I was momentarily speechless and could only offer a helpless chuckle.

But a second later, something else occurred to me, and I asked her, "That... Zoya... Grandma, do you know why I came here? How are you going to help me?"

Zoya rolled her eyes at me and said, "Didn't you just say it? You're here to investigate the history of the ancestors of the Yakut people. I'll take you somewhere; you might find what you're looking for there."

I hurriedly nodded and said, "That's great, let's go quickly."

"Wait, what's the rush? I need to prepare a few things." Zoya always seemed a bit impatient.

Curiously, I watched as she pulled out several wooden planks from under the counter. A leather strap was tied horizontally across the planks, resembling a pair of simple slippers.

"These are?..." I couldn't help but ask curiously.

Zoya ignored me, instead placing the wooden boards under her feet and tightening the leather straps above them.

Then she helped Long Jia put hers on, and only then tossed a pair to me.

Before I could even put mine on, Zoya called out to the big white dog napping nearby.

The dog's ears twitched, and it immediately stood up, barked twice at us, and then trotted toward the door.

Zoya immediately followed with Long Jia, saying as they walked, "Keep up, or if anything happens, don't expect me to take responsibility."

I thought to myself that this wasn't helping me at all; she clearly had no intention of looking out for me.

Having no choice, I quickly fastened the wooden planks onto my feet and then hurried to catch up, the boards patta-patta-ing on the ground.

However, after taking just two steps out the door, I saw that both Zoya and Long Jia had stopped.

On closer inspection, I realized the big white dog was sniffing something intently on the ground.

I had never seen a dog walk so cautiously, and I noticed that the dog's paws were also fitted with those wooden boards.

The big white dog was almost prone on the ground, sniffing inch by inch, pausing for several seconds before moving forward just one step.

Seeing how strange this was, I asked Zoya, "What is going on?"

Zoya extended a withered finger and pointed to a black corpse huddled not far from us, saying, "Look at that person. Do you know how he died?"

I turned my head to look at the body, curled up tightly and skeletal.

At first, I hadn't noticed it and thought it was just an ordinary dried-out corpse, or perhaps a bleached and blackened skeleton.

But looking closely now, I realized the corpse had something very peculiar about it: the color of the body was strangely black.

And judging by the texture of the surface skin, it seemed a bit rough, reminding me of the charcoal I had burned in the stone house earlier.

Guessing, I replied, "Could it be that they were burned to death?"

Zoya nodded and said, "Only half right. These people were all electrocuted, instantaneously."

She pointed to the floor, which was entirely paved with gold, saying, "This floor was originally fully electrified, but after so many years, some places no longer carry a current. We can't see it, but the dog can smell it."

I had never heard of a dog being able to smell electricity, but since Zoya said so, I didn't press the issue.

However, I finally understood why Zoya had insisted we pad our feet with wooden boards.

We shuffled forward like that, bit by bit. I don't know how long we walked, but becoming utterly bored, I glanced back.

We had already moved twenty or thirty meters away from the shop we had just left. Looking back now, I realized Zoya's shop was just one of dozens of storefronts; an entire row lined the wall.

There were shops selling gold and silver jewelry, shops selling gemstone necklaces—everything glittered with golden light.

While it wasn't surprising that gold and jewels looked brand new after all these years, I saw shops selling leather goods and fruit where the merchandise showed no signs of decay. Those dark green and black patterned watermelons, the bright orange bananas, still retained an enticing hue.

I had only heard stories about things in the pyramids not decaying—apples preserved for thousands of years still edible—but I had never seen it until now.

Yet, it wasn't in a pyramid, but beneath the royal city of Durban.

I couldn't fathom the principle behind it, but I surmised that these shops here were not entirely just shops; they were likely underground storage facilities for the Durban Kingdom. This merchandise was preserved here, and when merchants arrived, the storage units were lifted via an elevator to become storefronts for trade. When no merchants were present, they were lowered, preserved by this unique local method.

From this, it was clear that the material wealth and treasure reserves of the Durban Kingdom were truly vast.

I also figured out how Zoya could have lived in this desolate, godforsaken place for decades; with such abundant food supply, she certainly wouldn't starve.

Seeing me looking at the shops, Zoya said, "There's more than this. This is just one great hall within the mountain's belly. Along the surrounding walls of the hall, there are shops like these, and there are at least six or seven more halls like this one. There are some levels I've never even visited."

Seeing she initiated conversation, I let out a soft sound and hurriedly asked, "Where are we going?"

Zoya pointed ahead and said, "At the very end of the hall, there is a huge golden mural depicting some of the history of the Durban Kingdom. There are many things on it that I can't understand. You specialize in this; perhaps you can decipher it."

I nodded and asked no further questions, guessing that the story Zoya told me earlier about the Four True Gods likely came from those murals.

Even though we knew the destination, our pace could not quicken.

As I walked, I looked around at the gold-inlaid patterns on the white jade—all depicting marine life and floral blossoms.

The designs on almost every pillar were unique and exquisitely crafted.

I also noticed scattered statues in various parts of the hall, almost all sculpted from solid gold, featuring mermaids, sea gods, and similar figures.

I even saw some millennium-defying flowers blooming in silver basins, still a vibrant red, though now their vines and blossoms sprawled across the ground due to a lack of pruning, still possessing a messy beauty.

It was hard for me to imagine that such a gold-built sanctuary existed in this world, and upon that gold, there was a veritable paradise of flora.

The further we walked, the more the wild, growing flowers and plants appeared, making it feel as though we were stepping into a forest forged of gold.