Translator: Atlas Studios
Editor: Atlas Studios
Could anything be even more surprising than learning of the existence of aliens?
Of course! That would be learning that a certain old tomb raider had found an alien relic in an unknown tomb.
Watching the black metallic plate buzzing and vibrating in front of me, images of various different movies suddenly rushed to my head. A strange story stood out among them.
A powerful warrior from the depths of the universe went through countless violent and tragic battles. Covered with serious injuries, he fell into a world that had not yet become developed. Since there was no way he could return to his hometown, the warrior remained in the earth and became named a divine being among the indigenous people. He led the people of the world to fight against tyranny and dictatorship time and time again.
At last, he led a lonely life alone on this planet. The items he left behind were treated by the people who viewed him with extreme respect as sacred items. Centuries went by; one day, a man named… er, I forgot, but this wretched old man found a forgotten grave. The tip of the iceberg that was this alien warrior’s story was finally exposed. Then, the credits roll…
“Ah Jun?” Qianqian’s voice sounded in my ear, yanking me—who was still in a daydream—back to reality.
“Huh?”
“What are you doing? Why are you in a daze?” Qianqian looked at me, slightly upset as if frustrated by how I always drifted into a daze from time to time. Lin Xue suddenly burst out, “You have not been cursed by the ancient items in here, have you? According to what I know, these mysterious ancient items can cause one to be stuck in a spiritual trance. Why don’t I give you a good check?”
“Er… there’s no need for that. I was just thinking about something… so what’s the matter? We can confirm that Qianqian resonates with this item. What exactly is it?”
Everyone immediately turned to look at Gu Zhengfeng. The old tomb raider let out a dry cough and said, “Actually, I’m not sure either…”
All of us glared at him ferociously.
The old tomb raider quickly shrunk and said, “But I am sure that this thing is useful. Back then, a couple of friends and I went to those remains together. Deep inside a grave there, we found this item. Back then, there was an introduction to this item written on the wall of the grave as well.
“The introduction called this thing a ‘Beacon of the Lost’. Only chosen people could take them away. At the time, I was greedy. I did not listen to my friends when they encouraged me to leave the item behind. Instead, I took it right out of the box.
“As a result, a mechanism was triggered, causing the deaths of a few of my friends in that grave. I could only escape thanks to the guidance of this thing. However, people began to hunt me down; and I ended up on this land…”
After hearing Gu Zhengfeng’s story, I roughly understood the history behind this ‘Ethereal Beacon’. I said, “So you made a rule that only people who could form some kind of connection with this ‘Beacon of the Lost’ would be able to take it away?”
The old man nodded and replied, “That’s right. Actually, from the beginning, I did not believe that anyone would be able to resonate with this item. I only got the special abilities organization to help because I wanted to test it out. I told them to send anyone who wanted to go to those remains for an expedition here.
“In the end, I really met an archaeologist with the surname Xu. What a pity; the man did not want to listen to my persuasion. Instead, he gave me a dressing down. Ai, I—Old Gu—was just trying to the right thing for once…”
Lin Xue tutted with disapproval and said, “If I were you, I would have thrown this thing away a long time ago.”
“If he really threw it away, wouldn’t we be in big trouble?”
Lin Xue tutted again and said, but this time, she did not rebut me like she normally did. Instead, she changed the topic and said, “No matter what, we have gotten a hold of this thing. We can move out soon. Staying here for too long is making me feel like I’m being buried in a grave myself.”
Towards the remains…
“That’s it,” Lin Xue said, stepping out of a special buggy made for deserts.
“Where? Why can’t I see it?” I scanned the surroundings, but apart from a sand dune, I could not see anything else.
Lin Xue led the way and said, “Are you stupid? Why would such mysterious remains be placed in such an obvious position? It’s right below this desert!”
It was underground? Could the people of the past have had the same hobby as Lin Xue and the others? Did they all like building bases underground?
Below the sand dune, we found the entrance of the remains.
There was a passageway about two to three meters high, made out of off-white stones. We stood at the entrance of this passageway, looking in. All we could see were long stone steps leading downwards, slowly being swallowed by the darkness of the passageway. Looking at the passageway made one feel like they were staring at the road that led to hell.
Lin Xue closed her eyes as if trying to focus on sensing her surroundings. Then, she said, “Indeed, this sand dune is still. That is why this entrance has not been covered by sand.”
Before Lin Xue offered this explanation, I already got a fuller and more accurate description from Pandora.
With this entrance as the center, the sand within a-kilometer-radius was all in a strange ‘pseudo-stillness’ mode. It was called ‘pseudo-stillness’ because they were not completely stuck in their original positions. Instead, they could still be moved around by the wind. The only difference was that every once in a while, the sand would be pushed back to their original positions by a mysterious force. Thus, this entrance could remain here for countless years and not be filled by moving sand.
What a strange place.
“Sicaro,”—I spoke to the knight-like uncle through our spiritual connection—”be on your guard. The moment anything happens, protect Qianqian and Lin Xue. Both of them are the weakest in the group.”
At that moment, Lin Xue finished sensing her surroundings. She opened her eyes and said, “It’s safe in front. Let’s go in.”
I felt my shirt being tugged from behind so I turned around and gently comforted, “Don’t be scared, Qianqian. There are six people with special abilities here to protect you.”
I did not know how many years this passageway had existed for. The stone steps beneath our feet already looked beaten down by the years. In many places, chips of the stone would fall off the moment we stepped on it. Then, the broken stones would cause a loud crack to echo into the unending darkness. I held the rough stone wall and depended on the dim light of the blue and white cold light tube to gingerly advance forward. Lin Xue was right in front, leading the way. With her skills, she could sense any potential danger that could appear around us.
“Weird…” Lin Xue suddenly said. “How long have we been walking for?”
“I think it’s been almost an hour,” I replied, unsure. The surrounding darkness and pressure made me feel like we had already been walking in this strange place for a long time.
“More than twenty minutes,” Pandora replied, her calm voice sounding in all of our minds.
“En…” Lin Xue mumbled, “under this oppressive and constrained environment, our concept of time would often be warped. Lili is already blind so she’s not that affected. In other words, we have already been in here for close to thirty minutes…”
“Big Sister, did you find something?” Lin Feng asked.
“Air… we’re already so deep in. The air in this passageway has not thinned nor become musky. In an ancient underground tunnel like this one, this is very exceptional.”
Was this another kind of ‘pseudo-stillness’?
“Although it’s exceptional, it’s still better than not having any air. At the very least, we don’t need to use the respirators that we brought along with us,” Lin Xue said. Then, she sped up, and we followed closely behind her.
I don’t know how much more time passed, but just as we began suspecting that there was no end to the steps of this passageway and that it would lead us straight to the core of the earth, a sliver of light suddenly appeared in front of us.
Once Lin Xue confirmed that there was no threat ahead, we immediately rushed down the last few steps towards the faint light.
“Ah, this is…” When Lin Xue saw the scene in front of her, she exclaimed.
What appeared in front of us was a huge stone hall!
Pandora’s voice suddenly sounded in my head. She was obviously agitated as she said: “This is the graveyard of a Xyrin Warrior!”