Chapter 2346

The firelight continued to crawl bit by bit under the moonlight, until Granny Sienode suddenly spoke:

"We're almost there."

So the footsteps of the group involuntarily quickened a bit. Because the moonlight was getting brighter, even from a great distance, Xia De had already seen that giant worm lying in the sea of sand.

Seen from afar, it was as tall as a raised sand dune. And walking closer, one could discover that more than half of this sand worm's body had already been buried in the sand.

Whether this thing was dead or not, Xia De didn't know, but it looked very much like the doomsday monster transformed from the corpse of Professor Drake, which was sealed in the 【Calamity Card - Gravel Worm】.

Even though the thing was motionless now, just looking at the size of the worm's body made one subconsciously feel fear. And as the group silently drew closer, Xia De also saw that at the very front of the giant worm's body, there was indeed a pale head resembling a giant's.

The chin of that head was buried by sand grains floating with silver light, and in its wide-open mouth was a stone door that fit the mouth perfectly, as if the mouth had been forcibly pried open by that door. Fortunately, the two eyes on this death-filled head were closed; if they were open, even if he were sure this thing was dead, Xia De would absolutely not approach it.

The appearance of the giant worm obviously also shocked the others, but under Xia De's lead, the group still slowly continued forward until they arrived in front of the worm's head.

Miss Knight and Miss Sandel didn't dare to look up at all, and Xia De also tried his best not to look at the appearance of that head, instead placing his hand directly on the cold and pale face of the other party.

【Dead.】

"She" gave a very clear investigation result, and only then did Xia De finally feel relieved.

So he fished out a handful of gold rings and a gold crown from the supplies he was carrying—these were found by Granny Sienode and the others in the ruins. After throwing those precious metals onto the ground, with a "puchi~" sound, a flame lit up, and then a fiercely burning bonfire illuminated a warm and comfortable camp.

Perhaps because the amount of precious metal Xia De used this time was large, the quality of the camp was also very high. The burning bonfire provided warmth for everyone on this cold night, with five soft little cushions placed around the bonfire, and further out were two single-person tents nailed to the sand surface.

A circle of not-very-high but thick wooden stakes surrounded this camp, with two ropes, one upper and one lower, winding through all the stakes in turn, leaving only the entrance and exit of the camp, which counted as defining the boundary of the camp.

The somewhat exhausted group tacitly found their respective positions to rest, and Miss Knight could sit down very conveniently even while wearing armor. She took off her helmet, letting her somewhat pale face appear under the abnormal moonlight.

Even as an ordinary person, having experienced so many things in this desert without dying, her own resistance to this strange light had already basically leveled with an average Ring Mage. The five people surrounded the bonfire, and the crackling flames pulled their shadows in different directions.

Little Mia probably felt the light, so it poked its head out from between Xia De's buttons again. The sight of the furry cat head appearing on Xia De's chest was somewhat ridiculous, but this time Xia De didn't press it back in.

After resting for a while, Xia De, who was in a hurry, was the first to stand up, supporting himself on the sand surface:

"I don't know how long the night will last, let's act quickly. You all continue to rest here, I'll go try to open the door first."

So Granny Sienode nodded to Xia De, Miss Meist just smiled, and Miss Knight and the mermaid girl were still recovering their state.

The camp Xia De set up was right in front of that head, on the edge of the shadow cast by the giant head due to the moonlight, so it only took a few steps for him to arrive in front of that door. The strange and twisted mental interference contained in the worm's corpse even made Xia De feel a bit dizzy.

He confirmed that the patterns on the ancient stone door were roughly the same as those described by Miss Sandel, and only then did he take out the "key" prepared for opening the door.

"The small statue sent by Earth - Vanessa."

As soon as the cat-shaped clay statue appeared, it indeed drew a dissatisfied meow from Little Mia. But before it could try to extend its claws, the small statue was pressed onto the door by Xia De.

The little clay statue was then silently "swallowed" into the stone door, and the strange patterns on the door were lit up by a quarter.

"Moon - Flawless Moonstone, Light - Broken Ancient God Holy Emblem."

The next two items were also swallowed by the door without any surprise, so three-quarters of the patterns on the door were lit up, leaving only the item symbolizing the "Sun."

Xia De had originally prepared Little Mia, but now seeing that the door was actually swallowing symbols, he didn't dare to put Little Mia there:

"What if the door swallows Little Mia too?"

But since he had come this far, Xia De couldn't just give up the mission, so he lowered his head and glanced at the cat:

"I'm going to pull a few of your cat hairs, Mia, will you have any objections?"

