Chapter 165: Into the Tunnels

"Ahem... We've been here far too long, I suggest we move now so we can get there faster." Heisenberg shamelessly changed topics, eliciting a wave of laughter from Ricardo and Calvin.

Old Zhong also smiled.

The atmosphere around the group seemed to have lightened.

Heisenberg didn't even dare to comment nor stay any longer as he moved forward and ahead of the group.

Old Zhong laughed out loud and the group continued on their journey.

"The former Village Chief left me some words of advice. He said that if the day that I needed to personally enter the Village of Tulog came, I must be respectful at all times. There are dozens of taboos in the Village of Tulog and if I was not careful, I might violate one of them and end up dying..."

"Dying...?" Ricardo frowned, "Are they that bold to actually kill people?"

Old Zhong shook his head, "I also asked that question to the former Village Chief, but he told me that those people are fully capable of killing you without suffering any consequences..."

Heisenberg snorted, "Well, if they dared to harm a single passenger of that wagon, then we will definitely make them pay the price."

Calvin was silent. From his memories, he knew that the Village of Tulog was indeed capable of concealing everything from the Church. If not for that particular information leak, then the church might've still been oblivious to their presence. What's more, when the church discovered their existence, they had already grown so strong that a Cardinal's power was needed to exterminate them.

The continued existence of the curse and the so-called cult within the Village of Tulog was akin to a time bomb for Calvin. If he wanted to feel safe staying in Ashmelion, then he must defuse this time bomb and exterminate all of its members. Calvin had already decided long ago that he must destroy the cult before he left the Village of Tulog.

"There is one particular custom in the Village of Tulog that requires you to only knock a maximum of three times every time you request to enter a person's house. If you knock more than three times, it's considered bad luck and you might be punished. I would love to talk to all of you about the taboos of the Village of Tulog, but it would take too long for me to tell you all of it verbally..."

"This is why I wrote it in a notebook..." Old Zhong revealed a crafty smile.

Heisenberg's interest was piqued and he turned around to snatch the notebook.

"Hey, old man! We still haven't read it!" Ricardo asked.

"I'll handle it. I'm the older one, so I should lead you kids down the so-called dangerous tunnel." Heisenberg smiled.

"Are you sure that you can handle being in the front?" Calvin asked with a smile.

"What? Are you doubting my abilities?" Heisenberg lifted his crystal orb.

As a Priest, he was indeed suitable against enemies lurking in the dark.

But for Calvin, Priests might be powerful but they had a weakness. Their chanting takes too long to complete. In such a tight and enclosed place with nowhere to go but forward and backward. Calvin predicted that Heisenberg might eventually be overwhelmed. But Calvin didn't give this advice to Heisenberg.

Why?

Because he thought that it was amusing.

Fortunately, the monsters lurking in the tunnels shouldn't post a security risk since most of them were probably Specters or apparitions. As the holder of the Emperor's Commandment, they weren't even enemies to Calvin. At first, he planned on leading the group into the tunnels, so he could annihilate the monsters in front of them to ensure a safe passage.

But since Heisenberg was being so arrogant...

Calvin planned on giving him a chance.

"Old man, you better don't get spooked. You should know what kind of creatures lurk in an enclosed space like the tunnels." Ricardo teased.

He fished out a bracelet from his pocket and Calvin was astonished to see the bracelet that he casually wore on his wrists.

"Is that a gem made out of Holy Amber?" Calvin asked.

"Yeah..." Ricardo turned to look at him, "You sure know your stuff for your age... Now, this makes me think that you aren't as young as you look... Are you perhaps a hundred-year-old old monster that reincarnated into a young body?"

"W-What...?" Calvin was startled.

A cunning smile crept up Ricardo's lips as he laughed out loud and patted Calvin's shoulders, "Hahaha... Come on, man! I was obviously joking... Don't be so serious."

'Yeah, your joke almost gave me a heart attack...' Calvin shook his head and bitterly smiled. He criticized Ricardo deep in his heart, but at the same time, he discovered that Ricardo seemed to be more observant than he thought.

'It seems like I need to be careful around this guy...' He whispered to himself.

