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Chapter 84 - Escaping from Burial Grounds (XV)

Editor: Kitty

Relying solely on the guidance of the dilapidated map, Specter and the couple successfully found the tomb of the god.

Because of the map’s guidance, Specter and the others bypassed all of the countless traps and mechanisms around the tomb. When they walked through the network of pathways full of strange and small creatures, including passageways filled with spiderwebs, rats, and other eccentric creatures, they found that all the walls were inlaid with glowing phosphorite. Following that, they were met with an extremely huge gate similar to the one at the tomb of the ghost. In front of the huge stone gate, there were two giant statues.

But the statues were not carved into tigers or dragons.

The statues were of two people donning sacrificial robes and holding long iron staffs in their hands with their heads lowered and faces concealed by their robes.

“These are the statues of the guardian gods.” Specter and the others stood in front of the gate to the god’s tomb. Specter took the lead in opening his mouth and commented on the statue.

“What the hell are the statues of the guardian gods?” Ah Lan was still a newbie. Naturally, he tried hard to learn all sorts of knowledge and intelligence like a sponge. Although Duan Li told him a lot of his experiences in this aspect, ‘hearing’ and ‘witnessing’ were two completely different concepts.

“In short, the people or objects who guard the tomb.” Specter pointed to the two statues and said, “If we are within a certain range of the two statues and can’t open the gate in time within the specified time limit, the statues will determine that we are dangerous and not allowed in, and then they will be animated and attack us.”

“Animated...... Does it mean that the stone statues will become real living objects?” Ah Lan carefully observed the two tall statues.

“That’s what it means.” Specter looked at the array on the stone gate and sighed: “But we don’t have the key to open the gate.”

If Luo Jian was here, he would find that the gate of the god’s tomb was actually the same as the gate of the ghost’s tomb, and even the mechanism array above was the same. When Luo Jian first opened the ghost tomb, he used a piece of phosphorite, the one that was placed near him when he woke up.

“I don’t think we need a key.” Duan Li also stared at the array on the stone gate for a while and suddenly said, “This gate has been opened before.”

“Oh?” Specter took a look at Duan Li, then turned to continue looking at the stone gate. The array formation on the stone gate appeared uneven and extremely irregular. Some places were deeply sunken in while some were protruding. There were many glowing phosphorite stones inlaid in the array formation. There were no empty holes; all places where the stones could be laid had phosphorite.

“Indeed, if one studies the array formation carefully, one will find that some dust on the array formation has been wiped away, and there are traces of human touch.” Specter stretched his neck a little and said, “Even if someone is ahead of us, we have to go in.”

“At this rate, I’m afraid we are going to have a vicious battle soon.” Duan Li suddenly took out his weapon. He carried his tang sword overbearingly on his shoulder. Ah Lan, who was beside Duan Li, shrank a little, and Duan Li naturally noticed this. With his other hand, he placed Ah Lan into a half-embrace.

Specter was extremely unhappy with the actions of the two gays. Their actions made him feel that the intensity of his brightness was comparable to the sun high in the sky. He also disliked Duan Li because when Specter approached Duan Li, he always felt that this fool’s body was surrounded with a smell of blood that could not seem to dissipate, and he always remained silent as if plotting something and constantly had a bizarre expression on his face. All this made Specter feel alert and hostile towards him.

But they were in the same team now.

Even if Specter could not trust him, it was necessary for them to get along peacefully and harmoniously. Specter could only glare at the two gays and focus his attention on Ah Lan. He yelled, “Are you really in the mood to whisper sweet nothings on the battlefield? Ah Lan, come to my side.”

Ah Lan pitifully gazed at Duan Li, then turned his head and looked at Specter carefully. At last, reluctantly, he moved to Specter’s side and shrank by his side. Specter had repeatedly interrupted his two comrades’ intimate behaviors and conversations, and like a hen protecting his chick, he had even stuffed Ah Lan under his wings.

