"Hideout of Emperor Jie?" Everyone was taken aback by the explanation.
"Brother Wei, wasn't Emperor Jie killed by the founder in the battle?" Song Yue looked at him in disbelief.
The history books clearly recorded the battle between the unified forces against Xia where their leader, Shang Yating beheaded Xia Jie and brought peace to the land.
Zhang Kong and Lin Xue also couldn't believe what they were hearing.
"Does that imply that the history has been altered by your ancestors?" Lin Xue's impression of Shang Wei had further fallen.
The third prince let out a sigh, "it appears so."
He didn't continue the conversation for a while as he was also disappointed by this fact.
After all, if an important piece of history has been altered in the recordings, that would mean, there would be a lot of things that must have been altered too.
"So, does this place have some kind of treasures or something?" After a brief silence, Song Yue attempted to continue the conversation as no one is speaking up.
The third prince nodded in response but didn't explain further. As his mood was disturbed by Lin Xue's reminder, he didn't want to go on with this topic any longer.
After walking for a while, they reached some kind of large podium with pillars around it. Not only the pillars were completely intact, but they also have identical statues constructed on top of them.
The statue resembled a creature of myth with the head of a man, the body of a lion, and a tail of a scorpion
In the middle of the podium, there is a passage that was leading to the underground.
Around the entrance, there are several large stones around the entrance of the stairs, which suggested they might be the debris of the sealed entrance caused by an explosion.
However, everyone's attention wasn't on those structures but was on the three dead soldiers.
The prince and the others rushed towards them.
"Your highness…" Suddenly, one of the supposed dead soldiers opened his eyes and stood up in great difficulty.
"What happened?" A deep frown appeared on Shang Wei.
The soldier hurriedly replied, "Your highness, Captain Huo Jing abandoned his duty."
He then recounted the story of how the captain of their squad killed them after they found the entrance of the underground labyrinth.
"Thankfully, my act of playing dead fooled him."
Kowtowing on the spot, he then begged for mercy for not being able to fulfill his duties.
Upon hearing everything, Shang Wei got enraged. "How dare he? Where is that traitor, now?"
The soldier answered that his captain was still underground and hadn't come out yet.
"You and you, guard the entrance. The remaining two will come with me to apprehend that traitor." After giving the orders to his soldiers, he looked at his friends. "Captain Huo Jing is a circle-4 Mage. So, I think all of you should stay here for your safety."
Lin Xue snorted in response as she folds her hands to the chest, "I alone am enough to…"
"Except that he knew about arrival." The third prince cut off her words in a serious tone.
As this is a matter concerning life and death, he didn't intend to act all strong to impress her. Looking at her, Shang Wei further said, "A prepared magician is the most dangerous. Even a higher realm spirit warrior couldn't act recklessly in front of them.
If something happens to you on my watch, I wouldn't able to lift my head in front of your father, ever again. So, Lady Lin, I ask you to please stay with the guards."
While the seriousness on his face indeed surprised Lin Xue, this stubborn girl was never the type to back off from the danger either.
She stepped forward towards the entrance. "If that's the case, then, these two will be the witness. I'm making my own choice. Either I will go to the underground labyrinth or I will return to the Imperial city."
Staring at him into the eyes, she then asked, "What do you want me to do?"
Shang Wei knew her personality very well. He felt like if he didn't allow her, there's a high chance that he will be losing her forever. So, the prince was left with no choice but to support her decision.
As Song Yue and her handmaids were pretty much defenseless against such a powerful enemy, they stayed outside.
Zhang Kong was also forced to stay outside to accompany his fiancée.
After a few moments, a man in black robes and hood appeared before the group, scaring the hell out of everyone.
The two royal knights that were left outside immediately withdrew their weapons.
Zhang Kong quickly stood before his fiancée to shield her.
Song Yue then concentrated on the spatial ring she was wearing.
Pouring the ether energy into it, she summoned two boxes out of thin air.
One of them carried three pistols and the other one is loaded with bullets.
"Zou Bi, Yin Bo… take one each and be ready just in case."
As the handmaids and Song Yue took a pistol and loaded a bullet for their safety, Zhang Kong was taken aback. "My beloved, when did you buy them?"
A smile appeared on Song Yue as she caressed her pistol, "A week ago. Even in this past week, I visited that store a couple of more times to buy bullets. Dear, this weapon is really addictive once you get familiar with shooting the targets. It's really fun."
"Well, it is still an ungraded weapon." Zhang Kong shrugged his shoulders.
Even though he was impressed with its firepower, it was still only useful to weaklings like his fiancée.
In the meantime, at the entrance of the stairs, the Royal knight of circle-5 realm pointed the sword at him, "The entrance has been sealed. You cannot go inside. Leave."
Without showing his face, the hooded assassin threw a medallion towards the royal knight.
Upon seeing the symbol of a unicorn, he apologized and stepped aside.
The hooded man disappeared and then, reappeared at the top of the stairs. He once again disappeared from everyone's sight.
Meanwhile, Shang Wei, Lin Xue, and two soldiers of the circle-4 realm reached the bottom of the stairs.
With the third prince being a fire mage, the group of four didn't face any issues with the darkness around them.
After walking straight for a few minutes, everyone stopped.
"Now, what…" Lin Xue asked the prince as she saw there were numerous tunnels ahead of them.
"Let's not separate." Shang Wei was cautious, not intending to underestimate the traitor.
Two hours later, the group of four reached the entrance of the tunnels.
"Not again…" Lin Xue complained as she kicked the wall in anger. "How many times it has been…"
"Umm, there are so many tunnels here. So, I guess it is possible for them to be interconnected."
"I know that…" She shouted at him, which made him shut his mouth for a while.
After a brief silence, the prince asked in a slow tone, "are you going to continue?"
"Giving up isn't in my nature." Lin Xue started walking in another random tunnel. The prince followed her from behind.
Unlike the other tunnels, this tunnel turned out to be a straight one. They walked for half an hour and, halted their steps upon hearing the sounds from up ahead.
Soon, they reached the entrance. A battle was going on between a giant snake and a familiar fellow.
"A Guardian beast?" Shang Wei's eyes flickered in surprise.
