Chapter 194 - Statue
"God Damnit!" Zeng Yu kicked a pillar next to him, sending it flying into the wall on the other side of the room.
Jin Wang was standing at the entrance, looking at the bottomless pit that was left where the tombs once used to be.
*Sigh*
"There's nothing we can do. You have other responsibilities now, focus on them. Lead us out, the mission is over," he said with his back towards Zeng Yu.
Zeng Yu looked at Jin Wang in anger, but held back so as not to start a fight, "I know," he mumbled and looked at the remaining seventy people or so.
"Let's go," he shouted, getting everyone's attention.
The coffin room had just collapsed and Hao Xuan along with two Red Legion members, and three from Hyson's group had fallen into the empty space.
About ten others had some injuries here and there, but nothing serious.
They got up and started walking deeper into the tomb through the lone hallway.
There were bones on both sides and every few steps someone would step on one, making crunching sounds echo throughout the hallway.
The hallway twisted and turned without stopping and they kept walking for the next four days, only stopping to catch their breaths and eat.
"My feet hurt, we need to take a break!" the princess grumbled.
Several other people turned to look at her sympathetically as they were in the same conditions as her. They had been walking for the last four days straight, going deeper and deeper into the landmass.
The hallway had ended about a day go, leaving only a large crack in the rock wall which they were walking along.
Zeng Yu stopped and turned around to look at her. Her feet were bleeding and she had dark circles under her eyes. Looking extremely tired and haggard, most of them were in the same condition.
The air was hard to breathe this deep in and a few of them were initially injured as well, so after four days, this wasn't a surprise.
Zeng Yu and Zeng Wu were the only spirit realm warriors here and both of them were at the front so they didn't notice before.
But lesser realmed warriors still needed rest. Their spirits weren't strong enough yet.
"Alright, we'll make camp in an hour," he said to the glaring princess. Hyson wanted to stop her but right now he didn't have the energy needed to quarrel with her.
As if a gift from the heavens themselves, the crack finally led to a structure about twenty minutes later.
"Oh my god, I can finally breathe!" Rong Li took a deep breath, as soon as they exited.
This new structure was a bit different from the tombs they had seen before. There were hundreds of statues all over the place, all of different creatures.
And on one end was a humanoid statue, sitting on a throne with gold markings all over its body. Yes, it looked like a carbon copy of the one Hao Xuan had seen back in the first temple.
The only difference was that there was a giant door right behind the statue in this place. It was half-open if someone looked through, they would see nothing on the other side but a darkness so black that it would shake their very souls.
While the rest of the group was rejoicing, Zeng Yu, Zeng Wu, and Jin Wang were looking at the statue's direction.
"Do you feel it too?" Zeng Wu asked in a light tone.
"Mhm. It's exceptionally cold in there. My divine sense just...vanished as soon as it went inside," Zeng Yu replied with a nod.
Jin Wang stayed silent, only staring at the statue with squinted eyes from the other side of the room. He had seen it before somewhere, but couldn't remember where.
"I don't like this place," he said blandly. The statue gave off a feeling of unease. He felt like it was staring straight at him.
"We have no other choice. There is only one other door here and it's locked from outside. If we try to break it open, the entire structure might come crashing down," Zeng Yu said looking at the direction opposite of the statue. On the other end was a large rock door, shut tightly.
"Still..." Jin Wang continued but Zeng Yu raised his hand, stopping him. He then looked back at all the people a few meters behind them.
"We will make camp here for the night and then try to break open the door tomorrow, rest well."
There were sounds of cheers and sighs of relief coming from each of them.
They quickly made some space on the side of the hall. Some sat down, rubbing their feet, cleaning them, and then applying medicine, while some of the Red Legion members took out massive pots and pans and started cooking up several dishes.
"This is a very bad idea," Jin Wang mumbled while biting his nails. This was a bad habit of his from when he was young. Whenever he felt nervous, he would do this.
Zeng Wu saw him and patted him on the shoulder, "I'll stay guard, don't worry," he said assuringly.
Jin Wang shook his head and walked away mumbling, "I don't think any of us can stop what's coming."
An hour passed by quickly. Everyone was tired, extremely tired, so almost all of them fell asleep as soon as they laid down.
Zeng Yu, Zeng Wu, and Jin Wang had taken the responsibility of taking the first shift. Each of them took a side of the camp. Jin Wang was the closest to the statue.
Not once did he take his eyes off the statue since taking his position. With clenched fists, he stayed on full alert.
Comparatively, the Zeng father and son duo were much more at ease.
As the hours slowly passed by, a stream of white fog crept out of the darkness behind the statue.