"Look!" Xiaoyan pointed to a depression next to the mural, where a palm-sized pottery jar was placed. The mouth of the jar was sealed with beeswax, and a blurry claw mark was imprinted on the wax surface. Just as Ayu reached out her hand, the torch suddenly burst into sparks, illuminating the engravings next to the pottery jar—three crooked arrows pointing behind the stone wall, with a dripping gourd drawn at the end of the last arrow.
IV. Guidance in the Faint Light: The Dark River and the Echoes
Following the arrows for about half an hour, the sound of flowing water gradually came from the mist. Amin used his dagger to pry open the moss on the stone wall, revealing a small opening just wide enough for one person to pass through. A cool, damp breeze rushed towards them. "Grandpa Wang said the underground river leads to the Echoing Pool outside the mountain," he said, handing a torch to Ayu before crouching down and crawling inside himself. "Watch your step, the stones are slippery."
Strings of stalactites hung from the cave ceiling, each tipped with a drop of water that fell into puddles below with a crisp sound. Xiaoyan suddenly grabbed Ayu: "Listen, it sounds like someone is singing." Sure enough, a faint singing voice drifted through the mist, like a child's voice singing an ancient tune. The lyrics were indistinct, yet they possessed a calming power. Aming tapped the cave wall with his dagger, and the echo surprisingly included a clanging sound of metal striking metal.
As they reached the bend in the underground river, the torchlight illuminated a stunning scene—the riverbed was covered with luminous pebbles, and the water rippled as it flowed over them, as if someone had scooped up all the stars from the river and laid them on the ground. Ayu bent down to pick up a stone, and as soon as her fingertips touched the water, she saw a rusty copper bell lying on the riverbed, its design exactly the same as the one worn around the neck of a wild goat in the forest.
As the first rays of the setting sun pierced through the last patch of dense forest, the group heard the laughter of children. The white flower in Xiaoyan's hair had somehow turned translucent, its petals as light as clouds, scattering into tiny points of light with every breeze. A crack appeared in the red berry in Ayu's palm, and a small, golden-green bee flew out, its wings fluttering with a "ding-a-ling" sound, exactly like the copper bells of the wild goats in the forest.
In the distance, the sound of Grandpa Wang calling his dog drifted up, and the twilight forest returned to its tranquility. Amin looked back; deep within the dense woods, he seemed to catch a glimpse of an indigo hem. The soft clatter of bamboo baskets mingled with a faint singing voice, gradually dissipating into the mist on the evening breeze. Xiaoyan touched the remaining specks of light in her hair, then suddenly pointed to Ayu's palm—on the skin of that red berry, golden lines had formed a clear path, stretching from the Enchanted Forest all the way to the old locust tree in the town.
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