You can easily see that at the end of the gray stone staircase ahead, a fence door emerges from the darkness. A pile of iron chains is wrapped around the dark metal railing, and a lock the size of a fist is hung on it.
There is a deep pool not far away. The dark water surface is like a mirror, which can reflect people's shadows. The water seeps through the thick rock formations, occasionally falling from above and falling into the water, causing a circle of ripples on the mirror surface.
.
The middle-aged man stepped forward, shook the iron chain, made a clanking sound, raised his head, and asked into the darkness:
"Is Mr. Alfan here?"
Attila, the big catman and Sylvester heard a sound in the darkness, as if someone rolled over and got out of bed, and then they heard the sound.
There was a soft sound of 'cha', and a ball of fire lit up.
Fang saw an old face and gray hair. The other party carefully put the firelight into the glass lampshade, adjusted the brightness with fingers like withered grass, and then slowly walked out holding the wind lantern.
The fire was shining from the inside out, and it was only then that I saw that the furnishings inside did not look like a prison.
Although the furnishings are simple, it has everything you need, just like an ordinary room. There is even a carpet between the desk and the bed.
The old man came to the iron gate and stood behind the railing, looking at them. He had a pair of light brown eyes under his snow-white eyebrows, but they did not look old and muddy at all. The eyes were full of magnanimity and even shone with a lively light.
It's just that the other eye is slightly lighter in color and has lost its luster.
The shadow of the fence fell on his face, forming shadows. He looked at the few people calmly and asked like a master:
"Mr. Achilles, thank you for coming to see me again, but nothing is missing from my side. If you feel bad about it, you can get me some more paper. This experience is very interesting to me, and I have to record it.
Come down."
The middle-aged man replied: "No problem. Her Royal Highness the Princess has given orders and we will try our best to meet your request. But today we are here to rescue others besides you."
The old man then looked at Fang and the others, nodded slightly, and asked:
"Then do you want to come in and sit down?"
The middle-aged man looked at the others.
Fang originally had no intention of wasting time, but looking at the old man, he suddenly became curious and nodded to the former.
The middle-aged man then stepped forward to open the door. He put his hand on the lock, a golden mark lit up on the lock, and the lock opened in response.
"Sorry for disturbing you," Fang said to the old man.
But the old man didn't comment. He glanced at him with eyes under his thick long eyebrows. He didn't look at the iron chain that the middle-aged man took off from the door. As if the matter had nothing to do with him, he turned around and walked back.
The middle-aged man opened the door and explained to them:
"Mr. Alfan is a scholar, but unfortunately he fell into the hands of the Blood Shark Air Pirates and was resold to those slave traders."
"What kind of scholar is he?" Fang couldn't help but asked curiously.
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, but couldn't answer.
The old man opened the glass lampshade, took out the flame from inside, lit the fireplace, and made the whole room light up.
Several people sat by the bed one after another, and saw the old man take out a copper kettle from the cabinet, then sprinkle a handful of tea leaves in it, fill it with water, put the kettle on the iron shelf in the fireplace, and then pick up a copper kettle.
He dug into the charcoal fire with a shovel, letting the bright firelight reflect on his wrinkled face.
After doing all this, he clapped his hands and turned around, picked up a chair from the desk, faced them, and sat on the chair.
Fang saw a piece of paper spread out on the desk behind the old man. An ink bottle was placed on the paper, and a quill was inserted in it. The paper was filled with dense words.
"If you want to ask anything, just start asking. In half an hour, before three o'clock in the afternoon, I will start my work." The old man looked at them and said proactively.
Fang was very surprised. What kind of job did the other person have in this place? He couldn't help but asked: "Mr. Alfan, do you also have a job here?"
"That's natural. People can have jobs anywhere." The old man looked at him and replied, "Especially for people like me who have only a short time left, time is even more precious."
"Then can I ask what the job is?"
The old man was not impatient with this question, but replied enthusiastically: "It's mainly writing, recording my experiences during this period."
Fang was very interested after hearing this and asked, "Can I take a look?"
The old man nodded: "Although I haven't finished writing it yet, if someone wants to read it, I will naturally not refuse."
As he spoke, he picked up the pile of manuscripts on the desk and handed them over.
Fang picked up the thick stack of paper and saw that the old man on it had indeed described his experiences during these days. What surprised him was that the other party's words and ideas were very clear, and he did not look like he was old at all.
What he was mainly concerned about was what happened that night, what happened between the air pirate and the descendant of Flor.
This can confirm some of his thoughts.
He read back and turned to the pages about the record of that night, and found that the old man had indeed recorded the battle that night. It said:
‘On the night between the 13th or 14th, or according to my calculations, no later than the 15th, the air pirates seemed to be in trouble.
