The first line of defense behind the door was quickly discovered. It was several long lines with bells attached to them, which were staggered and blocked at different positions, from close to the top to less than knee height, to prevent anyone from passing through in any possible way.
thing.
This seems to be a transitional corridor. Some structures that are not consistent with the sewer style are expanded to both sides, cutting through the original side walls, and using smaller bricks with more obvious artificial traces to build new wine cellar compartment-like structures.
.
These expanded spaces were occupied by makeshift wooden frames and large cylinders, where the smell of grease was nauseatingly rich and transparent, thin refracted colors trickled down the shiny surfaces into the water.
Thick ropes were connected to the unstable-looking support stakes, passed through several simple pulley structures, and extended to the second door that shimmered at the end of this corridor.
The team closed all the lantern hinges, immersed themselves in the greasy darkness, and slowly approached the light.
You can hear the monk in front of him suddenly freeze for a moment, as if he was slightly frightened, causing a small splash of water.
Kraft quickly understood the source of the shock - cold liquid dripped on his face, as if something was salivating on the top of his head, but if he felt it carefully, he found that it was just condensed water droplets.
Liquid droplets seeped out sparsely and continuously from the cracks in the rock formations, and the source was unknown.
Intermittent chatter could be heard in the light, kept very low, not wanting even the slightest echo to pass through the two stone gates and enter the depths of the waterway.
The monks hid in the shadows behind the door one by one to distinguish the voices. Although it was not clear, they could still find two tones with different pitches, complaining about the ghostly sewers and the duty hours.
They chatted almost without words, exchanging the same hatred for this mission.
The crossbowman approached the opening of the stone door, listened for a while, and entered decisively. He took two steps forward to make way for those who came after him, and at the same time aimed in the predicted direction.
He did not shoot immediately, but temporarily chose to wait for a moment. Green slipped through the crack of the door and sped up in a few steps, as nimble as a black raven skimming the water.
The inevitable sound of breaking water finally attracted attention. The watcher, who was crouching within the light range, noticed that his companion was stunned and silent, and looked back.
A very fast black line passed by the edge of the peripheral vision, and his vision was shrouded by the rapidly enlarging figure. Before his throat was choked with fear and he gave a warning, the sword edge pierced out from the tricky angle covered by the burqa and refused.
Make loud noises.
In another person's case, the capstan crossbow's destructive ability, which took minutes to cock, was fully demonstrated: it entered the face and exited the temporal side, destroying consciousness from the physical level in an instant.
Kraft put away his crossbow, "It seems like I have nothing to do for the time being."
"We'd better figure out where this place is as soon as possible." Green struck a sword at the target who had stopped moving, and wiped off the blood on his body. "These sentries are rotated."
The team finally had time to observe their location. They transitioned from a sewer with little change to a place with a more "human touch".
This is a small stone chamber with six walls. Water flows out from the gates at the corners, collects in the central reservoir through ditches, and is directed to the sewer, leaving a few pieces of ground that are not submerged in water.
The ropes we saw earlier extend here and are assembled on a balancing device, right next to the watcher. As long as the trigger mechanism is pulled, the weight hanging high will fall, releasing the accumulated potential energy, pulling the rope, and pulling down the front corridor.
A wooden frame supporting oil drums in the tunnel.
In addition to the door leading to the waterway, there is a second, smaller arch in the room that can only allow one person to pass through. Behind it is an upward staircase. The diagonal striped surface shows that it is the result of the quarrying process.
But it has obviously undergone some special repairs. The walls have been polished and made relatively smooth, and there are some traces of reliefs with a strong sense of age.
Judging from the craftsmanship, it is a group portrait of people in the early days when there was a lack of concept of human body structure. In order to depict the face, the head and body ratio are uncoordinated, making it look relatively short. It holds a flag and a tray in its hands, which are suspected to be used for rituals.
The already rough reliefs from ancient times were brutally damaged, with several parts knocked off, leaving traces of damage that were higher than ordinary figures.
They were standing in some kind of amphitheatre-like situation. Because there was no way to express the space, they were carved to stand in rows from high to low, like a giant, dull group photo printed on the wall, all facing outwards.
There was still water dripping from the top of the head, making people feel like they were performing a boring show in the rain for a silent audience.
Reliefs with dull and vague expressions stand shoulder to shoulder, and their pupilless eyes respond with an unfocused gaze.
After careful analysis, the composition of the personnel was complex. In addition to the hard-to-identify types of regular clothes, there were also armored uniforms clustered around the cut out parts.
It’s strange that Kraft’s knowledge of the kingdom’s history could tell anything. Just when he was about to act as quickly as possible, he discovered that Green was observing a person in a slightly special position.
It is located in the upper right corner of a wall. It wears a tall pointed hat and has symmetrical tray attendants on both sides. The person behind it is holding a flag and banner, which should have some status. In Craft's opinion, it may be some noble, but there is no heraldic symbol.
The situation is unrecognizable.
"Who is this?"
"I'm not sure." Green hesitated, opened the lantern hinge and prepared to step onto the stairs, "This is unlikely, at least it doesn't make sense... No, it doesn't seem certain, but it has nothing to do with the present -
I promise it is."
"Okay, if you say so." Kraft spread his hands and wisely gave up asking. He scanned the room one last time, looking for any details he had forgotten.
Logically speaking, the historical level between him and Green is not too far apart, so there shouldn't be anything overlooked.
No more clues were found on the wall, but he noticed the only blind spot in the room - the water reservoir. The water in it was particularly clear, unlike the water discharged by urban metabolism, which reminded people of another thing.
thing.
"Why is there always water seeping here?" He caught a drop of water in his palm, and the improvement in lighting conditions made him realize that the seepage was quite clean.
No one can answer this question. Although there is no dry place in the sewer, it is indeed extremely humid here. It seems that there is a huge amount of water above the head, and the huge pressure continues to send water to the deep strata.
Kraft stopped Green and squatted by the pool, wanting to observe more closely.
The water in the pool is so transparent that if you look closely, you can clearly see that the bottom of the pool, which is about two arms deep, is not empty.
Dense hexagonal stone sculptures are clustered together to form a hemispherical back shell. Short whisker-like fractal arcs are distributed on the edges. The web-like structure rises from the sand, as if it is about to stir up water waves at the next moment.
Emerge upward.
The carvings are so vivid, as if the craftsmen had received enlightenment far beyond their time at a certain moment and took out the living things that were already in the stone.