A large number of stone blocks have been piled up on the second level of the tower. The carving of the tower wall has also entered a new phase.

Under the command of Zif, Umenelli, along with several workers from the Southern Continent, erected a blank slate. Later, they erected scaffolding next to the stone slab in preparation for Zif's next carving.

"Oumenelli, now that Vimos has gone to the other side of the tower to check, he won't be back for a while, so you can rest under the scaffolding first." Ziff said to Ebonelli as he walked up to the scaffolding.

"Yes." Ugunai replied to Zif in Huron, and he relayed Zif's words in Southern Continent to several other dark-skinned workers.

Tired workers hide under scaffolding and rest secretly. A young-looking worker said to Ebonnelli, "Hey, when can we be like that former cellmate of yours." ”

"Him?" Ebony asked, pointing to Zifu above.

"No, it's not him. It's the other one, the one who regulates us. ”

"Oh, you're talking about Director Vimes." Ebonelli smiled and shook his head, "We're not that lucky. That's impossible. ”

"But you were all in the same stone prison before. You used to be the same. ”

"That was before." "At that time, we were indeed in the same stone prison in the quarry. At that time, we couldn't get enough for every meal. ”

"I used to be too, but now I have enough to eat at every meal." Another worker said.

"It's true that we're full, but now we seem to be just having enough to eat, and I'm fed up with naan." Another worker spoke.

"I felt like I couldn't lift my arms. Every day is tiring. The workers grumbled.

"Have you ever thought about joining that program?"

"Which one?" Ebonelli looked at the somewhat unfamiliar Nanlu worker and asked him.

"That demonstration plan in Ngawat."

"Ngawat?" "Does he have plans for a demonstration?" ”

"Yes."

"Ngawat, he's the recognized leader of our Southlanders." One of the workers interjected, "Many of the Southlanders are now at his command, and I have heard that he is now an agent of the Athollians who govern our Southland brothers. ”

"Well, he's kind of like the guy named Gutrive from their Hurons." Oumunelli said.

"Hey! He's no better than that guy. One worker said, "Look at the Hurons, they are much better off than we are." ”

"What is Ngawaat's plan for demonstrations?" Oumenelli asked the co-worker.

"I don't know, I've just heard from a Nanlu brother."

"I think Ngawat's plan must be to make our lives better. He is always able to win something for us by various means. ”

"It would be great if it could be like that."

"Not necessarily." One worker said, "I don't think he's reliable, he seems to be just helping the Azorians run us brothers in the southern continent." ”

"Hey! Here comes Vimos. Zif suddenly shouted at Ebonelli from the scaffolding.

Ebonelli jerked up from under the scaffolding, and he saw that Vimos was walking towards it with a few guards. By the time Ebonelli reflexively called out to his co-workers, Wiemus had already approached quickly.

"What are you doing, Ebonelli?" Vemos asked him in Huron with an angry face.

"I.." Ebonelli was at a loss for words.

"Take him, and him." Pointing to two Nanlu workers who had scrambled up from under the scaffolding, Vimos said to the guards in Asorian, "Arrest them and transfer them to work in the quarry." ”

"No, no." Seeing that the soldiers had seized the two co-workers, Ebonelli hurriedly spoke in Huron. But then Ebonelli saw the serious expression of Vimos, and he timidly did not continue.

"Vimos, don't do this." "I gave them a break." ”

"Zif, you know, we're on a very tight schedule right now." Vimos looked up at Ziff on the scaffolding and said, "You're working on it and they're lazy down there. ”

"I gave them a rest." Ziff repeated.

"Take them away." Vimos said in Asor to one of the Yasol soldiers beside him.

