The door of the tower was open, and the whole structure was not made of bricks, but a black stone material cut to fit. The walls were thick, about half a meter thick, making the tower look very large from outside while the interior space was very small.
One side features a staircase that winds upwards along the interior of the tower, while on the other side of the sturdy railing, there is a descending staircase.
This, is the dungeon!
As I stepped into the tower, a particularly indescribable sense of coldness immediately enveloped me, causing me to shiver involuntarily. In contrast, the old Gong twisted his head comfortably.
This kind of environment... it's somewhat similar to the Jiao Tian Dao Guan?
I walked directly in front of the descending staircase, and there was a lamp protruding on the wall. The light was faint and flickering, as if about to go out. In addition to an extremely thick and solid iron door that fit together perfectly, there was also a thick and sturdy lock.
I'm good at picking locks, but this one is too big, and the lock handle is so thick that it's almost as thick as Gao Tian Chǔ.
Using brute force to open it is basically impossible, and besides, there are still people inside the tower!
Taking a deep breath, I slowly walked up the stairs.
The old Gong was giving me a nudge with his eyes, taking light inhalations and exhalations continuously, advising me to keep my movements quiet and not to be discovered.
The steps of the tower pass through layers. The second floor has bowls, chopsticks, stoves, and some hanging meat for drying. The third floor is a bookshelf, densely filled with books.
On the fourth floor, there is a room. There are four beds, and two beds are occupied by people, sound asleep.
The thick quilts and furs on the beds added extra warmth.
The fifth floor, accessible via the staircase, had brighter lighting. There were four beds, with two occupied by people sleeping. Clearly, there were two others on watch, the very ones who first discovered me and the old Gong, and who had also come out to investigate!
Such a remote place, changing shifts when patrolling is a sign of the Black City Temple's high level of vigilance.
I hadn't yet made a move, when the old Gong took the initiative.
He landed on an empty bed, his mouth wide open, and spat out a ghost—it was none other than Jiang Guang's life soul!
The old Gong squinted his eyes, and Jiang Kuang seemed to understand and squeezed himself into one of the people's bodies.
Then, the old Gong moved into the other person!
The person whose body Jiang Kuang took over did not get up, while the person whose body the old Gong took over sat up, with his eyes darting around.
Then, the old Gong controlled the person to get off the bed and climb the stairs to the fifth floor.
I followed him up.
We quickly reached the tip of the tower, where the top was pointed and the space became smaller. However, there was still plenty of remaining space on this floor, making it appear relatively spacious.
A few tables were leaned against the walls, and two people were sitting quietly at a table.
They turned their heads simultaneously and were taken aback upon seeing me and the person the old Gong was controlling.
Up close, their eye sockets were very deep, and their appearance was somewhat similar to the Lu family's. This should be a unique feature of people in this high-altitude region.
Dark skin, with a red hue beneath the muscle, was particularly rough.
One of them spoke in an eerie voice that I couldn't understand at all.
They looked at the person the old Gong was controlling with suspicion, and then vigilantly at me. Their tone grew heavier slightly, indicating that they were questioning.
The person the old Gong was controlling made a series of squawking sounds. The other two became even more puzzled and seemed about to stand up.
The old Gong, on the other hand, walked up to them and patted their shoulders, seemingly to reassure them.
However, as his hand fell, a burst of black and gray mist suddenly spread out, enveloping the two people inside.
The old Gong's head suddenly shot out from the person he had possessed, and he inhaled fiercely!
Instantly, two streams of white mist were sucked into his mouth as if he were a long whale drinking water.
With a belch, the old Gong retracted his hand and patted his belly.
I slightly furrowed my brow.
In fact, it's quite convenient for the old Gong to do this without making any noise, but to me, what if these two people are not evil to the extreme? Then wouldn't the old Gong be wrongly killing innocent people?
"Sir, there's something off about your eyes. It reminds me of the old Wu in that hat. Don't be too merciful. These people have bulging eyes and dense blood vessels; they're not good folks. Just looking at them makes my heart burn."
Only then did I breathe a sigh of relief after hearing the old Gong's explanation.
He didn't emerge from the person he possessed, but instead patted around on the other two people, pulling out a large bunch of keys.
Then, the old Gong rolled his eyes and held the two people at his sides, walking down the staircase.
"Xiao Jiangzi, follow along!" The old Gong whispered a shout.
The person who Jiang Kuang was possessing on the bed, lying motionless, suddenly turned over and followed us.
In no time, we were back on the first floor, in front of the iron door with the thick lock we had encountered earlier.
The old Gong let "Jiang Kuang" hold the two people, and he himself pulled out the keys to open the lock.
A muffled sound accompanied as a deeper, longer staircase came into sight. The two "people" entered first.
I followed them inside, and with no one holding the door, it closed slowly due to inertia.
There were lights on the walls from time to time, maintaining the only source of light in the dimness.
After walking down a considerable distance, the old Gong finally let "Jiang Kuang" drop the bodies of the two people.
The souls were swallowed by the old Gong directly, so the bodies naturally turned into corpses.
"Jiang Kuang" still looked dazed and foolish, with no thoughts in his soul. Even though the old Gong had nurtured him to some extent, he was only better than a wandering soul. He could understand words, but that was about it.
Continuing to follow the steps downward, the dampness became increasingly heavier, and the sense of coldness grew stronger.
Thinking about my dad staying here for possibly ten years, I felt a heavy oppression and discomfort in my heart. Where could this be a place for people to live?
Finally, the steps led to the end, and there was another door.
Fortunately, the old Gong had all the keys and had eaten two souls, otherwise, even if I had come down here, I would have been helpless.
After opening the door, there was a long corridor ahead.
The light source was still dim, but the corridor was slightly wider.
The walls were tiled with bricks, and the top of the corridor was curved, also embedded with bricks. The construction effort for this place is undoubtedly not small.
There were doors on both sides, each with a lock hanging on it.
These doors are not sealed, and there are narrow slat windows above them that allow you to see outside. From outside, you can also see inside.
"A roar!" A deep and muffled sound suddenly rang out next to my ear, and the door beside me was heavily struck. A face was almost pressed against the iron window bars, it was a man who was thin as bones, his face covered with repulsive sores, his eyes bloodshot, and his eyeballs dotted with blood spots instead of blood vessels.
The "Jiang Kuang" shrugged and muttered, "The Black City Temple houses a lot of people, tough bunch. They should have been dealt with decades ago, but they've been hiding in this remote and desolate place where no one can find their way in. They've been treated well, lived comfortably up until now."
"This person offended Xinbo and was imprisoned here."
The old Gong's words were completely related to the Black City Temple, and I knew it was because of the reason he had eaten the two souls.
Glancing at the man again, his head kept pressing against the iron window bars, almost bursting through the flesh. His hands wanted to reach out, but they couldn't manage it. From his eyes, it was evident that he would have liked to swallow both the old Gong and Jiang Kuang alive.
