Mercenaries and Adventurers

The next day, Zhao Ji woke up at dawn. Although his legs were still a little sore from yesterday's long journey, Zhao Ji was in good spirits.

The morning at the Stone Top Camp was a morning filled with cold mist. Zhao Ji stood on the top of the tall rocks beside the camp and looked around. He could only see the cold and damp cold mist evenly sprinkled on all the hills. The fog on the top of the hill is relatively thin, and the lower the terrain, the denser the fog.

Taking advantage of the embers of the campfire last night, Zhao Ji raised the burning campfire again, roasted the bread with the temperature of the flame, and after a simple breakfast, Zhao Ji picked up the hatchet and set out to cut wood.

He planned to take advantage of this burst of activity on the foggy morning, not only to exercise his body, but also to relieve the body heat caused by logging with the help of the cold mist.

Passing through the thick fog along the way, Zhao Ji picked up his ax and started to cut down the trees in the same woods as yesterday evening. While cutting down the trees, he estimated how much wood would be needed to complete the Stonetop Camp. In order to prevent the camp from being ransacked by small animals after he returned to the village last time, he will use wood to make a wall and block all the gaps between the big stones on the camp's outer wall, leaving only one that can The passages for moving in and out, and other places for entering and exiting are blocked.

After getting hot, Zhao Ji took off his shirt, swiped the ax again with his bare upper body, and began to chop down the trees. After estimating the approximate amount of wood needed, he cut down seven thicker trees in succession according to the materials used. . Next to the felled tree, he used an ax to cut off the branches other than the trunk. Zhao Ji split the remaining trunk into several sections horizontally, so that each section could be rolled and moved back to the camp.

After being busy until noon, Zhao Jicai hung the thick tree trunks with ropes to the gaps between the big rocks outside the camp. Stand up the thick trunks, and use an ax to split the protruding and concave parts between them, so that the trunks can be roughly connected together.

At the end of the gap between the trunk and the stone, Zhao Ji filled the gap with the cut branches of the big tree, filling the gap tightly.

As for the way in and out, Zhao Ji tied the thick branches of the tree with knotted ropes to form a fence with small gaps. The whole fence can just be stuck on the way in and out. Small animals cannot climb in.

After the camp was simply closed, Zhao Ji began to prepare for the Elven Ruins.

After being busy for a while, he carried the trolley out, and got out a lot of supplies little by little. Zhao Ji packed the materials tightly on the trolley, closed the fence gate of the Shiding camp and set off.

The Stone Top Camp is not too far from the ancient elf ruins. It took only an hour or two to walk. After the sun hanging in the sky cleared away the fog among the hills, Zhao Ji was pushing the cart and creaked. Along the winding hills and valleys to the place outside the ancient elf ruins.

The two ends of the hills and valleys where the elf ruins are located are narrow trails that can only be entered sideways, and the other side is a very dense jungle. It was not a road that could be pushed forward with a cart, so Zhao Ji had no choice but to forcefully climb up the tall hills with the cart.

Zhao Ji wouldn't just push the car up by force, he wasn't that strong. He followed the zigzag route along the steep slope of the hill, pushing the cart back and forth and up.

It was very dangerous when going down the hills. Zhao Ji was afraid that he would not be able to hold the trolley that was sliding down, so he had to disassemble the supplies on the trolley on the top of the hill, and went back and forth several times to transport all the things to the tree root camp.

The tree root camp was the same as he left before. Zhao Ji searched around the camp, but found no animal footprints. He scratched his head and felt a little strange, why didn't animals come here to make nests in such a good place?

Before exploring, you must first build a long-term living camp. Zhao Ji still picked up his ax and came to the dense forest at the end of the Jiagu,

Large stretches of straight-growing trees were cut back and forth.

