The Golden City

Liu Zhi had no idea that someone had set their sights on him. By now, he had followed the route he'd taken before back to the landing point they'd originally planned.

Compared to Perkin and the others, who were pressed for time, Liu Zhi wasn't in much of a hurry.

After resting well at the landing point for a night, Liu Zhi followed the route he'd chosen and entered the jungle from the other side.

Along the way, thanks to his Jungle Survival Knowledge, Liu Zhi spotted many giant snakes on the move.

Among them were anacondas and water pythons that had already been large to begin with, as well as venomous snakes and grass snakes that should have been much smaller.

Liu Zhi could always tell what kind of snake they had originally been from their appearance. But these giant snakes were at least fifty meters long and as thick as barrels, so he had no desire to approach them.

His only plan for dealing with them was to keep taking detours.

As he traveled in fits and starts, Liu Zhi accidentally noticed something strange: the snakes seemed to be heading in exactly the opposite direction from where he wanted to go.

The discovery gave Liu Zhi pause. He found a safe spot, took out his map and notes, and began marking the locations where he'd encountered the giant snakes.

As he marked the places where one giant snake after another had appeared, along with the directions they were traveling, a new clue emerged.

He realized that more than eighty percent of the giant snakes were heading from the Golden City toward the Blood-soaked Tree.

"Could this be when the giant snakes go out to stretch their legs?"

The idea came to Liu Zhi. If so, this was an excellent opportunity.

At once, Liu Zhi stood up and counted the different types of giant snakes he'd encountered during this time.

"That's right. This is an opportunity for me, too. Perhaps these giant snakes usually guard the Golden City. The Golden City belongs to Kukulkan, and Kukulkan is the Feathered Serpent God, so it makes sense that he could enlarge and control snakes. If there are no humans in the Golden City, then it's only natural to leave giant snakes to guard it.

"If I went there at a normal time, I'd definitely have to face the giant snakes to get inside. But now they've all left."

As he thought this over, Liu Zhi got to his feet. He hastily stuffed his notes into his backpack, slung it over his shoulder, and set off for the Golden City.

Liu Zhi didn't know how long it would be before the giant snakes returned, but he couldn't waste any more time on the way.

To reach the Golden City faster, Liu Zhi didn't even bother hiding his tracks. He began looking for paths the giant snakes had used and followed them in the opposite direction, hoping to find the city sooner.

Liu Zhi's guess had been right. After forcing his way along for about two days and one night, stopping only when necessary to rest and relying on the black, chocolate-like food in Perkin's backpack for meals, he finally found the Golden City before July 15.

It lay beyond a cliff in the jungle. Its entrance wasn't very large, and the only way in was to follow a river upstream.

Along both banks of the river, Liu Zhi also saw many caves that had been carved out by hand.

These caves were probably the homes of some of the giant snakes. Their entrances were small enough for an ordinary person to walk through, but inside, the caves branched out in every direction, like a maze of overlapping pipes.

On the damp cave walls and floors, he could see bones left over from meals and the skins shed by giant snakes.

Liu Zhi checked several caves and found their conditions much the same. Some showed clear signs of giant snakes living there, while others were completely empty.

The discovery made Liu Zhi feel somewhat relieved. It was a good thing he'd abandoned Perkin's route ahead of time. If he'd gone with Perkin, or been distracted by Perkin's notebook and missed this opportunity, he would have faced swarms of giant snakes as soon as he arrived at the Golden City and made a sound.

Judging by his current strength, Liu Zhi had almost no chance of beating a swarm of giant snakes.

Following the river upstream and passing several underground waterways, Liu Zhi's eyes suddenly lit up. After pushing aside a mass of vegetation, he saw an ancient Inca-style city nestled in the valley.

Perhaps because no one had maintained it for a long time, and because of the rainforest climate, much of the city was hidden beneath thick undergrowth.

Still, it was obvious that the city had once been heavily populated. At its height, at least thirty to fifty thousand households must have lived there year-round.

The city centered on an Inca-style pyramid nearly fifty meters tall. A vast, empty plaza surrounded it, with four clearly distinct districts around the plaza, each with its own architectural style.

The buildings near the north weren't made of the stone commonly used here. They seemed to have been built of wood and leaves. After all these years, most of the building materials had rotted away, leaving only scraps behind.

The buildings to the east, however, were all made from carefully selected obsidian and volcanic rock. The materials were not only hard but also large, and despite years of wind and rain, the buildings had suffered little damage. They were simply buried beneath all kinds of plants.

As for the southern and western districts, their buildings were rather haphazard, suggesting that there hadn't been much of a plan for where people lived.

"Is this the Golden City?"

Standing at the river's exit, Liu Zhi looked at the city before him. His vantage point wasn't ideal: he was downstream, and seeing the whole city at all was already impressive. If he wanted a closer look, he might have to climb one of the nearby mountains.

But Liu Zhi had no intention of climbing. The fifty-meter-high pyramid stood right there. It was probably the key to the Golden City.

With that in mind, Liu Zhi drew the longsword he'd obtained from the swordsman and prepared to head toward the pyramid.

Just as he took a step forward, a gust of wind swept through the valley. Though the air there barely circulated, the wind stirred up a wave of trees.

Liu Zhi noticed the phantom of a gigantic red feathered serpent appear above the pyramid.

The apparition looked somewhat lifelike. In the mountain wind, its eyes seemed to sweep across the valley.

Liu Zhi stopped. Then he touched the pendant he always kept close to him and started forward again.

[ Ding! Identity Compulsory Quest—Curse of the Golden City officially activated. Necromancer class selection is now available. Within three days, find the clues, materials, and resources, then make the appropriate choice to complete the Necromancer class selection. ]