Pillar of Yita

”The castle owner’s study should be nearby,” Gita whispered. She suddenly stopped and stared ahead in a daze. Fang Hong noticed Gita’s strange behavior and asked, ”What’s wrong?”

”Did you see it, Brother Ade, Miss Tata?” Gita’s gaze lingered at the dark end of the hallway, asking somewhat uncertainly.

”See what?”

”A... a white shadow,” Gita stuttered.

”A white shadow, a ghost?”

”Br- Brother Ade...”

”Sorry, just kidding,” Fang Hong smiled, walking ahead of her. He made the Energy Angel stop, and with a slight movement of his right hand, a Clockwork Fairy flew out from behind them and headed in that direction.

In the darkness, the end of the corridor was a wall, but puzzlingly, there was a window on the stone wall. Fang Hong was momentarily stunned; windows inside buildings were indeed rare, especially in castle architecture of the Eteliria era.

He tried to let the Clockwork Fairy pass through the window, but even stranger was that after passing through, a corridor emerged in the darkness.

It was as if the corridor was divided into two by the wall with the window, they were in the front half of the corridor, and behind the window was the back half.

For the first time, Fang Hong felt a bit of his hair stand on end. This building’s structure was just too bizarre. He controlled the Clockwork Fairy to make a circle and discovered there were no other exits inside.

This meant the only way to enter the second half of the corridor was through that window. Fang Hong felt a chill on his back for a moment, unable to understand the reason for such a setup.

He then shared his findings with the two of them. Hearing this, Gita’s face turned even paler; such bizarre architecture always reminded one of unpleasant things.

Only Miss Tata looked calm. ”In some legends, vampires cannot enter through windows.”

Gita was so scared she grabbed Fang Hong’s coat.

Fang Hong took a deep breath. He wasn’t afraid of vampires, but in this place, the feeling was entirely different. Facing ten vampires head-on in combat might be better than staying in this oppressive place.

Honestly, the legends of gods and ghosts on Earth were nothing more than undead creatures here. Even ghosts were not uncommon in Eteliria; they had seen plenty in Dolifen.

But these things lurking in the darkness exerted a distinctly different pressure.

However, Fang Hong did not panic; he knew that if he showed any fear, Gita would probably feel even more nervous. He suppressed his unease and reassured Gita before leading the two next to the window.

This place was so abnormal; it was precisely the kind of place worth investigating.

He gently moved the metal glove, controlled the Clockwork Fairy to probe further inside, and then turned back. ”Gita, I plan to go in and take a look. Would you like to stay here or come with me? If you choose to stay, I’ll have Miss Tata stay here with you.”

”I- I’ll go with you, Brother Ade,” Gita said, her voice tinged with tears.

Fang Hong nodded and gently said, ”Don’t forget you are also an Invoker. There’s no need to be too scared; encountering these monsters doesn’t mean there’s no chance to fight.”

Gita took a light breath. She was not afraid of combat; most human fears are baseless and relate to ancestral memories deep in one’s bloodline.

She gripped her sword with both hands and took a step forward, but Fang Hong stopped her. ”Don’t rush,” he whispered. ”There might be traps inside.”

In terms of forming an adventure group, he might be a young novice.

But in ancient castle exploration, he was undoubtedly a ’Master Level’ person — well, at least theoretically a master. Such a place, with only one entrance, usually meant some traps set or perhaps ambush by puppet constructs behind.

Fang Hong didn’t find any puppet constructs, so there must be a trap.

The corridor was filled with square bricks that had collapsed from the ceiling. He picked one up casually and threw it inside — but there was no reaction. Not rushing, Fang Hong picked up a few more and tossed them in one by one. Only when he threw the third did it seem to hit something, a clatter sounded, and a cloud of dust fell inside.

Gita looked curiously at the captain—

Fang Hong felt a bit embarrassed. ”Perhaps it’s due to years of disrepair.” He had the Clockwork Fairy fly up to check, and then he realized his words were true: a row of dark holes was exposed where the dust fell.

Apparently, there was originally a row of crossbow machines set up, but possibly due to rust or perhaps after repeated activation by others previously exhausting the mechanism’s ammunition, it didn’t attack as expected.

He explained this to the two, and both Gita and Tata nodded. ”Can we go in now?” Gita asked softly.

But Fang Hong shook his head.

Generally speaking, traps would stop at just that. But some specifically designed to trick ’professionals’ might exploit these people’s habitual thinking. He had read a novel before where the protagonist confidently fell into such a trap.

He looked behind the window and tossed another brick down. With a clattering sound, the ground there suddenly sank, revealing a dark hole.

As expected—

He lifted the crystal lamp and shone it down; the bottom of the hole was filled with steel spikes that glistened with cold light, covered in dark blood, but no bones. Presumably, those unlucky folks had one by one gone to the Eimeya Temple to revive.