chsdbacks Chapter 13 Qing Shi Shan Village, Ancient Mine!
Chapter 13 Qing Shi Shan Village, Ancient Mine!
The ground beneath his feet became transparent to him. Layers of soil, sand, and rock stretched downwards. At a depth of about seven or eight meters, he saw the first cavity.
It was a man-made alleyway.
As you continue forward, the number and density of the cavities increase. They connect to each other, forming a vast underground network. The tunnels are about two meters high and wide enough for two or three people to walk side by side. In some places, there are still obvious remnants of supporting pillars; although the wood has rotted, the postholes are clearly visible.
This is definitely not a natural cave.
This is a large ancient mine.
Lin Yi followed the mine's route and discovered that the underground network was incredibly vast—extending from the east end of the village to the west end, and even extending in part directly to the ground beneath his old house.
Less than three meters below the cellar of the old house, there is a section of mine tunnel.
At the heart of the mine network, a scene appeared in the vision of the Purple Demon Eye that made his heart stop beating.
It was a huge underground space.
It was wider than the surrounding alleyways, and I estimated it to be at least a hundred square meters. In the center of the space stood a stone tablet.
Four large characters are engraved on the stone tablet—
The City of Slaughter.
Lin Yi abruptly withdrew his gaze.
A killing city?
The Slaughter City in "Douluo Continent"?
That underground world, filled with killing and bloodshed, where Tang San once trained?
wrong.
He steadied himself and examined the area carefully again with his Purple Demon Eye.
The stone tablet was indeed inscribed with the words "Slaughter City," but the weathering of the tablet was exactly the same as the age of the surrounding mines—they were all ancient relics, not something the system had just manifested.
In other words, this stone tablet was carved by the ancients.
Why would the ancients carve the words "Slaughter City" in this underground mine?
coincidence?
Or perhaps... the Slaughter City in "Douluo Continent" was inspired by some kind of ancient ruin?
Lin Yi suppressed his shock and continued to probe with his Purple Demon Eye.
Behind the stone tablet, the alleyway continued, but it was clearly no longer a mine shaft—the rock walls on both sides were covered with bas-reliefs, the content of which was blurry, but one could vaguely make out some battle scenes. At the end of the alleyway was a huge stone door, but what was behind the door was unclear to the depth of the Purple Demon Eye's vision.
The trial card has less than twenty minutes left.
Lin Yi quickly noted down the locations of several key entrances: one below the old house's cellar, one below the old well at the village entrance, and one at the abandoned quarry halfway up the mountain behind the village.
Then, the trial period ended.
Vision returned to normal.
Lin Yi stood there, his mind churning with countless thoughts.
That ancient ruin underground is definitely not an ordinary thing.
The phrase "Slaughter City" is strangely similar to the setting in "Douluo Continent." Even if it's just a coincidence, this well-preserved ancient mine ruin is itself a huge treasure.
Develop it into an underground exploration project?
The layout is small.
This could be transformed into an immersive "Killing City Experience Center".
How many fans does "Douluo Continent" have? At least tens of millions nationwide. If a real, immersive "Slaughter City" could be created, how many people would it attract?
Moreover, the system shop has so many materializable items related to "Douluo Continent"—soul tools, soul beasts, immortal herbs, soul bones—that can be placed in the mine to make the whole experience more realistic.
Lin Yi became more and more excited as he thought about it.
He immediately went to find the village chief, Zhao Dashan.
Zhao Dashan was feeding chickens in his yard when he saw Lin Yi rushing over. He chuckled and asked, "Xiao Yi, what's up? Anything new happening at your guesthouse?"
"Uncle Dashan, I have a question for you." Lin Yi took a breath, "Are there any old mine shafts underground in our village?"
Zhao Dashan paused for a moment.
"How did you know?" The old village chief put down the chicken feeder in his hand, his expression becoming serious. "Not many people in the village know about this anymore; it's all been passed down from the older generation. They say there are ancient mines dug under our Qingshi Village, hundreds of years old. When I was a child, my grandfather told me that he had crawled inside when he was young, and that it was very big."
"Where is the entrance?" Lin Yi asked.
Zhao Dashan thought for a moment: "That old well at the village entrance is one. But it was sealed off years ago to prevent children from falling in. There was another one over at the quarry on the back hill, but that collapsed too. What's wrong? What are you planning to do?"
Lin Yi showed Zhao Dashan several photos he had taken on his phone.
Of course, it wasn't what the Purple Demon Eyes saw—he couldn't photograph that. Rather, it was a photo he took in the cellar of the old house, where there was a spot where the soil was noticeably different from the surrounding soil, a darker color, and a looser structure.
"Uncle Dashan, look at this. I suspect that the entrance to the mine is located under the cellar of my old house."
Zhao Dashan leaned closer to look, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"This...this soil color, it really was artificially backfilled." He looked up at Lin Yi, his expression becoming serious. "Xiao Yi, I need to take a look at this with you. If it really is an old mine shaft, then it's a cultural relic, and we have to report it."
"Uncle, that's what I was thinking too." Lin Yi nodded. "Let's confirm it first. If there really is something there, we should report it. But before reporting it, I was thinking, could we develop it into a tourism project? You think about it, there are only a handful of ancient mine ruins in the whole country. If our village could develop one, how many tourists would that attract?"
Zhao Dashan's eyes lit up as well.
As the village chief, his primary concern is the village's development. He's seen how well Lin Yi's guesthouse has been doing these past few days. If only they could really develop the old underground mine shafts…
"Let's go, let's go take a look at your old house first."
The two arrived at the cellar of the old house.
Lin Yi pointed to a spot in the corner where the soil was different: "Uncle Dashan, look, it's here."
Zhao Dashan squatted down to examine it carefully, then tapped it with his hand and listened to the echo.
"It's empty." He stood up, his face full of shock. "It really is empty behind here. Xiao Yi, this discovery of yours is remarkable."
He immediately took out his phone and called the town's cultural center.
"Hey, Lao Zhou? This is Zhao Dashan from Qingshi Village. We've discovered what appears to be the remains of an ancient mine... Yes, right under the village... You need to bring some people over to take a look right away."
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Dashan said to Lin Yi, "Xiao Yi, don't make a fuss about this yet. Let's wait until the people from the cultural center have come and confirmed it before we talk about it."
"Understood." Lin Yi nodded.
After Zhao Dashan left, Lin Yi went to find Shen Rongguang.
Shen Rongguang was drinking tea in the courtyard of the old house, with a set of purple clay teapots given to him by Su Qing in front of him. Seeing Lin Yi arrive, he greeted him with a smile, "Boss Lin, come, try some of Teacher Su's tea. It's brewed with your golden chrysanthemum petals; the taste is absolutely amazing."