Chapter 2779

Xia De continued to flip through the account books and finally saw those very abrupt large deposits under the "Income" item. The amount of each entry exceeded five thousand crowns, which even by the exchange rate of that year exceeded fifty thousand pounds, and the description of the entry was "Mithril Ore Trade."

"Mithril Ore Trade?"

The suspicious Xia De frowned and thought for a moment, then remembered that the witcher from a hundred years ago had said that he only found the demon here while tracking a mithril vein.

"So this is what the Hoy family relied on to make their fortune. This is still reasonable, at least more reasonable than earning money by exploiting loggers. However, the Hoy family was just an ordinary family; where did they find the sales channels... It was probably the demon's handiwork."

The account book also recorded the location of that mithril vein, because it was written that there were monthly expenditures for the "Slavin Mine."

Xia De certainly did not know where this mine was, but the map sold by the hermits did have it marked. Xia De checked and found a mark for "Abandoned Mine - Slavin Mine" in the dense forest. Its location was very, very far from this stone cave where the treasure was hidden, because it was in the west of the city, so Xia De first turned all this gold into toys and then went straight home.

By the time he got home, it was already close to lunchtime. Xia De first went to find Vanessa, and the Witch of Earth gave Xia De an alchemical tool that could be used to detect mithril ore to facilitate his afternoon activities:

"But didn't you say you would help me find that ore vein after I reached the Vesta Woodlands? If there really is enough mithril, everyone will be very happy."

Beautiful golden eyes looked at Xia De again with a questioning expression:

"Xia De, you held a party at home last night, why didn't you call me?"

"What party?"

Xia De asked the beautiful blonde opera singer in confusion, then thought of the daily routine at home last night and understood immediately:

"This... who told you?"

"Hmph, of course it was Galina, who else could it be? Don't be in such a hurry to leave, do you want to have lunch with us? Siris is already arranging lunch, since you are here, you cannot leave."

Vanessa, of course, did not just want to keep Xia De for lunch. After lunch, she said that she and Dorothy had conceived a new script recently, and invited Xia De to her room to watch it. This viewing lasted until two-thirty in the afternoon. When Xia De was dressing and preparing to leave, the blonde lady, who was lazily lying on the bed and refusing to move, smiled and commented:

"You see, even if Galina doesn't call me, I can call you over myself. Xia De, you are quite impressive. I thought they had already drained you dry last night."

The second half of the sentence was clearly flirting with Xia De. Xia De said while fastening his shirt buttons:

"Vanessa, if I didn't have something to do this afternoon, because of this sentence, you wouldn't be able to do anything for the rest of the day."

"Are you being so fierce?"

The witch with a blush on her face smiled ambiguously, then bit her lip and asked:

"Then can I go to your house tonight?"

After Xia De returned to the woodlands, he first went into the city to greet the ladies, and then heard from Miss Bell that the Slavin Mine was only abandoned a hundred years ago. The silver ore vein there was exhausted, but before it was exhausted, it was not actually considered a very rich mine.

Finding the Slavin Mine was not complicated. In the era of Creekwood Town, it was deep in the dense forest, but in the current era of Vesta City, that location was not far from the western edge of the city.

After the mine was abandoned, for safety reasons, the City Hall filled in the entrance to the mine and blocked it with large stones. Because they were worried that the ground in the mining area would collapse, the City Hall placed warning signs nearby to keep people away.

Xia De certainly did not care about the warnings, but in the process of looking for the mine entrance, the first thing he saw was the abandoned miner's camp. After the mining area was abandoned, the forest gradually merged with the buildings that had not been demolished and the things left behind by the miners. However, before Xia De had time to appreciate the scenery here in the bleak late autumn, he saw a familiar figure emerge from behind a house in the camp.

"Professor Yuke Wood?"

This old folklore professor, whom Xia De had met by chance at a charity auction and who had recommended he buy "Creekwood Town and the World Tree," was holding a notebook, as if recording something. He was already very old, so he was also holding a cane to prevent himself from falling in the overgrown camp.

Hearing Xia De's voice, he looked up at him, was startled for a moment, and then smiled and walked over to greet him. The two stood in the weeds in the center of the camp to talk. The autumn leaves had already covered the ground. After several heavy rains, the leaves had rotted and been absorbed by the soil, but the weeds were still lush before winter arrived. However, after a heavy snowfall, they would also disappear:

"Mr. Watson, what a coincidence. Are you also here to investigate the Slavin Mine?"

