They had fallen into the river because this altar had dropped down. The section which had crashed into the ground had become damaged due to getting crushed, so it wasn't possible to see what was written on it.
However, the intent behind the message written there was clear. It indicated that the Holy Woman's descent might lead to the collapse of space-time.
Professor Xu said, "Since the altar has been destroyed, the Holy Woman wouldn't descend, right?"
Li Chengzhi replied to him, "That should be the case. The matter happened 400 years ago. Since it hadn't happened back then, it shouldn't happen right now. That Holy Woman shouldn't be able to come."
"I believe we must focus on first removing the curse as soon as possible."
Everyone agreed with him, "Yes, that's right."
After all, one's life was the most important to them.
As the curse was mentioned, all of them instinctively looked towards their wrists. Jiang Xiu's gaze swept past their arms as well, the curse pattern was still there on their arms… Only Xie Ting didn't have one.
What happened to her?
Is it related to the altar or the river?
"Ooh…"
Someone yelped in surprise. It was Qiu Yinru. She was looking at her pale wrist, "It looks like this curse pattern is fading."
Everyone rechecked their wrists.
"It's really fading!"
Jiang Xiu raised his hand to take a look as well. The curse pattern on his wrist was indeed fading at speed visible to the naked eye. It appeared as if the flame was slowly getting extinguished and felt quite realistic.
"It's gone!"
Finally, the curse pattern on the wrist disappeared.
"Hahaha. It's really gone."
The happiness had come all too sudden. All of them almost jumped due to the joy.
"Whoo!"
"We are fine!"
Though they didn't know how it happened, they were pleased with the end result. Even Jiang Xiu wasn't sure what happened. He looked towards Xie Ting with doubt.
"Since the curse is gone, we should find a way to leave this place."
"I don't want to stay even a second longer in this damned region."
A few of the students squatted down and filled their canteens with water.
Leaving the desert was an arduous task as well. Water was the most important thing, so it was better to hoard as much as possible.
"Hmm?"
Jiang Xiu noticed a shadow inside the river. Its size spanned around 1.5 m, and it swam quite fast while fanning its tail as if it were a fish. It suddenly made for the water surface.
Jiang Xiu altered the student, "Be careful!"
The person who was crouching there was a fourth-year student called Bai Jiajun. Jiang Xiu's voice didn't make it in time. He looked at the monster which had appeared before him in alarm. The huge fish monster swallowed him in a single gulp, not even giving him the chance to scream. Crunch-Crunch. Gulp. Sounds of chewing sounded out followed by a gulping sound.
All those who witnessed this scene felt their hairs stand.
Their souls almost left their body.
That huge fish monster didn't go back into the water but instead landed on the ground then slithered towards Li Beng to the side.
It opened its sawtooth-filled mouth!
Li Beng reacted quite quickly. He got up gave it a side-kick. The monster flung its head sideways in response to it. He grunted when his foot came in contact with its head and got sent flying.
"Quite powerful!"
The monster fell to the ground and leaped towards Li Beng again. This time, they clearly witnessed how firm its skin was, its hardness the same as steel. The rocks on the ground got crushed into a fine powder as it slithered on the ground.
"AAAAHH!"
Li Beng screamed in alarm as the monster made its way towards him.
Bang!
All of a sudden, the monster's body got cut into two pieces due to an invisible energy pulse. Green blood rained all over as the two sections fell down to the ground. The monster died a violent death.
"Jiang Xiu!"
Jiang Xiu had acted.
"What kind of monster is this?"
"So scary. Luckily, it hadn't appeared when we were inside the water. Otherwise, we would have become its food."
Everyone was in a panic.
Li Chengzhi quickly hurried towards his son and help him stand up, "Li Beng, are you okay?"
"Y-Yes…" Li Beng replied in a rattled tone.
Jiang Xiu looked at the monster with an impassive gaze. It could neither be called a monster nor a demon. He couldn't understand how such a creature could exist here.
"Wrrrraaaarrrr!"
