"There's Bellmullen," Hitzfeld said. "And then there's you."
"Oh~ Let me make it clear first that I'm not a real tree man. Don't expect me to turn into a tree to shelter you from the wind and rain if the ground collapses - that's not possible."
"I know."
"What do you know..."
Darent was completely helpless. He pulled his hair hard on his forehead and suddenly became dejected.
"I shouldn't have come here... God, Imaar will kill me!"
Although this matter had nothing to do with Maps-Dalent, he did not expect a woman in love to be reasonable.
Xiasha-Imaer would only blame him for not stopping Count Xieyang at that time. If she was unlucky enough to get injured, she would be even more angry at himself for not protecting her.
Darent's speaking style was so weird that some people, including Sheriff Dabe, had been trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. They did hear every word, but they were still confused as to what it meant.
"Get ready to go, Count."
They came to a wooden elevator and stopped. Faram in front turned around and introduced himself.
"There should be some safety equipment in the box next to it. You'd better wear it... and a mask."
"I have a hat, thank you, and I have my own mask too."
"That's no problem, we can stand up first."
He and Heim stood on the elevator together, motioned Hitzfeld and Darent to come up together, and then tried to recruit Belmaren.
Belmaren stepped onto the wooden floor without hesitation, and the floor began to groan in pain as soon as he stepped onto it.
Hitzfeld quickly sent him away, replaced him with Sheriff Dabe and his assistant, and asked Belmullen to wait for the next trip.
Bang, bang, bang...
The elevator slowly descended with a noise, and Hitzfeld observed the mine all the way.
She had already put on a mask, with only her right eye exposed.
The way down was not vertical, but at an angle. It was pitch black all the way, with no light in sight, and even if you stretched out your hand you couldn't see your fingers.
click-
To the bottom level.
Others turned on their flashlights or felt for the outline, but Hitzfeld was the only one who changed his eye mask and walked down the stairs easily and naturally.
She efficiently found the corner of the mine where lighting tools were stored and saw an iron plate hanging on the wall.
Turning on the flashlight, you can see on the iron plate the business scope of this mine - that is, what type of mineral it is and whether a mining license has been obtained.
This thing is also very troublesome to break down. For example, iron ore, coal mine, oil and gas mine, different types of mineral deposits require different mining certificates. Only by doing targeted safety protection can you get a mining license.
The sign shows that this is an iron ore mine, so there are not so many restrictions on open flames.
With a hiss, Hitzfeld lit a torch with a match.
She could smell whether there was any poisonous gas, and for the time being, the fire would not blow the place up.
By this time, the others had almost adapted to the underground environment. They picked up coal lamps and torches and began to move deeper under the leadership of Fram and Heim.
On the way, Hitzfeld would ask them questions from time to time.
“Is this the place where Dab’s manpower is contracted?”
"No... it's from the Cuckinson Company." Faram replied, "We just rent our manpower to these mining companies. They have reserved the land for us, and we just work here."
"You know that going into the mines can greatly shorten a person's life span."
"know."
"Then have you ever thought about giving your people a new job?"
"It's not that easy, Count." Faram smiled bitterly. "The competition here is fierce. If there were only people from our Bro, we could still try to win them over. But more than 60% of the entire human resources market are overseas natives. We don't have any advantage over them."
The Buro people are the mountain natives, and they are more civilized than the overseas natives.
They eat cooked meat, have a sense of shame, and have good learning and communication skills, which are all advantages that enable them to better integrate into the local community.
But in terms of work, going down into the mines is purely physical labor, and the foreman does not need to master much knowledge. Therefore, a well-educated Bro man cannot be more expensive than an ignorant native.
"The remnants of Seran."
"?" Faram's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
But the Count seemed to be just saying casually: "I heard someone call you mountain people that."
This statement is not groundless. It refers to the fact that before the gray fog brought disaster, a part of the Guserlan people took their families and hid in the mountains. They survived because of isolation from the world. The Bro people are the descendants of these people.
"It's meaningless." Faram shook his head. "What does it matter who they are? We don't care about that. As long as we can maintain the status quo, it's fine."
"I'm just curious," Hitzfeld said, "because the ancient Serran people have the strongest faith in the goddess. I wonder what happened in the middle that caused the remaining people of Serran to abandon their faith and split into scattered tribes of 'polytheism'?"
"You are already certain that we were once the descendants of Seran. This is a bit..." Falam grinned, "We ourselves are not sure about this."
"Then can you please tell me what you know, Chief Priest? For example, your customs? Those totems?"
"You...Okay, I'll tell you."
Seeing that he couldn't stop his curiosity, Faram had no choice but to describe some secrets unknown to outsiders based on what he knew.
"The totem of the Dabu tribe is the white fox," he said. "The totem is the spiritual heritage of the Buro people. We believe that the totem contains magical power that can protect us from nightmares and help us sleep peacefully until dawn."
"Dream disaster?"
"That's what Sarah said about evil spirits and nightmares. We will also be affected, but offering sacrifices to the totem can strengthen our faith and reduce the chances of those monsters appearing."
Faram patiently explained the details, and then began to talk about the origin of the tribe based on the so-called totem.
"When I was young, I was also very curious about why the totem had such power. Later, I learned that the outside world was so vast and there were countries like Sara. I was even more curious why the power of the totem could not protect them."
"I have asked some elders for confirmation on this." Faram narrowed his eyes, "The answer they gave me is that the totem's blessing has a range."
"scope?"
"Yes, the totem only protects those who offer sacrifices to it. What rises from the thick smoke is not only faith, but also our yearning and longing for our ancestors."
“Then this is more of a spiritual power.”
"It's not just spiritual power! I've felt it! Totems really do have souls!"
Faram said hurriedly, "I have experienced a dream disaster up close! It was a foggy day, I had a high fever, and I felt something terrible approaching me in my dream... My family invited the chief priest of the tribe to hold a ceremony for me, and I saw a white fox in my dream, and it drove away those dirty things!"
!! ?
Sheriff Dabei and others looked at each other in bewilderment.
There was no channel to understand it so deeply before, and they have always been prejudiced against this kind of ritual.
Is the effect really that good?
Why is there a range? If the Sara people of Manion believe this, will it not work?
"Sara people... it works." Falam could see the doubt in their hearts, "but it only works in Manion. It won't work outside of here."
"What is the reason for this?"
"This..." Falam paused, "I'm not sure about what I'm going to say next... I once heard from an elder in the tribe that a long time ago, Manion was not actually Sara's territory. There used to be a most prosperous tribe here, and its name was 'Manion'."
Hitzfeld's heart moved.
What kind of connection does this Manion tribe have with today's Manion city?
Suddenly, she thought of the native youth who died in prison and the white snake tattoo on his back.
"Does it have a totem?" she asked Falam.
"what?"
"Does this 'Manion' tribe have a totem?"
"This……"
It was obvious that Faram was struggling and hesitating.
It seemed that some kind of fear was restraining him, preventing him from speaking directly.
"It's the White Snake."
Hitzfeld asked tentatively.
"It's a creature called 'Phantom Snake', isn't it?"
"!?"
Faram looked at her in surprise for a long time.
But because she was wearing a mask, he could only see two clear eyes of different colors.
"Yes……"
After a long pause, he nodded in acknowledgement.
"It's a white snake... and it's definitely a phantom snake..."
"This is a legendary creature." He began to explain to the others, "It will grow the appearance of the creature it eats onto its snake skin. The totem of the Manion tribe is this. They have a custom that seems extremely evil today: all dead people are not buried, but sent to be eaten by the white snake, so that the snake will grow the appearance of the deceased when he was alive on his body."
Is this some kind of evil ritual?
The sheriff and his men's hair stood on end when they heard this.
And is the body-eating phantom snake real?
Isn't this a fictional creature from strange stories?
"What does this have to do with 'range'?" Hitzfeld asked.
What she thought of at this moment was the words that Sixus asked Old Baal to bring to her.
Many years ago, she met a man named Manion here, who told her that her heart would be "extraordinarily effective" if it was here.
What is the connection between this "effectiveness" and the "effectiveness" of the Buro people's rituals?
What does the geomagnetic field mean?
Is Manion a tribe or a specific person's name?
"It's a curse..."
Faram shuddered as he uttered the word.
“There are two theories.”
"The first one is that the Manion tribe is evil. They attacked other tribes to feed the white snake, and provoked the Sara people, who sent troops to wipe them out... After the white snake was killed, its blood soaked this land. Only those who believe in the totem can find shelter here."
"The second one."
"The second one is... that this tribe is righteous. Some people say that there was a 'prophet' here who warned other tribes that only by combining the power of all totems can they fight against evil."
"What will happen to him?"
"I don't know." Faram shook his head. "The people who told me this are old and their speech is unclear. I didn't hear what they said after that."
"Interesting story." Darent commented, "So can you tell us about this place? I don't understand what's so good about it..."
“I can answer that.”
Hitzfeld pointed deep into the mine, and suddenly several rays of light shone towards the location she was pointing at.
"You're from the library too, Maps. Aren't you curious as to why they don't have a base here?"
"I……"
Darent was embarrassed to say that he hadn't really thought about it.
But what did she mean?
Getting closer, people squinted at the pit and found that in the corner where rocks and soil were mixed, some twisted roots could be vaguely seen exposed.
“This is a fog light flower.”
Farram said.
"It's not blooming yet. The flowers of this plant will emit mist, and the stamens will glow in the mist. It can be regarded as a little helper at work... Why do you have such expressions?"
He didn't find anything unusual, but the black-clad detective next to him changed his expression drastically.
At the same time, there was a vibration from behind.