But he really had no solution to this. Specter recognized Ah Lan as a close friend of Luo Jian. Since he was a friend of his younger brother, it was necessary to protect him. However, Duan Li, a guy of obscure origin who had such an infamous nickname of being a thousand-faced man, could not help but arouse Specter‘s suspicion, and Specter felt that Duan Li was deceiving the innocent little student Ah Lan with all sorts of honeyed talk. That was why when everything was perfectly fine, Duan Li tricked the youth with the five good attributes into the huge vortex of being ‘good gays, beautiful friends.’

Duan Li appeared to not care about what had occurred. Even as he looked at Ah Lan being pulled away by Specter, he did not have any regrets or feel dissatisfaction. It seemed that he did not take Ah Lan to heart. Ah Lan also noticed this and found that Duan Li did not feel anything even when he was separated from him, which made him feel at a loss. He angrily flipped the grimoire in his hands until it jumped up and left his palm. It floated here and there and circled around Ah Lan.

Could it be that he really does not like me at all? Ah Lan secretly glanced at Duan Li and found that at some unknown point, Duan Li had placed his mask on again, so he couldn’t see his expression. Therefore, he became more troubled over the issue. He followed along as Specter walked, and after every step he took, he would pause again. From time to time, he would jab the poor grimoire.

Specter was not at all concerned about Ah Lan’s disappointment. He walked to the huge stone gate with little Ah Lan beside him. When they approached the gate, these few people suddenly found that the statues on both sides of the stone gate had changed dramatically. Originally, the statues had kept their heads lowered, but at some unknown time, they had raised their heads. The statues on the left and right of the gate both stared at Specter and the other two. Under their robes, their faces were half-visible, and both faces appeared exactly the same.

Such things like the statues of the guardian gods would be very difficult to deal with once activated. They had no blood, no tears, and would experience no pain or feelings. They could recover in a very short time if they suffered any damage. They usually had strange spells and other things cast on their bodies which made them immune against all kinds of magic damage. They could cause great damage and were even harder to defend against than stalkers or other monsters. Originally, Specter also guessed that players could become these kinds of things, but later, he discovered it was not the case.

Fortunately, as long as they didn’t intentionally activate it, it usually wouldn’t hurt them.

They just had to open the gate. Specter activated the array formation on the huge stone gate, and with a clicking sound, the mechanism underground activated. After that, the stone gates opened a crack, and the light inside it was revealed. Obviously, it was very bright inside the tomb of the god.

Specter and the others walked in before the statues activated. The huge stone gate naturally closed after they entered, causing a loud rumbling. After a short period of time of adapting to the dazzling light in the tomb, Specter and company observed the surrounding environment.

The space in the god’s tomb was huge, and it looked exactly the same as the tomb of the ghost. However, there were no tall platforms with stairs or statues of various monsters and demons in the tomb vault.

There was only one huge tree in the middle of the tomb.

It was a very huge tree, large enough that even dozens of people together would not be able to encircle its huge trunk. Its branches and leaves extended up so high that they were unable to see their end. There were many hanging, twisted tree roots, and these roots and vines were spread over almost the entirety of the tomb of the god. It could be said that this huge tomb vault was densely packed with all the big and small roots and vines!

The reason why the god’s tomb was so bright was also because of the dense roots. There were root fibers on them that emitted light. If one carefully observed them, one would find that the roots twisted from time to time. The light they emitted was not a lot, but with the presence of so many roots and root fibers, together, they had the capacity to illuminate the whole tomb vault.

When Specter and others climbed onto the tree roots and walked into the god’s tomb, Ah Lan could not help shivering and said, “Do you feel that these tree roots and vines are...... all moving?”

Since the ground inside the tomb vault was covered with tree roots, there was no empty space for them to step on, so they could only step onto the roots. However, the further they moved in, the more frightened they felt. These tree roots were like living things. When they stepped on them, the tree roots seemed to hurt or feel uncomfortable. Moreover, when they stood on these roots, it was as if they could clearly feel under the soles of their feet a kind of warmth that only living creatures possessed, and as if it had a pulse, they could also vaguely feel the dong, dong, dong of its heartbeat.

