Chapter 340: A Feather?
Lin Wu had not gotten the exact location of the next temple, but knowing that a specter skull hound was searching for it meant that he would be able to find it too. Plus, he knew the approximate direction that the Specter Skull hound had gone in.
But this was not all that Lin Wu had obtained from the memories of the followers of the Skull god. He learned how they operated and why they were doing what they were doing.
The so called followers of the Skull god were nothing but cultivators that had been brainwashed by the Skull god. They would then be sent out to search for the temples of the vermilion bird and get the Bloodline crystals of the Vermillion bird from them.
Of course, finding these temples was quite hard as they were hidden deep within the ground and only occasionally would one of them pop up in the ground. Why they did, this was not known to the followers though and thus Lin Wu did not know either.
But he did learn that the larger specter Skull Hounds that were guarding the bloodline crystal in the temple were also kept there by the Skull God. He was also the one who had sealed these temples a long time ago and had put those specter Skull hounds as a means to guard the temple.
The smaller Specter Skull hounds though… were created by the Skull God. But Lin Wu doubted the authenticity of that. Unlike the followers he knew that the specter Skull hounds were not the creation of this Skull god and were actually normal beasts of a different kind of a world.
He reckoned that there was more to this than was being let on.
‘I’ll find it out eventually…’ Lin Wu thought.
The two beasts flew through the sky as Lin Wu told the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle where to go. The followers of the skull god had a pendant that could track these Specter Skull hound, sadly Lin Wu could not use that as it needed that ‘black smoke’ that the followers used.
Lin Wu reckoned that it must be some kind of an ability given by the Skull god and even the system could not find a workaround for that. Thus right now, Lin Wu depended on the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle’s sharp eyesight that could spot things from over a hundred kilometers away.
Even in a dark and gloomy place like this, it was no problem for the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle to find the Specter Skull hound. Four hours had passed since Lin Wu and the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle left the location where they killed the followers of the Skull hound.
They finally managed to spot the said Specter Skull hound in the distance.
“There it is!” The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle stated.
Lin Wu followed her gaze and saw the beast walking through a bog. It would sniff the air every so often and then change its direction.
“Now we just need to follow the specter Skull hound and we’ll find the temple. Though, there is likely to be another team of those followers somewhere. They will probably come after the temple too once it appears.” Lin Wu said.
The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle just agreed in silence and slowed down so that they could match the speed of the Specter Skull hound. Another hour passed like this when they finally saw the specter skull hound stopping near a patch of the Marsh. It just laid there, as if waiting for something.
“Do you feel anything?” Lin Wu asked the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle who closed her eyes for a bit before speaking.
“Yes… there is something in the ground. It’s coming closer, but it’s slow.” The Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle answered.
“Perfect! I’ll get it.” Lin Wu said as he dived down from the sky.
~BOOM~
Lin Wu aimed so perfectly that he landed just on top of the specter skull hound. The poor beast did not even get a chance to react before he was utterly annihilated. Not bothering with this, Lin Wu continued digging straight down for a while before reaching the temple.
“Huh, it really is moving. Though seeing the speed… it will take it at least a day before it reaches the surface.” Lin Wu muttered.
He landed on top of its entrance and shrunk down his body. He triggered the formation on the trap door and opened it.
~Woo~
A strange wind blew out from the sealed door, which felt weird to Lin Wu. He spread his spirit sense and scanned the interior of the temple while moving inwards. When he reached the interior area though, he saw that the door of the inner hall was already open.
“Why’s it open?” Lin Wu wondered.
Broken pillars and torches could be seen everywhere as chunks of rocks fell from the roof, upon Lin Wu’s movement.
“Damn, this is the most damaged one till now.” Lin Wu said as he looked around for the Specter Skull Hound that should have been guarding the temple.
“Nothing?” Lin Wu said, feeling weird.
He approached the statue of the vermilion bird at the end and tried searching for the bloodline crystal. The statute was greatly damaged and half of it was missing. Its beak, where the crystal was kept was also missing.
“It’s not here… but the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle sensed there was something here…” Lin Wu muttered.
He searched through the rubbish and debris, trying to see if the bloodline crystal was lost within here. The desire for the crystal that Lin Wu had felt previously was also not here.
“Perhaps there is no crystal here?” Lin Wu wondered.
After over thirty minutes of searching, Lin Wu was unable to find anything.
“Was the Silver Beak Sky Soar Eagle mistaken?” Lin Wu questioned himself.
But just as he was about to turn leave the inner hall, something caught his eye.
“What’s that?” Lin Wu said as he approached a fragment of the statue.
“A feather?” Lin Wu picked it up and then saw it glow faintly.
