Chapter 428: Scouting Situation of the Two Dwarves

After resting briefly, the two Dwarves caught their breath and recovered their strength. They exchanged a glance, said nothing, and chose the left path—the one with the nearest exit—out of the two stone tunnels ahead.

They lightened their footsteps, no longer stomping heavily on the ground, and carefully held their weapons and equipment with both hands to prevent them from clashing and making the kind of crisp, loud noise that would carry far through the tunnels.

Because they had trained for this many times—a method used to ambush intruders who wandered into Huitou Forest—after this effort to reduce noise, the sound from the two Dwarves was not entirely gone, but it was significantly diminished.

They soon followed the dim Glowing White Stones occasionally marked on the walls and found a stone ladder climbing upward in the nearly pitch-black tunnel.

"I'll go up and take a look; you stay below and get ready to support me," the Dwarf in the lead whispered to the companion behind him.

The companion nodded. Instead of drawing a weapon, he held the Crystal Shield in his hands, lifting it slightly to prepare to use the shield as a cushion to catch his companion should he need to jump down from above in an emergency.

The leading Dwarf climbed up the stone ladder against the wall with light steps and reached the top after a short while. He found a stone lamp here that could emit light by turning it, but he dared not open it, instead groping carefully to find the observation hole and pressing his eye against it.

The Dwarf's observation point was located in the center of a thick tree trunk, and the observation hole was in an inconspicuous crack in the tree's bark.

Although the spot was inconspicuous, the location was chosen perfectly; looking out from this observation hole, one could clearly see the situation of a large stretch of the Dwarf Road outside.

However, they were unlucky; this observation hole was positioned to monitor the exit of Huitou Forest, and it was still a short distance away from the clearing with the dead tree where Jier had fought.

Because it was night, the forest environment outside was extremely dark. Although the artificial mist that appeared every night was gone, visibility here was still poor, and nothing could be made out.

"Phew, good, no situation here!" After discovering there was no situation, the observing Dwarf's voice became full of vigor.

The Dwarf below, still holding the shield, retorted irritably: "If there's nothing, hurry down so we can get to the next observation point. By the way, don't jump straight down! You know how heavy you are; I'm holding this shield to help you evacuate quickly, but since we don't need a quick evacuation, just climb down properly!"

"You talk too much!" the Dwarf who was honestly climbing down the stone ladder scolded, but he still came down via the ladder.

After coming down, they began to discuss: "Is the next one the Shishu?"

"Yeah, it's the Shishu clearing. Honestly, I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't flap your mouth like a funeral crow! Shut up and let's go!"

The two exchanged a few barbs and quickly headed toward the next observation point.

Soon, they approached the vicinity of the underground tunnel near the forest clearing.

"Wait, do you smell something strange?" The leading Dwarf sniffed and asked his companion behind him in a low voice.

The Dwarf behind rolled his eyes: "Is it the smell of the Communication Bats' droppings? The people on guard duty ahead really are something; they don't clean the tunnels properly while on duty. And I bet they fed the bats too many fruits! I'm sure of it."

"That's not it. It smells like something is burnt; it's very stinky."

Hearing his companion's complaint, the Dwarf behind also carefully lifted his head to sniff, realizing something was wrong.

"It is indeed the burnt smell of something scorched. Honestly, I was right! Something happened at the Shishu clearing! Quick, hurry to the observation point."

The two hurried their pace. The closer they got to the Shishu clearing, the more intense the burnt, stinky smell in the tunnel became. But the problem was, no one had said there was a fire here when they arrived.

They had only been told there was a huge screeching sound and that flocks of birds were abnormally swarming toward Huitou Forest.

"Could it be that the dead tree was struck by lightning and caught fire?" one Dwarf speculated.

"I'm not sure, but this stench—it's the same smell as when I burn meat while roasting it! How could a burning tree smell like this? I feel like something is wrong. Let's both be careful."

They arrived in the tunnel beneath the observation point. It was the same as before: one went up to observe, while the other stayed at the bottom of the stone ladder, holding the shield up and ready to catch his companion at any moment. This way, even if the observation point above were discovered and the Dwarf inside were attacked, the Dwarf could jump straight down and be caught by the companion below, preventing injury.

The two lightened their movements, fearing that the clashing sounds from the underground tunnel in the quiet night would be discovered by people outside, if there were indeed people outside.

The Dwarf climbing the stone ladder could smell the intense odor of burnt things more and more as he climbed toward the observation hole.

It was both stinky and had a scorched smell.

When he cautiously arrived at the observation point, he was surprised to find that through the observation hole, there was actually light shining in from outside.

'There really is something,' the Dwarf thought to himself.

He steadied his breathing, then slowly, slowly, pressed one of his eyes against the observation hole.

Shock!

Through the observation hole, he saw two vaguely burning, huge bonfires outside. He didn't know what the fuel for the fires was; they crackled as they burned, emitting massive amounts of black smoke.

