Chapter 65:

The Pathfinder wrote "The Chronicle of Midnight",
Later, people sang "Silver Ode Collection".
These two lines are engraved on the double-open stone gate. They are not divine characters, but an ancient text that has been lost.
Lotbard hasn't seen this kind of text for a long, long time... When was the last time I saw it? At that time, the Confederacy of the Ten Nations had not been established, the Kingdom of Sargo had not yet appeared, and he had not yet been imprisoned in the swamp of the dead...
Thanks to the words on the door, Lot suddenly remembered the name of the book. The Chronicle and Ode Collection, one side is iron black, one side is embedded with a silver mirror, and the two parts of the page are separated by a thin mithril...
Suddenly, his mind was confused...It seemed that he did not "feel" the ancient book, but that he knew or was quite familiar with the book. He just forgot it, just like he had forgotten many, many things.
He has been in the world for so many years, he has witnessed too many things, but he can remember very little. The same is true for human beings. Human beings cannot remember everything in their past lives. The memories of childhood are even more vague.
Lotbald had forgotten many things. No one can accompany him to strengthen those memories, and no one can remind him not to forget someone or something after thousands of years. He never forced himself to remember anything, because it was useless at all.
Now he is in the temple guarded by the Black Lake and is getting closer and closer to the ancient book... The familiar feeling is coming to his heart again, and the memory that has faded away seems to be revived...
With a click, the door opened-the picture of the temple knight and the princess picking the lock together is not something you can see every day.
Sir Naylor just wanted to push the door when Burris stopped him: "Wait. We have to be prepared."
"What to prepare?"
"There are a lot of undead behind the door."
Sir Naylor put his hand on the hilt: "That's right, I'm happy to send them back to sleep."
Burris sighed: "The point is not'undead', it's'a lot of'! It's really so many, I can't even count them. If you open the door, you will see pits and valleys full of undead creatures. The kind to the side."
After speaking, he handed the opal spirit to Estie: "Princess, come and feel it."
Esther was taken aback as expected: "How come there are so many?" She looked at Nayler, "Are there frequent incidents of undead attacking people around Black Cliff? Why have I never heard you talk about it?"
Nayler replied: "We have not seen any threats, and the people of Black Cliff Castle and Harbour City have never reported encounters with living corpses..."
"Are they all well-behaved undead creatures that never go out? Never disturb the living?"
"It's really possible," Burris put his hand on the stone door and tapped lightly. "Look, we talked and picked the lock outside. Ordinarily they found us a long time ago, but they just stayed quietly. Inside, there is no commotion. They don't seem to care about us."
Naylor said: "Maybe they want to attack."
"It's not like," Burris said, "Anyway, you guys step back a bit and let me open the door."
"Are you sure?" Nayler looked at the mage who was younger than Estie.
Burris said: "You are responsible for protecting the princess. If I can't handle it, you two will come and save me."
His symptoms of deterioration in casting spells have gradually improved, and he should not be far from being completely cured, so he is not worried about the undead, he can handle it.
Naylor drew out his sword and retreated a distance to protect Estie. Lott also took a few steps back symbolically, rarely making any comments.
Burris prepared a simple force field shield to prevent the enemy from being impacted at the moment of opening the door, and then opened the stone door with the spell of touching objects in the air.
After the stone gate was opened, a small ball of light drifted in slowly, illuminating the things inside the gate. This is a spacious hall, which should be the chapel of the temple. Burris was right. There were really a large number of undead creatures in the temple...They were densely packed, squeezed against each other, and even stacked on top of each other, submerging the floor and covering the altar, and they were really out of sight.
Even Burris couldn't help but took a breath. Although I can find out the approximate number of undead, it is quite shocking to see this picture in person...
They are awake, but their consciousness is not very clear. Burris put away the shield and took a step forward. Several corpses near the door noticed him and squeezed back slightly.
Upon seeing this, Naylor followed. Templar knights are always accustomed to walking first, and hiding behind will always look a little brave. When he approaches, the undead did not retreat obediently as before. They seemed to be disturbed and began to struggle one by one. .
