Chapter 40 Ancient Ruins

In fact, the ancient ruins or ruins in Gawain's memory are not far from the place where the team camped - it is located on the north side of the Dark Mountain Range, most of it is hidden in the mountain body, and part of the structure is exposed between the mountain walls , In theory, as long as you look up at the dark mountains in the distance, you can see part of the structure of the monument between the rock walls hundreds of meters above the ground.

It's just that the passage of time has wiped out the traces of civilization, and a large number of vines and mountain vegetation have covered the rock walls, covering up those historical sites. The structure outside the mountain is now difficult to observe. Standing at the place where the team camps and looking at the mountain, it is difficult for a hunter with good eyesight to spot the abnormality between the rocks and the vines at the first time.

After arranging things about the camp, Gao Wen and his party set off for the mountain. Only ten years of scenery will not change the natural terrain. With the help of the satellite view from ten years ago in his mind, plus the memory On the route into the mountain, Gao Wen and his party found the way up the mountain very smoothly.

Amber looked a little worried: "I said... You are going to dig treasures in the Dark Mountains. There are only four of us. Don't you think this team is a bit hanging?"

Gawain glanced at the half-elf: "What do you mean?"

Amber gestured: "Whatever happens, a team of hundreds of people will be guarded along the way, with more than a dozen master-level rangers and druids in the lineup, the knights in front clear the way, the mage in the back sits in town, and then a master-level thief like me is responsible for slipping away. Door picks - isn't that standard for treasure hunts in the mountains?"

"Standard for your size!" Gawain originally thought that this guy had some great ideas, but he turned out to be this nonsense, "Which treasure hunt team is configured according to the standard of the regular army! And it's easy for you to say - you organize it for me A wave of such teams coming out?"

"Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but this is the Dark Mountains! The Dark Mountains!" Amber waved his arms exaggeratedly, "It is said that there is a place where a demon lord lives every 800 meters! You take three people with you. Into the mountains - and one of them will only set fireballs..."

"Believe it or not, I can beat you to the ground without a fireball!" Rebecca suddenly became agitated, picked up the staff and pointed at Amber, "Let you see how powerful the women in Cecil's family are!"

Gawain stopped his great-granddaughter on the N+1 floor and glanced at Amber helplessly: "You will die on this mouth sooner or later. And where did you hear that there is a demon lord living every 800 meters in the dark mountains? This is all Is it the ignorant villagers who scare the children? If there are so many demon lords, they would have swept Ansu long ago."

With that said, he raised his head and looked at the winding mountain road ahead.

"The Dark Mountains are indeed a dangerous place, but most people magnify the danger here too seriously. In fact, during the Gondor Empire, this mountain range was just one of the ordinary northern mountains, and the Gao Ridge Group in the southern part of the continent. The mountains are also known as the two major mountain systems in the north and south of Loren. At that time, the Dark Mountains were not dark at all. Instead, they had the reputation of 'Golden Mountains' due to their rich products and the production of various minerals. Unfortunately, after the outbreak of the magic tide, the Dark Mountains Just facing the place where the elemental storm hits the strongest - the entire southern foot of the mountain range was eroded by the elements, forming a terrifying black forest, and this mountain range was gradually called the dark mountain range."

Gawain was talking about what he knew - part of it came from the memories in his mind, and the other part was the knowledge he had made up recently.

"The Black Forest on the opposite side of the mountain is indeed dangerous, but it is located on the south side of the mountain, and this mountain is a natural barrier, almost isolating the breath from the Gondor wastes that permeates through the magnificent wall. Most of the The mutant monsters living in the black forest all need to rely on the chaotic magic energy to survive, so they will not leave the black forest at all, let alone cross the ridge to this northern area that is suffocating for them, so the dark mountain's The north side is actually quite safe.

"

The route that Gawain chose was not covered by much vegetation, but from time to time, he could see some overgrown trees and vines spreading from the side of the road. It will also be affected by some wasteland breaths-that is, a small amount of "elemental wind" (that is, the unclean wind in Viscount Andrew's mouth) that floats from the south along the airflow every year. Underneath, the plants looked twisted and unusually sturdy, with some terrifying connotations.

But Gawain knew very well that apart from looking a little scary on the outside, these things were actually not threatening at all. They were just "stronger" plants. Those who wandered around in the forest north of the Dark Mountains returned to the The children of nobles who boast that they have experienced the Black Forest are all exaggerating the dangers of this land-they have no idea what the real Black Forest looks like.

The reason why he was able to confirm that the pollution in the north side of the Dark Mountain Range had subsided was not because of the memory in his mind or the information he had inquired, but because of the satellite view from ten years ago.

