What appeared at Xiao Yan's feet was a deep cave. This dark cave looks so deep that even with Xiao Yan's current shili, he can't see where it leads.

Theoretically, caves in the Black Forest are not uncommon, and although they are not karst, underground caves cannot be formed due to flowing water, but as a mountain range, caves are indispensable.

It's just that this cave doesn't look like it was formed naturally, at least it has been carved by hand, and there are very obvious fractures around the cave entrance. Of course, whether it is a natural product or not, you can only know if you see it by Tulaman, who is really good at it.

"It's a cave, my lord, you'd better be careful, we have to go down the mountain, immediately."

“weishenme？ Is there anything wrong with that cave? ”

Tulaman did not answer Xiao Yan's question, but dragged Xiao Yan all the way down the mountain, but fortunately, most of the snow on the mountain slopes had already rolled down the valley with the avalanche, and they went down the mountain much faster.

Approaching the vicinity of the dwarven dwelling, Tulaman stopped, staring in the direction of the cave at the top of the mountain. Nothing strange appeared in the cave, though, which made Tulaman let out a long breath and seemed to relax a lot.

After that, Tulaman did not continue to talk to Xiao Yan, and he silently dug through the thick layer of snow until he saw the roof of the dwarven shelter crushed by the snow.

In the evening, the dwarves had a separate conversation, and then the whole dwarven tribe seemed a little nervous. They even keep their weapons close to them, instead of keeping them all together as they used to, even the dwarves and female dwarves.

Xiao Yan's confusion lasted until the morning of the third day. After all the dwarves reached the hillside. only to get an answer.

"It's the hole carved by the gray dwarves. My lord. ”

Carpenter inspected the hole again and whispered, "An ancient hole, at least a thousand years old. ”

Xiao Yan frowned slightly and asked, "Gray dwarf?" If it's a thousand years old, it's probably a huge city. ”

"Cities are not scary, adults, and the gray dwarves themselves are not scary, they are very sensitive to light. This is especially true of the Light. It's just that the one who lives with the gray dwarves is the source of fear. ”

"Surviving with the Grey Dwarves?"

Xiao Yan was quiet for a while before asking, "You mean dragons?" ”

"Black dragons, adults, and gray dwarves often have black dragons in places where they gather. The Black Dragon drives away enemies for the Grey Dwarves, while the Grey Dwarves collect gems for the Black Dragons. ”

"What do they eat? What is the food source of the gray dwarves? ”

"The food of the underground shijie is more extensive than you think, rats, snakes. The fruits of ground plants, these can become food. They won't even be short of salt. There are places in the ground where water can be used to make salt. ”

Xiao Yan nodded and said, "It sounds like you know a lot about the life of the gray dwarves. ”

"Our castle was snatched from the Grey Dwarves, who thousands of years ago were driven out by the ancestors of the Mountain Dwarves and built a majestic castle there."

Xiao Yan really didn't know what to say about Carpenter's proud expression, so he could only look at the cave again and ask, "So, what should we do?" ”

"It's up to you, my lord, it's up to you to enter the cave or leave there."

"What are the benefits of entering the cave?"

"Shorten the distance, the city of the gray dwarf will not have only one exit, under normal circumstances, the city of the gray dwarf will have more than five exits, and some exits are even adjacent to human cities. This way they can come to the human city at night to make some trades, and if we are lucky, we can use this passage to cross the mountain as quickly as possible to the other side of the road. ”

"What's the downside?"

"The greatest danger comes from the black dragon, and as long as the black dragon doesn't mind our passing, the gray dwarf won't mind either."

After a pause, Carpenter continued, "If the Black Dragon is satisfied enough, we can even hire a few gray dwarves to lead the way for us. ”

"What other dangers are there?"

"We're going to get lost, and the Grey Dwarf's skill at burrowing is the most haode, and we have to admit that if we go down, we're likely to lose our way first before we find our normal path."

Xiao Yan frowned slightly, and turned his head to look at the layer of snow above his head that had not yet fallen. They have not yet fully reached the top of the mountain, and can only say that in the position close to the top, Xiangshang climbing is an equally dangerous thing. And it's not just this mountaintop, they will need so many times in the coming days, this kind of operation is not only time-consuming, but also dangerous.

Both options are fraught with danger and do not seem to be good choices. But then again, crossing the Black Forest to reach the Rose Collar in a snowy winter is not a safe thing in itself. The choice made now is nothing more than choosing one of the two options that will not be too bad.