Burris stretched out his arm and blocked Naylor behind, muttering something. He recites a very rudimentary spell, which can soothe the undead, temporarily overcome the instinct of fear and anxiety, and enter a state of ignorance and submission.
The reason it is said to be elementary is that it can only be used to soothe it, it cannot be manipulated and suppressed, and it cannot handle dangerous enemies. What's interesting is that this spell is also effective for some animals and human babies...I don't know which mage was the first to experiment with babies. The necromancers jokingly called this spell a lullaby.
The lullaby calmed some of the corpses, but it couldn't stabilize the whole hall. The corpses woke up one by one, some were dumbfounded, some restless, and some didn't seem to find the intruder at all, just burrowing nervously among the corpses...
Burris went further a few steps. The corpses neither dared to touch him, nor specifically made way for him. They flowed in the hall like liquid, rubbing against each other to make various disgusting sounds.
Burris hastily observed that these corpses come from different ages, and even come from different regions. The most recent death period may have been dead for several decades, and the farthest one can no longer determine the age. After detecting the magical fluctuations nearby, Burris was convinced that these corpses were not manipulated by humans, they were all freely living corpses... But if no one was manipulated, why would the dead from different regions and different eras gather together automatically? together?
Sir Naylor on the side tried to slash the corpse with a sword several times, but Esther stopped him. Esther said that the situation here was abnormal and told him not to act rashly. After all, this matter involved his mother... Nayler had to lower the blade, but kept his body tight.
Across the surging corpse group, Naylor saw the sign on the wall deep in the hall: tearful eyes embedded in the circular pattern representing the moon, and thorny thorn fences around the eyes... This is the saint of the guard of the black lake. Emblem, and it is the old-style holy emblem without simplification in ancient books.
Lot also walked into the hall and stood beside Burris. The living corpse next to him immediately shrank back to make room for him. The corpse would also move when Burris approached, but facing Lott, they retreated faster.
Neither Naler nor Estie noticed this small change, but Burris could see it clearly.
Lott pointed to the looming pattern on the opposite wall: "This underground temple is at least a few hundred years old... even thousands of years old, right? The holy emblem can't be seen outside!"
Naylor was slightly surprised when he heard it: "You know this too? Which temple did you train in?"
Buristirot replied: "He usually likes to engage in religious and anecdotal studies, but he himself is an unbeliever."
"So that's it," Nayler sighed, "I thought you were a mage trained in the temple, and I don't think you have the same temperament..."
Lot continued: "As far as I know, people who believe in the guards of the Black Lake should have disappeared long ago? The guards of the Black Lake have never been to the world, and they have not left the magical veins. His priests exist only for faith. Yes, they have no possibility of obtaining magic arts."
"On the surface they are extinct," Nayler said, "but among the folks, all kinds of false beliefs have not completely disappeared. Those pastors spread fallacies and heresies, or defrauded them to accumulate wealth and harm the people. They moved between countries. I can't catch it all the time."
Lott shook his head and said, "I know the false priest. What kind of "God of Healing Spring", "Sacred Beast of Mountain Forest", "Goddess of Lily Blessing Marriage"... They are all images made up of Hu. But the guards of the Black Lake are different. , He really existed. You treat Pastor Black Lake as a pseudo-god pastor, which is a bit..."
As he spoke, he looked back at Naylor: "It suddenly occurred to me that your mother Lisa is probably Pastor Black Lake, right?"
Naylor subconsciously wanted to say "impossible", but in the end he only moved his mouth and couldn't say it. He also thought about this possibility, he just didn't want to believe it.
Judging from the known situation, Lisa should undoubtedly be a false priest. It is said that the priests guarding the Black Lake have been active in secret. They have no fixed meeting place, no robes or sacred objects that can be displayed publicly. They have inherited their faith from generation to generation, wandering around silently, living on talents such as ballads and drama, and persistently searching for the dead gods. All traces under: historical materials, miraculous relics, ancient temples... As long as it is related to the guards of the Black Lake, it is the goal of the priests to pursue and extol.
Even if Ms. Lisa is the Pastor of Black Lake, what does she have to do with so many corpses? Burris was thinking with his head down, his eyes met the wrist of a corpse.
