Until this moment, Elena's expression had not softened: "This is... this is a curse, a curse for stepping into the vicinity of the Dark City. The cursed place has been advanced..."
"What do you mean?" When I looked at Elena, the latter took out the sheepskin map again: "Look here!"
The first dangerous place marked on the sheepskin map was a corpse lying on the ground like a clay sculpture. There is also a line of English marked next to the body.
I pointed to the map and said, "What's written on it?"
Lu Xinyao translated: "When the resentful spirits lurking in the soil entangle your footsteps, you will sleep here forever. This is called the place of sculpture."
I compared it with my hand on the map: "The sculpture place is still at least one kilometer away from us. This distance should be safe, right?"
Elena said: "Is it possible that the Cursed Land has spread outward? I have heard that the Cursed Land may spread."
While Elena was speaking, Ye Xun had already pulled out a long knife and pressed the blade between the corpse's eyebrows.
"No!" Elena wanted to stop Ye Xun but it was too late. The latter suddenly slashed his knife from the center of the corpse's eyebrow downwards, and the soil covering the corpse was immediately cut in half by Ye Xun's knife.
What I didn't expect was that the soil covering the corpse turned out to be like a peanut that had been pinched open. It broke into two halves from the middle and exploded on both sides, one on the left and one on the right. A pungent corpse odor instantly erupted. Pouring out of the earth.
Not to mention breathing within a radius of two or three meters, it was difficult to even open my eyes. I just glanced in the direction of the mound, and I felt the pungent odor burning straight into my eyes like fire. I immediately used my hands He covered his eyes and stepped back a few meters.
When I took out the gas mask from my equipment and looked at the corpse, Arthur was already squatting near the soil.
Under the soil layer, except for the scarlet stained by blood, the corpse that should have been lying in the soil was gone. Not even a single bone was left. The nearly inch-thick layer of soil was supported by only a piece of corpse that had been soaked in blood and dried. Clothes that dry out hard.
When I walked forward, Arthur had already used tweezers to pick out a piece of human skin in place of the clay sculpture's face: "This poor gentleman was hollowed out by something."
The person standing near me couldn't help but retched.
Ye Xun appeared next to the corpse one step ahead of me, stretched out his hand and pulled the other person's shoes out of the soil: "This guard was chased here by the evil spirit, and ultimately did not escape the cursed place. He ran too fast and ran away A shoe."
As Ye Xun spoke, he drew a horizontal line on the ground with his knife: "If, I read it correctly, this location is the critical point of the Cursed Land. Going down from here is the Cursed Land. If you escape this location, you will be safe. Cursed place."
Arthur stood up and said: "Your speculation is baseless. Please do not mislead my employer."
Ye Xun sneered and stood in the middle of the horizontal line he had drawn. He held a talisman in each hand and raised it in the air, shaking it twice. The talismans outside the boundary were safe and sound, but the talismans within the boundary suddenly burned in the air.
Ye Xun threw the flaming talisman into the middle of the two-half clay sculpture with a backhand. The raging fire suddenly shot up three feet, and the smell of burnt flesh and skin instantly rose with the wind. The man who had not spit it out could no longer hold on. He spat it out with a "wow" sound.
Arthur spread his hands and said: "Is this your proof? Sorry, what I want to say is that your method is unconvincing. If I put a match into flammable gas, it can still have the same effect as now."
Ye Xun glanced at the other person and walked to my side without saying a word. I said to Elena in a deep voice: "Is our ultimate goal just to reach the castle?"
Elena nodded and said: "Yes. We just have to enter the castle to complete the mission."
"Then let's not follow the map and go around here." I just pointed to the other end of the mountain range.
Four or five people objected together: "No, it's too dangerous to go that way."
I turned to look at the members of the Tulip family: "I hope you can clarify three questions first."
"First, you just entered the dark castle to die. Does it make any difference to you where you die?"
As soon as I finished speaking, everyone's expressions turned gloomy.
I said slowly: "Second, if you don't leave the castle, will you die outside, or simply die under the gun of a killer sent by your family?"
After I finished my second sentence, someone had already firmly grasped the handle of the gun. It wasn't that they wanted to kill people, it was just a reflection of the grief and anger in their hearts that they couldn't express.
I took a step forward and said, "Maybe you think it's possible to escape again after entering the castle from the front and escaping the surveillance of the family guards, right?"
