Fantasy Game: Infinite City

Chapter 615 The Prince's Magic Book (5) An Unexpected Twist

Han Zu's steps abruptly halted. His right hand instinctively pressed back to the hilt of his sword at his waist, his fingertips brushing against the cold scabbard, his knuckles turning slightly white from the pressure. The stone walls of the cross-shaped corridor cast dappled shadows in the dim light. The voices of conversation emanated from the depths of the eastern corridor, mingled with the soft sounds of falling stone chips and the clanging of metal, exceptionally clear in the empty castle. He didn't approach rashly, but quickly retreated behind a pillar in the cross-shaped corridor, its body perfectly conforming to the contours of the stone, like a shadow blending into a crevice. His breathing was forced to a minimum, his nostrils filled only with the damp, musty smell unique to the ancient castle. Even the energy fluctuations on his body were completely suppressed, indistinguishable from the surrounding silent stone walls. His night vision silently activated, piercing through the gloom at the entrance of the eastern corridor, clearly taking in the scene from the direction the sounds were coming from.

Two men in dark gray uniforms stood with their backs to him at the corner of the corridor. The silver emblem embroidered on the left breast of their uniforms gleamed coldly in the dim light—an ouroboros coiled around a shield, the very emblem of the Ferdinand family's recovery team he had seen on the first floor of the library. The man on the left was thin, wearing brass-rimmed glasses reinforced with thin hemp rope. He clutched a leather-bound notebook, the pen hovering above the paper, its nib hesitant to fall. His knuckles were stained with dried ink and a few specks of stone dust; he was clearly a researcher responsible for recording the findings. The man on the right was broad-shouldered and thick-backed, his upper arm muscles stretching his uniform taut. A serrated machete hung at his waist, its scabbard hastily bound with animal hide. His arms were wrapped in coarse linen soaked in herbal juice, with several sharpened stone awls stuck in the edges—typical attire of a guard. Several malfunctioning instruments lay scattered at their feet: a portable detector with a shattered screen, an energy detector with its indicator light off, both bearing the Ferdinand family crest on their casings. They were clearly discarded after the high-tech equipment had completely failed.

"...The detector and locator are completely broken. We've replaced the spare battery three times, but it still doesn't work."

The researcher's voice was low, tinged with suppressed anxiety, as the pen tapped lightly on the notebook.

“But Chief Sebastian’s orders are clear: we must find the ‘Ouroboros Ring’ before this sudden phenomenon ends. Once the time is up, the ‘Bone-Corroding Mist’ in Bastienburg will spread three times, and the antidote we brought will only last for fourteen hours.”

He raised his hand to push up his slipping glasses, took out a yellowed scroll from his pocket, unfolded it, and examined it by the faint light filtering through the cracks in the rocks.

"The replica of the seventh patriarch's journal says that the ring is in a secret room in the west tower, but the key clue is broken. When I was hiding from the 'Faceless Shadow' just now, I almost dropped this journal into the water. If this thing is destroyed, we will lose our way."

The guard glanced down the corridor, a low growl escaping his throat. He patted the machete at his waist, the blade striking the scabbard with a dull thud.

“I checked the manuscript with you three times last night, it can’t be wrong. That old guy’s skill in hiding things is superb, but the key to the secret room disappeared with the fifth patriarch a long time ago. However, we just found the bodies of three brothers in the north corridor. Their protective gear was cleanly cut open, it doesn’t seem like the work of ‘Faceless Shadow’—it’s more like the work of the gravedigger.”

He bent down, picked up a piece of linen stained with dark red dirt from the ground, and handed it to the researcher.

“Look at this, it was pried out of the corpse’s hand. The symbols on it are exactly the same as the ‘Star Array Key’ pattern in the patriarch’s notes.”

Han Zu's pupils contracted slightly. He tapped his fingertip lightly on the crevice of the knight relief on the stone pillar, suppressing his breathing even further. The symbol for the "Star Array Key" was the same pattern he had seen on the parchment and the Shadow Robe, very similar to the emblem of the "Exiled," likely originating from the same source. Using the faded knight statue in the niche as cover, he cautiously switched his X-ray vision, increasing his energy output. His field of vision widened, allowing him to see the linen in the researcher's hand more clearly. The fabric was rough, with burn marks on the edges, and the stains contained fine, silvery-white powder—similar to the residual powder he had found in the hidden compartment of the box, clearly an item related to the Ouroboros Ring. The researcher picked up a bit of powder with his fingertip, sniffed it lightly, and his brows furrowed instantly.

“Not the gravedigger.” The researcher’s voice was certain. “This powder is ‘mithril solder,’ which is only used in the family’s secret vault. The gravedigger has no access to it. Moreover, the burnt smell on this fabric is consistent with the smell of ‘Star Array Overload Ember’ recorded in the patriarch’s notes.”

