NCCnovel Chapter 581 So it's my fault
Chapter 581 So it's my fault
"And that useless Jeberlele, we've only been gone a short while, boohoo..."
Seeing Tirzad's pathetic state, everyone silently moved a few steps to the side, ignoring the 100-pound crying child, and started chatting amongst themselves.
“Although I don’t know which one you’re talking about,” Jade explained, “all the pack animals are safe and sound. They’re tough and much sturdier than Tirzad, so they’re perfectly fine after falling down.”
Upon hearing that the main targets of this mission were all safe and sound, Paimon's eyes narrowed with a smile.
The promised triple reward is practically guaranteed, with at least two times the amount already secured. Little White Hair couldn't help but imagine Mora's crisp and delightful sound.
Xu Ning, however, was observing Jade, the girl with healthy, wheat-colored skin in front of him.
The unique climate of the Sumeru Desert makes the girls here wear particularly light clothing, and Jiede is no exception.
Xu Ning keenly observed that every part of Jiede's exposed shoulders, arms, waist, and legs was both symmetrical and beautiful. Not only was there not a single bit of excess fat, but her movements revealed a strong sense of power and rhythm, as if there was a different kind of explosive power hidden beneath her smooth and tender skin.
She glanced at the man standing not far away, his posture like a javelin. If this girl was trained by her father, then these two alone could be considered the strongest mercenary group, and they truly deserved their reputation in this desert.
Xu Ning was observing Jade, and Jade was also observing Xu Ning with great interest... and Belial beside him.
In the vast desert, Jiede had never seen such a fair-skinned and beautiful girl before, one who would want to gently hold her in their hands and caress her tenderly at first glance.
"Is this lady also a famous adventurer like Paimon? My name is Jade, what's yours?"
Belial, who was used to letting Xu Ning and Kong handle all sorts of things, didn't expect this girl to approach him and start a conversation right away.
He nodded slightly and said, "Belial."
Jade stepped forward excitedly after receiving a response. "To become an adventurer, you must have many special skills, right? Is that box you're carrying a weapon?"
Seeing that the young girl seemed to have a great enthusiasm for flirting with Belial, Xu Ning had to cough lightly to interrupt her questioning.
"Well, why don't we talk about our current situation first? How did you fall from up there? And how many days have you been here?"
Jade glanced at Xu Ning as if she had just noticed him, then turned her gaze back to Belial, though she didn't forget to reply, "Oh, it's only been about a day. And the desert is really unbelievable. We were walking along the road just fine, and suddenly we sank in. But my dad and I explored it, and there's a place that looks like an ancient ruin. If we can find the entrance, there might be a way out."
Xu Ning walked to the center of the pit and looked up at the sky.
The sky was gradually darkening, but the sandstorm was slowly subsiding.
Xu Ning could clearly see that the pit was surrounded by hard rocks, and only the top layer of sand had quicksand flowing down from all sides.
The pit where they were located was relatively close to Aru Village, and closer to the edge of the rainforest. It shouldn't be like the central desert, where such a large sand dune should exist, unless the underground here had been excavated for other engineering purposes a long time ago.
Jade said they had discovered ancient ruins, which seemed to confirm her suspicions.
“Tirzad looks like he’ll need a while to calm down. Why don’t you take us to see the injured person first, Jade? If he’s alright, we can get you out of here tonight.”
Jade was slightly shocked by Xu Ning's words, then realized, "Is it the wind wings that you spread when you came down? I heard Nahtigar mention it, a treasure that allows you to fly with the wind, but beasts can't take it up."
Paimon waved his hand smugly, "No problem, we're the ones with the pot."
Jade led Xu Ning and the others to Nahtigar's tent, then moved closer to Belial, asking, "Do you have that pot, sister?"
Xu Ning bent down to check on the injured man. There was some redness and swelling on his waist and legs, which must have been caused by scraping against the hard rock wall when he fell. As for the slight heatstroke symptoms, they were negligible.