As he said this, he was about to reach out, and the cat, as if it understood Xia De's words, immediately struggled, obviously not very willing to contribute its beautiful fur.

It was probably truly a bit angry this time, even spitting out a few small sparks with little threat toward Xia De, and then those sparks were casually swatted away by Xia De.

The sparks drifted and fluttered in the cold night wind toward the stone door in the giant head's mouth. When they touched the surface of the stone door, they were absorbed just like the three symbols earlier.

Thus, all the patterns on the door lit up, temporarily interrupting the "bickering" between Xia De and Little Mia.

The man and the cat turned to look, only to see the stone door slowly rising in the increasingly bright light, as if it were being retracted into the flesh of the giant head's upper jaw. And on another slender stone tablet rising from below, delicate carvings emerged:

【Year 358 of the Fifth Era, the second Earth Witch of this era sealed the desert worm here.】

【After the seal is opened, the seal can be reactivated by activating the stone tablet. Unless necessary, do not enter or exit the worm's body without authorization.】

【This dangerous creature is not recorded in the data. Everywhere it has traveled has been converted into irreversible desert terrain. After joining forces with colleagues to kill it, its belly still contains a source of pollution that cannot be handled; to prevent leakage, it has been specially sealed.】

【Behind the door is a dangerous place. If its pollution effect weakens after thousands of years, one may attempt to enter it to destroy the source of pollution. If there is no incumbent Earth Witch accompanying, please do not perform this dangerous operation. If one must forcibly enter due to circumstances, at least five people must go together.】

Below, a ritual that required five people to perform together was recorded to briefly isolate the strange influence inside the worm.

That Great Witch who lived in the early Fifth Era did not leave her specific name, but the other party was undoubtedly a demigod. Just the handwriting she left on the stone tablet, as if carved with a sword or knife, still made Xia De, who was also proficient in swordsmanship, feel a stinging pain as if his skin were being pricked by a sword tip.

He tried to reach out and touch the stone tablet, but unfortunately, he didn't get the reminder of "Obtained Witch Echo."

Stuffing Little Mia back into his chest, Xia De then looked at the scene behind the stone tablet. That was the interior of this giant worm's corpse, but it looked more like the entrance to some cave. Nothing could be seen inside the pitch-black passage, and Xia De didn't feel any overly strong polluting power either.

He tried to walk a step inside, bypassing the stone tablet, and after feeling it for a moment, he retreated:

"It's very similar to the power of the worms I've seen in the apocalypse, but it's not exactly the same. At least at the entrance, the influence isn't very large. Could it be that thousands of years of time have really erased the power of the corpse, or has the abnormal light of the sun dissolved its own abilities?"

He didn't try to go deep into the worm alone, but returned to the camp outside the door. The companions had already seen that the door had been successfully opened, and Xia De explained the content on the stone tablet to them:

"I suspect that when the Earth Witch fought this worm back then, the compass fragment she was carrying was swallowed into its belly. Of course, there are other possibilities. But now it seems that we have to enter the worm's belly to take a look regardless."

"The stone tablet says it requires five people to go together?"

Miss Sandel asked hesitantly:

"Although we do have five people, Miss Knight..."

"The ritual is very simple. Among the five people, actually only three are needed to be responsible for maintaining the ritual, and the other two are to make up the symbols for the other two corners of the pentagram. Actually, four people can also do it, but in that case, the fourth person has to bear more pressure."

"I will go with you."

Miss Knight, who was holding her helmet, said proactively. Everyone had guessed that she would make such a choice, so Xia De pointed to Granny Sienode and Miss Meist:

"Then the three of us will be responsible for maintaining the ritual. Miss Sandel, you and Miss Knight just follow us. If you really can't hold on, we'll retreat. It's a pity that the seal only opened an entrance now; we can't break the worm's outer skin either, otherwise it might have been more convenient to enter directly from the worm's tail."

"We don't understand the seals of ancient witches, so let's follow the normal procedure. Let's set off now, don't waste time."

The rested old elf said to the group by the fire:

"This ritual requires five people, and we happen to have five people. I never believe in coincidences in this world, and this really is the end of the journey. No matter how many of us can eventually bring out the 'Heart of the Oasis,' this is our destiny. So, no matter what happens in a moment, remember that bringing out the 'Heart of the Oasis' is the most important thing."

"Granny, don't say that."

The sentimental mermaid girl said. She knew Granny Sienode meant that sacrifices might occur.

The old elf shook her head, and everyone stood up from the fire together and set off toward the open "giant" head.