Within the half-collapsed temple, only a few stone pillars remained intact as they collectively supported half of the main hall.
At the very front of the main hall, there was an altar covered in cracks. In the middle of the altar, there was a huge, pitch-black cross.
Hanging from the cross was a naked man who was hanging upside down. Around his ankles, thighs, and torso there were obvious rusty metal spikes protruding outward that were accompanied by bright red bloodstains.
Derrick knew that this was the statue of the Fallen Creator, but he couldn't help look down to size up the statue's face.
He saw the face of the statue—the nose, mouth, and ears were all blurry, except for the eyes which were carved with abnormal clarity.
The Fallen Creator's eyes were tightly shut, as though he was suffering from guilt and pain.
"Look away, don't study the statue of an evil god!" Demon Hunter Colin warned in a low voice.
"Yes, Your Excellency." The few members of the exploratory team immediately retracted their gazes.
Before today, although the City of Silver had discovered many destroyed cities and written records pointing to evil gods during their explorations, most of the residents had never seen the statues of so-called evil gods.
The remaining area of the temple wasn't very wide, so the exploratory team quickly split up into groups of two or three and completed the investigations without finding anything abnormal.
Upon seeing this, Colin, the chief of the six-member council, said after a few seconds of deliberation, "Let's head underground."
As he spoke, he drew one of the two swords he carried on his back and smeared it with a grayish silver ointment.
Then, he removed a small metal bottle from a hidden compartment on his belt, pulled out the stopper, and gulped the contents of the potion.
At this moment, Derrick felt as if the light blue eyes of the Chief had become a little brighter.
The members of the exploratory team made their utmost careful preparations. Under the illumination of the four animal hide lanterns, they followed the stairs on the left side of the statue as they walked down into the underground area.
Derrick took his turn holding the lantern, walking at the front left as he cautiously entered the darkness.
He heard the sound of his own footsteps and those of his companions echoing off of the stone steps. They produced a distant and empty echo.
The echoes didn't suffer from any interference, making the absolute silence beneath them obvious. However, in the hearts of the exploratory team members, it was like a knock on the door. The attempt to uncover a secret that had been buried for an unknown number of years left them feeling extremely tense.
After walking without having any sense of time, Derrick finally saw that the road ahead had turned flat. He also saw the newly discovered mural which the corrupted Darc Regence had mentioned.
The mural was spread across two sides of the wall. It was simply colored and gloomy, looking ancient as if it had seen the vicissitudes of life.
Derrick took a casual glance and was immediately attracted by one of the murals.
On the wall to the left up ahead, a pure white cross was depicted in the middle. It was surrounded by seawater-like blackness, drowning all the humans who were struggling as they stretched out their arms.
Hanging upside down from the cross was the Fallen Creator. The rusted nails and blood-red stains were no different from the statues in the outside world.
But in this mural, the Fallen Creator was suffering from a black erosion, so much so that part of the white of the cross had become pitch-black.
In addition, the cross supported a hazy piece of land, and countless humans were kneeling and praying to the Fallen Creator.
Around the mural, in the deepest part of the darkness, there were six figures akin to evil gods.
In the upper left corner was a woman wearing a black, classical dress. Her clothes were layered but not complicated, and it was embedded with a starry sheen. Her body was relatively ethereal, with signs of rippling outward. Her face was blurry, as though she was wearing a mask without any facial features.
The darkness around her surged as one strange eye after another faintly became discernible.
Directly above was a young man wearing a pure white robe. His face was painted with a pure gold color, and there were tentacles in the form of light growing out of his skin.
In his hands was a putrid-green book and a radiant spear, and his chest and back were inverted.
In the upper right corner was a trident-wielding monster with an octopus-like head, wide eyes, and a body wrapped in lightning.
The feathers of countless birds formed his cloak, and the darkness turned into waves that supported the bottom of his feet.
At the bottom right was a supple and beautiful woman. Her chest bulged, propping her clothes up. In her arms was a rotting baby, and at her feet were black ears of wheat, spring water squirming with flesh, herbs dripping with pus, and wildly-mating animals.
Directly below was an old man wearing a hood that revealed his mouth, wrinkles, and a white beard.
The old man held an open book, and on top of it was an eye that was the symbol of omniscience.
At first glance, this old man looked the most normal, but the smile on his face was indescribably evil.
At the bottom left was a giant warrior in tattered armor. He held a long sword and was sitting on a throne with bleak dusk as its backdrop.
What this mural means is that when the Cataclysm struck, the evil gods climbed out of the Abyss. In order to save the people of the world, the Fallen Creator had suffered the vast majority of the sins and pain, and as a result, showed signs of being corrupted and having his image change... But, I think "He" is the worst evil god...Carrying an animal hide lantern in his hand, Derrick looked at the mural on the wall as he walked. He realized that the description was identical to Darc Regence's description with the core theme being that the place where they were had not been abandoned by the gods. Instead, it was blessed by the Creator and had maintained civilization through the apocalypse.
