After Chen Long finished reading the warning on the stone door, Hill scoffed. They had suffered losses and casualties, and many people had died. Having come this far, there was no way they would turn back because of a trifling warning.
Not only would they be unable to report back empty-handed, but Hill herself would not be reconciled. More importantly, the path they took was blocked, leaving them no possibility of retreat. The Su Dan novel network.
With their resolve to enter firm, only one problem remained: how to open this massive stone door.
The stone door was fourteen meters high, equivalent to nearly five stories.
A stone door of this magnitude was absolutely beyond human strength to push open, and even with most mechanical equipment, it would be extremely difficult to open.
But Hill was still unwilling to give up, perhaps it was just a paper tiger, all show and no substance.
Just as Hill was firmly resolved to push open the stone door, before her hand could even touch it, the enormous stone door moved on its own. It was then slowly pushed open from the inside, startling Hill into drawing her gun and going on alert.
However, when she saw that the person emerging from within was merely a scrawny, short old man, her wariness lessened considerably.
After the old man emerged, he ignored Hill and her companions. He clasped his hands together and slowly walked to Old Man, who was at the rear of the group. After sizing him up, he lightly bowed.
Old Man responded by also clasping his hands and returning the gesture.
Then, the old man spoke, his voice slightly hoarse. He spoke not in Eagle language or Bear country language, but in a new language. If one had to draw a similarity, it might be to the language of Zhonghua.
Just as everyone was listening in confusion, Old Man not only understood but also conversed with him in the same language.
The old man was clearly surprised that Old Man could speak his language.
The two chatted for quite some time in their incomprehensible language.
After their conversation, they bowed to each other again. The old man then went to the doorway, sat down cross-legged, placed his clasped hands on his chest, and closed his eyes.
Chen Long hurried to Old Man's side and asked, "Old Man, who is he? What did you two say?"
Not only Chen Long, but Hill and the Shield agents were also extremely curious.
They were deep in a tomb. The only food available seemed to be the beetles outside, and coupled with the dark environment, they truly had no idea how this person had survived until now.
"He is a monk who has been here for forty years. The language he speaks is a long-lost one," Old Man said, glancing at the old man who was meditating with closed eyes. He continued, "He told me not to enter the door, as it is a path of no return, a road to death. No one who enters ever comes out alive. If we choose to leave, he will show us a way to the outside, dug by his companions when they left."
"A monk? His companions?"
Chen Long pondered for a moment before exclaiming, "He is the monk you told me about, Old Man, the one who volunteered to stay and guard the Eye of Horus!"
Hearing Chen Long's words, everyone present gasped.
Soon, a hot-tempered agent grumbled, "Alright, I don't care if he's a monk or what kind of monk, we've come this far. Let's get the item and leave quickly."
With that, he walked towards the stone door.
Initially, they thought the monk sitting at the entrance would stop him from entering. However, the monk merely opened his eyes, looked at him, shook his head, sighed, and made no further move.
"Crazy."
The agent cursed and walked through the stone door. However, soon after, a scream and the sound of chewing emanated from behind the door.
The piercing sound turned everyone's faces pale. There was no doubt that the agent who went in had met with misfortune.
Hill could not stand it any longer.
She had led so many well-trained agents on this tomb expedition, and now, dead and wounded, only she and one agent with an injured left arm remained. Everyone else was dead.
She lunged forward, grabbed the old man from the ground, and said fiercely, "My companions have died too many times. You'd better hand over the item, or I'll send you to join them."
Facing Hill's threat, the monk remained unmoved. After a long moment, he opened his eyes and said, "Those who are fearful and have impure hearts cannot pass this final trial. Go back while you still have some left."
"You!"
Hill was about to erupt when Chen Long, behind her, stopped her.
After being released, Chen Long stepped forward and said to the monk, "I don't care if you can understand me or not, but we are determined to obtain the Eye of Horus."
With that, he walked straight into the stone door.
Seeing this, Hill shot the monk a venomous glare and followed him in.
As Old Man was about to enter the stone door, the monk suddenly spoke.
"Inner demon."
Hearing these two words, Old Man's body trembled, and he quickened his pace to catch up.
But by the time Old Man passed through the stone door and prepared to warn the two, it was too late.
Chen Long and Hill, one after the other, had already stepped onto the trial path.
The so-called trial path was made up of five connected square stones, each 2x2 meters.
Each stone was carved with different patterns. Upon closer inspection, it was evident that the patterns on each stone were independent, resembling some kind of deformed beast.
At first, the two did not pay much attention to these strange patterns. However, after taking three steps, they began to hear strange sounds, like the chewing of food by beasts, and faint whispers. The content was unclear, but it was deeply unsettling.
The further they walked, the more whispers they heard.
Hill, already agitated by the heavy losses of her companions, subconsciously looked down.
It was a mistake to look.
It was merely a subconscious glance, but the patterns on the stones were etched into Hill's mind as if by a chisel, drawing her to look further.
Immediately, the patterns on the stones began to twist, and black energy billowed out from them.
"Miss Hill?"
Hearing no movement from Hill behind him for a long time, sensing that something was wrong, he was about to turn back when Old Man's shout stopped him.
"Chen Long! Don't look back!"
Perhaps out of trust in Old Man, or for some other reason, Chen Long stopped, forcing himself to turn his half-turned head back.
And behind Chen Long, a wave of black energy surged upwards, reassembling in the air to form a grotesquely shaped monster, entirely made of black energy. It seized Hill in its grasp and began to devour her.
This was the inner demon that the monk had spoken of to Old Man at the entrance.
This was an ancient Egyptian secret technique that extracted and materialized the deepest fears of a person.
Because these materialized monsters originated from the human heart, they were called inner demons.