Chapter 123: The Mysterious Tomb, Hall of the Undead

The Mysterious Mausoleum is, in essence, a massive burial site hidden deep within the belly of a mountain. At a casual glance from the outside, there is nothing suspicious about this unremarkable peak. However, guided by Dr. Ye’s familiar hand, we soon discovered the entrance tucked away in a corner overgrown with weeds.

A square, pitch-black hole, nearly swallowed by the thicket, revealed the remains of a dilapidated staircase leading downward. From the outside, it was invisible, but upon closer inspection, one could discern a faint, dark metallic luster about five or six meters down.

A door... a metal door?

In my astonishment, Dr. Ye led the way down the steps, effortlessly pushed open the iron gate below, and waved for me to follow.

Once inside, I stood at the threshold for a full half-minute, stunned. I pointed to the gloomy, endless corridor before us and asked, "How on earth did you find a place like this?"

It was no wonder that even Dr. Ye, with his nearly pure agility build, hadn't been able to fully map the mausoleum. The sheer scale of this long, spacious passage suggested a site of imperial magnitude. It was hardly surprising that a hidden class quest might be found here.

As I contemplated this, Dr. Ye replied.

"I was chased in by monsters," he said bluntly. His voice was lowered to a whisper, his expression grave. After drawing his weapon, he pulled a small, round bronze shield from his bag and handed it to me.

"What is this for?"

"It’s a one-handed shield; it adds two points of magic resistance. Use it for protection."

His words reminded me of what he had said earlier: the mausoleum was filled primarily with undead creatures capable of magic attacks. This shield was clearly for emergencies. I accepted it without hesitation.

As I took the shield, I suddenly remembered something. I hadn't yet identified the gear dropped by the White Cloud Mining Area’s Boss-level commander, and I recalled that one of the items was a shield. Furthermore, I hadn't taken a proper look at the weapon and bracers dropped by the Dark Legion archer. The commander’s gear was unidentified and unusable, but the archer’s equipment might be useful if the stats were good.

I opened my inventory immediately:

Silk-Worm Bracers (Silver Grade): Defense 21-25; Magic Resistance +2; Strength +3; Attack Speed +5%; Strength Requirement 31; Agility Requirement 40; Durability 100%; Level Requirement 33. Class Requirement: Archer-type.

Ink-Quenching Bow (Silver Grade): Attack 32-37; Strength +6; 8% chance to trigger a slow effect; Strength Requirement 38; Agility Requirement 46; Level Requirement 29.

I quickly dismissed the Silk-Worm Bracers, as their attack speed was lower than my Gale Bracers and they required strength. The Ink-Quenching Bow was better; the 8% chance to trigger a slow effect could be converted into an 8% increase in success rate when using "Slow Arrow," so it might come in handy.

With that decided, Dr. Ye began walking into the eerie corridor. I stowed the small bronze shield in my bag, drew my "Black Feather" bow once more, and followed.

Ten seconds later, we encountered the first wave of monsters.

"Wraiths."

These were level 20 undead creatures that could only exist in interiors thick with dark energy. This explained why we hadn't seen them at the entrance; Wraiths were deathly afraid of light and heat. Dr. Ye mentioned that these creatures took 200% damage from fire and holy magic, making this an ideal leveling spot for fire and light mages.

For warriors, however, it was a nightmare. Direct contact would almost certainly result in the unique "Curse" effect, drastically reducing attack and defense. Moreover, standard physical attacks were ineffective; only attacks infused with battle aura could harm them. Even though these white, drifting entities looked easy to handle, they were lethal to a bow-warrior like me—aside from the "Slow Arrow," my attacks were purely physical.

Fortunately, they were not very fast—at least not fast enough to catch us while we were using "Swift Step."

"Move!"

I gripped the bronze shield and shouted. Bearing the sonic attacks of the five Wraiths, which carried the "Curse" effect, I activated "Swift Step" and dashed through their blockade. Dr. Ye followed closely behind.

"You have been hit by a Wraith, taking 4 points of damage."

"You have been hit by a Wraith, taking 4 points of damage."

As the damage notifications flooded my mind, I broke into a cold sweat. I quickly pulled out a Large Healing Potion and drank it, barely managing to counteract the 20 HP per second drain.

How on earth had Dr. Ye survived this alone?

It wasn't until we had completely shaken the Wraiths that I learned from him that the five Wraiths had only grouped up because of his last visit. Usually, they appeared in pairs, which he would dispatch one by one using fire arrows.

I rolled my eyes. So, he was using me as a meat shield! Well, my gear was better, but what would happen when we faced even stronger undead?

After the Wraiths came the level 23 Phantoms, level 25 Ghosts, and level 28 Spirits. They were much faster.

"Don't worry," Dr. Ye assured me. "The outer undead, apart from the Wraiths, respawn rarely and are not concentrated. You can clear them or rush through as you please."

I relaxed slightly, but his next words made me tense up again.

"The outer area? Does that mean there’s more..."

Before I could finish, Dr. Ye nodded gravely. "Exactly. Past the Spirits lies a great hall. Only then have you truly entered the mausoleum. The number of undead inside is uncountable, so..."

I stared at him, imagining a grand hall packed with countless monsters, and fell into a long silence.

"Don't tell me we actually have to go inside that hall..."

"You guessed it!" My last shred of hope vanished.

Dr. Ye gave a bitter smile. "Not only do we have to go in, we have to lure out ten level 25 Mausoleum Guards and two level 28 Mausoleum Protectors."

After clearing the straggling ghosts and spirits along the way, I finally saw the hall. Even with Dr. Ye’s warnings, seeing the scale of it was overwhelming.

Two rows of massive stone pillars, over two meters in diameter, supported the ceiling of a grand hall that stretched on for nearly a hundred meters. It was magnificent. Even more terrifying was the sight of the undead—piles upon piles of them, easily numbering over a thousand. The absurdity of the scene struck me: if a group of fire mages were to cast "Meteor Shower" here, the spectacle would be incredible, and the respawn rate would surely be staggering.

But there were no fire mages here, just a level 27 bow-warrior and a level 24 archer. I didn't want to dampen Dr. Ye’s spirits, but the situation was absurd. We couldn't just play the fool and charge into their nest.

As if reading my mind, Dr. Ye spoke: "Don't worry. I've studied these dense monster spawns. Generally, the more concentrated they are, the slower the respawn rate. In the 'Forgotten Castle' basement, the hundred-plus stone gargoyles took six hours to respawn. With this many monsters, it should take at least a day or two!"

It was clear the young doctor had done his research. He was determined to succeed. Hearing this, I felt relieved. If we had time, even if we were slow, we could clear the undead out within a day. As for the guards and protectors hidden among them, Dr. Ye clearly had a plan.