"Our own adventure?" Hermione didn't understand Tom's words. "What do you mean? I thought you were going to wait for Uncle Hal and the others to leave before we go."
Tom shook his head. He hadn't even discovered the biggest secret here. How could he leave so easily?
He led Hermione back to the arena.
"This sand, it's peculiar." Tom grabbed a handful of sand from the ground and watched as it slipped through his fingers.
"The first touch is a record, the second touch is a return to the point in time when it was touched. This is the Time Sand." Tom pulled out another glass bottle. "Do you want one too? I can't take more than one, but one for each of us sounds like a good idea."
"If it's such a precious treasure, why not..." Hermione looked at the vast expanse of yellow sand and couldn't help but feel a little tempted.
Tom shook his head and said meaningfully, "There is a god when you raise your head one meter."
Hermione still had a little trouble understanding Tom's words, but if he said so, he must be right, so she grabbed a small bottle.
Upon returning to the treasure room, Tom suddenly asked Hermione a question, "Do you remember that poem? Follow me to the sunlit water."
"Of course," Hermione said, lifting her chin proudly, and began reciting the poem Tom had read to her once. "Come with me to the sunlit waters..."
"Smart!" Tom applauded when Hermione recited the entire poem. "And my dear Miss Granger, do you think this little pool fits the description of the poem?"
As if agreeing with Tom, the golden fish in the pond leaped out and made a splash.
Tom pointed at the fish with a look that said, "See! Am I right?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Where do you get all this information from?" But despite what she said, Hermione unconsciously believed Tom because his poem had predicted the whereabouts of the four clues and the most crucial key so accurately.
Tom fell silent for a moment. "We'll talk when the time is right."
But by now, Hermione's attention was no longer on Tom. She was looking around the pond for other clues.
"Look!" She soon found something crucial: she pulled out a shiny golden robe from the golden mountain, along with the robe, a flower crown, and a small glass bottle.
"Put it on quickly!" Hermione called out to Tom, telling him to put on the robe, while holding the robe in her hands and making two gestures at Tom. "I think it suits you."
Tom looked at the rustic robe and hesitated. He tried to say something, but Hermione guessed what he was thinking and cut him off, "I'm not going to wear it, give up!"
Reluctantly, Tom put on the robe and the flower crown. He opened the small enameled jar and found a bottle of olive oil, still fresh after five thousand years, with the distinctive aroma of olive oil escaping from the top of the bottle and lingering in the air when the cap was removed.
After Tom poured the olive oil all over himself, something magical happened.
The golden fish, which had been lazily swimming in the pond, suddenly became excited and surrounded him. Tom reached his hand into the pond, and there was a suction as the fish approached Tom's hand. The fish was small but strong, and Tom was pulled into the pond.
After falling into the pond, Tom realized that he didn't have the sensation of drowning and there was no difference from being on land. The fish he held in his hand didn't have the slippery touch of an aquatic creature but felt cold, like a moving piece of gold.
Pushed by the little fish, Tom and Hermione slid deeper into the pond.
Interestingly, the pond seemed shallow from the outside, no more than two meters at its deepest point, but as they sank into it, it was as if there was no bottom. As the water grew deeper, the light faded until natural light disappeared completely, but the golden fish Tom held in his hand emitted a faint glow of its own that made the dark, silent waters less dreary.
There is a condition known as thalassophobia, a fear of the deep sea. For those who suffer from it, the bottomless ocean is the most terrifying thing in the world. Every time they see deep waters, the associative powers of their mind increase greatly, and they develop a gigantic fear, which is what Tom felt he was suffering from: being in the darkness of the water, with only a small golden fish in his hand as a source of light.
In this situation, wouldn't it make sense for a giant sea creature to be staring at this small source of light and the next thing it does is devour it?
Tom's breath caught under the pressure, and there was a squeeze on his hand... apparently, it was Hermione.
Finally, a small light appeared in their sight, the cold, wet water of the lake warmed up, and the faint glow expanded, eventually clearing the water completely...
The fish also increased its speed and rushed to the surface.
The bright light filled Tom's vision, disorienting him, and it took him a while to recover. When his vision cleared, he could finally see his surroundings: he was in the pool of a room, and Hermione was not far from him.
The room might not be the appropriate word because the view was so vast that the entire space seemed supported only by pillars in the corners, with canvases hanging between them as dividers. It looked more like a pavilion than a house.
Tom stepped out of the pool and stood on the shore. The linen was now rolled up in front, revealing the view of the outside world. Tom looked out and had a strong sense of disconnection: it was a bustling city. He stood on this high platform, observing the street vendors below.
"The fish has brought me a visitor." A soft voice sounded behind Tom, and he turned around to find a young man leaning on a cushion, looking at him, with a black cat lying at his feet, a golden ball curled around the cat's tail, swaying with the cat's tail movements.
That golden ball is exactly the same as the one the Sphinx produced earlier.
The young man lifted his chin towards Tom. "Travelers, introduce yourselves. My name is Narmer, or of course, you can call me Menes."