Ziff shook his head, "They're really tired. ”

"The whole site is tired, you can't just stop the whole site and let everyone rest, right?" Vimos said to Zif, "Brother Zif, do you know what the Giant Master and Gutrive are doing? ”

Ziff slowly climbed down the scaffolding, and when he came to Vimos, he asked him, "They?" What are they doing? ”

"They were carving the façade reliefs themselves." "It's over there. It's not far from here. ”

"Huh?" Zifu was surprised, "I really can't imagine that even a noble person like him would do it himself." ”

"It's nothing. Did you know that at noon today, in order to catch up with the carving progress, they didn't even go to the dining tent to eat? "And you're letting the workers rest." ”

"After all. After all, he is a giant. "You know, the workers don't eat well, and naturally they don't have much strength. ”

"The Giant Master and Gutrive ate nothing more than naan and dates on the construction site. All they had was one more fruit. ”

"What you say is true? This.. Unbelievable. ”

"It's all true." "Brother Zif, to be honest, you have to speed things up. ”

Ziff nodded.

On this day, until it was completely dark and there was no way to continue his work, Zifu returned to the mason camp from the tower area in exhaustion. He sat down on the rocks in the camp and ate a few foods, then saw Zekinia running briskly past the camp.

"Hey, little one, where are you going?" Ziff shouted at him.

"Come on, old fellow." Zekinia beckoned to Zif, "The soldiers have spotted the enemy. ”

"Enemies?" Curious, Ziff followed Zekinia's pace, and he came with him to the gate of the camp.

"Look, that's the soldiers' torches." Zekinia pointed to the distance outside the camp and said, "They're chasing the enemy. ”

Zekinia wanted to go out of the camp gate to see, but was stopped by the Yasol guards in front of the camp gate.

"Hey, since the accident, the whole camp has been strictly controlled." Zekinha complained.

"What does the enemy look like? How many? Ziff asked Zekinia.

"Hey, guard, tell me how many the enemy there are? What do they look like? Zekinia asked the soldier of Atholl in front of the camp.

"They said there was only one man, a man in a black cloak." After listening to the soldier's description, Zekinia said to Zif, "I think that man must be a wizard who knows magic. ”

"But there's no magic in this world, Zekinia." "What you hear is a story, not a reality. ”

"Yes, there's magic!" Zekinia said to Zif, "This enemy must be magical, or you see so many soldiers trying to arrest him, but they haven't caught him yet." He may be running away on a flying magic carpet. ”

"All right, little one." Ziff looked at the large number of torches moving in the distance and said, "Like you said, the enemy must be fleeing on the flying magic carpet. Otherwise, so many soldiers would not have been able to catch a single person. ”

"Well, I said, that enemy must be a wizard. Maybe he'll cast a spell as well. Zekinha said.

Ziff watched from the gate of the camp with Zekinia as they watched the soldiers with torches running away and scattering in all directions. It was a long time before a group of soldiers with torches turned back from a distance towards the stonemason camp.

The group dismounted outside the mason camp.

"Did you catch the enemy?" Zekinia saw that the returning group of soldiers was none other than the Cavalry Guards of the stonemason camp, and he excitedly ran forward and asked one of the soldiers he was familiar with.

The soldier shook his head, but he flashed at Zekinia what he was holding in his hand, a purple wooden box.

"That's the only one I picked up." The soldier said to Zekinia, "I'm going to give it to your father now." ”

As the soldier walked in front of Ziff with the wooden box, Zif saw through a ray of fire that the symbol of the ruler and compass was engraved on the outside of the wooden box. The symbol bears a resemblance to the gold badge worn by Gutrive in his burqa.

"Maybe it's not an enemy, Zekinia, I guess it was some kind of misunderstanding." Ziff whispered to Zekinia.

"It's an enemy, an evil wizard who used magic to escape, only to drop one of his magic chests." Zekinia said, "I'm going to Daddy, I'm going to see what's in the wizard's box." What's inside is sure to be interesting. ”

"Can I come with you?" Ziv asked Zekinia.

"Of course, old fellow, I'll go and tell Daddy for you. I know he loves to see you, too. Zekinha said.

