Chapter 1055: The Mysterious Mine

The flowers in the pipe flickered, and smoke rings spewed out from Ian's mouth. The old man rode on his skinny horse, tapped the ashes in his pipe, and said to Allen next to him, "I've been to that ghostly place, Shadowlands, three times. Even in broad daylight, it's as quiet as a grave." Yes. When my teacher took me for the first time, I was not afraid of adult jokes, and I almost peed my pants. After I came back, I didn’t feel like doing that thing on the bed with a woman. It took more than a month to recover. ..."

"Because of that trip, I saw shadow demons. Those demons that haunt the darkness and shadows, easily tear open the stomachs of horses with their sharp claws..."

How big is the Coldridge Mountains, no one has a specific statistics. However, it is recognized that this mountainous area is extremely wide and deep, and it is also the largest mountainous area after entering the northern border. The route taken by the guides of Frostwind City is usually to walk along the spiral staircase after entering the mountains, which is a continuous mountain road that circles around the mountains. From the spiral staircase, you will enter the Greystone Canyon, where the terrain is relatively flat. After passing through the canyon, it takes two more days to leave the mountains.

As for the Land of Shadows, it is located in the valley on the other side of the spiral staircase. The road is spacious, but because it is located in the shade of the mountain, this valley is always gloomy and terrifying. Even in the daytime, there is no sunlight there. As Ian said, the valley is like a huge tomb. Shadow Demons are a specialty of the Shadowlands. Those humanoid creatures with long hands and feet and good at climbing mountains and mountains do not like sunlight, and hide in the Shadowlands all year round. Occasionally wander to other areas, only to hunt prey. Shadow fiends only come out after sunset, and of course, you may encounter them even during the day in the Shadowlands.

The route provided by Ian can be said to be an alternate route for the guides of Frostwind City. They would never walk in the Shadowlands, let alone through the Akabi Corridor, if they didn't have to. It was a long and narrow rift valley, and Akabi was the god of death in the local legend of Frostwind City. Akabi is in charge of death, so the rift valley is named after him, and it is also called the Valley of Death.

Every few years, a large number of animals in the mountains will die in the Akabi corridor for unknown reasons. Some people have even witnessed a large number of mountain black sheep jumping into the rift valley in a suicidal manner. People in Frostwind City call this phenomenon the sacrifice of the god of death.

When it comes to the Akabi corridor, one has to talk about the large underground tunnel. That is another ancient legend of Frostwind City. It is said that the ancestors of Frostwind City accidentally entered a certain cave in the Akabi corridor and knocked on the underground door. They entered a magnificent underground world, which is located in the cold Ridge Mountains, with ancient and magnificent cities. The underground city is distributed in a long and narrow shape. The other end of the city is far away from the mountains, and can enter the other end of the northern land.

It is worth mentioning that there are some kind of ugly cave-dwelling creatures in that underground city. They occupy this large underground tunnel and occasionally appear in the Akabi corridor through the passage connected to the ground. No one ever actually saw them.

"We call those things cavemen..." Papa Ian changed into a new pack of tobacco leaves, and said, "On the walls of the holy temple,

Our ancestors described it this way. These ugly and dirty things walk like people, they have distorted facial features and sparse hair, eat corpses and even everything alive

(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page) things. Even, they gnaw on themselves. We are thankful that these fearsome creatures are dwindling, but God knows how many of them there are. "

"They linger in the tunnels, clinging to the shadows, singing in the flesh. They guard the tunnels and reject all visitors..."

Ian spoke words like poetry, and finally said: "My lord, it is said that there are even more terrifying demons in the large underground tunnels. They are the masters of the cavemen. These things guard the dungeon. I hope we pass through Aka It’s better not to run into them when you’re in the corridor.”

After hearing this, Allen quickly exchanged glances with Lucy in the carriage. From Lucy's expression, it could be seen that Her Royal Highness was thinking the same thing as him. If what the ancestors of Frostwind City said is true, then the so-called large underground tunnel is likely to be a relic, similar to the King Snake's Land or the Blood King's Tomb. It's just that it hides deeper and has not been discovered so far.

As time went by, Allen found that the light above his head was getting dimmer. The mountain peaks on both sides were also gradually raised, and the sun began to be unable to reach the ground, and the road ahead was shrouded in dim light, as drowsy as the sunset. The temperature dropped significantly, and the atmosphere became more and more depressing. At this point the procession just moved forward in silence, no one spoke, only the sound of wheels rolling across the ground.

They have entered the Shadowlands.

