Beating Instances through Words Left by the Dead

Staring at the hundred-tiered steps before them, Wu Chang was about to rouse He Yun, but when he turned around, he saw her opening her eyes.

"We've already arrived?" He Yun looked at the Stone Temple in front of them, surprised at how quickly they had progressed.

She quickly realized something was off: why was her vision so clear now? Had the fog dispersed?

She glanced at the Four-sided Age Fire Lamp in Wu Chang's hand and exclaimed, "Did it disperse the Calamity Fog? I've noticed that everything you hold seems to suppress the fog, as if..."

Seeing He Yun contemplate for a while without speaking, Wu Chang filled in,

"As if it appeared specifically to resolve our current predicament."

After speaking, he performed a knight's gesture solemnly and said, "Feeling the danger Miss He Yun is in, the Peace Knight responds to the call."

He had expected He Yun to make a sarcastic remark or two, but to his surprise, she turned and was the first to step onto the stairs.

"Let's go, now isn't the time for delays."

Wu Chang pursed his lips, thinking to himself that women really are hard to understand, then lifted the Four-sided Age Fire Lamp and caught up with He Yun.

Before he could speak, He Yun spoke first:

"Just now, I remembered some memories."

Wu Chang asked accordingly, "Memories of what?"

He Yun gazed at the end of the staircase, "Probably from a long time ago, the first time my brother and I entered the Stone Temple."

"I remembered that it was shortly after my brother was elected as the leader of the Underground Shelter No. 88. That shelter couldn't produce its own energy; we often obtained energy through trade with the neighboring Underground Shelter No. 87."

"For a long time, our two shelters were steadfast partners. Until Shelter No. 87 elected a geocentrism-only leader, who shut down the shelter, halting all trade and plunging surrounding shelters into an energy crisis."

"Some underground shelters couldn't bear it and joined forces to blow open the doors of Shelter No. 87, massacred its inhabitants, and looted their energy supplies."

"When my brother learned of the situation, he declared himself a geocentrist too, closing the doors of our shelter. Because he refused to participate in the massacre, he wasn't considered one of 'their own', and although Shelter No. 88 didn't produce energy, it had a fully automated farm and livestock factory. With the energy crisis resolved, food was likely to be the next issue."

Saying this, He Yun sighed.

"At that time, Shelter No. 88 was almost in a deathwatch state, waiting for the energy to deplete, which would mean opening the shelter doors and facing a war."

"At that point, we discovered the underground Energy Mine."

He Yun suddenly stopped, turned to Wu Chang, and gazed at the Four-sided Age Fire Lamp in his hand, saying,

"The discovery of the Energy Mine was like this lamp in the Calamity Fog for us. It gave everyone hope, instantly turning geocentrism supporters from 5% to 95%."

"To thoroughly investigate the Energy Mine, we dispatched a lot of people, constantly digging underground until we followed the energy reactions and found this Stone Temple."

By this time, Wu Chang and He Yun had already climbed all the stairs and arrived at the platform in front of the temple.

Noticing He Yun's strange mood, Wu Chang asked, "Should we go in now?"

He Yun nodded and said, "We've come this far; there's no turning back now."

After entering the Divine Hall, He Yun suddenly changed direction, grabbed Wu Chang's hand, and said, "Come with me."

Wu Chang: ?

What's this? Sounds like, "Let's go into the room."

Although he didn't know what He Yun meant, Wu Chang followed her inside, only to find that the interior was unlike what he had imagined.

It was a crypt-like room with two open Stone Coffins inside.

One Stone Coffin was empty, while inside the other lay a stone-carved human effigy, with a shimmering pink diamond set into its chest.

Identical to the Desire Stone on He Yun.

The two Stone Coffins were placed on either side of the room, with a small stone monument standing in the center.

Seeing the monument and effigy, He Yun suddenly let out a muffled groan, her face contorted with pain, almost collapsing when Wu Chang hurried forward to support her.

Seeing that He Yun couldn't recover quickly, Wu Chang gently laid her down, letting her lean against him.

It was Wu Chang's first time having a woman leaning on his shoulder, but he felt no beauty in it. The reason was simple: He Yun's mecha was too uncomfortable.

Although the custom mecha she wore wasn't much bulkier than Iron Man's, it was still full of hard edges, lacking any softness.

After struggling with a severe headache for a few minutes, He Yun regained her composure, staring at the effigy in the Stone Coffin with bafflement.

"Why is there a Human Stake here?"

Wu Chang asked, "Is your status related to this so-called Human Stake?"

He Yun lifted her head off Wu Chang's shoulder, sitting beside him on the ground, and said,

"I hadn't finished earlier."

"We found this Stone Temple back then and sent three or four groups inside; none came out alive. Instead, a lot of monsters escaped. But due to the situation at the underground shelter, my brother and I couldn't afford to give up, so we personally entered the temple without sending others in."