Chapter 127: The Temple of Death (Part 3)

For some reason, a significant portion of the corridor had collapsed, and a torrent of sand had spilled through the gap, nearly completely blocking their path. The benefit of following others’ footsteps meant that the path had already been cleared for them. They quickly discovered remnants of a campfire and signs that someone had camped there before. On one side of the sand mound, a tunnel had been dug out, just wide enough for a person to crawl through. Shortly beyond this entrance, they found a space created by stones that had fallen from the ceiling and the wall, which kept the sand out and formed a passage. Further ahead was another tunnel that had been dug out not too long ago.

It was clear that Jerem and his team must have invested considerable effort to carve out this tunnel.

These treasure hunters were willing to go to great lengths in their quest for wealth.

They came upon a massive stone door, half-engulfed by sand, making it nearly impossible to open.

“How did they get through?” Wu Qingsong asked.

“Over there,” pointed the catwoman.

A rope hung from the top end of the corridor. Sacker’s lone remaining subordinate approached it and gave a cautious pull. It seemed to be tied to a stone above. He nodded at them and then swiftly climbed up the rope.

The reach of the torchlight was limited, and Wu Qingsong couldn’t see anything. Ling quietly informed him that above were structures similar to skylights used for ventilation, all empty.

Climbing to the top, they were again met with boundless darkness below. Sacker, with his torch nearing its end, hurled it into the dark, revealing numerous pillars and a vast space, seemingly another temple. They quickly found another rope and descended along it.

The air became noticeably stale here, carrying a hint of decay, which made Wu Qingsong speculate whether Jerem and his team had died not from traps or some dreadful creature, but simply from suffocation.

“Corpses!” exclaimed the catwoman.

Wu Qingsong immediately raised his torch higher. In the dim light, he saw several human-shaped figures wrapped in fabric, scattered among the pillars not far away.

Mummies?

He went on high alert.

But Sacker and the others directly approached the nearest body.

“Be cautious,” Wu Qingsong cautioned.

“Temple guardians,” Sacker said.

To Wu Qingsong, these were mummies, their bodies completely enshrouded in linen wrappings. By the shape of the head, it seemed likely to be jackalpeople. A weapon resembling a long axe lay nearby, its surface dulled and lusterless from the passage of time but still intact. Wu Qingsong picked it up and gave it a swing, realizing it required significant strength to use.

From the layer of dust covering them, it was clear they had lain here for a very long time, some of their linen wrappings had decayed, revealing the dried corpses inside.

“They are said to attack anyone who enters the temple without a priest’s blessing. But after so much time, any magic would have definitely faded,” Sacker commented before rising to his feet.

In their immediate vicinity, there appeared to be nearly a hundred such mummies, creating an eerie atmosphere.

“Why are they all gathered here?” Wu Qingsong asked.

Normally, if these beings were intended to guard the temple, they would be spread across every corner, not amassed in one location as they were.

“Maybe it was to resist invaders,” Nina suggested, gesturing toward some of the bodies on the ground.

Wu Qingsong then noticed that many mummies were actually torn apart, some bearing clear signs of burning, while others had large cavities, likely wounds from magical arrows. Several pillars bore evident marks of damage but thankfully hadn’t collapsed, still holding up the heavy dome.

“Elves,” Sacker uttered with a clenched jaw.

“Footprints,” the Xeila calmly observed.

It appeared that Jerem and his party had inspected these mummies nearby, wandered around this smaller temple, and then proceeded further back.

There were doors on both sides, none of which showed signs of being opened. The footprints continued straight ahead into the back, where they found a stone door leading underground that had been thoroughly destroyed. Rubble littered the ground, with the footprints clearly heading through the doorway.

The catwoman suddenly uttered something, prompting a slight change in Sacker’s expression.

“What’s the matter?” Wu Qingsong asked.

“It’s nothing,” Sacker replied.

“All is but an illusion, only death is eternal,” Xeila said.

“What?” Wu Qingsong was puzzled.

“The inscription on that door,” the catwoman clarified.

Only then did Wu Qingsong notice the lines of text engraved above the entrance to the underground palace.

“Anything else?” he asked.

“This is the gateway to the realm of the dead, the homeland of those who sleep eternally. All who disturb their sacred slumber shall be cast into darkness, never to find peace again.”

Wu Qingsong’s brow furrowed slightly. “Sounds like it’s a tomb, doesn’t it?”

“Maybe,” Sacker responded. “Even better. If this is indeed a tomb, we’re sure to find magic artifacts and spellbooks buried with the dead.”

Hearing such sentiments from a descendant of the esteemed Batiz royal family was strange, but since he had said it, Wu Qingsong and Nina had even less reason to disagree.

As he crossed through the broken stone doorway, an inexplicable chill passed through him, making him shiver uncontrollably for a moment. So, he stopped in his tracks.

“Wu?” Ling whispered.

“Did you feel it?”

“Feel what?”

“A cold breeze,” Wu Qingsong said while turning to glance over his shoulder. The torchlight could only illuminate a very limited area, leaving everything beyond it engulfed in endless darkness.

“How can there be any wind in such a place?” Sacker remarked. “Let’s not get carried away with superstitions. If they truly existed, they wouldn’t just stand by and watch us suffer,” he said, his voice suddenly tinged with emotion. “If they were real, why don’t they deal with the elves? Why watch as they turn our homeland into desert and ruins? They don’t exist! It’s all a farce, all of it!”

Though his point was valid, Wu Qingsong couldn’t help but think, ‘Who was it that kept us up last night with their prayer ceremony? Am I hallucinating, or has your excellency developed a split personality?’

Wu Qingsong kept these thoughts to himself, preferring not to argue on this matter. Indeed, there shouldn’t be any wind in a completely sealed space. Perhaps it was just a trick of his mind?

Just then, Nina, who was at the front, came to a halt.

“Corpses,” she announced. “I think we’ve found Jerem and his team.”