Chapter 48 The trap
“Move. If you don’t move, I’ll slaughter you.”
“I came to this room first, so the treasure in here belongs to us.”
“Ha! Nothing in here has an owner. You think it’s yours just because you said so?”
But just at that time, a yell came from the entrance. Looking over, twin brothers and their group were already fighting another group.
No one knew which power they belonged to, but they were strong. They seemed to be almost as strong as the Unseeing Faith enforcers. They had a peculiar house-shaped insignia on their backs. Instantly, Mael’s face became gloomy.
“How are they here?” Mael muttered to himself in disbelief.
“The elders were supposed to keep them busy, leaving the lesser clans to fight among themselves while we took the biggest spoils.”
“How did we all mess this up?” Mael muttered in frustration.
“It’s not our fault, Mael. Nobody could have foreseen what would happen,” Yazmeen said, overhearing Mael’s words.
“Why are you sweating so much, by the way, and what’s strange about those people?” Yazmeen asked further.
“They are from the Resonance Council,” Mael said.
“How?” Jaclynn and Chan asked at the same time. At the meeting back then, Elder Yung had told them they did not have to worry about the Resonance Council interfering in their expedition and mission because they would be too busy dealing with the trouble the Unseeing Faith’s strongest elders were going to cause.
“Well, I don’t care where they’re from. I care that we suffered a lot in this stupid ruin and got nothing out of it in the end.”
“Bastards, all of them, reaping what they didn’t find,” Sabine said angrily.
“Don’t get carried away. It’s just material possessions. It’s not worth your life,” Vandal said.
Just as he finished speaking, a bitter scream was suddenly heard. It happened like a chain reaction. Everyone who touched the treasure seemed to be sucked into a sudden manifestation of murky water the color of mud. The water began to whirl, forming an enormous surging whirlpool.
Soon, everyone who had touched the treasures had only their upper bodies exposed. Their complexions were abnormally pale, and their expressions were pained. It was clear that some sort of power was tormenting them.
Upon seeing this, Vandal and Sabine exchanged worried glances.
“Who are you? Let our people go! You do not want to anger all of us!”
At this point, the trap had caught everyone present except for a pitiful few who had not reached the treasure in time. It was precisely these few who spoke out, as some of them had lovers, friends, or siblings trapped in the strange water.
“I am the master of this treasure hall. They intruded into my territory. What’s wrong with attacking them for touching my things?” the strange voice said. It was extremely sinister and cold. Merely hearing it made one’s hair stand on end and one’s blood run cold. It did not sound like the voice of a human.
“Impudent! Who dared to touch my little brother Anwar? You should know that my little brother is from the Resonance Council!” Malouf shouted.
“Eaaaaah!”
However, right after Malouf said those words, Anwar, who was trapped in the water, let out an even more miserable scream.
“Bastard! Release Anwar immediately! Otherwise, our Resonance Council will level this entire treasure hall with you in it!” Malouf grew even more panicked. He knew that if his opponent could subdue Anwar, then it was an existence he could not contend with.
“Ahhhhh!”
“No, stop! Stop immediately!”
However, Anwar’s screams grew more hysterical and filled with pain.
Merely hearing his screams, one could imagine the agony his body was undergoing.
“Hahaha, this is too funny. Is that guy named Malouf a fool?” At that moment, Yazmeen was convulsing with laughter, even as Jaclynn tried to nudge her to be more discreet, but it was too comical for her to maintain decorum.
She was wholeheartedly laughing at Malouf’s lack of intelligence.
It was obvious. The entity was targeting Anwar to shut Malouf up, but Malouf kept hurling threats.
Yet Malouf did not catch the hint and continued threatening it. From the pale expression on Anwar’s face, if this continued, he would likely die.
Feeling helpless, Vandal decided to help by pointing out the obvious. “If you don’t want to cause his death, you should shut up immediately.”
“If you want him dead, keep threatening it with your council.”
“Ah?”
“What?”
“It’s because of me?”
Hearing what Vandal said, Malouf came to a realization. However, he was at a loss for what to do. Thus, he moved closer to Vandal and asked in a low voice, “Then what should I do?”
“Well, we do not know who our opponent is. However, it is clear that they do not fear your Resonance Council. You have already provoked them. If you wish to calm them down, the only thing you can do is apologize,” Vandal said.
“Boss, I’m sorry. I was blinded by my emotions and spoke rudely. I was merely worried about my little brother’s safety.”
“Senior Murky Water, this humble junior offers his apologies. Please, I hope you can release my junior brother.”
“That’s more like it.” Sure enough, Anwar’s body became calm, and a satisfied voice sounded from the murky water.
At the same time, many of the others trapped turned into puddles of blood and were absorbed into the murky water, much to the anger and shock of those who had refused to beg.
A sound of ecstasy followed, as if the water was digesting the people it had just consumed. Then it spat out Anwar unharmed.
“Crash!”
Almost immediately afterward, the water began to coagulate. The bloody parts, the muddy parts, and the bones of the dead victims molded together.
Soon, a figure appeared. It had a humanoid shape, but it looked nothing like a human. Its body was constantly leaking mud and looked like clay that had not dried. Everyone who saw it was terrified, wondering if it was some kind of bizarre echo beast.
Vandal was fascinated by it.
It had two lumps of mud for eyes, and they radiated an ice-cold killing intent. From the moment Vandal saw its eyes, he felt as if his heart had been frozen.
BOOM!!
Crash~~~~