After a long time, like water smoothing the edges of masonry, someone in the team made a sound, which was dispersed by the sound of water echoing in the space.
Before setting off, everyone had seen the rubbings on display. They were hexagonal shapes no wider than the width of a palm. They were flattened into old book pages in clusters, containing strange and difficult-to-date lines.
Probably only the most sensitive people would associate it with undiscovered cults and activities within medical schools.
Green is such a person. Sometimes he has an astonishing intuition and can find the key in a large amount of dizzying information, like a heron's sharp beak pecking at a swimming fish that blends in with the ripples and scales in the water.
Facts have proven that most of the time this is not the delusional reasoning of those who are paranoid, obsessive-compulsive, and eager for promotion, but a God-given talent.
Because of this, a person with no background can earn a place for himself within an important church institution.
The monks were willing to obey his instructions. After all, even the sailors knew that they should get on the boat that caught the most fish. As long as they did some physical work, they would probably be able to get a guaranteed harvest.
According to past routines, there is a chance that they will find a group of pagan symbols hidden underground and find the gathering place.
What they saw was far beyond their expectations. No one could have imagined that there was a space comparable to the main hall of a church buried under Dunling. A large number of tunnels leading here turned the water into a waterfall and plunged into a deep hexagonal well that roared loudly.
.
Following the guidance of the egret in the muddy water of the shallows, hoping to find a small fish, the person fished out the scale that could not be grasped with both hands and fingers.
"I ask again, is this a sewer?"
"Whether it was built for that purpose or not, it is now." Green was speechless for a moment, but quickly calmed down, "A particularly large relic, but this time it is complete."
His attitude brought great comfort to the team. Whoever built these things should have disappeared into the vast river of time long ago without leaving a name.
"What we should worry about most is where we are going."
The passage that led them here was just one of many openings of the same kind. No matter how keen Green was, he was no longer a web-weaving spider and could accurately sense where his prey was on the thread.
"Did you see any signs of activity as you walked around?"
"There are no, or there are no traces that are obvious enough to attract attention." Kraft said truthfully. He paid more attention to the underground building itself, as well as those radiating from the central hexagonal well.
Cutting grooves.
Only the rocks here are constant, and the rest of the sediment, moss, or traces of the past will be washed away by the water flow.
Even the rocks themselves are not unchanged. The edges of some cracks are slightly blunt, and the stone seams are loose and moss-covered. Others have sharp edges, so that they feel somewhat...new?
Their haphazard distribution also doesn’t fit well with the symmetrical, concentrically nested overall layout, like a latecomer rather than included in the design.
"Then there's only one way."
"What?" Kraft continued to think doubtfully about the environment. Everything in the scene was inconsistent with common sense and he was confused.
"Look for them all."
"This is... too exaggerated." Even the person with the strongest will cannot make such a decisive decision. "Let's search carefully first. If they come often, they will still leave traces."
"We can't go through all these passages."
"No, we can. Of course, the premise is that the direction cannot be determined clearly." Green's tone was not joking and ironic, he was really thinking about the possibility of this method.
"The space in the passage is large enough. We just need to go back a little and build a transit rest camp. It will be much more convenient."
"Camp in the sewers?"
"Sometimes those guys hiding in the sewers will use a certain section as a base. In that case, we can do it too." Based on past experience in arrests, these underground spaces are not closed environments, and long-term stays are entirely feasible.
People can save a lot of time traveling back and forth, return to the transfer station to rest, and replenish lighting before continuing to explore.
There are dozens of passages in total, opening into this underground space of unknown purpose. The time they will spend here will not be short, and the possibility of going deeper cannot be ruled out. Obviously, it is impossible to start from the ground again and again.
After pausing for a while to make a simple estimate, he became more and more certain of this idea, "It will take about thirty more people, and it will take quite a while. To be safe, it will take at least a few days. If we are lucky, we won't have to search everything."
"It sounds bad. Have you ever considered rain? This is not a place near the surface. No one knows how much water will gather here, and the flow rate will be very fast." Not only the water volume problem, but also due to various reasons
Considering this, Kraft was quite reluctant to stay in this environment for a long time.
Especially when you think about the fact that you are in a ruins whose function, scale, and age are unknown. Its scale is beyond the reach of human beings, and it has not left any trace in the records.
This made him feel that the more he walked in the darkness, the farther away he was from the familiar world, drifting along the waterway into the tributary that had been hidden in history, and repeating the mistakes of the lost.
Their distinctive hexagonal-style creations have survived to this day, but they themselves are missing.
Even though it has been used as a sewer for hundreds of thousands of years, it cannot erase the weird atmosphere that fills the void, as if the ghosts who built this place are still wandering in the long dark corridor, silently examining the living.
"It doesn't look like it will rain recently. But you are right, we should arrange for people to pay attention to the weather up there. There is no fixed place here, and the rapids will directly wash people away."
"I think we should retreat further, to the place where we came in. It's best to retreat to the tomb behind the rock crevice." Kraft suggested, "If it's too close to the hall, I'll call it 'the hall'. Any passing by
Everyone can detect the sound and fire in the passage."
This chapter is not over, please click the next page to continue reading! Pushing the temporary site back means that each round trip requires a long journey and a longer search time, but he feels this is necessary.
Green nodded and agreed with him. More than half of the torch oil prepared in advance had been consumed in the previous search, and the team returned the same way. They realized that the matter could not be solved in a short time, and they would probably have to deal with it for a long time.
I can’t work in a place where I can’t see the sun.
Fortunately, the priest's ability and reputation were enough to convince the public, or the monks were really willing to sacrifice personal comfort in order to break pagan superstitions and punish lawlessness to demonstrate their devotion to the Lord. This literal dirty work was carried out.
The team withdrew from the sewers and used the remaining time to complete preparations for the advance.
First, Father Green, who had gained something, mobilized more people, and a trusted "colleague" was added to the tombkeeper.
Although Kraft was very skeptical about the level of confidentiality, the people in the Inquisition still did some cover-up work. Logistics materials were placed in the coffin and the people entered the cemetery in batches.
The corridor was cleared and guide signs were placed; the dumped bones were put aside.
Then they evacuated the tomb that was connected to the sewer, moved a bunch of bones and funerary objects to other places, and rearranged them. They picked out the fragments of clay pots stained with honey and looked for clues such as engraved codes on them. Of course,
In the end nothing was gained.
After discovering that the small tomb, which was converted from half a stone chamber, was too crowded, someone suggested that the adjacent stone chamber be vacated and used for temporary storage of flammable materials and stacking of waste. This was quickly implemented.
The monks drew a schematic diagram of the location of the door openings around the hexagonal hall based on Kraft's description, began to allocate the exploration range, and estimated the return feedback time.
In this regard, they showed rare professionalism. Kraft was a little uncomfortable but at the same time felt relieved.
"My people are very good and have corresponding experience." Green extinguished an extra oil lamp and walked to Kraft's side. "Then I just need to leave the matter to them and leave the luck to the Lord's arrangement."
Wadin gave them a church salute and led a team through the gap. The sound of splashing boots could be heard from the opposite side, and the bright firelight faded away in the dampness.
"Aren't you going to come with us?" It should be a blessing to be able to proceed with the search as planned for the first time and to have enough manpower, but Kraft soon felt a little idle when he was free.
Looking down at the sketch, Green was like a wolf observing the footprints of its prey. He subconsciously licked his wet and dry lips. After entering the tomb, he never once thought of grabbing the water bag next to him.
"Someone has to make decisions here and be in the right place at the right time."
It can be seen that this dedicated priest has completely entered into working mode, and his seriousness and enthusiasm for his faith and responsibilities are surging under the restraint of calm reason.
"As I said before, all we need now is time. You can go back to the clinic first. I will send someone to notify you at any time if there is any news."
Kraft clearly sensed something was wrong, "No, I don't want the next time I hear the news to be that you have already made some decision that I don't know about."
This sounds like he wants to leave his partner and go it alone. He believes that Green can do this kind of thing - if he had more than 30 people in his hands and the logistics behind him, he would do it himself as soon as possible.
.
"This matter will not be solved so easily, I have a hunch. Don't forget the pattern on the rubbing. We haven't found any signs of engraving yet." Kraft felt it was necessary to remind him.
Following the clues seems to have yielded a lot, but there are too many things that have not been confirmed. And everything in that hall contains many obvious or unrealized flaws.
"I have a suggestion that I hope will be taken seriously."
"OK."
"No, what I want is a guarantee, one that is credible enough." Kraft emphasized his attitude.
Green's eyes moved away from the sketch. He had never heard this tone from the professor before.
He became serious, and considering that the other party's style would not propose anything that was impossible to achieve and would embarrass both parties, he hesitated for a moment and agreed:
“In the name of Heavenly Father—as long as what you say makes sense.”
"Very good, tell your people not to think of this as a way to clean up street gangs, and be prepared to fight the devil... Also, it's best to use a crossbow from a distance."
"We'll be ready." Green didn't understand why he needed to mention that specifically, but it didn't hurt.
"Very good, I will come tomorrow." Kraft stared into Green's eyes to confirm that his meaning was conveyed in place.
Before leaving, he thought of the hall again, and a little doubt became clear.
"By the way, if you go to the sewers often, I have something to ask. Can moss grow in a place without light?"
"Is that okay? Shouldn't moss grow in dark places?"