Chapter 1646 - Findings from the Books (2/2)
“According to the records in these books,” Lily picked out all the classics about The Great Pit she could find and spread them on the table. Others had done the same, “it does not refer to mines or a specific underground cavern, but a group of underground caves that spread throughout the entire continent and may even extend into the endless ocean and throughout the world.”
Vivian also told of what she had found. “Under this continent, which is known as L’Haronne, there is a group of caves that looked like the beehive. That is The Great Pit. The cave distribution and depth are irregular. In the eastern part of the mainland, the Great Pit is deep underground and does not affect the locals. But in the northern territory within the ten ancient kingdoms, The Great Pit is very close to the surface. It is said that some shallow tunnels are linked to the mines. There were occasional horrible accidents where miners fell into the Great Pit when they inadvertently dug through the rock roof. Because of this, the northern part of the continent is now the most desolate place in this world: it is inhabitable.”
Y’zaks chimed in and said, “The Great Pit is a terrible world. There is not only toxic and corrosive gases but often there are also monsters lurking around. Sometimes, some strange beings that no one knows what they are nor could overcome would come out of the caves. I read folklore about a kingdom in the north, where people had to dig a shelter in the ground because of war. But they accidentally dug through the rock layer of The Great Pit and released a phantom. Following that, the night had swallowed the entire kingdom together with the invasion forces. When the next morning came, the kingdom had turned into a black forest. The place seems to be very famous now, and it is said that those who have entered the forest have never come out alive.”
Lily and Vivian’s stories reminded Hao Ren about the First Born living deep inside the planets. His brows knitted together and he was even more convinced of it when he heard about the black forest swallowing the kingdom, and the strange being that no one knew and could fight. “It sounds familiar: the big holes and the monsters. Could it be the First Born again?”
“I don’t think so,” Vivian said. “First of all, this is the Umbral Realm. It’s near the divine realm of the goddess of creation. Let’s not talk about why this place has become the way it is. The address can’t be wrong. According to what we know, the goddess of creation did not sow the Seed of Origin in such a place so close to the divine realm. She only used the seeds during her deep space exploration and sowed them far away from home. So, the First Born should not have existed in the Umbral Realm. Secondly, from all the materials we have found about the Great Pit, not one has mentioned about the First Born, whether it is the tentacles buried in the ground, the beating organ in the cave, or the lifeblood. If the First Born really exists here, it will move under the planet’s crust. It will leave behind many signs, and there is nowhere to hide.”
What Vivian said made sense. Hao Ren could not help but nod in agreement. “So, what else do you find? What about the Great Pit?”
“There is something else. A scholar named Ronzel wrote a book about the Great Pit. His works did not seem to gain recognition, but he had mentioned many interesting discoveries.” Nangong Sanba lifted an old book that he found. “This scholar claimed that he used to fallow a mysterious old man to practice Druidism. During communication with the spirit of nature, his soul left his body and entered the Great Pit. In there, he saw many human-made traces, ancient text, relics, and even magnificent ancient ruins. So, he believed that the Great Pit was actually a refuge built by the civilization of the last era to escape the disaster on the surface. The reason why the Great Pit spread all over the world was that the highly developed ancient civilization had built this miracle. The monsters that lunged from the Great Pit could be the guards of the ancient civilization, and might be the mutated humans that had gone crazy underground.”
Y’zaks laughed when he heard this. “The imaginative scholar had even estimated the scale of disasters on the surface based on the monsters and toxic substances rushed out from the Great Pit. In the second half of the book, he discussed in detail how a civilization dealt with the same disaster at the time.”
Lily’s ears stood erect and could not help but chime in, “Wow! It is so cool!”
“Cool does not mean it’s convincing.” Y’zaks shook his head. “The scholar might be imaginative, but unfortunately, four-fifths of his book is filled with guesswork and legends. He even quoted a fairy tale for the only citation in the book. This led to everyone attacking his theory and classifying his book as an absurd novel.”
“But by the intelligence at hand and our understanding, his stories are not entirely absurd.” Hao Ren’s eyes swept over them, and he spoke matter-of-factly, “This world plunged into this place together with the goddess of the creation. So, the ancient civilizations and the natural disasters on the surface that the scholar named Ronzel mentioned could be true, and the speculation of the Great Pit as an ancient civilization shelter may also be true. If that civilization had escaped the explosion of the divine realm with this underground facility and rebuilt the ecosystem, then many things would be explainable.”
Vivian nodded. “A lame scholar with a keen instinct is not uncommon. It could be just that Ronzel was not a persuasive writer.”
Lily picked up the book that Y’zaks brought and waved it in the air. “If what is written in the book is true, then the so-called Great Pit will be worth a visit.”