Chapter 59 The Ancestral Triad

After hearing Teddy out, Bryce and Murray just sighed and kept quiet.

Lorenzo spoke up in a serious tone, "Alright, we're in. What do you need us to do?"

"Follow me!" Teddy said, turning and heading out of the cave towards another one.

We quickly followed him, with Murray and Bryce tagging along too.

By then, it was already noon, and after a whole morning of running around, we were all pretty hungry. Isidora grabbed some wild fruits from the cave and handed them out, which helped a bit.

Soon, we found ourselves at a cave behind a waterfall. Inside, we took a left and saw this massive eight-foot-tall stone door.

Teddy pulled out a disc-shaped key, slid it into the lock, and gave it a gentle turn. The stone door opened up on its own.

Lorenzo was right; this place had more secrets than we thought.

Isidora looked completely shocked, like she'd never been here before.

We walked down a stone corridor that was several dozen feet long, only to hit another stone door.

Teddy used the disc key again, twisted something behind it, and with a "click," a rod-shaped key popped out. He used it to open the second stone door.

As soon as the door opened, a bone-chilling cold hit me, making me step back.

but the others didn't seem to notice.

Alicia glanced at me, "What's up?"

I forced a smile, "Nothing, just hungry, I guess."

Teddy, Murray, and Bryce stepped through the door and lit some torches inside.

In the dim light, we followed them in.

"What is that!" Alicia gasped, clutching my arm in fear.

Lorenzo, Anthony, and I frowned too.

In front of us were three men. 

They looked incredibly lifelike, each wearing just a straw raincoat. Seated cross-legged in a triangle formation, their eyes were half-closed, sporting serene smiles. Their bodies were strong and fair, looking very simple and unadorned.

I squinted and noticed a layer of white Justbreeze on them. They definitely weren't from modern times.

In front of the three men were three identical incense burners.

The burners were round, made of brocade bronze, about the size of a palm, and looked pretty ordinary.

Murray, Bryce, and Teddy knelt, kowtowed thrice to the men, then rose and gestured towards the mountain wall behind them. "See that? Behind them is our root."

We looked at the wall. At first, it seemed ordinary, but on closer inspection, there was another stone door.

Alicia asked, "Is that a stone door?"

Teddy nodded, "According to our ancestors, in times of extinction, we can open that door for help."

"Then open it!" Anthony was anxious, "Are you just gonna watch them die?"

Bryce smiled bitterly and waved his hand, "It's not that easy..."

"Yeah," Teddy added, "We only get one shot at this..."

Anthony was still anxious, "Where's the key? Are there multiple keyholes, and we can only choose once?"

Alicia rolled her eyes, implying Anthony had watched too many TV shows.

"If it were that simple, it would be fine," Bryce said, "But it's way more complicated than that."

"Yeah, the key to opening this door is the three incense burners and our three ancestors."

Lorenzo frowned, "These are the keys?"

"Yes," Teddy pointed to the three men, "Their positions symbolize The Ancestral Triad. The incense burners in front of them hold three keys, each linked to an ancestor. We have to match them correctly and use the corresponding ancestor's blood to dissolve the copper incense ash in the burners! Only then can we get the keys."

Murray added, "If we mess up, the wrong blood will corrode the key, and we won't get another chance."

Lorenzo frowned even more. It was too difficult. All three had to be correct, or if we lost one key, it was game over.

"For hundreds of years, our people haven't tried," Murray said, "Yesterday, I talked it over with Bryce and Teddy. We weren't sure, so we gathered everyone to vote..."

I suddenly pitied them, realizing how harsh their ancestors had been.

It was brutal and heartbreaking that their descendants were compelled to determine their destiny through voting.

It was cruel and sad that their ancestors forced their descendants to decide their fate by voting.

What exactly was hidden behind that stone door?