Chapter 369: The Mural

Helag continued down the tunnel, noticing the soil gradually turned to a normal earthy yellow.

Near the surface, the soil was a dark black.

It seemed the pollution hadn’t penetrated deeply; about 700-800 meters down, the soil was normal.

This depth was a reference; soil pollution likely varied by location.

Helag observed the tunnel walls and floor, noting the absence of visitors or animal tracks.

“Why is this tunnel so long…”

Helag had been descending for eight hours without reaching the end.

He wondered if the tunnel led to the Earth’s core.

With the environment unchanged and no landmarks, he was unsure of his location.

The tunnel twisted and turned, with a gentle slope, not a straight vertical drop.

Thus, Helag was moving forward as well as downward.

He lost track of his position, possibly beneath the Land of Dawn.

The tunnel had no branches; Helag hadn’t encountered a single fork.

The further he went, the more mysterious the tunnel seemed, but turning back was not an option, so he pressed on to see its end.

He ate some jerky and drank water from his spatial ring, then continued.

***

Two days later.

If not for a change in scenery, Helag might have thought he was in a loop, endlessly walking.

For two days, Helag traversed the tunnel.

It was dark and silent, with no creatures encountered.

Helag had worried about encountering the giant worms from before, but that seemed unfounded.

If such creatures were nearby, the tunnel wouldn’t be so intact; it would have been destroyed.

He hadn’t seen any underground creatures, not even a worm.

In his mind, a red line marked his path, recorded by Deep Blue.

He’d been descending and moving east.

He was deep underground, far east of the Great Rift Gorge.

However, the map might be inaccurate; if his sense of direction was disrupted, the path could be wrong.

Helag suspected the map was likely wrong, or the tunnel defied normal distance calculations.

He’d traveled far down, yet the soil remained unchanged, defying logic.

Helag felt the place was strange; he hadn’t descended as deeply as it seemed.

But the journey was real, with no repeated paths.

After two days of monotonous travel, the tunnel walls finally changed.

They bore murals, ancient and weathered.

Helag found them familiar, evoking a sense of déjà vu.

Looking ahead, the murals stretched endlessly.

Standing at the mural’s start, Helag studied its content, trying to grasp its meaning.

The murals were simple, even crude.

Yet, the artist conveyed a story through these lines.

It depicted a tribe born in a perilous wilderness, threatened by beasts.

Tribe members often fell to beast attacks, dwindling their numbers.

Then, a god-like figure brought them a stone tablet…

Helag realized why it seemed familiar.

The murals matched those he’d seen in the cave at Creek Valley Town.

At least, the parts he’d seen matched his memory.

“Could it be the same tunnel?”

Helag glanced around, recalling entering a cave at Creek Valley, where he’d seen similar murals.

After leaving, the cave vanished; perhaps it had moved here?

Both entrances had spiders, possibly related.

But comparing the surroundings confirmed this wasn’t the Creek Valley cave, only the murals matched.

Helag wondered why identical murals appeared in distant places.

He continued, studying the murals.

After some distance, Helag noticed differences.

These murals were longer.

The Creek Valley murals ended with the tribe surviving through the tablet’s power.

The story seemed concluded.

But here, it continued.

Helag read the extended murals, understanding the story.

The tribe thrived with the tablet’s power, becoming the strongest, flourishing for generations.

Years later, they ruled the land, enjoying peace and prosperity.

Then, demons descended, killing indiscriminately.

The demons were depicted as terrifying, with simple lines.

Helag sensed the artist’s intent to convey their strength and fearfulness.

The demons quickly conquered, plundering resources.

Under tribal leadership, the people resisted.

But the power gap was vast; the tribe was losing, the world nearly lost.

Then, the tablet shone brightly, and the tribe knelt before it in prayer.