"Don't be in a hurry to refute me."
Ian smiled. Of course, he knew what Aika was worried about.
"Look at the terrain here. There's cold air seeping out. The soil here is too humid. It's not suitable for desert army ants to build their nests.
"Look at the big hole here. It's not naturally formed, but man-made."
Ian pointed at the big hole at the edge.
"Look here. It's obviously very smooth. It's completely different from the naturally formed potholes."
Ian grabbed Aika's hand and wiped the soil at the edge.
It was indeed somewhat moist and smooth.
She could not help but believe Ian a little.
However, Ian still grabbed her hand, making her face slightly red.
"Bastard!"
"Why did you grab her hand!?"
Many viewers in the live stream room wailed as they looked at Aika, who was currently blushing shyly.
"F*CK! F*CK! FCK! Ian, F*CK off your hand! Why did you touch my goddess' hand!?"
"Just explain why did you grab her hand! You're F*CKING DEAD!"
"Ian, you're not allowed to grab her hand! If you want to grab... Grab mine!"
"..."
Many of the audience members immediately started cursing.
"I suspect that there's an underground river below the entrance of this cave. If there's any danger, it should be near the undercurrent. I'm only going down to take a look. If the situation doesn't look right, I'll immediately come up.
"I'm a novelist. I'm responsible for what I write. I'll make all of you submit to me!"
Ian looked around and smiled freely.
"We have to hurry up, or it'll be dark soon."
This carefree performance made many members secretly admire him.
They respected such a brave person the most.
The few of them did not waste time and directly fixed the double-buckle safety lock and the zip line.
Seeing that they could not persuade him, Aika could only wish Ian good luck.
After warming up his body, Ian put on all his equipment—gas mask, protective gear, flashlight, engineer shovel, dagger, life support box.
The life support box contained supplies that could sustain him for five days.
This was enough time for rescue.
Although there was a water vein below, he had to prepare everything.
Seeing that he was so well prepared, Aika had nothing to say.
He stretched out his hand to test the strength of the rope.
Ian discussed it with the three people in charge of the rope.
He shook the flashlight twice to indicate that he had stopped and would not release the rope again.
He shook the flashlight three times to pull him up.
If he could not see the light of the flashlight, he would use the whistle to communicate.
After saying this, Ian walked to the big hole.
The three people slowly checked the rope on Ian's body. After confirming that there was no problem, they slowly lowered him down.
The black hole was like the mouth of a giant abyss, slowly swallowing Ian.
At this time, Ian even gave a mischievous thumbs up, mimicking the classic moves of the Terminator.
At this time, the live stream room was also calling him awesome.
"Ian's heart is really big. When he left, he didn't forget to do some work. It's too showy."
"If it was an ordinary person, they would be scared out of their wits. It's really rare to see someone as relaxed as Ian."
"Didn't you see that even a professional archaeological team didn't dare to go down? Ian volunteered to go down. If anyone says that Ian's novel isn't real, I'll definitely spray you to death."
"This is the first time I've seen such a hardcore author. In order to verify his novel, he actually went down to the ruins personally. Don't say I Like It!"
"..."
It was the afternoon.
Ian followed the rope and gradually arrived at the cave.
At that moment, other than the sound of his breathing and the sound of the wind coming from underground, he could not hear anything else.
Other than the light from the flashlight, his surroundings were pitch-black.
Ian raised his head and looked up.
The light above his head was getting dimmer and dimmer.
As he descended deeper and deeper, the humidity in the hole was also getting higher and higher, making Ian feel a completely different chill from outside the desert.
The entrance of the cave was too big, making it difficult for him to set foot in it.
This location should not be far from the temple of sacrifice.
Suddenly, a cool breeze blew.
Ian hurriedly used his flashlight to shine, and he saw a rock at the bottom of the big hole!
Ian aimed at the top of his head, whistling and waving his flashlight.
This place was not far from the entrance of the cave, and it was about fifteen to sixteen meters deep.
As long as he whistled loudly, the people on top would be able to hear him.
When they received the signal, they immediately stopped lowering the rope.
They chose a spot slightly above the stone.
Only then did Ian see the real appearance of the stone.
A stone that looked like a snake path extended from Ian's feet to a stone door.
The cold wind was blowing from the cracks in the stone door.
This should be the ventilation pipe that had been dug for the temple back then.
Ian looked at the stone door not far away and did not act rashly.
The stones looked very thick. Even without the stone lock and stone bolt, it would not be easy for him to push them open with his own strength.
This should be the inside of the sacrificial temple.
The sacrificial temple was divided into the outer hall and the inner hall.
This stone door could very well be the main door of the inner hall.
Ian came down alone with his own purpose.
He wanted to get the special reward alone.
Ian took out the tools that he had prepared beforehand and placed the crowbar in the gap of the stone door.
Using the principle of the lever, he directly pried open the stone door that was not locked.
Rumble!
Just like that, the stone door was opened by Ian, allowing him to pass.
He put down the crowbar and stuck it in the gap of the stone door, preventing the stone door from closing automatically.
Ian saw what was behind the stone door.
Behind the stone door was an ordinary brick-and-stone corridor.
It was spacious and neat, and the inside was dark and unfathomable.
Ian put on the gas mask and walked straight inside.
At the end of the corridor, it suddenly became clear.
Ian entered a huge hall.
The length and width were about 60 or 70 meters, and the height was about seven or eight meters.
Ian stood here alone and looked small.
Although the space here was spacious, the atmosphere here was strange.
Ian couldn't go forward anymore because the road ahead was paved with white bones.
Ian couldn't find a place to stand.
The elements had eroded the bones, and they looked extremely loose and as if they would break if stepped on.
There were dozens of huge pillars around them.
It seemed that these things were tied to them.
Ian held a flashlight and shone upward. What he did not recognize were the dried human bones.
From the looks of it, they were all adult males.
One had to know that most of the nobles would be buried with handmaidens or women in his previous life's history.
There were very few men.
Only the emperor could be buried with an adult man.
Because the emperor would need someone to fight for him on the battlefield in the future.
Ian only felt that there was something strange about this place, but he was not afraid.
If Aika were to come down and see this scene, she would probably be so scared that she would not dare to say anything.
These people who were buried with him were probably slaves or prisoners.
These were not of much value to Ian.