Chapter 476: The Song of the Thornbird

Nian Yan picked up the robe. It was entirely black, with an exquisite golden thornbird pattern woven on the collar. The robe was extremely spacious, like a cloak, large enough to completely conceal Nian Yan’s body.

Upon seeing the thornbird emblem, Nian Yan raised his eyebrows. The thornbird pattern was exceptionally distinctive, with a heritage dating back to the Dark Ages, steeped in profound historical significance. At that time, it was adopted by eight notorious thieves collectively known as the Thornbird Organization. Their mission was to assassinate dragon nobles and liberate enslaved humans. They successfully eliminated hundreds of dragon nobles. In their final operation, they managed to kill Duke Courtney of the Dragon Clan, but were utterly annihilated, marking that event as their last heroic stand.

The thornbird is a small, ugly bird often despised by people. It sings only once in its lifetime. From the moment it leaves the nest, it tirelessly searches for a thorn tree. When it finally finds one, it impales its tiny body upon the longest, sharpest thorn, singing a song both bloody and tearful. This sorrowful yet stirring melody renders all other sounds in the world pale by comparison. At the song’s end, the thornbird exhausts itself and dies, sacrificing its life for that one perfect song.

Its meaning is that beauty can only be created through tragic and painful sacrifice.

Those eight thieves, like the thornbird, used their brilliant lives to create an eternal legend, forever etched in the memories of countless people.

There is a legend about the thornbird, which sings only once in its lifetime.

Its song is more beautiful and enchanting than any other in the world.

From the moment it leaves the nest, it searches tirelessly for a thorn tree until it finds one.

然后，它将自己钉在最长的、最锋利的荆棘上，在野生的枝条间倾心歌唱。

In its dying moments, it transcends its pain, and its song outshines even the skylark and nightingale.

It is a perfect song, ending only with its death.

Yet, the entire world listens in silence, and even God smiles in the heavens.

“The most beautiful things can only be obtained through the deepest pain and sacrifice.” (Excerpt from “The Thorn Birds”)

Those eight thieves became a profound sorrow in the hearts of countless people. After them, no one ever used the thornbird pattern again. Yet, tales connected to this emblem were passed down through generations, and wandering minstrels composed ballads of their deeds, carrying their legend far and wide.

System: You discovered the Dusty Robe of the Shadow Walker. You gently wipe off the dust, letting out a sigh. May the departed souls rest in peace. Once painful memories have been lost in the wilderness of time. Let us wait for the dawn after the night. Following the footsteps of heroes, let the thornbird sing beautifully…

Reading the last sentence, Nian Yan felt that this system message seemed incomplete. Since it didn’t trigger a task, he decided to let it go and checked the robe’s attributes.

Robe of the Shadow Walker (Bronze Level): Special Item.

Item Description: Darkness is forgotten by history; it is the inheritance of brilliance.

Attribute Description: When worn, it hides all information about the user, making them undetectable and allowing their name to remain hidden when attacking other players. It comes with the skill “Dancer of Darkness,” which increases stealth by 300%, making the user undetectable, though they can still be sensed. Using this skill interrupts it if the user collides with or attacks an enemy. The skill lasts for ten minutes and has a cooldown of three hours.

The attributes of the Robe of the Shadow Walker were not particularly strong, but they were very practical. Hiding information and concealing one’s name could help Nian Yan avoid unnecessary trouble. The “Dancer of Darkness” skill was also very useful for completing tasks or exploring.

Nian Yan put on the Robe of the Shadow Walker. Its design resembled a cloak, allowing it to be worn over leather armor without hindering movement.

This might become Nian Yan’s future outfit. He would use this Robe of the Shadow Walker to completely evade anyone tracking him.

Nian Yan began exploring the grand hall, searching behind numerous statues to find out how the others had triggered the mechanisms. Behind a statue of a monstrous beast, he searched inch by inch. After five or six minutes, he discovered a peculiar groove in a hidden corner. Curious, he reached out and touched it. The hall violently trembled, and stone powder continuously flaked off the statue, drifting down like dust.

This was the spot!

This groove was extremely well hidden. Without a thorough search, it would be difficult to find. If someone hadn’t accidentally triggered the mechanism here, Nian Yan would never have known that these standing statues were actually monsters.

The beast statue came back to life. Nian Yan immediately commanded four demonic furnace blacksmiths to surround it, while the golden earth dragon also began attacking. After a few minutes, the beast was defeated and fell to the ground. Nian Yan picked up a gemstone.

