Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 902 Entering by mistake
Clang, clang clang, clang—!

A pungent, putrid stench permeated the dimly lit, moss-covered cell. In the empty prison, the clanging of metal echoed from within, until finally…

Bang!

As the sound of the metal frame flying through the air subsided, a hand suddenly emerged from the narrow opening used to dump excrement, followed by the figure of a black-haired youth covered in algae, silt, and foamy excrement.

"Phew... I finally made it out."

Xin Lailai, covered in filth so disgusting that it would make anyone want to stay away, looked at the scene before her and let out a long sigh of relief, looking as if she had been saved.

half an hour.

Because they weren't sure if the Poisonous Dragon was lurking outside, they spent a full half hour crawling through the fortress's drainage system before finally managing to climb out!
Fortunately, they were determined enough and had experienced similar situations during the expedition. If it were a normal person, they would probably have turned back to fight the poisonous dragon with a death wish when they saw those sections of the way where they had to overcome a strong feeling of nausea to swim across.

Of course, their killing intent towards the Poisonous Dragon was no less intense. In fact, the Rotting Dragon had already surpassed "The Devourer" Elizid and climbed to the top of Xinlailai's list of targets.

We can put the Lord of Cinder aside for now, but that damned green-skinned beast—if we have the chance to show even the slightest leniency towards him, it would be a disrespect to their half-hour experience of being ravaged by a sea of ​​maggots!
"By the way, where have we ended up?"

"Hmm, this looks like a prison? And I don't see any other zombies or wandering spirits... Were they all cleared out by the people in the fortress after they died?"

"Maybe, but since it's a prison, we should be at the bottom or even underground of the fortress right now. Hopefully, there's still a path leading up here."

As Xin Lailai spoke, she pushed open the rusty iron gate—which wasn't even locked—and waded through the ankle-deep water into the corridor, looking to both sides of the corridor.

"Is the road up there...?"

After quickly confirming the location of the exit, Xin Lailai's eyes flickered slightly. Too lazy to wash off the filth on her body, she simply picked up her longsword and walked step by step to the end of the corridor, grasped the iron door handle in front of her, and pulled hard.

Clang—!

The sound of the iron gate shaking rang out, and the iron gate, which looked like it could collapse at any moment, trembled violently for a moment, and then... nothing happened.

"..."

With only 30 points in Strength attribute, you can't even force open a door?
"Oh well, I'm pretty much used to it anyway."

Xin Lailai watched this scene, her expression twitching slightly. She sighed helplessly, drew her longsword, and casually slashed at the iron gate. The next second—

Clang——! !

The crisp sound of a knife snapping open startled Xin Lailai.

How could an ordinary iron gate possibly block a single sword strike from someone with 30 points in physical attributes, a B-grade weapon, and swordsmanship expertise?!

"Lai Lai, look! This door seems to have item information on it!"

"Ok?"

……

The iron gates of the prison

Category: Architecture

Durability: (None)

Description: This iron gate is forged using materials tempered by the power of the King's Fire. As long as it is near the fire, it can continuously repair itself by drawing upon the power of the fire.

……

"..."

"Hmm, does that mean the buildings and gates in this fortress can't be destroyed by force? But this door seems to only be able to be opened from the other side..."

"Don't worry, it's just a lock. It'll take a little time to fix."

Realizing that she probably couldn't just roam freely inside the fortress, Xin Lailai calmly took out a wire, squatted down, observed the keyhole for a while, and then handed the wire with the magic crystal attached inside, starting to fiddle with it.

Crunch——!!

A few seconds later, with a crisp sound, the previously tightly closed metal door opened backward with a somewhat ear-piercing scraping sound, and Xin Lailai nodded slightly and continued to walk forward.

The door cannot be opened from this side?

Don't make him laugh. It's just breaking down a door. For those skilled in technical arts, it might be an unsolvable problem, but for them, as mages, it's just a matter of spending a little time recalling their lock-picking knowledge...

"Ok?"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xin Lailai, who had left the cell, suddenly stopped and stared at the huge stone door in front of her, falling silent.

"Lai Lai, it seems like we can't pick the lock on this door?"

