The grandeur of the sun setting on the horizon was breathtaking.
However, on the sphinx campsite, Lucien felt the cold sweat on his back.
Before Lucien figured out the answer, the sphinx scolded, "Filthy Scorpion, you have your head between your legs? Use your brain! Go and shower yourself in Sun Water! You wanna become one of those undead creatures?"
The desert environment was very harsh, thus the n.o.bles in the Empire of Gusta were reluctant to expand southward. Therefore, most of the sphinxes" bad languages were about scorpions, because they were the sphinxes biggest enemy.
Sun Water? The sphinx"s words reminded Lucien that this sphinx that he was playing, whose name was Fil, would always spend a little while in the stone house on which the midday sunlight directly shone, and then it would go to safeguard the tomb with the other sphinxes.
Lucien took it for granted that the stone house was an agreed place where the sphinxes would gather, so when he got Fil"s memory using mesmerization, he did not cover this part.
"I"m terribly sorry… I"m going right now." Lucien hurriedly nodded and left. A few seconds earlier, Lucien was deciding whether he should use Implication, Charm, or Necrotic Control to make sure that this sphinx would not bring him any further trouble.
In the stone house, there was a pool in the shape of a golden sun, in which there was gold-colored liquid.
Beside the pool, a rough and robust-looking female sphinx was scooping the liquid with a strange big gold spoon and sprinkled the liquid on the sphinxes waiting in line.
Although the male sphinxes all looked very barbarous and ill-mannered, they showed great admiration toward the female. Lucien wondered if she was a real beauty as a female sphinx.
However, in Lucien"s eyes, she was barely a standing female lion. Lucien could see zero beauty in her.
He walked forward and let the golden liquid sprinkle on him. The liquid felt very warm like suns.h.i.+ne, but Lucien did not get wet at all from it.
"Fil, you"re acting a bit strange today," said the female sphinx, Sana, in a low voice. "You"ve lost your courage? You are not looking at me today."
Lucien got nervous again.
"Yeah… maybe…" Lucien decided not to contradict this proud female.
Sana laughed, "I"m curious. What made you lose your courage? You are even not keen on pursuing your mate!"
When Lucien was in this dilemma and did not know what to do, another male sphinx jumped out and "saved" him. "Fil, don"t waste our time! Don"t act weird to catch Sana"s attention! Don"t even try! Last night you were still staring at Sana secretly!"
Lucien pretended that he had been seen through and looked at Sana in a way full of both hope and fear.
Sana realized what Fil"s strategy was and purposefully turned her back against him.
When Lucien left the stone house, he felt really tired, as if he just went through a good fight.
...
"Follow me into the tome. Don"t disturb His Majesty"s sleep." A big muscular sphinx holding a long spear said to the tomb guards sternly.
"Yes, Sir Helges," answered the sphinxes together.
Lucien lowered his head and opened his mouth, pretending that he was answering. In this way, he figured out the name of their leader. It seemed that Helges had the power of a grand knight, and five or six of the guards were of the level of knights. The rest of them, including Fil, were about the level of knight squires.
The guards here were all selected. It was a great honor for a sphinx to become a tomb guard.
Under the guidance of Helges, Lucien stepped on the brownstone bricks and entered the tomb.
Instantly, the heat in the desert disappeared and the cold air became dominant as if they had come to the world of death.
The bricks and stone beams were in very good condition, and the gems, pearls, and crystals were s.h.i.+ning the cold light.
The tomb was even grander than any villas, manors, or magic towers that Lucien had ever seen. The rooms and corridors were s.p.a.cious enough for giants to enjoy themselves there.
Influenced by the Empire of Meshkate, it was believed that sphinxes controlled the secret of life and death and that death was not the end, but the beginning of the real immortality. Pyramids were the magic building for the powerful sphinxes to ascend to the immortal heaven, and therefore, the pyramids were all beyond magnificent.
Meanwhile, many sphinxes believed that their greatest king, the king who was during his eternal sleep, would finally wake up in the pyramid and lead the sphinx to rule the entire world.
And Lucien was in the greatest king"s tomb right now.
Holding the spear, Lucien patrolled around following Helges. He saw rotten dead bodies hanging on the wall in many halls. Some of them were scorpions, some were human beings or other races. They were all sacrifices.
Ascending a few floors, the tomb guards entered a hall drawn with countless weird symbols. The most eye-catching fresco was the scene of a powerful sphinx killing members of other races.
At the center of the hall, there were black stone coffins. When pa.s.sing by, Lucien could sense the evil and cold power in the coffins! He wondered if they were sphinx sacrifices which had been converted into mummy guards.
Since he was in a tomb right now, Lucien temporarily deactivated Sun"s Corona so he would not be that sensitive toward the power of death.