"Let's go to the cave, the cold will cause us more and more trouble."

Xiao Yan glanced at the dwarfs, and some of them had begun to have chilblains on their faces. Even Xiao Yan himself felt an itch in his ears. With the physique of a level 5 punishment knight, even if they can't resist the threat of the cold, the situation of the others can be imagined.

The mages were obviously more welcoming of Xiao Yan's choice, and they even let out a long sigh before walking into the cave first. Without a torch, Fernando, who was at the forefront, already had an orange glow on his body.

Seeing this light, Carpenter was slightly stunned, turned his head to look at Xiao Yan, but saw that his lord was putting his finger in front of his mouth and making a "shhhhh After a while, when he was sure that those mages were not in any danger for the time being, Xiao Yan whispered, "I tried to change them, just as I had changed you. ”

"Praise be to my lord, thou art the most merciful nobleman I have ever seen, and the most pious nobleman I have ever seen."

Carpenter drew a cross on his chest and said sincerely.

"I would be even happier if you could remove the word nobility. Okay, I'm in front, let the child walk behind me, the woman follows the child, and you walk in zuihou. Be careful on the road, and if something goes wrong, I'll call you. ”

At the beginning of the cave, the cold has not been completely dissipated, and the cold wind that swishes in the cave makes people feel even more uncomfortable...... However, as the road ahead gradually widened, after a bend, the wind blowing from the depths of the cave was less unpleasant. Conversely, the air in the cave has changed a bit.

Xiao Yan, who had been walking in front of the team and kept releasing magic to illuminate the dwarves, felt that the taste was wrong, and subconsciously released a magic technique to detect poison, and the light of the magic did not change much within the reach of Shili, it seemed that the environment here was not poisonous, it was just full of that indescribable smell.

The first impression of this smell is that of decay, the smell of stale trees or buildings, which is diluted many times here, not choking, but can give people a sense of irritation. At least two dwarfs were sneezing here, and the sound echoed throughout the passage, converging into the distance, sounding like a chill.

A female dwarf hurriedly whispered something to the dwarfs, and took out a linen handkerchief to wipe the noses of the two dwarfs. Frankly, it was even worse to watch that swarthy, rag-like handkerchief rub around the two gray beards and then stick the snot on the beards. Xiao Yan hurriedly turned his gaze back and watched as Tulaman walked from behind.

"What happened?"

"No, my lord, Carpenter thinks that the front of the team needs someone who is familiar with the geological formations and has some experience of advancing through the cave. So send me to the front to lead the way. ”

Xiao Yan blushed slightly because of his thoughtlessness, but fortunately, the light here was extremely dim, and no one noticed his abnormality.

At this moment, there was a commotion in the passage ahead, and Tulaman glanced at Xiao Yan. Xiao Yan stretched out his hand and motioned for the female dwarves and dwarfs not to move on, and waited here for the carpenter behind them to follow. After releasing the light into the sky, which lasted about 5 minutes, the two of them quickly advanced, and it didn't take long for them to catch up with the fifteen mages who had been walking in front of them before. At this time, the mages were talking about something around a shadow that had been erected, and when they saw Xiao Yan's arrival, they immediately got out of the way.

It was a stone tablet, and the words on it were not discernible in the dim light, but it looked as if it had been dipped in paint, and the paint did not dry up immediately, but it flowed down the cracks in the stone, and solidified halfway.

This sight makes the whole stele look less ancient, but as if it has just been erected here.

The words on the stone tablet looked equally hideous, but even Xiao Yan couldn't see what was written on it.

"It's the ancient dwarves," Tulaman said suddenly, standing behind Xiao Yan, "At that time, the gray dwarves and the mountain dwarves were not completely hostile and separated. The text is also universal. ”

"What's that?"

"The City of Dead Silence."

"You mean, so many, oh, that's all the letters are written?"

"I only know these few ancient dwarfs."

Xiao Yan rubbed his brow with his hand and asked, "Did this city of death and silence appear together?" ”

"Of course not," Tulaman said, pointing to the stone tablet strokes, "one here, these four letters are combined, and it means death." ……”

Xiao Yan smiled bitterly, interrupted Tulaman's introduction, and asked, "That is, these are four words in different places, is that so?" ”

"You are truly a nobleman full of wisdom."

"Please remove the word noble, and besides, it is not a compliment to me to be full of wisdom at this time."

"I'm not complimenting, I'm stating the facts."

Hey, that's enough, right? Xiao Yan smiled bitterly. (To be continued......)