I Forged the Myth of the Ancient Overlords
Chapter 186 - 186 185. Underground Labyrinth_1

Chapter 186: 185. Underground Labyrinth_1 Chapter 186: 185. Underground Labyrinth_1 The cold and dry underground passage was already oppressing, and Lu Ban’s words had invisibly added another layer of urgency for these people.

The one feeling the most anxious was probably Iron Fist.

He knew very well that if what Lu Ban had seen were really the Remains of the Saint, then it meant that the secret of this place might have surpassed his original expectations. The very notion of using the Remains of the Saint as a guardian was beyond imagination.

“The Remains of the Saint here belong to Achilles. He disappeared from the sight of people 132 years ago, meaning he had been active for at least 130 years after his death.”

Iron Fist explained, not only to Lu Ban and his group but also to his own subordinates.

“Achilles possessed great strength; even the strongest of the Wasteland Hunters couldn’t confront him head-on. He mastered all known weapons of mankind, and during his lifetime, the city-state he resided in waged hundreds of wars in just a few decades, never once defeated.”

“What about his city-state now?”

Lu Ban asked curiously.

“After his death, his remains left that city-state, and soon after, the city was attacked by countless enemies and eventually vanished from the map,”

Iron Fist said sheepishly.

“I see, he made too many enemies while alive, so when he died, everyone had a grievance to settle, a score to settle.”

Lu Ban nodded his head repeatedly.

A state that sustains itself through war becomes the common enemy of nations it once conquered when its war capacity weakens.

“It’s fair to say that Achilles was nearly invincible in close combat, we should try to avoid engaging with him… However, now that the condition of the Saint’s Remains might have changed, we need to be even more cautious.”

Iron Fist glanced at Lu Ban.

“Flash, you take the lead, Echo, you cover the rear, I’ll go second, and the two of you follow me,”

he commanded.

Flash was a young man with his eye sockets crystallized, his gem-like eyes emitting a strong light, illuminating the passage.

And it seemed that Echo could produce a kind of sound, exploring through echoes.

“Ultrasonics?”

Lu Ban quietly materialized the “Testament” in his hand to enhance his hearing and heard the sound emanating from the young man’s crystallized mouth and throat.

The broken door bore inscriptions that were now indiscernible. Lu Ban glanced at it, but the Silent Lands didn’t seem inclined to help him translate, so he had to let it go.

The passage was becoming narrower, only wide enough for two people to walk abreast. The walls once bore paintings, but they had long since peeled and faded with time.

Lu Ban held a crowbar in his hand, peering over the shoulders of the person in front, he saw the dark road being lit by flames. Perhaps, hundreds of years ago, the priests of that lost civilization trod this path to the deepest part of the altar to conduct rituals, offering life to their gods.

“Wait, this is an altar,”

Lu Ban suddenly spoke up.

“No need for you to remind us,”

replied No-Face from behind him.

“No, what I mean is, this is an altar used in rituals, these pathways are clearly meant for people to walk on, and this place needs blood to activate, which means, the sacrificial ceremony probably requires a… sacrifice,”

Lu Ban tried to articulate.

“Is there a possibility that these complex tunnels are actually meant for the use of the sacrifices? These paths aren’t just decorations or burdens, but created to trap something underneath?”

As he finished speaking, Iron Fist was taken aback.

“There is indeed such a possibility,”

Iron Fist considered some speculation, but didn’t voice it out loud.

“So, the act of initiating this tunnel with blood just now, does it signify that the sacrifice has begun?”

Lu Ban voiced the thought in Iron Fist’s mind.

“You mean, we’re the sacrifices?”

Shia realized, and just then the whole tunnel began to shake violently.

“Turn back,”

Lu Ban cried out, but behind them, the path had already changed; the original return route was now blocked by walls, as if the labyrinth had its own will.

Even the rope used to mark the way had been cut, leaving only a small piece on the ground.

“We’re trapped,”

the rear-guard Echo said in a muffled voice.

“Don’t be nervous,”

Lu Ban said before extinguishing his torch.

“Put out the torches; don’t waste the air.”

He was not panicked because, first, they had not actually encountered any additional dangers that were anywhere close to the worst-case scenario, and second, he had seen similar situations in many adventure movies, where it was usually some reckless teammate who triggered a mechanism, altering the tomb or secret place and sealing off their way back.

Usually, this also meant that if they moved forward, there was a high probability they could reach the core of the underground labyrinth.

The group extinguished their torches, leaving only the illumination from the flashlights as they continued forward.

Shia occasionally used the Detection Spell to check their surroundings, but did not find anything out of the ordinary.

Lu Ban thought of the pyramids. He had watched a documentary before about a group of people exploring the pyramids, and by the end of the story, most of those explorers had died in various accidents, which added a great deal of mystery to the tombs of those pharaohs.

At that thought, Lu Ban suddenly felt that everyone’s footsteps weren’t as disorderly as before.

“Wait a minute.”

He said, turning back to see Shia and No-Face, but nothing appeared abnormal, so he turned back and continued forward.

“That’s not right.”

Lu Ban said again, stopping Iron Fist as well.

“What’s happened?”

Iron Fist turned around and saw Lu Ban and No-Face, looking puzzled.

“Something feels strange; it’s too quiet,”

Lu Ban muttered to himself.

“Just keep going,”

No-Face urged from behind Lu Ban, who could only continue forward, following behind Flash.

“Tell me, how old were you when you started in this line of work?”

Lu Ban struck up a conversation.

“Twelve,”

Flash responded.

“That’s pretty early. Must have been tough.”

Suddenly, Lu Ban felt the darkness around him deepen.

“Who are you talking to?”

No-Face asked from behind.

“I’m talking to you, of course,”

Lu Ban responded matter-of-factly.

He didn’t say more but took a couple of steps forward.

“Speaking of which…”

In the dark, Lu Ban’s True Sight revealed an empty corridor ahead, devoid of anyone else.

“…So that’s how it is?”

Unnoticed, his teammates had all disappeared, yet they were totally unaware.

“Is it the influence of this underground city’s extraordinary powers or the power of the Remains of the Sage?”

Lu Ban remained calm, picking up the crowbar and tapping the wall with it.

A few muffled thuds suggested the wall was indeed real.

He then took out “Testament” and switched it to ultrasonic mode to probe ahead.

“A straight path, about two hundred meters, sloping downward, leading to a room?”

Lu Ban had a rough grasp of the situation.

He was about to move forward when he saw the figure in white with black hair, the “Remains of the Sage,” standing ahead, its eye sockets lacking any whites, staring straight at him.

*

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