The stench was also constantly wafting from these two bonfires.

And with the faint illumination from these two 'bonfires,' the Dwarf saw that the beautiful lawn that used to be at the Shishu clearing, along with the entire layer of soil beneath it, had vanished. The entire clearing, which was not small, had been shaved of twenty centimeters of lawn and soil out of thin air!

The Dwarf was somewhat panicked. He looked carefully again; the situation was indeed as it appeared—suspicious bonfires were burning, and the ground of the clearing had been shaved off for no reason.

Isn't this too bizarre?

Who would do such a thing in the middle of the night?

Swallowing a mouthful of saliva, the Dwarf carefully shifted his position at the observation point and switched to another hidden observation hole to look in a different direction.

That's right, looking out from the other observation holes, the ground at the Shishu clearing was indeed gone. But the dead tree not far away was intact, and there was no thick mist in the forest as there usually was; he could barely see the moon and stars in the sky through the observation hole.

After confirming again that there was not a single person or strange creature on the clearing outside, the Dwarf dared to mutter in a low voice: "This is truly strange. Could it be those muddled birds that ran over in the middle of the night and carried away the lawn on the clearing? Are they sick?"

Based on the current situation he saw, that was indeed the only possibility.

He shook his head and quickly climbed down the stone ladder.

"How is it?" Seeing his companion climbing down the stone ladder without being cautious, the other Dwarf, knowing there were no people or monsters outside, asked directly about the situation.

"The stench and the burnt smell are indeed coming from above. There are two strange, huge bonfires on the clearing outside; those two things are what are emitting the strange smell."

Before the Dwarf who had gone up could finish, the one who had been waiting below interrupted: "That's nothing strange, is it? Bonfires? Who made the bonfires? Lighting a fire in the forest and not knowing to put it out before leaving? Honestly, aren't they afraid of starting a big fire and burning the whole forest?"

He grumbled: "Who doesn't know that it hasn't rained at all this spring? The forest is so dry; it will start a big fire. We have to get out there quickly and put the fire out!"

The Dwarf who had scouted above patted his forehead: "Can you wait for me to finish? Can you? It's not just two suspicious bonfires emitting stinky black smoke; another thing is, the Shishu clearing up there—the lawn on the ground and the layer of soil beneath it have actually vanished along with them!"

"Don't you think that's suspicious?"

The other Dwarf took off his helmet and scratched his head: "It is very suspicious. Didn't you see any people? Not a single bird?"

The Dwarf who had gone up shook his head: "Nothing at all. It doesn't look like there's any danger."

"Then let's go up and take a look!"

The two Dwarves followed the scattered white stone markings of the underground tunnel network and soon found the entrance and exit tunnel leading to the surface at the Shishu clearing. After lifting a heavy stone tunnel slab, the two Dwarves first poked their heads out, carefully looked left and right, and pricked up their ears to listen for sounds. Finding that there was indeed no danger, they climbed out one by one.

They maintained the walking style they used to ambush Humans entering this place, moving with light steps and using the overlapping cover of the surrounding trees to approach the forest clearing.

"Strange," the leading Dwarf whispered to his companion behind him.

He made a gesture pointing downward, not caring if his companion saw it, and continued: "Why do I feel like the ground under my feet is so soft? Even though there are many fallen leaves in the forest, the ground shouldn't feel this soft when stepped on, right?"

"Shh! Be quiet!"

Another Dwarf hurriedly made the former shut up, because by the illumination of the two crackling bonfires in the clearing ahead, the Dwarves finally saw that the trunks and branches of the large trees facing the clearing all around them were covered in mud and smeared grass clippings.

The two looked at each other; although they didn't say anything more, their expressions could not hide the shock in their hearts.

What on earth had happened?

This was the biggest thought in both of their minds at this moment!

Because the situation here and now was too bizarre, the two Dwarves hesitated for a good while before continuing their Scout mission. When they jumped into the original clearing area, they discovered one thing: those two burning bonfires were no bonfires at all!

They were countless burning bird carcasses!!!

The crackling sounds were the strange noises made by the birds' feathers, bones, and Viscera as they were heated; the foul stench was actually coming from the burning corpses!

"Ugh—"

One Dwarf lifted his Helmet and immediately vomited. Although he had been smelling this stench of burning corpses since he was in the tunnel, he hadn't known what it was, so he hadn't felt much; now that he understood, the immense nausea gave the Dwarf a physiological shock.

After all, they were Miners; even if their mining skills had regressed over the years, they would usually hunt beasts and Monsters, and even make some metal tools themselves to trade with Humans. How could they be like real Soldiers and Warriors, accustomed to and tolerant of the smell of burning corpses?

The other Dwarf did not vomit. He raised his Shield and one-handed weapon, carefully looking left and right, guarding against the possibility that the "culprit" who caused all this had not truly left.

