Novel Full Chapter 261: Temple Of First Rebellion [IV]
Chapter 261: Temple Of First Rebellion [IV]
With weapons drawn and nerves twitching, we approached the temple cautiously.
Up close, the place looked even older than I thought.
The stone wasn’t brown anymore, but had faded to nearly gray.
Carvings were made into the walls — weathered and half-eaten by moss, yet still clear enough to show twisted shapes of men bowing before things that weren’t men at all.
Basically, the murals showed people worshipping gods… or things close enough to be called gods.
We walked until we reached the entrance tall enough for giants. Its archway was cracked down the middle. Roots dangled across it like a curtain, dripping beads of moisture.
When Kang pushed them aside, a gust of stale air rolled out — warm and damp and carrying a faint metallic tang, like the smell of rusting coins.
The moment we stepped inside the temple, the jungle’s noise — all that buzzing, chirping, and croaking — muffled out.
Only the loud and hollow sound of our footsteps echoed back at us.
The floor under our feet was laid with slabs of stone, uneven and fractured in places, weeds pushing through the cracks.
Massive pillars lined the hall, thick as tree trunks, holding up the coffered ceiling above.
And did I mention the whole place was dark? Like, ridiculously dark.
Every corner was drowned in shadow.
What little red glow of the moon managed to slip through small cracks here and there painted streaks of crimson light across the dusty air.
I ran a hand along one wall.
Which, now that I think about it, was a stupid thing to do.
Remember to never touch anything in a shady temple. You’ll understand why later.
But at the time… Yeah, I touched the wall.
The stone felt cold and damp, slick with moss.
Symbols had been etched deep into the surface, spiraling into strange patterns that made no sense.
I realized it was the language of the people who built this place — a language long dead, like they were.
“Does anyone know how to read this?” I asked, pointing at the engravings.
Which, again, was a stupid thing to ask.
Why would anyone know how to read an alien language?
But I figured with so many main characters possessing near-genius-level intellect — Vince, Lily, Juliana, Kang — at least one of them could decipher something.
And I was proven right the very next second.
Vince rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It looks very similar to Vetus Latin. The script seems a little different, but the structure is close enough.”
Lily, inspecting a stone tablet plastered on the opposite wall, added with a nod, “He’s right. It looks like a variation, but it’s readable. Based on the repeating phrases and the roots of the words, we can figure out the context. It’ll simply take some time.”
I squinted at them. “So… you can read it?”
Lily gave me a flat look. “I literally just said it’ll take some time.”
“No need!” Ray cut in with a smug grin, whipping out his phone. “I’ll just use AI to translate. That’ll be way quicker, simpler, and far more efficient. It’ll generate a simple algorithm and—” his grin froze, “—and I just remembered we don’t have internet here. Never mind. You two do it manually.”
Silence.
Michael pinched the bridge of his nose.
Vince muttered something in his mother tongue that sounded suspiciously like a curse.
Lily just went back to translating without another word.
•••
For the next half hour, the rest of us toured the temple while Vince and Lily worked.
No one ventured too far. We stayed within shouting distance in case something went wrong.
While looking around, I noticed shallow alcoves decorated with human bones.
And once I noticed that, I noticed something worse.
Skulls were fixed on the columns, being used to hold torches that no longer burned.
Yeah. Real skulls. Not carved from stone.
Actual human skulls were grinning down at us like macabre candleholders.
And instead of two, each skull had three hollow eye sockets — the third one above the bridge of the nose.
That led me to believe the people of this place were three-eyed.
I folded my arms. “Just what kind of freakshows built this temple?”
Juliana came to stand beside me. “Hopefully ones that stayed dead.”
I gave her a sidelong glance.
Wait, why was she standing so close?
…Then I frowned.
Come to think of it, she’d been acting a little strange the past few days… but I couldn’t put my finger on how.
Then my eyes widened.
Oh god! She was planning to kill me!
Yes, that was the only logical explanation!
She must’ve been trying to throw me off so I wouldn’t figure out her motive!
But I did! I figured it out!
Juliana, sensing my growing inner panic, furrowed her brow. “What is going on with you?”
I let out a deep breath, like the sigh of a lamb who’d already accepted its slaughter. “Can you at least wait until we get back to Earth? I want to visit my mother’s grave one last time.”
Juliana blinked, baffled. “Again… what the hell is going on with you?”
“Oh, so you won’t even fulfill my last wish?” I whimpered. “Fine! Do it! Just do it! But make it quick and painless, please!”
She just stared, completely deadpan. “Are you having a stroke?”
I clutched my chest. “Ah, classic! Make me think I’m crazy so I lower my guard. I’ve seen this trope before!”
Juliana closed her eyes and exhaled through her nose. “You’re so weird sometimes.”
Michael’s voice echoed from across the hall. “What’s going on over there?”
“Nothing,” Juliana called back, still glaring at me.
“Not nothing!” I shouted. “She’s plotting my murder!”
Michael leaned out from behind a pillar, raising an eyebrow. “Juliana?”
Alexia, lounging on an altar nearby like it was a mattress instead of something where people were probably sacrificed, lazily stretched. “Don’t kill Sam yet. We still need him to navigate us home.”
Juliana rubbed her eyebrows like she was warding off a migraine. “I’m not killing him!”
“Lies! Blatant lies!” I accused.
By this point, she was grinding her teeth so hard it looked like she really was considering stabbing me to death.
Thankfully, before bloodshed became a possibility, Vince yelled from across the hall, “Could you all stop with whatever nonsense you’re doing and get back here?!”
So we did.