Chapter 64: Harlan is Not Here

I was caught off guard and asked, "Where are we headed?"

"Just a bit further," Zack replied, still facing away from me. "I remember Harlan should be just up ahead."

Harlan?

I suddenly recalled Anthony mentioning that Harlan had a water burial after he died, which meant he might have ended up here by the river!

If he had any lingering consciousness that could be awakened, there'd definitely be some clues!

Zack didn't say anything else and kept moving forward.

I quickly followed, constantly scanning for Lorenzo.

After approximately three minutes, Zack came to a halt. Following his gaze, aided by the stone's light, I spotted a hefty stone pillar roughly 9 feet away, with a diameter of about 4.5 feet, crowned by a sizable, luminous stone.

This must be one of the three brightest stars.

Zack suddenly knelt down and bowed three times to the stone pillar, then stood up and slowly walked behind it.

I took a couple of steps forward and saw Zack standing to one side of the pillar, motionless.

After a while, I heard him crying.

In the silent cave, the sound of his sobs echoed, sending chills down my spine.

"Zack, what's wrong?"

I thought he had seen Harlan's body and was crying out of grief.

He whimpered a couple of times, then suddenly looked up at me. His sunken gray eyes, devoid of life, were filled with tears, giving him an eerie yet pitiful appearance.

"Dennis, it's over," Zack suddenly smiled. "It's all over."

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

"Look, Harlan isn't here. He's gone."

I quickly took a couple of steps forward to check, and sure enough, behind the stone pillar, it was empty.

"Zack, do your family members come here after they die?"

Zack's eyes were somewhat dazed. "It seems so. Dennis, you shouldn't have come in."

"Why?"

"This place is very dangerous," Zack said, kneeling again and bowing three times to the stone pillar. "Dennis, I'm leaving."

With that, Zack turned and walked deeper into the cave.

"Where are you going?" I shouted.

Zack didn't respond, paused for a moment, and quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Standing there, I struggled to comprehend the recent events.

Uncertain of Zack's destination, his final gaze, marked by those tearful gray eyes, lingered in my mind.

Maybe we both had similarly rough childhoods.

"Dennis—"

Suddenly, I heard Lorenzo calling me softly.

I quickly followed the sound and saw Lorenzo crouching under another thick stone pillar not far away, seemingly having found something.

"Come over here!"

"Okay!"

I walked over. "Lorenzo, where did you go just now?"

"The wild boar is nearby. It spotted me earlier, and I had to circle around to lose it. Then I saw you following Zack, so I quietly tagged along."

Lorenzo pointed to the darkness under the stone pillar in front of him. "Come check this out!"

Bending down swiftly, I observed a desiccated corpse seated beneath the stone pillar. Despite the sunken facial features, it was evident that this individual was a foreigner.

"This guy's a foreigner!" I exclaimed.

"An Aquilonian," Lorenzo said. "He's got a gold necklace. I took a closer look before, and it's engraved with some Aquilonian characters. I don't recognize them, but it might be his name."

"Why would an Aquilonian be here?"

Lorenzo gestured towards the corpse. "The Roach family had connections with Aquilonians. This man is likely Kurt Lowe, an Aquilonian or one of his descendants."

"Who's Kurt Lowe?"

"A famous Aquilonian doctor who treated Connor and Eldrick. He was a good friend of Eldrick."

Perplexed, I furrowed my brow. "So, are you suggesting that this doctor or his descendants were left here to protect the treasure when Eldrick retreated to Regal City? By the way, Lorenzo, where's the treasure?"

Lorenzo sighed. "We're not professional treasure hunters, and besides, this place..."

Before he could finish, that familiar rustling sound started again.

The wild boar was coming back!

Lorenzo and I immediately fell silent, but we were right under the three brightest stones, and the wild boar quickly pinpointed our location and charged straight at us!

It was moving too fast, like a cannonball. By the time we clearly saw it, it was less than 9 feet away from us!

Lorenzo pushed me aside and threw a stone at the wild boar!

With a dull thud, the stone shattered on impact, and Lorenzo was knocked back by the force!

"Lorenzo!"

"I'm fine, watch out!"

I had just regained my footing when the dark figure turned and charged straight at me!

"Get lost!" I yelled, biting off a piece of the Bloodstone I had in my mouth. As the wild boar was about to hit me, I spat the bloody piece at it!

Caught off guard by my unconventional "weapon," the wild boar was struck immediately. Overwhelmed by the potent scent of blood, it floundered in mid-air before crashing to the ground, swiftly fleeing the scene.

"It's afraid of Bloodstone," Lorenzo said, dusting himself off with a bitter smile. "But when it landed just now, it didn't look like an ordinary wild boar."

"Yeah, I noticed that too. Its head looks like a boar's, but its body is skinny. It doesn't look like a regular wild boar."

Lorenzo seemed to suddenly remember something. "By the way, look over there."

With that, he turned on his headlamp with a "click" and shone it behind him.