Chapter 562: The Power of Faith
The stairs were neither narrow nor wide. It was possible for Xue Wei to walk with Lan by his side, but neither of them spoke.
Although the descent was done in complete darkness, the two were not worried about slipping on the steps and falling, as their eyes were able to at least see the next meter in front of them.
The air within the staircase was not humid nor dry. It did not feel unpleasant to walk further and further down under the ground. Instead, the air felt as it had above ground, and even the steps were covered in sand. The only difference was the complete lack of light.
The stairs went deep into the ground before they ended in a long tunnel. The tunnel was the same width and height as the staircase, and the walls were smooth and felt pleasant to the touch.
Even here, beneath the sandy desert, no life could be found. There were no signs of insects, snakes, or the like, and the silence was overwhelming.
Neither Lan nor Xue Wei spoke as they advanced. A strange feeling enveloped them, a mixture of melancholy and sacredness.
It was as if they were reaching the most important and holy area of the whole Ghost Realm. A place where it was no longer allowed to slay and murder according to ones wishes, but instead one had to stay pious and courteous.
The tunnel was long, and the two advanced forward without knowing how long they had been walking for. The world beneath the sand was silent and tranquil, it was as a small haven in the middle of a battlefield, and neither of the two men felt the need to break the silence.
Time was impossible to keep track of due to the lack of light or changes in the environment. They walked for a long time which felt like days, but it might have been as little as one night.
When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, they found that another set of stairs was present, however these stairs were not leading further into the depths of the earth, but instead they took the two towards the surface once more.
Lan and Xue Wei had not encountered any signs of life throughout their long walk, not even the smallest sign of a ghost had appeared, so they did not stop to rest before stepping onto the stairs, and once again aimed for the world above.
As to why this tunnel had been built underground, it was likely to make it much harder to locate it. Had it not been for Xue Wei's touch of the sand, the two would never have known that this tunnel existed, so it was likely that the ghosts were also unaware of its existence.
Both Xue Wei and Lan had their own thoughts of what might be at the end of the stairs, but neither of them felt a need to discuss.
Although they no longer felt as if their emotions were directly manipulated, they were both aware that this strange melancholic mood was caused by the strange phenomenon they had encountered.
However, throughout their long walk, they had not seen any traps. It did not seem as if they had stepped into a dangerous area, and the sacredness of the place was much more obvious to Lan who had returned to a deity, so he did not need to fear the place.
As a deity, he understood that faith was important for mortals and immortals alike. The mortals managed to gain a certain feeling of safety and security through faith, and sometimes they might even be granted help by the deity they believed in.
The deity, on the other hand, would be able to benefit from the faith in a very vague way. Although it did not directly influence cultivation or strength, it would often help the one being worshipped with luck or good fortune. The more people who believed in the deity, the more smooth their path would become while practicing.
This place had a trace of a forgotten faith, but it was very weak and seemed lost. The previous owner of the faith was likely gone, but due to the sheer amount of worshipping that they had received during their lifetime, a trace still lingered on.
The steps were taken one after another before they reached the top of the stairs.
What met their eyes caused both Lan and Xue Wei to feel amazed but not shocked. They had previously expected to encounter a grand scene at the end, and it did not let them down.
In front of them was a great palace and temple-like city. The buildings were all connected in a specific formation which was meant to increase longevity and luck, but each of the pagodas, courtyards, and houses were all long since abandoned.
They had all been built from a material that neither Xue Wei nor Lan had seen anywhere in the Ghost Realm before, it was shining with a gentle and soft lustre like a midnight pearl, but every wall was made from this material, showcasing the great cost of building the structure.
The middle of the palace had a great square which led to a set of stairs and up towards a temple.
Every building had been adorned with intricate and delicate designs, most of which held pictures of a black turtle, but there were also less frequent displays of a white tiger, an azure dragon, and a vermillion bird.
From the appearance of these designs, it was easy to guess that this palace held some connection to the four divine beast races, making it reasonable for Xue Wei to have felt such intense connection and longing towards this place.