Chapter 154: Absolute Darkness

  In the darkness, two people rushed into this room. After entering, it was pitch black inside, and even Xia's eyes, which were like a night cat's, took some time to adjust. But just after quickly closing the big door behind them, the chill in the air that couldn't be described made one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar!

  In the darkness, the two of them bumped into each other. The poor worm was even stepped on by Xia Ya and almost cried out in pain, fortunately covering his mouth just in time to prevent any sound from escaping.

  Xia Ya's ear was stuck to the door panel, listening intently, but her heart felt strange.

  How is it... can't hear?!

  This plank is strange. The feeling of touching it is cold. It seems to be an iron door, but why does it also isolate the outside sounds? Hands touched it again. Still can't touch anything strange.

  Just then, a sudden burst of flame lit up behind him. It turned out that the poor worm had ignited a candle it had been holding in its hand all along. With the faint light of the candle, he finally saw his surroundings clearly.

  This seems to be a room that has been abandoned for a long time, with walls that are just the outer brick wall, without any decoration, and the bare walls look somewhat dilapidated, while the corners of the walls still hang with some dusty spider webs.

  Poor bug is a girl after all, seeing so many spider webs at once, her face changed instantly. Subconsciously, she leaned closer to Xia Ya's side.

  The room inside seems not very wide. However, it is extremely deep - rather than saying this is a room, it would be more vivid to say that this is a secret passage.

  They walked a couple of steps, and the dust under their feet was startled. Two footprints were left on the ground - Xia Ya looked at the footprints on the ground and sighed: This place is probably unknown for many years without anyone coming in.

  There is nothing decorative in here, the only thing that's a bit strange is underfoot: the ground underfoot isn't flat, but rather a series of steps leading down, forming an arc.

  Xia Ya was curious, looked at Ke Lian Chong, and the two of them exchanged a glance. Ke Lian Chong also had a bewildered expression. Anyway, Duke and Cavish were in the room outside, so they couldn't leave for the time being. They could only go inside to take a look.

  The stairs going down had a total of dozens of steps. The colder the air inside, the more suffocating it was. With the swaying candlelight, the two of them tiptoed to the end of the stairs, and the dust stirred up by their footsteps made Xia Ya want to sneeze, but he could only force himself to cover his mouth with his hand. The poor turtle's face turned bright red from holding back, his eyes brimming with tears, while the poor worm leaned against him in fear.

  The end of this secret passage, however, had no exit. The space at the end was slightly larger, roughly forming a square room, but based on the feeling of the two people who came down, the height of this room at the end was probably at least three meters lower than the place they just descended from.

  "It seems... like a cellar?" Xia Ya looked at Keliang Chong.

  Adeline shook her head, blinking her eyes and lowering her voice: "Don't look at me, I don't know where this place is either. I just borrowed this place from Xiao Minas to meet you, I've never been here before."

  Xia Ya felt the biting chill. Even with his robust body, he couldn't help but feel a slight resistance, while the poor worm was already shivering with cold.

  "What the hell, why is it so cold here?" Xia Ya frowned.

  The two of them looked around the room carefully, and in this empty room there was nothing but a few bare walls, except for dust and cobwebs. Xia Ya's hand touched the wall and immediately withdrew, saying: "This wall is so cold!"

  The poor insect stretched out a hand to test it, and quickly let out a cry of surprise as he withdrew his hand, rubbing his palm vigorously: "It's really cold indeed."

  He then bent down to take a look at the corner of the ground, and suddenly his eyes lit up. He picked up a small thing from the ground with a smile on his face: "Ah, I know where this place is now."

  "What?"

  The poor worm giggled and stretched out his palm in front of Xia Ya: "Look at this!"

  Her slender palm held a small round wooden stick about the thickness of her thumb.

  "What thing?"

  The poor insect smiled: "This is oak. Generally, the aristocratic families use this kind of oak to make wine bottle corks. I think this place was probably a wine cellar for the family in the past. It's just been abandoned for many years and the wine inside has been moved out."

  Thought for a moment, the poor worm squinted and said: "Hmm. It's so cold here, it must be built under this mansion, have you forgotten? This mansion was built on the middle of the mountain, digging down from here, isn't it just inside the belly of the mountain?"

  Looking at Xia Ya's bewildered expression, Adeline sighed and knew that this country bumpkin was born into a poor family. Not being too familiar with the luxurious indulgences of these aristocratic families, she explained: "Generally speaking, wine cellars are built in cool underground places, and to maintain the temperature, such basements are usually built with an extra layer. I think it's possible that on the other side of this cellar's outer wall, there might be some kind of underground ice cellar, specifically for storing ice blocks."