There are many forks in the Shadowlands, and the environment has not changed significantly. In addition, the light in this area is dim, so it is easy to get lost. However, the guides of Frostwind City did not rely on the geographical environment to find their way in the Shadowlands, they relied on the direction of the water veins. From time to time Ian stopped to dig up the dirt, to smell or taste it. Residents of Frostwind City are not natural guides. Experienced guides like Ian will take in some students before retiring to pass on their experience and knowledge.

Ian's knowledge of identifying the trend of water veins was also taught by his teacher. Whether it is looking for water sources, or in a place with a complicated environment like the Land of Shadows, as long as you grasp the trend of the water veins, you will basically not get lost. Ian didn't go to the Shadowlands many times, but he could find the exit by following the water veins. For this point, the old man is quite confident.

It's just that in the evening, Ian stopped more and more times, and an anxious expression began to appear on his face.

"What's the matter, Father Ian?" Allen stopped the team and walked to the old man.

Ian was scraping away a piece of soil, and he lay down on the ground like a pilgrim saint, tasting the moisture of the soil. Then he stood up and said with a heavy tone: "I'm not sure, my lord. I seem to have lost my way, and it seems that the water veins have changed the original trend. Although I haven't been here for a long time, I still remember the general direction of the exit." .But now, the water vein I traced no longer flows to the place I know, it goes elsewhere."

Allen was taken aback, and asked, "Will the water pulse change the trend?"

"Yes, but this process is very slow, and it is impossible to do it without hundreds of years of effort. The last time I came to the Shadowlands was only ten years ago. In such a short period of time, the water veins should not change, unless ..."

At this time Edward came to the two of them and whispered to Allen: "It's weird, we found a mine ahead."

"Mine?" Ian almost didn't jump up.

(This chapter is not finished, please turn the page) Come: "Impossible, there is nothing worth mining here in the Shadowlands, except for stones!"

Edward shrugged, unwilling to explain further. Allen patted him on the shoulder: "Go, have a look."

Sure enough, they didn't go far. When the team turned a corner, they could see a mine appearing under their noses.

At this time, it was finally dark.

Coming out of the bend, you can see a mine submerged in dim light. Facing the curve is the open gate of the mine. One side of the gate is still fixed on the wooden peg, and the other side is scattered on the ground, covered by thick ash and gravel. An iron plate on the gate was constantly shaken by the wind, and the text on it was so smudged that it could not be seen clearly. On both sides are two-meter-high wooden walls. Some parts of the wooden walls have collapsed, which seems to be caused by external impact.

There is a tall wooden building behind the wall, which looks like a sentry tower or something. The roof of the wooden building collapsed on one side, and on it was a half-burned flag.

Walking through the gate, you can see a cistern. The pool was full of water, and a diversion channel stretched windingly up the hillside. Then Allen saw the manger and the stables behind it, a stretch of wooden houses, a half-collapsed warehouse, broken carts, simple ground rails, and so on.

The caravan followed him into the mine. Looking at the abandoned mine, Ian opened his mouth wide, as if he couldn't believe his eyes. The team stopped in front of the wooden houses. This row of wooden houses looked very simple. Some houses had collapsed, but most of them remained intact. The room is not comfortable, but enough for one night. Allen planned to let the caravan spend the night here tonight, and Fares began to arrange the manpower for the night.

Allen called Regis and others, and led a dozen soldiers to check other parts of the mine. This mine seems to have been abandoned not long ago, and from the traces of the buildings, it seems to have been attacked by something. Many buildings have traces of sharp objects on the outer walls, and there are traces of burning in many places, as well as scattered musket bullets. and many more. Of course, there were quite a few bloodstains, most of which had turned into dark spots, and some were even mixed with lime, so it was difficult to distinguish them unless one looked carefully.

As for those mines, the interior has already collapsed and was blocked by falling rocks. Some scattered tools can be seen among the rocks, but there is no corpse. It makes this mine look unusually "clean", but lifeless.

"What is being mined here..."

Alan and the others walked out of a wooden building. The wooden building seemed to be the place where the foreman of the mine lived, but no records about the mine could be found. I don't know whether it was taken away or destroyed. Back at the cabin, Ian said worriedly: "My lord, we shouldn't stay here. It makes me feel very uneasy. Maybe we can find another place for night camp."

"Father Ian, you can also see that everyone is very tired. And the night in the Shadowlands is so dark, I don't think it's a good idea to drive in the dark at this time." Allen shook his head and said: "Let us tonight Stay here for one night, I will send more people to prevent accidents, you can rest assured."

Hearing what Allen said, Ian no longer insisted. He just glanced at the mine and smiled wryly, "I can't sleep under the shadow demon's sight."

(end of this chapter)

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