Relying on these trees, Zhao Ji strengthened his tree root camp and expanded the campfire. He only left a narrow door for people to enter and exit the crypt under the sleeping tree roots, and used tree trunks as walls to seal the rest. Zhao Ji also picked up a lot of dry leaves and spread them on the ground in the sleeping crypt, and then he spread his dog-skin quilt on it, and lay down on it, ouch, it feels really soft.

Lying on the thick leaves and dog-skin bedding, Zhao Ji looked at the solid wooden walls around him and felt a sense of peace of mind. He became sleepy and fell asleep while lying down.

----------------

After Zhao Ji woke up, the sun was already setting outside. Zhao Ji walked out of the crypt where he was sleeping, stretched his waist, and began to prepare for exploring the ruins.

The ruins of ancient elves are inside several petrified tree stumps that look like small castles, so Zhao Ji needs to climb up first, and then use the rope to go down to explore.

Zhao Ji took out the big roll of rope given to him by the village, and knotted the rope every 30 centimeters, so that he could hang the rope from the edge of a high tree stump and use it to crawl.

After Zhao Ji fixed the rope, he climbed up the big tree stump next to his tree root camp. He had to find out which tree stump the elf ruins were in before he could prepare for further exploration.

Wrapping the rope into a loop and slanting it on his shoulders, Zhao Ji put his backpack and long sword beside the campfire on the ground, and he climbed up the gap in the petrified tree stump with only his dagger.

The petrified bark is easy to climb on, and there are many places to step on. Zhao Ji climbed to the top of the stump in one breath.

There is only a half-meter-wide area of ​​the outer skin for Zhao Ji to stay, and the inner side of the stump is a deep hollow, and the bottom is dark. Because there is no light, it is impossible to see what is at the bottom.

This kind of huge deep pit in front of you actually looks very scary, giving people a sense of death that will fall into the abyss at any time and be swallowed by darkness. Zhao Ji also sat on the edge of the tree stump for a long time before he overcame his fear and allowed himself to look directly at the dark tree hole beside him.

Looking at the speed of the setting sun in the distance, Zhao Ji estimated that it would take another hour to fully set, which is still enough time today.

He began to crawl slowly around the edge of the stump, hoping to find a convenient place to fasten the rope. The skin of the petrified tree stump is very strong, so Zhao Ji doesn't have to worry about the place where he fixed it later breaking and causing him to fall.

Zhao Ji crawled slowly on the edge of the half-meter-wide tree stump. It wasn't that he didn't dare to stand up and move, but he felt that in this kind of place where safety comes first, it's better not to ignore safety for the sake of being handsome. Anyway, no one else saw his cautious appearance, only some birds flew by and stayed around, not even a squirrel and hare.

Soon, when Zhao Ji crawled about halfway along the edge of the stump, he found a place that was very suitable for fixing ropes and activities. The petrified skin of the stump here is one meter wide, which is enough for Zhao Ji to lie down on it safely, and a protruding section of the petrified skin is also suitable for use as a place for ropes to be fixed.

Zhao Ji looked down, which happened to be opposite the tree root camp. There is no suitable route for anyone to climb up here, so Zhao Ji had to hang the rope on his back from here, and after touching the ground outside, he wrapped the rope around the protruding petrified skin and got stuck. The other end of the rope went right into the inner cavity of the stump.

When hanging down the rope, Zhao Ji felt the force from his hand while letting go of the rope. After putting down the rope, which was at least 30 meters long, Zhao Ji felt the touch of the rope in his hand touching the bottom.

I don't know if the hollow in the tree hole is what the lady who provided the clue said, but Zhao Ji estimates that it is unlikely at a depth of 30 meters. After all, unless the water below is deep enough, even if there is soft bat droppings underneath, she should die if she falls.

This height of 30 meters is really too high. In the previous life, it was at least the height of a seven-story building. No matter how you fall to the ground, you will die.

Although Zhao Ji judged that this big tree stump was unlikely to be the one with the elven relics, the clue provider did not say that there were no other elven relics that might exist in the other big tree stumps.

