Chapter 268: Underground Tomb

Outside the Market District Police Headquarters, Lu Mian, who had made a simple disguise using "Spectator's Glasses," boarded the carriage painted with fleur-de-lis.

Two ordinary police officers in black uniforms sat side by side, with three dark ash boxes placed in front of their feet, on which the names of the deceased were written with ink that flickered with fluorescence.

After Lu Mian sat opposite, the carriage belonging to the Police Headquarters drove slowly, and the older police officer asked with curiosity:

"What is your relationship with them? Why send them off specially?"

He remembered that among the three deceased, two had no relatives or friends, and one, although still having many non-direct relatives alive, was particularly afraid as soon as he heard the name Flamant. Not only were they unwilling to come to claim the ashes and belongings, but even admitting that there was a blood or in-law relationship was very reluctant.

Lu Mian answered in a flat tone:

"I am their landlord."

"Just a landlord?" The older police officer clearly didn't believe it.

"Officer, landlords are also people, and they will have feelings!" Lu Mian responded amusingly, "Whether I drank with them a few times or chatted often, helping them send the ashes to the underground tomb is not a troublesome thing."

The younger police officer looked out the window, posing a posture of not wanting to chat, while the older police officer had a very self-familiar temperament:

"You are indeed as young as you look. Since you are doing hotel or apartment business in the Market District, you must remember that you cannot have any feelings for tenants. Otherwise, you will either be deceived or heartbroken. Wait until you come a few more times, and you will never have enthusiasm for others again."

After Lu Mian perfunctorily responded for a few sentences, the police officer asked:

"Flamant still has belongings with us. His relatives are unwilling to claim them. Do you want to take them? If not, we will handle them ourselves."

"Wait until I come back from the underground tomb, I will go and see." Lu Mian didn't care much about this matter.

On the way from the Market District to Purgatory Square in the Observatory District, the older police officer had been finding people to chat with, either pulling Lu Mian to communicate or trying to disturb his colleagues, without stopping for a moment.

Finally arriving at the destination, after holding Ruhl's ash box and getting off the carriage, even with Lu Mian's talkativeness, he felt that his ears had finally got a rest.

The tomb administrator responsible for receiving them was the one Lu Mian had met before:

Thirty-something, medium build, brown hair slightly curled, beard thick, the corners of his eyes showing a slightly upturned state, wearing yellow pants, a white shirt, and a blue vest.

"Kendall, why is it you again?" The older police officer greeted with a smile.

Kendall held the calcium carbide lamp that hadn't been lit yet and responded with a smile:

"I heard you were coming, so I specifically pushed other arrangements and waited here for you."

This tomb administrator said while looking at Lu Mian twice, emphasizing:

"Didn't forget to prepare white candles, right?"

"I won't forget this even if I forget other things!" Robaire, who was holding Flamant's ash box, took out three white candles from his pocket with difficulty and threw one to his colleague and Lu Mian respectively.

Seeing that they were ready, Kendall lit the calcium carbide lamp, turned around, and guided them to walk little by little into the deep darkness along the stone stairs with 138 layers.

On the way, they passed the heavy wooden door engraved with two major holy emblems and passed the quiet corridor where even breathing sounds could be heard.

For Lu Mian, such a dark environment was not unfamiliar, but the young police officer was a bit nervous and hugged Mrs. Michel's ash box tightly to seek more sense of security.

After passing through the spacious avenue with gas street lamps, the four arrived at the entrance of the underground tomb.

That giant stone door hole, naturally formed and artificially modified, stood quietly in the dim yellow light. On both sides were a large number of skulls, white bone arms, sunflowers, and steam element reliefs, and behind it was the thick darkness that light seemed unable to penetrate.

On its lintel, two inscriptions were written in Intis:

"Stop!

"Ahead is the Empire of Death!"

Even though it wasn't the first time seeing this scene, Lu Mian still felt a solemn and heavy feeling.

Unlike the curiosity and doubt in the past, the current him could truly feel the weight of these warnings and this environment:

A large amount of danger sufficient to destroy the entire city and even the entire Intis is buried under Trier, including but not limited to that Trier in the Fourth Epoch, the "Shadow Tree," and invisible flames. And the underground tomb, which is also located here, is likely not a harmless place!

According to the saying of Osta Trull, this "Secret Prayer," tourists holding lit white candles entering the underground tomb is very much like a ritual, a ritual seeking the protection of a secret existence.

That such a place is still open to the public makes Lu Mian have to suspect that it is a component of suppressing a certain danger underground, just like building a new city on top of that Trier in the Fourth Epoch.

Kendall turned around and said to Lu Mian and others:

"You can light the candles. Before leaving the underground tomb, you cannot let them go out.

"If you lose me, don't be nervous. Look for road signs. If you can't find road signs, look at the black line on the top of your head and walk along it, and you can come out."

With the help of the calcium carbide lamp in Kendall's hand, Lu Mian and the three of them lit white candles one after another, letting them emit dim yellow light.

Amidst the four candle flames jumping gently, Kendall extinguished the calcium carbide lamp, walked forward through the giant stone door hole, and entered that "Empire of Death."

