ryethenovel Chapter 12 The Curse of the Queen of Jingjue
Chapter 12 The Curse of the Queen of Jingjue
The first rays of morning sunlight pierced through the thin clouds over the desert and shone on the crumbling walls of the ancient city of Jingjue.
The dark golden luster looked even more eerie in the morning light, as if this dead city, which had been sleeping for two thousand years, was slowly opening its malevolent eyes.
Lin Mu was the first to wake up.
He sat outside the tent, quietly gazing at the ancient city in the distance, his deep eyes revealing no emotion.
After incorporating the Zhang Qiling template, his need for sleep has dropped to an extremely low level.
Last night, while everyone else slept soundly by the campfire, he alone remained vigilant, keeping watch all night long.
"Lin Mu, you didn't sleep all night?"
Su Nianwei came out of the tent and saw Lin Mu's back. She asked him with some heartache.
"I slept for a while."
Lin Mu gave a perfunctory reply, stood up, and patted the sand off his body.
He hadn't actually slept, but he didn't want Su Nianwei to worry.
Soon, everyone woke up one after another.
After a quick breakfast and packing their gear, Professor Zhou took a deep breath and looked at Lin Mu: "Lin Mu, can we... go in now?"
Lin Mu nodded.
The team set off again.
This time, their target is the ancient city of Jingjue, which stands before them, a place fraught with unknowns and dangers.
Upon closer inspection, the dilapidated city gate, towering over ten meters high, appeared even more awe-inspiring.
The densely packed eye totems carved on the lintel seem to be turning under the sunlight, watching over every intruder who dares to step inside.
Don't look at those eyes.
Lin Mu reminded him again.
Everyone immediately lowered their heads, not daring to look any longer.
Having experienced the mental suggestion array in the canyon, they had developed a psychological aversion to these eerie eye totems.
The moment I stepped through the city gate, a chilling, biting wind swept over me.
Although the desert outside was still hot, the temperature inside the city was at least ten degrees lower.
Moreover, there was an extremely strange smell in the air.
It wasn't the stench of decay or mold, but rather an extremely dry, deathly odor, as if all moisture had been drained away.
"It's so oppressive here."
Ye Zhi Qiu gripped Su Nian Wei's arm tightly, his voice trembling.
Most of the buildings in the city have collapsed into ruins.
But you can still see the prosperity of those days.
A wide stone-paved road, lined with dilapidated houses on both sides.
Some houses still retain colorful murals on their walls.
Those murals depict scenes from the height of the Jingjue Kingdom—caravans, markets, sacrifices, wars…
However, all the figures in the murals, without exception, share a common characteristic.
Their eyes were painted extremely large, taking up a third of their faces, and their pupils were pure black, without a trace of white.
"This country's... worship of the eye has reached a pathological level."
Professor Zhou looked at the murals and murmured to himself.
The team continued deeper into the area.
The further you go in, the stronger the oppressive and eerie feeling becomes.
Moreover, it's unclear when exactly, but some members of the team started experiencing mild discomfort.
A young graduate student suddenly stopped and rubbed his temples: "Professor, I'm a little dizzy..."
"Me too……"
Another team member chimed in: "And I always feel... that someone is watching me."
Professor Zhou's expression changed, and he immediately looked at Lin Mu.
Lin Mu frowned slightly.
He knew this was a precursor to hallucination.
Within the ancient city of Jingjue, a certain colorless and odorless hallucinogenic substance permeates the air.
It could be a special plant spore, or it could be the residue of some kind of incense burned during ancient rituals.
In short, the longer you stay here, the greater the impact you will have.
"Speed up, don't linger here too long."
Lin Mu said in a deep voice.
The team quickened their pace.
After walking for about ten more minutes, a wide open square finally appeared ahead.
In the very center of the square was a huge, bottomless black hole.
Bottomless Ghost Cave!
Even during the day, the black hole remains pitch black, as if it could swallow all light.
Above the black hole, spans a stone bridge made of huge rocks.
The stone bridge is only about two meters wide, has no railings, and lies below the bottomless abyss.
One wrong step and you'll plunge into endless darkness.
At the head of the stone bridge stands a huge stone monument, three meters high.
The stone tablet was densely covered with an extremely ancient script that looked like scribbled characters.
Ghost Cave Text!
"This...this is the legendary bottomless ghost cave?"
Professor Zhou walked to the edge of the black hole, cautiously looked down, and was immediately frightened by the bottomless darkness, taking two steps back.
"Professor, watch out!"
Chen Wentao quickly helped him up.
"What is written on this stone tablet?"
Professor Zhou forcibly suppressed his fear and looked at the huge stone tablet.
He took out a magnifying glass and carefully examined the strange characters, but no matter how he looked at them, he couldn't understand their meaning.
"This script... there is currently no precedent in academia for deciphering it..."
Professor Zhou's voice was filled with helplessness and resentment.
Just then, a clear, cold voice rang out behind him.
"I'll give it a try."
Lin Mu walked up to the stone tablet.
His gaze calmly swept over the densely packed ghost cave script.
Zhang Qiling's template's tomb raiding knowledge base includes basic interpretation skills for Jingjue and Guidong texts.
Although he couldn't achieve a 100% accurate translation, he could understand the general meaning.
"Lin Mu, you...you really can understand it?"
Professor Zhou's voice was trembling.
Lin Mu did not answer, but simply stared at the stone tablet, his lips moving slightly as he read out each word.
"Those who trespass into the Queen's sleeping place..."
"They will surely be cursed by the God of Black Eyes..."
"Those who cross this bridge..."
"The soul will be forever plunged into an abyss..."
"The living will not find peace..."
"The dead may not be reincarnated..."
With each line recited, the temperature in the air seemed to drop by another degree.
When Lin Mu finished reading the last word, everyone felt a chilling coldness shoot from the soles of their feet straight to the top of their heads.
The chat room fell silent once again at this moment.
Then, a barrage of comments flooded the screen like a tsunami.
Holy crap! This curse is terrifying!
[Souls forever condemned to the abyss? The living never find peace? This is tantamount to total annihilation!]
[Lin Shen is at it again! Is it because he happens to have an old book at home?]
Stop guessing, call the police! This guy still dares to say he's not from a family of tomb raiders?!
Professor Zhou looked at Lin Mu with a look of shock, awe, and a deep fear in his eyes.
"Lin Mu... this... this is also recorded in the ancient books in your family?"
Lin Mu withdrew his gaze and nodded slightly.
"Yes, this passage is recorded in an ancient book."