Chapter 24 - A Good Place
Leaving the space, how could Meirin not be excited. With such a magical space, the future of the Buda clan was hopeful.
Although Zhao could not learn magic or martial arts, a part of Meirin now thought that it was better for Zhao not to learn it. The old Buda clan had earned their nobility through honor, and they gained this honor through the battlefield in service to the Empire. But now the Buda clan was left with only one successor, so Meirin didn't want him to go through that.
It was better to use the space for farming. They wouldn't have to worry about food and water, and they could make money to help develop the Buda clan.
The Buda clan had gone from prosperity to grief, but it now seems like the clouds were vanishing with Zhao helping them live well.
Seeing the excited look on Meirin's face, Zhao was also very happy, because he knew that Meirin was really concerned about him. It felt really good to be concerned about. In his past life, Zhao was an orphan, so nobody cared about him. He loved this feeling, it warmed his heart.
"Master, if there's ever any danger, you should immediately go hide in your space. Do not worry about us. You are the only heir of the Buda clan. We can't risk you getting hurt."
"Don't worry, Grandma Meirin. I know what to do. As long as we keep a low profile in the future, we should be fine."
Meirin was about to say something, but then they heard a sound, and saw Blockhead running towards them. "Master! Master! I found a good place!" he shouted as he quickly ran down the mountain. He stopped at Zhao's side. "Master! I found a good place! Meets your requirements." He then pointed up the mountain. "There's a mountain pass. Not too difficult to walk there."
Zhao's face lit up. "Well, let's go. Grandma Meirin, you rest here. I'll go with Blockhead."
Meirin shook her head. "No, I'm going too. I have to take a look. If it's going to be our new farm land, I have to know the way to walk through the mountain pass." She then turned to Blockhead. "Lead the way."
Blockhead walked up the mountain while the two followed. The mountain was mostly barren with only a few weeds, but it was still tough going. Fortunately, they didn't have to walk very far, only three miles.
And then they saw it. It was a strange valley surrounded by cliffs, like a large stone had fallen from the sky and dug up a crater. Zhao stood there, stunned with mixed feelings. The valley was everything he required, especially the fact that you couldn't see it from the foot of the mountain, but how could they get down there?
Meirin turned and glared at Blockhead. "You stupid kid, you found such a hard place to get into. If we wanted to build a farm here, not to mention young master, how would the slaves go down there?"
Zhao was also annoyed at him. Although the valley wasn't that deep, only tens of meters or so, he still felt dizzy looking at it from where he was standing. With all the cliffs around, it would be difficult to get down there.
If they had a lot of materials, then they could probably build a long ladder. But unfortunately they didn't have enough materials to begin with, and it would be hard to build such a ladder with the wood on the mountain.
Blockhead looked at the two and laughed. "Master, Grandma Meirin, don't worry. Come with me." He walked towards the back of the iron mines.
All along, Zhao and Meirin had never walked to the back of the iron mines because they knew that it was close to the carrion swamp. The swamp was full of toxic miasma, plus poisonous spirit beasts and plants, and there were undead things that roamed around. No one ever went to the back of the mountain because it was dangerous.
Looking at Blockhead's departing back, Meirin said, "Kid, if you want to live, then come back quickly."
"There's nothing to worry about, Master and Grandma Meirin. Over this hill is a cave. We go inside the cave, we can get into the valley. I just got out from there."
Meirin wanted to say something, but Zhao interrupted. "Well, let's go and see."
They followed Blockhead to the back of the iron mines.
But once they were at the top of the hill, however, Zhao saw something that attracted his attention. It was the carrion swamp. Behind the mountain was chaos between heaven and earth. There was a colorful mist so thick that you couldn't even see where the ground was, and even daylight couldn't shine through.
Beautiful, it was so beautiful, was what Zhao thought as he saw the colorful mist, which was made up of seven bright colors that, strangely, seemed rotten.
A long sigh interrupted Zhao's thoughts. He turned and looked at Meirin, who was also looking at the colorful mist. "What a beautiful view. Who would have thought that this beautiful scenery is actually one of the Continent's most deadly places. The mist of the carrion swamp is one of the biggest barriers ever recorded. Out of all the people that have ever walked into that mist, only ten managed to come out. And those ten were among the most powerful experts in the Continent. However, none of them have managed to live past five years after they came out from that mist. Not a single cleric or alchemist was able to save them."
A cold chill ran down Zhao's back as he watched that strange colorful mist, like a myriad of evil was smiling at him while baring their teeth.
Zhao did not dare to look at it anymore. He turned to Blockhead and said, "Come on."
Blockhead continued to lead the way.
The back of the iron mines was strange. Unlike the front where the weeds looked like they suffer from malnutrition, the weeds in the back were longer, with a vibrant black and green color. Meirin spoke up. "Master, Blockhead, you better be careful. Do not touch these weeds. I think they may be toxic. Blockhead might not necessarily be affected because of how strong he is, but since young master drank the Water of Nothingness, he shouldn't touch them." Although Meirin was being overcautious, they didn't dare take this lightly. They were near the carrion swamp which had a fierce reputation, so they had to be careful.
Carefully bypassing the weeds, and after following Blockhead for five hundred meters, they saw a cave. The cave wasn't large, only about two meters high, and within the darkness they could hear the sound of water.
Meirin went to the cave first and in her hand she made a ball of light, allowing Zhao to see inside. This cave was also constructed by the dwarves. It was very neat with stone blocks as a base.
Walking down the cave for five minutes led to an open space that was only three meters wide, not large enough as a place to live. It was probably just a temporary resting area for the dwarves or a place where they could store things. On the right hand side, there was a tunnel which was where the sound of water was coming from.
Blockhead turned to Zhao. "Master, that way leads to an underground lake. To the left, there's a tunnel that leads to the valley."
Zhao nodded. According to his estimatation, this underground lake was probably the same one as the lake near the castle. Too bad they didn't have a large-scale lighting item that could help them see the entire lake.
They went down the left tunnel. The tunnel was very wide, able to accomodate ten people walking side by side and it was five meters high. The three walked for ten minutes until suddenly they saw a light up ahead, prompting Meirin to extinguish her lighting spell.
And then the three walked into the light.