He did not wait for Xia De to ask and took the initiative to introduce:

"Creekwood Town is a logging town, and the second most common profession is hunting. Miners are rare here. Most of the workers used in the development of the Slavin Mine back then were also from out of town. Therefore, some very unique cultural phenomena formed among these miners, which is different from miners in other regions."

He worked at "Vesta City University," and both the school and the folklore major he was engaged in were very mediocre, so Professor Wood mainly did local folklore research, which also made it easier to apply for funding from the City Hall.

"Is that so? Professor, I heard some legends about this mine locally. It is said that someone once dug a path to the so-called 'Underground World' deep in this mine. I want to investigate it for this reason."

Xia De also explained his purpose. The excuse was, of course, fabricated, and the old professor immediately shook his head:

"I have heard too many legends about the Underground World. I really don't know where similar urban legends come from. I can guarantee that this is definitely not true. But don't you know? The mine entrance is completely sealed now, and that place is impossible to enter."

After speaking, he added:

"But come to think of it, I have seen some materials. Before the mine was abandoned, there were indeed some strange accidents. But the official statement was that it was because the miners encountered unknown hallucinogenic gases seeping out from underground cracks while digging underground.

At first, no one knew who discovered the method, but as long as you put green leaves in front of your eyes, you would soon be unaffected by those hallucinogenic gases. But soon this method became useless, so the closure of the mine, in addition to the exhaustion of the ore vein itself, was also related to the constant occurrence of production safety accidents."

Xia De had really never heard of this explanation:

"Digging and encountering hallucinogenic gas... Have you ever been inside the mine?"

The professor immediately shook his head:

"Of course not. Although I am very old, I am not a hundred years old. When I was born, the Slavin Mine was already like this. It is said that when it was prosperous back then, it could almost be regarded as a small village, but mineral resources are not like fruits on a big tree; the latter will always reappear with the passage of time, while the former is truly gone once dug up."

However, although he said this, he still told Xia De the specific location of the mine entrance, allowing Xia De to go and take a look, but not to expect any gains.

The mining area back then was not very far from the miner's camp, but nowadays it is impossible to see what the mining area looked like. Without human interference, the forest and nature can easily restore their original appearance.

And after Xia De found the large stone blocking the entrance in this bleak dead forest, he first used "Enhanced Spatial Perception" to determine the size of the space behind the stone, and then used "Lagley's Leap" to enter the mine directly.

There was no oxygen in the completely sealed mine, but this was not a big trouble for Xia De. The crisscrossing mine tunnels were as complex as a maze, so Xia De chose to advance along the main mine tunnel towards the deepest part.

A hundred years passed in a flash, and many of the mine tunnels inside had collapsed, so during the journey, he had to use Lagley's Leap or Fossil-to-Mud again from time to time.

The alchemical tool Vanessa gave Xia De was not specifically designed to detect mithril ore. That palm-sized compass could theoretically be used to detect any metal ore vein. One only needed to polish some purified metal into a diamond shape and place it in the center of the compass, and the compass could detect the corresponding ore.

After the Green Lake incident, to thank the "God-Awakener" for his help, the church not only gave Xia De the "Star Trace" longbow but also gave him many rare metals. Xia De still had some mithril left in his hands, so he could also use this compass.

While walking in the darkness, he watched the needles on the compass rotate irregularly. And as he went deeper into the mining area, besides encountering a few vengeful spirits of miners, the compass needle actually gradually narrowed its range of oscillation, until finally, it clearly pointed out the direction:

"There really is some?"

As an important strategic material, Xia De would not complain about having too much mithril. Top-tier alchemical tools and weapons often require mithril, and even a piece of ordinary metal, as long as it is mixed with mithril, is enough to directly affect spiritual bodies that are completely immune to physical damage.

Therefore, if one could really discover a mithril ore vein that had not yet been exhausted, its value would be much greater than the gold mine shares Xia De had in the Randall Valley.

With anticipation, Xia De walked faster towards the depths of the mine. During this time, the collapsed areas became more frequent, but this could not stop him. Until finally, he arrived at the deepest part of this mining area, and the needle was still pointing forward:

"Sure enough, it is ore that has not yet been discovered. If people back then had known that there was still ore deeper down, this place would not have been abandoned."

The efficiency of the spell "Fossil-to-Mud" was too slow, and Xia De was naturally unwilling to mine it by hand. So he switched to using "Filianna's Witch Light," which consumed more but was faster, and continued to dig deeper into the underground according to the guidance of the compass.

It was just that after digging another hundred meters diagonally downwards, with a clatter, he heard the sound of gravel falling, and then Xia De discovered that he had actually dug into a large underground cavern.