But he was overthinking it. A good while before these two Dwarves arrived, Jier had finished his treatment and recovery from the lady's dream, changed into the Hard Cowhide Full-Coverage Armor he used to wear, retrieved the weapon he had dropped during the battle, and ridden Tianxuecao to the west.

And after the Great Bird Deity lost that important Statue of the God Wooden Carving, without a vessel, it could no longer stir up trouble here. Moreover, after those birds that hadn't died earlier fled and made contact with the rest of the nearby flocks, it was basically impossible for the Great Bird Deity to exert any influence in this vicinity anymore.

Especially among the local birds, its reputation could only be described as foul-smelling.

"Shop Assistant, should we retreat first? Report the situation here to 'Iron Fist'?" The Dwarf who had finished vomiting asked his companion with a fearful face and a trembling voice.

Actually, his companion, although he appeared much better, was also afraid in his heart; if it weren't for the Helmet they were wearing, his hair would have stood on end from fright!

"Right, right. But before we leave, I think we should circle the clearing and see exactly what the situation is around here?"

The fearful Dwarf didn't want to stay here any longer, but his companion's suggestion fulfilled their duty for this trip, so he couldn't directly object and had to tacitly agree.

Afterwards, the two Dwarves didn't dare to approach the two "bonfires" piled up with bird carcasses; besides the fear, the stench and black smoke from the burning corpses also greatly hindered them.

They circled around in a large loop, roughly walking around the clearing where the ground had been shaved away by a layer. Because it was dark, and the two had rushed over without carrying any useful lighting items, they could only endure the nausea and use the faint light from the burning corpses to briefly inspect the scene of the incident.

But apart from discovering traces of two large trees near the clearing being pierced through by some kind of weapon, they found nothing else. A large amount of the traces produced when Jier fought the Great Bird Deity had either been blown away or were still burning.

In front of the large tree pierced by Jier's steel Long Spear, the two Dwarves looked up at the marks on the trunk: "This must have been made by some kind of weapon."

"Piercing through an entire large tree trunk and then sticking into the tree trunk behind it? Who could do that? Even 'Shishou' and his lot couldn't do it, right?" The other Dwarf didn't understand the followers of the God of Strength, so his guess was a bit distorted.

"Hard to say. Have you forgotten how that big pit in the village came to be? Compared to that, what is this?" This Dwarf was still a bit smarter; he didn't understand the strength of 'Shishou' and those followers of the God of Strength, but he could still understand the situation that had happened recently.

"Could it be that Human Knight?" The Dwarf who had vomited earlier guessed again; it was said that even a fool might occasionally be right, and his guess was very close.

"He already took people and left, left in the morning. By now, he has probably already crossed Huitou Forest and walked quite a distance, right?" But his "smart" companion quickly ruled out this answer.

"But they did leave from the side of Huitou Forest after all." The not-so-smart Dwarf still insisted on his own conjecture.

"But the problem is, these birds aren't even the same species. There are all kinds of birds from the surrounding mountains and forests, which is puzzling. Who could make them suddenly gather here? How did they die? Why were they burned to death? And..."

The "smart" Dwarf who was speaking stomped his feet, the meaning self-evident.

How were the lawn in the clearing and the massive amount of ground soil moved to the surrounding forest?

"Sigh, forget it. The two of us idiots can't figure this out. Let's hurry back and report to old 'Iron Fist'. Let him worry about it later. Anyway, I think this Treasure Mine is becoming less and less livable. We'd better leave here as soon as possible."

"Who's an idiot like you? I'm quite smart! But your later words are right; we can't stay here anymore. Finding a way to go home is the right path. We should have left here decades ago."

As he spoke, the "smart" Dwarf let something slip, exposing the thoughts and views he had hidden for decades.

"I didn't expect you to be a 'pro-homeland' type! I didn't see that in you! Don't you usually stand firmly behind old 'Iron Fist'?" The not-so-smart Dwarf was greatly surprised and looked at his companion to ask.

"Shut your mouth."

The "smart" Dwarf's expression changed, but he quickly returned to normal. If it were before, it would have been troublesome if someone discovered he was a "pro-homeland" type; he would have inevitably had to explain himself to old 'Iron Fist' for a long time. But now it was different; even if discovered, it didn't matter. Anyway, whether everyone wanted to stay here or wanted to return home, they would have to leave later.

The two Dwarves argued while quickly returning to the tunnel entrance they had used to come in. They didn't bother putting the stone slab back over the entrance; they wouldn't need to use this place again in the future anyway.

?? This chapter probably isn't very interesting, but it counts as wrapping up the segment of Jier's great battle against the Bird Deity. Finally, I welcome everyone to give this book recommendation votes, monthly tickets, and tips to support it. Thank you all.

? (End of this chapter)