Dust swirled in the air as the smell of stale mold hit her. Tang Xin covered her face to wave away the dust approaching her and used a flashlight to head into the mansion's interior, scanning her surroundings.
The interior of the mansion was quite simple and aged. The exhibition hall on the first floor stretched forward, with doors leading to other areas every few meters on both sides, separated by Roman columns. The facilities, which had gone years without maintenance, were covered in a thick layer of dust. The glass display cases were empty; some had been smashed open. This mansion looked like it had been forgotten by the world—the collections from the owner's life had been taken by the family, and whatever remained had been stolen by local residents.
The Roman columns, thick enough for several people to circle, cast flickering shadows that exuded an indescribable, oppressive aura.
A beam of light fell from the three-story atrium, illuminating the circular area in the center of the first floor. On the ground, they found a massive pentagram pattern; five blood-red straight lines intersected, extending toward five directions along the floor. They saw five corresponding patterns on the walls, representing Heaven, Earth, Wind, Water, and Man. The moment she saw these patterns, Amy blurted out:
"The Pole Star Society?"
Tang Xin asked, "What organization is that?"
"A group of lunatics hungry for destruction, similar to the Ascetic Sect. In fact, most of the Pole Star Society members on the Star of Art are from the Ascetic Sect. The Dawn Society has dealt with these lunatics many times."
"This Siren Mansion is related to those people from the Pole Star Society." Amy's voice carried a hint of caution.
"This is trouble. I'm afraid this isn't as simple as a coincidence. We have to tell Aivmey and the others first."
Amy opened her communication curtain, only to find that the signal on the island had been cut off at some point; it showed that she was out of the service area.
"Tsk, this is bad."
An inkling of unease rose in Amy's heart, as if an invisible net had draped over the sky of this small island.
A storm was coming soon.
Tang Xin saw the gravity of the situation in Amy's eyes and suddenly said:
"By the way, that photographer gentleman seems to have disappeared just now."
Amy looked back. Sure enough, the photographer was nowhere to be seen on the path they had come from. Behind them was a vast expanse of darkness, the mansion's doors were tightly closed, and an invisible deathly silence spread above.
"Let's keep going forward," Tang Xin said.
Although she couldn't directly ask about the details of the siren miracle, she could guess a thing or two from Amy's reaction.
The production team's script was likely not just a work of fiction; it could match the reality of the siren miracle. Amy's willingness to drag her to this mansion meant that clues about the seal anchor point—or the point itself—were highly likely hidden inside this mansion.
"All we can do is keep moving forward." Amy nodded.
They passed through the front exhibition area and turned right into the mansion's statue gallery. As soon as they entered, they saw a towering Siren King statue, nearly ten meters tall, with its head almost touching the ceiling, merging into the darkness.
The statue had a human torso and a fish tail, with eighteen octopus-like tentacles growing from its back, cradling an infant in its arms. Looking closely, they discovered that its head had three faces in total, facing the front, left, and right. The upper half of each face was replaced by a massive bloody hole filled with dense rows of nested teeth. The corners of the lips below were curved into expressions of peace, a smile, and anger, yet they seemed to encompass all the emotions of the world, like thousands of faces overlapping at once.
Pale light fell upon the Siren King statue, yet it draped her in an unusually holy and compassionate white veil, possessing an indescribable beauty.
Especially when staring at those three faces filled with nested teeth, the two girls felt as if they were being watched.
"The Siren King..." Amy whispered.
Tang Xin stopped looking at the Siren King statue and turned her flashlight to the surroundings. When she saw the scene nearby, her pupils shrank slightly.
Nearly a hundred mermaid statues were placed on both sides of the gallery. Most of their upper bodies were covered by red cloth.
The statues exposed to the air were dilapidated and twisted, their damaged eyes casting cold gazes.
These mermaid statues had been abandoned here after the mansion was deserted. A large rift had broken open in the skylight above the gallery, and after years of exposure to the elements, they had become what they were now.
The faint smell of fish lingered in the air. Tang Xin's gaze swept over one mermaid statue and suddenly noticed something, quickly locking her eyes back onto it.
Just now, did that statue move?
Surging water globes gathered in Tang Xin's palm, and she scattered them toward the area of the statues. The statues collapsed one after another with a series of dull thuds. Some statues shattered directly into stone fragments, including the mermaid statue that had given her the strange feeling earlier.
Amy asked, "Tang Xin, what are you doing?"
Tang Xin shook her head. "It's nothing. Let's go."
Was it just her imagination?
The two girls turned to head toward the second floor of the mansion, walking into the depths of the darkness. Meanwhile, on the other side, in the courtyard of Mermaid Town, Xu Xiaoyou was walking hurriedly along the corridor when she happened to run into a group of people.
"Miss Xu." Chihong greeted her with a smile.
Xu Xiaoyou nodded in acknowledgment. As she passed by the Section 6 team, Bai Zhou's nostrils twitched. He instantly became alert and called out to her:
"Hey!"
Xu Xiaoyou stopped and glanced back, her brow furrowing slightly:
"Is there something?"
"You..." Bai Zhou hesitated, suddenly forgetting what he wanted to say. Just as he was about to speak, a pair of fists slammed into his forehead—it was Chihong.
Chihong pressed down on Bai Zhou's shoulder, her knuckles drilling into his forehead like a poison dragon drill. Her face was full of apology, like an adult dealing with a naughty child who had made a mistake. "I'm sorry, Miss Xu. Don't mind this guy."
Bai Zhou wanted to say more, but Chihong glared him back into silence. "Can't you have some manners? How many times have I told you not to just yell 'hey' at people?"
Bai Zhou shrunk his neck and paused.
'Even if you notice something unusual, tell me first. Why so loud? Are you afraid the whole world won't know?'
Chihong was used to Bai Zhou's outbursts. Bai Zhou, who had undergone genetic modification, had a sense of smell far more sensitive than others and could detect scents that ordinary people couldn't. Because of this ability, their team had received many early warnings and avoided a lot of trouble.
"Speak, what did you smell?"
Bai Zhou opened his mouth, but he was at a loss for words.
He had smelled a familiar scent on that blonde girl... It was as if he had seen her somewhere before, as if she had left an indelible impression on him.
But he couldn't remember where he had seen the girl, which was why he had subconsciously called out to her.
To be precise, that scent was a luxury perfume called "Golden Rose Garden." A musky scent mixed with hyacinth and honey, followed by a sweet aftertaste after a faint medicinal bitterness. It was very popular among the youths of the families.
The gala on the cruise ship had been filled with this perfume scent.
He scratched his head and said, "Maybe, maybe I smelled it wrong."
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