Sail Shadows in the Sea of ​​Fog

Chapter 167 Wine Cellar Mine No. 77

With the help of the moose cart, Cheng Lang, who was driving, and the mysterious pointed-eared person who was hitching a ride arrived at the foot of Dwarf Mountain before dawn.

Along the way, they encountered people who tried to ambush and steal the carriage more than once, and they also encountered people who wanted to hitch a ride more than once.

Fortunately, these people were all dealt with by this mysterious pointy-eared creature.

"Friend, thank you for your help along the way. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to get here so quickly and safely."

As Cheng Lang spoke, he returned the gold coin that the other person had used to buy water when they got on the bus.

Along with it, they also handed over a large water bladder filled with water and a backpack containing some dry food.

"This is?"

"Thanks from a friend," Cheng Lang said sincerely. "We will definitely meet again, and maybe we'll have a drink then."

Upon hearing this, the mysterious pointed-eared man smiled, reached out and took the water pouch and backpack, but refused the gold coin. "I'm also looking forward to that day. We'll have a good drink then."

"Good luck, my friend," Cheng Lang said sincerely.

"Good luck to you too, my friend." After saying this, the mysterious pointed-eared man turned and walked away into the distance. From beginning to end, they had never asked each other's names.

"What's our next step?" Cheng Lang asked in a low voice, while raising his head as high as he could.

At this moment, the dwarf mountain was less than a hundred meters away from him, but even with his head raised to its limit, he couldn't see the summit at all. Turning left and right, he still couldn't see the ends of the mountain on either side.

This mountain is like a high wall that inspires despair, yet this despairing mountain is also unusually lively.

At the foot of the mountain, caves of all sizes are lined up one after another. Most of these caves are fitted with wooden doors and windows, and some of them even have eye-catching signs at their entrances.

The signs mostly advertise services related to life and death, such as "equipment maintenance" and "will delivery with zero negative reviews."

In addition, at the foot of the mountain, many more caves have prominent numbers or text markings carved on their tops.

It was still dark, so apart from a few adventurers keeping watch around the campfire, most of the others were fast asleep, snoring loudly.

"Which way do we go?" Cheng Lang asked in a low voice without turning his head.

"The treasure map indicates the entrance is No. 77, the wine cellar mine," Yun Ji replied, having just emerged from the hunting tent.

"So where is cellar mine number 77?" Cheng Lang asked, looking somewhat bewildered.

“I’ve never been here before either,” Yun Ji reminded her. “None of us are here for the first time.”

Let's take a look around first.

As Cheng Lang spoke, he symbolically pulled on the reins, letting the moose cart carry him sideways along the foot of the mountain in the opposite direction from the mysterious pointed-eared creature, while also searching for "Wine Cellar Mine No. 77".

Unfortunately, even as dawn broke, as smoke began to rise from the sprawling campsites, and as they used a boulder that seemed to have fallen from above long ago as cover to put away their moose wagon, they still couldn't find the wine cellar mine number 77.

Fortunately, the bucket of water carried by Shenba was popular enough here, so he only had to go out for a short while before finding the right direction.

"If we just keep going in this direction, we'll find Cellar Mine No. 77."

Shenba pointed in the direction they had been heading and said, "However, there was a serious collapse there before, and now it is almost abandoned."

“That’s good news,” Yun Lan said.

"That's indeed good news," Cheng Lang nodded. "In that case, let's eat first!"

“I knew it,” Yavso slapped her forehead and took out the food she had prepared in advance.

By the time everyone, especially the gluttonous captain, had filled their stomachs, the rising sun had already bathed the high, wall-like Dwarf Mountain in a brilliant golden light.

If this were in my own world, it would definitely be teeming with tourists, right?

While lost in thought, Cheng Lang stuffed the last bite of food into his mouth and chewed it heartily. He then slung his backpack full of food over his shoulder, waved, and gave the order to set off.

At the same time, Yun Ji took the elf-shaped boat bottle out of the last empty oak barrel and handed it to Cheng Lang.

With this boat bottle, they didn't have to worry about water shortages at all. Compared to water shortages, they were more concerned about whether they had enough food to cross the Dwarf Mountain.

Following the directions, they walked forward, and the foot of the mountain became increasingly desolate. Gradually, they came across a series of collapsed mine shafts.