Xu Ning poured him two bowls of "Qianfeng" to drink, and Nahtigar let out a long, comfortable sigh.
"Thank you so much. This wine not only makes me feel comfortable all over, but it even reminded me of the dandelions in my hometown for a moment."
Nahtigar sat up, rubbed his still sore knees, glanced outside the tent, and said thankfully, "Luckily, Serius was alright, otherwise Bonifaz would have cried in front of me all day when we got back."
Xu Ning shook his head speechlessly, finding it hard to understand the Mondstadt man's unusual feelings toward the Serius-type pack beast.
Since everyone was alright, Xu Ning returned to Tirzad's side.
After everyone abandoned him and left, Tirzad stopped crying and hugged his knees, cautiously staring in the direction of the crowd, as if afraid that they would leave him alone.
Seeing Xu Ning approach, he immediately said, "You said you came here on behalf of that unscrupulous merchant, right? Will you take my commission? I'm willing to pay a high price to hire you, as long as you can get me out of this godforsaken place..."
Ignoring the dust on the ground, Xu Ning sat down directly next to Tirzad. "Ready to go back? The girl you hired said they found ancient ruins here, maybe the Red King's tomb is right next to us. Don't you plan to go in and do some research to get some firsthand information before you leave?"
Tirzad hesitated and shook his head. "No, I'm actually an indoor scholar. My job is to read documents indoors. I definitely don't want to do something like going into ruins with unreliable people, something that could cost me my life."
Xu Ning glanced at him with amusement. "The indoor faction? Then why did you hire them to come here a few days ago?"
Upon hearing this question, Tirzad's mood instantly plummeted.
"It's all because we were forced to do it by the topics the college chose."
Tirzad smiled wryly, "Everyone says that academic research requires originality, but countless predecessors have already covered and thoroughly researched all the possible topics. There are no academic gaps waiting for me to fill, except for this 'Red Sandstone Slab' project..."
Xu Ning's mind raced, and he asked, "Red Sandstone Slab?"
Tirzad pulled a pyramid-shaped stone slab the size of a book page from his pocket.
The stone slab is exquisitely crafted, but the rough edges reveal that it has endured countless ravages of time over the years.
The front of the stone slab has some dented marks that look like writing or symbols of unclear meaning.
Is this the key to the Red King's Tomb?
Seeing Xu Ning looking at him intently, Tirzad chuckled self-deprecatingly: "Actually, even this 'Red Sand Slab' wasn't a project I developed myself. It was a research project by a relative of mine. She was supposedly a promising young scholar, but one day she abandoned her family and eloped with a wild boy of unknown origin."
"I left behind this stone slab and the related research topics. I don't have the ability to construct new theories, so I wanted to bring it here to try my luck in the field and see if I could find some materials to write a paper."
Xu Ning took a sip of wine and asked casually, "About the materials for the Crimson King?"
"Yes, although the academic community has long concluded that the Red King was a 'tyrant who brought about his own destruction,' perhaps my relative abandoned the research because he felt it was worthless. It's ridiculous that I'm treating this like a treasure..."
Xu Ning knew absolutely nothing about the papers and research topics at the Academy of Teachings. After all, his graduation thesis in his previous life was easily completed by copying and pasting. He had never encountered such a bitter and resentful approach, and he found it hard to understand Tirzad's self-pitying and self-destructive emotions.
However, another voice spoke up.
"If your understanding of the Red King is limited to this, you'd better give up on the academic path altogether, since it's foreseeable that you won't achieve anything."
Xu Ning looked up in surprise and found that the one who spoke was the man standing straight not far away.
Tirzad turned his head and saw that it was Jade's father who was speaking, and he was immediately filled with anger.
"Zebler? I haven't settled the score with you for the past two days! Besides, you're just a mercenary who does things for money, and you've never even done any serious academic research. What right do you have to criticize my academic work?"
Jeberle's resolute face remained unmoved by Tirzad's accusations, and he spoke in an incredibly calm voice: "I just want you to know that the Red King's secrets are never easily revealed to mortals. Judging the Red King's achievements based solely on hearsay and hearsay is not the rigorous attitude that an academic should have."
