Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 297: Have we finally reached the bottom?

When Lingge and his team entered the secret passage and gradually went deeper into the valley, the Rift Valley Security Patrol Team sentry post outside the old site of Windmill Village also welcomed a special guest. Sheriff Arthur David found an excuse to send the other team members away, leaving only himself to receive this guest.

In fact, it would be more appropriate to say reporting work.

"So far, we can confirm that," the sheriff, who had typical Nimsher looks and brown eyes, was actually a young man no older than 25 years old. He said seriously to the middle-aged gentleman in front of him who had a gentle smile on his face, "no one has entered the village ruins, and all tourists who intended to approach have been persuaded to return."

"There's no one, are you sure?" the other party asked again.

Arthur David nodded seriously. "Yes, I am sure, Mr. Hansen. This is my job. Please believe that I will never fail in my duty."

Hansen David, who has the same surname as him and is also Professor David, the current director of the Lubeon Museum, nodded with satisfaction. "That's good, Arthur. You are faithfully performing your duties, and this is why I value you so much. I hope it will be the same next time. You must guard this place and don't let anyone enter the village, so as not to affect what I am going to do next."

Arthur David hesitated for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Is it the very important archaeological work you mentioned before?"

"Archaeology? Yes, you are absolutely right."

The professor's smile and tone seemed to become intriguing: "We will discover the greatest relics of the past era here, thus opening a new era. Arthur, you will be the first witness at the closest distance. How about it? Do you feel a little excited and excited?"

He waved his hand and said, "Let's stop chatting here. I have to go into the village to conduct preliminary archaeological surveys. This is a very important job. So, Arthur, tell your patrolmen to be alert and don't let anyone in to disturb me - remember, I mean anyone."

Fortunately, we finally see the light of day.

For the sake of his studies and future, Arthur David had no choice, so he came to the remote town of Avion under the secret arrangement of Professor David, and became the sheriff there, guarding the nearby Rhonin Rift for seven years. If his student record was not still kept in the Academic Affairs Office of Nimsher University, the young man might have suspected that the professor was deceiving him.

The young man wearing the sheriff's badge shook his head. "I'm sorry, Mr. Hansen, you know I'm not interested in history. After all, I studied law in college... So I would like to ask, after this archaeological work is over, can I return to college and continue my studies?"

There was a hint of uneasiness and anticipation in his brown eyes.

"Don't worry, Arthur. I never break my promise." The professor nodded slightly to the young man in front of him and said, "Believe me, when you look back on your life in the future, you will feel that your experience here is a precious treasure in your life. It has taught you a lot. You still have a lot to do in the future."

It is true that Arthur David was a young man with a promising future, but for some reason, his family fell into poverty and he could not afford the tuition. At this time, Hanson David, a blood relative of the same clan, extended a helping hand and promised not only to help him solve the tuition problem, but also to use his status as an honorary professor to fight for the opportunity for further study for him, but he only needed the young man to complete a simple task first.

"Yes, Mr. Hansen." Although he didn't know why he was so cautious, Arthur agreed immediately. It was not a difficult task for him anyway.

Professor David left and walked towards the village ruins. Arthur stood there without moving, quietly watching his back disappear from sight until he was completely out of sight. Then he sighed softly as if he had unloaded a heavy burden. The sigh echoed in the room, then drifted away along the wooden window frame, and was finally swept into the howling wind in the rift not far away, becoming one of the noises of the beasts' roars and howls.

Will the experience here become a valuable asset in life?
But Arthur felt that he was just wasting time and actually gained nothing. In these seven years, even the various laws that he had memorized by heart had been gradually forgotten. Instead, the only thing that replaced it was the sound of the wind that never stopped in the rift valley, roaring every moment, making it difficult for people to sleep peacefully. Sometimes Arthur couldn't help but wonder, what is the meaning of these winds? Is it just to do monotonous exercise day after day in this bottomless chasm? Or is it to help him pass the bar exam, get a small room by the window as an office in a big city like Nimsher, and live a well-dressed upper-class life? Only people who have been blown silly by the wind would have such thoughts.

He also heard that the people of Avion were so obsessed with the wind that they had reached a fever pitch, not only did every household set up a windmill, but they even cheered for the storm that hit the city. He had never seen such a crazy scene before, and he couldn't help but doubt its authenticity, and then he thought that the people of Avion had a problem with their brains.

I've had enough of this place.

He thought silently: Fortunately, I can leave soon.

When Professor David completes this important archaeological work, I can return to Nimsher University to continue my unfinished studies, and let my life get back on track after seven years of delay. As for Avion? I will never have any contact with this remote town in my life. It has left me with nothing but some boring, numb, tormented and suspicious memories.

As he was thinking, he suddenly heard a gust of wind passing by his ears.

call--

……

Lingge and his group went deeper into the secret passage. Due to the dim light underground, they had to rely on the lantern in Olvera's hand to gain vision. Fortunately, there were no forks in the road, so they just had to follow the only road straight down.

The front half of this secret passage seemed to be artificially excavated, so it was very narrow. At the narrowest part, one had to bend down and crawl to barely pass through. After walking for a few minutes, a cave entrance appeared in front of them. After crossing the cave entrance, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed. They came to a terrain similar to a karst cave. There were many bamboo shoot-shaped stone pillars extending from the rock walls on both sides and the rock formations above their heads. The inside seemed to be inlaid with some strange crystals, emitting deep fluorescence. Some of the ends were seeping down with water drops, hitting the ancient rocks, making a crisp and empty echo.

Signs of life began to appear here. They were densely grown mosses clinging to the surface of the rock walls and stalagmites, reflecting the fluorescence of the crystals inside and spreading it throughout the entire cave. As a result, the light became much brighter, and Olvera breathed a sigh of relief: due to the curse, she had no resistance to this enclosed and dim environment, and was basically in a state of fear. She didn't even dare to look away, and could only stare at the fire in the lantern and move forward.

At the same time, starting from here, the road did not slope downward, but stretched forward smoothly, which surprised Ling Ge: Could it be that they had already reached the bottom of the valley? However, it only took a few minutes to walk from the entrance of the secret passage to here. The height was obviously different from the height when overlooking the valley bottom from the edge of the cliff.

Either his perception of time was wrong, or the Ronin Rift itself was not that high, and people's vision was confused for some reason. For example... the strong wind that swirled through the bottom of the valley all year round?

Perhaps there was such a possibility, but Lingge didn't think about it carefully, because Alice, who was walking in the front, had already exclaimed, attracting everyone's attention: "Ah, I see it! It's the exit!"

Hearing this, Linger looked up and saw a little light. It was light from the outside world, which gradually grew larger as they approached, and finally completely covered his vision. The sudden bright light made the young man's pupils dart, and it took him some time to adapt and refocus, taking in the scene in front of him, and he was speechless for a moment.

At the same time, he heard his sister exclaim: "How beautiful!"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)