"I guess this is just how it should end.", he rea.s.sured himself as he stepped inside the hidden room in the treasury. The room was closer to a locker than a room, and its insides were only big enough to contain a large chest. Blank-Faced Joe took out an electric lamp from a pocket under his chest and put it on the sides of the walls.Finally, the chest appeared in his sight, and he couldn"t help but sigh as he saw that it was just an ordinary-looking chest. He cracked a laugh as he crouched down and took out the star shaped key while readying himself. "What a joke…", he couldn"t help but exclaim as he approached the star shaped key toward the chest. Its shape was similar to the chests that were used as furniture. It was made of wood, and the only difference was the way to open it. A star shaped indent could be seen on the lock, and there was no need to be a genius to know that it was the place where the key should be put to reveal its content.
He steeled his resolve and inserted the key on the indent in the chest"s lock. A clicking sound notified him that the chest could now be opened, and as he began applying strength to lift it, he felt a cold wind travel through the nearby pathway that led to the hidden room. He swiftly turned around, and his eyes couldn"t help but open up from surprise. His heart thumped from the figure that appeared on his sight, and although he basked in darkness with only a soft electric light showing him a few lines. He immediately recognized the individual in front of him. To be more precise, he recognized the particular mask the individual was wearing.
Although he couldn"t see its color, he knew its shape and could draw it while blinding his sight. That was the extent of preciseness his memory had when dealing with the mask"s wearer. "You"re not greeting me after all this time?" a gnarly voice escaped from under the mouth as gooseb.u.mps took over Blank-Faced Joe.
Silence took over the hidden room as the two individuals stood in the narrow s.p.a.ce; the distance between them was such that one only needed to slightly extend his hand to touch the other. Joe felt his heart thump through his chest as he couldn"t understand the presence of the other individual. Then it all clicked, the veil that hid the mystery of the generals" deaths disappeared as he gazed at the masked figure that stood in front of him.
"Not opening it?" the voice resounded again. Only this time, it was as if the voice didn"t come from under the mask but from the room itself. He nearly doubted that it was his own mind that had spoken as his senses couldn"t comprehend its origin, then the voice made its appearance again. "If you came all this way, why don"t you just go ahead and peek at my contents?", his head instantly turned away, nearly breaking due to the fast movement, and his sight locked the chest. The voice hadn"t been coming from the masked man, nor had it been a conception of his mind, but it had been produced from inside the chest.
He silently looked at the chest as his eyes reflected the internal turmoil his emotion was causing. Fear, incomprehension, and panic were mixed in a grand emotive c.o.c.ktail that shook Blank-Faced Joe from the inside. But his face was still calm as he didn"t spill anything, only his eyes reflected his inner thoughts as he couldn"t help but gaze at the chest before looking deeply at the masked figure. He felt his sight plunge deep into the eye holes of the mask, and after a few seconds, he took away his vision from the masked figure as he couldn"t help but feel like falling into two ma.s.sive black holes.
He swallowed with difficulty due to his dry throat before facing the chest again; he approached it again with slightly trembling hands before readying himself to lift it open. As he began lifting it, he felt as if his heart was going to jump through his chest. He tried to brace himself as he told himself that all of this was just a joke from the masked man, but the scene"s strangeness couldn"t be washed away with a few rea.s.suring thoughts.
As the chest revealed itself, he couldn"t help but see a reflection on its inside. "Liquid?", his mind thought as he exerted strength to lift the rest of the lid. A small pool of liquid was contained in the chest, and as he stood on top of it, he noticed his own reflection. Only that this reflection had something else added to it, his face was masked with the same type of mask the man behind him was wearing. His hand plunged into the liquid only to feel its coldness and density through his fingertips, he couldn"t help but shiver as he felt it was bordering extreme cold temperatures. "Is this some sick joke, and I"m actually plunging my hand in liquid nitrogen?" his sick mind thought as he felt coldness take over the limb that went underwater.
He managed to push through as a cultivator, but after a few swipes from his hand, he couldn"t grab the mask. What was even worse was the fact that he had plunged his whole arm and still couldn"t touch the bottom part of the chest. He swiftly took out his arm from the chest and gazed back the masked man behind him.
"This is an invitation. My superior has enjoyed our work together so far, why don"t you quit this s.h.i.t hole of a planet and achieve greatness with us.", the first part of the masked man"s speech came from under his mask but the rest escaped from the chest and came from his own reflection through the liquid.