Chapter 406: Trier of Intis
Passing the square with the holy emblems of the Church of the Eternal Sun and the Church of Steam, Angel and Pierre walked up the wide stone steps and entered the second level of the catacombs.
"In fact, the third and fourth floors are called the 'Old Ossuary'. They were built in an earlier period. The first and second floors were converted from the quarry under Trier. They are larger and have more 'people'."
Pointing to the inscription "Intis" above the stone entrance door to the third floor, Pierre read it out attentively:
"The entrance to the old ossuary."
Excluding the issue of carelessness, this college student was quite hospitable... Maybe my appearance was also a factor, but when he said "more people", was he referring to the corpses on the ground?
Angel thought about it and looked around the tomb on the second floor. He found that the passage here was wider, and there were more bones scattered everywhere in the corridor. There were even some "bulk" bones divided into multiple parts blocking the middle of the corridor.
But Angel soon discovered that he was indeed talking about "people".
Continuing along the black line, they took a few steps before a bright candlelight appeared in front of them. It was the light composed of four white candles. They belonged to four young people, three men and one woman, who were dressed very fashionably, similar to Pierre next to Angel.
Four people were dancing a strange dance around a corpse that was sitting cross-legged.
"what are they doing?"
Angel asked softly.
"A ritual," Pierre lowered his voice as he was also led along. "A test of courage."
When he heard the first half of the sentence, Angel's mind had already emerged with information about various "rituals" such as sacrifices and demon summoning, but he did not expect that the final answer would be like this.
"A test of courage? Here?"
"Of course, this has become a popular trend among universities in recent years, competing to see who can stay underground the longest. Some even go to the third floor to sing, but most people sing here, which is wider than the first floor, but not as cramped as the third floor.
"Many people who go to the third floor go alone. Haha, I wanted to try it alone today, but I didn't expect to meet you."
Pierre replied with a playful smile.
I'm afraid they are not alone, but will soon be "only one person left"... Maybe more teams will be wiped out in the underground tombs and completely forgotten.
Angel no longer cared about the college student's activeness. After all, the other party didn't remember his missing companion at all and still thought this was just an ordinary underground "attraction", so naturally he wouldn't be too vigilant.
Her only confusion was why Trier's official Beyonders didn't seal off this place, but instead allowed ordinary people to come and go freely, only to have their existence wiped out from time to time for accidentally dropping a candle?
Erased… Angel thought again of the black-haired angel lady who came to support the Church of Evernight during the Backlund smog. According to Klein, Mr. A, who was chasing him, was wiped out in a second as if erased by an eraser under her gaze. Presumably, the same was true for Ms. Despair, Panatia.
Exactly the same as Pierre's companion who lost his candle in this catacombs...
Could it be that there is a sealed object in the tomb that has similar extraordinary abilities?
Unfortunately, there are too few clues and no conclusion can be drawn at present.
She continued to follow Pierre, bypassing the four dancing young men and continuing in the direction indicated by the black line.
Along the way, every time he passed a few tombs, Angel would find more or less a few fellow travelers, mostly young students, and a few people who came to pay tribute to relatives and friends. Without exception, they all held a white candle and protected themselves with the faint candlelight.
After walking a longer distance than the third floor, Angel came to the first floor of the cemetery, which was also the floor closest to the ground. The corpses here were obviously more "fresh", and many of them were placed here not long ago.
Of course, there are not only corpses, but also many people.
Angel soon met a group of giggling college students. There were more than ten of them, lined up in a long queue, looking here and touching there like they were on a tour. The dim candlelight swayed in the corridor like a slowly moving river.
"Isn't this also a test of courage?"
She looked at Pierre beside her. For the first time since they met, Pierre did not answer her question eagerly. Instead, he smiled brightly and greeted the group of college students.
"Hey, Antoine, Chloe," he patted the leading young man on the shoulder, then smiled and bowed to the other woman with an exaggerated gesture, "Don't you have classes tomorrow?"
"I'm taking my new friends to the third floor. Inès and Camille, everyone else is here," the brown-haired man named Antoine replied, pointing to the two young women in the group, but his eyes kept glancing at Angel. "What about you? Why are you here alone, and with such a beautiful woman?"
"We just met not long ago."
Pierre said this with a calm expression, but he couldn't suppress the upward curve of his mouth.
Angel then managed to "translate" the two people's extremely fast-paced words of Intis, and understood that Pierre's communication was for the purpose of showing off, but she did not refute it. Instead, she waited for him to finish greeting these familiar college students, passed by the group of up to fifteen people, and watched them slowly walk towards the second-floor entrance.
"Thank you for not exposing me."
Looking at their backs, Pierre said softly.
"If you can take me out, we'll be even."
Angel smiled faintly, his eyes following the row of dim candlelights into the distance.
In her sight, the two female students in the middle of the team who were brought here to "broaden their horizons" were whispering to each other, and were eager to blow out the candles in each other's hands.
The entire team seemed to pause for a moment, and then continued to move forward. Antoine's whisper of directions could be heard from the front of the team, and gossip about Angel and Pierre's relationship was quietly discussed at the end of the team.
