The arrow flew through the air in an arc and struck the chest of the nearest skeleton executioner. The hit provoked an ear-piercing roar from the creature, which immediately charged toward Nie Yan.
The roar of that skeleton executioner alerted all the others behind it. The entire group of skeleton executioners gathered together and rushed toward Nie Yan.
“Damn it, they’re all coming.”
Seeing this terrifying scene, Nie Yan didn’t dare to linger and quickly climbed over a wall and fled at full speed.
Their task was to stall this group of skeleton executioners for half a minute, so things were far from over.
Seeing the skeleton executioners rapidly converging northeastward and growing increasingly distant, with the square now completely empty, Nie Yan, together with the dark gladiator, rushed toward the entrance of the pyramid.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Intense noises erupted from the northeast corner of the square. One tall wall after another collapsed under the destructive force of the skeleton executioners. Occasionally, a spell soared through the air and exploded against the skeletal foes.
It was Big Brother Qi Qi and others who were deliberately attacking the skeleton executioners to draw their attention, risking their safety to hold them back.
It seemed these people were indeed very dedicated. If they truly helped him obtain a fragment of the Shadow of Sogoth, Nie Yan, having promised to reward them with a piece of epic gear, would definitely keep his word. In gaming, one must honor commitments to build a reputation and maintain good connections, which would make future endeavors much easier when seeking assistance.
System: Player Yuan Deng has been killed.
In the party interface, one player’s name faded into darkness. Someone from Big Brother Qi Qi’s team had died. Attracting the attention of these skeleton executioners was extremely dangerous, so losing one or two players was somewhat expected.
The battle on their side was intense. It was uncertain how much longer Big Brother Qi Qi and his team could hold out, so Nie Yan needed to speed up his progress.
Carrying the skeleton mage was too cumbersome. He ordered the skeletons to attack monsters on their own and fend for themselves, then rushed forward at maximum speed with the dark gladiator. They safely crossed the square and entered the pyramid’s entrance.
The entrance to the pyramid wasn’t large. The iron door, covered in ancient carvings, was already rusted and broken.
“I’ve entered the pyramid. You guys should retreat now,” Nie Yan said in the party chat. As soon as he finished speaking, another player’s name dimmed in the interface. Another sacrifice had been made to help him. Fortunately, their gear had been recovered.
“Alright, we’ll leave first,” Big Brother Qi Qi replied. Continuing to hold out any longer might lead to further losses. Upon hearing Nie Yan’s message, they immediately withdrew.
“Thanks. I’ll return your gear later,” Nie Yan said.
“No problem. We’ll go kill some monsters outside before heading back.”
Nie Yan entered the pyramid’s narrow, elongated corridor and proceeded cautiously down the dark stairway, skillfully avoiding traps along the passage based on his experience.
These traps inside were all deadly, and triggering any of them could easily result in death. Nie Yan moved carefully, not daring to be careless in the slightest.
He had encountered all sorts of traps before, so none of them posed a real threat to him.
A chilling breeze blew from deep within the pyramid, sending shivers down his spine.
At the end of the passage, there was no further path forward—only a large puddle of water remained.
The tunnel leading deeper into the pyramid was submerged!
Nie Yan jumped into the water, diving in and swimming forward. The dark gladiator followed closely behind. As an undead creature, it didn’t need to breathe and could stay underwater indefinitely.
This was a sealed waterway with smooth stone walls on all sides. Ahead was pitch-black darkness, making it impossible to see clearly.
Nie Yan swam cautiously, maintaining a moderate pace. If he encountered any monsters, he wanted to have enough time to react.
Suddenly, he sensed something unusual about the left wall and his heart skipped a beat—it was a trap.
Sure enough, two sharp black arrowheads suddenly protruded from the left wall.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Two arrows, trailing bubbles, shot toward Nie Yan.
Nie Yan twisted his body in the water and tilted his head slightly. The arrows narrowly missed his head and chest, barely avoiding a fatal strike to his skull and heart. Fortunately, he reacted quickly.
The two arrows embedded themselves into the stone wall.
After this close call, Nie Yan became even more cautious.
He continued swimming deeper through the narrow underwater passage. As his gaze swept across the right wall, he suddenly noticed something odd. There were strange scratches and markings on the wall, along with a series of inscribed words.
Back when other players had come here, very few would have been able to understand the meaning of these inscriptions. However, Nie Yan immediately recognized them—they were the totem seal of the dragon kin, and the inscription read “Destruction.”
These were dragon runes!
Nie Yan had studied dragon language in the Codex of Coexistence, which allowed him to automatically recognize dragon script.
Legend said that the rulers of Sogoth had hidden their treasures in the ancient city of Sogoth before the Dawn of Destruction. Every corner of Sogoth had been scoured by players, yet no one had ever located the treasures.
“Destruction” was the faith of the dragon kin, symbolizing fire and combustion—the complete annihilation of all things. The sudden appearance of a dragon totem seal on this wall must signify something unusual.
Nie Yan’s chest felt constricted. He had nearly reached his limit for holding his breath underwater. He activated his underwater breathing ability and examined the wall carefully. Other than some fine cracks, the surface was as smooth as a mirror, revealing no clues.
Had he been overthinking things?
Still, Nie Yan couldn’t shake the feeling that the appearance of this dragon totem seal here was no coincidence.
He expanded his search area and reached his hand into a corner beneath the stone wall.
His fingers touched five fingerprints. His heart inexplicably quickened. The impressions were faint—easily overlooked unless one paid close attention.
There might be some hidden mechanism here!
Placing his right hand’s five fingers onto the five impressions, Nie Yan slowly pressed inward with force.
Creak! Creak! About an arm’s length away, a stone slab quietly lifted open.
There was a hidden compartment in this wall, its mechanism extremely well concealed. Unless one searched the wall thoroughly for a long time, it would be impossible to discover this hidden mechanism.
Nie Yan wondered if anyone in a previous life had ever found this spot, though he had never heard of anyone successfully opening this hidden compartment.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage