A Writer's Transmigration into the world of fantasy-Chapter 105

The two of them returned along the same path and soon arrived back at the intersection of the three roads.

Mary stopped, staring into the pitch-black tunnel ahead. The darkness inside was thick and suffocating, like the throat of some ancient beast waiting to swallow them whole.

She raised her wrist and checked her watch.

"It's already two in the morning…" she muttered. "If we don't go back, Mr. Joseph and Ms. Brittany might get worried and come looking for us."

Her face darkened slightly as annoyance flashed across her expression. "If I had known earlier, I would've left them a note before we left."

Ryan couldn't help laughing softly when he saw her expression. He reached out and pinched her cheek gently.

"Oh, you only remembered now?" he teased. "Don't worry, I already left the note behind."

Mary immediately felt her cheeks heat up. Without even thinking, she raised her fist and punched him lightly on the shoulder, her voice filled with annoyance.

"Stop laughing. Let's go!"

After saying that, she turned around and strode straight into the pitch-black passage.

Since the note had already been left behind, Mary no longer worried about Mr. Joseph and Ms. Brittany panicking in the morning. Besides, villagers always woke up early. By four or five o'clock, the yard would already be filled with movement. Even if she rushed back now, it would still be too late to pretend that nothing happened.

Instead of wasting time, it was better to push forward and find the energy stone tonight.

If she were lucky, she would be able to leave this tomb before dawn.

As she walked, Mary's heart grew heavier. The tomb was too strange. Too mysterious. The more she explored, the more she felt that it was not something ordinary people could build.

The statues. The arrow trap. The hidden rooms. And especially that eerie illusion room.

The memory of it still made her scalp tingle.

That illusion had dragged both her and Ryan into it at the same time. If it had been ordinary people, it would not have been strange for them to lose themselves. But she was different. She had strong spiritual power, and Ryan was also not weak. Yet even they had been caught so easily.

And what frightened her most was the "person" inside the illusion.

It wasn't just an illusion. It could speak. It could taunt. It could even sense their emotions.

That meant one thing.

This tomb was not created by an ordinary ancient person.

Then why was it built?

And what exactly was buried here? Or who is it…

Is it really the Pendragon Dynasty, or just someone who used their architecture and ideas to build his own? If it is the Pendragon Dynasty, then is it Arthur Pendragon's tomb?

The legends never told where Arthur was buried or what happened to him after the Battle of Camlann, where he was injured. There are several retellings after that, but historians majorly stops his story there, keeping his fate rather ambiguous.

Countless thoughts piled up in Mary's head, but she forced herself to stop thinking. Now was not the time to dig into mysteries. The priority was the energy stone. Once the mindscape was upgraded again, she would have the strength and the time to properly investigate everything.

Behind her, Ryan watched her back. Seeing her walking so fast, he chuckled softly, then immediately followed.

The two of them walked for a long time.

Mary finally understood why Cleo had complained earlier. This road was unbelievably long. If it had been the other two paths, they would have already reached the end long ago.

But this tunnel still stretched endlessly ahead, like it had no end at all.

The air grew colder and colder. The deeper they went, the more Mary felt as if she was walking into a frozen underground world. Her arms slowly tightened around herself, and a sneeze escaped her without warning.

"Achoo!"

Ryan's expression instantly darkened. He looked at her with worry and reached out to pull her closer.

"Wife, take out thicker clothes from your mindscape," he said in a low voice. "The temperature is dropping too fast. It's at least ten degrees colder than outside."

Mary nodded quickly. She had been rushing forward earlier and hadn't noticed it clearly, but now that Ryan mentioned it, the cold seemed to crawl straight into her bones.

With a wave of her hand, she took out two thick coats from the mindscape. She put one on herself and handed the other to Ryan.

As soon as the warm fabric wrapped around her, Mary finally felt a little relief. She zipped it up tightly, her breath turning faintly white in the flashlight beam.

"Let's hurry," she said anxiously. "I don't know how those two little things are doing."

Ryan put on the coat as well. The warmth spread across his body, but his expression did not relax. Instead, his brows furrowed deeper.

The cold in this place was not normal.

This was not the natural chill of underground air.

It felt… deliberate.

They continued walking, and Mary's heart sank further. The flashlight in her hand began to fog up. Then, to her shock, a thin layer of frost slowly formed on the glass.

Her fingers tightened around the handle.

Frost.

On the flashlight.

That meant the temperature had dropped far lower than she imagined.

If the underground were only slightly cooler than the surface, it would make sense. But this was not "slightly." This was like stepping into a giant freezer buried beneath the earth.

The deeper they went, the colder it became, and Mary's unease rose like a tide.

Then, just as her nerves were stretched to the limit, a figure appeared in the distance under the pale circle of light.

Cleo.

She was curled up beside the road, hugging Cameron tightly. The two of them were completely still, like they had fallen asleep.

Mary's heart instantly clenched.

"Cleo!"

She shouted and sprinted forward without thinking, panic flashing across her face. Fear gripped her chest so hard that she almost couldn't breathe.

She was terrified.

Terrified that when she reached them… they would already be too late.

Mary's shout exploded through the tunnel like thunder, the sound crashing into the walls and rebounding endlessly.

"Cleo!"

The echo overlapped with itself, turning into a strange chorus that repeated again and again, as if the tomb itself was mocking her anxiety.

"Cleo… Cleo… Cleo…"

The voice was so loud that even if Cleo had been sleeping like the dead, she would have been dragged awake. Her eyelids snapped open in shock, and her body jerked upright. When she realized it was Mary's voice, her heart loosened, but the next second she grimaced.

She had been curled up too long. Her limbs were stiff, her body numb, and even standing up felt like her bones had been replaced with frozen bamboo.

Mary had already rushed over and squatted down in front of her. When she saw Cleo's eyes open, she finally released the breath she had been holding so tightly that it nearly tore her lungs.

"You scared me to death, do you know that?" Mary's voice was sharp, but the trembling at the end gave away how frightened she really was. "I walked over and saw you two not moving. I thought something happened to you!"

Her eyes swept downward, landing on the small white ball curled in Cleo's arms. "Where's Cameron? Is he asleep or what?"

Cleo hurriedly hugged Cameron tighter, almost like she was afraid Mary would snatch him away.

"Master! Cameron is fine!" she said quickly, her tone full of innocence. "We were just too tired, so we rested for a while. Look at you, your forehead is all sweaty. Hurry up and wipe it off!"

It was the first time Cleo had ever seen Mary panic like this.

Her master… who always looked calm, always decisive, always terrifyingly confident… had actually rushed over with such fear written all over her face.

That fear wasn't fake.

It was because she cared.

That realization made Cleo's heart swell with warmth, as if the freezing air around them had suddenly become bearable.

At that moment, Ryan also arrived, breathing slightly heavier than usual. When he heard Mary's shout earlier, his heart had almost jumped out of his chest.

He thought something terrible had happened.

Seeing Cleo still alive and Cameron still breathing, he finally relaxed.

Mary, however, was still fuming. She reached out and pressed her fingers against Cameron's fur, checking his temperature. Only when she felt the steady warmth under his soft coat did her heart truly settle.

But instead of relief, anger rose even stronger.

"Are you two stupid?" Mary snapped, her voice like a blade cutting through the cold air. "Didn't you notice the temperature here? If I came any later, you might have frozen into two ice sculptures!"

Ryan sighed helplessly and reached out to pat Mary's shoulder.

"Wife, you're worrying too much," he said softly. "They're spiritual pets. They're not ordinary animals. How could they freeze to death so easily?"

Mary's brows knitted together. She didn't answer him.

How could he understand?