“There’s more-blood.” Echo waved Ryan over, pointing at the faint traces beside her.
Ryan took two quick strides over. He saw the barely noticeable bloodstains and glanced at the smoothed-over sand. Echo might not have understood what had happened, but Ryan did. These marks were made when someone hit the ground hard, rolled, and then scrambled-explaining why the footprints just vanished. The person didn’t walk forward; they rolled to this spot instead.
“Let’s go.” Ryan grabbed Echo around the waist, pulling her close, and used the flashlight in her hand to guide them deeper inside.
Cobra quickly moved to Ryan’s side, careful not to disturb any remaining traces, staying alert and ready for anything.
The local guy followed close behind. He knew this was his mess. He’d failed to uncover the full situation earlier, too focused on preserving the scene to catch all the details. If he wanted to avoid Ryan’s punishment, he’d have to make up for it now.
They pressed forward, but the trail disappeared-no more footprints, no signs of movement.
It was impossible for anyone to roll this far without leaving tracks. Ryan’s expression stayed cold and serious.
Echo pointed to some marks along the stone wall, which were more signs of tampering. Ryan’s face darkened even further.
They reached a dead end. A massive stone wall blocked their path, forcing everyone to stop.
Cobra and the others immediately began searching for another way forward.
Ryan, still holding Echo, glanced down at her, his expression unreadable. Then, without a word, he pushed her away.
Echo rolled her eyes but didn’t protest. She knew she had sharp observation skills-years of experience had taught her to notice things like tiny tripwires or nearly invisible laser beams. One small mistake could get her killed, so she’d trained herself to be meticulous.
But she hadn’t expected her talents to become Ryan’s go-to solution for finding someone. She hadn’t learned all this just to help track people. Unfortunately, now didn’t seem like the right time to argue about it with Ryan.
The stone wall in front of them was beautiful, covered with lifelike carvings. It was a window into a civilization from five thousand years ago-maybe even older. Echo stood there, studying the details, her brow furrowed.
“Echo, stop wasting time. Don’t get distracted by useless stuff,” Cobra muttered, annoyed when he saw her fixated on the carvings.
They already knew there had been a gunfight here and that Clement was wounded. While search teams were scouring the outside, this place held the real answers. Time wasn’t on their side-Clement’s life hung in the balance.
“What are you looking at?” Ryan asked, his voice cold. He noticed that Echo’s expression had shifted. She no longer looked captivated by the artwork but was calculating something, lost in thought.
Echo stared at the wall and said, “Most Egyptian pyramids follow similar layouts-traps, hidden pathways, that sort of thing. If this one’s built the same way, I’m trying to figure out where we should go next.”
Cobra shot her a skeptical glance, his surprise was evident. Was she seriously suggesting she knew about ancient pyramids?
Echo tilted her head, thinking for a moment. Then, with a frown, she took three steps forward and pushed against one section of the wall.
Nothing happened.
Cobra’s face darkened. For a second, he’d thought she actually knew what she was doing. Turns out, she was just bluffing.
“Come here, help me push this.” Echo shot a glance at Cobra and Hawk, who looked skeptical, then turned directly to Ryan.
To her surprise, Ryan didn’t say a word and moved forward to help her.
Cobra and Hawk exchanged worried glances. Since when did Boss stop using his head and just take Echo’s word for it? Could he really trust her?
Suddenly, before Cobra and Hawk could react, the wall let out a grinding noise, like a stiff gear slowly turning, and Ryan pushed it open.
“Damn,” both Cobra and the local guy cursed in disbelief.
Echo pulled her hand back and shot a glare at Cobra. “If I didn’t know what I was doing, I wouldn’t be here making a fool of myself.”
She followed Ryan, who had already stepped through. Hawk and Cobra rubbed their foreheads, keeping their eyes on Echo and Ryan as they moved forward, completely unaware that Echo actually did know something.
In truth, Echo didn’t have an in-depth understanding of the pyramid’s construction or layout. She had studied antiques, which meant she was familiar with history, and Egypt was an unavoidable topic in world history. Plus, she had a particular fondness for the priceless burial artifacts, so she’d spent some time studying pyramids. It was a mix of hard work and luck that led her down this path.
They hadn’t made a mistake. Once they entered the passage, the footprints appeared-chaotic and stained with blood. There were no extra tracks, just one set, and everyone had a pretty good idea of whose it was.
Clearly, no one outside had found this route, which gave them a bit of relief while keeping them on high alert.
As they went deeper, the terrain sloped downward, and the yellow sand disappeared, leaving only dark gray stone walls.
Dried blood occasionally spotted the ground, confirming they hadn’t taken a wrong turn. More importantly, there was only one way forward-there was no room for mistakes.
At the end of the path, they reached a fork in the road, splitting into three winding passages.
The group paused, all eyes turning to Echo.
Echo couldn’t help but smirk, flashing a grin. “Don’t look at me. I have no idea which way to go. I’ve never seen a fork like this before. Why not split up?”
Without any hesitation, Ryan waved his hand, and Cobra’s men divided. Some stayed with Ryan while the others headed down the left and right paths.
Cobra and the local guy led the way, with Ryan and Echo in the middle, while Hawk and his men brought up the rear.
In the quiet passage, the only sound was the echoing footsteps, sharp and clear, reverberating in the air. A chilling breeze swept through, dry and cold, heightening the eerie atmosphere.
Echo felt Ryan’s arm wrap around her waist, warm and reassuring. She glanced up at him. His expression was unreadable, but his strong features and presence gave her an unspoken sense of safety and reliability.
Echo glanced at Cobra, who was standing tensely ahead, and suddenly gave him a playful smile. “Relax. No one knows exactly how pyramids were built, but their temperature and airflow are actually well-regulated. They stay ventilated and dry all year round. It might not seem like it’s ventilated in here, but the pyramid manages it somehow. It’s not magic, just clever engineering.”
Ryan, Hawk, and the others clearly had no clue about these things. Their world was all about weapons and enemies-there was no room for “useless” trivia like this.
Cobra stiffened for a moment at her words, then exhaled and relaxed.
Staying too tense wasn’t helpful. Even though Echo trusted them to handle whatever came their way, being overly on edge wasn’t a good thing either.
They reached the end of the path, only to be greeted by a dead end-a wide, gaping hole stretched out in front of them. With no lights below, it looked like a bottomless pit, waiting to swallow them whole. A cold wind whistled from the abyss, sending a shiver down everyone’s spine.
“No way through. Looks like we took the wrong path,” the local guy muttered, frowning as he kicked a small rock off the edge.
“What the hell are you doing?” Echo shouted, panic flashing in her eyes.
She grabbed Ryan and yanked him around, sprinting back the way they’d come.
Hawk and the others didn’t need further explanation-years of experience kicked in, and they turned to run without hesitation, following Echo’s lead.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Strange noises erupted behind them.
Cobra and the local guy glanced back just in time to see stone arrows shoot from both sides of the wall, crisscrossing in three directions. The spot they’d just been standing on was now riddled with arrows, pinned so deeply into the opposite wall that it looked like a pair of giant, spiked hedgehogs.
The ground, once smooth, sprouted rows of sharp arrowheads glinting menacingly in the dim light.
Cobra and the local guy locked eyes for a second, then bolted after the others, running full tilt. With nothing left to block the next volley, arrows shot straight toward them, the air around them hissing as they sliced through.
A chaotic sprint ensued, the sound of the arrows cutting through the air keeping everyone on edge. The relentless whistling was enough to make their ears ring, and their faces grew even more grim. There was no room for mistakes at that speed-it was terrifyingly real.