Chapter 10: Hidden Freedom
Teucer slowly walked to the edge of the cavern's water curtain, he leaned down and poked his head out of the water curtain, the scene in front of him made him feel dizzy: "This cliff cave is at least 90 feet above the river below. Teucer muttered, "I can't jump straight down the cave, the curtain of water outside this cave is a barrier, and the powerful currents will easily restrict my movement and sweep me under the turbulent undercurrent." Teucer's ears were filled with the roar of a waterfall crashing against the rocks. He lay on the edge of the cave and stared blankly at the bottom of the cave, only to see that the water surface was full of swirling whirlpools and the scene of splashing several meters high, and at the same time, the river surface was covered with patches of pale and ethereal mist.
Teucer retracted his head, he gave up on the idea of leaving the cave in the most direct way, which seemed to him to be no different from killing himself. He turned to looking for another way out of the hole. "Man, how did you get here, unless you can have wings on your shoulders. Fly here. His gaze finally fell on the white bones, "Since you can enter this cave safely, then there must be a suitable way for us to leave." β
Teucer sat on the edge of the collapsed stone bed, his head cupped in thought.
"I don't think this cave must be the territory of the goblin, otherwise this person who turned into white bones would not have that delicate ring on his finger bones!" Teucer muttered to himself, "I reckon this man must have been here alone to hide from someone in search of treasure. However, he died here unexpectedly, which means that the people he was hiding from didn't find him at all, otherwise I wouldn't have seen the mysterious treasure map. So this must be a secret location, and the exit is hidden by him. β
"As I chose, your analysis is correct." The mysterious voice in Tocque's head seemed to follow him.
"Damn. I think I've been burned out. Teucer touched his forehead. You damn thing! You have the ability to hide in the shadows and watch my every move, I'm alone now, come out, I want to see what kind of guy you are. β
"Well, I'm already part of your consciousness." The mysterious voice was so low, "Your brain is really active. Ostracizing me will do you no good, it will only hurt you in vain. β
"Say whatever you want to say, or get out of my head! Your voice disgusts me! Teucer's face flushed, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead, and even the tips of his hair were sweaty.
"Is this what you ask of your master? Well, I just wanted to compliment and compliment your analysis. Teucer's brain finally quieted down, and he gasped for air.
"It's as if that mysterious guy knows everything. In other words, my analysis is correct, and the road to the outside here is indeed hidden by this skeleton.
Teucer kept observing everything about the cave, the bumpy roof, the seemingly solid walls, and the damp ground, but he didn't see any sign of a secret passage here.
"I may not be able to see anything with my eyes, maybe I can touch it with my hands to find it!" Teucer quickly changed his mind, and he jumped up from the edge of the collapsed stone bed, groping his way around the walls of the cave inch by inch. Teucer now seems to have become a professional adventurer, he understands how to survive in the wild, and he has learned how to think in desperate situations, creating or discovering a path when there seems to be no way. The sword gave him inspiration, and survival gave him experience. Teucer had apparently done a great job in the 'survival' course now, far throwing out the fat gentlemen with big bellies who claimed to be seasoned "adventure experts" at least as far as the capital of the kings of Parma had reached the town of Gudebay.
Teucer fumbled around, and sometimes he leaned over and lay on the wet ground, knocking here and looking. He noticed that the cliff wall about 2 feet in front of the left side of the wooden bed was completely different from the hardness of the other cave walls, and that the place was covered with gray-white mold filament like cotton wool, which was in stark contrast to the cliff wall made of hard rocks around it. At first, Teucer thought it was a common mildew in the soil caused by perennial dampness, but now Teucer knew that it might be covered with something that closely resembled the color of the cliff walls, but this hidden place was eventually sold to Teucer by the mold that survived in the damp environment.
"It's a stealth material, I didn't expect this guy to have these things with him. No wonder I couldn't lock him down. The mysterious voice crept through Toker's mind, but it quickly faded away.
He didn't have time to pay attention to the sound in his head, he just kicked hard at the echo of the empty cliff cave wall, and a small black rumbling hole appeared behind the cave wall, and Teucer did not hesitate to get into it, for Teucer, who had long been accustomed to the dark, there was only one difference between the cliff cave and this extra small hole - with light and without light. It took Teucer about a few seconds to get used to the small black cavern again, and he was able to see all the details hidden in this place that had not seen light for many years. Darkness is no longer a frightening unknown for Teucer, and there are no ugly goblins in this cave, and even if there were, Teucer would use the sword in his hand to end their ugly life without hesitation.