Leaving the creepy hall, Helges and the other tomb guards continued to patrol around. Along the winding corridors, they came in front of a huge stone gate. On the gate, one side was drawn with the sun, and the other had a silver moon, symbolizing life and death respectively.
Even without spreading out his spiritual power, Lucien could still feel the horrible power of death behind the stone gate!
Behind the stone gate, Rhine secretly set up a magic circle using the power of the tomb.
In front of the stone gate, two grand-knight-level guards were holding their spears tight. Their legs were much thicker compared to that of Fil.
Close to them, there was a stone chamber. A solemn-looking sphinx high priest was sitting in it, praying for the resuscitation of their greatest king.
Lucien had gained a basic understanding of the layout of the tomb, but the problem was how he could get in there. His brain worked fast, trying to figure out a solution. It was not a difficult job for Rhine, a legendary-level vampire, as he could directly go through the stone gate in the form of a gentle breeze.
Lucien was not going to force his way into this place. He knew how powerful the sphinxes could be in the tomb.
Also, right in front of the high priest, he also could not attack the gatekeepers.
"We go back," said Helges after saluting the high priest. That was the first round patrolling.
Lucien had to leave after him since right now he had no good plan. He tried to walk as slow as he could and finally fell to the end of the team. When they walked past a corner, Lucien dropped a tiny block stone on the floor silently, one by one.
When they were about to walk past the hall placed with the black stone coffins, Lucien saw two sphinx dressing in the same way as the gatekeepers coming from the opposite direction.
Lucien got an idea in his mind. He lowered his head and kept following the team. The two gatekeepers walked past him.
When they reached the creepy hall, Helges said to them in low voice, "Take a break here. The next team will come soon."
The hall was very cold, and Lucien could almost feel that the coldness was trying to get into his body like it was alive, however, it was kept away from his body by the warm feeling given by the golden liquid sprinkled on Lucien. Helges, obviously, disliked the air of death and coldness very much. He took a few steps forward and stood outside of the hall.
Seeing that, Lucien secretly moved toward the corner and sneaked into the corridor connecting to the stone gate.
"What are you doing?"
It was Helges" voice!
Lucien looked up and said in the pretended nervous way, "Sir… My, my precious stones are lost… in the corridors…"
As he was saying, Lucien showed the pocket with the hole in it to Helges.
The imploring look in Fil"s eyes somehow touched Helges" heart. Helges lowered his voice, "Go and get them back. Do not disturb the high priest."
Helges did not think that a random tomb guard would bring him any big trouble.
Fil, or Lucien, was very grateful and almost burst into tears. Turning around, Lucien left the hall cautiously without any noise. With proper mental guidance and good performance, Lucien restrained the power of the spell, Indication, and thus the magic wave was greatly reduced.
...
Lucien walked fast and gradually caught up with the two gatekeepers, following them from a proper distance, until they reached a quiet corridor.
Lucien picked up the pace and walked past them, but he purposefully yanked one of the gatekeepers" arm and pretended that was an accident.
"Hey!" roared angrily the gatekeeper, Aska, in a low voice. How dare the humble tomb guard just run into him without apologizing properly?!
"Ah… Sorry. I"m sorry." Lucien lowered his head as if he just noticed the mistake he made.
Aska was p.i.s.sed off seeing the sphinx"s att.i.tude, "You walk alone here, it"s very suspicious! And you just say "sorry"?! That"s it?"
"I got the permission from Sir Helges, to get back my gems," answered Lucien like a simple-minded fool, "I ran into you. And I said sorry."
"You shall kneel down!" Aska was angry, "Helges is nothing to me!"
"I listen to Sir Helges! His permission is everything! And I apologized already!" Lucien"s body slightly trembled, but he would not compromise.
Aska wasted a few more sentences on the sphinx, but saw that the humble tomb guard was basically asking for a good lesson to learn how to behave properly. Blood flooded Aska"s mind as he was going to beat this filthy scorpion up with his big fist.
"Aska, wait. The high priest can see you through the magic circle," said the other gatekeeper, Inke, "Go that way. They cannot see you."
Aska grinned in a gloomy way and picked Lucien up from the floor, "I"ll teach you a good lesson today."
"S… Sorry…" Lucien seemed to be startled.
Aska laughed as the winner. He dragged Lucien with him and turned around a corner.
When he was about to give Lucien a good punch, he felt a sharp pain in his lower abdomen. And before he could release a scream of pain, another punch given by a fist covered with dim light followed.
Aska lost his consciousness. He directly pa.s.sed out.
On the other side, Inke could hear the dull sound of the punchings and he shook his head slightly. Aska was too bad-tempered, he thought to himself.
After a while, Inke saw Aska walk out with a big satisfied smile. Inke asked curiously, "Feel better now?"
"Haha, now not even that b.a.s.t.a.r.d"s mother could recognize him!" said Aska in a good mood.
"What did you do?"
It was the voice of the high priest!