Temple of the Abyss

"That's right, when the sacred artifacts were divided, the reason why one of them was given to the mermaid tribe for safekeeping was because the Icewind Strait was unfathomable. No one except the mermaid tribe could dive into such an abyss. To steal the sacred artifact, unless members of the mermaid tribe are helping the thieves!" Rogge analyzed confidently.

"If that's the case, as long as we find out the mole, we will know who stole the sacred artifact!" Catherine clapped her hands excitedly.

"That's right, so I hope to go to the Mermaid Temple. What do you think Miss Tully would like?" Rogge turned to look at Tully and asked.

The mermaid was stunned for a moment, suddenly woke up from the shock, and nodded quickly: "No problem, I will take you back to investigate right now!"

"Are we going to the wet bottom? I hate my feathers getting wet!" The little owl lying on Roger's head suddenly complained.

"If that's the case, I don't mind leaving you in the village tavern. I think the fat chef in the tavern will agree to help me take care of you. You can sleep peacefully next to his cutting board, etc. When we come back..."

Before Rogge finished speaking, Lilith hurriedly interrupted him: "No, I hate the smelly kitchen! I'd better go together, maybe we can get some fish to eat!"

"That's good, I decided so happily!" Rogge said, turning around and walking towards the north side of the fishing village. Tully behind him saw this and stopped him, pointed in the direction of the west coast and asked: "Where are you going? St. The temple is in that direction!"

"Don't worry, Miss Mermaid, we are going to be a guest in your temple. We must dress appropriately. Look at my sleeves. Miss Catherine also needs to change her clothes. We have to find a good tailor and add some tobacco. , I have a hunch that our journey has just begun!"

…

When Rogge and Catherine, wearing brand new clothes, appeared on the silver-white beach with Tully and Lilith again, they had a completely new look.

Rogge, who wrapped himself in a dark blue cloak, put on a new dark blue hat, which looked like a ghostly shadow in the night. Catherine, who was walking side by side with him, was dressed in silver, with a waist-length robe hanging from her back. Her golden ponytail and brisk steps are like a silver elf on the silver beach.

"Just now I saw you seemed to have left something on the tailor's table. Is it silver coins?" Catherine asked Roger in a low voice on the way to the seaside.

Rogge glanced at her approvingly and said, "My observation skills are very good, that's true."

"You seem to be very rich?" Catherine looked at Roger curiously and said.

"No, no, no, I'm a poor man. Fortunately, the kind-hearted village chief 'does good and helps others' - although Mr. Knight will definitely think that this time of cheating can add another charge to me!"

Rogge winked at Catherine mischievously, and the girl suddenly realized, but after thinking about it, she couldn't remember when Rogge took advantage of her, and could only smile with admiration.

"It's getting dark. Usually we mermaids can't be exposed to the sun for a long time. If we're ready, let's get ready to head to the bottom of the sea!"

When everyone came to the beach, Tully looked back at Rogge and Catherine with inquiring eyes, as well as Lilith lying on Rogge's hat. Rogge nodded in agreement and saw her turning to face the rough sea.

When the two pearls on the mermaid staff shot two to four white rays of light towards the sea, a portal with billowing white waves rose up from the rough sea. Tully made a "please" gesture to everyone, and Rogge took the lead. Step forward into the portal.

Accompanied by the sound of turbulent tides in the ears, the four figures appeared on the seabed in the interplay of light and shadow. Except for Tully, who had transformed into a mermaid form, Roger and Catherine's bodies were wrapped in a transparent layer. The water bubbles isolated the sea water from them, allowing them to breathe and speak just like they were on land.

Rogge tried to step forward and found that he was moving as usual and his body was not wet by the sea water. He looked up and looked around and saw that the surrounding seabed was covered with beautiful corals. Hermit crabs carrying huge sea anemones were not far away. Crawling on the ground, a few jellyfish floated by leisurely, giving people a sense of comfort and peace.

Under Tully's guidance, they moved forward along the road paved with seabed shells. On the way, they encountered several low-level mermaid warriors asking questions, but under Tully's leadership, they passed smoothly and soon arrived at the mermaid tribe. In front of the temple gate.

This is an ancient and solemn underwater temple. Six towering stone pillars stand in front of the temple's gate. A long large staircase extends from the gate. Above the gate is carved a statue of Poseidon holding a trident. On the stone door of the temple are carved two mermaid women facing each other holding harps.

In front of the gate of the temple, there were five high-ranking mermaid priests standing. As soon as they saw Tali's figure, they all swam up with their fish tails, using the unique greeting method of the mermaid tribe, touching their tails towards the tower. Li expressed her welcome.

"Guardian, you are back. Did you find anything?" A mermaid woman with blue patterns on her body looked at the two people and a bird standing behind Tully in confusion, and asked in a respectful tone.

"We did find some clues, but we didn't find the whereabouts of the sacred artifact. I brought back a few friends to help us find clues about the sacred artifact." Tully turned around and introduced Rogge and others to the five of them, and told them The five guardians under his command were introduced to Rogge and others.

"Selina, open the door of the temple. Mr. Rogge and I want to go in and check out the crime scene." Tully turned back to the blue-patterned mermaid.

Serena was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and quickly shook her head to remind Tully: "Guardian, have you forgotten? The elders have clearly stipulated that foreigners are not allowed to enter the temple!"

"Nothing is more important now than recovering the sacred artifact!" Tully replied in a deep voice.

Seeing the guardian's expression changed, Serena did not dare to say any more. She hurriedly turned around and led others to open the door. The five people opened the door of the hall. Tully ordered him and the others to guard the door, and she took Rogge and others into the temple.

Passing through the halls and stone rooms of the temple, Rogge saw various statues of mermaid elders and exquisitely carved Poseidon murals. The road was heavily guarded, with patrolling mermaid soldiers everywhere. Rogge saw it and remained calm.

Finally, the four of them stopped in front of the door of a small stone room. Tully tapped the stone door with her staff, and the door opened automatically. Rogge saw a stone platform appearing in the center of the small square stone room, with a huge stone on it. The shell is currently open, with nothing inside.

"This is the scene when the sacred weapon was stolen. It has not changed at all. Please see if you can find anything." Tully pointed towards the house and looked back at Rogge.

Rogge nodded slightly and stepped into the stone chamber. While observing the situation in the stone chamber, he asked: "Do you mind if I light a cigar here?"

"No, please do." Tully agreed.

Rogge then lit up a cigar, took a puff, and asked, "Is this place normally like today, with no one specifically guarding it?"

"No, the five guardians you just met will take regular shifts here. Two will guard at the entrance of the temple, two will guard at the entrance of the sacristy, and one will patrol the temple with a guardian beast."

"Guardian beast?" Rogge looked back at Tully curiously after hearing this. The mermaid guardian nodded and said, "Yes, each of the five of them has a guardian beast. Ariel is a jellyfish and Aphra is an electric ray. , Alice is a squid, Charlotte is a hammerhead shark, and Serena is a sea cucumber."

"Sea cucumber?" Rogge was stunned for a moment, looked at Tully with an unbelievable expression and asked, "This is the first time I've heard that sea cucumbers can also be used as guardian animals. Isn't that thing just for eating?"

"It is true that ordinary sea cucumbers cannot fight against foreign enemies, but Serena has a giant sea cucumber, about two meters long, which can directly swallow enemies. It is a very powerful guardian beast."

"If that's the case, then it would be easy for it to swallow the holy artifact?" After hearing Tully's explanation, Rogge smiled meaningfully.

Tully's face changed suddenly when she heard this, and she asked in surprise: "Do you mean that Serena is the mole?"