"Uncle Hollin, aren't you asleep?"

Early in the morning, Annan, who woke up early, woke up Martin, who was about to fall to the ground. Martin rubbed his eyes and walked out of the room, where he saw Uncle Hollin, with his right foot wrapped in sackcloth, chopping wood in the courtyard.

The haggard Uncle Huo Lin smiled reluctantly: "I...... Worried about Annan's accident in the gold mines. ”

"Good morning, Uncle Hollin."

Annan stepped out from behind, and Uncle Hollin's smile became more sincere.

The aroma of the kitchen wafted through the courtyard, and the smoke from the cooking stove merged into the mist that enveloped the town of Hirabayashi.

Aunt Susan brought out the food, a serving of mashed potatoes in chicken broth, a few pieces of fluffy brown bread, and a pot of apple pie.

"Why didn't we have these to eat yesterday?" Uncle Hollin, who was sitting in a low chair, was stunned by the abundance of food in front of him.

"You don't need that good food!"

Aunt Susan shook the spoon and knocked out the dirty hands of her husband and Martin, and first picked up Annan's wooden bowl and filled it for him.

"Little Annan, eat more, so that you have the strength to go to work."

"Thank you, Aunt Susan."

Aunt Susan's care for Annan was not only because of love, but also for another reason - Uncle Holling and Martin's table after eating was like a devastated earth ravaged by demons.

Before leaving, Aunt Susan also told Martin: "Take care of little Annan, don't let me down!" ”

Early in the morning, Annan and Martin set off in the midst of Aunt Susan's worries.

In the story of the bard, this small town called Hirabayashi is located on the edge of the bird does not, surrounded by vast forests that stretch for thousands of miles, bordering the coast, snow-capped mountains, and swamps. There are no churches, no howling greenskins, no strife and intrigues, let alone other races. Even those who are tired of strife and yearn for peace find it too calm - only the druids who live with the forest, and the hyenas-like kobolds and gnolls like this.

But the bard also said that you should never believe what the bard says. They can make up all lies for the sake of the completeness of the story, and they can sing any word for the rhyme of the poem.

The haunted gold mine sits on the edge of the forest, not far from where Annam appeared.

At first, Annan tried to find a way back.

On the third day of staying at Aunt Susan's house, Annan made an excuse of stumbling and set off early in the morning with Uncle Hollin to return to the forest. But when he sneaks out and tries to find the meadow, he encounters a group of kobolds wandering around.

The kobolds, who made a wowing sound like lizards more than dogs, were clad in rags that could not be covered, and clutched crooked spears and throwing stones for weapons.

Annan resisted the idea of saying hello to these "fantastical creatures" and fled back to the edge of the forest. Maybe the probability of being killed by a kobold is low, but it's not zero.

Annan later told the bard about this, and he said that it was right to run back, and that more unfortunate people were killed by kobolds than by dragons. These guys who bully the weak and are afraid of the hard like lone adventurers the most.

Then he also told the habits of the Kobold in Annam, such as the forests that like to avoid the light, the caves, the fact that they will never attack enemies who are more numerous, and that a single kobold wants to run away when he sees a sheep-

Annan and Martin met their foreman, a lame old man named Old Zoren, at a fork in the road. He is said to have been a veteran.

"Huo Lin can't come?"

Old Zoren looked at Annan. The washed and faded linen clothes, the gray but pale and delicate skin like a disease, looked like they could not do physical work, but old Zoren was different from the others - he firmly believed that mining requires luck, "The hapless Huo Lin was stoned in the foot after only one day, I hope you can bring good luck." ”

"Who are you from Hollin?"

"I'm Martin's cousin."

Old Zollen's face softened slightly, and he talked about the rules of the gold mine. The muddy, slang-like accent was barely understandable to Annan...... But it is not difficult to guess - the theft of gold mines is prohibited.

"Martin, take him to the shack first." Old Zoren waved his hand and found Martin motionless, "Martin? ”

Martin, who came back to his senses, puffed out his chest: "He's my cousin!" ”

……

And Martin, who was half a beat slower, followed the lame old Zoren to the gold mine. The barren clearing outside the mine of this desolate hill is dotted with shacks and figures walking around.

At first he thought they were old Zorren's men, but then he found that the miners ignored him. He thought that old Zoren was the foreman, but he did not get along well with the other foremen.

The shack camp is also strange, and it makes sense that gold mines should strictly limit miners' contact with the outside world. The current gold mine is not strictly regulated, and the miners come and go in and out of the mine at will, make fires in the open space to cook, and there are foremen who pay ......

Old Zorren took out the key and opened the door to a shack. A few simple crooked wooden beds sit on the dirt floor, where ants and insects come and go freely, and the bedside table is both a cabinet and a dining table.

This will be where Annan and Martin will live next.

Picking up his pickaxe and preparing to follow old Zollen into the mine, Annan saw a magnificent carriage with a fancy emblem on the road in the distance.

He saw what Mr. Fast called the big boss, the wine lady.

The sumptuous and beautiful carriage and the lady with the dilapidated and dirty shack and Annam seem to be two worlds.

Annan hung his head slightly, and followed Old Zoren, who carried the oil lamp, into the gold mine.

The gold mines have been abandoned for a long time, and many of the mines have long since collapsed and become impassable. Old Zoren lit the oil lamp and led them deep into the mine. There was a faint smell of burnt paste in the air, and the sound of chiseling around it made a sonata.

Depression and darkness make people nervous and uncomfortable.

Under the dim oil lamp, the old, scattered discarded tools and broken pillars made him realize that this was a depleted gold mine. The whispered conversations of the other miners revealed that many of them were townspeople who had come to try their luck.

Old Zoren was the same, he hired Uncle Hollin to try their luck and find the ore to him, and if he couldn't find it, the price would go to him.

That's fine, at least there isn't too much conflict between miners and miners, miners and foremen. Old Zoren threw them to the place where they had been dug yesterday. It's almost the same, if not deep, here, but the pillars are intact.

"May you bring good luck." Old Zoren said as he left one oil lamp and left with another.

Martin took an iron pickaxe into the low hole that had been dug out yesterday, and Annan held up the oil lamp and looked around.

The echo of the chisel in an indiscernible direction was heard, and the dense floating dust drifted under the halo of oil lights.

"Cousin, I'm stuck!"

A dull cry came suddenly, and Annan turned around to see Martin's upper body stuck in the low hole, shaking his exposed ass.

Annan put down the pickaxe and wanted to help, but hesitated that the posture was not very elegant, so he asked Martin to let go of the pickaxe first and climb out, and then pick it up.

Martin went to grab the pickaxe, but strangely grabbed the handle of the pickaxe and the horns of the low hole.

Annan was about to warn him not to take the pickaxe horizontally, when Martin suddenly pulled out a pale veil from the hole.

"Ghosts!!

Martin dropped his pickaxe and turned to run.

"Humans!!"

The ghost screams and crashes into the rock wall deep in the mine.