Chapter 126: The Temple of Death (Part 2)

They finally arrived at the temple’s grand entrance, a door towering ten meters high, seemingly carved from a single stone block, featuring elegant yet ancient bas-reliefs. It was hard to imagine how the smaller-statured catfolk and jackalpeople had once managed to move such an immense stone door.

Across from the massive door stood a colossal statue, largely engulfed in darkness. Only a pair of enormous feet was faintly visible from this position. The corridors on both sides were lined with various statues of jackalpeople and catfolk, which, according to Sacker, represented the messengers and saints of the god of death.

“They spent a lot of time wandering around here,” Nina observed.

The area was devoid of sand, but nearly a thousand years of accumulated dust made the footprints of the earlier explorers distinctly visible.

“They went further in,” added Sacker.

The temple of death was filled with many preserved vessels and ritual objects, showing signs of being explored and moved. Clearly, Jerem and his team had intended to take these items with them, but their greed for more treasures convinced them to leave these behind and venture further.

There was nothing noteworthy in the main hall, leaving them no reason to pause. The group moved along the passageway and soon found themselves in a long, narrow corridor as tall as the main hall itself. Sand had infiltrated from skylights on both sides, burying the corridor almost halfway. Many of the towering statues that lined the corridor were so covered in sand that only their heads remained visible.

Complete darkness enveloped this area. Even the wolfmen and catmen, with their keen vision, were blind in this fully enclosed, lightless space. Thus, they lit two more torches and followed the footprints of Jerem and his companions, climbed over the sand, and continued down the corridor.

“How big do you think this temple is?” Wu Qingsong asked. “Is it entirely above ground, or is there an underground section as well?”

“My ancestors believed that the domain of the God of Death lay hidden beneath the earth. If this is indeed the temple of the god of death, then it must have a vast underground palace. The most valuable treasures would be hidden there,” Sacker responded. “But now that the entire temple is buried under sand, there’s no difference.”

Wu Qingsong chose not to question the implications of Sacker’s words, “My ancestors believed.” Did it mean that these descendants of the Batiz clan had forsaken such beliefs? Then how effective could their earlier prayers to the spirits within the temple be?

At that moment, Wu Qingsong realized that he had barely scratched the surface of understanding the deities of this world or the religious beliefs of its beastfolk.

It appeared that the beastfolk’s worship was predominantly directed toward the spirits of their ancestors. Nina had once led a public prayer to these ancestral spirits, which might be akin to totem worship or perhaps shamanistic in nature. However, it was strange that on the territory of the Silver Moon Wolf Clan, he hadn’t seen any shamans.

The deities of the elves were similarly rooted in ancestral spirits, but these were not abstract entities. Rather, they had clearly defined visages of eight formidable elves, each presiding over their own divine realm, with the chief deity being Aymes, the goddess representing light and hope.

As for the half-elves, their faith largely mirrored that of the elves. Wu Qingsong was skeptical that such divine beings would offer him their blessings. Nonetheless, he had, on occasion, participated in temple prayers and made offerings, particularly to Isoma, the deity of craftsmanship and flame, who was revered as the guardian of Umber and Esola, the two cities with which he was somewhat familiar. Beyond Isoma, his understanding of other divine beings was virtually nonexistent.

Considering his arrival in this world, it was possible that gods might exist, yet the elves’ eradication of all beastfolk races to dominate the continent suggested otherwise. 

Regardless of whether it was to the number of deities, the number of followers, or any other reason, the eight chief elven gods, with only tens or hundreds of thousands of followers, could not have possibly wiped out the beastfolk peoples’ ancestral gods, who had tens of millions of devout worshippers. If the beastfolk’s deities truly existed, it was unlikely they would have idly watched their followers being enslaved by the elves.

This world likely had no gods, only a kind of power that he had yet to fully understand. It was by mastering and utilizing this power that the elves had defeated enemies far greater in number than themselves and became the masters of this world.

As Wu Qingsong pondered this and walked forward, Sacker, who was leading the group, suddenly stopped.

“What’s the matter?” he asked.

“Bodies,” Sacker announced.

They found a corpse partially buried in the sand and debris. Pulling it out, the two badgermen immediately recognized and exclaimed the name of the deceased in terror.

“How did he die?”

“Poison,” the catwoman said. “Likely a spider.”

She lightly tapped the corpse’s ankle with her knife. Unlike those wearing boots, he had donned leather sandals, common among desert travelers, leaving his legs fully exposed. The sand had drawn most of the moisture from the body, causing it to visibly shrink and dry, yet they could clearly observe two large, round, hole-like wounds on it.

If it really was a spider, then it must have been terrifyingly large.

“We’ve brought you here, please, let us go back,” pleaded the two young treasure hunters, unable to bear the strain any longer. “We swear never to speak of this location or speak of what has happened here. With our abilities, we couldn’t find this place again even if we tried.”

Wu Qingsong gave a slight nod. The two badgermen were clueless about the temple’s intricacies, rendering their presence useless. Moreover, their presence would only hinder Ling and Nina from using their powers.

“Let them go,” he directed.

Sacker glanced at him, weighing his options, before nodding in agreement, “Saeed, take them out, and be quick. And on your way back, bring some more torches and wait for us in the great hall.”

With that, the expedition pressed onward.

“Be careful, everyone,” Nina warned.

In the prevailing darkness, although most beastfolk retained some visibility, their sight was significantly diminished compared to being above ground. Due to the intense heat of the desert, few had bothered with full armor. People like Sacker were essentially in casual wear. Without proper protection, accidentally stepping on something and getting bitten was far from desirable.

Despite the unlikelihood of any creature surviving in a space sealed for nearly a millennium, Wu Qingsong instinctively positioned Ling behind him, prepared to trigger her abilities at any moment.

Consequently, the group’s progress naturally slowed down.