The Villain Saint is my secondary account

Although no one has ever been to this place, Li Cheng can find a matching target based on the location information of the Tomb of Life that Bellier once revealed.

This is already the fourth level, and the depth below the ground is nearly two thousand meters. Looking up, the entrance to the sinkhole has shrunk to the size of a bowl, so far away and unreachable.

"Boss, I remember there were only five tombs in total. Where is the next level again?"

While taking photos to record the event, Brother Kuizi asked questions.

Li Cheng recalled briefly, "The next one should be at the bottom of the Margala Sea..."

"seabed?"

Elon paused, then frowned slightly. "Then wouldn't that mean..."

"Hmm... the lair of those Dark Shepherds, the Lost City."

Chapter 169 Blood-Soaked Underground Palace

"squeak!"

For some reason, Ella suddenly had a bad feeling.

We've gone quite deep here. If we continue downwards, the contents of that final layer might be quite ominous.

Therefore, she manipulated the rats to issue a warning, telling the three of them to stop there and not go any further.

"We've come this far, we can't just go back like this, Your Majesty."

However, Li Cheng said softly, "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Don't worry, I value my life too. If anything seems amiss, we'll retreat immediately."

The dense network of brass pipes is concentrated at the bottom. Once you reach the last layer, you might be able to understand the function of these strange objects and uncover the full picture of the upgrade plan.

The opening on that level stood directly below the deep pit, emitting a faint blue light, like the hazy lattice window at the end of a corridor in a childhood dream, exuding an atmosphere of nostalgia yet also unease.

"squeak……"

The mouse perched on his shoulder finally nodded. At the same moment, Ye Xiao, who was resting against the wall at the Yingbin Hotel with his eyes closed, also slightly opened one eye. If anything went wrong here, he would rush to the Royal Academy as quickly as possible.

Elon was originally sent along to protect Li Cheng and his companion, but this was, after all, the lair of the Dark Shepherds, a place where light had fallen, and anything could happen.

The three got ready and began their descent.

The deeper you go, the more pronounced the indescribable chill becomes, like maggots crawling up your spine from your feet.

Even this last layer is not the bottom of the cave. This sinkhole seems to have no bottom, and no matter when you look down, it is an endless, dark abyss.

As the dense network of pipes twisted and turned, the view of the final floor gradually came into view.

It was a wide and huge circular lake, and the three of them looked down from the window.

The lake was filled with a blood-red liquid, like a giant mirror, reflecting the countless crosses stuck in it.

Countless brass pipes, like dense rain lines, descend from the sky and extend into the lake. There are no scaffoldings at the windows, and the space is empty and devoid of any human presence.

"……That's it?"

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow slightly.

Despite his outward defiance, his heart was pounding uncontrollably.

Some places inexplicably give people a strange sense of unease, and this feeling becomes more and more obvious the deeper you go into this sinkhole.

But once you actually reach this floor, what you see doesn't seem to be anything surprising.

Even compared to the giant eyeball floating in the sky, this deep red lake can only be considered somewhat eerie, far from being "shocking".

"Shall we go in and take a look?"

"squeak!!!"

"Yes, yes, I'll listen to you, Your Majesty. I won't do anything reckless."

Li Cheng turned to look at Kui Zi Ge, "Quickly record this with the recording crystal, we'll analyze it slowly when we get back..."

"Shh!"

Just then, Elon abruptly interrupted Li Cheng.

The latter quickly pulled up the color-changing cloth, concealing his figure in the color of the pit wall.

But he still peeked out from the side with half an eye to see what was making Elon so nervous.

A deathly silence fell. One second, two seconds... about ten seconds later, the air began to fluctuate strangely. A pitch-black vortex appeared out of nowhere, like a miniature black hole distorting the surrounding light.

Spatial magic?

Li Cheng's eyes widened slightly. It was fortunate that it was Old Master Elon; he could sense this in advance.

While observing, he secretly glanced at the latter and found that Elon's eyes had become extremely serious and focused, his hands gripping the color-changing cloth tightly with veins showing, and a bead of cold sweat sliding down his forehead.

...So nervous?

Li Cheng was astonished. Who was that person who used spatial magic to make even the Sword Saint so nervous?

Outside the pit wall, a slender figure slowly emerged from the dark vortex.

He was a man with dark curly hair, his eyes were listless, his hands were in his pockets, and his feet seemed to be walking on air as if they were flat ground.

Cronus.

Li Cheng recognized the guy in front of him. Ella had made paintings of all the targets she considered highly threatening for everyone to read and remember, so even though he hadn't seen this guy in person, he still remembered him.

However, Elon was not concerned about this person, but rather about another figure that emerged from the vortex right behind him.

The man was shrouded in a large black robe, obscuring his figure. His face, visible from under the hood, was wrapped in layers of bandages, like that of a severely burned patient with no skin exposed.

Although he could stand in mid-air, his movements were strange and inhuman, like a floating, desiccated corpse slowly moving horizontally in the air.

Li Cheng had never seen this strange fellow wrapped in bandages before, but Old Master Elon should be able to give them the answer later, so he simply held his breath and didn't rush to ask.

The two who emerged from the dark vortex didn't exchange any words. They simply turned their backs to Li Cheng and the others and headed towards the Red Lake below the huge window.

Realizing that the enemy hadn't noticed any of his own men, Li Cheng breathed a slight sigh of relief.

I thought the enemy who could make even Sword Saint Elon nervous must be terrifying, but it seems they can't see through the Peeping Brother's incredible stealth skill.

