Gourmet Hunter - Chapter 176 (Patreon)

Chapter 176: Strange Phenomena

Ignoring the strength of Uncle Li and others, it's hard to imagine how Little Bin alone could forcefully push them back.

Luo couldn't gauge the depth of Uncle Li and his group, but felt that they were even stronger than the elders of Meteor Street.

Bisky glanced subtly at Antomu, who was looking ahead at the ancient palace, before quickly shifting her gaze away.

She had a keener eye than Luo, able to objectively rank everyone's strength without having to fight any of them.

Antomu, undoubtedly an Enhancer, ranked first, followed by the uniquely dressed Ruby, with Aya in third, Uncle Li fourth, and Luo fifth. The next four, including the deceased Little Bin, were all about the same level.

Among them, Little Bin was the weakest.

This was Bisky’s personal opinion, and if those ranked were to actually fight, considering various factors, Antomu would still likely come out on top, while the rankings of Ruby, Aya, Uncle Li, and Luo could change.

Overall, Little Bin's strength was the weakest; it was clearly impossible for him alone to drive this group away, but the others’ reactions suggested otherwise.

“Why did he suddenly attack you all?” Bisky asked curiously, not just about him going mad—if it were really possible to boost his strength suddenly, that would be worth investigating.

Everyone looked at each other, wanting to know the answer to this question.

“Could it be because of the sudden sound of a harp string from the palace?” Ruby hesitated.

“Harp string?” Luo’s eyes narrowed, thinking of the Dark Sonata. He came to the ruins of Parlo City specifically to find the harp solo from the Dark Sonata.

“If it’s because of the harp string sound, then we all heard it, but only Little Bin reacted,” Aya countered.

“The sound was faint, sudden, and brief, and I didn’t notice anything wrong,” someone else objected.

Ruby said, “But Little Bin went mad right after the sound of the harp string disappeared.”

“It's possible that the harp string was the cause. At that time, besides the sound of the harp, there really was no other unusual noise, but just that sound, was it strong enough to make Little Bin suddenly so powerful?”

Uncle Li adjusted his glasses and then looked towards the grand palace, saying solemnly, “And moreover, is this really Stajy’s tomb?”

“Even if it’s not Stajy's tomb, there must be many valuables inside, right? We came to Stajy’s tomb for the money, didn’t we?” Antomu said with a naive smile, earnestly, “As for whether it's the sound of the harp, why don't we go in and see?”

“You make it sound so simple. Why don’t you lead the way?” The man covered in small iron nails suddenly looked at Antomu.

This man was Mark, stylishly dressed; he had been closest to Little Bin when he suddenly went mad, and if not alert enough, he could have been seriously injured or killed.

Even now, he was still shaken and regarded the palace under the blue light with awe.

Antomu, however, seemed unconcerned and nodded with a smile, saying, “Sure, I’m strong, I should be in front.”

Hearing Antomu say this, Mark didn’t know what to say.

“Can you describe exactly what happened just now?” Luo didn’t pay attention to Mark and Antomu, but looked at Uncle Li, his gaze carrying a questioning look.

If that harp sound is related to the Dark Sonata… then, what is the connection between here and Parlo City?

Uncle Li nodded and briefly described what had happened.

They arrived here ahead of Luo and Bisky and were initially shocked by the scene before them. Upon seeing the ruins of the ancient city on the platform, they vaguely felt that this wasn’t Stajy’s tomb, as a tomb shouldn’t look like this.

However, as Antomu had said, they were here for the money, so they still wanted to explore inside the palace. Just from its scale, there could be many treasures inside.

Although they agreed unanimously, they were still cautious, especially since they hadn’t forgotten the unexplained roar they had heard while descending the stone stairs.

The platform was very large, but the ruins only occupied a third of its area.

The palace was about three stories high, surrounded by several thick towering stone pillars that supported a large stone eave, presenting a high wall at the front, below which was an open stone door, leading into pitch darkness.

Both the stone pillars and the walls constructing the palace were engraved with sun, moon, flame, and lightning motifs.

Around the palace, there were many collapsed and standing giant stone pillars, along with about a dozen anthropomorphic stone statues over three meters high

 with heads of snakes, crocodiles, birds, and tigers, each holding weapons and displaying muscular torsos without clothes.

The palace was the only relatively intact building on the platform, so it caught Uncle Li and his group’s eyes immediately.

As they approached the palace, passing through the forest of stone pillars and disorganized statues, they hadn’t even stepped inside when a torrent-like sound of harp strings emerged from within, startling everyone.

The sound came suddenly and lasted less than five seconds before fading away.

Immediately after, Little Bin’s body shook, and he suddenly employed Ren, releasing a vast aura, and then attacked them.

Initially, they called out to him, but Little Bin’s eyes were fierce, his mouth tightly shut, completely ignoring them.

Having no choice, Uncle Li and the others tried to subdue Little Bin but found it not so simple. They were forced back quite a distance by Little Bin before they finally made a killing move to stop his frenzy.

After hearing Uncle Li’s account, Luo’s eyes showed a thoughtful look, asking, “Did you use Gyo to observe?”

“Yes, but we didn’t find anything unusual,” Uncle Li said solemnly, suspecting it might be related to post-mortem Nen, but after using Gyo, they found nothing.

Because the situation was so sudden and strange, they stayed away from the palace after killing Little Bin, not daring to approach it rashly.

Luo remained silent, not gaining much useful information from Uncle Li’s account, realizing that understanding the connection between the harp sound and Little Bin’s change likely required entering the palace.

“So, do we go in to find out, or do we turn around and leave?” After a moment, Luo asked.

“I sure don’t want to leave empty-handed,” Ruby stated first.

Then, the others expressed their opinions; despite the strangeness of Little Bin’s case, they had been preparing for this for a long time and couldn’t just leave in disappointment.

Seeing that no one was deterred, Luo breathed a sigh of relief. With more people, they would feel more confident facing the unknown.

The group of nine didn’t waste any more time, leaving behind Little Bin’s body, they cautiously approached the palace.

Upon reaching the palace entrance, the sound of the harp strings didn’t reappear, allowing Uncle Li and the others to feel slightly relieved.

Standing at the entrance, they turned on flashlights to illuminate the open door, revealing an empty hall inside.

After pausing for a moment, each maintained a high level of alertness, entering the hall together.

Just then, the stone door behind them boomed shut automatically.

The group was startled but not overly frightened. It was just a stone door; reopening it would be simple. However, the automatic closing of the stone door highlighted the unusual nature of this place.

Meanwhile, on the platform outside the palace.

The mountain wall and the light strips above suddenly began to wriggle like snakes, slowly extending toward Little Bin’s body.

If Luo and the others were to dissect Little Bin’s body, they would surely see his internal organs withered like dried flowers, dark and shriveled.

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