Chapter 174 - 165: Saint Born Under the Ominous Star
Pei Ming and the others had entered the yard of a residence, probably in search of a well. Xie Lian entered the yard and commented offhandedly, "The houses on this street are all so impressive."
Hua Cheng replied, "The Kiln is situated in the imperial capital, the heart of the Kingdom of WuYong, and this place is close to the Kiln, or rather, close to what was the imperial capital two thousand years ago, so it's also a place of wealth. Since it's mostly prominent figures and government officials who live here, they're naturally impressive."
There certainly was a well, only, the sight near that well was exceedingly horrifying. There were seven to eight people sprawled over the edge of the well as if they were dying of thirst but still perished after having struggled to make it there. Upon a closer inspection, Xie Lian blinked, "This... rather than say they're people, they're more like stone statues?"
They were of course not live humans, but they weren't corpses, and definitely were not skeletons. Each of them were coarsely made, ashen white 'stone statues'. Xie Lian was about to reach out and touch when next to him, Hua Cheng gave him a look. He immediately remembered the two had only just promised each other not to touch anything strange and dangerous, so he forced down the impulse. Now thinking about it, who in the world would sculpt so many terrifying statues? They should be people indeed, but had transformed into this form for some reason.
The front doors of this home was wide open, and Xie Lian looked to the inside of the house and saw there were two more people lying on the ground, their positions twisted in a tight embrace. Although their faces were blurred and their expressions unclear, but judging by their action one could already sense terror filled their hearts. There was a bundle of something tightly hugged between the two, and on a closer look, Xie Lian realized that it must've been a baby.
What had happened was more than clear. Xie Lian said, "Those outside were this household's servants, and the ones inside should be the master's family of three."
"En." Hua Cheng said, "After the volcano erupted, the WuYong River's flow became running lava. The residents who lived in the high plains weren't burnt to death by the lava or blazing fires, but they couldn't escape the blanketing volcanic ash and died from suffocation."
The enveloping volcanic ash instantly wrapped their whole bodies and formed a layer of hard shells on the surface, preserving the last moments of those people, transforming them into stone statues.
That old well was of course long since dried out. Pei Ming wasn't interested in studying the faces of the dead either, so he left, carrying Pei Su with him, and continued the search for water. Suddenly, Xie Lian noticed something strange, and flipped into the house, crouching down next to the stone bodies of the family of three. Hua Cheng entered too and asked, "What did you want to see?"
Xie Lian furrowed his brows slightly, "I just think their positions are a bit strange. These two adults are holding each other tightly with one arm, but the other arm..." The other arm was tucked in their chests, like they were gripping onto something firmly.
"You want to see what's in their hands?" Hua cheng asked.