Chapter 360
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Chapter 360: The Mysterious Bronze Giant Door
In the dim cave, Lin Qiye moved swiftly forward.
It was unclear whether the ant queen had entered a state of revival or had initially healed her injuries, but her crawling speed was increasing. In Lin Qiye’s mental perception, the distance between them was gradually widening…
Eventually, the ant queen escaped Lin Qiye’s perception.
However, Lin Qiye did not stop. Firstly, because there was only one passage in this cave, making it impossible to be shaken off. Secondly, because there were traces of the ant queen’s blood on the ground; as long as he followed the blood trail, he would eventually find her.
Lin Qiye chased through the dark cave for several minutes when the narrow rock walls on both sides suddenly disappeared, and the surrounding space opened up.
Lin Qiye paused, gradually slowing his pace.
Before him lay a vast, pitch-black underground space. Even when Lin Qiye extended his mental perception to its limit, he could not discern its edges, indicating that the diameter of this space was at least over five hundred meters.
Turning back, Lin Qiye saw a smooth, flat wall behind him, with a circular cave several meters high embedded within it. He had just come out from there.
His brow furrowed slightly as he approached the wall and gently rubbed its surface.
Unlike the rocky walls inside the cave, this expansive, flat wall was constructed from blocks of bluish-gray bricks. Contact with his skin transmitted a cool sensation, and there were no gaps between the bricks, as if they had grown together, crafted with exquisite precision.
On the ground in front of the wall, some shattered bricks and dirt were scattered, likely remnants from when the worker ants had dug through the wall.
Artificially constructed? Lin Qiye gazed at the magnificent bluish-gray wall before him, astonishment flickering in his eyes.
It was important to note that this was not just anywhere, but the deepest part of the primeval forest, nearly a hundred meters underground. How could there be such a grand artificial wall here?
Moreover, judging by the quality and craftsmanship of the bricks, this did not seem to be a modern architectural style…
Lin Qiye withdrew his hand, pondering for a moment before continuing to follow the blood trail on the ground.
Although the origin of this wall was indeed suspicious, the immediate priority was to pursue the severely injured ant queen. Nevertheless, Lin Qiye remained vigilant; in such a bizarre environment, he had maximized his perception abilities, ready to respond to any potential danger.
On the ground, the traces of the ant queen’s blood were becoming scarcer, and the clues were increasingly vague. It seemed the ant queen was not in a state of revival but was rapidly recovering from her injuries.
After all, she was a mysterious creature of the sea realm; even if half her body was blown off, she wouldn’t die so easily.
As Lin Qiye tracked the blood trail forward, he suddenly sensed something and froze in place.
He looked up into the deep darkness ahead, a look of intense shock appearing in his eyes.
Wildfires cannot be extinguished; spring winds bring new life.
Puff—!
A faint spark ignited in Lin Qiye’s palm. With this flicker of light, he finally saw the scene before him clearly.
Ahead of him, another wall appeared, but unlike the previous one, this wall was entirely black, emanating an eerie dark light that absorbed all the light falling upon its surface.
In the center of this wall stood a grand and ancient bronze giant door, towering over thirty meters high. The surface of the dust-covered door was riddled with mottled dark green patina, appearing dark red under the firelight. If one stared at it for too long, that eerie dark red seemed to imprint itself in the mind, lingering unshakably.
Lin Qiye quickly shifted his gaze, looking up at the top of the door. The light in his palm could not illuminate the entire bronze giant door, but even so, standing beneath it, he felt an inexplicable sense of oppression enveloping his heart.
The most critical issue was that Lin Qiye’s mental perception could not penetrate this bronze door. Not only this door, but the black stone walls on either side were also impenetrable, as if an invisible force was repelling Lin Qiye’s mental energy, prohibiting any presence from entering.
What on earth is this… Lin Qiye’s brow furrowed tightly, his confusion deepening.
This was the northernmost boundary of the Great Xia, deep within the primeval forest, beneath the earth… Aside from Lin Qiye and his companions, it was impossible for anyone else to have reached this place. Yet, here stood such a bizarre and mysterious man-made structure.
When did it appear? Who built it? What purpose does it serve?
A series of questions surged in Lin Qiye’s mind as he stood before the bronze giant door, lost in thought…
Suddenly, he seemed to recall something and began searching around the bronze giant door.
From the dust on the door, it appeared that this door had not been opened for a very long time. If that were the case, it meant the ant queen had not passed through this door. So where did she go?
Moments later, Lin Qiye found the answer.
He saw that about fifty meters from the bronze door, in the corner of the wall, a massive tunnel slanted down into the ground, approximately seven to eight meters wide, just the right size for the ant queen. From the angle of the tunnel’s entrance, it seemed the ant queen had dug through the black wall and directly gone to the other side…
No, wait!
Lin Qiye carefully observed the shattered soil on the ground, his brow tightening further…
The edges of this tunnel did not curve inward but rather cracked outward. Moreover, judging by the texture of the soil, it seemed this earth had been excavated a long time ago.
In other words… this tunnel was dug from inside the wall to the outside, and it had existed for a long time!
Lin Qiye slowly stood up, his gaze at the tunnel entrance growing serious.
He had initially thought the ant queen was merely a mysterious being that had descended into the crevice of the earth, and that this passage leading to the inside of the bronze giant door was left by her as an escape route. But now it seemed otherwise.
The ant queen had escaped from behind the bronze giant door!
Lin Qiye stared at the remnants of blood at the tunnel entrance and sighed helplessly.
Everything before him had exceeded his expectations. Whether it was the door itself or the unknown risks behind it, it seemed to warn him not to delve any deeper…
He indeed wanted to kill the ant queen, but rational analysis of the current situation indicated that it was no longer suitable to continue the pursuit.
This mission was destined to end here.
Lin Qiye turned around, preparing to leave for the time being, when suddenly, his body froze again.
The faint light flickered in the pitch-black underground space, and under the dim glow, pale paper figures had unknowingly surrounded him from behind…
Their hollow eyes stared fixedly at Lin Qiye, and the corners of their mouths, painted in crimson, curved into an eerie arc, as if they were smiling.
