Chapter 28 Beneath the Valley
Chapter 28: Beneath the Valley
“What is truly meaningful to say?”
Baili lay on the bed pondering this question. By all logic, they should be the protectors of this country.
But ironically, the Empire’s common people avoided the knights, fearing trouble.
Lying here with nothing to do, he might as well get up and do something rather than just meditate.
He remembered that since blood clan members were born alchemists, he could ask Vivian or Tereise, or even the noble Wensa. He should be able to learn something.
Before that, he needed to find suitable supplements for his drained body. Walking along the riverside, such fresh air was rare in the Empire.
Lightly touching the cool river water, he washed his face to refresh himself. There were still many places in this valley he hadn’t explored.
Slippery moss clung to the rocks. The midday sun had faded, and a cool breeze gently played with Baili’s hair. He walked carefully, afraid of slipping.
“How did the blood clan get such high-purity iron? They aren’t skilled in metallurgy, are they?” Baili couldn’t understand. Refining this was much harder than smelting iron.
He continued forward, and what he saw next would be eye-opening.
He noticed a patch of red on the adjacent cliff. Out of curiosity, he decided to climb over and take a look.
When he scraped off a piece with his knife and held it in his palm, it was crimson iron ore. After a slight calcination, high-purity iron could be obtained. Now he completely understood.
He had never seen iron ore of such high purity in the Empire. This was essentially delivering a finished product to Rose Cathedral’s blood clan.
He also discovered a salt mine. In the Empire, control over private salt was extremely strict. Those caught smuggling salt would basically spend life in prison.
“I need to get a map when I go back. This place really has everything,” Baili marveled. Then his hand slipped on a tree branch.
…
“Ouch, that hurts.” Baili touched his back. Fortunately, it was just a few scrapes. He had only climbed about four meters high. This minor injury was nothing to him.
Tereise had taken back the practice sword from the earlier spar. Without realizing it, Baili had walked deep into the valley, where there was barely any light.
His instincts told him it was time to leave. This kind of mine definitely had some extraordinary things. Though it would have been just a matter of two slashes for him before, now he couldn’t handle anything.
The sound of a falling stone in the distance caught his attention. Baili chuckled awkwardly. This time, the stone man by the mine might be a bit large…
Dodging the flying rock, a dark shadow kicked up a cloud of dust. Through the dust, the stone man’s fist was already swinging at Baili’s head.
Barely avoiding the punch, the stone man’s hand smashed against the rock wall, leaving a terrifying crater. The wall trembled as if it might collapse at any moment.
This stone man was perhaps the largest Baili had ever seen, standing about five meters tall. Each step he took felt like an earthquake.
Fighting twice in one day, Baili was truly speechless. And this time, the enemy wouldn’t show mercy. He flickered his form, weaving between the stone man’s attacks.
The flying debris and sand had already added numerous wounds to his body. He was unarmed and without his magic.
The stone man’s weakness was in the joints. If he could hit them, he might be able to paralyze him. Baili knew this, and he jumped up when the stone man missed, viciously stomping on the hand joint.
“…Damn it, why is it so hard?” The blow only made the stone man shake a bit, instead igniting his fury.
The stone man raised his foot and stomped heavily on the ground. The powerful shock wave made Baili stumble, and now a massive boulder was flying toward him.
“It’s over. I can’t dodge at all…”
There was no imagined breaking of bones. His body became semi-transparent, and the boulder passed right through him.
“Huh, what’s happening?”
He quickly realized this was the blood clan’s phasing ability, which could avoid many physical attacks.
Missing his strike, the stone man was confused seeing the opponent’s phasing. At this stage, magical creatures also had their own intelligence.
He spoke in a hoarse voice, “You… are you a blood clan member from Rose Cathedral?”
His voice was like a broken gong, hurting Baili’s ears. Although he didn’t identify with his identity, if he said no, the stone man would probably smash him to pieces.
“As you say. I entered your territory by mistake. I meant no offense and will leave immediately.”
“Then you deserve to die even more!”
The stone man became angry. Debris and dust from all around gathered toward him, creating a sandstorm that left Baili unable to move.
He fought with all his might against the dizziness, looked up, but it was too late.
A huge sandstorm was coming right at him.
…
A flash of red light, the most familiar sight to him, followed by a sudden black hole that completely swallowed the sandstorm.
Vivian spread her wings, hovering in the air, her face expressionless. The magic scythe in her hand emitted a red blood light.
“You must be tired of living. Have you forgotten how your brother was sealed?” Vivian raised her scythe, and the blade of energy she unleashed left a shallow wound on the stone man. “I’ll give you ten seconds to get out of my sight.”
Her silver-white hair swayed slightly, her face displaying a cold expression. The usually indifferent Vivian now had no room for mercy.
The stone man left reluctantly, not forgetting to glare fiercely at Baili and Vivian before leaving.
“Phew, saved. I didn’t expect it to be unsafe here too.”
Vivian put away her scythe and reached out her small hand to grab him. She didn’t forget to pinch him hard, teaching him a good lesson.
“Ouch, stop pinching. It really hurts.”
She sighed, “This valley was originally a no-man’s land. These two stone men are particularly xenophobic. They go crazy if you get even slightly close.”
Out of necessity, Vivian had sealed the older stone man, after which they became much more subdued. Truth be told, these two stone men had guarded this mine for a long time.
That was also why Vivian hadn’t killed them.
“Anyway, we blood clan members don’t need these ores. Let’s just say we coexist peacefully,” Vivian added. “As for you running around again, I’m glad you weren’t trying to escape. You’re mine, and that will never change.”
Speechless, Baili was too tired to argue with her about these matters. He patted the dust off his body and was about to stand up.
“Did I say you could stand up? You just got saved. Aren’t you going to thank me?”
“Seriously? Do you make your possessions thank you?” Baili’s lips twitched. “Then at least give me back some magic?”
“Beg me. If you contribute more of that when we get back, I might consider it.”
Thinking about being forced to “contribute” each time, Baili’s head ached. But for now, she had the final say on this matter—when, how much, all depended on her mood.
Since Vivian was here, Baili had always wanted to know about alchemy.
“Since blood clan members are born alchemists, I assume you are too?”
Vivian smoothed her wind-tousled hair. “What’s up? You want to learn?”
Seeing Baili nod, she patted his head.
“It’s rare to see you so eager to learn. I’ll reluctantly teach you, then.”