Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 898 - 891: Natural Rift

Chapter 898: Chapter 891: Natural Rift

Luo’er had not calculated how many meters below the ground they were, he just felt it was extremely cold inside, growing more chilling the deeper they went, as if they were entering an icehouse. Despite wearing thick clothing, Luo’er could distinctly feel his pant legs cooling.

The only thing that provided him with warmth was the flickering torch in his hand, which not only offered heat but also served as a warning. It could be said to provide a dual warmth, both physiological and psychological.

Tangmo and the others used lighting devices that were magic crystal flashlights mounted on their shoulders, based on the principle of Rune luminescence. Using a spotlight effect, powered by Magic Crystals, they could provide brightness equivalent to flashlights of the same class, representing one of the localizations of Earth’s technology infused with magic.

The passage they were in was rather spacious. Luo’er noticed that the entire passageway seemed to tilt downward, the incline less than ten degrees, but still a noticeable downward slope.

On either side, the passage had uniformly carved semi-enclosed burial chambers with walls full of densely packed indentations. These holes were about forty centimeters high and sixty to seventy centimeters wide, extending one to two meters into the stone walls.

Luo’er came to a semi-enclosed chamber and carefully examined the dense holes, finding them filled with skeletal remains. The skeletons’ feet pointed outward and heads inward, quietly lying in these cavities.

It appeared that these holes were the tombs of these bodies, likely the remains of Aud Empire soldiers who had perished during the conquest of the Snow Domain. After dying on the battlefield and being hastily buried, the Aud Empire built these tombs and reinterred their bodies here in a unified burial.

Luo’er saw that some of the skeletons were obviously missing parts, likely lost during the reinterment process.

A thousand years had passed, and these skeletons still lay quietly in slumber. Luo’er had no intention to disturb their rest—he was only there to find what he needed.

"Woo..." Upon seeing the skeletons, Fulajie’er let out a sob and then hid behind Luo’er in fear.

"Are you very afraid of these skeletons?" Luo’er asked with concern.

"Mhm!" Fulajie’er nodded earnestly.

"They have been asleep for more than a thousand years, so you should no longer feel their souls, right?" Luo’er asked.

"Mhm," Fulajie’er nodded, then added, "But I’m still scared!"

"It’s okay, just stay behind me," Luo’er said reassuringly.

It was normal for Fulajie’er to fear the skeletons as she once had been a living girl, and it was natural for her to feel fear toward such things, so Luo’er did not intend to lecture her but instead chose to comfort her.

"Damn, how many bodies must be buried here..." Hu Daoke lamented as he looked down the endless passageway and the chambers, shaking his head.

"The Army Grave buries all the Aud Empire soldiers who fell in the Snow Domain. Was the Empire’s loss that great back then?" Tangmo asked Axia.

"Well," Axia pondered for a moment, then responded, "To us Snow Elves, the number of fallen Aud Empire soldiers might be astronomical, but to the Aud Empire, such losses seemed within their capacity to bear."

Axia’s words implied that due to the low fertility rate of the Elf Race, a casualty figure that might be acceptable for the Aud Empire would be astronomical for them.

It also indirectly proved that the reason the Snow Elves surrendered to the Empire probably was because they could not sustain the losses. Even if trading two Aud Empire soldiers for one Snow Elf soldier, it was still a profit for the Empire and a loss for the Snow Elves.

Luo’er, holding his torch, led the way at the front, while the others followed silently. The group walked down the spacious passageway.

Baiyue noticed that the floor of the passage was littered with skeletal fragments, combined with the specially designed sloping passages and the drainage ditches carved on either side, she deduced that the place probably suffered from significant water seepage, otherwise there would be no need for such a design.

After walking forward for about two hundred meters, the group finally reached the end of the passageway. On both sides were the carved semi-enclosed burial chambers with densely packed holes. Under such conditions, someone with claustrophobia might have depleted their SAN points long ago, but the group had grown somewhat numb to it.

The end of the passage revealed a natural underground fissure; clearly, the reason for the incline was to allow seeping water to flow towards this crevice in the Earth.

The fissure’s shape was irregular, with the widest part being around fifty meters across. Once the passage connected to this, the sense of sudden spaciousness arose, as the height of the entire space noticeably increased.

Standing in front of the fissure, one could see a trickle of light from above, indicating there might be a way through to the surface. However, Luo’er estimated that the passage to the surface above was only large enough for a single person to squeeze through.

Upon arriving at the fissure, they heard the howling of the cold wind, a stark contrast from the other end where no air movement could be felt. But here, the flame on Luo’er’s torch began to flicker significantly, proving that there was air circulation in this underground tomb.

Hu Daoke approached the fissure with caution and peered down. The high brightness of the magic crystal flashlight on his shoulder, however, failed to reveal the depths below, no matter what.

He gently kicked a stone at the edge of the fissure into the abyss, and it took quite a while before they heard a splash. This indicated that the crevice was incredibly deep and likely ended in a pool of accumulated water.

"Everyone, be careful. Stick to the edge and don’t get too close to the fissure," Luo’er instructed carefully.

He now finally understood why the tomb was so chilling; it was very likely because of this fissure they were facing.

As the group tried to skirt the edge of the fissure, Luo’er gained a rough understanding of the tomb’s scale with the help of the magic crystal flashlights and Fulajie’er’s reconnaissance.

It seemed that the soldiers’ graves were dug in channels radiating from the fissure as a center, with additional chambers excavated on both sides of these channels. Besides the passage they were in, there were six other passages surrounding the fissure, suggesting that these might be of similar dimensions to their current path.

The ground next to the fissure was quite smooth, with signs of having been leveled out, indicating that the craftsmen back then might have started digging the passages from the entrance they came through, and upon reaching the space with the fissure, they continued to excavate along its perimeter.

"My goodness, six more passages; surely we are not going to wander through each one, are we?" Hu Daoke, standing at a relatively higher position by the fissure, complained as he observed the surrounding channels.

"The ordinary soldiers’ graves are likely of little value; we need to find the general’s burial site," Luo’er mused.

"Lady Axia, which way do you think we should go?" Luo’er turned his head and asked Axia.

"I don’t know," Axia shrugged and honestly replied, "But while the generals of the Aud Empire might have been willing to be buried with their soldiers, a general is still of nobility after all, so the standard of his burial would certainly be superior to that of common soldiers."

"Luo’er, I’ll go look for it," said Fulajie’er, stepping forward with eagerness in the face of Luo’er’s uncertainty.

"Aren’t you afraid of these things?" Luo’er asked hesitantly.

"I’m more afraid of you being disappointed," Fulajie’er admitted shyly.

"Who taught you to talk like that?" Tangmo, who was touched by Fulajie’er’s words, stepped forward and frowned as he questioned.

"None of your business, mean woman!" Fulajie’er stuck out her tongue teasingly and let out a sound, then started to drift around Luo’er.

"I’m not a mean woman!" Tangmo argued.

"Don’t think I don’t know, you’re copying her!" Fulajie’er said confidently.

"Alright, alright, enough arguing. Fula, go and come back quickly," Luo’er quickly interjected to calm the situation.