Chapter 26: The Sparrow Behind

Charles turned warily, facing a silhouette at the entrance of the tomb. Seeing it was Aria, his expression softened somewhat, but he remained on guard:

"It's you! Are you following me?"

"If you can follow me and then spy on me bathing, why can't I follow you?" Aria's voice was soft yet tinged with reproach as she gave Charles a pointed look.

Although Aria's words were tinged with rebuke, her charming demeanor kindled a liking in Charles. Yet, reason prevailed, and he remained unmoved by her allure, warning her coolly, "Since you've stumbled upon my secret, I won't keep it all to myself as compensation for intruding on your bath last night. But don't expect an equal share, at most seventy-thirty... no, eighty-twenty! I take eighty, you take twenty!"

Seeing Charles's serious demeanor, Aria was both annoyed and amused: "Why are you as petty as Felix? If we go by who came first, it was clearly me who found this place last night. Do you believe me if I say I could call Felix right now, and you won't get even a tenth?"

"Are you threatening me?" Charles was somewhat surprised; this young lady was quite stubborn!

With many tomb raiders camped around, her shouting could potentially bring a lot of trouble. Charles, visibly annoyed, held up three fingers: "Seventy-thirty split?"

Aria shook her head, clearly dissatisfied, and already looked like she was about to call for help. Frightened, Charles quickly intervened: "Sixty-forty! I take sixty, you take forty, can we agree on that?"

Aria nodded in satisfaction upon hearing this, then drew her sword, still eyeing Charles warily: "You'd better keep your word, or if it really comes down to a fight, you might not be my match."

Charles grimaced, feeling the pinch. He was being blackmailed by a young girl; he had found the treasure first, and now he had to share half of it with her, a frustrating thought...

But Aria, in her half-beast form, was indeed not to be underestimated.

Looking towards the dark entrance of the secret passage, Charles gestured for Aria to go first.

Aria glanced at the seemingly bottomless pit and then gave Charles a surprised look: "What? You're a big man, are you really going to make me, a woman, go first?"

Charles nodded firmly: "You were thinking of killing me last night. How can I trust you behind my back?"

"You..." Aria bit her lip in frustration, stomping her foot angrily.

From a young age, she was well aware of the advantages her beauty afforded her, and she was adept at using them. Yet she suddenly realized... this tactic was utterly ineffective on Charles.

If they lingered any longer, Felix might indeed show up, which wasn't her intention at all. Reluctantly casting a glance at Charles, she stepped into the secret passage.

Seeing her enter, Charles followed suit.

He certainly wasn't going to sit tight and wait for disaster; stabilizing her mood was his priority. After all, if they did find treasure, wouldn't the share still depend on actual strength?

The passage was initially very narrow, allowing only one person to squeeze through, but after traveling about fifteen meters, the space suddenly opened up. Charles was surprised to find that this hidden chamber was even larger than the outer tomb!

It seemed the exterior was designed to mislead tomb raiders. This place was the true location of the Bloody Pool tomb.

The moment Charles switched on his flashlight, he was nearly blinded by a dazzling array of gold, and if not for the damp, muddy ground underfoot, he might have thought he had stumbled into Genosha's national treasury.

Around the three-meter-wide flagstone pathway, treasures piled up like mountains. Not just glittering gold coins, but countless jade artifacts, gold ornaments, bronze vessels, and rare natural treasures... Charles even found numerous jade vases, likely containing miracle drugs.

Just as Charles was about to sweep up the surrounding treasures, a chilling laugh echoed from behind: "Thanks a lot, Charlie. If not for you, I might have missed out on all these treasures!"

"Felix?" Clenching his tyrant spear, Charles spun around. Felix had already blocked the way out, flanked by his henchmen.

He had been extremely cautious, yet somehow he had still led Felix and his group here.

"Kid, I kindly offered you a spot in our group, and you refused. Don't blame me for being ruthless today." Felix's words carried a cold intent to kill, and as he spoke, he summoned his two tigers.

The dozen or so tomb raiders behind him had also summoned their pets and were eagerly brandishing their weapons.