What happened to Zhao Ji still had to investigate all the big tree stumps one by one. After all, exploring the map of an area was a step that Zhao Ji always did when playing games in the previous life. This could always bring him some special help .

The extra rope Zhao Ji was wrapped around, he first fell from the rope outside the tree stump, took out a torch that could burn for a long time from the supplies he brought, opened the small wooden barrel of grease he brought, and put the sticky animal The fat is stuck to the head of the torch, and then the outer layer of the torch is wrapped with some leaves, the fat is sealed inside the leaves, and inserted at the waist.

When Zhao Ji was about to climb up the rope, he suddenly remembered what would happen if the hollow bottom of the tree stump was filled with flammable gas? What about the methane-like methane produced by the accumulation and corruption of bat feces, or some poisonous gas that will suffocate the human body after inhalation?

Zhao Ji was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat. Fortunately, he didn't go down with such a big thorn. If the bottom is really not safe, then he will die here quietly, and his body may not be found for a long time.

The people in the village would only think that he died at the hands of goblins, and apart from a possible murmur, there probably wasn't much else to show. Friends in Kendall City might inquire about him, but after a long time, no one would risk their lives to find him.

Thinking of this, Zhao Ji warned himself that he must protect himself carefully when he is alone, even if he takes more troublesome insurance, he should not take risks arrogantly.

Zhao Ji walked around for a while, thinking that he had to do two experiments. One is to conduct an open flame test to test whether there is flammable gas under the hollows of each tree stump. The other is to use animals to conduct air safety tests to see if the air under each cavity can support living things.

He had already made some preparations for the second test. He asked the elders of the village for a wooden birdcage. It was originally used to detect whether the air in the ruins is breathable, but it is also suitable for detecting the bottom of tree stump holes.

Only if he had to catch a bird first.

What a hassle.

------------

This time period coincides with the time when daytime birds return to their nests and nocturnal birds wake up to start foraging. Zhao Ji came to the dense forest at the back of Jiagu, where a lot of birds have gathered to chatter and communicate on the branches. Seeing Zhao Ji, a human being approaching them, only some timid ones flew away, and most of the other birds ignored the human beings.

Human activities here are still relatively limited. It is difficult for birds with short lifespans to regard humans, who will never see them a few times in a lifetime, as their survival enemy. They are completely incomparable with the birds near Kendall City. Those shrewd birds have already They can no longer be caught by traps. They will see through the simple traps of humans, eat the bait, and then pull some bird droppings on the traps to mock humans.

These silly birds watched Zhao Ji approaching curiously. They saw Zhao Ji put the wooden birdcage that may have been used to raise chickens on the edge of the woodland, and then took out a small piece of bread from his pocket and put it Some bread was kneaded, and the crumbs were scattered in front of the opening of the wooden cage, and small pieces of bread were placed inside the wooden cage.

The wooden fence that opened and closed the wooden cage was tied with a thin rope by Zhao Ji, and it fell far away from Zhao Ji's hand who was hidden in the grass. The wooden fence tied with a thin rope is only supported by a thin shrub branch. As long as Zhao Ji pulls the rope, the wooden fence that opens and closes the birdcage can be pulled up first, and then the supporting shrub branch will fall down, and then the wooden fence will be lifted. As Zhao Ji let go of the rope on the fence, the caged birds fell down.

After waiting for a while, the birds were still chirping with each other, but none of them pecked at the bread crumbs that fell on the ground. Zhao Ji is very patient, it is a bit late today, he will not go down the tree hole. But it's still possible to just check if the bottom of the tree hole is safe.

If it is safe, he can go down by the rope to explore early tomorrow morning.

Zhao Ji's patient waiting paid off. The birds gathered in the woods were still curious. After waiting for a while, they saw the human lying down in the grass in the distance, and finally flew down and approached the bird cage.

