Chapter 1 A Large Space

The Fatty, Rouyi, and Han Yu followed the wind currents into a large space, where yet another temple stood.

The temple's exterior was identical to the ones they'd seen before, constructed from gray-black rock. However, this temple was much larger overall, seemingly even taller than the mountain-like temple of the God-King Rao.

Because of their young master's previous experience, the three were much more cautious. They didn't enter the temple, only peering inside from the outside.

Inside, the statue of "Zambiga" was a full nine stories tall, like a super-sized version of the shadowy monster. Details they hadn't noticed before were now visible on the statue.

It was no exaggeration to say that if the statue were alive, the Fatty, Rouyi, and Han Yu wouldn't even be enough to fill its teeth.

The statue's massive body blotted out the sky, like a black cloud hanging over the temple. Its six legs resembled six towering cranes, each foot ending in a giant hand, the size of a helicopter.

The statue's grotesque, twisted head was covered in dense, eye-like tentacles. Its large, deep mandibles and jagged, uneven teeth were horrifying.

Scattered around the statue were piles of human skulls and shinbones of varying sizes, numbering in the hundreds.

Upon seeing this, the Fatty clicked his tongue and exclaimed, "How much does the God-Kingdom worship this monster? Damn, they built such a huge statue and used so many people as sacrifices!"

Rouyi recalled their earlier experience in the temple and felt that something was off, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it from the outside.

Behind the temple, the Fatty discovered a stone wall made of giant rocks, its height matching that of the temple.

The rocks were nearly identical in size, clearly cut and moved artificially. They were joined by a yellow substance, with uniformly sized air holes in between.

The Fatty could clearly feel wind blowing steadily from the other side of the stone wall through the air holes.

On one side of the stone wall, at the bottom, was a bronze door, thicker and heavier than the ones they'd seen in the other temples. It was clear that the Fatty, Rouyi, and Han Yu wouldn't be able to move it.

Undeterred, the Fatty and the others tried to push the door several times, but they couldn't budge it even an inch, despite their exhaustion.

Leaning against the stone wall, the Fatty sat on the ground, feeling incredibly disappointed. The exit was right in front of them, but they couldn't open the door.

Rouyi comforted the Fatty, saying, "Let's wait for the young master. He'll definitely have a way."

But they waited and waited, and the young master didn't appear.

Rouyi asked the Fatty worriedly, "Could the young master be in trouble?"

The Fatty patted his chest and assured her that everything was fine.

"Miss Foreigner, think about it. The young master was so weak back then that he couldn't even kill a chicken at Old Zhang's place."

The Fatty laughed bitterly. "...Later, in the temple, he zoomed—zoomed—zoomed—up a five-meter-high platform and jumped straight down, completely unharmed. He dealt with those living dead as easily as swatting flies. He's definitely not one of us mortals anymore."

"At first, I didn't believe in any of this god and ghost stuff until I saw it with my own eyes. The Old God-King spat a mouthful of golden liquid 'phlegm' into the young master's mouth, and he completely changed as if he'd been reborn. He might even have inherited the Old God-King's mantle." The Fatty joked, "The God-Kingdom might be about to be restored... Do you think I can ask the young master to make me a king?"

It was the first time Rouyi rolled her eyes at the Fatty since entering the underground palace. Only he could be in the mood for jokes at a time like this.

But the Fatty was right. Ever since the young master was possessed and then gazed at the Old God-King on the high platform, he had changed, feeling much more distant.

Ancient Chinese Taoism had a theory called "duoshe" (奪舍), which meant seizing another person's body for one's own use, or reviving by borrowing someone else's body.

Although the Fatty was joking, he was actually very worried that this was really happening to the young master.

If that were the case, the Old God-King would revive by borrowing the young master's body, and the young master would definitely not survive. Moreover, if the God-Kingdom was restored, what would become of them? Remembering the people who were hung on meat racks as food and the pregnant women who had their limbs removed, the Fatty felt a chill run down his spine.

Of course, the Fatty only thought about the "duoshe" theory himself. If he told Rouyi, she might have other ideas, adding to their worries.

At this moment, Rouyi suggested going into the temple to look at the carvings on the walls, hoping to find some clues.

The Fatty stopped her, fearing that Rouyi might suddenly go crazy like the young master. They were about to leave, so it was best not to cause any more trouble.

Rouyi insisted, promising to come out immediately if she sensed anything wrong.

Han Yu understood Rouyi's desire to explore. When her interest was piqued, she was willing to take risks.

With Han Yu's help, the Fatty was finally persuaded.

They discussed their plan: Rouyi would go in, but she would only look at the hieroglyphs carved on the walls. She would not look at or touch anything else. If she discovered anything unusual or showed any abnormal behavior, the Fatty would be responsible for rushing in and pulling her out.

After Rouyi entered the temple, she found that because this temple was larger than the ones she had seen before, there were also more hieroglyphs carved on the walls.

After seeing the writing on the walls, she suddenly realized that the carvings in each temple were actually different, as if they were records of "Zambiga" at different stages of the God-Kingdom's history.

Part of the content was about the offerings:

"Since its founding, the Gakuye God-Kingdom has used living people as sacrifices to offer to the great god 'Zambiga' for its enjoyment. As the great god 'Zambiga' grows, the number of living sacrifices offered also increases.

The Gakuye God-Kingdom is formed by the merger of multiple tribes. At its peak, the God-Kingdom had tens of thousands of people. The underground palace of the God-Kingdom is built and divided by tribe, but the lifestyles of each tribe are exactly the same.

The primary purpose of establishing the God-Kingdom is to worship the great god 'Zambiga'.

Therefore, the God-Kingdom has had to adopt a terrifying and extreme organizational method to maintain rule and improve production and reproduction efficiency..."

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