By the time Ziv walked into Gutriv's barracks, the soldiers had already reported to Gutrive about the discovery of the enemy. Gutrive looked up at Ziff and said to him, "I didn't think Zekinia was already working for you. ”

Ziff looked at Zekinia standing on the side of the room, smiled and said, "He just made an older friend." ”

"Come here, come and see this wooden box." Gutrive waved at Zif, then pointed to the purple wooden box on the table and said, "The soldiers noticed that the man carrying this wooden box was moving around our camp, and they went to hunt him down, but he ran away. ”

"I just saw the soldiers go out and hunt." Ziff said.

Gutrive nodded, then asked, "Zif, have you ever seen a wooden box like this?" ”

Ziff looked at the wooden box and shook his head.

"I need to open it." "Look what you can do for me." ”

Ziff walked over to the table, and he took a closer look at the wooden box. He found that there were no obvious gaps or significant openings and openings in the entire wooden box, and aside from some patterns and symbols carved on the wooden box, it was smooth and almost like a large solid wooden block.

"Can I hold it?" Ziff asked Gutrief.

Gutrive raised his hand and signaled yes.

Ziff lifted the wooden box with both hands, and he felt the weight of the wooden box, which was heavy and seemed to contain a lot of things.

"This wooden box is very delicately made." Ziff placed the wooden box on the table, he looked at the dark lines and talismans on the wooden box and asked, "Gutrif." Honestly, isn't this something that you master craftsmen will have? ”

"It's not." Gutrive said with a serious face, "You think so when you see the sign of the ruler and the compass, right?" But no one in our Masters Guild has ever used this kind of wooden box. I haven't seen anyone in the Guild make anything like this. ”

Zifu was stunned for a moment, and he looked down at the wooden box carefully.

Gutrive brought the two oil lamps close to the wooden box, and then said, "Look closely at the dark pattern carved on this wooden box, I have never seen such a pattern. This texture, like, like... Is it from the East? ”

Ziff inhaled in confusion, and he looked at the wooden box from another angle by the light of the oil lamp. In the end, his gaze stopped on a shallow and shallow dark carved dark pattern on the wooden box, which was a pair of dragons and phoenixes, and the dragon and phoenix were auspicious. After distinguishing the dark patterns of the dragon and phoenix for a while, he stretched out his hand and pointed to the dark patterns of the dragon and phoenix and said, "Lord Gutrif, you are very right. It seems that only the people of the Far East can fuse the two absolutely hostile totems of the eagle and the snake together at the same time, and worship them at the same time. ”

"It seems that this person who is moving around our camp is most likely from Ilo in the east." Gutriv thought for a moment, then continued, "Iloh must be extremely far away from the place where he listens, and it is really not easy for this spy to come here through mountains and rivers. What's more, this person's wooden box also has a logo similar to that of our Master Craftsman Association, which is too strange. This matter needs to be taken seriously. ”

"This... It's really weird. Zif said, "An Ilo..., Lord Gutrif, don't you really know why the emblem of your Master and Craftsman is on this Ilo wooden box?" ”

"I don't know." "Maybe it's just a coincidence, after all, the compass and the ruler are common tools used by craftsmen." ”

Ziff thought that Gutrive might be hiding something, but he nodded to him earnestly.

"Zif, how much do you know about the Ilo?" Gutrive asked.

"To tell you the truth, Lord Gutrief, if it weren't for the relief of the tower wall that you asked me to carve depicting the image and life of the Orientals, I wouldn't have known what the Ilo people looked like even before that." Ziff said, "Especially the totems of the fire eagle and the water serpent, I really can't understand it. ”

"Including the craftsmen of the Master Craftsman Association, many people here don't know enough about the distant Orientals, and the part of the tower wall relief carved by the Orientals is actually the most difficult, but thanks to you. To tell the truth, your restoration of the engraving pattern is deeply appreciated by the master. Gutrive said.

Ziff pursed his lips and shook his head.

"Alright, let's try to open this wooden box." Gutrive said.

Zifu nodded, then looked at the wooden box and said, "I think the switch of this box should be designed on the carved pattern." Then, he reached out and gently twisted the somewhat striking compass carving.

