Xiao Chen and his entourage, plus Ansaldo's guards, totaled more than sixty people, and it was a very large team in this underground passage.

The long, deep underground passages are kept bright by the walls and the illuminated hedron inlaid on the top. But even this light could not reach all the places, and most of the road was still in the shadows.

Walking on the road, you can often see a team marching in the opposite direction from the direction of the royal capital. These teams were the same as the caravans on land, and most of them were guarded by a few guards to hold the ox carts and wagons that carried the goods. Xiao Chen noticed that most of the dwarven guards were vigilant, especially when they looked at their team, they were all a little wary.

"What are these dwarves guarding against, are there robbers in this tunnel?" Xiao Chen, Luo Ling, Farrell and Ansaldo sat in the same carriage, the dwarven carriage was very low, Xiao Chen sat there and his head was almost on top of the carriage.

"Of course there are robbers. The dungeons are not peaceful. Ansaldo said.

"Where did the robbers come from?"

"There are many large and small tunnels on both sides of this main road, leading to various other underground cities and villages, and we dwarves are very good at digging such tunnels, so the network of tunnels is likely to expand every now and then, and every now and then there will be an additional road leading to an unknown stronghold, or a collapse will occur, burying a road completely. Ansaldo stretched out his hand and pointed, "Look there." ”

Xiao Chen saw a path more than one meter high branching off from the side of the main road, and there was almost no light in the road, and if you didn't look carefully, it was easy to ignore it.

"It's a fairly large side road, I think it leads to a nearby village. We dwarves have night vision, so in the darkness of the road, we can see our surroundings with the help of something faintly glowing. So a lot of the side roads are such dark paths. Ansaldo explained.

"If you look at that again, it's also a way. Ansaldo pointed in another direction.

Xiao Chen looked over there, it was a low pit that was not much bigger than a dog hole, if it wasn't for Ansaldo pointing it out, they might have thought it was just a small pothole on the side of the road.

"These roads are privately dug roads, and we generally call them vermigraphs. Because they're like earthworms burrowing out of the road. This kind of path is difficult for even dwarves to spot if it is slightly concealed, and robbers like to dig such paths and launch a surprise attack from inside. Even if they weren't robbers, some thieves would rush out of it and steal the caravan's goods while the caravan people weren't looking. The caravan guards were on guard. Ansaldo said with a look of regret, "The kingdom has become more and more chaotic over the years. There are more and more such bad things. I remember when I was a child, I didn't have to be so cautious about these roads, and the luckier caravans didn't run into robbers many times back and forth, so some caravans didn't have many guards, but not anymore, and now the caravan without an escort can't make it through this road alive. ”

Xiao Chen could hear that Ansaldo was deeply dissatisfied with the situation, but he couldn't do anything about it. A decaying and fallen kingdom cannot be saved by the will of one or two people.

"Then is it possible for us to pass through these paths and catch up with those strange guests of the Black Rock Clan in front?" Xiao Chen asked.

"That's impossible. The main road we took was basically the closest one. The trail will only be slower. Ansaldo said.

Then Farrell said, "Unless, we take that road after the first station." ”

"Which way, you, do you mean the 'Death Trail'?" Ansaldo's eyes widened.

Xiao Chen asked with great interest, "What kind of road is the Death Trail?"

"No, that's too dangerous. Ansaldo said.

Farrell said, "You have to know that the main road is actually a spiraling road. The straight-line distance from the royal capital to the entrance is actually much shorter than the length of the main road. The Death Trail is a road that is very close to a straight line, and it is very sloping. If you can't fly, you can't walk that path without a magic shield. Either fall to your death or be crushed to death by a collapsing rockfall, even a high-ranking warrior is dangerous to walk that path. But I think as long as you, Luo Ling, and Umedada are here, it should be no problem. ”

"Three Great Magicians?" Ansaldo was surprised, he had never thought that Luo Ling and Umeda Tian were a woman and a child, and they were also great magicians.

"That's right, and that dark elf is also a master-level warrior. Farrell smirked, "Do you think it's feasible to take a shortcut now?"

Ansaldo looked at Xiao Chen, who nodded earnestly. He said helplessly: "If you insist, then you can give it a try." But they walked so much earlier than we did, and the shorter approach might not catch up with them.

And the number of people you are chasing should not be too large, but the level should be a little higher, otherwise it will slow down the march. I won't go with you, I'll let my guard, Lockman, go with you. If you don't go well, he will take you to the royal capital to join us. ”

"Good. Xiao Chen said with satisfaction.

——————————————

Lockman is a middle-aged dwarven high-ranking warrior, he is thin and agile, and he is very rare among dwarves of this size, and at first glance he is very suitable for such a cave exploration mission. After receiving this task, he changed the steel armor on his body, put on a black cloth suit, pinned a short sword, and came to Xiao Chen, Luo Ling and Evelyn with a crossbow, and they will form a four-person team to try to block the Black Rock family convoy in front.

The Death Trail was not directly connected to the main road, and Xiao Chen and the three of them, led by Lockman, turned a fork in the road from an abandoned roadside inn, and then walked for more than ten minutes to a smaller hole. It's covered in moss, and it looks like no one has set foot in a long time.

"This is the entrance to the Death Trail. Lockman said.

Xiao Chen released a small ball of light, and the ball of light went down the path, illuminating the inside of the path. It's really a very steep road, and the inner walls are smooth, so there's not much to land on, and it looks like a tube slide in a water park.

Lockman crouched on the edge of the entrance and pressed his hand against the rocks on the ground: "I've only walked this path twice, and it's very difficult. It is necessary to fix each step with hands and feet and with a fighting spirit, so that you can climb down relatively safely. Every year someone falls to their death in the tunnel, and after a while you will see a lot of dry bones in it, and they are all unlucky people who died in it. All of this is where there is the term Death Trail. ”

Xiao Chen said: "It seems, this road is very straight?"

"It's basically straight, with a few twists in a few places. Lockman said.

Xiao Chen looked at the road and said, "Hmm, that's ...... I have an idea. ”