“It’s disgusting.” Specter also raised his eyebrows. Walking on these roots gave him the feeling that he was crawling on some giant creature, and when the roots, vines, and other parts twisted and moved, it felt as if they were tentacles or something similar. He felt a sort of discomfort welling up from the bottom of his heart, as if something hairy was tickling it.

“I don’t see the coffin.” Duan Li was totally uninterested in the disgusting vines and roots. He was only interested in the owner of the god’s tomb, but there was nothing else in sight in this huge place except the huge and disgusting tree, not even other enemies. It seemed that they were the only ones here.

“Let’s go and see that big tree.” Ah Lan pointed to the huge tree in the middle of the tomb vault. Although it was very bright in the tomb, only the roots were emitting light, and somehow, the closer they were to the center, the fewer roots there were. Without the natural lighting, it seemed darker. It could be said that the surrounding area was very bright, but the center of the tomb was very dark.

“The fallen god, whose power can still light up the people around him but cannot save himself.” Duan Li suddenly uttered this sentence, causing the other two to feel baffled. The voice that travelled out from underneath the mask carried hints of an icy-cold smile.

Neither Specter nor Ah Lan cared about the meaning behind his words. They merely approached the huge tree in silence. They seemed to have already understood the relationship between the god and the ghost, but at the same time, they seemed to understand nothing.

There were many statues of monsters and demons in the ghost’s tomb vault, and the coffin of the ghost was placed at the very top of it, which indicated that he was someone with power and had many subordinates and companions. Even after his death, his tomb was full of these statues. Although the ghost’s tomb vault was very dark, there were many altar lamps around the coffin of the ghost, which served to illuminate his surroundings.

But the tomb of god only had a sole tree.

This huge tree seemed to indicate the destructive power of the god. The roots and vines spread around the entire tomb vault, covering every corner. The brighter the surroundings, the darker the central area would be.

“When one is born, they are alone. When one dies, they are alone, too. Is strength the only thing that is eternal?” When these few people came to stand in front of the huge tree trunk, Specter commented as he saw the trunk. Soon, they found that the tomb of god was not without a coffin; instead...... the coffin was the tree.

There was a man ingrown in the huge tree trunk!

It may not have been particularly appropriate to call him ‘ingrown,’ but Specter and the others could not find any other words to describe it because half of this person’s body was trapped in the trunk, as if he had grown up together with this tree. His hands and feet were sealed in the bark, and only his head and chest were exposed.

“Is this ‘god’?” Specter and the others wanted to take a closer look, but something terrifying happened. Specter and the couple found that the man ingrown in the trunk suddenly moved.

This man’s hair was disheveled, and his hair was probably made of tree roots. He did not have any clothes on, and there were only some twisted vines around his chest and neck. His hair was also very long and appeared entirely white. Since this man was trapped in the tree at a height of about three meters above the ground, Ah Lan and the other two could only raise their heads to look at him, but his hair was so long that it almost laid on the ground. One could only imagine the length of his hair.

“Are you also travelers?” Specter and company were stunned when the man in the trunk spoke. He twisted his stiff neck, and his hair shook. Soon, the man raised his head. His long hair seemed to be a living thing; it was like Medusa’s snake hair and sprang around everywhere, revealing the man’s face.

A hoary, old face.

This strange scene made Ah Lan very nervous, but Duan Li and Specter beside him were very calm. Specter even asked, “Are you the ‘god’?”

“God?” The old man in the tree trunk did not seem to understand the meaning of Specter’s words for a time. There was no emotion visible in his turbid eyes. The old man said, “Long ago, they really thought I was a god.”

Specter took a deep breath and told himself to calm down. He quickly went through all the things that he had encountered in the secret chambers in his mind, picked out the key points that he should pay attention to, and calmly continued to say, “Then, god, please tell me the significance of this huge tomb.”