Chapter 98: The Hidden Room

There was a long corridor, and then it seemed like a hall-like underground palace.

Originally, there should have been many murals in the corridor, but now they all seemed to have fallen off and peeled away. Zuo Zhicheng looked at the various mouse droppings, dust, and debris on the ground and said, “This place should be connected to the outside. Perhaps we can find a way out.”

Liu Changding, however, walked regretfully toward the damaged murals in the corridor. “Ah… what a pity, such a pity. If these murals hadn’t been damaged, we might have been able to learn about the history of Amariken. This legendary country is too mysterious, and there have been no definite clues about it until now.”

“At least we know it exists now,” Zuo Zhicheng said, already holding a torch and walking at the front. He chose to walk ahead because, in his Infrared Vision, he could see that figure hiding in the corner of the corridor entrance.

‘Was it attracted by the sound of the stone slab opening?’ Qingyue Qiu and the others behind him noticed nothing and followed Zuo Zhicheng toward the exit of the corridor.

However, as Zuo Zhicheng approached the exit, the figure became clearer in his Infrared Vision, and a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes.

A figure rushed out, swinging a cleaver at Zuo Zhicheng. But how could he be a match for Zuo Zhicheng? With a wave of his hand, Zuo Zhicheng knocked the cleaver away, then grabbed the man by the neck and pinned him against the wall.

“Who is it?” Tang Yuan and the others gathered around and saw a disheveled, ragged man in front of them.

‘Old Man Song.’ Zuo Zhicheng recognized the man’s appearance and sighed inwardly. ‘I didn’t expect him to be here instead of out fishing. He actually took on this kind of work.’

Zuo Zhicheng understood the whole story at a glance. Old Man Song must have wanted to change jobs, and Qingyue Qiu, trying to keep the secret of the Spiritual Energy Food without using Imperial Court personnel, had likely thought the first expedition would be safe and brought Old Man Song along for logistical work.

Zuo Zhicheng released Old Man Song’s neck. Tang Yuan and Tang Xianghui stepped forward. “Are you from the previous expedition team?”

“How did you survive?”

“Where are the others? Are they still alive?”

At first, the dazed Old Man Song seemed hostile, but as everyone spoke, he suddenly broke down and started crying. After crying for several minutes, he wiped his eyes and said, “They’re dead. All of them. I’ve been alone here for who knows how long.”

“Oh, right,” he said, clutching Tang Yuan’s hand. “Are you here to rescue me? Can we get out now?”

Everyone exchanged glances and told Old Man Song what had happened earlier. Old Man Song slumped to the ground in despair.

“We can’t get out. We’re all finished. We’re all going to die.”

Zuo Zhicheng asked, “First, tell us what happened to you and how you got in here.”

Old Man Song glanced at Zuo Zhicheng. Though he didn’t know Ghost Fist, the white mask was intimidating, and the man had subdued him in an instant. He began to explain, “After we came in, we found this forest. Everyone was very happy at the time…”

According to Old Man Song, the monsters on the mountain walls had also been in a deep sleep initially. But when the first team picked the Psychic Energy Fruit, they woke the monsters. Some were killed, some were captured, and all were hung from the branches.

However, Old Man Song was lucky. He hid in the rotting leaves on the ground and survived. After that, he kept hiding in the forest, relying on the Psychic Energy Fruit to stay alive.

Finally, he discovered a passage to the underground palace through a tree hollow. He had thought it might lead out, but after exploring, he was disappointed to find the entire underground palace was a dead end. The only exit was through the cave openings in the underground space, but after the monsters woke up, they infested those passages. Old Man Song didn’t dare to go out and could only hide in the underground palace, picking Psychic Energy Fruit to eat when the monsters went out to hunt.

Meanwhile, Zuo Zhicheng listened while lifting his mask slightly and began eating the Psychic Energy Fruit he had picked earlier.

The others glanced at him and started asking about the layout of the underground palace.

Even without searching, they could guess there was probably no way out. Zuo Zhicheng was still thinking about the monsters, or Corpse Humans. Their bodies were covered in a layer of Corpse Wax, with vines wrapped around the outside.

But when he saw the giant snake in the underground space, many thoughts came to mind. Apart from the vines, weren’t these Corpse Humans very similar to the strange white corpses on the ship?

‘But Corpse Wax takes at least a year or more to form. The corpses on the ship definitely hadn’t been there that long. What is the connection between the two?’

After taking a bite of the Psychic Energy Fruit, Zuo Zhicheng felt streams of warmth spreading through his body. This long-lost sensation made him incredibly excited.

For Qingyue Qiu and the others, this was a dire situation. But as long as he could survive and there was Spiritual Energy Food, this place was quite good for Zuo Zhicheng. The only trouble was the lack of light, which prevented him from continuing to cultivate Night Sea.

‘It seems the Corpse Humans not only help the Underworld King Snake hunt but also guard the Spiritual Energy Food. I just don’t know how they communicate or what their relationship is.’

The others followed Old Man Song and explored the entire underground palace. As they went, Liu Changding said, “This should be a tool room, and this should be a storage room. What a pity—everything inside has weathered away…”

Liu Changding observed and speculated, “It looks like this place was specifically for growing that Spiritual Energy Food. But for some reason, it was later abandoned. Those monsters must have taken over afterward.”

Tang Xianghui looked at the tree hollow Old Man Song had come through. “It’s because these tree roots broke in that this underground palace connects to the outside. There’s no way out here.”

Everyone’s faces were full of despair, but Qingyue Qiu noticed that Zuo Zhicheng seemed remarkably calm. This was a habit of his, though in his mind, he was already considering the worst-case scenario.

That is, if they couldn’t find a way out, they would have to stay here, strengthen themselves with the Spiritual Energy Food, and then try to leave. But by then, winter might have passed, and if that giant snake woke up, it was hard to say how strong they would need to be to defeat it.

Just then, Liu Changding suddenly let out a surprised sound.

“What is it, Mr. Liu?”

“Something’s not right,” he said, touching a wall in the underground palace hall. “Nine is the ultimate number. Since ancient times, it has symbolized supremacy and perfection. Looking at the corridors here, they are equally spaced and lead to rooms with different functions. There should be a ninth corridor to match the layout of this place.”

Tang Xianghui knocked on the wall. “Could it be a hidden room?”