Last Totem Novel - Chapter 97

Chapter 97 Elders
Following the faint light of the fire, through the desolate ruins, the iron slag arrived in front of the collapsed temple.

The ground in front of the temple was filled with round stone pillars. Some of them were broken into pieces, some cracked from the middle, and some only had square pedestals left. The surface of these stone pillars was uneven and riddled with holes. It was hard to imagine what kind of disaster had happened here.

In his thoughts, he crossed the messy stone pillars and walked up the stairs of the temple. He lowered his head and saw that the stairs were made of huge stones. At this moment, the surface of the stone was filled with cracks, as if it had been bombarded by an invisible force.

In the blink of an eye, he stepped onto the highest flight of stairs. He looked up and saw that the temple gate had collapsed. One of the two doorposts was tilted and the other was broken. Many rocks were piled up at the door, blocking the way. Standing in front of the door, a faint glow of fire could be seen through the cracks in the rocks.

He looked left and right and soon saw a broken wall on the side of the temple. He walked over to observe for a while and discovered that this place seemed to have been repaired as a temporary entrance to the temple.

Someone?

Tie Zha frowned and walked into the gap in the wall. The interior of the temple was very spacious, with collapsed stone pillars and building remains everywhere. Looking up, most of the roofs collapsed, leaving only broken stones and tiles. The bright moonlight pierced through the cracks and spilled onto the mottled ground.

However, even if it collapsed like this, it still wouldn’t give off a sense of danger. It seemed that after a long time, the collapsed areas had formed a stable structure.

Turning around, he saw a stone altar in the middle of the temple. There was a large brazier built on the altar, and within the brazier was a pure white flame. That faint flame was emitted from this place.

He walked over and stood in front of the altar, looking at the beating flames, feeling an unprecedented sense of relief. It was as if this was his refuge. Everything was safe when he returned to this place. A strong sense of tiredness surged into his heart, and he unconsciously relaxed.

The flames emitted a faint warmth. Ever since he ran out of fuel, he had never felt such warmth again.

He stared blankly at the flames, not knowing how long it had been …

“Friend from afar, in front of you is the last fire seed of the Temple of Glory.”

An old and deep voice came from the side. Tie Zha turned his head to look. In the depths of the temple, an old man with a candle slowly walked over. The old man was tall and sturdy. He wore a gray linen robe, with a string of colorful wooden beads hanging on his chest and a hemp rope tied around his waist.

The old man came to his side, holding a candle in one hand and stretching out his other, and said, “Hello, friend, I am Cozan Blood Wolf, the guardian of the Holy Flame.”

Tie Zha clenched his hands, the old man’s palms wide and warm. With the faint flames, he finally saw the old man’s appearance clearly. This was an elder with a kind face. His face was very wide, the wrinkles on his face were very deep, but his eyes were bright and very bright.

“I’m Tie Zha, this is my invitation” As he said that, he fumbled for a small paper tube from his pocket and handed it to the old man.

The old man opened the paper tube and took out the scroll. He carefully looked at it for a while. Then, he raised his head and looked at the iron slag. He solemnly said, “Friend, please follow me.” With that, the old man held the candle and walked into the depths of the temple.

Tie Zha quickly followed, then took out the last compressed biscuit from his pocket, tore open the oil paper, and ate it as he walked. It had been many days since he had eaten anything. Originally, this was reserved for the last time as a glimmer of hope. However, he had already arrived at the temple and was not going to starve to death, so he began to eat.

“Friend, you” The old man heard the sound of food and stopped to ask.

“Eat … eat something.” Tie Zha said as he ate.

“Alright, let’s wait for a while.” The old man said.

“Eat while walking.” Iron slag said.

“Friend, it’s not appropriate for us to walk in the hall of remembrance of our ancestors while eating.” The old man smiled and said.

“I see.” The iron slag replied, eating all the compressed biscuits in half and half, patting the residue on his hand and saying, “Finished, let’s go.”

The old man nodded and turned towards the depths of the temple.

Iron slag followed behind the old man and walked through a long passageway. Then, he walked down a deep staircase and entered an arched underground passageway that resembled an air raid shelter.

Tie Zha looked around curiously. The underground passage was very big, and there seemed to be a lot of things on both sides. The old man’s candlelight was so dim that he could not see clearly what it was, so he took out a flashlight and shone it.

Within the dazzling light beam, rust-stained mecha appeared on both sides of the passageway …

Just as Tie Zha was about to walk over and take a closer look, the old man who noticed the abnormal situation hurriedly turned around and stopped him from using the flashlight. He said, “This is the hall where heroes are sleeping. You can’t use the flashlight to shine on them. This will disturb their long sleep.”

