"Do not be alarmed, the main hall is just ahead."
Ge Jun's calm words were a great comfort.
"Let's continue,"
Ge Jun led the way forward.
As the group's eyes scanned their surroundings, they fell upon the stone walls, and their faces turned ashen.
There were cruel murals depicting the boiling of bones and the cooking of flesh.
Some were stained with numerous blood marks, making it hard to imagine what had transpired in this place.
Ge Jun noticed their gazes and, with a slight curl of his lips, explained, "The attendant gods imprisoned in the afterlife are not immediately killed. They must be kept in peak condition before the Pope places them into the furnace for refinement."
"These murals were created by those attendant gods themselves."
Refinement…
Furnace…
So their fate was exactly as depicted in the murals!
The color drained from everyone's faces.
Sothri's fingertips trembled slightly.
His uneasy premonition intensified, bordering on panic.
"We're here."
Ge Jun stopped before a stone door, looking at the group and nodding, "Behind this door lies the truth you seek."
Silence fell upon everyone.
Not a single soul dared to push open the stone door first.
It was as if opening Pandora's Box of fear.
No one wanted to be the first to unveil all the wickedness.
They feared their hearts could not bear it.
"I'll do it."
Amidst the silence, Sothri spoke first.
His face was grim. "Today, I must have an answer, no matter what."
"I personally sent Nai Xue to the temple all those years ago. This truth, I must find."
With that, he took a deep breath, his pale fingertips landing on the stone door—
He did not push.
"It's a mechanism."
Ge Jun frowned. He hadn't expected the Pope to be so cautious, leaving a contingency even at this point.
He had spent years studying the locks outside; was this mechanism newly added?
Damn it!
Ge Jun couldn't believe he was blocked at this final hurdle.
Would they have to return empty-handed today?
As he pondered, Sothri let out a cold laugh and pulled a handgun from his pocket, firing several shots in rapid succession at the center of the stone door.
The speed was such that Ge Jun had no time to stop him. "Don't be reckless!"
He knocked the gun from Sothri's hand. "No one knows the function of this mechanism. If we accidentally trigger a formation, all of us will perish!"
Sothri's eyes were bloodshot. "You don't understand! I must go in today!"
He had dreamed more than once of his Nai Xue's restless spirit wandering in Falling Blossom Valley!
He had dreamed more than once of his Nai Xue screaming for help in the furnace!
But each time he woke, Sothri told himself that dreams were the opposite of reality!
His daughter was living a good life in the temple, well-fed and clothed!
But!
When Ge Jun recounted details that perfectly matched his dreams!
He could no longer sit still!
He was terrified!
He recalled scenes from his nightmares, and his entire being sank to the abyss!
"I'll blow this place up if I have to, just to find the truth!"
No one had expected Sothri's sudden emotional outburst.
Everyone stood frozen at the doorway.
Finally, Chris sighed and stepped out from the group. "Let me take a look."
The others blinked, then understood.
Right!
His Maas family had started by robbing tombs; these things were their specialty.
Ge Jun immediately yielded the front position to him.
Following the ancient rules passed down through his family, Chris carefully examined the stone door, his fingers dancing across the stone wall with astonishing speed.
No one saw how he moved.
After a quarter of an hour.
A glint of joy flashed in Chris's eyes. "Found it."
His hand landed on a section of the stone wall, and he pressed down without hesitation—
Rumble.
The stone door opened.
The heavy sound instantly seized everyone's hearts.
The pungent smell of blood made them cover their noses and mouths. The interior was pitch black, nothing discernible. A chilling wind blew, mixed with the scent of rust, making them want to vomit!
Everyone held their lighting tools forward.
By the dim light, all gasped in unison. Lying on the ground were corpses, or rather, incomplete, skeletal remains.
Two massive furnaces stood in the center of the room, wisps of blood still faintly rising from them.
The ground was a dark, blackish hue.
One could only wonder how much blood had soaked into it to reach such a state.
And hanging from the ceiling were glass orbs—
Each one clearly bore a name.
Within them, a wisp or two of their former spiritual energy lingered.
Even Chen Fan was stunned by the scene.
Although he had already heard a general account from Ge Jun, seeing this before him, his heart sank deeply.
Chris stared coldly at the scene, his heart feeling numb.
He had known long ago that he shouldn't harbor any hope for this so-called temple.
"Scoundrels!"
Behind the temple, which outside enjoyed constant incense and boundless glory, lay the piled corpses of tens of thousands. This was a colossal graveyard!
These white bones were all the finest warriors of their families!
They regarded the temple as a deity to be worshipped, yet their deity had committed such inhuman acts against them!
Everyone's eyes blazed with crimson fury!