Chapter 225 - 162: Underground Altar
They entered the temple.
Inspector Fang made a beeline for the main hall at the very back and led the group inside.
"What you are about to see and hear, you had best take to your graves. If so much as a single word gets out..."
Inspector Fang walked to the statue in the center of the hall, then turned and swept his gaze across the ten Military Officers behind him.
His sinister voice rang out again, "If anyone lets this leak... heheh... you’d better watch your head. You might just go to sleep one night and never wake up."
After speaking, he paid no more mind to the Military Officers, whose faces had turned grim. Instead, he turned back to the statue and began searching for something on its surface.
A short while later, a CREAKING sound echoed through the hall.
Then, the statue, which stood over ten feet tall, slowly moved aside, revealing a deep, dark cavern in just a moment.
The moment the cavern was exposed, a bone-chilling coldness washed over everyone.
’This feeling... Why... why is it so much like being deep in the mountains?’
Fang Yue’s expression grew uncertain and alarmed as he stared at the entrance to the underground cavern.
This was Xiahe County Town. The nearest mountain range was over thirty miles away, and the "boundary" was more than one hundred and fifty miles from here.
’How could I be feeling that familiar, chilling sensation here?!’
’Could it be that, deep beneath Xiahe County Town, there’s a place just like the deep mountains?’
The other Military Officers also looked uneasy. It was clear they had realized that whatever lay within this cavern was far from simple.
"Alright, everyone, follow me."
Inspector Fang took the lead, being the first to enter the cavern beneath the statue.
Fang Yue and the others exchanged glances before they had no choice but to follow him down.
As they descended the stairs, darkness immediately enveloped them.
After a good while, a light appeared ahead.
Torches were lit, illuminating the surroundings.
This was a deep, downward-sloping cavern, showing clear signs of being man-made. The farther down they went, the more intense the chilling sensation became.
The tunnel sloped downward into the deep darkness. They walked for about fifteen minutes, covering several miles, yet they still hadn’t reached the end.
To think this underground cavern ran so deep.
Moreover, as they went deeper, the chilling sensation intensified. They had to circulate their Qi and blood to withstand it; otherwise, even a Martial Artist wouldn’t be able to bear it.
A rotten stench also wafted up constantly, a nauseating smell that made one want to retch.
Just then, Fang Yue noticed that the flame on the torch in Inspector Fang’s hand up ahead was about to go out.
"What in the world is at the end of this underground cavern?"
one of the Military Officers asked, unable to hold back any longer.
"Don’t be anxious. You will know soon enough."
With that, the group continued their descent.
After descending for another seventy feet or so, the passage suddenly opened up, revealing an immense space before them.
Within this enormous cavern, corpses of all kinds were piled up like mountains.
Weapons were scattered among the bodies.
An astonishingly malevolent aura still emanated from the scene, even after what must have been countless years. Despite all of them being Martial Artists who had achieved at least Great Success in Marrow Transformation, they couldn’t help but shudder, their faces turning deathly pale.
"What is this?"
Just then, a Military Officer stepped on a skeleton. He looked down and realized it wasn’t human at all. The skeleton’s limbs were thick and long, its arms nearly twice the length of its legs. That might have been explained away as a deformity.
But the skeleton clearly had a pair of wings on its back.
’How could that possibly be human?’
At that moment, the others noticed this as well.
Fang Yue’s expression, too, turned grave. He subconsciously scanned his surroundings, and this time, he truly noticed the differences.
Among the mountain of corpses, there were indeed non-human skeletons scattered here and there.
They were mixed in with the rest, and everyone had been so stunned by the sheer scale of the underground space that they hadn’t noticed at first.
Now that their focus had returned, the anomalies were easy to spot.
"Those are demons. In ancient times, the Demon Race existed in the mortal realm. It was an era when countless races vied for supremacy. Our ancestors went through innumerable hardships to drive out and seal these Alien Races. It’s unknown how many years have passed since then."
Inspector Fang said in a low voice, his eyes surveying the cavern.
The Demon Race.
The moment they heard those two words, Fang Yue and the other Military Officers all went stiff, their expressions turning grim.
In their experience, they had never heard of a Demon Race existing in the world. Demon Fiends and monsters were things that only existed in plays and stories.
’And yet, the Demon Race is real?’
This revelation left everyone utterly astonished.
But soon, they calmed down.
After all, judging by Inspector Fang’s words, the Demon Race had clearly been defeated long ago. Otherwise, how could there not even be rumors about them in the present day? But the shadow of doubt in Fang Yue’s heart didn’t lift. Instead, it grew heavier.
’If the Demon Race vanished long ago, then why is the Inspector demanding we keep this a secret?’
’Not to mention, the Rebel Army is attacking the city right now. At such a critical moment, he pulled the ten of us—all Martial Artists who have at least reached Great Success in Marrow Transformation—down into this cavern.’