"Wrraaaarrr!"
Professor Xu asked, "Do you hear that? Doesn't it sound like…"
They saw a monster which shone with a black luster.
"Be careful!"
Professor Xu turned back in alarm and saw a monster which looked a beetle crawl over towards him. Jiang Xiu waved his hands towards it, but it only resulted in a spark on its shell and couldn't damage it. It crawled towards Professor Xu with movements like that of a spider.
Jiang Xiu was stunned. Though he hadn't used his entire strength in his attack just now, it was enough to be considered first-rate and enough to break gold or jade. This monster's defense was pretty high as it wasn't injured at all. Even bullets wouldn't penetrate through it.
Whoosh!
He sent another energy pulse.
This pulse was stronger than the previous. Chiirrr! The solid carapace got split open and its flesh mangled up. It roared in pain before dropping dead.
"Oh my god. What are these monsters?"
"How come they appeared out of nowhere?"
The surrounding people were scared shitless and couldn't help but draw closer to Jiang Xiu. They could only feel safe near him as they didn't know when a monster would crawl out of the darkness.
"Appeared out of nowhere?"
Jiang Xiu's gaze fell on the carapace of the dead insect monster.
"Mr. Jiang, what should we do?"
"Find the exit and leave this place." Jiang Xiu replied.
Since water and an air current existed at this place, it meant there was a way outside.
"That side…"
Li Chengzhi was a Fengshui Master, so he understood the intricacies of nature. Since there was an air current, it meant an exit existed. He led everyone towards the direction the wind was blowing from. The party quickly reached an exit and found a flight of steps there. These steps were quite wide and smooth. They escaped up without any hesitation.
"F-Faster…"
The people at the back urged, fearing that monsters would eat them if they tarried. Just the thought gave them goosebumps.
So much that they wished they had another leg to walk faster.
They climbed out and discovered that they were in the central zone of the ancient city.
"We finally came out. It really scared me."
"I feel dead tired."
Several people laid down on the ground.
A huge sculpture of a Goddess stood at this central zone. Jiang Xiu glanced at it and thought that it looked familiar. He couldn't help but take a glance towards Xie Ting. The appearance of the Goddess resembled Xie Ting's a bit, "What's that?"
"Sculpture of the Holy Woman!" Xie Ting replied.
"The Holy Woman who was mentioned on the altar?"
"Yes!"
Jiang Xiu looked at the people who laid down on the ground and said, "You better leave this Ancient City as soon as possible if you don't want to die here."
Chen Dewen waved towards Jiang Xiu while gasping for air, "I can't even move an inch."
"Why don't you…"
He stopped speaking as he heard a muffled, beastly breathing sound. Everyone turned back to take a look and saw a shadow standing in the darkness. Its head was quite huge, double the size of a lion's.
"AAAAAHHHH!"
"RUUUNNN!"
They escaped very quickly, but Jiang Xiu didn't follow them. He stood there in wait. The monster in the darkness hesitated for a while then retreated back into the darkness noiselessly, disappearing without a trace.
Jiang Xiu reached the base of the Goddess's Sculpture and pondered for a moment before bowing his head to take a look. There was a platform in the shape of a lotus flower under the feet of the sculpture, and a river flowed under it. There were six goose-egg sized holes on the lotus flower shaped platform. That shape…
Jiang Xiu took out the Longevity Stone and placed it in. It was a perfect fit.
The Longevity Stone had initially been a part of this place.
"So, there were six of them."
"The true effect of the Longevity Stone should be evident after gathering all six of them."
Since the rest of them weren't here, similar to the one with him, the other 5 were probably in the hands of the later generation of the Ancient City.
"I'll have to look into it later. First, I should leave this place…"
The fear those people felt scattered after sensing the warm sunshine when they escaped outside. They dropped down in exhaustion, feeling weary from the entire experience.
"We've finally escaped outside."
This time's desert trip was an unforgettable experience for all of them. It was simply too provoking.