The entrances to these mine shafts are mostly intact, but the inside has been blocked by collapsed rocks.

Moreover, some of them appear to retain traces of fire damage. Clearly, the collapse here was likely not a natural disaster but rather a man-made one.

"found it!"

Yafso was the first to point out the huge inscription above the entrance of a collapsed mine in the distance, calling out, "Wine Cellar Mine! Number 77!"

"Come on, let's go in first."

As Cheng Lang spoke, he had already taken out his whip. Apart from Yafso, the others reacted quickly and all drew their weapons.

While remaining vigilant, they first inspected the several collapsed mine shafts on both sides, and then the group, divided into two groups, finally gathered at the entrance of mine shaft number 77.

They had just seen animals like rabbits and foxes in the other collapsed mine shafts, which clearly indicated that no one had been here for a long time.

"Fan Hart," Cheng Lang said, having already taken off the firefly necklace.

Please leave it to me.

Before Fan Hart could finish speaking, the firefly necklace had grown larger and larger, eventually transforming into the shape of a burrowing beetle.

Without further ado, everyone lined up and crawled inside the digging beetle.

Once they were settled, Van Hart also maneuvered the digging beetle into the collapsed mine shaft, and used the grayish-white foam sprayed from its tail to refill the tunnel left behind.

"Is this entire mine going to collapse?" Shenba shouted.

"We've only just gotten in, so we need to be patient."

"But don't worry," said Vanhart, who was in his undead form. "This undead inside the digging beetle will keep it burrowing until nightfall. We'll definitely be able to break through the collapsed section."

"What about prophetic poems?"

Yafso asked, "Didn't you say you could think of it once we got to Dwarf Mountain?"

“This is not something I can decide,” Van Hart said, spreading his four hands. “It will definitely happen when it’s meant to happen.”

"Once we're inside the mine, Fan Hart, could you help me fix my scythe?" Shenba asked the question he had asked countless times along the way.

"sure"

Fan Hart readily agreed once again, "Once we're inside the mine, if we find any suitable materials, I'll definitely help."

"Wow—"

Before Fan Hart could finish speaking, the people inside the beetle heard the sound of rushing water.

"It looks like there's water everywhere outside!" Yun Lan was the first to warn.

"Is the Gold Rush Beetle waterproof?" Yun Ji followed up with the most crucial question.

“Of course, of course I’ll defend.” Before Fan Hart could finish speaking, his undead body flickered as if there was a bad signal. Then, his expression returned to its previous blank look, and he said, word by word, without any emotion:

"The web of fate has been woven."

The dwarf's soul is the needle, and the scorching spring is the guide.

The steel beetle built a nest, and the panicked black elf turned into an inescapable tail.

Go and search for her, search for her shadow in your dreams.

The beloved becomes the candle wick, and the tears of reunion become sweet dew.

Pirates coming ashore, are you ready?

As the beetle-like creatures exchanged bewildered glances, Van Hart abruptly regained his senses and clarity. He first looked around blankly, then burst into two torrents of tears.

“It’s Eleanor, it’s her, she’s in this spring.” Van Hart said, and then hurriedly floated out of the burrowing beetle.

"Hey! We're still in there! Hey! Fan Hart!" Cheng Lang was the first to react. "Yun Lan, how do you drive this damn bug?!"

"Get out of the way!"

As Yun Lan spoke, she pushed Cheng Lang aside and squeezed into the driver's seat, busily pulling the control levers to stabilize the digging beetle that had started to dart around wildly due to loss of control.

"You're right! You can't trust the dead! Once we catch it, I'm going to have Xiao Bao tear its fingers off one by one!" Yun Lan cursed as she frantically manipulated the device.

"Who is Xiao Bao?!" Shenba asked curiously, completely oblivious to the occasion.

"That archer!" Yun Lan hurriedly responded, "Don't bother me!"

"Snapped!"

Yun Ji slapped Shenba on the back of the head, successfully silencing him from saying anything more.

After a flurry of activity, the digging beetles finally stabilized, but by then they had completely lost sight of Van Hart.

"Let's ignore him for now!" Cheng Lang said. "Let's..."

"Wait a minute, it seems Fan Hart left something for us beforehand," Yun Ji said at this moment.

