Chapter 862 Underground Ruins

The walls on both sides of the passage are carved with murals of ancient Pokémon.

Some of them Xia You had seen before, and some he had not.

After taking some random photos of the murals and statues, Xia You and Xiao Yao continued to move forward. When they passed by several places that were obviously traps, neither of them touched the mechanisms, but carefully walked around them.

"Brother Xia You, what do you think this place could be?" Xiao Yao looked around curiously as he spoke, "There are actually mechanisms here, could this be a tomb?"

"That's about right." Xia You said, "In fact, ruins like this built underground are either tombs or hiding places, and there is no difference. If we want to know its specific function, we can only find obvious features or secrets hidden here, and then we can figure it out."

Perhaps they had chosen the right direction. The two walked for another hundred steps, turned a big corner, crossed an underground intersection, and continued walking forward for dozens of meters before finally arriving at a strange gate with several holes in it.

Standing in front of the door, Xiaoyao frowned slightly: "This door looks very mysterious and unusual. Could it be that the room inside is filled with secrets like you said?"

"That's easy. You'll know once you walk in and take a look."

In view of the mechanisms he had just seen, Xia You did not approach the gate, but turned around and signaled to Geng Gui.

This time, Gengar didn't mutter to himself. Perhaps because he was also very interested in what was behind the door, he readily drilled into the wall and disappeared into the passage.

Xia You and Xiao Yao waited quietly outside the door. It didn't take long, just a dozen seconds, before Gengar came out again.

"This door is a flap door." Geng Gui smiled at the two of them, "Luckily you didn't touch it rashly just now. There is a trap on it. As long as the first person passes through the door, the door will be locked immediately. Only the mechanism on the side can unlock it."

After saying that, without waiting for Xia You to speak, Geng Gui came to the stone pillar beside him, took down a movable brick from it, and then pressed a switch inside.

Click click click...

With a violent friction sound, the originally tightly closed door opened, revealing the dark space behind the door.

I have to say, this is the benefit of having ghost-type Pokémon. As long as they are around, no matter how difficult the mechanism is to find, they can handle it.

There are even some secret routes that they can go through the ground, passing through obstacles that other people and Pokémon cannot pass, and finally reaching the other end of the route!

Just as Xia You and Xiao Yao were about to step into the door, hurried footsteps suddenly came from behind them.

The sound sounded like a human running, and it was getting closer and closer, which made Xia You and Xiao Yao stand there in surprise and look back.

But after a few breaths, a middle-aged man ran over panting.

After seeing Xia You and Xiao Yao, he was obviously shocked and asked, "Who are you!?"

Xia You did not answer him immediately, but looked at the man for a few seconds.

He was about forty years old, wearing a military green outdoor adventure suit, with gray and slightly long hair, looking a little unkempt, and his face was a little blue. He had sharp eyes and a droopy mouth, looking very serious.

Seeing him like this, Xia You had already guessed his identity, but she still asked knowingly, "Who are you?"

The man looked at Xia You and Xiao Yao with a scrutinizing gaze, and said in a deep voice: "I am Shen Dai, how did you get into this ruins?"

Sure enough, this person is the last pioneering brain, the pyramid pharaoh who fought against the pyramids!

In fact, he was the only one who would appear in this ruins at this time.

"Kamiyo?" After hearing that this person was Kamiyo, Xiaoyao was stunned at first, then looked at Xia You, "Brother Xia You, so he is..."

Xiaoyao had only said half of her words when Shendai's eyes fixed.

"Oh? You know me?"

"Of course." Xia You nodded and said, "In fact, we came here to challenge you, but when we were about to reach your battle pyramid, we happened to fall into this ruins."

“I see.” Kamishiro crossed his arms, “So you have defeated the other six pioneer brains and obtained their symbols.”

After he finished speaking, Shendai's gaze swept over Xia You and Xiao Yao's shoulders again, and looked at the open door behind them.

"This is a restricted area now. Although you have no intention of entering here, it is better to leave as soon as possible."

"That being said, we seem to be lost." Xia You was not moved at all, but asked, "Mr. Shendai, where exactly is this place?"

Kamishiro pondered for a moment, apparently deciding whether to reveal the news to these two people, but when he thought that these two people had already appeared in the ruins, he felt that there was nothing to hide.

"This is the ruins of the Kingdom of Poclaantis." He said, "This is a mysterious ancient kingdom. I only knew about the existence of such a country when I was looking up documents before."

"Poclaantis?"

Xia You and Xiao Yao looked at each other. Obviously, neither of them had ever heard of such a country in the world.

"It's not surprising that you don't know it. In fact, only a few people in this world know its history." Shen Dai walked slowly a few steps and came to Xia You and the others. He looked at the dark room in front of him, but did not step into it. Instead, he continued to talk to the two of them, "Legend has it that in ancient times, there was an empire called Poclaantis that attempted to control the Phoenix King and conquer the world. This angered the Phoenix King, and the entire country was destroyed. It was wiped out from history overnight, but it is said that the king of Poclaantis escaped and used magical powers to seal the Phoenix King in a stone ball for revenge, and hid it somewhere until today."

King Poclaantis?

Phoenix King?

Stone ball?

From these names, you can feel that things are really unusual, especially since Phoenix King is involved!

When Xia You thought of Ho-Oh, he recalled the scene in Johto when it stopped him from taming the three sacred beasts!

Of course, because he had fought with Phoenix before, he knew that this legend must not be true.

If the Phoenix King was really sealed in ancient times, then who was it that he had seen before? And how did the legend of the three sacred beasts of the Johto region come about?

It can be seen that this is indeed just an exaggerated and unreliable rumor.

Touching his chin, Xia You said, "So, the place where the stone ball is hidden is the room in front of us?"

