Pillar of Yita

”Look, there’s a door over there!” Tianlan exclaimed with excitement.

”Be careful, there might be a trap on that door, Sister Fuli.” Gita cautiously tugged at her sleeve from behind.

”Don’t worry, I’ll be careful, Gita is such a good girl.” Tianlan pinched the latter’s face with her hand, and the future Miss Natural Historian unwillingly pushed her away: ”Sister Fuli, stop it.”

Only then did Tianlan stealthily smile, took the spear from a distance and jabbed forcefully at the rusty iron door. A crisp snap was heard, and suddenly the ceiling above them collapsed, and a skeleton broke through the ground, falling with the dirt and sand, grabbing onto the former’s shoulders.

”Ahhhhhhhh -- !”

The two girls screamed in unison, startled.

Atira sighed behind them, pulled the two back, and gently swept away the skeleton with her hand. ”It’s not a trap,” she said, ”It’s just that the tomb above has collapsed, that’s all.”

Tianlan blinked and recognized that the skeleton was hanging limply from the ceiling; it was just an ordinary set of bones.

Her face turned red, she stammered: ”That, Sister Atira, I I I was just scared by Gita, I’m not afraid at all.”

Gita, upset by this unloyal woman, bit her lip and stood behind with grievance in her eyes at the former.

Atira shook her head at this treasure: ”You two, step back.”

”Ah!” The two girls were truly startled this time: ”Sister Atira, but your body?”

”I’m fine, but if you two girls continue to frolic like this, I’m afraid we really won’t be able to get out,” Atira said peevishly, giving each of them a stern look: ”Come behind me.”

”Oh——” Tianlan pouted and drew out her response in a long tone.

Her attitude seemed less worry than it seemed not having had enough fun. But not daring to defy the Elf Miss’s wishes, they obediently moved to stand behind her.

Atira’s expression turned serious, forest elves have a natural sensitivity to secret doors and hidden details, especially since she was a follower of Ameya. She closed her eyes, gently pressed on the wall, and a part of the wall caved in.

The door made an unpleasant scraping noise, like claws scratching on glass, followed by the sound of iron chains from behind the door, and then it opened.

Tianlan’s mouth fell open in reverence and envy at the Elf Miss. But unable to contain herself, she pushed ahead and peeked her little head through the door to look inside.

Then she gasped: ”Ah!”

Gita was blocked thoroughly by Tianlan and had to struggle to push this obstructive person aside to see what lay beyond the door, followed by her own gasp: ”Ah...”

Behind the door were chests, tidy and packed one after another. A few of the chests had been opened, revealing the contents within, which were well-cast ghost iron, one of the best materials for Constructs.

The two girls did not recognize these items, but the contents of an overturned chest at the very back were unmistakably identifiable. It was a chest of coins, gold masso from the Colin Ishurian Alliance.

An entire chestful, the round gold coins spilled onto the ground, piling up like a mound of earth, twinkling with a faint light in the darkness.

”We’re rich!” Tianlan screamed, ready to rush into the room.

But before she took a step, Atira grabbed her by the collar and yanked her back, causing the girl to spin in place, bumping into Gita.

Poor future Miss Natural Historian let out an ’ouch’, weakly holding her forehead and squatting down with a cry of pain, then lifted her head to glare at Tianlan with tearful eyes.

”Ouch!” Tianlan was startled and quickly explained: ”It wasn’t my fault, it was Sister Atira—”

She stuck out her tongue halfway through her sentence and looked at the Elf Miss, who was giving her a stern stare.

But the Elf Miss didn’t scold her.

Instead, Atira frowned and turned her attention towards the room and took the spear from Tianlan’s hands. Sounds started to emanate from the room, a squeaking and grating noise as something emerged from the darkness.

”Ah!”

Tianlan was startled, quickly hiding behind Atira and cautiously peering in that direction—of course, she didn’t forget to pull Gita behind her as well.

The heavy figure seemed to be a Construct, each step producing a shaky, muffled thud like several metallic components clashing against each other.

However, it hardly took a few steps before it toppled over with a loud boom.

Silence followed.

Dust swirled in the basement.

...

Ruins of the Upper City District in Dolifen—

Fang Hong searched amidst the scattered rubble of collapsed buildings for a long while but could not find any trace of the noble lady and her staid maid.

Not to mention the two living beings, not even a trace of combat was to be seen. It was as if people had vanished into thin air, making him wonder if he’d been deceived by the noble lady again, maybe she had already left Dolifen to meet at the rendezvous point by herself.

However, he didn’t slow down, running into more than one set of Dragon Worshippers along the way. As he expected, they seemed to be converging from the direction of Mist Shield Manor and Haggston Cemetery, with their numbers growing more and more, an inevitable confrontation looming.

Thankfully, he had the Clockwork Fairy—

As he walked along the road, he suddenly dashed into the shadows of the ruins, hid in the dark, and watched as a group from the Dragonfire Guild hurried past that way: