BXBX NOVEL Chapter 102: The Maze-like Mine
"An entrance leading underground here? How could we have missed it before? Did neither of you notice anything either?"
Charles directed his gaze towards Medusa and Little Green.
The expressions on Medusa and Little Green\'s faces were tinged with a hint of hesitation.
They furrowed their brows, seemingly deep in thought about what had transpired earlier.
Medusa was the first to shake her head. "When I passed by here, I didn\'t notice anything unusual. I\'m certain that the last time we were here, this entrance wasn\'t present."
Little Green nodded in agreement and added, "I think so too. This entrance must have appeared only recently."
In response to Medusa and Little Green\'s remarks, the blind old man chuckled softly.
"You are indeed quite naive," he said, his voice tinged with amusement.
"Do you really believe that the Serpent Empire\'s guards wouldn\'t take any precautions while digging downward? In reality, the entrance to the underground is constantly shifting.
It\'s not as you suggested—that this entrance appeared only recently. This entrance has always existed; it was merely opened in the past day or two."
Charles did not oppose the blind old man\'s words.
He merely felt a slight suspicion towards him for not forewarning about such an occurrence.
However, given that they had already arrived here, they obviously needed to seize this opportunity to quickly enter the underground area.
The mass escape of prisoners had plunged Rock Fortress into a state of enormous panic.
This was the reason why the bustling street was now deserted.
If they continued to waste time, they would very likely be discovered by others.
If they attracted the Serpent Empire\'s guards, their situation would become even more precarious.
Thus, Charles and the others entered the entrance leading to the underground area of Rock Fortress.
The entrance was incredibly narrow, allowing only one person to pass through at a time.
Medusa led the way, with the blind old man following closely behind her.
Right after them were Charles, Eck, and Johann, with Little Green bringing up the rear.
This arrangement was the most logical, ensuring both the safety of the group and that the blind old man could guide them to their destination with the utmost speed.
Not long after entering the underground area, everyone noticed the space around them gradually expanding. Eventually, they found themselves in an extremely spacious underground cavern.
Amazingly, within this cavern, there was an underground river flowing continuously forward.
Eck was visibly delighted upon seeing this underground river.
"I absolutely must document this river," he exclaimed. "The next time we venture into the Desert of Sands, we can use the river\'s course to locate oases within the desert!"
Given that Eck was a member of The Explorer\'s Association, he naturally documented all his discoveries during his travels.
At this moment, the blind old man at the front turned around and said, "You don\'t need to record the course of this river, for its path is constantly shifting."
"Below this underground river lies another tunnel, initially dug by the guards of the Serpent Empire. Since the direction of that tunnel was incorrect, they ended up excavating a new one."
The blind old man\'s words left Eck slightly disappointed.
Nonetheless, he still recorded the course of the underground river. He couldn\'t be entirely certain if the blind old man\'s claims were accurate.
After all, what if the blind man\'s judgment was wrong?
If he abandoned documenting the underground river simply because of a few words from someone else, he might regret it for the rest of his life.
Charles didn\'t pay much attention to the actions of Eck and the others.
As long as Eck\'s actions didn\'t pose a threat to him, he was fine with it.
Under the guidance of the blind old man, the group quickly passed through the previous cavern. Following the direction of the underground river, they soon reached a very low-lying area.
"Be cautious here; the space is extremely narrow. The rocks above you are quite sharp, and if you aren\'t careful, you could easily get cut," warned the blind old man.
Heeding the old man\'s advice, the group managed to safely navigate through the perilous area.
After emerging from the dangerous zone, Eck lowered his voice and whispered to Johann, "I can\'t shake the feeling that something is off. Have you noticed that our surroundings are becoming increasingly complex?"
I don\'t even know if we can make it out of here. The blind old man seems to be leading us into deeper and narrower caves.
Eck had always harbored a sense of distrust towards the blind old man.
The only reason he hadn\'t voiced his concerns earlier was that he held little authority within the group.
Eck\'s words were clearly overheard by Charles.
Charles found it odd that the blind old man seemed overly familiar with the terrain.
The old man should have been blind for quite some time, so why was he so knowledgeable about the layout here?
At that moment, a terrifying suspicion dawned on Charles.
What if everything the blind old man had done was to set them up for a trap? Hadn\'t Charles and the others already walked right into it?
Upon considering this possibility, Charles checked the items he was carrying.
After ensuring that all his gear and supplies were intact, Charles felt somewhat relieved.
With this equipment and these provisions, even if he had fallen into a trap set by the blind old man, he had a good chance of making it out unscathed.
For the next few hours, the blind old man led Charles and his companions further underground.
Under his guidance, Charles and the others found themselves in a labyrinthine terrain.
Even though Charles had a strong sense of spatial awareness, it was of little use in this maze-like environment.
As they descended deeper, both Eck and Johann began to feel short of breath.
Eck approached Charles and asked him.
"Are we really going to keep going deeper? I think we\'ve gone deep enough. If we continue, we\'re bound to encounter significant danger."
As Eck was speaking, Charles could faintly hear the sound of rocks being struck in the distance.
"We haven\'t yet reached the location that the blind old man mentioned, so we need to keep moving forward. I understand you\'re under immense pressure right now.
But I think you don\'t need to worry too much; even if we encounter danger, our companions will ensure our safety.
After saying this, Charles resumed his journey.
Although Eck found it extremely difficult to accept, he had no choice but to continue following along with Johann and the others.
After nearly an entire day of navigating through the labyrinthine caves, everyone was utterly exhausted.
Charles thought it might be time to ask the blind old man to stop.
"Stop moving forward! We\'ve been walking for too long! Everyone is utterly exhausted; we should take a break."
Upon hearing Charles\' words, the blind old man chuckled softly.
"I thought you would follow me indefinitely, but it seems you can\'t go any further," the blind old man spoke in a tone vastly different from before.
Eck and Johann instinctively took a few steps back upon hearing this.
With a calm expression, Charles looked in the direction of the blind old man and asked, "What do you mean by that? Are you planning to lead us downward endlessly, into the infinite depths of the earth?"
The blind old man slowly turned around, his hollow eye sockets facing Charles.
"Everyone\'s final destination is there; I\'m merely taking you there ahead of time," he said, extending his left hand toward Charles.
Suddenly, Charles felt the air around him solidify, trapping him completely.
Medusa and Little Green, upon witnessing the scene, immediately launched an attack on the blind old man.
Little Green transformed into a towering combat machine, effortlessly swinging her blade and slicing the blind old man in half.
However, Little Green\'s assault did not succeed in killing the blind old man.
The reason being, the blind old man was merely a puppet; the true entity had been hiding within his brain all along.
As the puppet body of the blind old man was destroyed by Little Green, the true entity crawled out. It was a creature that resembled a lizard.
Unlike ordinary lizards, this one had several skull-shaped patterns on its head.
Upon emerging from the blind old man\'s body, the lizard-like creature directed its words toward Charles: "You will be trapped here forever! No one can escape! I will usurp your identities and continue your lives."
After delivering these ominous words, the skeletal lizard\'s form began to blur.
Within seconds, the spectral image of the skeletal lizard vanished entirely.