The compass tilted at an angle under Zif's twist, but other than that, the wooden box did not change much.

After turning the compass back into place, Zif leaned over and pressed his ear to the wooden box, and as he twisted the compass relief again, he heard small grinding and colliding sounds coming from inside the wooden box.

"It's supposed to be a wooden mechanism, it sounds complicated. The structure may be a mandrel mechanism, or it may be a linkage mechanism. "If we don't know how it works, and continue to try it, it's likely that this mechanism will be destroyed." ”

"Will there be any consequences for sabotaging the mechanism?" Gutrive asked Zif.

"The consequences?" Ziff thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't seem like there will be any consequences. ”

"This is the enemy's thing after all, Zif, if you analyze it carefully, is it possible that this wooden box is linked to a self-destructing device?"

"A self-destructing device?"

"Yes, that would prevent the item from revealing important information if it falls into the hands of an adversary." Gutrive said.

When Zif heard Gutrive say this, he suddenly realized that after he had studied the wooden box again, he slowly spoke, "Lord Gutriv, listening to you say this, I think this wooden box is indeed very likely to have the device you mentioned. It's a very complicated wooden box, and I think it should be a very important thing. ”

"Whatever it is, find a way to open it." Gutrive said.

After a careful attempt, Ziff said, "It's hard to open it up without destroying it." ”

"If you think it's hard to open without damaging it, I'll find someone to saw." Gutrive said.

"No, no." Ziff thought for a moment and said, "If you have to use a sabotage method to hit this wooden box, I don't think you can use a saw, and then there is a good chance that it will touch the mechanism inside." I think we should use a planer to planer it in the sun, and after the planer has slowly thinned one side of the box, we can look at the inside of the box through the sunlight. If there is putrefusal or incendiary material in it, we will find a way to open a hole to drain it first. ”

Gutrive thought for a moment and nodded approvingly, and he said to Zif, "Seriously, Ziff, you are much better than other craftsmen, you are a skilled craftsman. I regret that you said you didn't want to join our Athore Masters' Guild. ”

"It's over, Lord Gutrief." "I'm just an ordinary stonemason. If I'm better than others, it's probably because I'm older and spend more time on the construction site than others. ”

"If you are interested in the future, I will once again put you on the inspection list of the alternate craftsmen of our master craftsman association." Gutrive said.

"Thank you for your kindness, Lord Gutrief." As Zif spoke, he saw Zekinia standing nearby, and he turned to Gutrive and said, "Look, Zekinia is still waiting for us to open this wooden box." ”

Zekinia smiled and nodded at them after hearing Zif's words.

"Zekinia, you shouldn't be here." Gutrive said, "If the wooden box was deliberately left behind by the enemy, I think there might be danger in it, and you should stand farther away." ”

"Lord Gutrief, I don't think you need to worry too much, this wooden box shouldn't be too dangerous." "Judging by the superficial use of the wooden box, it should have been used by its owner for quite some time. It's a carry-on item. ”

"How do you see that?" Gutrive looked at the wooden box and said, "Except for a few bumps, I really don't see any signs of long-term use. ”

"My lord, you may not have seen this kind of wood with a special texture, it is a wood that will become more and more shiny as new with continuous use." "The brighter and smoother the place, the more it is touched, the longer it is." ”

"What is the reason why there is such wood?" Gutrive asked, "How do you know?" ”

"During the construction of the Huron Oracle Lighthouse, we used a small amount of wood from Ilo." "The timber was sold by the sea caravans of Jana, and it was extremely expensive, but it was worth the money. They have this peculiar property. ”

Zekinia suddenly interjected and said, "Dad, there will be no danger in the wooden box, it must be filled with a lot of interesting things." I want to see it. ”

"Tomorrow you'll be in charge of opening this wooden box." Gutriv said to Zif, "There are many suspicions in this matter, and I need to report this matter to the Giant Master as soon as possible." Open it as you wish, and remember, I don't want to go to him with a box where important information has been lost. ”

"Yes, my lord."