Soul echo

Chapter 55 The Underworld
knock!knock!
The flints collided and rubbed sparks.

Fragments of sparks fell into the dry hay and quickly ignited the hay.

People used the fire to light the torches, and one after another, the flames swaying with the wind gradually lit up the foot of the mountain.

Several villagers held stones in their hands and knocked on the hidden hole in turn, expanding the hole.

Old Cole stared at the entrance of the cave by the light of the fire. He had already heard from Zhong Ye that the caravan encountered goblins a few days ago. Although it was absurd, he couldn't help but associate the two things together after hearing about it.

That hole leads underground, not inside the mountain.

If there really was a cavity underground, then his absurd idea was not impossible.

"Open! Open!"

Villagers shouted from the entrance of the cave, and the old Orion stood up while propping up the tree trunk behind him, pacing and approaching.

Old Keer just wanted to go to the edge of the cave and take a look inside, but Zhong Ye directly took the torch from a mercenary, put the torch into the cave, and after using the firelight to see the scenery behind the cave, turned over and jumped in. .

His actions startled everyone, leaving them frozen in place, bewildered.

Not long after, Zhong Ye's voice came from the entrance of the cave: "Come in, there is quite a lot of oxygen here, and there is a lot of space.

"There are stone steps under the cave, you can climb down from there."

Hearing Zhong Ye's voice, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

Then they looked at each other again, hesitating.

The old Orion glanced at these worried guys, shook his head, and took the lead to drill into the hole.

He saw the adventurer holding a torch below, the slightly flickering flame illuminated most of the cave, and also illuminated the stone steps below the cave entrance.

The old Orion took a look with his head, then turned around and crawled down.

The cave was exactly as Zhong Ye said, with sufficient oxygen. Not only was the fire bright, but there was no difficulty in breathing.

With the old Orion taking the lead, the others also climbed down one after another.

Old Cole looked up at the rather high ceiling of the cave, with some worry in his eyes, "This cave is so big... the mountain is almost empty, right?"

"I don't know." Zhong Ye shook his head, did not continue to wait for others, and walked forward first.

After entering the cave, they can only move forward in one direction, and the other directions are blocked by stone walls.

Zhong Ye walked at the front of the team holding a torch. The old Orion took out his bow and arrows, keeping an eye on the left, right and top, while the rest followed behind them. A group of people held torches, illuminating the entire cave.

Looking at this huge cave, the old Orion slowly frowned.

The light from the torch illuminated every inch of darkness in the cave, but he didn't see half a fork in the road. The cave in front of him was not so much a 'cave' as a 'passage'.

"We're going down." Zhong Ye who was walking in front suddenly said.

down……

The old Orion was startled suddenly, "Underground?"

"Don't you feel it?" Zhong Ye turned his head sideways, and the firelight illuminated the stern expression on his side face, "The air is becoming damp and turbid."

——But they never found out where the goblin tribe was.

At this moment, Zhong Ye stopped in his tracks.

The rest of the team also stopped, and they looked in the direction of Zhong Ye's line of sight, and a faint glow came into view.

Plants and insects emitting faint light cling to the stone walls, providing the only light for the vast underground space, and the sound of roaring water rushes back and forth in this open area.

Look closely, and you can still see some shadows flitting between the lights.

Zhong Ye heard the sound of gasping behind him, shook the torch in his hand, and looked at the sides of the cave.

To the left of the opening there is a path leading to the bottom of this hollow area, but it is too steep to walk at all.

This hollow area is supported by many stone pillars, Zhong Ye could vaguely see some blurred images in the distance beyond his sight.

It seems that this underground world is not as big as they can see...

Zhong Ye took a deep breath, "Go back!"

Others also woke up from the shock. Many of them had never seen this kind of thing, and they had never even heard of it. When they saw it for the first time, they couldn't help but feel shocked.

But after the shock, they began to feel their scalps go numb.

——This is the bottom of their village, and their village was built above this underground cavity!

They have all seen that this underground cavity is supported by a few stone pillars. If those stone pillars are broken, their village will also disappear!

The villagers looked at the cavity area with lingering fear.

The mercenaries couldn't help swallowing their saliva, and they would have something to brag about going out in the future.

Only the old Orion still remembered what they came here for, looking at the hollow area, there was nothing but worry in his heart.

The group returned the same way, and the old Orion took the opportunity to carefully observe the cave-like passage again, but this time he still did not see any fork in the road.