Of course, Darc Regence had only briefly mentioned it, and the details were far what the murals depicted.
Throughout the entire process, Derrick didn't let his guard down. He prepared himself in case any accidents were to happen so that he could respond immediately.
Under the dim yellow light of the candle, the exploratory team went through many corridors, halls, and rooms one by one, delving deep into the temple's basement.
Suddenly, a semi-open gray stone door appeared in front of them.
Outside the door, a cluster of beautiful mushroom-shaped objects grew. They were palm-sized, with white stems and bright red heads, sparkling with dark-golden specks.
Upon seeing these "mushrooms," the members of the exploratory team had their appetites whet. All they wanted to do was to rush over, pull out a stalk, and stuff it into their mouths.
Gulp. Quite a few people swallowed their saliva.
However, most of the people who were able to enter the exploratory team had rich experience and were of a relatively high Sequence. Having received a warning beforehand, someone immediately stood up and said in a low voice, "Those are rotten flesh and hairy scalps."
Derrick knew this teammate and that his name was Joshua. He had successfully traded for a mystical item from a particular exploratory expedition.
Joshua stretched out his left, scarlet-gloved hand at the door.
With a flash of light, a burning fireball quickly took shape and shot out, landing directly on those extremely tempting "mushrooms."
Boom! The ground trembled slightly, and an inferno spread out to cover the space of two meters.
By the time the fire subsided, all of the mushrooms had already disappeared, leaving only bits and pieces of flesh and blood. It left all of the Beyonders, who nearly failed to resist the temptation, disgusted.
Demon Hunter Colin didn't interfere with the actions of the team. He quietly watched from the side, nodding from time to time.
"Why would there be mushrooms made from flesh and hair? Where did the flesh and hair come from?" Joshua withdrew his left palm and muttered to himself in confusion.
Another member of the team made a bold guess.
"The original inhabitants of this city?"
It's possible... Perhaps their deaths were a result of turning into pure flesh and hair...Derrick agreed inwardly.
After a brief discussion, the exploratory team split into several groups and cleaned up the hall outside the gray stone door.
After doing all this, they regrouped and slowly passed through the door, ready to engage in combat at any moment.
Behind the door was a place that looked like an altar. The surrounding light could hardly dispel the darkness of the region which seemed to hide something unknown.
Above the altar, a similar pitch-black cross and an upside-down Fallen Creator was erected there.
Carrying an animal hide lantern, Derrick stood the closest as he instinctively swept a glance.
His gaze suddenly froze because he discovered that the Fallen Creator statue here was different from the one outside.
Its eyes were open!
He had blood-red eyes and black pupils, staring straight at any intruders like it possessed life.
Tat. Tat. Tat. Derrick heard the chattering of teeth.
He originally imagined that it came from a team member, but he soon realized that he was the one trembling!
Although he didn't understand much about the evil god's dangers, his teeth were instinctively chattering at that instant.
Tat. Tat. Tat.
His teammates reacted similarly.
At that moment, a speck of powder floated into the air. Demon Hunter Colin clenched his fist.
Boom!
As the sound of thunder reverberated through the air, Derrick and the others suddenly snapped to their senses, escaping their "nightmare" state from earlier.
Before they could investigate the area, the sound of weeping could be heard from behind the altar.
"Sob, sob, sob...
"Sob, sob, sob..."
In the chilling silence, Demon Hunter Colin calmly ordered, "Derrick, Joshua, go around and take a look."
As a chill went through his body, Derrick held the animal hide lantern and the Axe of Hurricane in his hand. Together with Joshua, he slowly walked around to the back of the altar.
As the darkness was gradually dispersed by the light, they saw a black figure curled up behind the altar.
After taking two steps forward, the shadow revealed its original form.
It was a seven- or eight-year-old child, with soft yellow hair.
He closed his eyes, as though he wasn't used to the light as he shouted in excitement, "Save me, save me..."
Derrick's pupils shrank, and when he thought of the cry for help he had heard in the pure darkness earlier, he subconsciously lifted his Axe of Hurricane.
At this moment, Demon Hunter Colin took a step forward and solemnly asked, "Who are you?"
The child stopped pleading for help and said reminiscently, "My name... My name is Jack..."
...
After dinner, Klein put on his coat and hat in preparation to head out.
He was going to find Miss Sharron, resolve the problem of the baronet digging up a tunnel, and ask for clues about mermaids. He wanted to complete these matters before Detective Sherlock Moriarty headed south for a "vacation."
