Chapter 52: The Praying Mantis Catches the Cicada (I)
A few minutes later, the three of them had already passed through the cave and found themselves in an empty space.
Jin Shaolan also verified her guess.
He knew that there was a vein of underground water deep in Medivan's cellar - this was not under the ground of the cellar, but the archmage's cellar was so large and numerous that he had even dug a pool for this purpose. The situation along the way was as obvious as he had guessed, with obvious water erosion characteristics, probably due to the presence of high water periods in nearby rivers or underground rivers, or the fact that the rainy season lasted too long. There was too much precipitation, and the river had a great increase in water at some point. As a result of its washing, a basement partially collapsed and was connected to the river that supplied the well, resulting in the cave at the bottom of the well that led to the cellar; Of course, there are still some traces of manual excavation, and what has been turned out looks like new soil, which should be the widening of the passage when those people came yesterday.
After the wet season or the rainy season ends, the dark river that gathers slowly diverts away from the well, and the well dries up.
The basement where the trio were now located was very large, but the place where the wine had once been stored was empty, with only a few traces of rotten shelves and a small number of dusty, musty-smelling barrels piled up in the corners. There are indeed no mana creatures and ghosts, and it seems that Pilkin's previous arrangement has had an effect. Pilkin also seemed to be relieved, he took out two flashlights and handed them to Finley and Jin Shaolan respectively.
"It's better suited for lighting in larger spaces, although I still like the traditions of the old days." He said, raising his lantern. After the two thanked each other, they studied their respective flashlights, which was not rude but a responsible performance, you know, holding an unfamiliar piece of equipment messing around, the destructive power is better than having nothing empty:
G2X LE-BK Tactical Flashlight
Place of Origin: SureFire, LLC CNC machining center.
Item Rarity: White
Equipment Position: Miscellaneous/Backpack
Weight: 124 grams
Length: 132mm
Material: Aviation aluminum alloy, reinforced resin.
Attachments: SF123A lithium battery (2 pcs)
Note: It needs to be charged before use.
Comments: The G series is the most special of the many members of SURE-FIRE, and the housing is made of reinforced resin as it is designed for firefighting purposes. But if anyone thinks it's inferior to their siblings because they don't have a stylish metal casing, they're a complete fool.
Lying on the palm of Jin Shaolan's hand was a small tactical flashlight, only about two-thirds the length of his entire hand, which controlled the brightness by pressing the shutter at the tail, of course, they only needed ordinary brightness to explore in the wine cellar. Jin Shaolan quickly fell in love with this tactical flashlight that felt very ergonomic. Following Pilkin's instructions, he and Finley take turns lighting up the flashlight to light the way forward, extending the battery life and reducing the likelihood of attracting the attention of the monsters left in the cellar. After telling them again to follow him, Pilgin led them deeper into the cellar with a lantern.
As on the ground, there was a faint layer of mist and phantom haze. The light from the lantern is not very bright, but you can still get a general view of the basement. Originally, Jin Shaolan thought that it was caused by the limited lighting range of the horse lantern, but when the bright light of the tactical flashlight penetrated the darkness, this haze became even more noticeable.
The basements of the cellar were as big as the one they had entered when they first came down, nearly half the size of a basketball court, with a rack of nearly three meters, and the smaller ones were the size of a classroom. The different basements are connected to each other by passages, and the sound of footsteps that you don't usually care about in this environment can also evoke a faint echo here. As they gradually entered the depths of the cellar, the three of them unconsciously lowered their voices even to communicate.
As I moved forward, I also saw several indescribable deep rays of light one after another, emitting a feeling almost the same as the hazy mist/shadow in the entire territory, and it seemed to be half of the breath of light and dark expanding and contracting, and from this deep light was formed a transparent shadow about two meters high and looking rather blurry. The upper body of the shadow is rare like a humanoid, but the head is very different from that of a human, and the shape is a bit like the Protoss of StarCraft, and it also has a pair of eyes that radiate ghostly light, two giant horns on the shoulders, and long and withered arms, which is not a big mistake to say that it is a demon genus, and the lower body is an inverted spindle shape, which quickly lengthens, sharpens, and gradually fades into thin air.
Most of these strange transparent shadows hovered the walls and corners of the basement, and even if they occasionally met near the middle of the room, the "shadows" only wandered around on their own, with no intention of "contacting" them. Finley seemed to be interested, but asked Pilkin first. Originally, he wanted to use a skill called "Insight" to obtain basic information about the Transparent Shadow, but Pirkin sighed that he wouldn't want to do it himself if he could, the problem was that he couldn't disturb the monsters after they were in a state of "tranquility", including detection. Finley then smiled and shrugged, not for himself. As if feeling guilty, Pilgin walked forward and said what he had learned from the mages of Dalaran.
"They call it the 'shadow of restlessness.'" "It seems to be the product of the union of the twisted mana with the obsession of the dead," Pilkin said. It is also claimed that it is a specific elemental creature......"
Walking into the next passage, the light of the lantern in Pilkin's hand dimmed, and the sound became weak and indistinct, as if he had just left the door and turned a corner. After all, it's a basement group, and the wine cellar can't be dug into the shape of a series battery in a flashlight, so this should be the one at the end of the room on this side, and it's not surprising that the passage has this structure. Jin Shaolan and Finley also followed in, the passage between the basement and the basement was not very wide, and they changed to the way they moved forward one after the other as they had passed through the passage before.
As they thought, the passage was a corner here, and when they turned around, they entered a room the size of a classroom. There are also staggering barrels, and two dazed shadow creatures are immersed in their own world, wandering aimlessly. The soft yellow light of the horse lantern had already entered the doorway on their left, and Jin Shaolan also used the light of the tactical flashlight to carefully avoid the two ghost creatures, and walked quickly towards the passage that Pilkin entered.
Finley, who walked at the end with a flashlight, also easily avoided the two "restless shadows". He was about to hurry up, but slowly slowed down. In front of him, not far from the passage, Jin Shaolan did not walk in, he stood stiffly at the entrance of the passage with his back to Finley.
Finley's slowed pace stopped two meters away.
Jin Shaolan in front also slowly turned around. He looked directly at Finley with an ugly face:
“…… Can't go any further. ”
His voice was dry, and he could feel something cold coming out of the corners of his forehead, dipping into his hair:
"Teacher, we ...... Can't go any further. ”