Plague Doctor

Chapter 412: Entrance

The sun was setting. 4 cross-country vehicles and a medic car slowly moved through the red desert, following the two drunkards. Feng Peiqian had no idea what Captain Yu and Gu Jun were doing. They had been doing this for the better half of a day already. Even though the two still teetered precariously, they never once got close to actually falling. They had crossed 40 km. Along the way, they did stop a few times for food and water and to replenish the alcohol in their system.

“Hey, what exactly are you guys looking for?” The leader from the Australian Safety Bureau, Peter Bower asked, “Why don’t you tell us? Maybe we’ll be able to help.” Of course no matter what they found, it would belong to Australia and not Mysterium.

“Captain Bower, you might not believe me,” Feng Peiqian shook her head, “But we are as clueless as you are. You too are familiar with Captain Yu’s condition.”

“Okay.” The five Australian agents clearly had their suspicion regarding this. Night was falling and temperature dropped. Everyone could feel the night breeze picking up. ‘Where are they heading actually? Shouldn’t they be tired by now?’

“Where is it, where is it…” Yu Chi mumbled. He tossed the bottle down his throat but the bottle was already empty. Yu Chi stayed in this half-inebriated state for the whole day already but he only triggered that illusion once. There was little to no progress to the search for Pnakotus. To be honest, he was merely following Gu Jun. Whether Gu Jun knew the direction or not, Yu Chi himself could not tell… It appeared like Gu Jun knew the way or maybe not…

The ground trembled and the alcohol made it difficult for Gu Jun to keep his eyes open. His head pulsed with greater pain. Suddenly, a discomfort gripped his stomach. Something was gushing up his throat. He had to move a few steps away before the projectile vomit shot out from his mouth. Nausea was apparently infectious because after Gu Jun vomited, it elicited the same urge within Yu Chi and the latter started to empty his own stomach as well. Instantly, the horrible smell of alcohol and undigested food permeated the desert air.

“Oh my lord…” Peter Bower cursed as he pinched his nose. For that moment, he did believe what Feng Peiqian said. If these two drunkards could find anything useful, then it would be a miracle. Other agents like Ed Andrew and Edith Jackson also shook their heads. Before they departed, the bureau told them to pay extra attention on this mission but now it looked like a day wasted.

Chen Ziyuan and the rest sighed helplessly. Feng Peiqian ordered for the cars to stop. She jumped down and hurried over with two bottles of water. “Captain, here’s some water.” But right at that moment, Gu Jun caught something from the corner of his eyes. ‘Wait, that, that appears to be an opaline…’ He staggered forward. It was common for one to find natural pebbles on the desert floor but most of them were gobi stones. But this one, this one had an iridescence to it… Gu Jun picked up the rock. This was an unadulterated mineral about the size of an adult fist. The outer layer had a shine unique to opaline. Earlier that morning, Gu Jun suspected that opaline might guide their way and it would appear like he was right…

He held the stone and scanned the surroundings. His heart palpitated. ‘Yes, this is the place.’ They started at the space where Kathlyn’s hometown should be and after walking for a whole day, they finally reached their destination.

“Captain Yu, Captain Yu…” Gu Jun summoned. “Come and look at this.” Yu Chi pushed Feng Peiqian who handed him the water away. When he saw the opaline in Gu Jun’s hands, his face reddened. “Is this it? This is the place?!” Opaline was not that easy to find, normally they would have to be mined from underground. It was almost impossible to pick one up on the surface like Gu Jun just did. “Peiqian, quick, go and get my gears…” Yu Chi ordered hurriedly. Even though he had no idea what his archaeological tools could do in this case, it was worth a try.

As confused as Feng Peiqian was, she followed the orders. After all, she had fulfilled even more confusing orders in the past 2 days. Soon Yu Chi started to utilize and manipulate the various archaeological devices like radar and metal detectors. Like before, they were all useless. The distance between earth shell and earth core was 6300 plus km. If Pnakotus was buried very deep, these devices would not be able to locate it.

While at the time, Gu Jun contemplated. Assuming they could not reach the entrance through normal physical methods… It hit him then. The shadow of the door, that might be the entrance.

“Captain Yu, stop looking. I believe the door is not underground.” He said, “The door is with us all along.”

“Oh…” Epiphany dawned on Yu Chi too. “But how are you going to open it? What if it is situated in another dimension?”

‘Another dimension?’ Feng Peiqian was befuddled. The agents from both countries who overheard the conversation through the walkie-talkie were confused as well. ‘These two must be drunk.’ But one of them was the famous Captain Yu and the other was a suspected cultist, what they said would still cause the others to go on alert. However, they did catch a detail, ‘door’, these two were looking for some kind of door.

“I wish to try something.” Gu Jun told Yu Chi. “But I need full focus, there must be no interruption. I’ll leave that to you.”

“Of course, don’t worry.” Yu Chi nodded seriously. Most of the liquor had been vomited out already. Gu Jun was going to attempt to assess the Pnakotic Manuscript in his mind. Even though he was still unable to interact with the ball of chaos, he felt like he was mentally strong enough to open the projection of the scroll. Furthermore, the manuscript might trigger something at this possible ruin site of Pnakotus. Gu Jun closed his eyes and held the opaline tightly. He focused his alcohol muddled mind and opened the projection. If this was weeks ago, he’d crumble immediately from pain but now he could grit through the pain and burst through the barrier.

After so long, he finally managed to open the Pnakotic Manuscript again. The strange Chinese characters, lines and paintings instantly filled up his mind. They formed a giant torrent to sweep him away.

‘I wish to open the door to Pnakotus…’ Gu Jun focused on this thought as he searched for the answer within the manuscript. ‘The door that leads to this forgotten city.’

On the other hand, Feng Peiqian, Peter Bower and the rest were idling but now they widened their eyes in shock and some of them cursed out loud. Even though they were supposed to be prepared, they moved frantically into action. They should have known that this Gu Jun was not a normal man!

At that moment, a glow surrounded Gu Jun. To be more precise, the glow emitted from the stone he was holding. It seemed to coagulate into the shape of a door.

‘The door is with us! This is the door! But what is he going to do with it!’

“Damn it…” Peter Bower gasped and he turned to complain at the Chinese agents, “This is not part of your plan, right?”

“Of course not!” “We don’t even know this person…”

“All of you, stop right there!” Yu Chi screamed at the group who was moving to detain Gu Jun. Before the door materialized fully, Captain Gu must not be interrupted. Yu Chi shouted, “Peiqian, if you still consider me your leader, please don’t interrupt him and do everything you can to stop them! This is very important, Captain Gu is very important!”

The shape of the door around Gu Jun continued to grow.