Sheyan nodded. He discovered traces of man-made farmlands outside the village, which explained the reason why the Ndipaya barbarians were able to survive and flourish here. He then led Mbenga along a path into the depths of the dense fog. Along the way, they passed by two more abandoned villages. Without exception, not a single soul could be seen in these two villages. It appeared extremely chaotic, and eerie white skeletons could be seen within the villages. It appeared as though they had suffered excruciating tortures when they were alive.
At this moment, Sheyan noticed that the road ahead had widened a little. On both sides of the road, there were eye-catching wooden stakes and totems that looked like telephone poles. Although most of them had become decayed and old, from afar, they still exuded a kind of reverence and majesty that originated from the wilderness. Every wooden stake had a dried dark brown luster. At first glance, it was obvious that they had been through a bloody ceremony.
After arriving here, Mbenga's breathing turned coarse and heavy. Sheyan glanced back in astonishment and realized Mbenga's mood was rather strange. His heart was instantly elated as he hastily asked.
"What's wrong?"
Mbenga remained silent and strode forward with large steps. Sheyan hastily pulled him back. One must understand, they had encountered countless monsters along the way. If Mbenga were to stride forward so aggressively, even if he smeared a camouflage medicine on him, it would still be futile. It was like a person walking on the road without any suspicions towards a pebble. However, if he were to see a pebble and stride forward aggressively with large steps, it would be impossible. Therefore, it would be hard not to be suspicious.
With great difficulty, Mbenga finally calmed down from his agitated state. Panting heavily, Sheyan hastily pulled him to a secluded corner, where he drank some water and rested for a moment.
Sheyan was about to speak when all of a sudden, he felt his entire body shivering uncontrollably. A chill ran down his spine as his teeth chattered loudly. When he raised his head, he witnessed an exceptionally colossal blood-red Licker emerging from the dense fog ahead. It stood a hundred metres away, as it scanned its surroundings.
Sheyan immediately shut his eyes as he clutched tightly onto Mbenga and prostrated himself on the ground. Even his breathing became sluggish!
All of a sudden, the blood-red Licker strutted over to where Mbenga was initially standing. Lowering its head to sniff, Sheyan cursed inwardly. Mbenga must've been rather agitated at the start, probably due to the excessive evaporation of his perspiration. Thus, the Licker was able to discover a suspicious point. If Mbenga had casually spat out two more mouthfuls of phlegm, then everything pointed to disaster.
Fortunately, Mbenga was rather hygienic, and the ointment they applied was extremely effective. After causing a ruckus for half a day, the Licker finally left resentfully. At present, Sheyan and Mbenga no longer dared to be careless. Even when they were still 20-30 metres away from the blood-red Licker, the dreadful aura emitted from its body was already sufficient to cause one's courage to shatter! It was truly a strengthened version of the Licker.
Sheyan reckoned that with his current prowess, he might not even have the courage to engage in close combat with the Licker! Such a suppressive force was truly too overwhelming. Sheyan reckoned that the savage prowess of this Licker boss could possibly be on the same level as Paul the Octopus, or the Great Leonopteryx of the Avatar world!
Evidently, Mbenga's heated head was shaken by the ferocious might of this boss, and he swiftly calmed down. Fortunately, the familiar environment seemed to have awakened some fragments of his memory, and he immediately led the way in front. The two of them stepped on an abandoned path, and fled in panic like stray dogs in the fog.
Numerous mutated Arachnidacrabs were lying in ambush along this path, but there were also numerous traps set up by the Ndipaya barbarians …... fortunately, the mutated Arachnidacrabs were deceived by the scent of Sheyan's ointment, and were lazily motionless when they weren't flipping out. Moreover, Mbenga seemed to have grasped the traps set up by the Ndipaya barbarians like the back of his hand, as the duo hastened their advancement.
After roughly half an hour of accelerating advancement, the dense fog ahead had thinned out considerably. Following that, the duo climbed up an obviously man-made altar, where a spacious plaza appeared before their eyes. This plaza was roughly the size of a football field. Although it appeared rather simple and crude, it was constructed with massive amounts of rocks, and appeared exceedingly smooth. The surface of the plaza was even hastily carved with distinct patterns, which appeared to be coiled and warped; related to serpents.
At the center of the plaza, was a bizarre and colossal stone sculpture. The sculpture's appearance was exceedingly bizarre; it was actually a gigantic serpent coiled into a circle, with its mouth devouring its own tail! The gigantic serpent's eyes glowed brilliantly amidst the fog. It appeared to be sculpted from exceedingly rare gemstones, brimming with a mysterious, bewitching, dignified and solemn atmosphere.
