Chapter 29.1

Oswald paused when he heard a sound, and swept around with the bug lamp despite feeling disgusted. The path under his feet ended here, and there were no clear road marks in front of him. Instead, a large cluster of trees, which were taller than a person, blocked the way.

The branches were thick and sharp, growing straight upwards, and each one was covered in fine thorns, clustered together. At first glance, it resembled an overgrown thorn, but the thorns were not singular. The winding vines on both sides of the path coiled up along the roots of the thorns, almost blending in with them. Fat leaves hung down in layers, blocking the scene behind it.

Kevin heard Oswald speak. "This is the end of the road? Where is the tomb of God Phaer?"

Kevin shook his head and stepped forward. He bent down and pawed twice on the side of the road, pulling apart a few vines that were mixed together. He raised his chin and said, "Here. The monument."

Where his chin was pointing, there was a copper obelisk protruding obliquely from the soil. It was covered in flower-green rust, mottled and blocking most of the surface of the stele, revealing a decayed and heavy atmosphere.

Kevin switched the worm lamp in his left hand to his right hand and hung it directly on the top of the monument. The yellowish light was projected from top to bottom, and some carved traces were faintly revealed from under the rust, but they were too vague to make out.

"What does it say?" Oswald frowned and took two steps forward, squatting down directly in front of the monument. He narrowed his eyes and looked closely at the stele for a moment, then tilted his neck back as if giving up, and simply raised his hand to cover the stele.

When Kevin saw his movements, he clicked his tongue. "You can still skim the words? Did you find anything?"

Oswald glanced at him but did not bother to answer. He simply moved his fingers slowly, carefully touching the monuments row by row.

Because of the heavy rust, it was a bit slow to touch. Kevin did not stop him, nor did he urge him to hurry. He was a bit tired of holding the lamp with his arms propped up all the time, so he looked around but could not find a suitable place to support it. He simply sat down on the ground leaning against the back of the monument, with his elbows resting on the top of the monument and the worm lamp just hanging down. His long legs were stretched out straight in front of him, which was quite comfortable.

Oswald raised his eyelids and glanced at him angrily, then continued to fumble.

After a while, Kevin changed his straight legs and kicked Oswald's noble ankle. "Which line did you touch?"

"Can you settle down for a while?" Oswald squinted at Kevin's suspect leg from the corner of his eyes and reprimanded, "Pull your hooves off and don't rub against me."

Kevin: "..." Let's be reasonable, okay? There's a big difference between kicking and rubbing.

For some reason, Oswald became very impatient after being kicked by him. He had a sullen face and frowned, as if he didn't want to care about others. After a few more minutes, he finally patted off the rust on his hands and stood up straight.

"Finished?" Kevin looked up at him.

"Hmm." His Majesty's answer was almost inaudible, as if it had come from his nasal cavity. "The monument says that this is the entrance to the tomb of the god Phae, where the god's dead body is located. No one is allowed to enter, as this would be a breech of the gods and would result in the worst curse."

He paused, and added with an uneasy expression, "The curse also includes a long list of curses against the intruder's eight generations of ancestors. In short, the curse is to ensure that the intruder dies without a place to be buried and that their descendants are cut off."

Kevin raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh." His expression was extremely calm, and he did not show any surprise at all.

Oswald stared down at Kevin with lowered eyelids, his expression inscrutable. "You seem to have known the contents of the monument for a long time."

Kevin replied casually, "Really?"

Kevin was a strange creature, with many mysteries surrounding him. However, he gave off the impression that he did not care about such things.

He would never volunteer information.

If you did not ask, he would not tell you anything. If you did ask, he would try to deflect your questions, but he would not lie outright. If you guessed correctly, he would either dismiss your question as nonsense or simply admit it.

It was as if what you considered important or unimportant was not worth mentioning in his eyes.

"You have been here before," Oswald stated calmly, omitting even the interrogative sentence.

He folded his arms across his chest, looking as if he were about to conduct an on-the-spot interrogation. "You know the location of Baitou Mountain and Yongsheng Waterfall, you know what kind of monsters live here, and now even the old bronze tablet that is hidden so well, you were able to find it all at once. You have obviously been here before."

Kevin held the light of the bug lamp in his fingers, not speaking, but almost acquiescing.

"This kind of place is obviously more suitable for death than outings and adventures," Oswald glanced around, and said again, "So, what did you do here before?"

Before Kevin could open his mouth, Oswald remembered something else. "Your physique that cannot be killed unless your heart is pierced. Is it related to this?"

Kevin raised his head at this, and looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"It seems to be so," Oswald continued in a deep voice. "So when you heard the priest say that 'the holy water in the Temple of Phae can relieve the strange disease of petrification,' you easily believed that statement, even though I never thought that the rumors were all rumors. Why? Because your ability comes from here, and it is even related to the holy water, so you fully understand how miraculous the holy water is?"

Kevin changed his posture lazily, and commented, "Your logic is quite smooth."

Oswald: "..."