"That's right." Kamiya nodded. "I have been looking for information about this kingdom for the past few years, and I accidentally discovered this place a few days ago. I was investigating it bit by bit, but your appearance disrupted my plan. As for whether this is the room, I need to verify it."

Hearing him say this, Xia You also remembered that the man in front of him was not only a pioneering brain, but also an adventurer and archaeologist.

As he spoke, Kamiya had already entered the room behind the door.

Seeing this, Xia You and Xiao Yao also walked in with Gardevoir and Gengar.

The moment they stepped into the room, the braziers on both walls suddenly lit up, one after another, extending into the innermost part of the room. There, a huge stone statue, several meters tall, holding a staff, was sitting on a huge stone pedestal!

Under the light of the brazier, you can see that the stone statue is an old man. He is wearing a cloak-like garment and a round hat. Due to his age, his face is covered with wrinkles. I don't know if it's because of the light, but he looks extremely eerie and evil.

There was even a chilly breeze blowing gently, coming from some crevice or corner.

In an instant, the eyes of the three people all fell on the stone statue.

"Is this person the King of Poclaantis?" Xiaoyao asked cautiously, as if she was afraid that her voice was too loud and would alarm something.

But no one could answer her, because Xia You and Shen Dai's eyes had already fallen on a smaller throne under the stone statue.

There was no one on this small throne, which was also made of stone. It didn't seem like a big deal, but on the throne, a stone ball like a Poké Ball was quietly placed there.

Noticing the two people's gazes, Xiaoyao quickly looked over.

And it didn't matter that she took a look, she immediately found the stone ball!

This stone ball is slightly larger than the common Poké Balls nowadays. It is khaki in color overall, with only a ring-shaped band like an inscription in the middle. There is also a square black and purple gem on the ring, which acts as the switch of the stone ball.

"There really is a stone ball!? Is the Phoenix King really inside?"

Xiaoyao was extremely surprised, but she immediately remembered that during a previous casual chat, Xiaoxia had said that she and Brother Xia You had both encountered the Phoenix King. So it seemed that there was definitely not the Phoenix King in this stone ball.

But why is it placed in such a prominent position?

The three of them approached the stone ball together, but no one reached out to touch it.

Seeing that the two were so cautious and did not snatch the rare treasures they saw, Shendai nodded secretly.

He said to the two, "According to my previous investigation and the description of the witnesses, the Phoenix King has always been active somewhere in the world, so this stone ball is not filled with the Phoenix King, but most likely something else."

Xia You was naturally very clear about this kind of thing, but it did not affect his curiosity.

"Want to open it and take a look?"

In fact, up to this point, Xia You has slowly remembered the plot here. Although he doesn't remember everything, he vaguely remembers that the stone ball seems to contain the soul of the king, and in the end it seemed to possess Xiaozhi and controlled him for a long time.

Glancing at him, Kamishiro shook his head.

"It's good to be curious, but we still don't know what's inside. Even after thousands of years, it's unknown whether the things inside are still alive. So before we figure out what's going on, it's better not to touch it casually."

As expected of an archaeologist, he is completely different from those tomb robbers.

If it were someone else, they would have picked up the ball and opened it to take a look. Only a true archaeologist like Kamishiro could resist such temptation.

As for Xia You, although he also wanted to see the soul of thousands of years ago and listen to how his speech and thinking were different from now, he didn't want to get close so easily and then be leaned over by some strange guy.

Seeing that neither of them had any intention of getting closer, Xiaoyao was even less likely to do so.

But at this moment, seeing that no one was approaching, the guy in the stone ball was obviously getting impatient and the whole ball began to shake slightly.

It seems that it must be the breath of a living person that awakened the soul of the king in the stone ball, and even without being touched, it made him wake up.

And the king, seeing that no one came forward, must have wanted to arouse their curiosity even more in this way.

But unfortunately, both Shen Dai and Xia You were people with strong willpower and naturally would not be fooled. Instead, seeing the stone ball shaking like this, they became more cautious.

"Be careful." Geng Gui floated to Xia You's side and frowned, "I sensed a familiar yet uncomfortable aura in there, just like... a ghost."

Xia You just nodded, but Shen Dai on the side cast a surprised look at him, but quickly looked away.

I guess even for him, it would be hard not to be surprised after seeing a talking Gengar.

At this time, the stone ball on the throne shook even more violently.

But what's the use?

If there is no prey coming, no matter how delicious the bait is, it will be useless.

Perhaps he could not wait any longer, or perhaps after thousands of years, prey finally came to him, and the king’s soul in the stone ball did not want to miss such an opportunity, and with a burst of black light, it opened by itself!

The next second, a blurry black figure floated out from the stone ball and flew into the air!

Because the shadow was too dark and thick, Xia You couldn't see the figure's facial features at all. He could only vaguely make out that it was an old man who looked somewhat similar to the huge stone statue of the king behind him.

It seems that this should be the soul of the king.

After flying out, the shadow circled in the air for several times, as if selecting a target. When it hovered over Xia You's head, it suddenly swooped down.

It seems that compared to the middle-aged man Shendai and the little girl Xiaoyao, he wants to occupy the young man's body more, and also regards Xia You as his target!

When Xia You saw him rushing towards her, she frowned.

I didn't expect that even though I was standing so far away, this guy still chose me.

What bad luck!

But he didn't have to do anything, because Gengar, a ghost-type Pokémon and an expert at playing with souls, stood in front of Xia You.

"Hehehe, I won't allow an old fellow like you to occupy my trainer's body!"

As Gengar pushed his hands forward, a beam of black energy was emitted and instantly hit the king's soul. The king's soul seemed to have suffered a heavy blow and flew back with a scream!