438: Chapter 438 Holy Realm Chapter 4

The one-eyed, bearded man looked excited. He reached out to brush aside the vines and touched the smooth, flowing patterns. "A magic circle, it really is a magic circle."

"Boss, how do we open this thing?" One of his underlings stared at the magic circle, feeling equally clueless.

The one-eyed, bearded man drew the longsword from his back. The blade was a palm-width wide and as thick as a finger. Never mind the cold, gleaming edge; even without it, being struck by such a weapon would break bones and snap tendons.

He slammed it down violently against the large stone. A radiance rippled across the surface, and when the heavy sword landed, it didn't even leave a white mark.

The other four men's expressions changed.

"Is—is this magic! If this were an ordinary stone, Boss, a single strike like that would have shattered a huge chunk. But on this thing, it didn't even leave a white mark!"

"How are we supposed to open it?"

"As expected."

The one-eyed, bearded man touched the magic circle, his expression flickering. "The reason this large stone is so hard is entirely because of this magic circle. As long as we destroy the magic circle, it will naturally be easy to open."

"But we can't destroy it either."

Hidden in the bushes behind them, the three youngsters were full of shock.

"Boss, is this magic? That big guy swung such a huge sword, and he couldn't even leave a mark on it!" Xia'er was stunned; his worldview had received a massive shock.

Mars turned pale with fright. "Good heavens, if just a door is this formidable, what must it be like inside?"

Gu Yuan's eyes lit up. "It's fine. We'll just follow behind them. Even if something happens, they'll be the ones to run into trouble first. Just make sure to stay hidden."

Xia'er said confidently, "Don't worry, Boss. We didn't spend five years as thieves for nothing!"

Up ahead.

The one-eyed, bearded man took a bottle out from his bosom.

The few underlings around him were curious.

"Boss, what is this? Can this little bottle really destroy the magic circle?"

"Heh, don't underestimate what's inside this little bottle. I got this from Old Poison Ghost. You know about the Green Frogmen, that rare monster found in the Rotten Swamp, right?"

The expressions of the others changed.

"Boss, are you saying this is the solution spat out by Green Frogmen that can corrode even iron swords!"

"Mm. Most importantly, these Green Frogmen are also magical creatures. Magic, naturally, must be countered with magic."

The one-eyed, bearded man carefully opened the bottle.

Inside was a sickly green, viscous solution. As he poured it onto the stone wall, the magic circle was instantly corroded, emitting white smoke.

The magic circle, which had been flowing with light, seemed like a snake whose breath had been cut off. The radiance began to dim rapidly, eventually turning into plain, unremarkable patterns that looked like ordinary carvings.

"It worked! Boss! It worked!"

"We succeeded! Boss, you're still the best. To think you could even break a mage's magic circle!"

The one-eyed, bearded man smiled. "It's just thanks to a good item. You all step back; I'm going to blast this stone door open."

There was still a small amount of venom left in the bottle. This was monster venom, incredibly precious. Just this one bottle had cost him five gold coins, so he naturally couldn't just throw it away.

The other two hurriedly moved away. They were well aware of their boss's innate monstrous strength; it was comparable even to that of a tiger or bear.

The one-eyed, bearded man took a deep breath and swung his heavy sword again. This time, the stone door exploded open, as if rammed by a rampaging wild boar.

An entrance, the height of a man, appeared.

Inside the entrance, it wasn't pitch black. On the contrary, the corridor inside was neatly constructed and decorated with many patterns and magical beasts.

Stone lamps were still flickering with a pale yellow light, and they seemed to have small magic circles on them.

"Boss, this doesn't look like a tomb, does it? How are these lamps still lit? The mage inside couldn't still be alive, could he!"

The one-eyed, bearded man seemed to have some knowledge. He examined the area inch by inch, his fingers brushing against the wall and coming away covered in thick dust. "With dust this thick, it certainly hasn't been inhabited for a long time. As for why it looks like a living space, when I was young, I traveled outside and heard that most mages, in their old age, like to live in deep mountains and old forests. Perhaps…"

"This isn't a tomb in the true sense; it's just the place where an old mage lived. Of course, it could also be considered a tomb, after all, he might really have died inside."

