In the half-collapsed temple, only a few stone pillars are still intact, supporting a small part of the main hall.

At the front of the main hall stood a cracked altar, with a huge black cross standing in the center.

On the cross, there was a naked man hanging upside down. His ankles, thighs, and body had obvious rusty iron nails exposed, accompanied by bright red blood.

Derrick knew clearly that this was the statue of the Fallen Creator, but he couldn't help but lower his eyes and look at the target's face.

He saw the face of the statue; its nose, mouth, ears, etc. were rather blurry; only the eyes were carved extremely clearly.

The "Fallen Creator" closed his eyes tightly, as if he was bearing the guilt and pain.

"Take your eyes away and don't study the statue of the evil god!" Demon Hunter Colin reminded in a deep voice.

"Yes, Your Excellency Chief." Several members of the exploration team quickly retracted their gazes.

——Before today, although Silver City had discovered many destroyed cities and some written records pointing to the evil god during previous explorations, most residents had never seen the so-called evil god statue.

The remaining part of the temple on the ground was not very wide, and the exploration team quickly completed the inspection in groups of two or three, but did not find anything unusual.

Seeing this, Colin, the chief of the "Six-member Council", pondered for a few seconds and said:

"Head underground."

As he spoke, he quickly drew out one of the two swords on his back and smeared a silver-gray ointment on it.

Then he took out a small metal bottle from the secret compartment of his belt, pulled out the stopper, and drank the potion inside.

At this moment, Derrick felt that the Chief's light blue eyes seemed to have become brighter.

The members of the exploration team made the most careful preparations one after another, and under the illumination of four animal skin lanterns, they walked along the stairs on the left side of the statue, step by step, towards the underground area.

Derrick took his turn holding the lantern, walking in front on the left, and cautiously going deeper into the darkness.

He heard the footsteps of himself and his companions spreading out from the surface of the stone steps, creating a distant and empty echo.

The echo was not disturbed at all, indicating the absolute silence below. However, in the minds of the members of each exploration team, it was like a knock on the door, trying to unlock a secret that had been buried for who knows how many years, and this made them have to be extremely tense.

After walking for an unknown amount of time, Derrick finally saw the road ahead become flat, and he also saw the newly discovered murals that the polluted Dark Riggins described.

Those murals are spread out in large patches on the walls on both sides, with simple paint applied, making them look old, weathered and dull.

Derrick took a casual look and was attracted by one of the murals:

On the wall in the front left, a white cross stood in the center, surrounded by the black sea water, drowning many humans who were struggling to stretch out their arms.

On the cross was the "Fallen Creator" hanging upside down, with rusty nails and bloody stains that were no different from the idols in the outside world.

But in this mural, the "Fallen Creator" is being eroded by black, so that parts of the white cross have become dark.

Beyond that, the cross supports a hazy land, with countless humans kneeling down to pray to the "fallen creator."

Around the screen, in the deepest darkness, there are six evil god-like figures hidden.

In the upper left corner is a girl in a classical black dress. Her clothes are layered but not complicated, and are inlaid with many star-like radiances. Her body is rather blurred, with signs of ripples emanating from it. Her face is blurred, as if she is wearing a mask without any facial features.

Around her, darkness was surging and strange eyes were looming.

Directly above was a young man in a pure white robe, his face was painted pure gold, and he had glowing tentacles growing out of it.

In his hands, he held a rotten green book and a spear made of radiance, respectively, with their positions reversed on his chest and vest.

In the upper right corner is a monster holding a trident. It has an octopus-like head, wide-open eyes, and lightning wrapped around its body.

The feathers of countless birds formed its cloak, and the darkness became waves, supporting its feet.

At the lower right is a plump and graceful lady with a bulging chest and naked body outside her clothes. In her arms is a baby with a rotten face. Under her feet are black ears of wheat, springs wriggling with pieces of meat, herbs oozing with pus, and animals mating crazily.

Directly below is an old man wearing a hood, revealing his mouth, wrinkles and white beard.

The old man holds an open book with an eye above it symbolizing omniscience.

At first glance, this old man seems to be the most normal, but the smile on his lips has an indescribable evilness.

In the lower left corner is a giant warrior wearing tattered armor, holding a long sword and sitting on a throne, with a desolate dusk in the background.

The meaning of this mural is that when the great catastrophe comes, the evil gods crawl out of the abyss. In order to save the world, the "Fallen Creator" bears most of the guilt and pain, and as a result, his symbols are eroded and his image changes... But I think He is the biggest evil god... Derrick carried a fur lantern and walked while looking at the murals on the wall. He found that it was basically consistent with Dak Riggins' description. The core theme was that the area was not abandoned by the gods, but was blessed by the "Creator" and maintained civilization in the doomsday.

