bookbashuk Page 36
Page 36
After traveling for half an hour, the outline of an island came into view.
The island's surrounding rock walls are red, indicating an astonishingly high iron content.
As the tides erode the rocks, rust seeps out, turning the nearby sea a vibrant red.
As you get closer, you'll see that most of the houses on the island are shaped like rows of coffins, with bronze bat-shaped wind chimes hanging from their rooftops.
Only a few Gothic castles stand on the cliff, and bats can be vaguely seen circling above them under the blood moon's glow.
Perona, who was never afraid of anything, was now clinging to Stella's leg, trembling with fear.
Kera also clutched Mandy's cloak tightly, covering her eyes.
With a ripping sound, Mandy's cloak was accidentally pulled off by Kera.
Mandy turned around, looked at her with some helplessness, squatted down beside her, and put her arm around her.
The Temple slowly sailed into the dock.
The area is covered with glowing purple seashells, and pale-skinned fishermen use long-handled lanterns to guide people to their berths.
"It's been a long time since any outsiders have visited Eternal Sleep Island. Are the guests here for the 'Blood Sacrifice Festival'?"
Blake did not answer; he continued in his attire from the Tarot Kingdom, traveling light.
After disembarking, Blake noticed that all the doors and windows in the town were carved with bat patterns, and the way the residents dried their fishing nets was no different from that of an ordinary fishing village.
The problem is, it's late at night...
Perona tugged at Kerr's sleeve and pointed to the bat-shaped lanterns hanging on the dock:
"Are those lanterns... watching us?"
Kella shuddered in fright:
"No...don't talk nonsense...it's just windy..."
As they were speaking, a swarm of bats swept past at low altitude.
The two little girls were so frightened that they hugged each other and screamed.
Blake looked at the two of them speechlessly.
He knew that Perona wasn't very brave, but he didn't expect that Kella would also be afraid of these things.
This is the woman that Sabo described as "something that can stump her".
See, this is where things get tricky?
Stella smiled and stepped forward, picking them up one in each arm and then smiling at the woman selling lanterns:
"These patterns are very special."
"On the night of the blood moon, the bat god will awaken."
The woman chuckled, revealing her slightly long canine teeth.
She reached out and handed over a lantern:
"Out-of-towners should carry this with them, as things in the fog are afraid of light."
Robin, however, noticed the obelisk standing next to the dock.
She ran forward quickly:
"This is... ancient writing?"
Robin's voice sounded somewhat surprised.
Olvia was still alive and had lived in Mary Geoise for quite some time, so Robin wasn't that obsessed with ancient writing.
But putting her knowledge into practice, she still managed to read the inscription on the stone tablet aloud:
"When the blood moon hangs in the sky, thirteen bats will guide you toward the fruit of immortality."
Chapter 49 A Night Visit to a Vampire?
The bat lanterns swayed in the wind, casting crimson spots of light onto the bluestone pavement.
The local residents' expressions were far from friendly, giving Blake the feeling of entering a predominantly Black neighborhood.
Black touched the golden revolver that every Celestial Dragon carried, feeling an urge to empty the magazine.
Suddenly, he stopped and looked down at his feet.
On the bluestone in the middle of the road, there is an inconspicuous bat pattern.
Just then, a one-eyed old man emerged from the shadows, holding a dark red bottle in his hand:
"Guests, you have also come for the Gate of Immortality, haven't you?"
Do you need the latest divination?
His gaze was fixed on Rami, his canine teeth appearing crimson in the blood moonlight:
"The blood of a sick child is the most effective!"
Rami was startled by the one-eyed old man's words and shrank back, while Perona and Kella had already huddled into Stella's arms.
Blake was toying with a gold coin in his hand, his expression a half-smile.
He flicked the gold coin lightly, and with a whooshing sound, the coin accurately struck the dark red bottle in the one-eyed old man's hand.
An unidentified liquid splashed on the ground, covering the original bat pattern and revealing deeper engravings.
That was a map showing the distribution of thirteen bat nests, each marked with a miniature claw print shape.
Blake stroked his chin:
"This must be related to the so-called thirteen bats, right?"
"Your Highness is so awesome!"
Kella had just stuck her head out to express her admiration when she was startled by the bat specimen hanging upside down on the street corner and let out a scream.