He suddenly lowered his voice, reached into the notebook, turned to a certain page, and pointed to the hand-drawn sketch on it.

"Look, before the fifth patriarch disappeared, he was in charge of managing the secret vault. His notes mention that he executed an apprentice who was hoarding mithril. And that apprentice's mentor was the 'Bone-Eating Sorcerer' who was banished by the family. I suspect these corpses were killed by the 'Bone-Eating Sorcerer's' descendants; they were also looking for the ring."

Han Zu's heart skipped a beat. The contents of the letter from the "Exiled One" on the parchment instantly flashed through his mind—the person who called himself the "Exiled One" had been executed for researching forbidden arts and had entrusted his apprentice to hide his research results. Combining this with the researcher's words, the "Exiled One" was very likely the so-called "Bone-Eating Sorcerer," and the fifth patriarch had not only obtained the Ouroboros Ring but also executed his apprentice; the grudges and entanglements between the two were now clear. He quietly pressed himself closer, the coldness of the stone statue in the niche seeping through his clothes, making him even more lucid. The guard had clearly also realized the key point, reaching out to press his hand on the hilt of his machete, his knuckles turning white from the force.

"You mean the 'Bone-Eating Sorcerers' also entered the castle?"

"Nine times out of ten."

The researcher folded up the linen cloth, rolled up the notebook, and tucked it into his pocket.

"I just saw signs of a fight in the west corridor. There were several corpses dressed in coarse cloth, and their wounds were cut by stone weapons. It must have been an infighting between the 'Bone-Eating Sorcerers' and our people."

He paused, then pointed to the burlap sack on the guard's arm.

"Have you noticed that the energy in this fortress is strange? Just now, my pen suddenly got hot and the ink solidified—exactly the same as the 'star array energy interference' simulated during training."

The guard nodded, rolled up his linen sleeve, revealing a faint red mark on his arm.

"Not only that, the handle of my machete was also burned. This mark is from when I applied cooling cream. Luckily, I practiced dealing with energy interference before setting off, otherwise I would have been ruined long ago."

"What's even stranger is yet to come." The researcher's voice trembled slightly, but he remained composed.

“Last night while on watch, I saw a bluish-black flame in the window of the east tower, exactly the same sign as the ‘Faceless Shadow’ mentioned in the training manual. And just now in the cross corridor, I thought I heard footsteps—not ours, the strides were longer than the guards’, and the landings were very soft, like… they were deliberately concealing their presence.”

He suddenly turned towards the niche where Han Zu was hiding, reached into his waistband and pulled out a stone awl, his fingertips gripping the end of the awl.

"Who's there? Come out! Don't force us to take action!"

Han Zu's breath caught in his throat, his body frozen like a stone statue. He could feel the researcher's gaze sweeping across the stone statue's face, sharp as a knife, filled with the scrutiny of a professionally trained expert. He quickly calculated: if discovered, should he strike first and eliminate them, or remain still and continue tracking them to gather more information? After weighing the options, Han Zu concluded that the gains from eliminating them were definitely less than the benefits of continuing the tracking. Therefore, using the surrounding stone pillars as cover, Han Zu swiftly transformed into a fog-like form, completely concealing his presence.

"Don't panic, it's just the wind coming from the crack in the rock."

The guard pressed down on the researcher's wrist, signaling him to put down the stone cone, while his eyes warily swept across the floor around the niche.

“Look at the dust on the ground. There are no footprints. If someone had hidden something, it wouldn’t be this clean.”

He bent down, picked up a piece of gravel, and threw it towards the niche. The stone struck the statue with a "clang," and fragments fell down. Seeing no further movement, he breathed a sigh of relief, patted the researcher on the shoulder, and...

"What did the captain say before we set off? Assess the situation first if attacked, don't scare yourself. Let's hurry up, or the 'Bone-Eating Sorcerers' might reach the west tower. By the way, Chief Sebastian said that if we can't find the key, we should pour 'mithril solvent' on the secret chamber door—do we have enough solvent?"

The researcher took a ceramic jar out of his backpack, shook the liquid inside, and it made a slight rattling sound.

"There's half a jar left, enough to corrode the stone door. But the journal says the solvent will damage the paper relics in the secret chamber—but those relics are less important than the ring."

Without another word, the guard led the way, his machete barely unsheathed, its blade reflecting a faint light. The researcher followed behind, his left hand clutching a notebook, his right hand gripping a stone awl, his steps steady, glancing back every three steps—clearly a product of professional stealth training. Han Zu didn't immediately revert to his normal form, but remained in his misty state for an extra three minutes—he knew the habits of this retrieval team, formerly the Gray Squad; they would inevitably return to check after leaving. Sure enough, three minutes later, the guard appeared at the corner of the corridor, holding a reflective metal plate. Using the dim light, he examined the niche, and seeing nothing amiss, gave the researcher a safety signal before the two disappeared into the depths of the corridor.