Lu Mian followed closely, holding the ash box with one hand and a white candle with the other.

Suddenly, he felt a bit cold.

That coldness didn't come from the surroundings but erupted directly from the bottom of his heart, making his hair stand up one by one.

At the same time, Lu Mian's spirit tightened instantly, feeling as if one gaze after another was cast on him, watching quietly.

With the help of the candle flame in his hand, he looked to the right and saw one pit after another dug on the stone wall, and each pit was stuffed with a corpse with white bones.

Those skulls with sunken eye sockets and no flesh and blood seemed to be looking at him, looking at him without any emotion.

Lu Mian didn't look down, carefully observed these corpses, and found that the weird feeling of being invisibly watched didn't come from them and didn't fade away.

Subconsciously, he wanted to open his "Spirit Vision" to confirm the situation.

But the current him was no longer the him who had just arrived in Trier. He had encountered many things and understood that many warnings were written by predecessors with blood and tears.

Don't look at what shouldn't be looked at... Since it didn't bring me danger, then there's no need to find the source of the abnormality... Lu Mian muttered silently for two sentences, turned his head to look at the police officers beside him.

They didn't seem to notice anything wrong and followed the tomb administrator Kendall forward normally.

This made Lu Mian suspect that the experience just now was the influence brought by the qualitative change of his spirituality after he was promoted to "Pyromaniac."

It's better not to feel it... Lu Mian couldn't help but sigh.

Because he was watched by one gaze after another, dense small bumps appeared on the surface of his skin.

He cautiously raised his head and sure enough saw a thicker black line drawn on the top of the tomb, marked with an arrow pointing outside the door hole.

Walking forward step by step, Lu Mian found that the roadsides were full of skeletons. Some were in the pits on the stone walls, some were piled on the side of the road, some still had old clothing covering them, and some not only couldn't find burial objects, but even the skulls had grown a layer of dark green mold, and the air was filled with the smell of well-diluted rot.

The underground tomb was divided into multiple tomb chambers, each with its own name, so that worshippers wouldn't find the corresponding skeletons.

After Lu Mian and others followed Kendall through between the "Small Chapel Tomb Chamber" and the "Memorial Column Tomb Chamber," they saw dozens more dim yellow candle flames ahead.

They sometimes gathered together, as if they were fireflies at night, and sometimes like a river formed by dim starlight.

Lu Mian glanced at it casually and actually saw a bride wearing a white veil and a holy dress, beside her was a groom in a black tuxedo with a handkerchief flower in his chest pocket, and surrounding them were thirty or forty young people, all holding lit white candles in their hands, laughing and very happy.

"What are they doing?" Lu Mian didn't hide his confusion.

Kendall "hehed" and said:

"Part of the wedding.

"Starting from the year before last, newlywed couples bringing young guests into the underground tomb and walking among the deceased has become a popular wedding ritual in Trier. Young people, after all, are always so bold and take pride in showing off their courage to scare others. I have seen guests deliberately pick up a hand bone and use it to pat the bride and groom's shoulders, scaring them until they almost fainted."

You Trierians... Lu Mian couldn't help but shake his head.

Not long after passing this group of people, the four arrived at their destination, "Tomb Lamp Tomb Chamber."

In the middle of this place was a black base, with an obelisk painted white and depicting the "Sun Holy Emblem" standing on top. At the top of the obelisk was an ancient oil lamp that had long been extinguished, and the walls and ground around it were full of skeletons, ash boxes, and numerous tear bottles.

After entering here, Lu Mian thought of a question:

"Where is the location of Flamant's relatives?"

He wanted to let Flamant sleep peacefully beside his children, wife, and parents.

After a short thought, Lu Mian suddenly understood why Flamant didn't write down the location of his relatives' skeletons clearly:

He was very guilty, he was very self-blaming, he wanted to stay with his relatives, but didn't dare to approach them, only intending to be in the same tomb chamber and look at them from afar.

Indescribable sadness poured into Lu Mian's heart. He stood still for a while, chose to respect Flamant's last wish, found an empty spot casually, and put down the ash box of this madman.

After Robaire and the others put the ash boxes of the Ruhl couple together, the four prayed at the same time, either "Praise the Sun" or "Steam Above."

On the way back, they ran into that newlywed couple and the young guests attending the wedding again.

Just as they were about to brush past, Lu Mian saw a pair of young people suspected to be lovers at the back of the team, taking advantage of the tomb administrator not paying attention to them, trying to blow out the white candles in their hands to see what would happen.

Whoosh!

They really did that.

Two dim yellow candle flames were extinguished.

At the same time, Lu Mian's head felt dazed.

His state recovered instantly, but there were no young people suspected to be lovers in his vision.

Gone... Lu Mian's pupils dilated suddenly, wanting to see the situation there clearly.

A few seconds later, he confirmed a fact:

That pair of young people suspected to be lovers were really gone!

Lu Mian then cast his gaze at that team.

Whether it was the newlywed couple and some guests walking in front, or the few people at the very back, they didn't feel that anyone was missing from the team, still laughing, making noise, and moving forward.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 269 =====