Chapter 1562

Andrew and his companion followed very carefully. They had to be cautious since the Dire Tiger had an extremely keen sense of smell. It turned its head to look back several times, and if Andrew had not steadied Chantelle to remain perfectly still, they would have risked exposure.

Axel appeared very anxious, keeping his head down and hurrying along the path. The secluded trail extended all the way to the end of the hillside and then began descending. After turning into a large pine forest, the terrain became flat.

“We’re here!” Axel blurted out excitedly as he walked over to a raised mound of earth. He cleared away the leaves used as camouflage on top of the mound, immediately revealing an entrance large enough for a person to crawl through.

Andrew and Chantelle hid behind a cluster of bushes in the shadows cast by moonlight.

They watched as Axel bent down and crawled into the entrance. After Axel gave the Dire Tiger a couple of commands in the local dialect, it roared once and charged into the nearby deep mountain forest.

Following the timing, they waited a moment longer.

Andrew crouched down and approached the earthen tunnel. There were large amounts of soil around it that had clearly been recently dug from underground in the past few years, with the fresh color still very obvious.

Chantelle tiptoed over and whispered, “Mr. Lloyd, should we go in?”

Andrew replied, “This tunnel should be a grave robber’s shaft that Axel dug. Tomb raiders are all very skilled at digging and tunneling–the size and specifications of this earthen tunnel prove that he’s a very experienced grave robber.”

Chantelle looked puzzled. “What’s a grave robber?”

Andrew smiled and said, “A tomb raider!”

With that, he immediately took the lead and bent down to crawl inside.

Chantelle followed closely behind, also entering the earthen tunnel.

Digging a grave robber’s shaft was definitely skilled work and also physical labor. The deeper Andrew crawled into the tunnel, the more he discovered that this shaft was incredibly deep. Moreover, in many places, it would suddenly make sharp turns or drop straight down.

Interestingly, there were many branch passages along the way. If it were not for the fact that the soil in these branches was all old and clearly had not been used recently, Andrew himself might have lost track of Axel, this ‘master tomb raider.’

He did not care what Axel was planning to do–he just wanted Axel to lead him into the underground place.

“All these wrong turns mean Axel must’ve made a lot of mistakes when digging this. To dig a deep hole in such a remote location, I can’t imagine how much time he spent!” Chantelle whispered with some amazement from behind.

Andrew replied, “Axel has plenty of time to slowly excavate this Fallen Crimson Dynasty royal underground palace, and he’s quite patient too. If it weren’t for us outsiders disrupting his plans…”

Chantelle chimed in coldly, “So that’s why he thought of raising that Dire Tiger to kill people and help him eliminate those who covet the ancient tomb. From the bones in that beast’s cave, who knows how many people it’s eaten?”

Andrew said, “Those poor souls weren’t all necessarily coming for the ancient tomb. I’m afraid he has fed that Dire Tiger human flesh since he was young. Over time, that’s how so many bones accumulated.”

Chantelle’s face turned pale. “Mr. Lloyd, let’s not talk about this anymore. I feel sick!”

Andrew stopped talking and focused on crawling toward the underground depths. The tunnel’s direction was generally downward. As he crawled, he also had to pay attention to whether he might disturb Axel up ahead. Thankfully, Axel never paused or looked back. After about half an hour, the tunnel reached its end.

Andrew saw Axel sticking his rear end up as he crawled out through a narrow exit. The end of the tunnel was so tight and twisting that it was a struggle to breathe, and the lack of air made Chantelle gag the whole way through. Andrew squeezed out first and reached back to help her. Both of them were covered in dirt, but they had finally made it safely back into the Fallen Crimson Dynasty royal tomb.

The tunnel opening was right above their heads, cleverly hidden just behind a crossbeam. After landing, Andrew quickly surveyed their surroundings. He found they were in a common corridor connecting to the underground palace.

Generally speaking, one side of the corridor led to the palace’s outer areas, while the other side led to the main entrance of the underground palace.

Far ahead, Axel’s silhouette flickered in the dark, holding a small torch as he walked deeper into the corridor. Andrew motioned for Chantelle to keep close, and the two began their silent pursuit. However, they had only taken a few steps forward when the torch began flickering wildly at the end and suddenly went out.