Chapter 30: The Golden City

Liu Zhi was certainly unaware that someone had set their sights on him. By this time, he had already retraced his path to the landing point they had originally planned. Unlike Perkin and his group, who were pressed for time, Liu Zhi felt no such urgency. After a restful night by the landing site, he followed the route he had chosen and entered the far end of the jungle.

Relying on his knowledge of jungle survival, Liu Zhi discovered many giant snakes on the move along the way. Among them were already large anacondas and water pythons, as well as venomous snakes and grass snakes that, by rights, should have been much smaller. Liu Zhi could always discern their original species from their appearance, yet the smallest among these giant serpents was still as thick as a barrel and nearly fifty meters long, which utterly dispelled any notion he had of engaging with them.

Faced with such colossal snakes, Liu Zhi could only keep changing his path to avoid them. In his intermittent stops and detours, he stumbled upon an oddity: the direction these snakes were heading was precisely opposite to his own destination. This realization made Liu Zhi pause in thought. He found a safe spot, took out his map and reference materials, and began marking the locations where he had encountered the giant snakes.

As he plotted each serpent’s position and direction, a new clue emerged before him. He noticed that more than eighty percent of the giant snakes were all traveling from the direction of the Golden City toward the blood-stained tree.

“Could it be that this is the time when the giant snakes are sent out on patrol?” This hypothesis arose in Liu Zhi’s mind. If so, this presented a golden opportunity. With this thought, Liu Zhi quickly stood up and began to count the different types of giant snakes he had encountered during this period.

“That’s right. This is also a chance for me. Perhaps these giant snakes are actually the guardians of the Golden City. The Golden City belongs to Kukulkan, who is the Feathered Serpent God. It's perfectly natural for him to have the ability to enlarge and command serpents. If there are no humans left in the Golden City, leaving serpents behind to guard it would be the logical thing to do.

If I tried to enter the city under normal circumstances, I would certainly have to face the challenge of these snakes. But now, they’ve all left.”

With these thoughts in mind, Liu Zhi sprang to his feet. Hurriedly packing up his materials, he shouldered his backpack and set off in the direction of the Golden City. He had no idea how long it would be before the giant snakes returned, but he could not afford to waste any more time on the road.

In his haste to reach the Golden City, Liu Zhi couldn’t even bother to conceal his tracks. He even began searching for the snake trails left by the giant serpents, following them in reverse to find the fastest route to his goal.

Liu Zhi’s guess proved correct. After two days and a night of forced marching—resting only when necessary and subsisting on the black, chocolate-like rations from Perkin’s pack—he finally discovered the Golden City's existence before July 15th.

It was nestled beyond a cliff in the heart of the jungle, its entrance not particularly large and accessible only by following a river upstream. On both sides of the river, Liu Zhi saw many man-made caves carved into the rock. These caves were likely the lairs of some of the giant snakes. The entrances were not wide, just enough for a person to walk through; but once inside, he found the caves to be an intricate maze of interconnected tunnels, resembling layered pipes.

Along the damp cave walls and on the ground, he could still see many gnawed bones and molted serpent skins. Liu Zhi explored several caves, finding that their conditions were much the same: some bore clear signs of recent snake habitation, while others were entirely deserted.

This discovery gave Liu Zhi a sense of relief. He was glad he had abandoned Perkin’s route in advance. Had he followed Perkin, or been lured by the notes in Perkin’s notebook and missed this window, he would have arrived at the Golden City only to be beset by a horde of serpents at the slightest sound.

Given his current abilities, Liu Zhi judged his chances of surviving such an encounter to be virtually nil.

Following the river upstream and navigating through several underground passages, Liu Zhi’s eyes lit up. After pushing aside a mass of undergrowth, he found himself gazing upon a valley city in ancient Incan style.

Perhaps due to years of neglect and the encroaching rainforest, the entire city was half-hidden amid dense shrubs. Yet it was clear that the city had once teemed with life, supporting at least thirty to fifty thousand households in its heyday.

At the heart of the city stood a nearly fifty-meter-high Incan pyramid, around which stretched vast, empty plazas. The plazas were bordered by four distinct districts, each with its own architectural style.

For example, the buildings near the northern edge were not the usual stonework found here but seemed to be made of wood and leaves. After so many years, most of the material had rotted away, leaving only fragments behind. The eastern district, by contrast, was built entirely from carefully selected obsidian and volcanic rock—hard and massive stones that, despite years of wind and rain, remained unscathed, merely blanketed by vines and foliage.

The southern and western quarters, however, were a jumble of chaotic structures, suggesting little in the way of planned settlement.

“So this is the Golden City?” Standing at the river’s outlet, Liu Zhi surveyed the city before him. His vantage point was not ideal—being at the lower end, he could only just make out the city’s layout. To see it in more detail, he would have to climb a nearby mountain.

But Liu Zhi had no such intention. The fifty-meter-high pyramid before him had to be the key to the Golden City.

With that thought, Liu Zhi drew the longsword he had acquired from the swordsman and prepared to head toward the pyramid.

Just as he took his first step, a mountain wind swept through. In the stagnant air of the valley, the gust set the trees into a rolling wave. Liu Zhi noticed a massive phantom of a red-feathered serpent appearing above the pyramid. The apparition seemed almost alive; as the wind blew, its eyes swept over the valley.

Liu Zhi paused, touching the pendant he always kept close. Then, steeling himself, he moved forward.

[Ding! Identity-locked quest—Curse of the Golden City—officially activated. Necromancer class selection now available. Within three days, seek out the clues, materials, and resources needed and make your choice to complete the transition to Necromancer.]