Only when the two footsteps completely disappeared at the end of the corridor did Han Zu return to normal. He suddenly looked down at his palms. Before the mist had formed, his palms had felt a faint burning sensation, and after the mist formed, this feeling seemed to be more pronounced. A tiny wisp of energy suddenly appeared under his skin, wandering around his palms like vines, winding and spreading. He tried to activate his energy conversion ability, and the energy was instantly absorbed, but the burning sensation in his palms not only did not disappear, but spread to his wrists, creating a subtle resonance with the gauntlets of his armor. Han Zu frowned, removed the gauntlets, and examined them with his night vision—some ancient runes had appeared on the inside of the gauntlets, now emitting a faint red glow, subtly echoing the star array symbols on the parchment.

"Could Bastinburg's influence activate some runes hidden on ancient artifacts?"

He silently noted this discovery in his mind, put his gauntlets back on, and took light steps to chase after the two who had left.

Following the guards' earlier instructions, Han Zu didn't directly pursue the two men but instead turned towards the north corridor. The corridor floor was covered in a thick layer of dust, with haphazardly crisscrossed footprints, clearly indicating a fierce fight. Three corpses dressed in dark gray uniforms lay on the ground, the retrieval team insignia on the left chest of their uniforms stained crimson with blood. There were clean cuts on their protective gear, the edges of the wounds tinged with a bluish-black, exactly the same symptoms of "Bone-Eating Mist Corrosion" described on the parchment. Han Zu crouched down and, using his night vision, carefully examined the bodies, discovering broken stone spears and charred hemp ropes scattered beside them—the very weapons used by the "Bone-Eating Sorcerers" mentioned by the researchers. One of the corpses had its fingers clenched tightly. Han Zu gently pried open the fingers with the tip of his knife, revealing half a torn piece of parchment. The writing on it was blurred, but the words "map," "altar," and "full moon" were still clearly discernible.

The corpse's pocket contained a half-soaked notebook, its title page reading "Researcher Eric of the Recycling Team." Han Zu carefully unfolded the notebook; the pages were wrinkled and the writing blurred, but a hand-drawn sketch on one page caught his attention—a star array pattern, seven-tenths similar to the summoning ritual star array he had seen in the box, except for the addition of an ouroboros symbol in the center. Next to the sketch was a line of small print: "The altar is after the third corner of the west corridor; the star array can locate the ring." Han Zu carefully put away the tattered parchment and the notebook, understanding dawning on him: the Recycling Team and the "Bone-Eating Sorcerers" were both searching for the map on the altar. He stood up, preparing to continue his pursuit, when suddenly he heard a muffled explosion from the west corridor, accompanied by the sound of shattering pottery and a strong smell of herbs—the mithril solvent carried by the Recycling Team had exploded.

Han Zu immediately changed direction and ran towards the direction from which the explosion had come. Enveloped in the aura of pollution, his steps were light, almost silent on the ground. Traces of bluish-black energy remained in the cracks of the stones along his path, originating from the same source as the shadowy energy he had previously absorbed. A huge crack appeared in the wall of the west corridor, behind which was a hidden chamber. The door to the chamber had been blown open, and rubble was scattered everywhere. Four people in dark gray uniforms were gathered around the central stone altar; these were the other members of the recovery team—two researchers crouched beside the altar, using stone tools to pry open the stone slabs at the edge; the other two guards stood back-to-back at the entrance, holding machetes and stone spikes, warily watching the corridor beyond the crack. One of them had his uniform sleeve charred, and his arm was wrapped in fresh burlap bandages.

"Hurry! There's only enough solvent to blast open the stone door. 'Shadowless' will come after smelling the fumes!"

An older researcher shouted, his voice hoarse with tension, as he gripped a stone pickaxe and pried at a stone slab on the altar. Beneath the slab lay a yellowed map, its edges torn, its center marked with a complex star array in red ink—a sketch Han Zu had seen in Eric's notebook perfectly matched. Another younger researcher carefully cleaned the dust from the map with a stone shard, muttering, "The seventh patriarch's notes are correct. The altar did indeed contain the map… the three points of the star array are all here."

Han Zu hid in the shadows outside the crack, his body pressed against the cold stone wall, suppressing his breathing. He could clearly see the markings on the map—next to the icon of the secret chamber on the top floor of the west tower, there were two interlocking rings, clearly requiring the Ouroboros Ring as a key. The older researcher finally pried open the stone slab, carefully took out the map, laid it on the altar, and weighed it down with stones. Just then, hurried footsteps came from the end of the corridor; the people arriving were the two figures Han Zu had seen earlier.

"Eric and the others are dead, it was done by the 'Bone-Eating Sorcerers'."