"Let me see if there are any mechanisms or anything like that."

Xin Lailai said, placing her hand on the stone door, closing her eyes, and carefully sensing it.

"found it."

A few seconds later, his eyes flickered, and he opened them, his magical power surging out and flowing into the crack in the stone door.

Buzz, rumble—! !

As the muffled hum subsided, the massive stone door slowly rose amidst a series of muffled hums as the crystal arm activated the mechanism hidden inside the stone door.

well.

Xin Lailai, standing in front of the stone gate, watched this scene and smiled slightly, clearly very satisfied with the result.

They won't let him open the door from this side? They won't let him pass without the correct key? He's determined to show the fortress's designer how a mage opens doors!

"Let's go, if we go up from here, we should be able to get back to the ground floor."

After the stone gate was fully raised, Xin Lailai looked at the steps leading up to the end and spoke, while cautiously raising her shield, ready to guard against any possible attacks.

They now have only 7.5% health left, and the remaining Elemental Flask use had been allocated to the 'Blue Flask' area for mana restoration before they set off. This means that even the slightest mistake before finding the hidden spark inside the fortress could instantly kill them.

"Hopefully, there won't be too many enemies waiting ahead..."

Xin Lailai pondered, took a deep breath, and, amidst the metallic scraping of her armor, walked step by step towards the light at the end of the steps, until finally…

Sizzle—!

The flickering firelight reflected in their pupils, and as their vision passed the top step, a gentle flame appeared directly in their field of vision, causing Xin Lailai to be startled and momentarily hesitant to step forward.

"Lai Lai, do you think there might be some traps waiting for us ahead...?"

"I don't know, but according to the nun, the undead and wandering spirits shouldn't be able to get really close to the fire, and..."

The information on the blessing interface can't be fake, right?

As Xin Lailai spoke, she glanced at the golden-red blessing interface, looked at the displayed information, her gaze shifted slightly, and then returned to the campfire in front of her.

There are no windows, but the view is very open.

We did not see any other enemies, nor did we see anything that looked like a trap.

From any angle, all they could see was an empty room used to store fire.

If this is true, it means that—

"You survived..."

After a long, slightly weary sigh, Xin Lailai looked at the campfire in front of her, then slumped down on the steps with a sigh of relief.

I survived. It wasn't a hallucination or an illusion.

They actually managed to escape from that poisonous dragon that could blow them away with a single breath and whose residual force from a small explosion could kill them. Without suffering any harm, they found the fire in the fortress and turned this deadly situation, which even they themselves thought might require a gamble to resurrect without exhausting the validity of their brand!

"Hehe, can this be considered a stroke of good luck?"

Xin Lailai leaned against the corner of the wall, glanced at the campfire in her line of sight, smiled helplessly, stood up, walked step by step to the fire, and reached out to touch it.

[Thanks to "Blessing of the Kingfire", the entire status has now been restored.]

[Thanks to "Blessing of the Royal Fire", the number of uses of the Elemental Flask has been fully restored.]

Om-! !

The next second, warm flames rose from the campfire, enveloping Xin Lailai completely. Seeing this, she breathed a sigh of relief, found a corner to sit down, closed her eyes, and murmured to herself:
"Ling Yuzi, you keep watch for me for a while, I'm going to take a nap."

"Okay, Lai Lai, you should rest first. There are people watching over this place."

Upon hearing the affirmative reply, Xin Lailai relaxed with relief, and her consciousness quickly sank into a deep sleep.

Although the bodies of the Ashbringers do not tire, their minds do not. The perilous escape between life and death, coupled with more than half an hour of intense concentration, has left them quite far from their mental limits, but it is time for them to take a good rest to recover.

……

Sizzle—!

In a daze, I seemed to hear the sound of something burning.

"already……"

In the darkness, a strangely familiar and reassuring murmur could be faintly heard.

"That's enough..."

An incomprehensible emotion was brewing in my mind, as if something was trying to break free from the shackles of my brain.

The sounds of collapse, burning, crying, wailing... all sorts of sounds mingled together, frantically pulling at his consciousness.

An indescribable longing rose in his mind, making the faint murmur even clearer.

