In fact, the ancient ruins or ruins in Gao Wen's memory are not far from the place where the team camped - it is located on the north side of the Dark Mountain Range, most of which are hidden in the mountain body, and some structures are exposed between the mountain walls. In theory, as long as you look up at the dark mountains in the distance, you can see part of the structure of the monument between the rock walls hundreds of meters above the ground.
It's just that the long-term passage of time has obliterated the traces of civilization. A large number of spreading vines and mountain vegetation cover the rock walls, covering those ancient sites layer by layer. It is difficult to observe the structure outside the mountain now. Standing at the place where the team camps and looking at the mountain, it may be difficult for hunters with good eyesight to spot the abnormalities between the rocks and vines in the first place.
After arranging things about the camp, Gao Wen and his party set off for the mountains. Merely ten years will not change the terrain of nature. As for the route into the mountain, Gao Wen and his party found the way up the mountain very smoothly.
Amber looked a little worried: "I said... you are going to dig treasures in the dark mountains. There are only four of us in total. Don't you think this team is a bit precarious?"
Gawain glanced at the half-elf: "Then what do you think?"
Hu Po gestured: "No matter what happens, there will be a team of several hundred guards along the way, a dozen master-level rangers and druids in charge, the knights in front will clear the way, the mages will be behind, and a master-level thief like me will be in charge. Door picking—isn't that standard treasure hunting in the mountains?"
"Standard your size!" Gao Wen originally thought that this guy had some good ideas, but he turned out to be such nonsense, "Which treasure hunting team is configured according to the standard of the regular army! And it's easy for you to say—you organize a team for me." Bo come out with such a team?"
"Okay, I'm exaggerating a bit, but this is the Dark Mountains! Dark Mountains!" Amber waved her arms exaggeratedly, "It is said that there is a place where a demon lord lives every 800 meters! You bring three people with you Into the mountains—and one of them will only fireballs... ”
"Believe it or not, I can beat you to the ground without a fireball!" Rebecca suddenly became agitated, picked up the staff and pointed at Amber, "Let you see how powerful the women of Cecil's family are!"
Gao Wen stopped the great-granddaughter on the N+1 floor, and looked at Amber helplessly: "You will die with this mouth sooner or later. And where did you hear that there are demon lords living every 800 meters in the dark mountains? Is it because the ignorant villagers scare the children? If there were so many demon lords, they would have swept Ansu away."
As he spoke, he raised his head and looked at the winding mountain road ahead.
"The Dark Mountains are indeed a dangerous place, but most people magnify the danger here too seriously. In fact, during the Gondor Empire, this mountain range was just one of the ordinary northern mountains. Mountains are also known as the two major mountain systems in the north and south of Lawrence. At that time, the Dark Mountains were not dark at all. Instead, they had the reputation of "Mountains of Gold" because of their rich products and various minerals. Just facing the place where the elemental storm hits the hardest—the entire southern foot of the mountain range has been eroded by elements, forming a frightening black forest, and this mountain range has gradually been called the Dark Mountain Range."
Gao Wen talked about what he knew - part of it came from the memory in his mind, and the other part was the knowledge he acquired recently.
"The Black Forest on the other side of the mountain is indeed dangerous, but it is located on the south side of the mountain range. This mountain range is a natural barrier, which almost cuts off the breath from the wasteland of Gondor that diffuses through the magnificent wall. Most The mutated monsters living in the Black Forest all need to rely on chaotic mana to survive, so they will never leave the Black Forest, let alone cross the ridge to the north of the mountain, which is enough to suffocate them. The north side is actually pretty safe."
The route that Gao Wen chose does not have much vegetation coverage, but he can still see some overgrown trees and vines spreading from the roadside to block the way from time to time. These plants grow more or less tenaciously in the dark mountain range area. It will also be affected by some wasteland breath - that is the trace "elemental wind" (that is, the unclean wind in the mouth of Viscount Andrew) that floats from the south along the airflow every year. Under the influence of those chaotic elemental forces , the plants appear distorted and unusually thick, with some hideous and terrifying meanings.
But Gawain knew very well that apart from looking a little scary on the outside, these things are actually not threatening at all. They are just "stronger" plants. The noble children who boast that they have experienced the experience of the Black Forest are all exaggerating the dangers of this land—they have no idea what the real Black Forest looks like.
The reason why he was able to confirm that the pollution in the area on the northern side of the Dark Mountains had receded was not because of the memory in his mind or the information he inquired about, but because of the satellite view from ten years ago.
As long as you compare the satellite view with the data in your memory, you can easily determine that this is actually a safe zone.