Goblins may have come up from that cavity...

They have been living in that place before...

The old Orion was worried, but because of the darkness, no one noticed his worries.

After the panic, people began to discuss the shocking underground world, holding torches and walking through the mountains and forests, startling countless wild beasts.

"It's back! They're back!"

The villagers on the arrow tower saw the torches lined up like a dragon at the foot of the mountain at a glance, and immediately called out.

Although it was late at night, people still didn't fall asleep. When they heard the shout, they got up from the bed and hurried out the door.

A group of people who went out to look for goblins returned to the mountain village exhausted, but when they heard other people asking what was going on, they regained their energy and chattered about the underground world.

The old Orion pulled away the village head worriedly. He had some guesses about the goblins and the underground world, and it was not suitable to talk about them in front of other people.

A group of people were showing off their knowledge. The caravan guards who followed the team to look for goblins were reporting the situation to their captain, but Zhong Ye looked at the moon in the sky and remained silent.

This operation is not completely fruitless, at least they know that there is a cavity underground in this area, and they don't know how big it is, and how many strange species live in it.

They walked all the way, but they didn't find the hiding place of the goblin tribe.

Either they're in the wrong place, or the goblin hordes are indeed in that subterranean cavity.

However, the road from the underground cavity to the ground is steep, dangerous and long. Why did the goblins come to the ground?

Not for escape, nor for patrol and hunting, what exactly do they want to do?
Zhong Ye faintly sensed that something terrible was about to happen behind this.

"Could it be that...there is a kingdom of goblins with a number of over a thousand or over ten thousand underground?"

Looking at the bright moon, the Dongtu people whispered to themselves.

…………

Early the next morning, just as Zhong Ye woke up, he heard noisy noises coming from the villagers' residences.

The others were still soundly asleep, and he didn't wake them up, leaving the sleeping bag lightly and walking out of the house.

The sun hadn't risen yet, and there was only dim light in the sky. Zhong Ye saw torches lit everywhere in the village, and in the light of the fire, figures moved.

When I got closer, I was surprised to see people packing their luggage, not just one or two people, but the whole village.

"Young man, are you awake?"

The old Orion's voice came from the shadows, Zhong Ye moved his gaze over, and saw a crooked figure sitting in the darkness with a cigarette in his mouth, absent-mindedly puffing.

"Where are you going?" Zhong Ye asked suspiciously.

The old Orion hesitated for a moment, then sighed: "I can go anywhere, but I can't stay here anymore."

"You also thought about it?" Zhong Ye pointed to the ground under his feet, "Those goblins down there."

"Yeah..." The old hunter laughed at himself, shook his head and sighed, "I have been a hunter for decades, can I not know the habits of the prey? The range of activities of goblins is usually not too far from the tribe, but we are there The goblin's lair could not be found on the nearby surface, indicating that their tribe is most likely underground... The range of activities of those goblins who have gone out has exceeded common sense, so naturally they can also surpass common sense in other aspects.

"It's too dangerous here. We have to leave. Although some people don't want to leave, I persuaded the village head and my students. Once we leave, the village will have no protection, so other people have to go with us. .”

Aggregation and separation, everything came so suddenly.

Zhong Ye discovered that the old Orion was actually also confused, not only about himself, but also about the future of other people in the village.

Leaving the mountains and forests they depend on for survival, they don't know how to live in other places. They have no land, no housing, and no jobs.

Living in no fixed place, wandering everywhere.

"...if you don't mind."

The old Orion looked up at Zhong Ye and saw him raise his arm and point to the east.

The first rays of the rising sun shone on Zhong Ye brilliantly.

I just heard him say lightly: "In that direction, there is a small city. It has just been ravaged by an army of undead, and it has suffered heavy losses. Many people died in that disaster. They really need an external force to inject power into the city. Liveliness and vitality.”

The old Orion stared blankly at the tall adventurer in front of him, took a deep drag on the cigarette, and immediately snuffed it out.

He stood up from the corner, patted the dust on his body, nodded to Zhong Ye, and said, "I'll go discuss it with Luke..."

Seeing the old Orion walking into the crowd, Zhong Ye put down his big sword and started his morning exercises accompanied by the hustle and bustle.

The white mist overflowed from the nostrils and the corners of the mouth, vaguely converging into certain shapes...

(End of this chapter)