“Can these mechs still operate?” Tie Zha asked.

“The interior is damaged. Most of them are empty shells.” The old man replied.

“Then why are you still here?” Tie Zha asked. He had said a little too much today, but these days, he was all alone. Apart from occasionally talking to Alice, he had basically no chance to speak.

“This” The old man paused for a moment and said, “In the future, you will understand. Come, let’s go to the reference room first.” The old man found that the young man could not be idle, so he had to find something to say, or else he would cause trouble everywhere.

“Reference room? I think we should eat something first.” Tie Zha suggested. He hadn’t eaten for a few days, relying entirely on the remnants of the ‘Flame of Life’ to support his body.

“There’s hot water and biscuits in the reference room.” The old man advised.

‘”Another biscuit” Tie Zha said disappointedly. These past few days, he had eaten biscuits to the point of being scared.

“There’s an elk leg in the dining hall. I’ll make you something to eat when we’re done checking the information.” The old man said.

“Can’t you eat first?” Tie Zha couldn’t wait any longer.

“Do you want to know your own background?” The old man asked.

“Life experience? What life experience?” Tie Zha frowned and asked.

“Your parents, your family, your roots.” The old man replied. Tie Zha was silent for a moment, then nodded in agreement. Afterwards, the old man carried the candle and continued onward, followed by Tie Zha.

An old man and a young man walked silently. This passage seemed to be very, very long, and they hadn’t finished walking for twenty minutes.

“Is it very far?” Tie Zha couldn’t help but ask.

“We’re almost there.” The old man replied. Then, he explained that this was the place where heroes slept. There were tens of thousands of Saint Wolf Guardians sleeping here.

“Are you saying that this is a cemetery?” Tie Zha asked.

“You can also say that.” The old man replied.

“Tens of thousands” Iron Slag repeated to himself, “But I can’t smell the corpse.”

The old man sighed, his voice filled with indescribable vicissitudes. “It’s been 179 years. Naturally, there’s no flavor left. Furthermore, most of the guardians’ bodies have been shattered, and they can’t be found again.”

The atmosphere suddenly became heavy. The old man waved his hand and said, “This is all a thing of the past. It has nothing to do with you …”

“Yes.” Iron Slag nodded in agreement.

Then, an old man and a young man walked in the darkness for about ten minutes before finally reaching the end of the passageway. The old man opened a wooden door and walked in. Then, he lit the oil lamp on the wall.

Gradually, the dim light illuminated the hall. Standing at the door, one could see bookshelves on both sides. The bookshelves were piled up with thick files.

“Young man, your token number is 1950. Let’s start with the genealogy number 1950.” As he spoke, the old man took out an aluminum lunch box from his bosom and handed it to the iron slag. The iron slag only took a glance and recognized it as his own. He was too familiar with this kind of thing.

“Where is the number? Why can’t I see it?” Tie Zha looked at the lunch box and asked.

“Put the Holy Wolf Totem on the lid of the box on the fire and roast it. You can see the number.” The old man said.

The iron slag opened the lid of the box and tried. After several seconds of roasting on the oil lamp, a group of dark red numbers appeared beneath the Holy Wolf logo: “1950.”

“Every item of the Sacred Wolf Guardian’s possession is engraved with a unique family number.” The old man explained.

“Do I have a family?” Tie Zha found it unbelievable. What if Old Man Tie picked up this lunch box in the garbage dump, or if his biological parents picked it up in the garbage dump …

The old man smiled and said, “The genealogy of the Temple of Glory will record the hereditary characteristics of this clan in detail. If most of them match, there will be no mistake.”

Walking into the depths of the hall, there was a large table. The old man put down the candle, picked up the marching cup and silver kettle on the table, and poured a cup of warm water for Tie Zha.

After Tie Zha finished his drink, he stretched out his glass and said, “Again.” Just like that, he drank all the water in the kettle and took a deep breath. He said, “I haven’t drank warm water for many days. I’m eating ice cubes.”

The old man chuckled and said, “I’m not enough to get you some more.”

Tie Zha waved his hand and said, “No need, it’s just enough to drink.” Just as he finished speaking, Iron Slag was shocked! Then, he looked at the marching cup in his hand and confirmed once again that this marching cup was new!

It took them so long to get here, and the cup was brand new, the water was just warm, and the amount of water was just enough to drink!

Could it be that this old man knew when he would come?

“How did you know I was coming? How did you know when I was coming? You even calculated the amount of time you spent on the road!” Iron Slag couldn’t help but frown as a feeling of being schemed surged into his heart.

The old man revealed a complimentary gaze and then said, “Origin Energy points me in the right direction.”