Someone was guessed and subconsciously raised his eyes to look to the side for a few times, then quickly lowered his head.
My voice suddenly rose a bit: "I can tell you, you can't do it. As long as you enter through this road, you will be dead."
I snatched the map from Elena's hand and threw it at the feet of those people: "This is the map left by your family. You can take it and take a closer look. This is not a passage, but a road that forces you to keep going. The magic spell of the castle’s advance.”
Before Lu Xinyao could finish translating my words, Elena had already pounced on the parchment that fell on the ground, but before she could get close to the target, Ren Tianqing put a gun to her head: "Don't move!"
Elena stood up slowly: "Wang Huan, this is a family secret. You have no right to announce it to the public."
I forcibly interrupted the other party: "I'm just telling them the truth. The crisis is marked on this map, but it also gives people a hint. Someone once walked out of the castle."
I turned to look at the members of the Tulip family: "I think you must have heard some kind of legend before. If you get something in the castle or break something in the castle, you can lift the curse and walk out of the castle. Fort. Right?”
After I asked this question, everyone remained silent. I snapped: "Answer me!"
"Yes!" Someone finally answered my question subconsciously.
My voice softened and I said: "Those legends are your hope, so after you encounter the place of death on the map, you will desperately want to break into the castle to find that slim hope. In the end, you will all die. In the castle."
Everyone in the Tulip family looked livid, but Annie said, "Aren't you the family's escort? Do you want to kill us right here?"
I said calmly: "This is the third question I want to tell you. I am not an escort, but a divine explorer from the East. A group of people who make a living by searching for myths and breaking them."
I looked at Annie: "I can tell you bluntly that the purpose of my coming to the Dark Castle is to take away the lost treasures of Dunhuang. Therefore, I will definitely enter the castle and come out alive."
I said in a deep voice: "Because, before I arrived in Britain, I didn't know where the Dunhuang secret treasure was lost, so I accepted Elena's employment. She wanted me to save you."
I scanned the faces of the Tulip family one by one and said, "To be honest, I don't want to lead you into the forbidden area, because you are a burden to me. However, the credibility of the Oriental people does not allow me to go back on my words."
I said in a deep voice: "Now, the opportunity to repent is right in front of me, and I can't refuse it. If any of you are willing to follow me, you must follow my arrangements from now on. No matter what decision I make, you All must obey unconditionally.”
A smile appeared on my face: "Of course, what I hope most is that you tell me that you can't trust me. Then I can legitimately terminate my contract with Elena."
Elena, who was held captive by Ren Tianqing with a gun, suddenly said: "Believe me, Wang Huan, he..."
"Shut up!" Ren Tianqing pushed his gun hard against Elena's head, forcing his words to be suppressed.
Anne came out at this time: "Mr. Wang Huan, on behalf of the Blood Tulip family, I thank you for everything you have done for the family. You showed me the noble character of an Eastern warlock. I believe you."
"No... I..." When Elena was about to speak, I already said, "Xiao Qingtian, let her go! Annie is the one in charge among them."
Elena said complainingly: "Annie, you shouldn't reveal your identity at this time."
Anne smiled elegantly and said: "I believe that Mr. Wang Huan has already seen through my identity with his eyesight. Moreover, a person who knows that his employer cannot be persuaded but is working hard to do things will definitely do his best to protect him." Employer. I trust him.”
Anne said: "From now on, I will listen to your arrangements. Do you need anything else from me?"
I shook my head slightly and said: "It's not enough for you to just listen to my arrangements. I also want you to remember that from now on, you are not members of the Tulip family, nor are you young masters of noble blood, miss. You are a group of people who are fighting for their lives." Struggling outlaws, just like your ancestors."
Someone said with a gloomy face: "Are you insulting the ancestors of your family?"
I responded coldly: "I have not judged your ancestors, but I have to tell you one thing. Your ancestors first survived as pirates by relying on their madness to ignore death, and then they became elegant nobles. And now I need The only pirates are pirates, pirates who never flinch even in the face of the most horrific death."
After I was silent for only a few seconds, the young man who had been slapped by Ren Tianqing stood up and said, "John of the Tulip Pirates, pay tribute to the leader."
"Annie of the Tulip Pirates, salute the leader." Anne stood up second.
The members of the Tulip family stood in front of me one after another. Perhaps, from that time on, I should no longer call them the Tulip family, but the Tulip Pirates.