Urban Martial Saint

Chapter 1746 - 1746: The Stele Beneath the Water

(The book has been renamed to "Urban Martial Saint." When you search, just search for Urban Martial Saint.)Inside the cave, although there is a glow from the Luminous Pearl that can illuminate everything around, the light of the Luminous Pearl is very gentle and cannot penetrate the surface of the water. And the water of this Underground River is not shallow, so it looks pitch black inside. Near this channel, the bottom is even darker, making it impossible to see the specific situation underwater.

Listening to Nine-Fingers Wu Yong say this, everyone followed the direction Nine-Fingers Wu Yong pointed. Ye Qing also widened his eyes, carefully observing for a while, only to vaguely see something red at the dark bottom, not sure what it was. After a closer look, it seemed to be some words.

"What's there? Why can't I see anything?" Handsome Fatty Wang shouted, his vision clearly not very sharp.

"Yeah, I can't see anything either."

"There's nothing underwater, right?"

Others were also shouting, and Nine-Fingers Wu Yong looked puzzled, saying, "None of you can see it? Could it be that my eyes are deceiving me?"

"Mr. Wu, did you see some red things?" Ye Qing suddenly asked.

"Yes, yes, did you see it too?" Nine-Fingers Wu Yong instantly became spirited, saying, "Underwater, there really are some red things. It looks like... looks like..."

"Like words, right?" Ye Qing asked again.

"Yes, yes, it's words, it's words!" Nine-Fingers Wu Yong looked at Ye Qing excitedly and said, "Did you see it too?"

Ye Qing slowly nodded, staring carefully at the bottom of the water, saying solemnly, "There is a stele underwater, with red inscriptions on it."

"How can you see it? Why can't I see anything?" Handsome Fatty Wang wondered.

"Because you're nearsighted." Ye Qing replied directly.

Handsome Fatty Wang rubbed his eyes and said, "That can't be right? Both my eyes are 5.0!"

Others were also curious and moved closer, but still couldn't see the situation underwater clearly.

Ye Qing ignored him and instead walked to the side of the Underground River, staring at the water for a while, saying solemnly, "We need to find a way to retrieve that stele."

"What's the point of retrieving it?" Handsome Fatty Wang looked at Ye Qing in astonishment and said, "Are you crazy? It's just a stele with inscriptions, right? That great dragon crocodile is still underwater, you're just courting death by going down there!"

"Mr. Ye, isn't it unsafe to go into the water like this?" Nine-Fingers Wu Yong also asked worriedly.

"It's fine!" Ye Qing picked up the scabbard of the Ancestor of Miao Dao in his hand and said solemnly, "Even if I encounter that dragon crocodile, I have the ability to fight it. The inscriptions on this stele might be important clues, perhaps they can guide us into the tomb."

"But that's too dangerous," Handsome Fatty Wang said. "You're risking your life!"

"It's fine." Ye Qing picked up a coil of rope from the side, wrapped it around his waist, and then handed the rope to Handsome Fatty Wang next to him, saying, "Once I get the stele, I'll pull the rope, and you guys remember to pull me up."

Seeing Ye Qing determined to go down, Handsome Fatty Wang did not stop him, he firmly gripped the rope and said, "Be careful, alright?"

Nine-Fingers Wu Yong also came over, holding onto the rope, and said, "Mr. Ye, don't worry, we'll hold the line for you."

Ye Qing nodded, this time without even carrying an oxygen tank. He turned around, walked to the water's edge, took a deep breath, and jumped in with a splash.

The underground river here had a slightly rapid current, as the channel had narrowed. As soon as Ye Qing entered the water, he was swept away by the current and rushed right into the channel.

Fortunately, Ye Qing was prepared. Feeling the force of the water, he quickly grabbed onto the stone wall beside him. This allowed him to stabilize himself underwater. He then held onto the stone wall and slowly dove to the river bottom. This underground river was actually six to seven meters deep. Luckily, Ye Qing was a good swimmer; otherwise, reaching the bottom wouldn't have been easy.

After much effort, Ye Qing finally reached the riverbed and got close to the stele. Actually, from outside, Ye Qing had already roughly seen the stele's condition. The stele was about two meters long and half a meter wide, resembling a tombstone. It was engraved with many characters, and the upward-facing side was carved with red characters, which were the largest and the ones Ye Qing had clearly seen from the shore. However, the other small characters were not clear to Ye Qing from outside; he could only see them clearly up close.

The red characters on the stele were what truly attracted Ye Qing. Because Ye Qing had recognized from outside that these red characters were all Buddhist texts, this was the key reason prompting him to dive underwater. Encountering marks of Buddhist text in such a place, Ye Qing naturally wanted to have a closer look.

