Moving Forward

Matthew walked in the middle-rear of the group.

Herbert was in the front judging the path, while Sutton maintained a position toward the rear-middle of the group, where he could see both the front and keep an eye on the back.

This positioning made Matthew even more certain that Sutton hadn't truly relaxed. He was still on guard—guarding against this tomb, and guarding against every one of them, especially himself.

After walking for a while, a half-collapsed stone door appeared ahead. Only half of the stone door remained; the other half had shattered, revealing a small stone room behind it.

The tall, thin scout pressed himself against the edge of the door first, listening carefully for a moment before whispering, “No movement inside.”

Sutton looked at Herbert. Herbert released a faint thread of his Detection Spell, circling it around the doorway. This time, the spell wasn't sucked away. He let out a small sigh of relief.

“There shouldn't be any runes connected to the main burial chamber inside.”

Sutton didn't enter immediately but looked at the shield-bearing adventurer. Understanding the silent command, the man raised his shield and stepped into the stone room. A moment later, his voice drifted back.

“Safe.”

Only then did the others enter.

The stone room wasn't large; it looked like a place used to store maintenance tools and spare materials back in the day. Several rows of stone shelves stood against the walls, but most of the items had rotted away. Wooden handles had decayed into black debris, and iron tools were rusted beyond recognition.

However, not everything had lost its value. In a stone box near the inner wall, several chunks of dark green ore were still sealed away.

Herbert took a look and said, “Shadow Iron Ore. The quality is average, but it’s still usable.”

Sutton didn't stand on ceremony and signaled the old adventurer to collect them.

Matthew just watched and didn't move. He didn't want to fight Sutton over a few pieces of material right now. He had already gained quite a lot; continuing to be greedy for things displayed so openly would only draw more obvious attention.

But just as he was about to look away, the map in his mind suddenly vibrated gently.

Matthew’s movements paused almost imperceptibly. He looked at the wall at the very back of the stone room. On the map, there was a small, recessed hidden compartment there.

The compartment was very shallow. If not for the map’s prompt, it would have been impossible to see with the naked eye.

Matthew’s heart stirred. He didn't go over immediately. Instead, he pretended to examine the cracks in the wall, slowly walking to the side of the room.

That section of the wall was covered in a thick layer of dust. Beneath the dust were several mottled scratches that looked no different from ordinary cracks.

Matthew reached out and touched them. They felt very hard. He tapped gently with his knuckles a few times. The sound was dull, with no obvious hollow feeling. Under normal circumstances, he might have also assumed there was nothing there.

But the map wouldn't mark this location for no reason.

Matthew glanced at the others. Sutton was listening to Herbert explain the general structure of this maintenance corridor. The female axeman and the old adventurer were organizing the Shadow Iron Ore. The young crossbowman sat in a corner catching his breath, while Noel had his head down, lost in thought.

No one was paying attention to him.

Matthew pressed the end of his short staff against one of the scratches and pushed down gently. No reaction. He changed the angle and pushed sideways along the scratch.

“Click.”

A very faint sound rang out. Matthew’s heart skipped a beat. He stopped immediately.

Fortunately, the sound was very quiet and was masked by the noise of the old adventurer moving the stone box, so it didn't attract anyone’s attention.

A thin slit opened in the wall. Matthew used his body to block their line of sight, sliding his fingertips along the slit. He soon felt a flat metal box.

The box wasn't large, only about the width of a palm. It felt icy to the touch, and the surface seemed to be engraved with fine patterns. Matthew didn't open it here; instead, taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking, he shoved it directly into his robes.

His heart rate quickened slightly, but his face remained calm.

After a moment, Sutton finally turned around. “Move out.”

No one raised an objection. The group left the stone room once more.

Matthew walked at the back, pressing his palm against the metal box in his robes through his clothing. He didn't know what was inside yet, but judging by the faint mana fluctuations on its surface, the contents were definitely not just ordinary tools.

The stone corridor continued forward. The further they went, the more chaotic the drafts in the air became.

Matthew could feel that the tomb was changing. Sometimes the path ahead was clearly a straight passage, but in the next moment, the lines on his mental map would twist, as if the path was being forcibly redirected by some power.

