Chapter 74
Chapter 74
A section of the dirty cloth wrapped around Aman’s hand hung loose.
Following the direction of his finger, Han Lie and the others saw the massive, ancient stone temple at the end of the rocky wasteland.
The giant stones bore obvious signs of carving and contained some kind of rare mineral. In the shadows, they shimmered with a dark, starlike luster.
The temple was incredibly tall and primitive in design. From Qin Ying’s perspective, Han Lie and his companions looked even smaller against the backdrop of the structure.
She couldn’t help but click her tongue in wonder, imagining the terror and awe the Sand People must feel when seeing such a colossal building. No wonder this place was called the Divine Shrine.
After observing closely, a doubt surfaced in Qin Ying’s mind.
Compared to the size of Han Lie and the others, this Divine Shrine was equivalent to Qin Ying standing before a twenty-story skyscraper. Furthermore, this skyscraper was constructed from solid, monolithic stone.
Never mind the technological level of the people in the World in the Box; even in Qin Ying’s own world, a building of this scale would be impossible to construct. The question then was: who had built this Divine Shrine in the middle of this desert filled with White Jade?
As Qin Ying was speculating, Han Lie, who had been stunned by the magnificent architecture, was the first to snap back to his senses.
He took a deep breath and asked, “Aman, do you know what it’s like inside?”
A cool breeze blew across the rocky flats. Aman pulled down the cloth covering his face, revealing features made hideous by a thick coating of black burn ointment.
He stared blankly at the Divine Shrine that the Sand People tribes had offered sacrifices to for untold generations.
Hearing Han Lie’s question, Aman withdrew his gaze and shook his head.
“I don’t know. I’ve never been inside.”
This magnificent Divine Shrine, which could not have been built by human hands, had always held a supreme status among the thirty-six tribes of the Sand People. Oral traditions passed down through the tribes warned that no one was ever allowed to approach the vicinity of the Divine Shrine.
When the Sand People gathered White Jade from the rocky wasteland or searched for Immortal Grass, they would tacitly keep their distance. Aman didn’t even know what was in the surrounding area, let alone what was inside.
Hearing his answer, Han Lie and the others were somewhat disappointed. The less information they had, the more dangerous it would be.
Wang Chang asked unwillingly, “Are you all really that law-abiding? Has truly no one ever gone in? I don’t believe it!”
He was an old hunter of the Jade Balance Army who had traveled far and wide, and he knew one thing for certain-humans were creatures who didn’t follow rules and loved to court death.
Wang Chang didn’t believe that with this Divine Shrine standing here for countless years, not a single one of the Sand People who entered the mountains every month had been curious. Had every single one of them truly followed the rules throughout the ages?
Just as Wang Chang expected, Aman thought for a moment, his eyes shifting for a second.
With the black ointment on Aman’s face, the guilty roll of his eyes was particularly noticeable.
Wang Chang clapped his hands and said happily, “What did I tell you? Someone has definitely been inside.”
Aman’s lips moved tentatively.
Han Lie also saw through him and spoke plainly, “This journey is perilous. The more information we have, the better our chances of success.”
After an internal struggle, Aman finally told the truth. “There is a story the elders in the tribe often tell. But I don’t know if it’s true or false.”
Seeing this, Wang Chang urged, “Tell us! We’ll judge for ourselves whether it’s true or not.”
Wu Er added, “We hunters of the Jade Balance Army often find key clues about Monstrous Beasts in stories or legends. Go ahead and tell us.”
Among the Sand People tribes in the Crimson Glow Desert, only the Shaman possessed the knowledge of their written language. Most of the tribe’s history was recorded in the parchment scrolls held by the Shaman, written in the form of poetry or myth. During this process, the death of a Shaman could lead to certain records being distorted or lost.
Under everyone’s gaze, Aman told a story that circulated only among the Sand People and had never been recorded by a Shaman.
In the Crimson Glow Western Mountain, there was once a tribe called the Guifang…
The Guifang Tribe was the first to submit to Great Xia and engage in trade, which made them exceptionally powerful and wealthy.