As long as the satellite view is compared with the data in memory, it is easy to determine that this is actually a safe zone.

"People's fear here actually only stems from two points. The first is the fear of Gondor Wasteland. Although the Sentinel Tower and the magnificent wall built by the elves sealed most of the Gondor Wasteland, the layer The magical barrier can only isolate 70% to 80% of the chaotic magical energy. The corruption that seeps out from the wasteland of Gondor every year is the biggest threat to the border areas of the four countries. Fear and pressure will not dissipate so quickly - these horror stories in border areas have been circulated for seven hundred years, and they have long become part of traditional culture," Gawain said casually as he chopped down the vegetation along the way. , "The second...is the fear of the unknown."

"Unknown?" Amber asked with a frown.

"That's right, unknown. How many years has the Anzu Kingdom stopped its southern expansion?"

The answer was Rebecca: "If it is counted from the signing of the order to stop the development, it will be more than two hundred years. If it is counted from the cancellation of all the settlements, it will be a hundred years."

"That's right, it's a hundred years to say the least. For a whole hundred years, this place has been listed as a forbidden place. Except for those 'adventurers' who brag about it when they go back, no one dares to approach this place, and there is no People know exactly what this place is like. They can only learn about this place from the horror stories handed down from generation to generation and the adventure stories that adventurers have blown up, how can they not be afraid?"

After listening to Gawain's series of popular science, Amber finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Huh... Then the horror stories of the Dark Mountains are all blown out, in fact, we are very safe here?"

Gawain thought for a while, and suddenly approached Miss Half-Elf with a terrifying expression: "Actually, I lied to you—this place is eerie, dangerous, chaotic, and terrifying, and there is a demon lord living every eight hundred meters."

Amber: "...Yuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!"

"It's still a master-level thief, it's not ashamed," Gawain smiled with satisfaction, raised his hand and patted Rebecca's head next to him, and pointed to a tree trunk lying on the ground not far away, "Your fireball There's a place for the technique - blow that thing up. If I remember correctly, it's up front."

Rebecca had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and immediately nodded happily, and when she raised her staff, a fireball with a big head flew straight ahead.

I always feel that this girl summons fireballs faster than before...

"boom--"

After a loud bang, the fireball exploded, and the rotten and fragile tree trunk was blown away, turning into two parts that were out of balance and rolled down the hillside, and the road ahead suddenly became clear.

An open space hidden in the mountains is presented to everyone.

This open area seems to have been deliberately leveled by someone, and the rocks have been cut into incredible neat shapes. Between the rocks, you can see ancient arches and collapsed walls, which are "inlaid" as if they were integrated with the mountain. Between the huge rock cliffs, it can even give people an illusion - as if there was once a magnificent fortress, which was swallowed up by the surrounding stones.

But in fact, the ancient ruin itself was built inside the mountain, and it has about two-thirds of its structure hidden behind that stone wall.

Whether it’s Amber, who has been cowardly along the way, or Rebecca, who has been listening to the admonitions of her ancestors, or the Knight Byron, who is on full alert, when she sees this ancient ruin hidden in the mountain, she can’t help but wonder. Eyes widened.

They looked at this incredible ancient ruin in amazement.

And Gawain's eyes wandered around, and suddenly stopped beside a collapsed gravel.

He came to the pile of rubble, and there was a piece of black stuff stuck in the pile that could hardly be seen as it was. Broken sword.

On the ground next to the stone pile, a row of nicks can be seen, so deep that they are still clearly discernible after seven hundred years of weathering: 16 Squadron, where Cole is buried.

Rebecca's voice came from behind: "This is... what?"

"When the team crossed the Baishui River, they encountered pursuers, and the 16th Squadron was in charge of the rear, but no one survived," Gawain said slowly, "It should be the last surviving soldiers who retreated to this place when there was no hope of breaking through. It's a pity ... At that time, the tide was raging, and the entire Dark Mountain Range was shrouded in corruption. In my lifetime, we were unable to retake this area, and when the tide naturally subsided, no one remembered this place..."

Knight Byron took off his saber, pressed the sword to his chest, and bowed to the humble tomb.

The soldiers buried here still have a tomb, but the soldiers who built the tomb and left their marks are hard to find even the slightest trace.

Gawain was silent for a while in front of the grave, then picked up a piece of gravel from the side and pressed it on top of the pile: "Don't worry, everyone is alive."

At this moment, he hoped that he would say this sentence in the tone of Gawain Cecil, not the transmigrator Gawain.

Then he walked to the arch not far away: "Come with me, I will show you what your ancestors left here."