Chapter 911: Chapter 155: Descendants of the Sun (2)
Summer 2013, Amazon Jungle, Golden City Archaeological Team.
The legend of the City of Gold and the Golden Lake has been circulating on the mainland of ancient Latin America for hundreds of years. For centuries, explorers from various countries have visited without end, but from beginning to end, no one has ever seen the true form of the City of Gold that sank into the Golden Lake.
Perhaps only the Emperor of the Inca Empire, who built the City of Gold according to legend, had truly glimpsed the full view of this City of Gold.
A small temporary camp was set up in the jungle; this Golden City Archaeological Team consisted of twenty-three people, led by a professor of archaeology named Doroin.
At this moment, Professor Doroin was in the tent discussing with his assistant, a local indigenous guide familiar with the jungle environment, and a retired warrior responsible for the team’s defense.
They had been in the jungle for twenty days — they reached the Golden Lake a long time ago, but they had no clues about the City of Gold.
Years ago, the local government had sent the military to protect the Golden Lake, preventing illegal investigations. But there were still people sneaking into the Forbidden Area, even when the military couldn’t cover all bases — and as time went by, the local government’s oversight of this place was no longer as rigorous as before.
“Professor Doroin, our supplies are running low,” said the retired soldier Santana. “The remaining food will only sustain us for four more days at most, or else we will go hungry on the way back.”
“Santana, my old friend! Please give me more time!” Professor Doroin pleaded, “I have spent my whole life studying Inca civilization. I believe the City of Gold exists, and the entrance is nearby.”
“A week, no more than a week at most,” Santana frowned. “Professor, you should understand that we were both hired to e here, and while I am the team leader, I also have the responsibility to ensure everyone’s safety.”
This expedition was not initiated by Professor Doroin but funded by a sponsor. The sponsor provided Professor Doroin with extensive materials, and through Professor Doroin’s remendation, Santana was chosen as the team leader.
However, the sponsor did not join the team, and even the sponsor was entrusted by someone else, merely acting as an intermediary — the real boss of this expedition is unknown to anyone.
…
But even as Santana agreed to squeeze out more time, Professor Doroin, looking at the maps spread on the ground, furrowed his brow — just then, some cheers suddenly came from outside the tent.
The few of them walked out in confusion, discovering that the team members were gathered together, shouting with excitement. Professor Doroin called over a team member to ask what was happening.
“Professor, one of the team members hunted a wild boar in the woods, and everyone’s happy, discussing how best to cook it,” the team member replied.
Professor Doroin was taken aback, nodding, “Oh? Hunting? Who caught it?”
Even Santana couldn’t help but bee curious… For academics, hunting a wild boar might seem simple for a hunter. But that’s not the case; adult wild boars can be very aggressive and can pose a life-threatening danger if not handled carefully.
The team member pointed ahead, where a man was seated at the base of a tree, covering his face with a hat and reclining.
Curious, Professor Doroin led the group over, “Was it you who hunted the wild boar? How did you do it?”
The young man lifted his hat, revealing a slightly black face beneath messy hair, likely tanned from the sun… a rare Eastern face.
Professor Doroin was a bit puzzled; he had an impression that this person was indeed in his archaeological team but wasn’t one of his students; Santana brought him along during recruitment.
By the looks of it, Santana wasn’t very acquainted with this young man either. But Professor Doroin and Santana had known each other for many years, and he knew Santana wasn’t the kind of person who would be irresponsible… this young man must have exceptional qualities.
“Song, did you really hunt this wild boar all by yourself?” Santana was amazed.
This young man was someone he found in a tavern, where he saw him fighting with drunkards, demonstrating impressive skills. After striking up a conversation, they hit it off, and he joined the archaeological team.
His full name wasn’t known, only that he told others to call him Song.
“Is there a problem?” Song yawned, around twenty-three or four years of age, always having a faint smile on his face.
During these twenty days, Song barely interacted or engaged with anyone in the team, always remaining silent and just quietly following at the rear, doing his own thing.
“Incredible!” Santana laughed heartily.
Song shrugged, responding calmly, “Was just getting tired of the dry food lately, and I wanted some fresh meat. I guess I got lucky; I originally planned to just catch a couple of fish to roast and eat, then this big fella came to me.”
This massive wild boar was enough to feed the whole team for a day and a half, which was undeniably good news for the resource-scarce archaeological team.
However, at this moment, Professor Doroin suddenly asked, “Song, what is that in your hand?”
Song was taken aback, then raised his hand. Wrapped around his wrist was a small ornament carved from bone, “Oh, this… I picked it up from the ground. Thought it looked interesting, so I wore it. Is there a problem?”
Professor Doroin grabbed Song’s wrist and carefully examined the trinket, “This is an ornament worn by soldiers during the Inca dynasty, serving a purpose similar to today’s soldier’s dog tags, for identification. Where did you find this? Song, you must tell me! This could be a major breakthrough!”
“I see…” Song thought for a moment, then said, “I can’t pinpoint the exact location, but I could take you there.”
“Immediately! Let’s go there right away!”
Professor Doroin was so excited that his neck turned red, and he instructed Santana to leave a few people to guard the camp, then set out with the team.
Song led the archaeological team members to a spot under a small waterfall. The journey was not easy, and even Santana, with his field bat experience as a retired warrior, was drenched in sweat by the time they arrived, let alone a scholar like Professor Doroin.
At this moment, Song stood on a large stone by the waterfall’s pool, pointing to a spot beneath the waterfall, “There seems to be a small cave there, but it’s too dark. I was worried there might be poisonous snakes inside, so I didn’t go in. I found this thing there.”
