The One Who Escaped (Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Gu Xi didn't know what was happening behind him, but he quickly ducked his head. The next moment, a thunderous crash rang out from behind as a massive stone, swinging like a pendulum, slammed heavily into the midst of the Black Robe Cultists.

That boulder must have weighed several tons. Gu Xi had no idea how it had been swung into motion, but the cultists at the very front were sent flying on impact, with over a dozen crushed to death on the spot.

Then, from behind Gu Xi, another voice rang out.

"Over here! This way!"

Gu Xi looked up and spotted a young man, so thin he was barely more than skin and bones, poking his head out from nearby and waving frantically at Gu Xi.

Gu Xi was curious, but as he hesitated, he heard the sound of the Black Robe Cultists shifting the boulder behind him.

Without a second thought, Gu Xi immediately ran toward the young man.

After just two steps, Gu Xi noticed that the young man was actually hidden inside a passageway behind the wall.

If he hadn't come out to wave himself, Gu Xi would never have spotted the passage's existence.

Without overthinking, Gu Xi quickly closed the distance. The young man grabbed Gu Xi's hand and dragged him into the passage.

As he was being pulled along, Gu Xi noticed that the young man's arm was so thin it was nothing but skin and bones, and there were even a few bite marks on it.

The young man didn't seem too bothered, though. He led the way while pressing mechanisms on the wall.

Even without turning around, Gu Xi could hear the wall shifting behind him.

Unsure of what was going on, Gu Xi could only stay alert and communicate silently with Luna, ready to strike the young man hard if he tried anything funny.

They ran forward for over thirty meters, took a few turns, and finally arrived at a small room of about seven or eight square meters.

As soon as he entered the small room, Gu Xi noticed four or five men and women inside. They all looked quite thin, sitting weakly as Gu Xi and the young man came in.

But Gu Xi could see anger and murderous intent in their eyes.

Taking a closer look at how they were sitting, Gu Xi couldn't help but let out a surprised sound.

"You're not..."

"That's right, we were in the cells next to yours. My name's Jack, Little Flea Jack. When you escaped, you tossed the keys over to us."

The young man who had brought Gu Xi over explained, seeing that Gu Xi had figured out the situation.

"So it's you all. Good that you escaped, but why haven't you fled?"

Seeing that they were fellow sufferers who had also been inexplicably captured, Gu Xi relaxed a little, though he still looked at them with some surprise.

From what he had seen on the way in, this little room wasn't something they had dug out themselves.

If they had that kind of mechanical skill, they wouldn't have needed to wait for Gu Xi to act—they'd have escaped centuries ago.

"Oh, those who wanted to leave have already gone. The few of us stayed because we know some secrets. Tell me, sir, you're a professional, aren't you?"

Jack looked at Gu Xi with a mysterious air.

"That's right, a Necromancer."

As Gu Xi said this, Luna poked her face out from behind him.

Her hollow gaze startled everyone in the room.

Luckily, Jack reacted quickly. He hurriedly said, "Sir, sir, please don't! We don't mean you any harm. These people were all kept here by me. We know a secret about this place.

That's why those people captured us in the first place."

Hearing this, Gu Xi's eyes narrowed. He had been locked up here for so long, nearly failing to complete his profession advancement—he hadn't forgotten that.

After successfully advancing, he hadn't left immediately, all so he could find a chance to take revenge.

Now, hearing news like this, Gu Xi grew excited.

"What reason?"

"Those bastards discovered the Mirror Dungeon. We're the sacrifices meant to open the Mirror Gate."

As Jack spoke, he looked at Gu Xi smugly, hoping to see shock in his eyes.

But Gu Xi had no idea what the Mirror Dungeon was.

He had come to this world only to become a Necromancer.

Based on his past experience, all he needed was to find a suitable undead in a graveyard or cemetery to contract as his Contract Undead, and his advancement would be complete.

Then he could leave this world immediately.

Why would he bother reading up on all the background information of this world?

Everything Jack said was like casting pearls before swine—Gu Xi had no idea how important Jack's words were.

Seeing no reaction from Gu Xi, Jack thought he wasn't impressed by the information. He had no choice but to explain further.

"Sir, it's like this. When I was first locked up, the cell next to mine held an Architect.

He was locked up here but refused to give up, planning to escape.

He even schemed to dig a tunnel. I helped him out a bit back then, but his movements were too loud, and soon those people beat him into a Severely Injured state.

If I hadn't given him water from time to time, he might have died even faster.

Later, he told me that while digging the tunnel, he found some unusual bricks. Based on his judgment, this place should be the legendary Mirror Dungeon."

When mentioning the Mirror Dungeon, Jack deliberately emphasized his words.

But Gu Xi truly didn't understand any of this, so he directly said, "Is there something wrong with the Mirror Dungeon?"

Jack heard that and thought, well, some things really can't be explained.

Gu Xi genuinely didn't know.

So Jack and the others began explaining to Gu Xi about the Mirror Dungeon.

It turned out that the Mirror Dungeon was a legend of Victoria City.

About three hundred years ago, when Victoria City still belonged to the Stuart Dynasty, James I, in order to obtain the throne, sacrificed the entire city of Victoria to an unknown existence.

But after he ascended the throne, he was unwilling to give up Victoria City, so he came up with a plan.

Using the core of Victoria City, Victoria Tower, as the origin point, he replicated an identical Victoria City at a one-to-one scale.

Then he offered this fake city to the unknown existence and used a mirroring method to banish both that existence and the fake city into a different dimension.

After that, this fake city became the grand backdrop for Victoria City's ghost story legends.

Among all the true and false tales, the only thing that could be confirmed was that the sole way to enter the banished fake city was through a building completely opposite to Victoria Tower.

That building, never discovered by anyone, was the Mirror Dungeon.

And those Black Robe Cultists were followers of that Unknown Bigshot. Their only goal in capturing Gu Xi and the others was to open the passage from the Mirror Dungeon to the fake city and release the bigshot they worshipped.

Starting the book with ten thousand characters uploaded, begging for follows and recommendations!