Although it failed to kill, the short spear that pierced the neck and penetrated the chest still caused enough damage to the unknown beast.
After confirming the safety for a short period of time, the group spread out to allow for cooling and ventilation. Taking this opportunity, the Luoan girl also reminded the sage and informed Narumi himself about the possible infection. The samurai leader was worthy of being a man of traditional spirit. He nodded without hesitation and agreed to remove the bandage for inspection. So the sage came over holding a torch, and the Luoan girl took off the bandage for him whose blood had begun to solidify. The armor was useful after all. Although the huge tooth marks on the forearms were very scary, the damaged armor slowed down the impact. After all, the bite did not cause too much damage to Narumi's tendons.
Due to the sultry heat, the salty sweat dripping into the wound made Narumi moan repeatedly. When Mira untied part of the solidified bandage, the part closest to the skin that had been stuck to the wound had no choice but to do so. Can be forcibly torn apart. The Luoan girl apologized, and Narumi nodded, gritted her teeth and tensed her muscles. She "teared--" and pulled off the bandage, causing the samurai leader to "hiss--" and gasped while another He couldn't help but beat the mottled stone wall several times with one hand.
"There is no black one." It had been about ten minutes since he was bitten, but the sage raised the torch to see that although his arm was dripping with blood, the inside of the wound was relatively clean. But even if they won't be infected by the mutation, who knows if there are toxins on the fangs of this beast. It was an emergency situation before, but now that they have some breathing space, they still need to clean up the wounds of the warriors.
Henry took out the leather water bottle he carried with him. The Rigal-style water bottle was not useful in the extremely hot weather. The beeswax melted due to the temperature and the cowhide at the bottom had turned dark due to water seepage, so he used it first.
He fell on Narumi's forearm and cleaned up the blood-stained rags around the wound. Then the Luoan girl took out the medicine she had bought from the old pharmacist from the leather bag on her waist. The small wooden bottles contained high-purity distilled liquor - Kazuto's sake had a low alcohol content, so the type used to clean wounds was a higher purity type close to Roan, which Kazuto would not drink. .
The strong stimulation of the wound by the pouring liquor made the samurai leader groan repeatedly. Torataro behind him turned pale just looking at it. He clutched the weapon tightly and tried to give himself confidence with the sword, but when the doctor lady looked at him, Worried that the other party might want to fight on his own, he immediately let go of the hand holding the knife.
After cleaning the wound, blood began to overflow again due to the secondary trauma when untying the bandage. At this time, Mira took out the Japanese medicine called "Golden Sore Powder" bought from Ziyun - it was a mixture. The hemostatic powder made of various medicinal materials is similar to the hemostatic drug called dragon blood lipid by the Rigar people. The golden sore powder evenly sprinkled on the wound quickly absorbs blood and solidifies, forming a protective film on the skin surface. After discarding the bandage that was stained with blood and dirt, and replacing it with a new one for Narumi, the Luoan girl handed him the almost universal Kazuto mint ointment, and applied the cool ointment on both sides of the samurai leader's temples. After applying the plaster, even the pain was relieved a lot.
"My teeth are numb." The golden sore powder contains analgesic ingredients. After a few minutes, Narumi finally calmed down even though he was sweating profusely. He said this mockingly to himself, but nodded to the group: "It's time to move on."
The injury was to his left arm, and his dominant right hand could still fight with weapons. However, since the Kazuto samurai was good at wielding two-handed swords, he took on the role of holding a torch for lighting.
Going further, the passage began to spiral downwards, and with the constant hints from the randomly abandoned pickaxes and wooden wheelbarrows in the corner, the group more or less guessed what this place was like in the past. exist.
The wild beasts no longer bothered them. The winding path led to the narrow passage, and when they reached the end, they found an extremely broad platform in front of them.
The sound of "Sha La La -" came from the right, which was the previous waterfall, and Henry and Galeva raised the torches. This platform moved forward and illuminated countless passages two or three meters high.
Only mines would need to be dug this high.
This is obviously a large-scale project that will take several generations. At a glance, it is obvious that the scale is not affordable for the living area above, which can only provide a stove for dozens of people.
Maybe that living area was just for them to open a small stove. In the past, there was a serious village outside, because it would require a labor force of several hundred people to expand here.
Walkways extending in all directions connect every place, and from the empty echo of the falling waterfall, it sounds like the place is much bigger than imagined. There are huge hourglass-shaped stone pillars that are full of chiseling marks and have been reserved as supports. The scaffolding on them has rotted, but the metal wall-mounted torch frame is still intact despite being rusty.
Henry took out some spare candles, lit them directly and put them in using his height advantage.