Looking over instinctively, Cheng Lang noticed that Yun Ji had stood up and was examining the metal elytra "canopy" above her head.

"What is that?" Cheng Lang asked, already moving over while holding onto the chair.

"是" is a character.

Yun Ji said, "Just now, when Fan Hart left, there was a sudden flash of light above his head."

Immediately afterwards, she quickly read through the words above her head and said, "This contains methods to make Xiao Bao fall into a deep sleep immediately if he loses control, methods to stop the digging beetle from losing control, and even methods to control Fan Hart when he loses control!"

and also
Quick! Where's the treasure map?
There's even a way to make the digging beetle move forward automatically, guided by the treasure map!

"How do we do it?" Yafso immediately pulled out the treasure map and asked.

"Cut out the part containing the guidance information!"

Yun Ji said, "Then rotate clockwise to open the red valve directly above the observation window, put the part you just cut out into it, and be careful of high temperature burns when opening it!"
Furthermore, this method only works when using undead to control the burrowing beetles, and only in the Dwarf Mountain area!

"I take back what I just said! The dead are more reliable than the living!"

As Yun Lan spoke, she opened the valve above her head and dodged the scalding airflow that shot out the instant it was opened.

After inserting the treasure map handed to him by Yavso and tightening the valve again, the digging beetle stopped immediately and then began to spin in place, sometimes to the left and sometimes to the right.

"Did the reliable Mr. Fan Hart say anything else?" Yun Lan asked loudly, gripping the armrests on both sides of the seat.

He also said, "Don't worry if the Burrowing Beetle runs out of undead!"

Yun Ji let Cheng Lang wrap the rope around her waist and the back of the chair next to her without worry. At the same time, she took the oil lamp handed to her by Shenba and held it above her head. Standing steadily inside the belly of the constantly spinning beetle, she quickly read the inscription above her head.

Soon, she continued loudly, "Each of those three miners' lamps, guarded by elven spirits, contains an additional spirit of a ferocious beast."

Simply rotate any one of them to get a vibrant undead!

However, each miner's lamp can only be rotated once! Therefore, it's best to switch to another lamp only after one undead has completely fallen into a deep sleep!
It even explains how to stuff the baby inside as fuel!

"So he had a premonition that all of this would happen?" Cheng Lang immediately released the whip after the beetle stopped spinning in place.

"He wrote at the end that he didn't know what would happen after he uttered the last prophetic poem, but he hoped that we could tear open the web of fate." After saying this, Yun Ji sat down.

"I was touched by this guy!" Shenba exclaimed.

You're about to be moved a second time.

As Yun Ji spoke, she drew her dagger, bent down, pried open the metal floorboards, and pointed to a scythe inside, saying, "Fan Hart has already repaired the scythe for you, but he left a message saying it's best to wait until the undead that the digging beetle is using falls into a deep sleep before taking it out."

"Why?" Shenba asked subconsciously.

"The sleeping spirits of the dead will be stuffed into your broken scythe."

The answer to this question came from Yun Lan, who no longer pilots the Tunneling Beetle: "The undead live by absorbing the fragments of souls that escape. If they are stuffed into weapons, the weapons will carry some mental damage."

"That's right"

Yun Ji pointed to the top of her head, "Simply put, it will distract the injured enemy for a moment."

"Bang!"

After hearing this, Shenba readily covered the floorboards, saying, "I'm not in a hurry. We can wait until all the spirits have..."

"Your broken sickle can't fit a second one."

Yun Ji pointed to the top of her head again, "Fan Hart specifically reminded you not to be greedy."

“He really knows me well,” Shenba said with a silly grin.

"Gentlemen, it's time to wrap up our small talk."

Yun Lan warned, "The beetles have started moving again, but the mine seems to be flooded. Are we really not going to drown?"

"As long as we don't open the elytra on our heads, we should be fine, right?"

Shenba said with a pounding heart, "Even if we put the oil lamp right up to the window, all we can see outside is murky water."

"wrong."

Cheng Lang frowned. "Extinguish the oil lamps! Quick! Extinguish all the oil lamps! Otherwise, we might really suffocate."

"for"

Before Shenba could even voice his question, Yunji, Yafusuo, and Yunlan had already extinguished their respective oil lamps.

(End of this chapter)