Chapter 306 Collapse
With Brother Wadin there, it was not difficult to enter the underground cemetery.
However, they did not expect that when they arrived in the evening, the deserted cemetery would become lively. Many people in church clothes walked around anxiously, some familiar, some unfamiliar, and more outsiders who seemed to have nothing to do with it at first glance.
They brought various tools, and after receiving symbolic blessings and a considerable advance payment, they entered the narrow tomb passage that could only accommodate one person with uneasiness, as if the ground below had suddenly become a construction site about to start.
The remaining church staff explained the general situation to Brother Wadin.
After Father Green was transferred, the investigation of the sewer was stopped, and no further instructions were given.
The inquisition staff were still stationed here, and they didn't know what they were doing. They simply guarded the entrance and waited for the final handling method to be agreed upon.
The result was that they did not wait for the order to close the entrance, but waited for an accident.
The sudden vibration also affected this place. Because the buildings within the field of vision were basically intact, the personnel left on the ground could remain calm at first, but when they found that the people below did not come up to inquire about the situation, they realized that something was wrong and quickly sent people to check.
The damage to the passage tombs built completely in the rock layer was much more obvious than that on the ground, and the more serious it was, the more serious it was.
Finally, near the temporary camp, as expected, they found the reason why no one came up.
Perhaps because it was abandoned halfway through construction and happened to borrow the natural rock crack space, the structure of the tomb passage near the temporary camp was not as perfect as the one above, and a small section collapsed.
The situation was not so serious at first, and they could still see the light on the opposite side through the tomb passage that was not completely blocked, and shout to each other to communicate.
The few people who were blocked were safe because they reacted in time and only suffered minor injuries.
The remaining supplies in the underground camp were more than enough to last for a few days, and there was air circulation, so there was plenty of time for rescue.
The only unpleasant thing was that the gap connecting the waterway was enlarged due to the vibration, and water flowed in from the enlarged gap, making the environment very uncomfortable. They strongly demanded that the channel be cleared as quickly as possible.
But the accident happened again.
No one could have imagined that a second earthquake would occur in half a day, and the intensity was no less than the first one.
The channel was more seriously damaged just after the rescue arrived and before they had time to start. Although the scope of the collapse did not seem to increase, the gap in the middle was blocked.
Now the communication channel with the other side is completely cut off. There is no way to know what the situation is on the other side, whether there are casualties, and how long it can last.
Those who seem to have nothing to do are temporary quarry workers who are eager to dig the channel in the shortest time. No one can guarantee that there will not be a third or even more earthquakes next.
At present, the monks who are confused are trying to drive those who are still hesitant into the entrance of the tomb half-coaxing and half-deceiving, and they don’t care about keeping secrets.
Brother Wadin came at the right time, and they needed a qualified and experienced person to preside over the work and appease the crowd.
"It would be great if Green was here." Wadin sighed from the bottom of his heart. If the priest could come back with him, this mess would never fall on him.
He spent a long time to figure out who was here now. In addition to a small number of people who stayed behind, there were clergy from nearby chapels who were brought in as reinforcements. Some of the workers who were brought in were believers they mobilized, and some were paid with promises of money and property.
After counting, it was found that there were too many people. The limited space below was not enough to move around and affected the activities.
Wadin dismissed those who still had concerns, sent the monk who explained the situation to him back to the Tribunal to report the news, and took Kraft to the collapsed area.
The situation of the tomb passage did look worse than above. The part close to the ground was not obvious. If you continued to go down, you would see some fine cracks that you had not noticed before. They were highlighted by the power transmitted in the rock layer. Walking on the rough wall of the tomb passage was like the deep wrinkles on the face of a mummy.
The remains embedded in the wall also fell out and scattered all over the ground. At first, Wadin tried to avoid them, but soon there were more and more bones covering the road, so he had no place to step. He could only pray softly and walk over them.
Like snow formed by time and death, every step forward, the structure that once constituted the human body sank layer by layer under his feet, or more like being slowly dragged down.
The cracks in the rock wall became more serious as he went deeper, and it was not unexpected that it would collapse.
The continuous clanging sound came from the front, leading them to the accident site.
More than a dozen workers were dealing with the rubble in front of them, and some even built some temporary support structures with wood to prevent the unstable rock top from collapsing during work.
The people hired by the church were all skilled workers, and it was not difficult to deal with these rubble. The large stones were knocked open, and the small rubble was framed and moved to the nearby vacant tomb.
In the somewhat chilly temperature, sweat still soaked the clothes on their backs. If there were no clergymen sitting here and repeatedly emphasizing that they would be paid later, they would probably immediately regret taking this job.
The progress of the work was faster than expected, and the echo of stones falling and rolling on the ground could be faintly heard from the other side.
This might be good news, indicating that the distance between the two sides is not far, and it may even be only a few steps away, so it won’t take too long.
In order to open the road faster, they did not adopt the strategy of clearing all the stones, but tried to clear the rubble on the top first, trying to make a small hole for people to crawl over the stone pile.
More and more stones were cleared out, and standing next to them, one could even feel the air flow on both sides.
The extremely fine air flow should not be so easy to detect, but it brought a strange smell mixed with water vapor and some other smells.
That kind of water vapor, different from the stale locals are familiar with every rainy day, is the water vapor that you will smell in the night wind when you stand on the bank of the Temu River at night, representing the dark and boundless waters.
It is so thick that it precipitates from the air, causing the firelight through the cracks in the stones to draw a slender beam of light on the dark opposite side, shining on the slightly reflective wall.
"Is anyone there?" Wadin shouted to the opposite side.
No one responded. He lay on the pile of stones, poked the stone in front of him with his scabbard, and looked inside. He found that the reflections on the wall were not evenly absorbed water vapor, but thick and sticky things that were slowly flowing down.
The texture was easily associated with some soft-bodied creatures leaving disgusting tracks when they passed by. But he couldn't think of any slugs or river snails that could grow to such a degree.
Slightly adjusting the angle, the light beam illuminated the dirty puddles on the ground farther away. The deformed crates were filled with unused dry food and fuel. Someone had moved them here, but they were crushed by something.
The surface of the bent slats also had that thick liquid, which had begun to penetrate the wood, dyeing it into a corroded and moldy texture.
The residual grease floated on the water, and the twisted and mixed colored oil film exuded a strange smell of burning.
An almost broken sword lay beside the puddle. Its owner might have used it to fight something, but all that was left was a pool of oxidized and blackened scarlet, like spoiled juice squeezed from berries, licked and smeared by something.