  This explanation seemed reasonable, but Xia Ya didn't say a word after hearing it. He had a strange feeling in his heart that he couldn't quite put into words - he just felt that there was something eerie and indescribable about this place!

  The poor thing relaxed, holding the candle. Sighed: "We can only wait here, and go out when the people outside are gone... Alas, I just hope the old duke and Cavish don't talk for too long outside, if I'm late getting back, I'll be in trouble."

  Xia Ya furrowed her brow and fell silent, suddenly recalling the conversation between the two men she had overheard earlier. An idea sprang up in her mind: the two old men seemed to be discussing some past event, especially when they mentioned a certain person from their past, as if there was some complicated grudge involved...

  It's just...

  "Hey, Xia Ya." Just as Tuo Biao was lost in thought, Ke Liang Chong called out to him and gently tugged on his clothes, saying in a low voice, "What are you thinking about?"

  Xia Ya shook her head and didn't speak. But Ke Liang spoke seriously, "What you just heard, you...". Don't go spreading it around! Although I don't know what they were talking about, with their identities, it must be some old hidden secrets! If you carelessly listen and leak it out, you might stir up trouble!

  Xia Ya waved her hand: "I naturally know this."

  Adeline's tone was serious: "Xia Ya, you need to know that your identity is different now, and the people and things you come into contact with are also very different from before! The circle you're in now is different from the ones you were in before, these things are more complicated and more dangerous, one wrong step and who knows what kind of trouble you'll get into!"

  Although Xia Ya was somewhat impatient, she also heard the concern in Ke Liang's tone and took a deep breath, saying seriously: "Alright, I'll remember all this. Do you think I'm a big mouth? Spreading rumors about everything I hear?"

  Adeline giggled: "You're not a big mouth. You are... a country bumpkin!"

  Xia Ya smiled slightly, looking at the pitiful worm's smiling face under the flickering candlelight, and suddenly his heart moved, he caught a thought in an instant!

  "AH!! I've got it!"

  Xia Ya suddenly jumped up, then grabbed the poor insect holding the candle with one hand, snatched the candle, and carefully looked at the flame. His face suddenly changed!

  Watching Xia Ya suddenly react so strangely. Poor insect was stunned: "You... what are you doing?"

  "Fire! Fire!!" Xia Ya's eyes sparkled as she looked at the fire and then at the poor worm: "Don't you think this place is strange?"

  "What's strange?"

  Xia Ya's face turned somewhat pale, hesitated for a moment, looked at the poor worm's face, and said in a low voice: "You... I told you, don't be afraid."

  The poor insect looked at Xia Ya with a puzzled gaze.

  Xia Ya lowered her voice and suddenly her body couldn't help but tremble slightly, pointing to the ground: "Take a look around... can't you really see anything strange?"

  "Huh?" Adeline saw a hint of shock in Shia's eyes, and she couldn't help but feel a bit tense herself. She looked around the room, but there was nothing unusual about it. The empty walls had no decorations, only dust and spider webs...

  "Take another look." Xia Ya's eyes flashed, and one hand had already pressed down on the hilt of his sword at his waist.

  The poor worm wasn't a fool after all. After taking a closer look, her face suddenly turned pale and she let out a startled cry, almost shrinking into Xia Ya's arms!

  "Shadow! Shadow!!"

  Xia Ya let out a dry laugh and his face turned even more sinister: "You've finally figured it out?"

  Originally... in this room, the candle was clearly lit, but looking around, on the ground, on the walls... all...

  No shadow!!

  Two young people looked at each other, this strange discovery made both of them feel a chill in their hearts, as if an inexplicable cold air rushed up from the back of their heads to the top of their skulls!!

  Adeline panicked and her hand shook. The candle fell to the ground, making a hissing sound as it went out. Suddenly plunged into darkness, Adeline let out a cry of surprise and instinctively wrapped her arms tightly around Xia Ya's arm.

  Just at this moment, Xia Ya suddenly heard Dora's voice in her mind!

  "The dragon's tone was extremely solemn and serious: 'Young one, be careful! This is a magical domain! I sense an extremely strong magical fluctuation!'"

  "What?" Xia Ya blurted out.

  Adeleine in his arms screamed: "Xia Ya, what did you say? Who are you talking to?"

  "This is absolute darkness, domain!!"