"Maybe there are other creatures in this mine tunnel, watching you from behind Paimon?"
The person who spoke to him was Yingmei, who had been silent from the beginning. The traveler's naive voice matched the dark environment here, which was quite scary, and Pai was so scared that he couldn't help but look back.
"Traveler...doesn't you mean you are here?"
Zhong Li, who was walking behind the crowd, stepped out of the shadows with a helpless expression on his face. His warm smile seemed to have the power to soothe people's hearts. Even the bottomless mine tunnel didn't look that scary.
Yelan held a magic weapon that exuded a dim blue halo and walked at the front to explore the path. She observed the narrow passage very carefully. After seeing Paimeng's frightened look, she responded in a rather lazy voice:
"...Just now I thought I heard someone claiming to be the best guide in Teyvat Continent?"
“According to some records, in ancient times, after the raw gold ore was mined in the Black Rock Factory, it would be crushed, refined and other processes on site. Impurities would be initially removed and then cooled. Then, through this mine tunnel, it would be transported to the large underground metallurgical furnace of the Golden House for refining.
Purification, pouring the purified gold liquid into molds and melting it into gold coins is the main production process of "Mora"."
Different from Ye Lan's calm tone, the expression on her face looked extremely alert and cautious, obviously preparing for the possible collapse of the mine tunnel and other unexpected situations.
"This mine tunnel also leads to the melting furnace underground in the Golden House. Even if the production line has basically stopped now, you should be able to tell from the mining machinery that you just saw that Mora is not an emperor who can fall from the sky with a wave of his hand.
thing.”
Ye Lan answered Paimon's doubts about the manufacturing of Mora, but the traveler who heard this argument was thoughtful and looked back at Zhongli, who showed no emotion.
"What Miss Ye Lan means is that the material that makes up the mola itself is just ordinary gold, and the reason why gold can become mola is because the King of Rocks gave them value with his divine power?"
Everyone kept walking, and the traveler asked tentatively. Ye Lan chuckled lightly, but his tone was very serious.
"Yes, for thousands of years, humans have long formed an inertial thinking. Only gold coins certified by the Rock King can be called Mora. If this most critical step is missing, no matter how many gold coins the Gold House produces,
They are nothing more than official commemorative coins and handicrafts."
"In the workshop at the bottom, there are piles of mola embryos like this that have not been certified by the emperor. I think you have seen and heard it when you entered the golden house last time... This may be a gift from the gods, but it is not necessarily a gift from the gods.
It’s the luck of mankind.”
In the darkness, Ye Lan's voice seemed a little cold. Paimeng vaguely heard what Ye Lan meant. He looked back at Zhongli's expression with disappointment and guilt, and then whispered into the traveler's ear:
"It turns out that what we saw before... was not the real Mora... and what Miss Ye Lan said, does it mean that the gods have deprived humans of the power to decide their own currencies?"
"...It shouldn't be right? Paimon, don't think too much..."
The traveler seemed to be wondering about the meaning of Yelan's words and hesitantly denied it, which made Paimon feel even more suspicious. Just when he was about to ask a few more questions, he heard Zhongli's deep voice unexpectedly coming from behind:
"Whether the gods created Mora in the past was to guide humans or to restrict humans, it may be difficult to determine, but Liyue is now a godless country. Things that used to be taken for granted must now be answered by humans themselves.
"
"Never giving up independent thinking is a rare quality, and tracing the motivations for setting up the economic system in the past is probably a good starting point."
Zhongli's tone was calm, showing a rare hint of appreciation.
"Oh? I didn't expect that even a mere humble servant would be praised by Mr. Zhongli. It really makes my face shine."
Hearing Zhongli's praise, Ye Lan's tone seemed quite subtle, "Mr. Zhongli also thinks that Emperor Yan has another purpose in controlling the currency in circulation?"
Seeing Yelan's ignorant and fearless probing of Zhongli, the breaths of the traveler and Paimon stopped at the same time.
"This matter..." Zhongli thought for a moment and said in deep thought, "The true meaning of the Rock God to money is not so much certification as it is some kind of guarantee."
"Guarantee?" Paimeng, who had a strong interest in Mora's birth, was confused, "Guarantee to whom? Guarantee for what?"
Zhong Li smiled and noticed the curious eyes of the little mascot, but did not answer directly.
"This may be what we will explore on this trip... It's getting late, let's go faster."
Zhongli ended the topic abruptly, and everyone looked thoughtful as they continued to move forward in silence where only the sound of footsteps could be heard.
This section of the mine tunnel is not very long, and there are occasional slime attacks along the way, but most of them are dealt with cleanly by Ye Lan, who is exploring the road ahead. After advancing like this for more than half a quarter of an hour, Ye Lan suddenly discovers the front
The steep mountain wall began to drop sharply.
The originally not so abundant space suddenly tightened like a funnel, leaving only a narrow hole with an irregular shape. At first glance, it looked bottomless. There was a faint sound of wind coming from below, which at least proved that the road was
smooth.
Ye Lan casually handed the lighting instrument to the traveler beside him, and then squatted down in the mud beside the cave entrance without caring, with his face on the ground, and listened carefully for a while.
After a while, she stood up, patted the dirt on her body, and looked at the nervous little Paimon with a smile.
"Pamon, now there is good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear?"
"Hey, now that things have come to this, why don't you let go of the baggage of being a storyteller?"
Paimon was startled when his name was suddenly called. He clenched his fists and looked angrily at Ye Lan, who was showing off his skills. Seeing the fierce reaction of the little mascot, Ye Lan had no choice but to shrug as if he was asking for trouble.
"The good news is that I found gold sand in the mud accumulated at the entrance of the cave, which proves that at least there is no problem with our direction of travel."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Ye Lan took the lighting instrument from the traveler, took two photos into the cave that was almost perpendicular to the horizontal plane, and then shook his head.
"The bad news is, if we want to move forward, this is the only way we can go."
"Unfortunately, due to the lack of preliminary investigation data, I am not sure which casting furnace this mine tunnel leads to in the casting workshop. Although the Gold House has completely stopped production, the closing and cooling process of the casting furnace will last for about half a month...
…”
Yelan seemed to have some scruples, hesitantly looked at the bottomless cave, and continued to explain.
"If the casting furnace is still cooling at this time, the temperature of the semi-molten gold may not be too low."
"Unless an immortal comes in person, this temperature is enough to melt a person from the outside to the inside."
Paimon recalled the furnaces and tunnels he had seen in the casting workshop, and subconsciously shuddered, asking quickly: "Then what should we do now? Do we want to go back?"
"To be on the safe side, it's best to put steel nails on the edge of the hole and tie a safety rope to ensure that someone is protecting you while descending slowly in stages. If you encounter any situation, your teammates can rescue you in time."
Ye Lan glanced at Paimon, used her heels to confirm the tightness of the surrounding soil, and waved her hand to summon a thick rope made of intertwined life threads.
"After all, humans may not be able to pass through the space where the mine cart passes, and nine out of ten mines will not be completely vertical. Even if a sharp stone is inserted in the middle, it may injure an experienced adventurer."
Yelan raised her hand and touched the rock wall again, looking for a suitable fulcrum. The bracelet on her wrist shone with a faint blue light, illuminating her beautiful face and adding a bit of strange beauty to the dark and strange cave.