Great power often breeds tyranny. A hundred years ago, a highly ambitious and incredibly cruel leader emerged within the Guifang Tribe.
This chieftain murdered his own father and fashioned his father’s skull into a wine cup.
Following the Sand People’s custom of levirate marriage, he took all of his father’s concubines into his own tent, sparing only his biological mother.
Driven by immense ambition, the chieftain attempted to unify the desert tribes and challenge Great Xia.
His grand vision was magnificent in his imagination, but the execution proved problematic.
He lacked the strength to support his ambition and brutality.
He marched out of the Chixia Desert with great fanfare, only to be chased back like a dog by the Great Xia border army.
Ultimately, he fled back in disgrace.
Refusing to accept defeat and realizing that conventional forces were insufficient, the chieftain turned his gaze elsewhere-to the Divine Shrine hidden deep within Golden Saddle Mountain.
Leading the warriors of his tribe, he sacrificed stallions to the Thunderbird and defied ancestral warnings to enter the Divine Shrine in search of power.
However, the tyrannical chieftain vanished amidst the thunder and was never seen again.
Following this event, the Sand People of the Chixia Desert fractured once more into thirty-six tribes.
As Aman reached this point in his story, Han Lie and Wu Er understood why he had been so hesitant earlier.
After all, the Sand People Rebellion a century ago had been the direct catalyst for the establishment of the Yunwu Border Prefecture.
Great Xia had officially defined the event as a rebellion, making it a sensitive topic.
Wang Chang slammed a fist into his palm. “Could the Hanba be that Guifang Chieftain?”
He wanted to press Aman for more details.
But Aman simply gave a bitter smile and spread his hands.
After the Sand People Rebellion, Great Xia had sent troops to exert dominance. It could be said that the fragmentation of the Sand People back into thirty-six tribes was the handiwork of Great Xia.
The Guifang Tribe had been completely purged, and everyone associated with them was implicated.
The resulting bloodbath was so severe that the Sand People tribes never dared to harbor another thought of dissent. They would rather find ways to poison the Thunderbird to seek Immortal Grass than resist the tyranny of Great Xia.
Anyone who knew the full truth had died long ago, and no one dared to record the story in the parchment ledgers.
It was clearly impossible to get more details from Aman now.
Seeing that no more information could be gleaned, Wang Chang scratched his head in frustration.
The atmosphere grew tense and stagnant.
Finally, Han Lie stood up. He checked the sky and said to Wu Er, “Aman and I will go inside. I’ll have to trouble you, Brother Wu Er, to provide support from out here.”
Han Lie’s arrangement followed the standard scouting protocols of the Jade Balance Army.
However, Wu Er hesitated. He frowned at Han Lie and asked, “Just you?”
After hearing Aman’s story and the theory that the Hanba might be one of the Sand People, Wu Er felt uneasy, worried that Aman might not be trustworthy.
He was inclined to have Han Lie take Wang Chang along as well.
But Han Lie refused.
Wang Chang was highly skilled, which was exactly why he needed to stay behind to secure their retreat.
Han Lie reassured Wu Er, “Don’t worry, Second Brother.”
The Supreme Deity is watching us.
He didn’t say the words aloud, but Wu Er let out a long sigh.
With the decision made, both sides began their preparations.
They found a flat area sheltered from the light and redistributed their gear.
Han Lie and Aman did not carry many food supplies; the mountain was full of snakes, so food would not be an issue. They only carried enough water.
They also divvied up the Toad Venom they had brought.
Meanwhile, Wu Er and the others set up camp on the only path through the area.
They would wait to provide backup or… to carry the news out of Golden Saddle Mountain if Han Lie died.
Half an hour later, both teams were ready.
Wu Er and his men gathered around the Lightning Avoidance Cart, burying some Toad Venom in the gravel to ward off the Fei Yi.
Han Lie and Aman then set off on the path toward the Divine Shrine.