Siheyuan: tomb robbing? I am serious about hunting. - Chapter 901 Clues

The damp musty smell mixed with the fishy smell of groundwater hit Suleiman's face, and the beam of Suleiman's flashlight swayed between the mottled stone pillars of Istanbul's Basilica Cistern. Water drops dripped from the dome, creating circles of ripples on the black water surface of the reservoir, startling a group of silvery-white fish, and then disappeared into the depths of darkness in an instant. As an archaeologist specializing in the restoration of historical relics, he has stepped into this underground miracle built in the Byzantine period countless times, but tonight, there is an unprecedented weird atmosphere here. Three days ago, Suleiman received an anonymous letter. There was only one line of words written in ancient Turkish on the yellowed letter paper: "If you want to know the truth about your father's disappearance, go to the Eye of Medusa in the Basilica Cistern." There were still dark red marks on the edge of the letter paper, like dried blood. Suleiman's father was also an archaeologist. He disappeared strangely while exploring the secrets of the Basilica Cistern 20 years ago, and there has been no news since then. This unsolved mystery is like a thorn, deeply piercing Suleiman's heart. At this moment, this letter rekindled his hope to find the truth. Walking down the narrow stone steps, Suleiman's footsteps echoed in the empty underground space. The ancient stone pillars were covered with moss and glowed green under the flashlight. When he walked to the central area of ​​the underground water palace, the huge Medusa head pillar appeared in front of him. Legend has it that in order to suppress evil spirits, the builders placed the head of Medusa upside down under the stone pillar, and anyone who looked directly into her eyes would turn into stone. Suleiman squatted down and carefully observed the ground around the Medusa head. Suddenly, he found a yellowed parchment in the gap between the base of the stone statue. He carefully pulled it out, and there were complex symbols and a simple map on it. The map marked a mysterious place - "the seventh weeping stone pillar". Suleiman frowned. He had studied the underground water palace for many years and had never heard of such a stone pillar. Following the guidance of the map, Suleiman passed through a narrow passage. The walls on both sides of the passage were engraved with strange runes, some of which were still glowing slightly, as if telling an ancient story. The further he walked, the colder the air became, and Suleiman couldn't help but shiver. Finally, he came to a remote corner, and in the dim light, he saw the unique stone pillar. The surface of the stone pillar was covered with fine lines, and water droplets slowly flowed down along the lines, gathering into small puddles at the bottom of the stone pillar. From a distance, it looked like the stone pillar was crying. Suleiman walked closer and found a line of small words engraved on the stone pillar: "When the moonlight kisses Medusa's eyes, the transaction of shadows will be revealed." He looked at his watch. Tonight was the night of the full moon. As time passed, a ray of moonlight slowly moved through the small hole on the top of the underground water palace, and finally shone on the head of Medusa. In an instant, the entire underground water palace began to shake, and the ground under the Medusa head slowly rose, revealing a hidden passage. Suleiman took a deep breath, held the flashlight tightly, and walked towards the passage. The passage was filled with a pungent smell of sulfur. Several ancient oil lamps hung on the walls, emitting a dim light. After walking for about ten minutes, Suleiman came to a huge underground cave. In the center of the cave was a round altar, on which were placed various strange objects: daggers inlaid with gems, pottery jars engraved with mysterious symbols, and rolls of ancient parchment. Around the altar stood a group of people in black robes, their faces hidden in the shadows, and they could not see their appearance clearly. Suleiman hid behind a rock and held his breath. At this time, a tall man in black robes walked up to the altar. His voice was low and hoarse: "Tonight, we will complete the transaction with the shadow world. Over the years, we have gained endless wealth and power with the help of the power of the shadow, but now it is time to pay the price." Suleiman's heartbeat accelerated, and he realized that he had accidentally broken into a shocking secret transaction scene. The black-robed man continued: "We need a pure soul as a sacrifice to maintain the contract with the shadow world." As he said that, he waved his hand, and two black-robed men escorted a young woman to the altar. The woman burst into tears, her eyes full of fear. Just as the black-robed man was about to attack, Suleiman could no longer stand by and watch. He jumped out and shouted loudly: "Stop! You bunch of demons!" The black-robed people were startled by the sudden sound and turned their heads. The tall black-robed man sneered: "I didn't expect that there would be an uninvited guest. In this case, you will also become a sacrifice!" Suleiman clenched his fists and prepared for the upcoming attack. At this time, he noticed a parchment scroll on the altar. The words on it were very similar to the handwriting on his father's notebook. He was moved. Could this be related to his father's disappearance? The black-robed man had already pounced on him. Suleiman flexibly dodged the attack and looked for an opportunity to approach the parchment scroll. In the fierce fight, Suleiman found that these black-robed men seemed to be very sensitive to light. He remembered the oil lamp in the passage, so he grabbed a burning torch and waved it at the black-robed man. The black-robed man screamed in pain, and his body began to twist and deform, turning into a cloud of black smoke. Suleiman took the opportunity to rush to the altar and picked up the parchment scroll. The parchment scroll recorded an astonishing secret: it turned out that these black-robed people were an ancient mysterious organization. They made a deal with the shadow world and exchanged human souls for supernatural powers. Twenty years ago, Suleiman's father discovered this secret and tried to stop them, but was hunted down. Just as Suleiman was reading the parchment scroll, the tall black-robed man suddenly appeared from the smoke. His body had become translucent, and his eyes flashed with evil red light. "Do you think you can stop us?" He roared, "The power of the shadow world is infinite, and you will all become its sacrifices!" As he said, he opened his arms, and the whole cave began to shake violently. The ground cracked and black smoke poured out of the cracks, as if something terrible was about to break out of the ground. Suleiman knew that he had to find a way to crack this evil deal before everything was irreversible. He quickly flipped through the parchment scroll and finally found a clue on the last page: only with the tears of Medusa could the contract with the shadow world be broken.