The group talked here and there until they eventually arrived in front of three cave entrances. The caves didn't look any different from each other whatsoever apart from the fact that they seemed to lead to different places.

But Calvin begged to differ.

He was about to open his Predator Senses and look at the cave entrances with his Vision when Old Zhong suddenly spoke.

"And now, we're here!"

"The former Village Chief told me that there is only one correct entrance that will lead to the Village of Tulog. It's the entrance of life."

"Entrance of life? What does that mean?"

"I also have no idea..." Old Zhong softly said out of embarrassment.

Heisenberg furrowed his eyebrows. He looked through the notebook and found no excerpt with any information regarding the so-called entrance of life, "Fucking hell, this is useless!" He couldn't help but curse, "Are we going to be stopped here after we took such a long journey? Shit, that's so lame..."

"Don't be so hasty to judge... There must be something around here that can give us clues..." Ricardo seemed to be in deep thought.

"Clues? Yeah, clues... I mean, just what was the former Village Chief thinking giving such vague information to the next generation. Does he want them to die?" Heisenberg shook his head and criticized the former Village Chief.

Old Zhong, the current Village Chief also had a frown on his face.

He wasn't offended at all by what Old Zhong said. In fact, he was also curious.

Why did the former Village Chief leave such a vague clue? He doubted that the former Village Chief purposely did that...

Could it be that he had no other choice but to leave a vague clue? But why? Was there something stopping him from revealing the truth?

Old Zhong fell into deep contemplation.

But before the three of them could further deliberate their next course of actions.

Calvin suddenly said, "Ricardo, Heisenberg... Open your eyes and look at the entrances."

"I'm looking at it!" Heisenberg exclaimed.

"You're not looking at it..." Calvin mysteriously said.

"What do you mean I'm not looking at it?! I am looking at them! I'm staring at these cave entrances!" Heisenberg continued to make a ruckus.

Ricardo's pupils constricted and he immediately understood what Calvin was talking about.

Without saying anything, he focused his Vision on the cave entrances and then there...

He saw a few words carved above the three cave entrances.

"Kamatayon... Kinabuhi... Pagkasaag..." Ricardo mumbled.

Heisenberg froze.

He knew a lot of Elder Tongue and he obviously recognized the meaning of those words. Furthermore, he saw the orangey hue in Ricardo's eyes, so he immediately turned to the cave entrances with his Vision activated, and there he saw the same thing...

"Kamatayon... Kinabuhi... Pagkasaag..." Heisenberg whispered, "Death... Life... Adrift..."

"The life entrance is in the middle! Let's go!" Heisenberg cried out in excitement.

Old Zhong was also happy since now that they have discovered the true path.

It meant that he could now enter the Village of Tulog whenever he wanted.

Not that he was planning on entering that damned village in the first place.

Since the real entrance to the Village of Tulog has been discovered. It was now time for the three to bid Old Zhong goodbye. Heisenberg handed over a crystal orb to Old Zhong and told him that the orb would keep him safe until he arrived at home.

"Remember to keep that orb close to your chest... The orb will continuously function as long as it detects your heartbeat, so never let it wander away from your chest even for a split second! I don't think that you need a reminder of just how dangerous the valley that we just passed through. Never be arrogant to think that you'll be able to pass through that valley without this orb! Keep it on you at all times!"

"Are we clear?" Heisenberg sternly asked.

Old Zhong smiled and stared right at Heisenberg, "Now that you're acting so serious like this... It just makes me grow fonder of you... I really hope that you can return alive from that village, so I can give you a taste of my wonderful tongue." He winked at Heisenberg and the poor bald-headed man just froze right there with his lips continuously twitching out of anger and embarrassment.

"Hahaha..." Old Zhong laughed seeing his hilarious expression, "I'm off then..."

He waved towards Calvin and Ricardo before he turned around and left the group.

"Heisenberg..."

"It seems like he likes you now..." Ricardo teased.

"Fuck off!" Heisenberg coldly spat.

With Heisenberg so pissed and Ricardo laughing out loud, Calvin was the only person who could keep a serious expression on his face.

As expected, Heisenberg took the lead and without saying anything.

He walked into the tunnel with Calvin and Ricardo closely following him from behind.