Noticing Aria behind Charles, Felix's fierce gaze softened somewhat, and his voice became gentler: "Aria, what are you doing here? Come over quickly, swords have no eyes, and I wouldn't want you to get hurt!"

Aria was momentarily taken aback. She had anticipated Felix would follow them, but she hadn't expected him to arrive so quickly.

She glanced at Felix and then back at Charles, her expression one of hesitation about whose side to take.

After three days of observation, Aria could clearly see that Felix was nothing but a villain. Yet Charles, having spied on her bathing the previous night, wasn't much better—a shameful pervert!

Aria's hesitation seemed to Felix like a decision to side with Charles, which made his face darken.

Over these three days, he had gone to great lengths—sending flowers, showing concern—to humbly win the young girl's affection, only to not even have touched her hand!

Now, seeing her choosing to stand with Charles in front of all his men, Felix felt a mix of anger and humiliation: "Aria, since you insist on opposing me, don't blame me for not being merciful."

Damn it! Kill this kid first, then capture Aria!

As Felix advanced step by step, Charles's heart raced uncontrollably. He scanned the surroundings, and the interface indicated that everyone present was a Level 1 Beast Master, with Felix even a Level 2. In both numbers and strength, they had the upper hand.

If a fight really broke out, he would surely lose.

"Should I really use that move?" Charles glanced at Max's [energy bomb] ability description, hesitating.

Using it would be like burning the bridge after crossing it—it could potentially bring down the tomb chamber. He hadn't planned to resort to it, but now, there was no choice.

Meanwhile, Felix's men continued to pour into the chamber, their eyes widening at the sight of the treasures glittering on either side of the tomb.

"Gold! It's gold!"

"With so many treasures, we won't have worries for the rest of our lives!"

"Second Boss, we're rich! Hahaha!"

Even the seasoned tomb raiders were stunned by the sheer amount of burial treasures in the tomb.

One of the henchmen dove into the sea of gold coins with a mad grin, scooping handfuls into his pockets.

Seeing someone lead the way, several others dropped their weapons to fight over a white jade statue, and some even charged toward the two sarcophagi in the center of the tomb...

"These idiots! Don't they know to kill their enemies before grabbing the treasure?" Felix cursed loudly as his men started looting, but his authority completely evaporated at that moment.

Whizz——!

Following the sound of the air being split, a spear several meters long shot forward. Felix reacted quickly, narrowly dodging as the spear grazed past his neck, a near miss.

He managed to evade, but his companions behind him were not so lucky.

Thud!

The spear pierced through one man's chest, its formidable force carrying the corpse and impaling several others in succession, pinning them dead against the wall.

"It hurts! It hurts so much, Second Boss, save me…"

The blood from several men flowed down the spear, trickling along the tomb wall and pooling into a small stream, staining the surrounding gold coins red.

"Damn it! It's a trap!" With years of tomb raiding experience, Felix instantly realized they had triggered the tomb's defensive mechanism.

Whizz, whizz, whizz——!

More slicing sounds followed, and after several screams, a few men were riddled with bolts from the trap, looking like beehives.

"I...I can't breathe, it feels like there's fire burning inside my lungs, it's unbearable…" Several more screams echoed.

Following the noises, Felix saw traps everywhere. Spears, crossbow bolts, spikes, pits... Over a dozen men had died, and poisonous gas even began to fill the air…

"This is cursed, even an emperor's tomb wouldn't have this many traps!"

Ultimately, the will to survive prevailed. Felix turned to flee. On his last glance back, he thought he saw dozens of blood-red eyes in the darkness…

"Quick! Block the entrance!!!"

As soon as he escaped the secret passage, Felix ordered the lookouts to block the entrance.

Seeing his actions, his men panicked: "Second Boss, what happened down there? If we seal the entrance, what about our brothers?"

"Just shut it when I tell you to, shut your damn mouth!" Felix kicked the man aside, then went to turn the bronze division censer himself.

Inside the tomb.

In the instant danger struck, Charles raced toward the entrance of the secret chamber, dodging the deadly traps within the tomb. He was almost out when the heavy stone doors suddenly slammed shut with the grinding sound of gears...