Chapter 2244: Dark Forest (8)

"Is that it? Arthur looked at the little glowing thing in the crack in the wall, and was about to reach out and touch it.

"Be careful, maybe it's another trap with poisonous spikes hidden inside. Bediwell reminded.

"Hmm...... It's not like a trap. Arthur said. The crack in the wall was actually so small that an adult or someone with a thick arm couldn't reach in and touch the mechanism. Only women and children with slender arms could touch that mechanism.

Arthur is now borrowing the body of a teenager, so he can touch it. He guessed that the witch hiding in the cave was also a slender person, and that this mechanism was for her, close to tailor-made.

Intruders can't touch it, and it's hard to even spot it, only the witch herself can touch and know the location of the mechanism, and the probability of a trap hiding inside is extremely small.

Arthur boldly reached over and touched it, and sure enough, it was a ring switch that could be pulled, and it was full of rust, which was probably rusted after not being used in this damp cavern for many years. Rather than worrying that this is a trap, it's better to worry that the trap is too rusty to pull and the shortcut can't be opened.

However, Arthur's momentary worries were superfluous, the witch who arranged this cave dwelling was very meticulous and thoughtful, and this kind of emergency escape exit was indeed often prepared. Therefore, although the pull ring has the phenomenon of rust, it does not affect the smooth operation of the internal structure of the mechanism. Arthur pulled hard, and the chain lifted the chain, and the chain drove the entire mechanism hidden inside the cave, and in a rumbling sound, something opened.

Arthur thought there was another secret passage hidden. Half of his ideas were right and the other half were wrong. In fact, the cave was still going down, but due to the influence of the mechanism, countless stone platforms for one person to stand on suddenly protruded from the rock wall of the cave. The whole cave immediately turned into a giant spiral staircase, and one could walk down the stone platform immediately.

"I see. If the witch disappears in an instant, the pursuers will know that this cave is not the right path, but that there is another hidden secret path. That's why I used this way to make myself walk up openly. ＂

"But will the pursuers see the witch fleeing up the stone staircase?" asked Bediwell, "does it make sense for the pursuers to chase after the stone staircase as well?"

"This mechanism presumably creates a condition that only witches can pass in such a one-way way, and the shortcut that opens will soon close behind her. Arthur said, "Look, it's starting to close." ＂

The original stone staircase, the one near Arthur's side, had slowly shrunk back into its hiding, and was once again hidden in the stone wall. Further on, more stone stairs retracted into the wall one by one, and continued in this trend until everything returned to its original position. Once all the stone stairs were gone, all that was left of this treacherous cave was the drawbridges and narrow staircases of trap-strewn traps.

"Do you want to run this stone ladder in one sitting after the engine is turned off? The witch is quite confident in her physical strength. Bediwell couldn't help but complain: "What if I don't have enough physical strength, what if I can't run fast if I'm injured?"

"I'll leave that to the witch herself. Arthur reached out again to pull the hoop: "Here it begins, follow me, hurry up!"

"Oh!" the man-wolf had already changed back to the appearance of a great white wolf, and this appearance of Bedeville was more agile and easy to move.

Once again, the trap activated, and countless stone stairs protruded from the wall. It's a time-lapse stone staircase that will retract into the wall after a while. Arthur knew that this would happen, so they didn't continue to grind, and ran straight to the stone stairs.

Smack. Arthur landed on the first stone staircase. The platform is quite large, enough to catch a petite teenager like Arthur safely. Moreover, the surface of the stone ladder is obviously treated, and there is a grid-like non-slip texture on it, making it almost impossible for people walking on it to slip. It was supposed to be part of the emergency escape route for the witch, who maintained it all well, and she was terrifyingly thoughtful. Guided by the stone staircase, Arthur and Bediwell scurried down the slightly spiraling ladder to the bottom of the cavern.

Here, as Arthur had imagined, there were countless spikes in the center of the cavern, and there were several corpses that had long since turned to bones. There have been adventurers who have entered through the back door of the witch's cave before, but these people apparently did not find the hidden pathway, and just made their way along the treacherous drawbridges and narrow ladders, and finally fell from a great height and died on the spikes at the bottom of the cave. It's not enough to just let people fall to death, but also to arrange this kind of spike trap that will inevitably be fatal if it falls on it, the witch is not only vicious, but also does things without leaking, and will not give her opponent a chance to survive and threaten her------ not even the slightest bit.