The lighting range was expanded in three ways, allowing the group to have more control over the surrounding environment. At the same time, they were finally able to temporarily extinguish some of the torches and lanterns to save burning time.
The difference in level between those who have received serious military training and those who have become monks is also quickly revealed. While Galeva and Torataro were still in a daze, and Miss Doctor was in a state of shock, professional combat professionals including the sage, the Luoan girl and the Qingtian family samurai quickly ensured the surrounding lighting, and then Yajiro and the old Qiao and others carried weapons and explored the relatively easy-to-explore area, vigilantly clearing a safe zone.
When faced with fear and threats, laypeople like to close themselves off and turn a blind eye to the horrors. But this kind of self-isolation often leads to death.
It has been thousands of years since this saying was born, but time has not diluted its correctness.
Henry's lit candles were placed on the stone pillars closer to each other in a fan shape, and the Aota family warriors who spread out also inspected and searched in a fan shape. There is a distance of about 7 meters from the candle to the exit behind them. Although the spread formation is relatively loose, which is a major disadvantage for engaging the enemy, maintaining a certain buffer distance from the crucial retreat route can allow Ayawa Non-combatants like Torataro were evacuated beforehand.
If they were all huddled together, they would just panic.
It's just that they don't have enough manpower. Under ideal circumstances, it would be safer to leave some people in such a place to ensure an escape route.
The strange beast's combat effectiveness is not low. It is difficult to kill and is very strong. It requires wearing heavy armor and holding a long knife and other heavy weapons to deal with it. But now that Henry's big sword was in the open area, the group of people who were familiar with the sage's abilities did not have much fear of the creature appearing again.
Miss Doctor is still thinking about trying to summarize what she has seen and heard along the way. Most people did not understand her previous explanation in the passage as if she was talking to herself. On the one hand, the level of knowledge is limited, and on the other hand, those who heard it at the time, like Torataro, were actually in a state of extreme mental stress. Although he reacted to part of it immediately, it was actually just a simple black and white thinking. The conclusion is completely different from what Aya wants to say.
The little doctor is probably the first real adventurer Henry and Mira have seen since arriving in Crescent Continent. Although she is not good at fighting, she is obsessed with new knowledge and solving mysteries. Fanaticism, even after clearly seeing the danger, still trying to think and solve the puzzle with bright eyes, is a real adventurer spirit.
And Aya's knowledge is not just as simple as listening and playing to enrich her knowledge.
Ligers like to bite the throat, while wolves and dogs are good at attacking the lower ground. The structure of the forelimbs of dogs is different from that of cats, making it difficult to slap, so they are better at biting with their muzzles. Different beasts actually have completely different attack methods - when facing a big cat, you need to be careful about the attack of standing up and trying to grab you with its claws, knocking you down and biting towards the throat. Therefore, you should focus on the middle and upper sections. posture; when facing a wolfdog that likes to attack the crotch and thighs, and is good at using its muzzle to bite the ends of limbs such as hands and feet to drag you down, you should consider the protection of the lower part.
What kind of beast it is determines the defensive approach that a group of people should take, which can effectively prevent them from being injured or killed due to incorrect response methods due to their unknown knowledge of the enemy.
It's just that after this encounter, the strange beast is different from any known species in every aspect - and that's not all.
Lao Qiao and others who were on the alert and exploring the periphery discovered something, which was consistent with the impression given by the beast's thick and blunt claws that they noticed during the previous fight - that was something that could be seen everywhere on the stone floor and walls, even if they were not careful. Watch for imperceptible scratches.
"Can this thing run through a wall?" The beast's claws were obviously blunted and broken by such use. This guess is consistent with the roar of another beast suddenly appearing behind the empty space along the way. Guess - it probably climbed up the cliff next to the waterfall to outflank it.
"So there is cooperation and they live in groups, but is this a natural creature or just a strange cooperation like those centipedes and earth spiders before-" They don't know more things, but they are three meters high and spread all over the place. In the mine that supports the stone pillars, you have to be on guard against a target that can climb up and down, which makes it more difficult.
A few minutes of inspection was enough for the group to figure out the general terrain here - the platform at the bottom of the narrow spiral passage can be seen as an open Crescent Continent fan, and the bottom of the platform spread out in a fan shape is the narrow The passage is like the tassel of a fan.
On the left side of the fan is the waterfall, and roughly equally divided on the upper edge are three roads that are connected to each other and go deep into it.
Although there are rock pillars blocking the view, the three roads generally have a clear view. There were some holes on the far left side of the rock wall. After noticing this, the group walked over to see if there were any usable supplies. The entrance is only about one and a half meters high, and even Mira and Yajiro have to lower their heads, but the height inside is nearly two meters. There are dusty and rotten beds inside, as well as some personal belongings such as clothes and food bowls piled up. It is obviously a temporary resting place for the miners.