After saying that, Jeberle calmly turned and walked towards his daughter. Meanwhile, Jade seemed to have persuaded Paimon and Belial to explore the entrance to the ancient ruins together.
Xu Ning glanced at Jeberlele's back, then turned to Tirzad, who was speechless with astonishment, and smiled, "While it's undeniable that what he said makes a lot of sense, no matter how you look at it, it doesn't sound like something someone who's been involved in mercenary life for years would say. It sounds more like the tone of those scholars from your Order of the Church."
After being reminded by Xu Ning, Tirzad also realized what was happening, slapped his leg, and stood up angrily.
"Exactly, I don't know where they heard those words from, and they used them to lecture me."
However, despite his anger, Tirzad dared not chase after the mercenary he had hired to argue with him.
Xu Ning took another swig of wine, stood up, took two steps toward Jade and the others, and turned back to ask, "I want to go with them to see that ancient ruin. Since you're planning to give up on this archaeological expedition anyway, you can stay with Nahtigar and the pack animals. That way, you'll have someone to look after you if anything happens. If we find the way, we'll come back for you."
Someone to look after them? And that lame patient? Plus a bunch of pack animals that can only be used as food and labor?
Tirzad quickly jogged a few steps to catch up with Xu Ning, "Speaking of exploring ancient ruins, how can we forget a scholar from the Order of the Church? But if you want me to go, you'll have to protect me the whole time. The salary is negotiable..."
As the two walked over, a group of people were standing in front of a huge stone wall.
The stone wall is made of huge, single stones, each more than a person tall. I really don't know how it was built back then.
In the center of the stone wall was a huge pyramid-shaped structure. As soon as Xu Ning saw this shape, he thought of the stone slab in Tirzad's arms. Apart from the size, the two were almost identical in shape and pattern.
"Scholar, you've changed your mind and want to explore further? Then you'd better show off your skills, after all, this is your area of expertise, isn't it?"
When Jade saw that Xu Ning had brought over a quiet and unassuming Tirzad, she couldn't help but chuckle and tease the great scholar.
Tirzad's face flushed slightly, but he stubbornly replied, "Of course! It's just a small matter like opening the door..."
Tirzad gave Xu Ning a wink, signaling that he should stay close to him, and took a few steps forward.
In those few short steps, everyone instantly heard a series of rapid mechanical sounds coming from the ruins in front of them.
Two red flames suddenly burst into flame on the stone platforms on either side of the stone wall, illuminating the pit that was gradually becoming dark.
Before Tirzad, who was terrified and pale-faced, a mechanical stone platform was slowly rising.
After the stone platform came to a stop, it flashed with light, and the pyramid-shaped stone wall on the entire structure suddenly split into three pieces and shrank into the wall, revealing a triangular portal to everyone.
This was undoubtedly a huge surprise to everyone.
"The door really opened!"
"Scholar, you're amazing!"
However, Xu Ning, who was standing next to Tirzad, clearly saw that Tirzad did nothing at all. The moment the sound came, he froze on the spot and couldn't move.
However, his bosom, like the stone platform mechanism, was also emitting a bright light.
"If I wasn't seeing things, there seemed to be something glowing inside your clothes."
Xu Ning reminded Tirzad, who was still in shock, and Tirzad hurriedly pulled the stone slab out of his pocket.
The stone slab did indeed light up.
“I never expected this, I never expected this…” Tirzad muttered incoherently as he looked at the strange characters that were lit up above.
Xu Ning scratched his cheek with one finger and laughed, "I didn't expect that your red sandstone slab is really related to the Red King's Tomb. It seems to be the key to entering and exiting the Red King's Tomb."
"Looking back now, perhaps it was the ruins beneath the pit that sensed its arrival, causing some kind of change that led to the collapse of the quicksand at the entrance, which is why you fell in."
Tirzad: "???!!!"