Due to the exceedingly crude craftsmanship of the plaza, it appeared crude and crude. Yet because of this sculpture, it seemed to have become one with nature, causing one to feel an urge to prostrate and worship it. One could imagine how the Ndipaya barbarians would conduct a series of activities here during every major festival.
Surrounding the plaza were wooden structures constructed by the Ndipaya barbarians, which appeared to be a notch larger than those in other villages. Even the pillars and roofs of these structures were adorned with architectural ornaments, which were nothing more than malevolent and bizarre serpent heads, and totems brimming with abstract meanings. Any random structure here was comparable in size to the conference halls of other villages. Evidently, this was the core gathering place of the Ndipaya barbarians.
Without a doubt, this place had been abandoned, and there wasn't a single trace of human habitation around. When Mbenga witnessed this plaza, his throat groaned as his body trembled violently. He then hugged his head, as the scar on his forehead glowed with a scarlet radiance. At this moment, Sheyan stepped forward to console him and poured him several mouthfuls of rum. Instead, he realized Mbenga was stuck in this state, seemingly unable to extricate himself within a short period of time.
At present, Sheyan could only seize the moment and tossed Mbenga aside. Then, he hastily combed through this plaza, only to discover an exceedingly tragic massacre had taken place here! Vast quantities of ghastly white skeletons could be seen within every single building. Most of these skeletons were fractured and distorted, signifying that they had experienced an exceedingly cruel massacre before their deaths. Large clumps of purplish black stains extended incessantly across the ground like a river.
Apart from that, Sheyan also discovered a few bizarre skeletons. The size and shape of these skeletons exceeded that of an ordinary human. Within the gaps of these bizarre skeletons, there were several javelins, pikes and arrowheads. This indicated that the resistance of the Ndipaya barbarians back then wasn't completely futile.
Sheyan then proceeded to the largest structure, the grand assembly hall behind the sculpture. He managed to scoop up several treasures. Scattered gold nuggets, a silver beetle, a diamond, and even a previously undiscovered golden egg!
This golden egg was the size of a fist, and looked like it was formed by the heavens without any flaws. Its surface was engraved with a blazing sun radiating in all directions. Sheyan didn't know if it was a handicraft, or an egg left behind by a real creature. After appraising this object, only its name was displayed.
[Pandora's Egg. Its other attributes are???]
Without a doubt, this object was of a much higher grade than the ancient beetle. It could even be said that it wasn't an object that Sheyan could obtain with his current capabilities. Therefore, only its name was displayed, and no detailed information could be provided. Sheyan discovered this golden egg at a corner, where dust had densely covered half of the golden egg. This was sufficient to indicate that it was being transported under an exceedingly perilous situation, where even such a precious treasure was neglected.
After a hasty search, Sheyan once again stood at the edge of the platform. Squinting his eyes, he silently observed the fog-shrouded plaza. Without a doubt, this was the core region of the Ndipaya tribe, an existence akin to a shrine. Yet even this place had been thoroughly invaded into a dead zone. This was sufficient to illustrate a cruel reality … … .the Ndipaya barbarians that resided in the hinterlands of the Kijuju Marshland had most likely gone extinct.
Witnessing the spectacle before him, Sheyan took a deep breath. It was as though he was witnessing the tragedy unfolding before his eyes. Hordes of Lickers, parasites, mutated Arachnidacrabs and other abominations were surging in. Under the lead of that blood-red Licker, the elite warriors of the Ndipaya clan were forced into a dead end, one step at a time.
They resisted with all their might, yet they were utterly incapable of surviving the onslaught of those abominations. One after another, they succumbed to their deaths within their own homes. The remaining elite warriors and elders of the tribe knew they couldn't defy fate, as they hastily gathered the wealth of their tribe and fled. Amidst the chaos, a portion of their wealth was left behind. A golden egg rumbled as it rolled down from a cloth bag and slid to the side of a wall. Only when Sheyan picked it up, did it finally see the light of day … …..
Then, what was the reason that caused the Ndipaya barbarians that had painstakingly operated for hundreds and thousands of years to suffer such a horrifying calamity … …?
A question surfaced in Sheyan's heart. Very quickly, he squinted his eyes. This was a sign that Sheyan had already found the answer.
"The greatest possibility, is most likely like this … …" If you like this work, you are welcome to come to qidian.com to vote for me. Your support is my biggest motivation.)
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