Not far behind the village, concealed by dense forest, lay a broad river.
This was the confluence of several waterways. Three main tributaries extended in different directions, each branching into countless smaller streams, together weaving a vast, deep water network hidden amid endless greenery.
At dusk, the speedboat carrying the six of them drifted along the main river channel. The engine had been shut off, leaving only the sound of flowing water and birds calling in the distance as they returned to their nests.
Qiu Hao looked at the jungle on both banks as it was gradually swallowed by twilight, then at the dimming sky, and sighed. "Another fruitless day."
This was already their third day here. Every day, they had taken the speedboat deep into different waterways to investigate them carefully, yet the legendary square pyramid remained nowhere to be found, as though it had merely been Whispers uttered by that surviving explorer in the grip of a fever.
Aini idly skimmed the water's surface with her dagger and muttered, "Could that guy have been lying from the start? Maybe he made up the story about a monster and a pyramid so he could keep the treasure he found for himself? Maybe his ten companions were actually killed by him..."
Arjun nodded. "That's unlikely... The Academy had the best psychological experts present during the interrogation. They could tell whether he was lying. Besides, killing ten other experienced explorers alone would have been extremely difficult."
As they spoke, mist suddenly began to rise from the river without warning. It came incredibly fast, becoming thick in the blink of an eye and blurring the scenery along both banks.
At some point, the clouds in the sky had vanished completely, replaced by an unnervingly uniform dusky yellow.
That yellow blanketed the entire