"Is this a wine cellar? It's winter now, so not many people will come to the wine cellar. Also, I remember there are many wineries near Huntington. This is a good sign."
Xia De thought silently in his heart, lighting up the light at his fingertips and looking around more carefully.
This place is not a place like Coldwater Harbor and Midhill Castle where almost no one appears, but a building with an owner like St. Teresa's Square. But it seems that the owner here has no idea about the hidden wall, let alone that someone will appear from here.
Out of caution, Shade used the echoes of the past to try, but after many attempts, there was no result, which meant that no human had spoken nearby within 48 hours.
Knowing this, Shade felt more at ease, and the wineries around Huntington City were usually not too far from the city. If this was really near the wine city, although there was still a possibility of being discovered when entering and leaving here, at least he was sure that he was not far from his destination:
"That golden rabbit's foot is really lucky, but I will probably dream about a lot of rabbits tonight... I wonder if they will like the silver moon in my dream."
He thought about it and then calculated how likely it was that he could buy the wine cellar and the building on the ground. But then he remembered that he was from Delarion and wanted to buy property in a foreign land. Even if he had enough cash and the owner was willing to sell, he would probably still need to find a trustworthy agent locally.
He used the key to unlock the chain on the gate, and after carefully pushing the door open and walking out, he found a sloping corridor outside in the dark. The room he walked out of was at the deepest part, and there were only four rooms on both sides of the corridor, which meant that there were actually four wine cellars. According to the area and the number of barrels that Shade had just seen, this should be considered a small-scale winery.
Even though the outsider didn't know much about the brewing industry in this world, he knew that if he was willing to spend all his savings of 10,000 pounds, he would still have a chance to buy it:
"But I still need to figure out where I appeared."
The sloping underground corridor is not long. The ground is a dirt road paved with gravel to increase friction. The surrounding walls are not flat, as if they have not been processed after being excavated, but the wine cellar does not need to deliberately smooth the walls.
At the end of the dark corridor, there was a tightly closed iron door. Xia De held his breath and listened to the door for a while. He didn't hear any sound. Then he carefully applied witch's eye shadow, put on the mask, unlocked the door, pushed the door open and walked out.
Outside the door was not the outdoors, but a horizontal corridor. Compared to the dryness in the wine cellar, it was a little humid. Opposite the iron door of the wine cellar was another wooden door on the corridor wall. Sunlight could be seen through the crack of the door, indicating that it was the exit. The end of the corridor extending to the left and right seemed to lead to other warehouses.
There is still no one here. It looks like a warehouse in a countryman's yard. It is a bit dilapidated, but there are signs of frequent use.
The gas lamp hanging on the wall was not lit, and there was a piece of paper posted under the dirty gas lamp. Shade looked through the light from the crack in the door and saw that it was written in Carsenric -
Things to note when working in the White River Valley Vineyards
Don't Steal
Make sure you dress appropriately in any season
The cellar door is not allowed to be opened at will
No entry into the warehouse without permission
All the vineyards belong to the glorious Anjou family.
There is a line of small words behind "The wine cellar door is not allowed to be opened at will", which roughly explains the impact of air circulation on grape fermentation.
“White River Valley Vineyards?”
Shade was sure he had never heard of this name, but the "Anjou Family" was the royal family of Carsenric, which meant that this vineyard was the king's property. But judging from the general appearance of the countryside, it should be an unappreciated property.
Looking at the Kasenrik language again, Shade thought about his poor "foreign language" level and was a little worried about the communication problems he would have when he met someone:
"Yes, after I go back, I will find a qualified foreign language teacher in Tobesk and learn Kasenrik systematically."
He already knew some of the language, and his strong mental power gave him a strong memory and comprehension, so it was not difficult for him to learn the language.
This horizontal corridor leads to the outdoors. Xia De was still carefully listening for any voices outside. Unexpectedly, just as he approached the wooden door that seemed to be kicked open, he heard the vague words of Carsonrick floating from a distance:
"... ... Kill... ... Remember to rinse off the blood... ... Don't include the head and legs... ... Still the same price..."
"Um?"
Xia De frowned, suspecting that he had heard wrongly, so he listened more carefully:
"Waste... Yes, take care of it all at once... Don't let others see you... In winter... Remember to save the blood... Keep it to yourself..."
"What happened to me?"
As I was thinking, the conversation outside stopped. Then the sound of whips and wheels came closer until it stopped outside the door.
Xia De had returned to the iron door leading to the wine cellar and heard the sound of the wooden door outside being opened. In order to prevent the outside air from affecting the winemaking in the wine cellar, there was no gap on the iron door to peek outside. Xia De could only hear a man directing several other people to carry something heavy. From their conversation, it could be heard that the left and right sides of the corridor outside were the warehouses of this vineyard.
The moving work was quickly completed, and Shade did not come out of the wine cellar again until everyone left. Even without the echo of blood, he could already sense the bloody smell in the air:
"I won't run into a murder scene, will I?"
He hesitated for a moment, and walked towards the warehouse at the other end of the corridor to check the situation and confirm what was just brought in. But just after taking two steps, the door of the warehouse at the end of the corridor was pushed open, and an old man with a bat symbol floating above his head walked out of the warehouse with his hands behind his back.
The latter looked up and saw Xia De by the weak light of the candle in his hand, and was also stunned:
"Um?"
Before Shade could figure out what to do next, the old man took a step back in fear, and almost lost his grip on the candle. He gasped for breath, and then shouted in a heavily accented Carsenric language:
"Someone come quickly! There's a thief! There's a thief in the warehouse!"
This was the first time that Shade had been caught breaking into someone else's home, but he didn't have time to think about it. The door leading to the yard outside was pushed open, and in the sunlight that sprinkled into the gloomy and damp corridor, a middle-aged man dressed as a coachman appeared behind Shade. Above his head, there was also a small bat pattern floating.
"Where do all these blood-sucking species come from?"
The newly appeared blood-sucking species was also quite surprised by the appearance of a masked stranger. He looked very strong, but he did not pounce on Shade or use the power of the blood-sucking species to deal with him. The man took a step back and grabbed the door as if he was frightened, and then shouted in panic:
"Sir, come quickly, there really is a thief! There's a thief in the warehouse!"
His Kasenric was not as standard as the foreigners Shad had met in Derrarion, but at least his accent was not heavy.
Seeing Xia De looking at him, the burly man in the shirt immediately emphasized:
"Don't pull out your gun! You have to think clearly. Theft and robbery are different! You still look young, don't go down the wrong path. If you have difficulties, you can speak up, but don't be impulsive."