Chapter 511: Curse
Chapter 511: Curse
The small expedition team had been walking through the desert all day. Liam took this opportunity to teach Hermione how to ride a horse. Although Hermione had ridden a few times as a child, those experiences were mostly just walking on a flat, smooth riding field. She had never tried riding a horse to travel long distances. So, Liam taught her how to ride while they were on the move.
Fortunately, Hermione's body coordination and flexibility had been significantly enhanced through multiple reinforcements, allowing her to gallop on horseback after just over half an hour. Along the way, to prevent the descendants of the Pharaoh's Guard from intercepting them prematurely, Liam cast a Concealment Spell to hide the team's presence. He also had Rose Crystal summon Gill to use her Memory Erasure ability to remove all traces of their passage.
After walking for an entire afternoon and night, the deep blue sky began to lighten as the stars faded, and the eastern horizon started to glow. Evelyn called out loudly, "We're here now."
As she spoke, a red line appeared on the distant horizon, followed by a golden orb of light rising into the sky. The sun ascended, displaying its power. The temperature around them quickly rose. Before the sun had risen, they could feel cold breezes seeping through their clothes, but now it felt as warm as being in a heated room.
At the same time, the barren desert ahead, which had been empty a moment ago, suddenly became clear, revealing a city built from yellow stones and mud bricks.
"Hamunaptra, this is Hamunaptra! It's a miracle, I swear I've never seen anything so strange in my life", Jonathan exclaimed, venting his excitement.
Liam, meanwhile, used the method recorded in the Purity Dao Techniques to open his Heavenly Eye and gazed at the ruins before him. The scene in his vision changed abruptly; the blinding golden sunlight on the desert was almost completely obscured. A heavy, black mist, like a mountain, enveloped the ruins, with faces occasionally appearing within it.
Hermione also turned to look at Liam, clearly sensing the dark aura emanating from the ruins.
However, this was exactly why Liam had come here. He loosened the reins and squeezed his horse's flanks, and the steed shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. Hermione, seeing this, quickly followed on her own horse.
Once they entered the ruins, Evelyn led them directly to a distant statue. As they approached, Liam realized it was a wolf-headed human figure, likely the ancient Egyptian god Anubis, the Reaper.
Evelyn was in her element here, her knowledge put to full use. She soon found several metal disks, which she identified as Ancient Egyptian Mirrors. These were specialized tools designed to reflect sunlight to illuminate underground areas. Finding these mirrors indicated that there was a way to access the main ruins nearby.
Hermione, sensitive to the Death Aura, quickly located an entrance to the underground and secured the mirror to provide light below.
The four of them used Magic to descend slowly, and Evelyn adjusted the angle of one of the ancient mirrors. Instantly, the dark chamber was illuminated. The room contained several ancient mirrors, cleverly positioned to reflect light and brighten the entire space.
"This is a preparation room, where the ancient Egyptians prepared mummies. The item we're looking for won't be here", Evelyn concluded after a thorough inspection. So, they continued on their journey.
Liam then handed out four safety helmets with headlamps, and they proceeded through a long tunnel to another room.
"This should be the leg of the Reaper statue above", Evelyn observed, noting the stone platform in the corner with intricate carvings. It was clear that two dark, stone legs were resting on the platform.
"The secret compartment should be somewhere at the bottom. According to the description on the stone tablet in the Cairo Museum, the Golden Book of the Sun is hidden beneath the Reaper statue in Hamunaptra..." Evelyn kept examining the stone platform, muttering to herself. Finally, after tapping the entire platform, she excitedly tried to pry open a stone slab with her crowbar.
"Shouldn't archaeology involve using thick gloves and small brushes to carefully excavate things? What is Evelyn doing?" Hermione asked, shocked as she watched stone chips fly from Evelyn's crowbar.
"This is probably a characteristic of archaeology in this era. I remember reading that Schliemann, who excavated Troy, dug a huge trench right through the ancient ruins to reach his desired artifacts as quickly as possible, causing damage and confusion to many of the excavated items", Liam replied, recalling a book he had read. "Of course, we can't let them be so reckless here."
Liam then stepped forward to stop Evelyn, who was futilely trying to pry open the stone slab. "Miss Evelyn, you need to consider that normal people would set up many traps around such treasures, like traps or even worse, Magic Curses. Prying like this could easily trigger them."
"You're right. I got carried away and forgot about that", Evelyn said, dropping her crowbar. "What do you suggest we do? Are you willing to use Magic?"
"No, we can't", Liam shook his head. "We feel that this entire ancient ruin is enveloped in a special Magic Barrier. Using Magic might trigger some undesirable consequences. But we have an alternative plan."
A minute later, under the shocked gazes of Evelyn and her brother, two spider-like steel robots emerged from a blue door. They inserted steel plates into the gaps and began pulling on the steel cables.
The strength of the machines was far beyond human capability. Within minutes, a large black stone slab was lifted, and a high-pressure white liquid spurted out, instantly corroding and breaking the steel cables.
"That's some kind of strong acid", Hermione said, turning to Evelyn and Jonathan. "So I hope you'll listen to us and not act on your own. If you get injured, even with Magic, we might not be able to save you."
"Of course, of course", Evelyn and Jonathan replied, still shaken by the sight of the acid corroding the steel.
After confirming there were no other traps, they retrieved a large box from the newly exposed cavity. Blowing off the dust, Evelyn read the hieroglyphs on the box lid: "Whosoever opens this box shall not escape death. Once opened, the Wraith sealed by sacred law will break free from the Curse and return to the World of the Living. It will kill all who opened the box, taking their organs and blood to revive itself. The Cursed Wraith will become a demon, a scourge upon the World of the Living."
As soon as she finished, an eerie sound echoed through the dimension. Everyone felt as if something had been activated.
"This is just a common scare tactic used in ancient Egyptian tombs, we—", Jonathan tried to calm everyone down, but he suddenly saw Liam and Hermione staring at him with extremely serious expressions. "—This, it can't be real, right?"
"It is real", Liam nodded. "There is an extremely powerful Magic Item inside, along with several sources of Curses. If the box is opened, we believe there is a high probability that the Curses written on the lid will come true."
"What do we do now? From what you're saying, the thing we're looking for is in this box. Do we just go back empty-handed? You are Wizards, after all!" Evelyn seemed agitated.
"Not necessarily", Liam nodded. "We are professionals when it comes to dealing with Wraiths, but we need to make many preparations first."
(End of Chapter)
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