Chapter 9

Chapter 9

After running for our lives for a while, we came to a fork up ahead. I crouched down to check the footprints on the ground, then dragged Jiang Haoyan with me and sprinted down the left passage.

Before long, light appeared ahead, along with snatches of conversation. Without needing to say a word, we both lightened our steps.

Jiang Haoyan and I pressed ourselves against the wall and quickly poked our heads out for a look.

We had more or less reached the very center of the pyramid. The space suddenly opened up before us.

In the middle stood two long rectangular stone platforms. Opposite them was a brilliantly colored mural, and on the platforms lay two mummies. They had to be Lu Lingzhu and Song Feifei.

A woman dressed in traditional Egyptian clothing was dancing around the two platforms. Classical Egyptian music was playing beside her, the kind that made even me want to gag, never mind a snake.

The woman seemed to be some kind of priestess. As she danced, she chanted under her breath, singing a whole string of words I couldn’t understand at all. Translator Little Jiang also indicated that he was completely helpless.

Beneath the mural sat an old man with a graying beard, eyes closed and legs crossed.

Beside him was a huge pile of ritual offerings: bread, a deer leg, vegetables, spices, and more, all arranged on ornate golden trays in two neat rows.

When the priestess finished one segment of her dance, the old man opened his eyes. The priestess nodded to him, and he stood, walking over to the mummified Lu Lingzhu.

Two men in black stepped forward and helped Lu Lingzhu down from the platform. The old man placed Lu Lingzhu’s feet on top of his own, gripped her arms with both hands, pressed himself against her back, and guided her forward.

The whole process was so bizarre and eerie that I barely dared to breathe.

The old man led Lu Lingzhu all the way to the mural. Everyone stared at them. Then, right before our eyes, the old man kept walking, and the mummy in front of him smacked headfirst into the wall with a dull thud.

Oh, this was bad. Lu Lingzhu’s brain had never worked that well to begin with. That hit was no joke. What if it actually knocked her stupid?

The old man looked rather angry. A short man in a black robe beside him immediately got up to soothe him.

“Don’t rush-”

The moment he spoke, Jiang Haoyan and I both widened our eyes in shock.

This guy was actually Chinese!

The old man gave a cold snort.

“Jack, if you dare lie to me-”

The young man called Jack bowed and scraped, then switched to English.

“Hahaha, how could I? I might fool anyone, but I’d never dare fool you. Besides, with a brain like yours, could I even manage it? Let’s not rush. Let’s try the other one-”

With a cold expression, the old man put Lu Lingzhu back on the stone platform. Then he helped Song Feifei up and repeated the same process, gripping her arms as he walked her forward.

This time, however, Song Feifei was awake.

She clearly had no desire to watch herself crash into the wall. When the old man reached the mural, Song Feifei quietly pressed two fingers against the wall.

Feeling a force of resistance coming from the front, the old man was overjoyed.

“I felt it. It’s stopping me from entering!”

Jack said, “Huh?”

“Oh, oh, you have to let it feel your sincerity. Only then will the Gate of Eternal Life open.”

The old man nodded and took a deep breath. Once he had calmed down, he continued pushing Song Feifei toward the wall.

Song Feifei panicked. She pressed her entire palm against the wall and tensed her body.

The old man kept pushing her forward. Song Feifei braced both hands against the wall, then even lifted one knee and jammed it against the surface too.

Everyone was dumbfounded.

The scene was so funny that I couldn’t help letting out a snort of laughter. And right then, the barrel of a gun pressed into my back.

Jiang Haoyan and I raised our hands as someone shoved us out from behind.

“Boss, these are the two Asians who have been following us. Should we kill them?”

When Jack saw us, he immediately jumped in place and pointed at me.

“Ah, so they’re the ones who ruined the ritual!

“With them here, the Pharaoh is resisting and refusing to guide you into the Gate of Eternal Life!”