In the middle of the team, the two empty positions quickly disappeared as the people in front and behind adjusted, as if the original team was arranged like this, as if only these thirteen people entered the underground tomb.
The two female students blew out the candles and disappeared in full view of everyone.
"Pierre, why did they say they came to the catacombs?"
The smile on Angel's face also disappeared. She turned her head to look at the "guide" beside her, who looked back at her with a puzzled look.
"Of course, we're going to the second floor to perform the courage test. Like I said, this is very popular nowadays."
He replied eagerly with a smile on his face.
After the two members disappeared, even the reason for coming to the catacombs changed... Angel sighed, closed his eyes, and recalled the youthful smiles of the two female students a minute ago.
At least in my memory, they still exist...
"Come on, let's go back to the surface."
She calmed herself down and said to Pierre.
…
It took another fifteen minutes, and when the candle was about to burn out, the two finally arrived at the entrance to the first floor.
Several black lines converge here, and the end point is a giant stone arch that was formed naturally and then artificially modified. There are exquisite relief carvings on both sides, including skulls, sunflowers, levers and gears.
From time to time, visitors, either alone or in groups, come in and out of this doorway. Most of them are laughing, and a few are holding offerings with expressionless faces, but none of them are afraid of this place at all.
Yes, those who knew the truth have all disappeared, and the "survivors" will all think that this is just a cemetery where they need to bring their own candles...
Angel thought melancholy as he stepped out of the archway and felt his body lighten as if some invisible pressure had disappeared.
It turns out this place isn't completely unaffected by me... Something in her heart stirred, and she looked back. On the lintel of the archway were two inscriptions written in Intis:
"stop!"
"The Empire of Death is ahead!"
Outside the "Empire", there was still not the blue sky that Angel had expected, but an underground passage consisting of stone pillars and stone walls built between the stone pillars. At the top was a huge stone ceiling supported by stone pillars. Gas lamps were hung on both sides, and the pale yellow light extended forward, giving people a sense of security.
"Compared to the cemetery, underground Trier is truly a beautiful place."
Pierre also climbed up the stairs and walked out of the stone archway. He blew out the candle, threw the remaining candle into the corner of the wall, and raised his eyebrows at Angel.
"Let's go. The real 'exit' is just ahead."
After leaving the tomb, he still hadn't recovered his memory. It seemed that his companion had truly "disappeared", and even everyone's memory of him no longer existed.
Angel couldn't help but look back at the entrance of the tomb, looking at the dark doorway, the sun emblem, the triangle emblem on the door, and the "Empire of Death" on the lintel.
Then, she followed Pierre through the somewhat busy underground passage, climbed up the stairs to a height of dozens of meters, and finally saw the real blue sky.
No, in fact, it was already dark. The last ray of sunlight had just disappeared from the west, and darkness gradually covered the entire sky. The familiar moon peeked out from the thin clouds, covering the ground with a layer of crimson gauze.
The surrounding buildings were generally low, and their style was not much different from Loen, but they had distinctive eaves and pointed arches, and the use of red bricks was predominant, making them clearly different from Backlund, where the streets were gray and white.
"Where do you live? Do you need me to take you home?"
Pierre came closer again and asked with a smile.
I'm afraid the place where I live is a bit far from here. The time difference is more than two hours... Angel teased in his heart as he turned his gaze away from the last bright color of the sunset.
"I'm new to Trier and don't have a place to live yet. Do you have any recommendations?"
Led by the "hospitable" college students, Angel came from the observatory area where the catacombs were located to the memorial area in the east. There were many universities here, including the Higher Normal School where Pierre studied. It had a large population, and most of them were college students who rented there.
Angel realized that Pierre might have other intentions in introducing her to live here, but she didn't plan to stay for long, and she was unfamiliar with the place and had no better choice, so she didn't refuse.
She checked into a three-story hotel on a street not far from the Normal School, but was troubled by the payment. The most commonly used currency in Intis was called "Fel Gold," which was roughly equivalent to 1/24 of a gold pound. There was also a "Gold Louis," which was similar to a gold pound, but they did not accept the most widely used Loen currency, so she needed to go to a nearby bank to exchange it.
Fortunately, Pierre had some cash on him, which she exchanged for a small amount of fiat gold and rented a single room.
After politely declining Pierre's request to have dinner together, Angel came to his temporary residence, which was not luxurious at all, and finally breathed a sigh of relief after locking the door.
The experience of these two hours was more tiring than the five days since she left Backlund combined.
"The most difficult step is over. Tomorrow I'll go get the money and buy a steam train ticket back to Loen!"
Although Angel didn't know how to return to Bansi Island from the catacombs, he at least knew how to go back by "ordinary means".
"I'm just afraid I won't be able to celebrate New Year's with Klein..."
She thought a little frustratedly.
There are not so many factors in the Suhuan. This part mainly serves the main line. Most of the plot will still be placed in the first part. Of course, the Suhuan has many interesting witch-related settings and plots, and some references will be made.
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