Chapter 60: Shock
Su Xiao gestured for Alisha to continue. Alisha hesitated for a moment, then walked over to the metal archway.
Alisha leaned close to the metal arch, gently brushed the hair from her ear, tucking a strand behind it, and spoke: "On the door, it says 3, 7, 8, 12, 15."
Su Xiao had already suspected Alisha understood the language used inside the tomb, and now it was confirmed.
"How do you know this language?"
"I saw it in a book. It's a very ancient necromantic language. According to the book, no one has used it for centuries."
Alisha reached out and touched the metal archway.
"Is this the Shia Temple?"
Su Xiao glanced sideways at Alisha. She actually knew this was the Shia Temple.
"Saw it in a book?"
"Yeah."
Alisha's eyes were still a bit red; she was clearly still grieving over Goss's death.
"Which book?"
Su Xiao didn't believe an ordinary book could contain information about the Shia Temple.
"A book in my father's study. I was... um, about ten years old. After that, my father caught me, locked me in a dark room, and didn't give me any food for a whole day. After that, I wasn't allowed into his study anymore."
Alisha scratched her head, her smooth blonde hair a bit messy. This was the most unforgettable event of her childhood.
"How much do you know about the Shia Temple?"
"I only saw a map of this place, and then my father came into the study. But I recognized this archway from an illustration in that book, which is why I thought this was the Shia Temple."
"Draw it for me."
Su Xiao took out paper and a pen and handed them to Alisha.
"What?" Alisha looked confused.
"The map of this place."
"Eh—"
Alisha panicked. She had completely forgotten the map, only vaguely remembering a few circles.
Crouching on the ground, Alisha looked up at Su Xiao, Bubu Wang, and Amu. Among them, Bubu Wang was clearly the friendliest. As for Su Xiao, just standing in front of him made Alisha's legs feel weak. And Amu, she always felt this monster was hungry and might eat her at any moment.
"You haven't forgotten, have you?"
Su Xiao placed his hand on Alisha's shoulder.
"If you have, I'll help you remember."
"H-How could that be?"
Alisha took the paper and pen, turned her back to Su Xiao, and bit her thin lip. Her expression seemed to say: 'What do I do if I've completely forgotten the map? Urgent, life-or-death situation.'
Alisha could only recall this metal archway because she saw the actual object, which triggered her memory.
Alisha wasn't completely naive. She knew how dangerous Su Xiao was, so she had kept quiet. Earlier, Goss had been a buffer, making her presence low. Now that Goss was dead, her presence was growing.
A few minutes later, Alisha handed the paper and pen back to Su Xiao, swallowing nervously.
Su Xiao took the paper and pen. When he saw Alisha's 'masterpiece,' his first reaction was: 'What the hell is this? An abstract map?'
"Are you messing with me?"
Su Xiao's eyelids drooped. Alisha stepped back a few paces, crouched down, and covered her head.
"I really can't remember that map. Don't kill me."
"Oh."
Su Xiao turned to look at the metal archway. Earlier, Alisha had mentioned five numbers. On the edge of the metal archway was a series of small holes. At the bottom of the metal door, on both sides, were patterns of the sun and the moon.
The sun probably represented the starting point, and the moon the endpoint.
Su Xiao extended the iron rod in his hand toward the third hole above the sun pattern. The rod was only a fifth of its original length left, about to be burned away completely.
As the green flame neared the third metal hole, a wisp of it was sucked inside.
Crack.
A crisp sound came from inside the metal door. A lock had opened.
Su Xiao's eyes lit up. He brought the green flame near the seventh metal hole. The flame was sucked in, and with another crack, the second lock inside the door opened.
Then came the eighth and twelfth metal holes. Because the archway was too high, Su Xiao had to climb up the metal door to ignite the eighth hole.
According to Alisha's translation, there should be a 15, but the metal archway only had 14 holes.
"Sun, moon."
Su Xiao stood before the metal door, looking at the patterns on both sides at the bottom. If the sun was the starting point and the moon the endpoint, what came after the moon? The answer was another day, the appearance of the sun.
Su Xiao pondered for a moment, then extended the nearly spent metal rod toward the first metal hole.
Whoosh.
The green flame was sucked into the hole, followed by another crisp click.
Ding, ding, ding, ding...
All the holes on the metal archway lit up with green flames in sequence. The flame pattern at the center of the archway turned emerald green.
Rumble.
The metal door rose, and all the green flames on it extinguished.
When the metal door was fully raised, Su Xiao already had the Dragon-Slaying Flash in hand, the drawn blade pointing diagonally at the ground.
Behind the metal archway was a six or seven-meter-long passage. At the end of the passage was a larger open space, where hundreds of undead soldiers stood in formation, their green eyes fixed on Su Xiao.
Seeing this eerie sight, Alisha's face turned pale with fear. She wanted to step back, but her legs grew weaker.
Su Xiao grabbed Alisha by the back of her collar and tossed her to Amu behind him.
"Amu, be ready to support me at any time."
Su Xiao quickly moved to the outer side of the passage to observe the situation outside.
"Ka noti (unknown language)."
All the undead soldiers roared and charged at Su Xiao. This time, he didn't need Alisha to translate; he knew it meant 'intruder.'
Su Xiao stood still, surveying the situation ahead. There were about five hundred undead soldiers, including over a hundred shield infantry, more than three hundred spearmen, and the rest were undead archers with crossbows.
Compared to these soldiers, a burly undead at the rear was more conspicuous. This undead wore no armor, its upper body bare, with only a leather loincloth below. Its muscles were knotted, and its bald head made it look even more ferocious.
This undead was about five meters tall, holding two iron rods in its hands—no, they were more like two drumsticks, each three meters long.
Su Xiao immediately used the Apostle's Eye to check the burly undead's information.
[Comparing both parties' intelligence attributes... You obtain the following information.]
Name: Shock Angel · Ming
[Tip: Due to unknown energy isolation, only the above information is obtained.]
...
Su Xiao's cheek twitched. Something was wrong. Besides the name, the Apostle's Eye hadn't detected anything. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation.
Shock Angel · Ming didn't charge at Su Xiao. Instead, it stood at a distance, looking at him, and even bared its teeth in a grin.
Although it didn't advance, that didn't mean Shock Angel · Ming was just watching. It raised its drumstick and slammed it down on the air in front of it.
Boom!
The sound of a drum echoed, as if an invisible drum had appeared before Shock Angel · Ming. With that strike, a wave of sound spread outward.