Of course, Dark Riggins had only mentioned it briefly before, and it was far less detailed than what was presented in the mural itself.

Throughout the entire process, Derrick did not let down his guard. Learning from his previous experience of being stunned, he was always on guard against accidents and was prepared to respond immediately.

In the dim candlelight, the exploration team passed through corridors, halls, and rooms, going deep into the underground area of ​​the temple.

Suddenly, a half-open gray stone door appeared in front of them.

Outside the gate, there are clusters of beautiful mushroom-shaped things growing. They are palm-sized, with white handles, bright red caps, and dark golden spots dotted in the crystal.

As soon as they saw these "mushrooms", the members of the exploration team felt a strong appetite and just wanted to rush over, pull one out and put it in their mouths.

Gurgle, gurgle, many people swallowed their saliva.

However, most of the people who were able to join the exploration team had rich experience and a relatively good sequence. After being reminded in advance, someone immediately stood up and whispered:

"It was rotting flesh and hairy scalp."

Derrick knew this teammate. He knew his name was Joshua and that he had a magical item that he had obtained and successfully exchanged for during an exploration.

Joshua stretched out his left hand, which was covered with a red glove, and pointed it at the door.

With a flash of light, a blazing fireball quickly formed and shot out, hitting those extremely tempting "mushrooms".

Boom! The ground shook slightly, and the flames spread two meters in all directions.

When the flames died down, all the mushrooms had disappeared, leaving only bits of flesh and blood, which made the Beyonder, who had almost lost control of himself, feel nauseous.

The "Monster Hunter" Colin did not interfere with the team members' actions. He watched quietly from the side and nodded from time to time.

"How can there be mushrooms made of flesh, blood and hair? Where do the flesh and hair come from?" Joshua retracted his left palm and muttered to himself in confusion.

Another team member made a bold guess:

"The original inhabitants of this city?"

It’s possible… maybe their death meant they turned into pure flesh, blood and hair… Derrick agreed in his heart.

After a brief discussion, the exploration team split into several groups and started cleaning up the hall outside the gray stone gate.

After doing all this, they regrouped and slowly passed through the gate, ready to fight at any time.

Behind the gate was an altar-like place. The area that was difficult to be illuminated by light from all around was deep and dark, and no one knew what was hidden there.

Above the altar, there also stands a dark cross and the upside-down "Fallen Creator".

Derrick, who was holding an animal skin lantern, was closest and took a quick glance instinctively.

His eyes suddenly froze, because he found that the statue of the "Fallen Creator" here was different from that in the outside world.

Its eyes are open!

The blood-red eye whites and black pupils stared directly at the intruder in front of them as if they had life.

Derrick heard the sound of teeth colliding.

He originally thought that this came from one of the team members, but he soon realized that it was him who was trembling!

Although he didn't know enough about the harm of the evil god, his teeth were trembling instinctively at this moment.

Da da da.

His teammates had a similar reaction.

At this moment, a little powder floated up and Demon Hunter Colin clenched his fist.

Boom!

The sound of thunder echoed back, and Derrick and the others suddenly woke up, getting rid of the previous nightmare state.

Before they had time to look around, faint crying sounds were heard from behind the altar.

“Woo, woo, woo…”

“Woo, woo, woo…”

In the teeth-grinding silence, Demon Hunter Colin calmly ordered:

"Derrick, Joshua, go around and take a look."

Derrick felt a little cold as he held the animal skin lantern and the Hurricane Axe, and walked slowly around to the back of the altar with Joshua.

As the darkness was gradually dispelled by the light, they saw a dark shadow curled up behind the altar.

Two steps forward, the shadow revealed its original appearance.

He was a child of seven or eight years old, with smooth and soft yellow hair.

He closed his eyes, as if he was not used to the light, and shouted excitedly:

"Save me, save me..."

Derrick's pupils shrank as he thought of the cry for help he had heard in the pure darkness before, and he subconsciously raised the Hurricane Axe.

At this time, Demon Hunter Colin, who had come to their side, stepped forward and asked solemnly:

"Who are you?"

The child stopped asking for help and said as if reminiscing:

"My name is Jack..."

…………

After dinner, Klein put on his coat and hat and prepared to go out.

He was going to find Miss Sharon to solve the problem of a certain baronet digging a tunnel, and by the way, ask for clues about the mermaid, striving to complete this task before Detective Sherlock Moriarty went south for his "vacation".

PS: I am attending the writers salon at Yuewen, so I will not update in the early morning. I will still update at normal time. But I still ask for your recommendation votes on Monday in advance~