An imposing, though sibilant voice responded to my own. "Who has come?"
The eyes of the statue began to glow, though the statue itself did not move. "Ah, I see you possess the qualifications." The voice lowered in volume a little as we continued to approach. "Forgive my surprise…it has been some time since someone last made it this far. I thought perhaps the measures to repel unauthorized intrusion needed refreshing—they do, every five million years or so, and the next such time is getting pretty close."
"Yes, over a hundred thousand years as I understand it," I said, "I am Xu Zuhui, and this is Chen Huan who recruited me to become a Champion of Snake. If I'm not being too bold asking, are you a manifestation of Snake's will?"