After all, it was this spy who, with his unique skill, managed to get aboard the Golden Ship to take pictures of the Holy Maiden. If even the Holy Maiden herself couldn't detect it, it's unlikely that others would see through it so easily.

But what are those two planning to do?

Li Cheng continued to observe, only to see Kronos and the bandaged man beside him land in the center of the Red Lake, their feet waving in the deep red water, creating ripples.

The crescent-shaped cross lying askew in the lake was blasphemous. After standing silently in the middle of the lake for a long time, the two knelt down on one knee at the same time, as if paying homage to some hidden being.

Immediately afterwards, ripples spread out in the center of the lake, and the deep red water surface arched up, as if something was about to break through the water.

Li Cheng held his breath and squinted, but the distance was too far, and he could only vaguely see a bright red figure emerging from the water.

The figure had a dense network of pipes connected to its back, all extending from beneath the lake, but its face was covered in blood-red liquid, making it difficult to discern that its physique was not particularly robust.

"How much time has passed?"

The voice of the blood-red figure was hoarse and unpleasant, as if its throat had been cut with a knife, echoing across the deep red lake.

Perhaps not worried at all that anyone would hear it, its voice was not blocked in any way and could be clearly heard by the three people on the pit wall.

"Seven months and twenty days, Master."

Cronus replied.

"Just right."

The blood-red figure seemed to be laughing, but only a low growl like that of a demon could be heard.

As she spoke, she placed her hands on the face of the half-kneeling, bandaged man, her slender fingers, stained with scarlet liquid, digging into the bandages and slowly tearing them off.

"Time... has been long enough."

"Then she should also experience what I've faced."

"Right... my 'child'?"

The words were soft, but the actions were as brutal as a wild beast. Yet the bandaged man did not complain, but knelt motionless, letting the bandages on his face be torn off.

Chapter 170 The Unseen One

Li Cheng hid behind the pit wall, looking around anxiously.

He was curious about what the person looked like under the bandages, but the person had their back to him, so he couldn't see their face for a moment.

The blood-red figure in the middle of the lake was even stranger. His tone was morbidly ambiguous, and the rough way he was tearing at the bandaged man with one hand made it seem as if he wasn't untying the bandages, but rather tearing off the other person's face.

The sight of a master and a servant was odd, but Cronus remained silent, head bowed, not daring to utter a word.

"very good."

The blood-red figure ripped off all the bandages and gripped the head of the person on the ground tightly with both hands, as if admiring a work of art.

"It's you...it's you..."

Looking into the distance, Li Cheng suspected that he would witness the bloody scene of the bandaged man's head being crushed on the spot in the next second.

Unfortunately, this did not happen. The blood-red, short figure finally let go, but the posture was hard to describe as "reluctant to part." It was more like a restraint that wanted to kill but could not.

"Hehe...hehehe..."

It let out another strange, grating laugh, "Go, my child... From this day forward, you will forever be my servant..."

At the command of this voice, Cronus and the bandaged man draped in a black robe slowly rose to their feet.

The latter turned around, finally allowing Li Cheng to see the other person's face clearly.

He was a man with messy, short, jet-black hair, a thin face, and droopy eyes that seemed devoid of emotion, hidden behind his disheveled bangs.

Li Cheng's eyes widened suddenly, almost bursting out of their sockets.

He could hardly believe what he was seeing. Although the figure had become much thinner, as if due to malnutrition, he could still clearly recognize it.

The reason was that the man in the black robe in the distance was his most familiar brother.

"...Brother Ye?"

He opened his mouth to murmur, but no sound came out.

Even so, the sudden surge of intense emotions in his mind seemed to materialize, and was abruptly noticed by the two Dark Shepherds traveling in the Red Lake in the distance.

In an instant, Kronos and the man who looked exactly like Ye Xiao looked up at the same time, their gazes meeting Li Cheng's across the distance.

Li Cheng froze, until Elon let out a heart-wrenching roar.

"Watch out!!!"

"boom"

A violent explosion suddenly erupted on the crater wall, and the three figures flew out of the billowing smoke and dust like fallen leaves.

An unknown shock shattered the three's static state; in fact, if it weren't for Elon's timely reminder, Li Cheng might have already perished in the explosion.

Fortunately, he quickly regained his senses, gritted his teeth, grabbed the eagle-headed man who had been blown away by the shockwave with his left hand, and swung his right hand to send a grappling hook flying toward the stone wall above.

The hook's tip didn't pierce the hard pit wall, but the enchanted suction cup effect still held the hook in place.

Li Cheng activated the mechanism in his sleeve, and the rapidly retracting hook propelled him upwards in an instant.

But the next moment a ghostly figure flashed to Li Cheng's side, and "Ye Xiao" shrouded in black robes approached in an instant.

His right hand, wrapped in bandages, emerged from his sleeve. Although his hand was empty, Li Cheng seemed to vaguely see a cold light blooming in his palm.

Li Cheng wanted to speed up the grappling hook's retraction to dodge, but time seemed to freeze at that moment.

He felt as if his whole body had fallen into an invisible quagmire, and no matter how slowly the other person's palm moved, he could not dodge it.

...Am I going to die?

This question suddenly arose in Li Cheng's mind, or rather, it was a premonition.

My heart was pounding violently in my chest, and I could hardly breathe, as if my nasal cavity was glued shut.

He had no doubt that his life would end the moment that unavoidable giant hand touched him.

"Don't even think about it!!!"

But the next second, a pillar of rock flew across the sky and blocked Li Cheng's path.

Like a bridge erected in mid-air, the rock pillar slanted through the cross-section of the sinkhole, and the imposing figure of Sword Saint Elon flashed out along this rocky slope in the blink of an eye.