He triggered and cleared each statue one by one.

As time passed, after more than two hours, most of the statues in the grand hall had been destroyed, leaving it very spacious. On the floor, numerous lines formed a massive geometric pattern, seemingly some sort of magic array.

While fighting monsters, Nian Yan studied this pattern. However, he knew little about magic arrays and couldn’t understand its meaning. He copied the entire array onto a blueprint and contacted Guo Huai via voice chat.

“Help me figure out what this magic array is for,” Nian Yan said, sending the copied blueprint to Guo Huai.

“I’ll immediately contact the enchanters in the guild,” Guo Huai replied. After receiving Nian Yan’s magic array blueprint, he quickly started contacting the enchanters in the guild, as Nian Yan was currently on a task and understanding the array would help him.

The enchanters of the Niuren Tribe received the array blueprint from Guo Huai and immediately began studying it. They discovered that the array contained very profound mathematical principles. At least six senior enchanters needed twenty minutes of calculations to decipher it.

Where did Nian Yan get such an array blueprint from?!

The mathematical principles on the array gave the enchanters a headache, but they dared not delay since orders had been given. They quickly began their calculations.

Meanwhile, Nian Yan continued clearing the remaining statue creatures. After a few minutes, all the monsters were eliminated, leaving only the tall enslaved miner Yigelin statue at the front of the hall, which he dared not touch lightly.

If the enslaved miner Yigelin were to revive, Nian Yan would be in grave danger, as it was far beyond his capability to defeat.

After waiting in the hall for nearly twenty minutes, Guo Huai connected with Nian Yan via voice chat.

“Did you calculate it?” Nian Yan asked. He was curious why a seemingly ordinary magic array required calculations. However, he was a complete novice when it came to magic arrays, having had little exposure to them in his previous life, knowing only a few basic directions. In his memory, when he took equipment for enchanting, the enchanter simply drew an array on it. It seemed that magic arrays were far more complex than he had imagined.

“The enchanters said: draw a straight line from the star domain as the starting point to the star departure position as the endpoint, then draw a semicircle with the moon feather position as the center…” Guo Huai relayed the message from the enchanters to Nian Yan word for word.

“Did the enchanters say anything else?” Nian Yan asked in confusion. What did these words mean?

“The enchanters said it’s an array lock. Following their method will unlock it,” Guo Huai replied.

Hearing Guo Huai’s words, Nian Yan pondered for a moment before deciding to follow the enchanters’ instructions to see if he could unlock the magic array.

“From the star domain as the starting point to the star departure position as the endpoint, draw a straight line…” Nian Yan followed the path described by the enchanters, walking forward. A gray-white line appeared on the ground where he passed.

The line continued, forming a closed geometric shape in the vast hall, looking somewhat strange. Then, these white lines emitted dazzling light, filling the entire hall with a brilliant white glow.

At this moment, a thick book floated up from the center of the magic array. Beside it, a small golden key, about the size of a palm, floated quietly. It was exquisitely crafted, covered with intricate patterns.

Seeing this key, Nian Yan immediately thought of the treasury key to the Golden City!

This must be the key to open the treasury!

Nian Yan walked toward the two items and reached out to touch them. The light from the two objects immediately dimmed, and they fell down.

Nian Yan caught them with his hand and looked at the key.

Treasury Key: Quest Item.

A system prompt appeared, and Nian Yan looked at it.

Quest Progress: Use this treasury key to open Egelin’s treasure vault and find the Abak Destroyer Cloak.

Nian Yan had already acquired the Abak Sealed Hand and the Abak Bloody Dagger; this Destroyer Cloak would be the third. The entrance to Eglin’s treasure vault was hidden behind Eglin’s statue, and with the key, he could unlock it!

As for the other book, it was entirely dark gray, with a thornbird pattern on its cover. The title of the book was written in ancient common language: *The Song of the Thornbird*.

“System: You discovered an ancient book, its pages slightly damaged. Opening the first page, you read a sentence: The most beautiful things can only be obtained through profound pain and sacrifice. Hearing their story, you let out a long sigh and slowly close the book.”

This book told the story of the eight thieves. It was likely a quest item, requiring Nian Yan to uncover quest clues from its content. However, he didn’t have time now, so Nian Yan put the book away in his backpack.