Wild birds in the wilderness have never eaten bread crumbs. They approached those bread crumbs and pecked a few times. Seeing that the bread crumbs did not resist twisting, they began to peck curiously.

More and more birds were pecking, and when the crumbs outside were eaten up, bold birds jumped into the cage. Zhao Ji held his breath. The bird-catching mechanism reacted very slowly. A single bird might escape quickly before the mechanism shut down. He had to wait until several birds were squeezed into the wooden cage before turning off the engine. In this way, the birds at the door of the birdcage will escape directly, but the birds inside the birdcage will have no chance to fly out because the door is blocked.

Zhao Ji waited for about five birds to be squeezed into the birdcage, and when he felt it was all right, he pulled the rope, and then let it go.

There was a sound of birds fluttering their wings in the wooden birdcage not far away, but the closed birdcage cannot be opened by these stupid birds. If it is a bird like a smart and domesticated parrot, maybe it can rely on itself Wisdom opened the fence switch of the wooden cage and escaped. But these birds that only know how to flap their wings can't do it.

Zhao Ji hurried over to lift the birdcage. Good guy, he caught five birds in one go, and the situation he expected that there would be birds escaping from the door did not happen.

For the time being, only four birds are needed to explore the four huge tree stumps. With the extra one, he can make a tooth-beating sacrifice, and eat some roasted bird meat to supplement some meat nutrition.

Returning to the tree root camp, Zhao Ji tied a bird taken out of the cage to his waist with a thin rope, and put a torch on his belt. As for the kindling to light the torch, Zhao Ji lit a twigs, blow out the burning twigs, and bite them with their mouths.

Using both hands, he climbed up the outer skin of the huge towering tree stump. After sitting firmly, Zhao Ji let go of the branch he had been biting, and ignited it again with a small mouthful of air. At this time, the sky is already rapidly entering the night, and the black night sky is ruling the sky above the head of the feature film at a speed visible to the naked eye. Only the miracles of the gods are still hanging in the sky to inspect all the lives on the earth.

Zhao Ji pulled out the torch, ignited it with the branches, and then prayed that there would be no big explosion when he waited to test whether there was combustible methane under the tree hole, or the huge tree stump shaped like a cannon barrel might make unexpected changes.

Zhao Ji held two burning things in his hands, and the steady burning fire was going to throw him farther away, while the branches with less fire were thrown along the inner side of the petrified skin of the stump.

Taking a deep breath, Zhao Ji threw two burning objects at the same time. The torch was thrown farther with the right hand, while the branch was thrown closer with the left hand. Just as the two were falling, Zhao Ji quickly turned around and grabbed the rope outside the tree stump, and put himself in a place where he would not be affected by the possible explosion.

After waiting for a while, nothing happened. Zhao Ji, who was hanging in the air, breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed that there was indeed no combustible gas under the hollow of the tree stump.

After waiting for a while again, Zhao Ji climbed up in twos and twos, leaned on the thick outer skin and looked under the inner side of the outer skin. The flame of the nearby branch could not be seen clearly. It was probably extinguished, but it still You can see the faint glow of burning carbon ash. As for the torch in the distance, you can see it clearly. After the torch fell to the bottom of the tree hole, it was still burning steadily, illuminating a large area around it.

Zhao Ji saw that the bottom of the tree hole seemed to be a relatively flat terrain, but it didn't seem to be land, but a semi-petrified tree stump core. He couldn't see the specific things Zhao Ji was so far away, so he had to wait until tomorrow to read.

Since there is no such thing as burning and exploding methane underneath, Zhao Ji will then check whether the air below is safe and whether it can allow creatures to breathe.

Zhao Ji took off the bird tied around his waist, and connected the thin rope tied to it to the end of the rope fixed on the outer skin. Zhao Ji caught the chirping bird, stared at it and said: "Hey, if you're still alive when I pull you up later, I'll let you go. I hope you're fine later."

After speaking, Zhao Ji lowered the rope that hung the bird.