shore. The fish missed its prey and followed me into the water. Struggling against the forceful currents, my movements became sluggish, while the fish exhibited remarkable agility.
Engaging in a desperate retreat, I found myself drawn towards the entrance of the mechanism by the overpowering currents. Water rushed into the apparatus as I clung tightly to the iron cable. However, oxygen deprivation and exhaustion weakened my grasp, and just as the colossal fish prepared for another assault, a surge of strength surged through my unique finger, anchoring me to the cable. With my last ounce of strength, I fought my way back to the surface.
Mile, now in the water, seized my hand, and together, we labored intensely to crawl out of the abyss.
Standing on the shore, my body trembled incessantly, the frigid underwater depths leaving me in a state of shivering.
"That was insanely close!" Mile exclaimed, his vision still obscured by the ordeal.
"Yeah... saved by the finger," I muttered, glancing at my extraordinary digit. Without it, today might have been my last.
I took some time to recover, rubbing my hands together vigorously. Mile glanced at me and then at the water below, asking, "What's the plan now?"
"I've got a plan!" I shivered, revealing that the inspiration came from the giant fish.
"What plan?" Mile asked, looking at me with anticipation.
"As long as we restore balance to the Dragon Heart, the mechanism will stop. We just need to find something heavy enough to press on the lever, restoring balance to the Dragon Heart," I explained, sneezing.
"Heavy enough? The silver ingots?" Mile exclaimed, suddenly grasping the idea.
I nodded vigorously. "Exactly. Let's quickly bring all those silver ingots here. We'll throw them onto the lever, and it should work!"
"Okay!" Mile agreed.
After about two hours, we collected all the silver ingots, filling three large boxes. Standing on the platform, we exchanged glances. Mile regretfully opened one of the boxes, took out a silver ingot, and caressed it gently. "We probably won't need all of these. Let's keep some. They're quite valuable!"
I sighed and looked at Mile. "Fine."
Mile immediately took out two silver ingots and placed them aside. We then forcefully pushed the first box of silver ingots into the water. It landed precisely on the lever, causing the Dragon Heart to tremble slightly. We repeated the process with the second box, tilting the Dragon Heart significantly to the west.
"There's progress!" Mile exclaimed joyfully.
With all our might, we pushed the third box into the water. As it landed on the lever, the Dragon Heart slowly regained balance but was still slightly off.
"What now? There's no more silver ingots inside," Mile said, sounding disappointed.
We exchanged glances, and our eyes fell on the two silver ingots we had taken out. Mile picked them up, looking worried. "This is the last pair. What if it doesn't work? At least they can be our funeral items!"
Unable to resist, I snatched the two silver ingots from him and threw them onto the lever. However, to our dismay, nothing happened. Mile sighed, "I told you it wouldn't work, and we..."
Suddenly, the lever moved twice, and the Dragon Heart slowly restored balance. A gust of wind rushed into the cave, and we shared a smile. "It worked!"
Before we could celebrate, the enormous fish that had been knocked unconscious darted towards the lever. "Not good, run!" I shouted, fearing that if the fish knocked the silver box off, the mechanism would start again, and we might perish in that eerie place.
I gave the order, and Mile and I sprinted, nearly reaching a speed of one hundred meters per second. The cave entrance was wide open, and we barely escaped. As we exited, the entrance vanished instantly.
We sat, exhausted, at the entrance, exchanging smiles and laughter.
Suddenly Mile's expression froze. He stared fixedly behind me. Puzzled, I turned around and saw two tall mountains not far away, a path leading directly towards the outside – the entrance to Dragon Ridge.
Mile had already stood up and was hurrying forward. I followed closely behind him. As we exited Dragon Ridge, I stared back, perplexed. How did balancing the Dragon Heart lead us directly to the entrance of Dragon Ridge? Why didn't we notice it initially when we entered? Later, Mile offered two explanations. One, the entrance to the cave was right next to Dragon Ridge, but we were initially trapped in the outer mechanism, making it impossible to discover the entrance. As for why the outer mechanism no longer functioned afterward, we couldn't be certain. The second explanation was that after balancing the Dragon Heart, we inadvertently activated other mechanisms in the cave, and the exit happened to be near the entrance of Dragon Ridge. This explanation seemed more plausible to me.
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