Devil's Eye Reborn - Shadow Angel Awakens - Chapter 93

Chapter 93: Chapter 91：History of Aimana
 

“From your story, I can feel that Aimana values life more than anyone else. Perhaps because he deals with corpses, he understands the importance of being alive,” Zicheng sighed. “I think he must have something he can’t let go of, something he needs to accomplish personally, which is why he’s so desperate to survive.”

“What Aimana can’t let go of,” I said, pointing to the door, “is the people of this village.”

“This village?” Zicheng looked at me, puzzled.

“That’s right. They are also members of the corpse-handling clan, but not direct descendants, so they cannot learn the corpse-handling techniques. Originally, their clan served the Egyptian royal family and lived without worry. But when the Egyptian dynasty was overthrown, they became targets of the new rulers’ persecution,” I paused before continuing, “Though they had unique corpse-handling skills, their enemies had thousands of soldiers. Unable to resist, they retreated to this remote desert to live in isolation.”

“Since those with pure bloodlines who could learn the corpse-handling techniques have always been the clan leaders, the livelihood of the village fell on their shoulders after they moved here,” I turned and looked at the door to the back room. “Due to the harsh living conditions and difficulty in finding food, this once powerful clan in Egypt has seen a significant reduction in its population. Now, only about a hundred people remain in the village, with Aimana being the only one who knows the corpse-handling techniques.”

“So, if Aimana dies, the villagers’ lives will become even harder, right?” Zicheng said, then suddenly furrowed his brow and murmured, “But you said he had less than a year to live at that time and had to give half of it to you to escape. How is he still alive now? Oh! You must have made another deal with him to extend his life, right?”

“You’re half right. After our deal, he fainted immediately due to the loss of half his life energy,” I smiled. “Since he didn’t tell me where he lived before passing out, I carried him back to Rahab and my master. When Rahab saw him, that old cat immediately recognized him as a descendant of the corpse-handling clan. Out of respect for old acquaintances, Rahab made a quick deal with Aimana, giving him fifty more years of life.”

“You have quite an unusual relationship,” Zicheng said, smiling at me. “By the way, where did he go?”

“He’s gone to fetch something. We need to solve a problem for him before he can help us,” I smiled.

“A problem?” Zicheng looked puzzled and was about to ask more when Aimana returned to the main room.

He came out quickly, carrying a mummy in one hand and a cube in the other. Despite his short stature, he carried the nearly twice-as-tall mummy effortlessly, as if it weighed nothing.

Aimana carefully placed the mummy on the wooden table and tossed the cube to Zicheng. “Little Nuo, if you’re tricking me, don’t expect any more help from me in the future,” Aimana sneered.

I smiled and ignored him, turning to look at the puzzle box. The cube was formed by two identical pyramids joined together, shining with a golden glow, indicating it was made of gold. Just the pure gold cube alone was incredibly valuable, making the treasure map inside unimaginable in worth.

“Little Nuo, what does this mean?” Zicheng asked, looking puzzled at the cube in his hand.

“This is a golden puzzle box left by an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. It’s said to contain a treasure map showing the location of the pharaoh’s treasure,” I pointed to the mummy on the table. “This is the pharaoh’s mummy. Normally, Aimana’s corpse-handling techniques could command it to open the puzzle box. But the pharaoh anticipated this and used special methods to prevent his body from being controlled after death. Can you help Aimana by using your ‘Eye of Reminiscence’ to see how to open this golden cube?”

Having heard Aimana’s story, Zicheng seemed to have a favorable impression of him. Without saying much, he nodded and activated his demonic energy, opening the ‘Eye of Reminiscence.’

“Could you lift the mummy a bit?” Zicheng, with his left eye glowing red, asked Aimana.

I translated for him, and Aimana muttered something before propping the mummy upright on the table.

Zicheng walked up to the mummy, gently unwrapped the yellowed cloth covering its left eye, revealing a lifeless eye.

“Zicheng, if you make a mistake while opening the puzzle box, it will explode. Be very careful,” I reminded him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Zicheng nodded and leaned closer to the mummy, the ‘Eye of Reminiscence’ fixed on its eye. His demonic energy surged, indicating his mind was traveling back thousands of years, tracing the pharaoh’s last memories.