In addition to rest rooms, there are several rooms that are used as utility rooms, and some minerals are also stored in them. And after seeing what the minerals inside are, many people can no longer take their eyes away.
In three hundred years, ironware will turn rusty brown, and copperware will turn green. Those that can still shine like new under the light of torches after three centuries are basically precious metals that are regarded as the most precious treasures in the human world.
"It's a gold mine. No wonder the Earth Spider clan has been contending with the imperial court for so long in legend. Having such financial resources is obviously -" Ling did not continue. There were four rooms full of gold mines. Although there was a lot of it, it still needed to be purified. , but it is already a huge wealth.
With such financial resources to build relationships and build an army, and being good at digging holes to hide, the legend that this nation will compete with mainstream Kazuto society for a long time has its basis in reality.
But that's not all. When everyone else was focusing on the gold mine, Henry picked up some kind of dark gray mineral mixed in the gold mine, while the Luoan girl curiously looked at the suspected earth spider. Clothes left behind by the tribe.
"It's such a small piece." She picked up a coat on the ground that had become as stiff as a thin board under the influence of time. Although the style was different from today's, it could be roughly seen that it was a men's coat.
But the shoulder width of this coat is up to standard, but the length is very wrong.
"This is -" At the same time, Ling also moved forward to observe the ore in Henry's hand.
"It's like iron but not iron." She stood up on tiptoes and reached out to touch the ore in the sage's hand - "It's cold iron." Ling's eyes widened. Even though the weather was hot and Henry held it in his hand for a long time, the ore was Still cold.
"Goutez (Han Tie)?" The unknown name made the white-haired girl come over, and Henry also noticed the coat she took over.
"This color." Mira felt a little familiar.
"Yeah." The sage nodded and threw the ore back.
"It's mithril."
"Because it is extremely insensitive to outside temperature, it remains cold even if it is burned with an open fire for a long time, so Kazuto calls it cold iron."
"This is why." He looked at the clothes held by the Luoan girl: "The forging temperature required is extremely high, and it requires a long period of heating. It is an extremely difficult material for human craftsmen to handle."
"One who can maturely master the art of mithril forging."
"Only dwarves."
"They are good at digging tunnels, so the so-called earth spiders are actually the dwarves who lived in Crescent Continent in the past." The dusty historical truth seems to have been revealed. Although several major civilizations other than humans have also been hidden in Rigar, But in fact their presence can still be seen in some places like the Padrosi Empire.
But there are only humans in New Moon Continent.
Not only were there no traces of the other major civilizations, but even the records about them were erased by the court. There are only a few rumors left that have faded over time.
Judging from the clothing and the food found earlier, the dwarves here are obviously highly assimilated with the local people, wearing similar clothing and eating similar food to them.
The group of people currently don't know what happened, and they don't have much time to think about it. They came with a mission and came in to inspect these rooms. In fact, they were looking for items that could be used.
"This." The stupid green Kaleva who was following behind saw something leaning against the corner through the corner of the torch. He reached out and patted the dust before picking it up.
"Oh?" The sage came over, clasped it with his knuckles, and squeezed it with his hands.
"Made of oak." The stone room does not have a door, but it has a door frame. The door next to it is about 1.6 meters long and half a meter wide. It is also equipped with metal edges and reinforcement bars. It looks like Very strong.
"Can it be used as a shield?" Leng Touqing, who has no strength but no combat experience, is quite self-aware. He knows his own strengths and weaknesses. Holding a large shield may be more effective than holding a sharp weapon.
"Not bad." Henry confirmed Galeva's idea, but it was obvious that this door, which had just been made and had not had time to be installed, was very different from the doors in other surrounding rooms.
Perhaps a stronger door was specially made for the room in the precious metal mine, or maybe the former residents here noticed something was wrong and made a stronger door out of oak and metal out of uneasiness.
No matter what, before it had time to be installed, the place was already facing a disaster.
Oak, which is not afraid of insect erosion and moisture, is a material that is held on the altar in Rigal. In many places, oak is even regarded as a sacred object.
Only materials like this, coupled with the relatively stable environment inside the cave that lacks change, can it remain strong after so many years.
All in all, after gaining some subtle knowledge and temporarily getting a shield for Galeva, Lao Qiao and others who were working separately also found an oak-carved tunnel map in a room and found that the terrain here was actually not as expected. After getting complicated, the group seizes the time and moves on.
The candlelight left near the entrance swayed slowly, and then suddenly went out with a "whoosh" sound.
It was as if something extremely fast was causing a strong air current.
