Why did the lord rebel

Chapter 25 The Decaying City
For human beings with limited life expectancy, "800 years" is too illusory a length of time.

Most people have only read about such a long time span in history class or in fantasy novels that challenge the laws of biology.

But if we don’t experience it personally, it’s actually hard for us to realize how cruelly 800 years of time will leave an indelible mark on the material world.

And when the five members of the Igor family rode close to the ruins of Blackwater Town and became the first batch of visitors received by this dead town in 800 years, the same words emerged in their minds:
decay.

—A sad, almost tearful decay.

This decline is perhaps the most distressing period a town can experience: neither the splendid capital of a city full of people at its peak, nor the return to nature after thousands of years of wear and tear. Silence and serenity, but neither up nor down, neither left nor right, just like an old man dying on the hospital bed, the breath of life in his body has not completely dissipated, but the shadow of death has quietly descended, so he It brings a great spiritual shock to all bystanders, shocked by the ruthlessness of time, shocked by the fragility of civilization, and shocked by the great terror between life and death.

Zhuma outside Heishui Town, Xia Houyan and others can still recognize the general shape of this famous southern town 800 years ago, and can also distinguish the houses, buildings, and storefronts. What irritates their eyes is the numerous traces left by the 800-year history.

Because it is located in a plain area and there are no rivers nearby, Heishui Town is not like the ancient city that Xiahouyan had seen on earth in his previous life.

Probably because the monsoon in the southern part of the empire was not strong, or maybe because the nearby vegetation remained intact, 800 years passed, and in the end it was just a shallow layer of dust that accumulated in Heishui Town.

The sedimentary soil layer about [-] to [-] centimeters high has buried the corners of most houses and prevented their doors from being opened, but most of the shapes of the houses are still under the sun.

Therefore, when Xia Houyan Yuma approached, he could clearly observe the stones used to build these dwellings: after 800 years, the rectangular stones have inevitably become bumpy on the surface, and their color has also turned into a gloomy gray. It is dark, but the gaps between the stones are still clearly visible. The mottled moss on the surface of the stone bricks gives these slightly dilapidated old houses a less depressing breath of life.

Therefore, Xia Houyan can almost imagine how the ancestors 800 years ago built these houses brick by stone, how they stood in front of their new homes with their wives and daughters and imagined the future, and how they reproduced in these stone and brick houses—— But now, they are all dead, 800 years ago, leaving only these empty houses standing here.

"It looks like these houses are made of stones from the Nova Stone Quarry." Chris Mann, the archer who has been silent all this time, suddenly said, "Until five or sixty years ago, the Nova Stone Quarry was the largest supplier of rare stones in the southern part of the empire." Source, the 'new star stone' produced there has a unique star pattern on the cross section."

Xia Houyan widened his eyes and stared at the walls of these old houses for a long time. Sure enough, he found a pattern of spots and stars on the stone bricks.

He couldn't help but look at the boy Chris in surprise:
"How do you know this?"

Chris scratched his head embarrassedly:

"Reporting to the lord, my father was quarrying the stone quarry in the Western Region. I have followed him since I was a child and learned a little about the knowledge of stone identification."

"So..." The lord tapped the wall of the house with a crowbar, arousing a crisp echo, "These houses in Heishui Town are all built with rare stones from the 'Xinxing Quarry'? So extravagant? "

"No..." Chris shook his head and said, "My lord, the reason why the 'Nova Stone' in the Nova Stone Quarry is now a rare material is because it has been over-exploited and exhausted for hundreds of years-but back to 800 Years ago... the new star stone used to build these houses was just the most common and cheapest stone in the eyes of people at that time."

"So if we pry these ancient stones down and sell them in the market, is it worth a lot?" The Lord Lord stared at the crowbar in his hand thoughtfully.

"Very valuable!" Chris nodded sincerely, "Now a whole piece of 'Nova Stone' is rare in the market! A complete Nova Stone brick like this is worth at least five gold coins if sold. !"

Lord Lord's eyes quickly became stained with a trace of hopeless greed.

It was Master Laurie who cleared his throat vigorously:

"With all due respect, Lord Elliot, are we here to find the Magic Lab this time?"

Xia Houyan just woke up like a dream, and asked dumbly:
"Oh...yes...where's the magic lab?"

"How do I know!" Master Laurie blew his beard angrily: Why does the lord think that he would know the home address of a legendary mage 800 years ago?

Xia Houyan frowned tightly and looked at the surrounding environment.

Before they knew it, a group of five people had already penetrated into the ruins of Heishui Town, and now they were standing at a slightly narrow crossroads: no matter which direction they looked from east to west, north to south, they could see the ruins of houses that were stacked on top of each other, and Brainless zombies wandering the streets and alleys.

"Then..." Lawrence wondered, "...are we only able to find them one by one?"

There are so many old houses in Heishui Town, and it is like a census to find them one by one. When will they go?Xia Houyan's face turned pale, and he looked back at Alice.

The female swordsman shrugged helplessly, apparently there was no good way to do it.

"Wait!" When everyone was at a loss, Master Laurie suddenly got off his horse and walked quickly to a stone tablet on the corner of the street.

Xia Houyan and others hurriedly dismounted and followed.

What Master Laurie found was a Doric monument as tall as one person.The rough and majestic shape of the stone stele is full of the artistic style of the early empire: Xia Houyan remembers that there are still similar stone steles in the imperial capital and the Xuecheng. They are also old objects from hundreds of years ago, which have long been pulled on ropes. protected.

Master Laurie recited a "Flowing Water Spell" and used the clear water that poured out of his palm to wipe off the moss and humus on the surface of the stele, revealing the incomplete engraving on the stele:
"...I hereby commend the townspeople who fought bravely and died unfortunately in the eradication of the wandering demons... In the 179th year of the imperial calendar, the lord of Raven Castle, the ruler of Blackwater Town, the guardian of the whole territory of the Earl of Igor, Henry Yi Earl Gore stands by..."

Xia Houyan smacked his lips: It turns out that this is an ancient monument of merit, and it was erected here by his own ancestors.

"So?" He squinted at Master Laurie. "What's the point of that?"

Master Laurie stretched out his hand and pointed to the bottom of the monument.

Xia Houyan squatted down and was surprised to find a line of inconspicuous small characters at the place indicated by the master.

This line of characters is very scribbled, and it seems that after the stone tablet was erected, some boring person who destroyed public property scratched it with a carving knife.

"What is written on it?" Alice asked curiously.

Xia Houyan carefully identified the engraving on the stone tablet, and his expression suddenly became exciting.

After a long time, he read word by word:

"... High-end teaching of necromancy, hand-to-hand bag teaching, only 56 silver coins from burial to entry, if interested, please contact Mr. Simon Adrian, No. [-] Lulu Street..."

Xia Houyan straightened up again, and looked at each other silently with his subordinates, silent for a long time.

(End of this chapter)