The newly discovered cave was small, the size of Toc's home in the town of Gudebai, and it looked like a transit point to the outside world, but there was no entrance to the cave to get out from the inside. The ground is covered with mouse droppings, and two fat hairy spiders hang on top. Teucer used his sword to pluck the disgusting eight-legged creatures from the roof of a man-high cave to the ground and execute them, saving himself from being bitten by the ravenous creatures.
"It's another rehash." Teucer sneered, the situation was the same as before. Teucer used the hole he kicked open with his foot as a starting point, and his hands kept banging on the cave wall, listening to the cave wall to hear back to Teucer in search of a hidden exit.
Teucer eventually returns to square one, and Teucer's quest fails. Reluctantly, Teucer searched the walls again, this time leaning almost his entire body against the walls, listening carefully to the thump of his fingerbones. Teucer's goddess Arcana seems to be playing a joke on him again, but this joke is a black joke.
"Strange, how come the cave wall is not covered with the same thing as just now, could it be that the skeleton appeared here out of thin air?" Teucer was lost in thought, but what came to his mind was the seemingly inconsequential image of his youth. Two personable nobles came to the town, and they were wandering around the town of Gudebai on horses with young Deminsk, and they kept singing a strange ballad:
O people in the mines,
The stone gate of Montenegro is in front of your eyes,
Don't look at the door and sigh,
In search of the dwarves of Montenegro,
Tell you how to turn it on,
I don't want you to hand over the iron ore,
and do not want you to hand over the silver mines,
As long as you step lightly in front of the door,
and the echo applauded again,
With a friendly smile on his face,
The door opens by itself,
Montenegro City Now.
"Wacky songs, it sounds like locusts flying all over the sky. Hahaha. Teucer and his playmates laughed at the lyrics and tunes the trio sang. A rat dropping dropped-down fell from the sky. Countless clichΓ©s laughed out big teeth. β
"Kids, get out there and play! Of course you don't understand, it's just a translation of the song! Don't spoil our discussion if you kids don't understand. The two nobles on their horses looked stunned, "Deminsk, are the children here so mischievous?" β
"Bender, Noble, and the little ones are mad at something. The dwarven bards who called Montenegro wrote such strange songs, maybe not strangely written by them, but strangely translated by us. Jeminsk smiled at Teucer, who had seen him for the first time, "Little Teucer Hovent, the town's troublemaker. β
"The short uncles in the town, they only make iron and mine, they never sing anything! Hahaha. The voices of the past faded into Teucer's head, blurred.
"As long as you step lightly in front of the door, and applaud with the echo, as long as you stomp lightly in front of the door," Teucer suddenly had a flash of inspiration, he patted his head, and then quickly walked to the center of the black rumbling cavern, "Only this place has not been checked by me." β
"I think freedom is here! Just step lightly in front of the door - free, open the door! Teucer opened his arms and stomped under his feet, he gasped, his whole body seemed to lose its center of gravity, and the black rumbling cavern floor quickly sank over his head, and his ass suddenly hurt in pain.
The sudden brightness of the light confirmed Toucer's estimate, but to his surprise was his ass, which sat directly on the Spiked Grass, the most primitive long, narrow-leaved thorny plant in Gudebay, which preferred to grow in damp caves with light. His ass suddenly blossomed, and the small thorns on the stalks of the spiky grass and the long and narrow leaves were inserted into Toucer's already thin ass, causing pink beams to suddenly appear on Tok's ass, and Teucer was frantically slapping his aching and itchy ass at the moment, like a raging bull with its tail set on fire. Teucer couldn't hold back his screams anymore, he almost jumped on and off his feet. If there was one thing to describe Teucer's current ass, it would be the monkey red ass in the mountains.
Teucer had fallen into a hollow hole in the surface of the mountain, and the thunderous sound of a waterfall still ringing in Tocke's ears.
Raising his eyes to look at the light outside the cave, in the gradually clear vision, is the scene that Teucer has been saying goodbye to for a long time, the scene he has always dreamed of. Teucer involuntarily took a deep breath, and the feeling was so exhilarating.