Just as he was about to clearly hear what the murmur was saying—

"Lai Lai! Lai Lai! Wake up!"

"Huff...huff...what was that just now?!"

In the firelight, Xin Lailai suddenly opened her eyes, sat up abruptly, and subconsciously rubbed her forehead, feeling that her mind was in complete chaos.

"Ah, Lai Lai, you're finally awake! Get up quickly, something seems off about our surroundings!"

Before she could figure out the source of the confusion in her mind, Ling Yuzi's voice suddenly rang out. Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai was startled and subconsciously looked around. Then her pupils suddenly contracted.

Only then did he notice that the room, which should have only contained them and the campfire, had been shrouded in wisps of hazy white mist.

Not only that--

"It's getting colder..."

Xin Lailai murmured to herself, looking down at the surrounding walls and gazing at the white frost that had somehow climbed to their feet. She quickly noticed another change in her surroundings.

What exactly happened...?

"When did this situation begin?"

"About half a minute ago, just like you saw, Lai Lai, this fog suddenly surged up from above and made it extremely cold here all of a sudden."

Ling Yuzi answered, guiding Xin Lailai to look up at the steps.

From above?!
Upon hearing this, Xin Lailai's gaze shifted. Looking at the passage completely shrouded in white mist, she vaguely sensed something was amiss, but without hesitation, she grabbed her longsword and ran quickly backward.

"Let's go, something's not right here! Let's get out of here first..."

Om-! !

Before Xin Lailai could finish speaking, a gray color suddenly appeared in her field of vision. The next second, a large amount of gray fog surged out from both sides of the passage leading to the way they came, instantly blocking their way back.

Damn it, why did it have to trigger at this time?!

Staring at the wall of mist that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, Xin Lailai's expression changed slightly as she instantly realized the seriousness of the situation. And the next second—

Bang!
A deafeningly loud door opening sounded behind him, causing him to turn around abruptly. He happened to see the large door on the upper stairs suddenly burst open by itself, and then…

Come on~! Come on~!

"A delicious and passionate soul~ Don't resist it~!"

"Dive headfirst into the deep abyss~ Hehehehe~!"

A delicate voice, undeniably alluring yet strangely unsettling, suddenly resonated in Xin Lailai's mind, echoing endlessly as if it had its own reverberation effect. And that wasn't all—

You have entered the "Land of the Dead" and received an invitation from the "Mother of Birth," and there is no turning back!

The land of the dead...the mother of birth.

It's another area and character that the nuns didn't mention at all.

and……

"So, the fact that the 'Grey Mist' reacted means that this is the 'trial' that Wang Huo believed he had to face to become a Lord of Cinder?"

Xin Lailai murmured to herself, gazing at the biting cold that rushed towards her, her eyes gradually turning icy.

Although it's unclear why such a small fortress is guarded by dragons and inhabited by the Mother of Birth, since the Blessing interface clearly states there's no turning back, they are left with only one choice—

"Come on~! Come on..."

"Shut your rotten mouth, I'm sick of hearing it."

A cold, mocking laugh faded away. Before the campfire, Xin Lailai waved her round shield, clearing away the white mist before her eyes. She then stepped forward, crushing the white frost that had spread to her feet.

"If you want me to come over so badly, why don't you just come over yourself?"

Click, click—!

As the sound of frost breaking subsided, Xin Lailai stepped forward to the campfire, gazing at the gate before her, and calmly sneered:
Or... are you scared?

As soon as the words were spoken, the noise at the end of the passageway instantly fell silent, and then…

"Afraid?! Hehe! Hehehehehe! Hehehehehehe..."

"What astonishing ignorance! Ashes, since you are so overconfident, let me show you the price of angering the gods!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the white frost on the surrounding walls and ground suddenly shattered, transforming into ice crystal spears along with the surging white mist, surrounding Xin Lailai completely.

"Feel the terror of darkness, you fool."

Boom—!

The next second, all the ice crystal spears erupted, thrusting towards Xin Lailai simultaneously. Faced with this, Xin Lailai simply stepped back without changing her expression, and then…

—With practiced ease, he reached his hand into the campfire!
……

(End of this chapter)