'Iron Ore Valley', as the name suggests, is related to mine forging. This is a gorge in the Black Forest. More than a dozen mines have been dug in the gorge, and settlements have been built around the mines.
The slender and zig-zag canyon is constantly struck by wind all year round. The cliff walls in the valley are smooth and rounded by strong air currents. Only a few leeward places have built houses for human survival.
A large number of wooden tracks are laid in the settlements, and the pulleys for transporting ore follow the tracks in and out of the pit. The excavated ore will be transported to the smelting room, and then sent to the forging room after smelting, which are the two hottest places in the settlement.
It is said that because the gorge of the Iron Ore Valley is windy all the year round, residents build windmills to take advantage of this free power. The gears of the windmill drive the winch, creaking to provide power for the heavy pulley, and it can also pull the wind box to heat the smelting chamber.
The huge windmill blades are more than ten meters high. Everyone who comes to the iron ore valley can see the tall wind building in the valley at first glance. It never stops turning, has become the spiritual totem of the Iron Ore Valley, and people's lives depend on it.
Zhou Qingfeng and his party arrived outside the valley, and the sentry at the entrance and exit of the gorge had already seen them. As usual, several heavy crossbows arranged on the wall and arrow towers aimed at them, asking the visitors to stop advancing and show their identities.
The old dwarf Borg's appearance was very conspicuous, and he waved and shouted a few times before the suspension bridge on the settlement wall fell. After a while, several heavily armed soldiers came out, wearing heavy armor and heavy helmets, and holding heavy axes or flail in their hands.
This extravagant equipment is unique in the entire Black Forest.
"Old Borg." The soldier leader recognized the dwarf witch doctor. He looked at Zhou Qingfeng and the others warily, and asked, "What are you doing here at this time?"
The old dwarf turned his head and stepped aside. Zhou Qingfeng rushed forward and said in a deep voice: "My name is Victor Hugo, and I'm here to meet your leader Fei Zhe. I want to talk to him about some major issues related to the life and death of humans in the Black Forest."
Hahaha..., several heavy armored soldiers laughed. The leader tilted his eyes to look at Zhou Qingfeng, and asked in a low voice, "Boy, who are you? Shouldn't we be hungry and come here to beg for food?"
The ridicule made the faces of the old dwarf and others unstrained, and angrily loomed.
Zhou Qingfeng took out the pre-drawn map from his backpack and handed it over, "I don’t like nonsense, show this map to your leader. I only wait for him for half an hour. If he feels that my arrival is worthless, I turned around and left without interrupting."
The soldier leader suspiciously stepped forward and took the wolfskin map, then opened it and glanced at it. At first glance, he still didn't care. The wolf skin that had just been nitrated was still bloody, and it was sticky on his hands. But when he looked a few more times, his brow furrowed...
A few simple curves are drawn on the wolf skin, which at first glance looks like a child's graffiti. But anyone who is familiar with the iron ore valley can recognize it. The top drawing is the terrain of the canyon where the settlement is located.
The map shows the exact location of dozens of pits in the Iron Ore Valley, as well as the direction of the inside of the pit. If only these were painted on the wolf skin, the soldier leader would be a little surprised-how could anyone be so familiar with his settlement
But for the part of the mine, there is a more detailed enlarged view on the wolf skin. The picture shows a lot of details of the mine. Some are known to the soldier leader. Some of them are not clear to him, but they are spaces that the settlers have always wanted to explore.
"Where did this picture come from?" the soldier leader asked in shock and anger.
"I drew it yesterday." Zhou Qingfeng said.
"How do you know the situation in our pit in the valley?"
"Because that is not your mine at all. A few decades ago, this was not an iron ore valley, but the ore refinery of Silver Leaf City in the Black Forest. The elves built this place. The elves evacuated from here 50 years ago and let you Take advantage of it."
Except for the old dwarf who had already known it, the soldiers of Iron Ore Valley and the three adventurers who followed were taken aback. Especially the three Luke, they all thought that Zhou Qingfeng was going to the Iron Ore Valley to complain about the pros and cons, and persuaded Fei Zhe from the Iron Ore Valley to join in.
Who knew that Zhou Qingfeng suddenly took out a map about the iron ore valley and also told the origin of the settlement, which shocked the people in the settlement on the spot. The secret behind this can be searched for by humans in the Black Forest for decades.
Zhou Qingfeng pointed to the armors of several soldiers and said: "The skills of elves are no worse than that of dwarves. The Silver Leaf City back then prohibited humans from entering the Black Forest, but they have been selling weapons and armors they built.
What you are wearing should be the semi-finished products left over from that year. It's sad that decades have passed, and you haven't been able to turn them into finished products, let alone really make use of this forging yard. "
Just a few words point to the point.
The soldiers in the Iron Ore Valley were confused and at a loss. They have been strictly guarding the secrets of the Iron Ore Valley, thinking that the outside world does not know it at all. But now a young man of unknown origin casually ran out to expose them.
The accompanying ranger Luke also learned about the origin of Iron Ore Valley for the first time. He was shocked and immediately shouted to the soldiers coldly: "No wonder you don't allow outsiders to stay in the settlement, let alone strangers close to your mine. It turns out that there is such a big secret hidden in it."
Female Druidnar approached Zhou Qingfeng and asked, "Your Excellency Hugo, how do you know this?"
The wizard apprentice Jason also pricked his ears.
"I know an old guy who has lived for a long time, it told me." Zhou Qingfeng's message came from the self-proclaimed "Shadow" of the gods, "Half a quarter of an hour is going to pass. Should I turn around and leave and find someone in another settlement? Talk about cooperation?"
Ranger Luke immediately shouted: "Your Excellency Hugo, please forgive us for our previous rudeness. You can go to our Xionghoufeng. You can make any request. We would love to hear about the Elf Forge."
Female Druidnar's eyes flickered. She did not easily win over Zhou Qingfeng. Instead, she took out a note from her backpack, quickly wrote a few sentences on it with a charcoal pencil, and then put the note into a small wooden tube and gave it to herself The winter wolf companion, whispered a few words.
The huge winter wolf whimpered a few times, holding the small wooden tube in its mouth, turned and ran, and quickly returned to the Ash Lake.
The wizard apprentice Jason smiled bitterly—this Lord Hugo was young and had a mysterious origin, but the news he told was incredibly shocking. But the Black Forest is too far away from Coldwind City. Even if he knows the secret, he can't tell it to the outside world, he can only stay quietly.
Faced with the different actions of the three adventurers, the soldiers in Iron Ore Valley didn't even know what to do
But the old dwarf Borg cursed, "Idiot, please go and inform your leader Fei Zhe? Let that stubborn guy with a rocky head come to meet him in person."
Several soldiers panicked, and immediately turned around and ran towards the settlement. When they came out in heavy armor, they were majestic and slowly surging, but when they returned, they stumbled and walked awkwardly.
On the arrow tower of the settlement, the sentry thought that something had happened, and immediately sounded the alarm, asking the entire iron ore valley to enter combat readiness, and even the suspension bridge was closed to cut off the inside and outside.
The awkwardly armored soldier ran out of breath, returned to the wall of the settlement, yelling to explain the situation. A beard-faced man soon stood up on the fence, with a fierce face, roaring and asking what happened
When the soldiers finished talking about the situation intermittently, the beard-faced man was also in horror. And Zhou Qingfeng, who was standing outside the settlement, had already turned his horse's head and was about to turn around and leave.