Free Web NovelChapter 565: The Demonic Sect Appears
Although the guide tried to hide it, Gabriel still noticed the subtle reaction in the man’s eyes.
It only lasted for a moment. The guide’s breathing paused slightly, and his gaze flickered toward the black smear near the door before quickly returning to normal.
Gabriel pretended not to notice. He simply removed his hand from the stone and stepped back half a pace, letting the guide believe the reaction had gone unseen. A man who hid things often revealed more when he thought he was safe.
IceQueen looked between them before turning toward Gabriel. "What is it?"
Gabriel’s eyes stayed on the black residue for another second before he spoke.
"The qi here is different. Not tomb qi. Not normal Tianlan qi either."
ChaosCleric frowned. "Different how?"
"Impure."
Several ChaosKnight members stiffened slightly, and even VV’s helmet turned toward the black mark again. The guide quickly forced a calm expression onto his face before speaking.
"It is an old tomb. There are strange energies everywhere here. It may mean nothing."
Gabriel slowly turned his head toward him.
The guide’s throat moved slightly under that gaze, and although Gabriel still said nothing, the pressure alone made the man visibly more nervous. His fingers tightened briefly around the lantern hanging from his waist before he looked away first.
Gabriel did not press him further. Instead, he placed one hand against the heavy stone door and pushed. The old mechanism groaned loudly as dust shook loose from above.
"Open it," Gabriel ordered.
VV stepped forward immediately.
The massive armored figure planted one hand against the door while two other ChaosKnight members assisted from the side. The stone entrance resisted briefly before finally sliding inward with a deep grinding sound.
GRRRRKKK!!!
Cold air flowed out from the darkness beyond.
Gabriel stepped through first without hesitation. IceQueen followed close behind him while the others entered more cautiously, their eyes scanning the new passage immediately.
The corridor ahead was narrow. Black veins covered the walls from floor to ceiling, spreading across the stone like old roots buried beneath skin. Some veins pulsed faintly with dark qi, and others stretched deep into the cracks above them.
One of the members frowned instantly. "I do not like this place."
"No one asked you to," another member muttered quietly.
Gabriel’s eyes narrowed slightly behind the mask.
The veins released a faint toxin into the air. It was not strong enough to affect him directly, but the qi mixed into it carried dangerous properties.
One ChaosKnight member near the back inhaled slightly deeper than normal, and his body froze immediately.
Before anyone could react, his skin turned gray around the neck and jaw, spreading upward rapidly like ash moving beneath flesh. The man collapsed onto the floor without even managing to scream.
The entire corridor became silent as everyone watched the scene with horrified gazes.
Gabriel looked down at the corpse briefly before speaking calmly. "Cover your noses. The veins are releasing toxin."
IceQueen flickered her fingers. Ice spread around her lower face instantly while several others tore pieces of cloth from their clothing to block their breathing. VV simply lowered the helmet visor fully with a metallic click.
The guide’s expression became uglier. There was no discomfort on his face, and if anyone paid attention to him, they could tell he was not really affected by the veins, but he still shifted his clothes over his nose anyway.
The group proceeded afterward. Nobody wanted to stay near the fresh corpse longer than necessary. Their steps became quieter now, and the narrow corridor only made the pressure worse as the black veins continued pulsing faintly around them.
Gabriel walked at the front silently. His perception remained spread through the walls carefully while Qi Manipulation guided part of the surrounding pressure away from his body. The deeper they went, the stranger the qi became.
Several minutes later, Gabriel suddenly stopped.
IceQueen nearly asked why before Gabriel moved first.
FWOOOSH!!!
His blade flashed sideways and slammed directly into the wall.
BOOM!
Stone exploded outward instantly, and several ChaosKnight members jerked backward in alarm while dust filled part of the narrow passage. One ChaosKnight guild member almost raised his staff before realizing Gabriel had not attacked randomly.
Something moved inside the broken wall.
At first, it looked like smoke.
Slowly, ash gathered together into the shape of a face pressed against the stone itself. Hollow white eyes opened inside the wall, and a thin crease split across the middle where a mouth should have been.
The creature stared directly at them.
The ash face twitched slightly.
Its mouth opened wider, stretching unnaturally across the cracked wall as part of its body began forcing itself outward. Black ash spilled from the stone while long fingers started forming beneath the face.
Gabriel moved before it fully emerged.
SHIIING!!!
His blade cut downward with a sharp twitch.
The ash creature split apart instantly before even finishing its movement out of the wall. Black particles exploded across the corridor before fading rapidly into nothingness.
Something small struck the floor afterward.
Tick.
Tick.
Tick.
A black bead rolled slowly across the stone and stopped near IceQueen’s boot.
Everyone stared at it cautiously. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
The bead was smooth and dark with faint qi moving beneath the surface. Tiny cracks covered parts of it like dried veins frozen inside glass.
Gabriel crouched slightly and picked it up carefully.
[Ash Listening Core]
[Description: A weak surveillance core formed from dead qi and ash. Can record nearby voices and emotions.]
"What is that?" IceQueen said, reaching for the bead. When she saw it, her eyes widened.
Gabriel’s perception had sensed it earlier. Not the creature itself, but the strange presence hiding inside the walls around them.
Something had been watching the group since they entered this corridor.
...
Far deeper inside the tomb, a black robed man opened his eyes.
He sat cross legged inside a ruined hall. Around him, several corpses hung from the ceiling with black nails through their palms.
A cracked bead in front of him turned to ash.
One of the other robed figures looked over.
"The listener was destroyed?"
The seated man nodded slowly. "By whom?"
The man was silent for a moment. Then he smiled.
"The masked one." freewebnovel.cσ๓
A woman standing near the wall turned her head. Her robe was cleaner than the others, and a small black nail floated behind her shoulder.
Her eyes were calm as she asked, "Is he the one who crossed the corpse formation?"
"Yes, Senior Sister Mo."
Mo Shiyun looked toward the distant corridor, and her eyes glinted.
"Interesting."
The seated man asked, "Should we kill them before they reach the guidance spike?"
Mo Shiyun did not answer at once, seemingly lost in thought before she snapped back to reality and smiled faintly.
"No. Let them come closer."
The others lowered their heads.
Mo Shiyun looked at the dark path ahead.
"If he can see through our marks, then he may be useful before he dies. Who knows? He may finally be able to get rid of that idiot watching over the spike."