Herbert also sensed that something was wrong. He stopped and looked ahead with a grim expression.

“We can’t keep going along this main maintenance corridor.”

Sutton asked, “Why?”

Herbert said, “It’s curving inward.”

“Inward?”

“This path was originally supposed to extend along the outer layer of the tomb, but now, its direction is slowly leaning toward the main burial chamber.”

Herbert looked into the darkness ahead, his voice dropping even lower. “If we keep going, we’ll likely be led back.”

No one spoke. “Led back.” Those two words had become the thing everyone least wanted to hear.

The shield-bearing adventurer couldn't help but curse. “Then how the hell are we supposed to go?”

Herbert didn't answer immediately because he didn't know either. His Detection Spell could see mana fluctuations, but it couldn't directly tell him which path would lead out of the tomb.

Sutton’s expression turned ugly. He subconsciously touched his chest. An old copper piece was hidden there. It was something given to him by the person who provided the intelligence.

That person had told him that as long as he entered the main burial chamber and found the true legacy near the central sarcophagus, this copper piece would resonate and point toward the core items left by the tomb owner.

But from the moment the empty sarcophagus opened until now, the copper piece hadn't reacted at all. Or rather, it had only grown slightly hot for a single instant when the empty sarcophagus fully activated.

That brief heat didn't feel like guidance. It felt more like mockery.

Sutton was becoming increasingly certain that he had been set up. The person who gave him the information hadn't lied completely. The entrance was real. The tomb was real. The resources were real. Even the fact that the main burial chamber had an Official Wizard’s arrangement was real.

But the most critical part had been concealed. This wasn't a quiet Official Wizard’s tomb at all. It was more like a ritual site that wasn't entirely dead yet.

The other party hadn't lured him here to take the legacy, but to bring people in to reawaken that empty sarcophagus.

Thinking of this, a cold fury pressed against Sutton’s chest. But he didn't say it aloud. There was no point. The people here wouldn't hate him any less just because he had been tricked, and they certainly wouldn't follow him to the death just because they knew he had been harmed.

Sutton could only suppress his rage. He had to get out alive. As long as he survived, he would find that person. When that time came, he would make them understand the price of using him.

Just then, Matthew suddenly spoke. “There’s a draft on the right.”

Everyone looked at him simultaneously. Matthew pointed to an inconspicuous crack at the bottom of the right-hand wall. “There.”

Herbert immediately walked over. He crouched down and pressed his hand near the crack, and sure enough, he felt an extremely faint current of air.

The current was very weak. If not for Matthew’s reminder, he might not have even noticed it.

Herbert’s gaze shifted slightly. He looked at Matthew. “How did you find it?”

Matthew had already prepared his excuse. “The dust.” He pointed to the floor near the crack. “The dust there is a bit thinner than elsewhere, and there are traces of it being blown outward.”

Herbert looked down. It was indeed so. The reason was plausible—at least on the surface.

Sutton also walked over. He looked at the crack, the emotions in his single eye difficult to discern. “Open it.”

The shield-bearing adventurer and the female axeman immediately stepped forward, using their tools to pry open the crack. It wasn't a real door, but rather an abandoned drainage outlet that had been blocked by rubble.

After clearing a few stones, a narrow, downward-sloping tunnel was revealed. It was very dark inside, but the wind was more obvious now. The air carried moisture and a hint of decaying plant matter.

When Matthew smelled it, his heart stirred. The scent of plants... this meant the path ahead might be close to the surface, or at least close to a fissure connected to the outside world. This path might actually lead out.

But just as everyone was preparing to enter the tunnel, Noel suddenly looked up. His eyes had turned somewhat grayish-white.

“No,” he said. “We can’t go through here.”

The shield-bearing adventurer immediately turned and glared at him. “What did you hear this time?”

Noel’s lips trembled. “It’s not what I heard...” He slowly turned his head, looking toward the other end of the stone corridor. “It’s coming.”

Those words made everyone’s skin crawl. Matthew also immediately looked deep into the stone corridor.

At first, there was nothing but darkness. But soon, a grayish-white thin line appeared in the dark. That thin line hugged the ground, slowly spreading toward them. It wasn't fast, but it was extremely steady, like a shadow chasing them all the way from the main burial chamber.