Originally resting on the ground, Professor Doroin quickly got to his feet upon hearing this, shouting, “Quick, quick! Santana, find some ropes, I want to go in and see for myself!”
Song raised his head to glance at the top of the waterfall at this moment, pondering if this was one of the countless tributaries of the Amazon River that led here?
Looking at the members of the archaeological team busy exploring the cave beneath the waterfall, a subtle smile appeared on Song’s face. He muttered quietly to himself, “Really, without some clues, it’s utterly useless… My pocket money nearly went to waste, sigh.”
After casually stretching his muscles, Song suddenly leapt into the pond, swimming toward the base of the waterfall… This wasn’t the first time he explored this place.
The last time was a few months ago, and that time the team… was annihilated!
The force of the water suddenly surged, every inch forward required immense effort, yet in that moment, Song seemed to hear something.
That whisper which since surviving months ago occasionally resounded in his mind. Time and again, he tried to recall these strange sounds, recall the structure of their syllables, but every time it was just so muddled.
He seemed to understand the meaning of these whispers, yet always struggled to organize them in his own language in his heart; always an apparent contradiction.
“What secret is hidden here… truly exciting!”
At this moment, some members of the archaeological team had already arrived first and tied a rope, everyone held onto it, gradually overing the impact of the waterfall, arriving behind it… Indeed, just as Song said, there was a moderately sized cave here.
Professor Doroin observed the surroundings, while Santana examined the cave’s edges, “There are traces of excavation here, although largely eroded by the water flow, it’s still discernible… People have been here.”
“Probably ancient people of the Inca Empire!” Professor Doroin took a deep breath, receiving a powerful flashlight from the hands of a teammate, and shone it inside the cave.
The path was not easy, sloping downward, mostly strewn with pebbles, and due to the moisture, covered with moss, making it extremely slippery.
But after descending this path, it became dry inside, approximately over fifty meters deep, Professor Doroin discovered some ancient murals on the wall, which made him exceptionally excited.
“These are priestess’s images!” Professor Doroin exclaimed loudly, “Indeed, the mysterious funder who provided my data was correct, this is the recording method used by ancient people of the Inca Empire!”
“Is it… the Golden City?” One student in Professor Doroin’s team nervously asked at this moment.
“This… this doesn’t seem to be about the Golden City.” Professor Doroin walked along these murals step by step, and when he reached the last mural, he suddenly stopped, showing a bit of surprise, muttering to himself, “A black sun devouring the sky… what does it mean?”
The mural depicted a black sun, beneath which the ancient Inca people knelt all around, and beside them a figure of an ancient person resembling a priestess, teary-eyed.
Song, following the crowd, watched the team’s members surround the mural without uttering a word, silently observing the surroundings, while keeping his hand on his waist – the location of his handgun.
“Professor, what does the black sun mean?”
Professor Doroin frowned at this moment and said, “The Inca Empire had its own worship, they revered the Sun God, which was the guardian deity of the Inca Empire. In Inca civilization, the Sun God was named Inti, the son of the creator god Viracocha. However, Inti is the embodiment of the sun, supposed to symbolize light… Why would the ancient Inca people carve a black sun? This point I haven’t figured out yet… Nevertheless, this discovery might be of major significance in Inca civilization research! Hurry and record all the murals here for me, ensuring not to miss anything!”
Santana had little interest in archaeological research – he was more fascinated with the treasures within the Golden City. Thus, he continued to explore other sections of the cave.
Suddenly, Santana stopped because he found some modern civilization items in a corner of the wall – an outdoor water bottle, a climbing shoe, and a few bullet cases!
Someone had been here before they arrived!
Santana suddenly recalled Song, that mysterious and capable guy. Remembering Song was nearby when he was observing the surroundings, he directly called out; “Song, e and take a look at these items! Song!”
However, despite shouting a few times, there was no response, Santana turned his head in puzzlement, only to discover that at some moment, Song was gone – at least, out of his sight.
Santana frowned, not far off, Professor Doroin and a group were busy recording data, while others assisted them, not paying any attention to his actions.
“Song?” Santana called out for Song again… Suddenly, something seemed to flash before his eyes.
A shadow!
Too quick, instinctively Santana fired a shot toward the space the shadow passed through – The echoing gunshot immediately alarmed everyone!
“What happened?” Professor Doroin asked, horrified.
Santana replied loudly, “Not sure, but… but there seemed to be something here!”
He glanced at everyone, shouting again, “Everyone be extra cautious, there might be something dangerous hidden here… what happened to you all,”
The team members at this moment had faces full of fear, all looking toward him, Santana frowned, realizing something, suddenly breaking into a cold sweat.
He swallowed a mouthful of saliva and slowly turned his head, only to see in the darkness, a pair of enormous eyes staring at him!
Shh——!!!!!!
Santana saw shockingly terrifying bloody maw! It was a gigantic python, covered entirely with black scales, and atop its head was a blood-red unicorn!
The moment Santana realized it, everything turned pitch-black; his entire upper body was swallowed whole by the terrifying giant python!
The Black Unicorn Giant Python swallowed half of Santana’s body, suddenly raised its head. Santana’s legs struggled desperately in its mouth, and eventually went limp. The python’s mouth opened again and directly swallowed the entire person.
The archaeological team instantly succumbed to panic.
In the darkness, a pair of eyes gazed at the unfolding scene; his body crouched stealthily behind a rock, motionless… He was Song.
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