The fighting was fierce outside, the sky was as bright as day, and the ground and walls were shaking slightly. A leader of the sky pirates came in and told us to hide in the tunnel.
…While passing by the warehouse, I hid a handful of chickpeas in the pocket of my pocket while no one was paying attention. Later, it turned out that this move saved my life.
Soon after, the fighting outside came to an end. Another sky pirate entered the tunnel to inform us to leave. But I had a vague feeling that this person seemed a little different from the others.
This difference is mostly in temperament.
This made me realize that the situation of the air pirates seemed to be somewhat disadvantageous.
...Facts proved my idea. Soon after, there was vague news from other places: the air pirates were planning to leave this place and sell us to a group of slave traders.
It seems that although they won the battle, their plan in Idos also failed.’
After reading this paragraph, I felt that I had caught something. As Sylvide said, these slaves came from Idos, not on the way to Idos.
Although they might have come from the defeated Air Pirates at that time, there was no need for the Blood Shark Air Pirates to go to such great lengths.
From the old man's descriptions, the descendants of Flor had every chance to disguise themselves as the Blood Shark Pirates when they handed over control of Idos to the Blood Shark Pirates.
Moreover, the other party's account also mentioned that the air pirates entered the tunnel for the second time, which was slightly different from the first time.
Although this cannot be regarded as evidence, it is enough to explain many problems.
He closed the pages, thought for a moment, and then asked the old man: "Mr. Alfan, did you record that you experienced a battle in Idos?"
The old man replied energetically: "I remember that battle very clearly."
Fang looked at the others before replying: "Actually, my companions and I all experienced that battle."
After hearing his answer, the old man also showed some surprise. He looked at them with light brown eyes and said in amazement: "So the enemies of the air pirates at that time were you? It's true that people can't be judged by their appearance. It turned out that it caused so much damage to the air pirates."
The trouble is actually a group of young people."
Fang shook his head: "That's not the case, Mr. Alfan. We were just one of the participants at that time. It was the descendants of Flor who actually attacked the Blood Shark Pirates."
He paused: "You should have heard of them, right?"
"The 'Guild Organization' of the Holy Chosen Ones," the old man nodded: "I have heard of this. It's very interesting. The things you said have supplemented the details of my memory. I will have to write them down one by one later.
."
"One more thing," Fang glanced at Sylvester behind him, and then asked, "There is actually a small mistake in your narrative."
"What's wrong?" The old man was not upset and asked humbly for advice.
Achilles looked at them from the sidelines. He thought that Fang mentioned that request just as a way to open up the topic, but he didn't expect that the two parties actually discussed the work seriously, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised for a moment.
But fortunately, he was still calm, thought for a moment, and did not speak.
Fang then said: "You said at the end of that account that although the air pirates won the battle in the end, that was not the case. In fact, after the battle that night, they were driven out of Idos."
At this point, he paused briefly: "Do you still remember the situation at that time?"
The old man asked the purpose of this question without realizing it. He pondered for a moment before replying: "This is an oversight on my part, but we have been hiding in the tunnel afterwards and don't know the real situation outside."
Fang Yi frowned: "You mean, after that day's battle, there was a group of sky pirates hiding in the tunnels of Idos?"
He cursed secretly in his mind, secretly thinking that the descendants of Flor were cunning. If the other party kept these people under control in the tunnel, it would be difficult to use the time of the battle to prove the opponent.
Because no one can guarantee that after the battle that night, there will not be such a group of 'air pirates' hiding underground in Idos.
He still held on to his last hope and asked: "Mr. Alfan, do you still remember when you left the tunnel?"
But the old man could only give an approximate time: "It was roughly a few days later, and we left the canyon directly through the tunnel. This coincides with what you described."
It's a pity that this coincidence is not what Fang wanted. Ever since the two misses between the Elf Ruins and the Jeflett Red Team, the descendants of Flor have become more and more impeccable in their actions.
However, this Q&A was not without success. He at least understood that Sylvide's analysis was true.
It is obviously also extremely important to figure out who the real enemy is.
The old man did have some real scholarly demeanor. Although he didn't know Fang's true purpose, he still accepted their suggestions humbly and even praised them a few words.
Fang had no intention of looking back. In fact, after being sold to slave traders, the slave traders naturally didn't care too much about these old, weak and sick people who were not strong, and just had the attitude of letting them fend for themselves.
, they were not even given food.
But relying on a handful of chickpeas hidden in his pocket as mentioned before, the old man managed to survive tenaciously.
And it was precisely because of this indifferent attitude that he found an opportunity to escape from the devil's cave.
Fang put down the pages and then returned to the topic: "Mr. Alfan, I believe you already know that before Her Royal Highness the Princess arrived at Tansnir, the slave traders had already fled. The clues are also here.
