1081 The Altar
“Ahem.”
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, Tang Mingyue walked to Fang Heng’s side, coughed lightly, and asked in a low voice, “Fang Heng, what do you say?”
“Eh? What?”
“How about we steal the things from the royal treasury and hide them here? Isn’t it safer than hiding outside?”
“Hmm…”
Fang Heng thought for a while and re-examined the surrounding environment.
“It’s a little difficult. It’s hidden enough, but the nearby cave-dwelling beasts will always be a hidden danger. We need to find a way to deal with them.”
“Yes, yes, it’s best to pull them into the team…Do you think you can bribe them with some money?”
While Tang Mingyue and Fang Heng were slacking off and discussing, the players had gathered some information in the temporary camp of the cave-dwelling beasts in the cave.
“Everyone, come and take a look.”
Mo Jiawei found a piece of animal skin in an old box at the back of the campsite and showed the lines on the animal skin to everyone. “Look, doesn’t this look like a map?”
“A map?!”
It really was!
In addition to the map-like patterns on the animal skin, there were also some crooked hieroglyphics.
Argyll’s eyes lit up, and he pushed the crowd aside to check the animal’s skin for a moment. With an excited expression, he nodded and confirmed, “That’s right, it’s a map! You have found the map of this area!”
Wei Tao asked, “Can you find the stronghold of the cave-dwelling beasts through the map?”
“Yes, this marked location has been circled. It should be an extremely important place for cave-dwelling beasts. The text next to it says that it is the ‘altar’ of the cave-dwelling beasts. You can definitely find their gathering place there.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the game prompt appeared on the players ‘retinas again.
[Hint: The player has completed the current stage of the trial mission-exploration of the catacombs. You will be awarded an extra hour of game time.]
[Hint: You have triggered the next stage of the trial mission-the ‘altar’ on the map.]
Mission title: Altar on the map.
Mission difficulty: D
Mission description: Please protect Argyll from death and follow the map to find the special ‘altar’.
Mission reward: Additional trial game time.
Time remaining: 50 minutes. (If the mission is not completed before the remaining time is up, the trial will end and you will enter the evaluation stage.)
The players looked at each other.
The difficulty of the mission was even lower than the previous search.
But…
Fang Heng had a strange feeling.
He had a feeling that the game was deliberately guiding them in a certain direction.
It was very likely a trap.
Helplessly, in the trial game, even if he knew it was a trap, he could only brace himself and move forward.
Wei Tao had the same feeling. He carefully read the game prompt three times, then shifted his gaze to Argyll again and confirmed with him, “Are there any other hints on the map?”
“Ah?” Argyll looked down at the map again and shook his head. “There’s nothing else.”
If it was any other time, Wei Tao might still seek stability and continue to explore before taking action.
However, the time given for the mission was extremely limited. There was no time for him to seek stability.
This was also one of the difficulties of the trial game.
“Alright, let’s go take a look at the ‘altar’.”
…..
Following the map, the party advanced toward the ‘altar’.
At some point in time, the atmosphere within the team had become heavy, as if it was shrouded in a layer of dark clouds.
Along the way, Fang Heng had a feeling that he was being spied on.
Fang Heng was not the only one who felt it. The others also felt it.
It was the cave-dwelling beasts.
In the dark, there were countless eyes watching their every move.
Halfway through, Wei Tao also tried to come into contact with the cave-dwelling beasts in the dark and even attacked them.
But they were all ineffective.
They didn’t show up, only hiding in the dark and watching from afar.
“It’s just in front.”
Following the location marked on the map, they left the dense stone forest area and saw the building in front of them. Everyone could not help but be shocked.
The temple!
They actually saw a temple built underground!
Argyll was the first to step forward, his eyes full of disbelief. He muttered to himself in a low voice, “It’s impossible for the construction level of the cave-dwelling beast to be so high…”
Fang Heng followed him and stood in front of the temple, carefully looking at the whole temple.
...
Huge black stone pillars stood outside the temple. The stone pillars were carved with various strange beasts that lived in the catacomb’s world.
Looking deeper into the temple, the walls and stone pillars were made of a kind of black stone brick crystal. Each crystal brick was carved with delicate patterns, emitting a dark luster.
The silence in the surroundings made people feel even more strange.
“Shasha…”
Suddenly, a soft sound came from the temple.
Everyone looked forward in unison.
A cave-dwelling beast holding a bone spear walked out of the palace.
It wore a bone necklace and strange ornaments on its neck, which were obviously different from the cave-dwelling beast they had seen before.
It looked like an elite creature.
The cave-dwelling beast stood at the entrance of the temple, facing the crowd, and made a gurgling sound from its mouth.
Fang Heng looked at Argyll and asked, “What is it talking about?”
...
Argyll was a little scared and whispered, “It seems to be welcoming us into the temple. It wants us to follow it in to complete the prayer.”
Everyone looked at each other.
Prayer?
Fang Heng felt more and more uneasy. He couldn’t help but take another look at the game prompt.
A small number of zombies had committed suicide when they returned to the Empire’s main city, and there were still 47 minutes left before they could complete their rebirth.
Tang Mingyue also stared at the temple in front of them and said in a low voice, “Everyone, this palace gives me a very bad feeling. It’s very dangerous.”
Mo Jiawei used his detection talent to check on the cave-dwelling beast and said, “It’s an elite creature, the priest of the cave-dwelling beasts.”
“Yes.”
Wei Tao nodded and said, “Don’t rush in. Try to communicate with him.”
As he spoke, Wei Tao looked at Argyll and said, “Tell him that we have no ill intentions. We want to talk to their leader.”
“By the way, don’t tell him about Tang Mingyue. Just say that we’re sent by the Empire. We’re here with good intentions, representing the human empire to talk to their leader.”
Argyll nodded and took another half-step forward, trying to communicate with the cave-dwelling beast.
The two of them exchanged a few words in the air, and Argyll retreated again.
“What do you mean?”
“He is very insistent. Those who come to the altar must go through a prayer ritual. As for meeting the leader, we can discuss it later.”
As he said that, the game notification appeared in everyone’s vision again.
[Hint: The player has completed the stage of the mission and has received an extra hour of trial time, triggering the next stage-the unknown prayer.]
Mission title: The unknown prayer.
Mission difficulty: A
Mission description: Please follow the priest of the cave-dwelling beasts in the catacombs to complete the prayer.
Mission reward: Additional trial time.
Time remaining: 15 minutes. (If the mission is not completed before the remaining time is up, the trial will end and you will enter the evaluation stage.)