Arthur realized at this time that he had been admiring and admiring the power of this witch since just now. Judging from the arrangement of every part of the cave, the witch has put a lot of heart into her residence, and she has thought about it extremely carefully, and she has really taken care of every detail. In this kind of era, in this other world where the photon civilization is extremely low, there is such a powerful character, and Arthur's admiration is also natural.

Even though she was a witch, she might be an admirable foe...... Is it?

So Arthur looked forward to meeting this witch even more, and he wanted to see with his own eyes what a powerful character this witch was.

Once you reach the bottom of the cave, you will find a wide corridor leading to the deepest part of the cave. Look at it, in the room behind the iron door at the end of the corridor, there is the witch waiting.

"Let's go. The Knight King said to Bediwell, "This witch is so scheming that she must not let her guard down. ＂

"Uh-huh. The Great White Wolf replied vaguely. He also tried to pretend to be a normal beast, hoping to fool the witch he was about to face. Although he also knew that his first series of actions should have revealed his identity. It is very likely that the witch monitored the deep cavern just now, and saw the two of them's every move.

The corridor is wide and deep, and there is not half a mechanism. This kind of environment is not suitable for trapping, and the witch probably gave up doing so.

Anyway, Arthur and Bediwell walked to the iron door safe and sound, and looked at the iron door that seemed too thick to push, and froze for a moment.

Arthur tried to find a mechanism next to the door, because he knew that such a heavy iron door could not be opened by his own strength, and the witch herself could not open the door by her own strength, which meant that there was another mechanism to open the door.

And the mechanism was not deliberately hidden. An ancient pull ring with an iron chain lay quietly on the wall to the right of the iron door.

Arthur didn't even think about pulling the hoop, and the trap was successfully triggered. With the sound of gears turning, the iron door slowly opened.

The moment the door opened, the strong smell of herbs came to my face. It's hard to describe whether it's a pleasant aroma or an unpleasant smell. The smell was quite complex, it was supposed to be a mixture of at least twenty scented herbs, and Arthur didn't have much research on herbs, so he could only tell that there was a hint of lavender in the smell.

If a large part of the road before was a trap to protect against intruders, a cellar maze, this can be said to be the real residence of the witch, the place where she lives. The large room was filled with wonderful wooden cabinets, presumably used to store dried herbs, and on some of the hooks next to them hung countless dried herbs, including lavender (none of the other herbs Arthur recognized!).

The witch doesn't seem to be in this warehouse where the medicinal herbs are stored, where has she gone?

There is also a door in front that connects another room to here. Is it there.

"I think it's a little hot...... Bediwell whispered suddenly.

"Hmm. Arthur replied. It wasn't scorchingly hot, but the heat here was at the opposite end of the gloom of the cave they had just walked through. And the heat seems to be coming from the floor. Arthur only walked on two legs, and was still wearing boots, and felt far less about geothermal heat than Bediwell, who walked on four legs. Originally, the lower the cave was, the more cold and unsuitable it was for people, but because of the influence of the geothermal heat, the situation was completely reversed, and the bottom of this cave may be more comfortable to live in than the damp cave above.

No wonder there are so many medicinal herbs hanging here, and they are hung on hooks and waiting to dry. This bottom cave should be dry and comfortable due to the influence of geothermal heat, giving the herbs an ideal air-drying condition.

This heat can be found underground, either because there are veins of hot springs underneath it, or because there is lava underneath it (although it should be far away). Britain is located near the Mediterranean --- Himalayan volcanic seismic zone, and it is normal to have some geothermal resources occasionally, and the interesting part is that the witch actually found such a cave with geothermal resources to live in. This is the witch's fortress, her comfort zone, if there are no outsiders to disturb her, she can probably stay here until she is old, and she doesn't care about the outside world at all.

But such a witch spread the Black Death, killing countless citizens of England and France. Arthur came to crusade against the witch, which was naturally justified...... Of course, Arthur wasn't the kind of person who would listen to rumors. He decided to wait until he saw the witch and confirmed it with his own eyes, and then judge whether the witch's spread of the Black Death was true.

He walked through the pantry and pushed the door open. In a hall lit by torches, but empty, there was only a woman in a black cloak, waiting for Arthur and Bedeville.

"You're finally here. The witch turned and looked at Arthur.

At that moment, the Knight King suddenly froze.

Appearing in front of him was his mother, Iglyn.

------Or at least, a woman who looked exactly like Igline.