No, in order to save more people from those people, the only thing we can rely on now is to learn about the situation from you who have been in contact with them."
The old man nodded: "Her Royal Highness the Princess has already told me about this matter in advance. Of course I understand. If you want to know anything, you can just ask me. I am not bragging. Although I am old, my memory is still good.
Very reliable.”
Fang then said: "If they were ordinary slave traders, there might be some trouble finding them. But those people are said to be related to the great thief Mazhahar, and have also received a batch of ancient documents from him. Obviously, their motives are not that
Generally, so we plan to start from this aspect."
"Wise choice," the old man replied: "But I have to correct you, that is not an ancient document, but a long scroll of Yuanhai."
Fang looked at the other party in surprise.
The old man smiled slightly, and then the kettle on the iron shelf in the fireplace boiled and made a whining sound.
He then stood up, picked up an iron hook, hooked the kettle off the shelf, then took down several tea cups from the wooden shelf on the wall, and poured the light red tea into them one by one.
Smoke curled up in the room for a moment.
"In the north of Corin Ithurion and in many areas of Oshu, people are more accustomed to making tea," the old man put down the teapot and said to everyone slowly: "I heard that this is somewhat similar to your habit."
Fang nodded. Indeed, in Kaolin Ithulian, people's tea-drinking habits are very similar to those in his hometown. It's just that the Kaolin people prefer fermented black tea.
"But in Istania, making tea has its own flavor. Now that you're in this place, it's natural to do as the locals do."
The old man put the teacups on the low table in front of them one by one, with no unnatural look on his face, as if he considered himself the owner of this place even though this place was just in a dungeon.
He put down the tea cup and then said: "Achilles should have introduced me to you, but the identities of scholars from the Silver Tower are mixed, and each has its own school."
"When I was young, I served as an apprentice under the great scholar Hailinde. The ancient writings of Xinsas and Numelin were my research direction. I was also very interested in the Abyssal Scroll."
As he spoke, he lowered his head and took a sip of tea before saying: "If not for this, I would not have recognized these ancient documents and risked being discovered to steal these things from those slave traders."
Fang couldn't help but be surprised.
These days, he has been looking for someone who can help him interpret the Abyssal Scroll. Unfortunately, in a small place like Tansnir, it is difficult to even find some ancient documents in the library, let alone someone who is good at this.
But he didn't expect that he would be unable to find anything even after digging through iron shoes, and it would take no effort to get there. The person he was really looking for was actually the person he had made an appointment to meet underground in the Celestial Princess Manor.
If it weren't for the current commission to find those slave merchants, he would have wanted to discuss the matter about those Abyssal Scrolls with them right away.
But even so, he still took the initiative to ask: "Mr. Alfan, since you are very familiar with the Yuanhai Scroll, do you know Mazhahar's intention of handing these things to those slave traders?"
Regarding this question, the old man thought seriously for a moment, and then answered: "I think it has something to do with the Dragon Worship Cult."
Fang was slightly startled, and couldn't help but turn around and look at each other with Sylvester. The noble daughter could still maintain her composure, but he turned back with some confusion and asked:
"How do you say this?"
"As far as I know, in addition to the scholars who study them, there are also alchemists and craftsmen. Only these cultists are interested in these things."
"But there is no way that we and the alchemists can obtain these Abyssal Scrolls from slave traders. I can't think of anyone other than the Dragon Worship Cult who would do such a sneaky thing."
Fang listened and pondered for a moment. This was the opposite of the conclusion he and Sylvester had come to, but it was also within reason. After all, that was what he originally thought.
He asked again: "Mr. Alfan, apart from scholars, alchemists, and the Dragon Worship Cult, are there anyone else who would be interested in the Yuanhai Scroll?"
"What?" The old man was obviously very perceptive and asked, "Do you think this has nothing to do with the above three?"
Fang shook his head. Although he and Sylvester had other inferences, he would never let the news out easily before he was truly sure of the enemy and us.
Even Achilles is the same.
He thought for a moment and was about to answer.
But Sylvide spoke at this moment and replied in a nice voice:
"Mr. Alfan, due to safety reasons, we can't come to you all the time, so we need to ask clearly once, please don't mind.
Although the leader and I also have such speculations, we are not sure about this. Since you are well-informed and have a deep understanding of the Yuanhai Scroll, we hope to find out and fill in the gaps as much as possible on this issue."
She spoke so impeccably that the old man couldn't find anything wrong with her. He just nodded and said, "Let me think about it. Yes, there is indeed such a thing, but it probably has nothing to do with the current matter."
"Whether it's relevant or not," Achilles also said at this time: "Mr. Alfan, you can tell us and let everyone discuss it. Maybe there will be some clues."
"Of course I understand this," the old man slowly said one thing: "That happened more than ten years ago."