She immediately shrank back into Stella's arms.
Blake glanced back, shook his head, and chuckled.
He memorized the map and prepared to continue searching for clues in the vicinity, but Robin gently tugged at his sleeve:
Following the direction Robin was pointing, they saw a stone zither hanging on one of the walls of the plaza ahead.
In a normal town, none of this would be strange.
However, the guqin seems somewhat out of place in Sleeping Ancient Town.
Blake led the group closer, and upon looking up, they saw that, as expected, the guqin had exactly thirteen strings.
Robin thought for a moment and then activated her Devil Fruit power.
Four hands simultaneously began plucking the strings, producing a melodious "Overture to the Dead".
As the music ended, the strings of the zither suddenly snapped, and the wall that had been inlaid with the zither began to tremble. The plaster fell away, revealing the murals that had been hidden.
The mural depicts a scene of thirteen bats surrounding a blood moon.
Below it is a line of ancient text.
Robin read it aloud softly:
"Wingless certification must be completed on the third night."
"The third night? Does that mean the third night after the blood moon?"
Blake thought for a moment:
"In any case, the treasure should be located where the bat nests meet. Let's go take a look."
Blake glanced around at the townspeople in the square and was surprised to see that they were not making any moves.
He originally thought these people would see them as outsiders trying to steal the treasure and attack them en masse.
It now appears that this group has some other plans.
Blake didn't pay much attention and followed the map to the temple, then couldn't help but complain:
"With such a huge temple here, even without a map, I know there's something wrong with this place!"
After searching the temple but finding nothing, the group returned to the ship to await the arrival of the "Third Night".
Three days passed quickly, and Blake once again brought a group of young female slaves to the temple.
After a few days of getting used to the island, Kella and Perona are no longer as afraid as they were at the beginning, and they have started to look around curiously.
As the moonlight climbed to the very center of the temple dome, several cracks suddenly appeared on the temple walls, from which flowed dark red halos.
"These appear to be meticulously designed star trail patterns!"
Robin exclaimed in surprise, then gave the order:
"Kerla, stand on the bat relief in the southeast corner!"
"Perona, take out one of the bat teeth you bought earlier and put it in the groove in the northwest corner."
Perona excitedly took out a set of bat teeth and inserted them into the groove.
Kerla, however, was somewhat uneasy.
She walked shakily to the relief, looked at the slightly eerie bat, and dared not go up.
Mandy stepped forward, picked her up, and gently placed her on the relief.
After all this was done, the light and shadow cast by the dome formed a complete bat totem on the altar.
There were thirteen glowing points at the tips of the totem wings. Robin conjured thirteen hands and gently touched each one.
As the last point was activated, ancient characters suddenly appeared on the ground:
“The number of wings is the number of sacrifices, their eyes are the spoons, and their blood is the guide.”
Stella tilted her head and whispered:
"In other words, we need to find thirteen..."
Before he could finish speaking, thirteen bats with wingspans of two meters crashed through the window and rushed into the temple.
The giant bat swooped straight at the group.
Blake, holding Stella with one hand and Rami with the other, retreated behind the crowd.
Mandy immediately drew her sword and stabbed at the bat.
Kella, disregarding her fear, joined the fight, waving her little fists.
Perona jumped around and screamed as the bats attacked her.
Robin then came to Black's side and gave him a disapproving look:
"That's incredibly irresponsible of you!"
Blake tapped her on the head and gave a dismissive smile:
"This is the task of you lowly slaves? How can the noble Celestial Dragons do it themselves?"
The battle that had just begun ended quickly.
Mandy and Koala were already quite strong when facing the Hyena Pirates, so how much more so would they be able to handle these bats who have no special abilities other than their size?
After the giant bat was subdued, the previously still bat statues in the temple suddenly rose into the air and began to vibrate at a specific frequency.
"Ugh...it feels so bad."
Rami frowned and covered his ears uncomfortably.
Robin glanced around and immediately gave the order:
"Kella, quickly adjust their positions!"
"I'm coming!"
Kella ran forward and adjusted the angles of the bat statues one by one, following Robin's instructions.
When the stone statue was placed at a specific angle, the vibration finally stopped.
Suddenly, the statue's eyes emitted a red light, projecting a blood moon image onto the altar.