Then, a second and a third grayish-white thin line appeared. They seeped from the wall cracks, crawled out from the floor fissures, and hung down from the darkness of the ceiling, gradually gathering into a blurred shape.

It wasn't a person, nor was it a monster. It looked more like the outline of a non-corporeal coffin. It was hollow—only the edges existed, with no interior.

But when that outline appeared, Matthew’s chest suddenly felt tight. He had a sudden feeling that the thing was looking for a position... looking for a person it could fill itself with.

“Go!” Herbert barked. “Go now!”

This time, no one hesitated. The tall, thin scout was the first to dive into the drainage tunnel. The shield-bearing adventurer followed closely, dragging Noel. The female axeman supported the young crossbowman, with the old adventurer following behind them.

Herbert looked at Matthew. “You first.”

Matthew didn't refuse and immediately bent down to enter the tunnel. He knew now wasn't the time for politeness.

Sutton stayed for last, his gaze fixed on that grayish-white coffin shadow. The coffin shadow didn't pounce. It only approached slowly. But with every step it took, the air in the stone corridor grew colder, and everyone’s shadows were stretched out bit by bit.

Sutton cursed under his breath, then dove into the tunnel as well.

The drainage tunnel was even harder to traverse than the previous maintenance corridor. The floor was slippery and sloped downward, and black moss grew on the walls, making it easy to slip. Worse yet, the tunnel was too narrow. They could only move forward one by one, unable to form any kind of defensive formation.

Matthew walked not far ahead of Herbert. As he moved, he used his mental map to judge their direction. The drainage tunnel on the map was very thin and intermittent. In some places, it didn't show up at all; the lines only reappeared as he drew closer.

This made Matthew increasingly nervous. The map wasn't omnipotent. Or rather, this tomb was interfering with the map. He had to find an exit route before the map was completely swallowed by black dots.

After walking for some distance, a gap suddenly appeared ahead. Half of the tunnel had collapsed, leading into a larger underground cavity below.

The tall, thin scout had already stopped at the edge, his face pale. “It’s too deep,” he whispered. “At least three or four people high.”

The shield-bearing adventurer asked, “Can we get down?”

The scout shook his head. “We can get down, but I don't know what’s at the bottom.”

Matthew approached the edge and took a look. Below was dim. It seemed to be a natural fissure, and the sound of shallow running water could be heard at the bottom. In his mental map, this fissure extended outward and eventually connected to an exit.

However, next to the fissure, there was also a small spatial marker. That space was just below the side of the collapse, very close—like a hidden storage room exposed by the cave-in.

Matthew’s heart stirred. That space wasn't covered by grayish-black, and there were no obvious danger markers. More importantly, there were several faint glowing spots inside.

Resources? Or something else?

Normally, Matthew might not take the risk. But now he could see that this fissure was the only way to the outside, and that storage room was right next to the downward path. If he moved fast enough, he could take the items inside in passing.

Of course, the prerequisite was not letting Sutton notice too much.

Just then, a cold wind blew from behind. Noel suddenly shrieked, “It’s coming down!”

Everyone looked back. In the tunnel behind them, grayish-white light was already chasing them along the ground. Although that illusory coffin shadow hadn't truly entered the tunnel, it had projected its outline onto the walls.

A shadow of a coffin appeared on the stone walls. It was empty, yet it was slowly opening.

“Get down!” Herbert shouted without further hesitation.

The tall, thin scout was the first to jump into the fissure, letting out a muffled groan as he landed. “Safe!”

The shield-bearing adventurer immediately pushed Noel down and jumped after him. The female axeman and the young crossbowman were a bit slower.

Matthew stood at the edge of the drop-off, his peripheral vision scanning the cracked stone gap below and to the side. That was the entrance to the storage room marked on the map. It was very narrow, but he could squeeze in. And from there, it seemed there was another crack leading to the bottom of the fissure. In other words, he wouldn't have to come back up here.

Matthew’s heart rate quickened. The opportunity had arrived.

Just as the female axeman and the young crossbowman went down, the old adventurer followed.

Herbert looked at Matthew. “Go!”

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