Aimana stood by, his sharp eyes watching Zicheng. Though his expression was calm, I could hear his rapid heartbeat, revealing his inner tension. Zicheng stared at the mummy for a long time, motionless.

“Little Nuo, why isn’t your friend doing anything?” Aimana glared at me, a hint of anger on his face. “If you’re tricking me, I won’t let you off.”

I knew the ‘Eye of Reminiscence’ started from the moment of death and gradually moved backward. If the pharaoh hadn’t thought about or handled the golden cube before dying, Zicheng would need time to trace back to earlier memories.

Just as I was about to explain, Aimana suddenly exclaimed. I looked over and saw Zicheng beginning to work on the puzzle box. He frowned, sweat forming on his forehead, his hands moving constantly to manipulate the mechanisms of the golden cube, while his demonic eye remained fixed on the dead pharaoh, not glancing at the box.

Seeing Zicheng in action, Aimana fell silent, his eyes wide and his breathing heavy.

The cube’s bricks were all movable. Zicheng’s fingers worked ceaselessly, pushing some bricks left, pressing others down, or flipping some over and reinserting them. Sometimes he would swap bricks from different positions.

Observing closely, I noticed there was no fixed pattern in the disassembly. Each step seemed random. Without the ‘Eye of Reminiscence,’ the golden cube’s secrets might never be known.

Zicheng continued working, and the cube gradually transformed from a cubic shape into an irregular form, then slowly reassembled, seemingly returning to its original shape.

At this moment, Zicheng shuddered and exhaled deeply. “It’s done!” he said, wiping his forehead with his sleeve and handing the golden cube to Aimana with a smile.

“You… you solved it?” Aimana looked at the cube in his hand, dumbfounded.

The golden cube had returned to its original form, two pyramids joined together, as if it had never been disassembled.

Though Zicheng couldn’t understand Aimana’s Arabic, he seemed to grasp his meaning from his expression. He nodded and pointed to the tip of the bottom pyramid.

At the pyramid’s tip, fine sand trickled out, forming a tiny sand column.

“The pyramid’s tip has a tiny hole. When all the sand inside has flowed out, twist the top pyramid to the right to open it,” Zicheng explained.

I translated for Aimana. He looked incredulous and was about to say something when the golden cube made a soft “click.”

Aimana stared at the cube, motionless.

“Open it,” I smiled.

Aimana nodded, then grabbed the two pyramids with both hands. After a moment of contemplation, he took a deep breath and twisted them open forcefully.

The golden cube split into two pyramids, revealing a yellowed parchment scroll in the hollow center.

Aimana picked up the parchment scroll, his hands trembling as he unfolded it and read by the dim light in the room. His pupils contracted sharply as he saw the contents.

“Little Nuo didn’t lie! Hahaha!” Aimana laughed excitedly, “It’s really a treasure map! This pharaoh’s golden puzzle box was indeed difficult, but I finally got it!”

The parchment scroll was indeed a treasure map. I smiled at Aimana and asked, “Now, can you help us?”

Aimana sneered, carefully putting away the parchment scroll, and then leaped onto the wooden table. From his waist pouch, he took out a roll of white cloth. Holding one end with his yellowed teeth, he slowly unrolled the cloth. I noticed that while the outer surface of the cloth appeared plain white, it was faintly embroidered with red symbols inside, likely crucial to the corpse-handling technique.

Aimana grabbed handfuls of dark brown spices, sprinkling them over the cheetah’s body, gradually covering its original spots. Once the entire body had turned brown, he began wrapping it with the white cloth, starting from the head. Using both his hands and mouth, Aimana worked quickly, threading the cloth left and right over the body without overlapping.

In no time, the once furry cheetah was tightly wrapped in white cloth.

“Is it done?” I asked, seeing Aimana stop.

Aimana glared at me and said sarcastically, “Hey, there’s one more step.”

He then bit his fingertip, drawing blood, and pressed it to the cheetah’s forehead. Closing his eyes, he chanted an incantation, squeezing out more blood.

As the blood dripped onto the white cloth, forming a red flower, Aimana suddenly shouted!

A cold wind swept through the room, followed by a low growl from the cheetah. Slowly, it rose from the table.

“Time to stretch your legs and find the one who killed you, my dear,” Aimana said, stroking the cheetah’s head with a sinister grin.