There is a scar, not like an accidental injury, more like a deliberate cut.
He frowned, squatted down and grabbed another corpse. The fabric on the corpse hadn't completely decayed. Burris lifted its clothes and observed from the arm to the ankle... There was a vague mark on the corpse’s ribs. The outline is very similar to the scar on the wrist of the last corpse.
Burris started rummaging through the body. The corpses are able to move and seem to want to hide from him, but they move too slowly, and those who want to crawl away will be caught back.
Naylor watched this scene uncomfortably, and quietly asked the princess: "What is he doing?"
Estie was also a little uncomfortable. She seldom manipulates corpses with her hands, and usually manipulates the golem to do it for her when she needs to do so. "He seems to have found something..." Esther murmured and glanced casually, just in time to see the corpse on her feet with shriveled thighs and a faded tattoo on her leg.
After a while, Burris stood up, took out a wet wipe and wiped his hands: "I see... It's incredible. These living corpses are all priests of the Lord of Black Lake!"
Nayler looked shocked: "So many? So many false priests?"
Burris said: "It may not be too many on average. These living corpses are from different regions, they are in different ages, they are all chasing the dead gods, and they all succeeded in finding this ancient temple... Then, they all chose to die. In the temple.
"The believers in the Black Lake Guard are all wanderers who have left their homes. After they find the temple, they use the temple as a shelter. When they die of old age or illness, these believers are like reunited together across time and space. Look at these traces- "Burris pointed to the arm of the mummy. "The Guardian of the Black Lake is defined as an evil and a false god, so his priests dare not hold the holy emblem. Therefore, the priests changed a secret method to simplify the holy emblem. The pattern patterns are left on the body. They can be tattoos, brand marks or scars... Different ages, priests choose different techniques."
Esther asked: "How did the corpses turn into undead creatures? It is said that there are only two ways to arouse the dead, one is to use the magic of arcane necrology, the other is to rely on the magical vein... Didn't the Black Lake guards leave no magic skills?"
"That means that this statement may be wrong," Burris said. "Obviously the gods who have passed away have also left the magical veins... Although rare and hard to find, they are quite powerful. These corpses are all aroused by that force. Yes, because no one controls them, they don’t have a clear consciousness at all."
After speaking, he glanced at Lott beside him. Lott was extremely quiet today, and he didn't say much nonsense except for the necessary conversations. It was simply too serious to make people feel comfortable.
He must have felt the power left by the guards of the Black Lake, most of that power lies in the ancient book he was looking for.
Burris always had a vague feeling: The Bone Lord didn't want the book because of curiosity, nor was he looking for Black Lake just because of his power. Today Lot's abnormal silence contains not only concentration and desire, but also a trace of fear that seems to be nothing.
Thinking of this, Lott finally spoke again: "Should we continue to explore? It would be a waste of time to stand here in a daze."
After all, he walked towards the altar of the main hall.
When Lott took a step, the corpse at his feet would definitely try to move away. As he slowly moved forward, the corpses squeezed and retreated and piled high, forming a canyon-like shape, giving him a thin strip. The way.
Burris followed Lott closely, and looked back and winked at Esther. Esther knew that Burris did not do this, but she had to tell Naylor that it was the effect of the necromancer's spell. After all, Nayler didn't know that there was a demigod standing here.
According to the usual structure of the temple, there should be small doors leading to other directions behind the altar. As the corpse group retreated, the mottled and broken altar finally revealed its true colors, and the altar had a passageway, probably leading to the living area of ​​the temple.
The inside of the passage was pitch black, and only the deepest part was lit with a cluster of orange shimmer. Sir Naylor squeezed to the front, and this time he finally had a chance to go first with a sword.
His footsteps were heavy, and his armor clinked. Before everyone took a few steps, the orange light at the end of the passage swayed, as if blocked by a shadow.
The shadow made a dry and strange sound, as if laughing or talking, but no one could understand what it said.
Naylor stopped and yelled to ask who the other party was.
The voice said a few more words. Burris discerned carefully and found that the person was indeed talking. She was smiling, repeating one sentence repeatedly:
"After reading, I have no regrets. After reading, I have no regrets."