The smaller characters on the stele were also marks of Buddhist text, which Ye Qing didn't recognize. However, this did not stump Ye Qing; he swam to the stele, shook it strongly, and found it was not heavy. Feeling reassured, he lifted the stele, intending to raise it upwards, but was shocked to discover that there was another half of the stele buried in the riverbed mud. When Ye Qing lifted the stele with force, it revealed a dark hole underneath. Around the hole were three thick iron chains, all extending into this ground hole, their purpose unknown.

Ye Qing had a clear view: among these three thick iron chains, one was precisely the mysterious iron chain he had seen when he entered from the outside. The other two chains were identical to this mysterious iron chain. In other words, there were three chains extending into this ground hole, sealed tight with this stele.

Ye Qing was no fool; seeing these three chains, he knew something was wrong. So, without much thought, he immediately placed the stele back to its original position, sealing the ground hole. At this point, his energy was nearly depleted, so after replacing the stele, he shook the rope tied to him, signaling Handsome Fatty Wang to pull him up.

Handsome Fatty Wang was waiting on the shore. Sensing the movement from Ye Qing, he immediately shouted, "Pull, pull!"

Handsome Fatty Wang said this while exerting force to pull the rope backward, trying to quickly pull Ye Qing up. Just as he took two steps, there was suddenly a slack, and he fell directly to the ground. When he got up, he was astonished to find that the rope had broken!

"Not good!" Nine-Fingers Wu Yong shouted loudly. He was the first to run to the water's edge and saw a giant creature appearing in the underground river. This gigantic creature was none other than the great dragon crocodile that had just jumped into the underground river.

There was no doubt that the great dragon crocodile had broken the rope. This dragon crocodile was virtually sentient. It must have been watching from the shadows earlier. As soon as Ye Qing went underwater, it immediately jumped over and cut the rope!

Handsome Fatty Wang also saw the dragon crocodile and immediately shouted, "Young Ye, be careful, that turtle-backed creature is back again!"

Underwater, Ye Qing couldn't hear Handsome Fatty Wang's shout. He also saw the dragon crocodile and was equally startled. When he had first dived, his attention was entirely on the stele, and he hadn't paid attention to his surroundings. The dragon crocodile had approached, yet Ye Qing was unaware. It was only after the rope was broken by the dragon crocodile that he noticed its appearance.

Ye Qing had spent quite a bit of time underwater by now, and the breath he was holding was almost exhausted. He just wanted to quickly break through the water surface to breathe some fresh air. But unfortunately, the dragon crocodile was positioned above him, claws extended menacingly, trying to intimidate Ye Qing. It didn't attack Ye Qing but blocked his way out of the water, seemingly trying to suffocate Ye Qing beneath the surface.

Feeling the explosive suffocation in his chest, Ye Qing could almost no longer bear it. He dared not hesitate, gripped The Ancestor of Miao Dao's scabbard firmly, and charged towards the dragon crocodile, striking at it with his raised hand.

Faced with Ye Qing's onslaught, the dragon crocodile's eyes flashed a trace of disdain. It raised its claws and swung down. The scabbard struck the dragon crocodile's claws, inflicting no harm. In contrast, Ye Qing was sent flying back to the river bottom. In this water, Ye Qing's strength was far inferior to that of the dragon crocodile.

With the first attack failing, Ye Qing dared not delay. He immediately swam in another direction, seeking to evade the dragon crocodile and break through to the surface. At this moment, he thought of nothing else; at the very least, he needed to breathe some air or risk suffocating to death underwater.

Yet the dragon crocodile seemed to understand Ye Qing's intentions. When it saw Ye Qing swimming elsewhere, it quickly followed, still blocking his path to the surface. One person and one dragon crocodile swam back and forth twice like this; Ye Qing's speed was nowhere near that of the dragon crocodile's, and his face was beginning to change color from suffocation.

Having held his breath for this long while exerting himself in combat with the dragon crocodile, Ye Qing felt his chest about to explode. He desperately wished to open his mouth and inhale, but in the water, opening his mouth would only make him swallow water. Moreover, Ye Qing was well aware that drinking water underwater would only make matters worse.

Having no way to evade the dragon crocodile and barely able to sustain, Ye Qing tightly gripped the scabbard and charged towards the dragon crocodile. Even if it meant close combat with the dragon crocodile, Ye Qing was determined to break through. If he stayed trapped below, he was surely going to die!

Faced with Ye Qing's ferocity, the dragon crocodile also spread its four claws, one going for Ye Qing's scabbard while simultaneously swinging its tail at Ye Qing.

Ye Qing struck upwards with the scabbard, hitting the dragon crocodile's claw. Feeling the swoosh of the dragon crocodile's tail, Ye Qing pressed down harder with the scabbard on the dragon crocodile's claw, using it to propel himself upwards to dodge the tail.

But just as he dodged the tail, the dragon crocodile's massive jaws came closing in at his waist. Its two claws simultaneously gripped Ye Qing's body, leaving him no room to maneuver. One claw even grasped Ye Qing's scabbard, leaving no escape for Ye Qing!