The four men around him looked dazed.

"So that's how it is. No wonder it looks like someone lived here. But Boss, those lamps can still light up—they aren't magical artifacts, are they!"

"What are you thinking? Magical artifacts aren't so easy to come by. These lamps can at most be considered magical items; other than being able to emit light without lamp oil, they have no other use and aren't worth much. Let's go, let's go inside and take a look. Since this is a place where an old mage lived out his later years, the treasures hidden here will definitely be more than any tomb!"

The one-eyed, bearded man's blood was boiling. When he was young, he considered himself extraordinary, born with the strength of a bear or tiger. He wanted to travel the outside world to find the legendary knights and mages. Unfortunately, after more than a decade out there, he hadn't encountered a single knight or mage; instead, he had encountered quite a few magical creatures and beasts.

In the end, he had no choice but to return.

He hadn't expected that now, at over forty years old, he would actually have such an opportunity.

He gripped his heavy sword and cautiously headed inside.

The other four men followed as well.

The corridor was very long, and it seemed to lead downwards, requiring them to constantly turn corners and take stairs to descend.

After the one-eyed, bearded man and his group turned a corner, Gu Yuan and the other two arrived at the entrance.

They stared wide-eyed in amazement at the inside.

"Those lamps can actually light up without oil!"

"It's too amazing. Is this magic? If we could learn it, we'd definitely save a lot of money on lamp oil in the future," Mars said.

"Let's go, we need to follow them carefully."

After turning seven times and going down seven flights of stairs, the one-eyed, bearded man began to frown.

"Something's not right."

"What's wrong, Boss?"

"How many flights of stairs have we gone down, and how many corridors have we turned into now?"

"We've gone down seven flights of stairs and turned seven corridors. I've been counting the whole time."

"Seven turns, plus the one at the entrance, makes eight corridors. Each one is about fifty meters, so eight would be four hundred meters. Tell me, who would build such a long path to their home? Isn't that just making things difficult for themselves?"

"Well, maybe mages are all like that?"

The one-eyed, bearded man shook his head, staring at his surroundings while using his sword to carve a mark into the wall. "Let's go, we keep moving!"

Meanwhile, the three youngsters behind them had noticed this even earlier.

Because after following them to a corner, they discovered that the people they were tracking had vanished. They sped up and ran to the next staircase, only to find no one there either.

Gu Yuan knew there was a problem here, because those people couldn't have moved that fast; they must have been moving very cautiously.

After hearing Gu Yuan's analysis, Mars was also scared. "Boss, what do we do now?"

Gu Yuan was also just a country boy who grew up in a small village; what could he possibly think of? Yet, he still forced himself to calm down and began to observe his surroundings.

Murals, strange patterns, magic lamps—there was nothing else.

Gu Yuan noticed the murals of magical beasts and wanted to find something; he couldn't just get trapped here and die!

"Boss, what are you staring at these paintings for?" Mars was pacing around anxiously.

Although Xia'er was also anxious, he didn't disturb his boss; he knew his boss always had the best ideas.

Suddenly, Gu Yuan felt a wave of exhaustion hit his head. He didn't know what was happening, but this made him realize that those paintings of magical beasts definitely had issues! He had only looked at them a few times; how could he possibly feel so exhausted?

Gu Yuan realized the problem—perhaps this was the way out. So, he forced himself to endure and kept staring at the magical beasts on the murals.

Suddenly, the eye of one of the magical beasts seemed to come alive. Gu Yuan felt a chill run through his entire body; this eerie scene made his scalp tingle.

Three minutes passed, and that eye shifted away from him and landed on a magic lamp.

A lamp? Why are these paintings looking at the lamp?

Gu Yuan tore his gaze away from the painting. Only then did he notice that Xia'er and Mars had been screaming frantically at him, and he himself was drenched in sweat, standing there in a daze.

"Boss! Boss, don't scare me!"

"Boss, what's wrong with you!"

"Boss, don't die! Wuwuwu!"