"People's fear here is actually only derived from two points. The first is the fear of the wasteland of Gondor. Although the sentinel towers and magnificent walls built by the elves have sealed most of the wasteland of Gondor, that layer The magic barrier can only isolate 70% to 80% of the chaotic magic energy. The corrupt power that permeates from the wasteland of Gondor every year is the biggest threat to the border areas of the four countries. The fear and pressure will not dissipate so quickly—these horror stories in the border areas have been circulating for seven hundred years, and they have long since become a part of almost traditional culture," Gawain said casually while chopping the plants blocking the way, "The second... is the fear of the unknown."
"Unknown?" Amber asked, frowning.
"That's right, unknown. How many years has it been since the Ansu Kingdom stopped exploring the south?"
It was Rebecca who answered: "If you count from the signing of the order to stop the development, it will be more than two hundred years. If you count from the cancellation of all settlements, it will be a hundred years."
"That's right, it's been a hundred years at least. For a whole hundred years, this place has been listed as a forbidden area. Except for those 'adventurers' who go back and brag to others, no one dares to approach this place, so there is no People know what this place is like. They can only understand this place from the horror stories passed down from generation to generation and the adventure stories blown up by adventurers, how can they not be afraid?"
After listening to Gao Wen's series of popular science, Amber finally breathed a sigh of relief: "Huh... so the horror stories about the Dark Mountains are all blown out, but we are actually safe here?"
Gawain thought for a while, and suddenly showed a very scary expression and approached the half-elf lady: "Actually, I lied to you - this place is eerie, dangerous, chaotic and terrifying, and there is a demon lord living every 800 meters."
Amber: "... eeeeeeeeeeee!!"
"It's a shame to be a master-level thief," Gawain laughed with satisfaction, raised his hand to pat Rebecca's head next to him, and pointed to a tree trunk that fell on the ground not far away, "Your fireball There's a place for that trick—blow that thing up. If I remember correctly, it's up ahead."
Rebecca had been waiting for this moment for a long time, and immediately nodded happily, raised her staff, and a fireball with the size of a head flew straight forward.
I always feel that this girl summons fireballs faster than before...
"boom-"
After a loud noise, the fireball exploded, and the already rotten and fragile tree trunk was blown apart, turning into two unbalanced pieces that rolled down the hillside, and the road ahead suddenly became clear.
An open land hidden in the mountains is presented to everyone.
This open land seems to have been deliberately leveled by someone, and the rocks have been cut into incredible neat shapes. Among the rocks, you can see ancient arches and collapsed walls, which seem to be "embedded" in the mountains Between the huge rocks and cliffs, it will even give people an illusion—as if there used to be a magnificent fort here, which was swallowed by the surrounding stones.
But in fact, this ancient ruin itself was built inside the mountain, and about two-thirds of its structure was hidden behind the stone wall.
Whether it is Amber who has been coddling all the way, Rebecca who has been listening carefully to the admonition of her ancestors, or Byron Knight who is fully alert, when they see this ancient ruin hidden in the mountain, they can't help but His eyes widened.
They looked at this incredible ancient ruins in astonishment.
Gawain's eyes wandered around, and suddenly stopped beside a collapsed rubble.
He came to the pile of rubble, and there was a black thing stuck in the pile of stones, which could hardly see its original appearance. After carefully distinguishing it for a long time, he realized that it was a handle that had been severely corroded broken sword.
And on the ground next to the stone pile, you can see a line of engravings, which are so deep that they are still clearly identifiable after seven hundred years of weathering: 16 Squadron, Cole is buried here.
Rebecca's voice came from behind: "This is... what?"
"When the team crossed the Baishui River, they encountered pursuers. The 16th Squadron was in charge of the rear, and no one survived," Gao Wen said slowly. "It should be the last surviving soldiers who retreated to this place when there was no hope of breaking through. It's a pity. …At that time, the tide of magic was raging, and the entire Dark Mountain Range was shrouded in corruption. In my lifetime, we failed to retake this area, and when the tide of magic subsided naturally, no one remembered this place... "
Knight Byron took off his saber, pressed the long sword to his chest, and bowed to the humble tomb.
There is still a tomb for the soldiers buried here, but it is hard to find even the slightest trace of the soldiers who built the tombs and left scratches.
Gao Wen was silent in front of the grave for a while, then picked up a piece of gravel from the side and pressed it on the top of the pile of stones: "Don't worry, everyone has survived."
At this moment, he wished that he said this sentence in the tone of Gawain Cecil, not the time traveler Gawain.
Then he walked to the arch not far away: "Come with me, and I will show you what your ancestors left here."