Release that Witch

Rex, who had been waiting at the entrance, stuck out two fingers and pointed at his own head then at the mouth of the cave.

Simbady signaled him that everything was fine on his end.

Rex thus nodded in approval, turned around and walked into the cave.

Simbady looked up and saw the scuba hoses suspending above him. In the past three days, he had not only learned the basic operation of the diving suit but also diving gestures and techniques. It was extremely important to monitor these two hoses, and that was why the salvage required two people.

As a device to supply oxygen, the hose was connected to an air pump powered by a steam engine, which constantly circulated the air in the helmet. If one of the hoses was broken or clogged, the consequence would be fatal. Therefore, he had to be extremely careful when changing his direction or passing through narrow, treacherous areas.

Seeing there was no nothing protruding from the ceiling of the cave, Simbady threw himself into the darkness.

The sound of foaming waves was instantly muffled. He could hear the hissing sound of the air valves and the thud of his own heart.

After he marched around ten meters, the darkness around him grew thicker. Simbady could only make out an obscured outline of a slowly moving Rex in front of him as he plunged into this abyss.

Just then, the ground underneath suddenly rose, and the path started to ascend.

In less than seven minutes, Simbady saw the sea again. This time, however, the water was not glistening with golden specks but heaving quietly.

He followed Rex out of the water while holding his breath. A huge cave appeared in front both of them, most of which sihouletted against the darkness, with only a small part at the dome lit by a ghostly blue light reflecting off the glimmers on the surface of the seawater.

Was this cave connected to the world outside?

Simbady hoisted himself up onto the bank. He was about to take off his helmet when Rex stopped him.

The Fjords merchant took out a water-proof oil lamp from his sack. After observing the lit lamp for quite a while, he took off the helmet and said, ”Agh... Looks like this place isn’t completely cut off from the outside world.”

”There’s... wind?” Simbady said in surprise, feeling a chill playing upon his cheeks as he pulled off his helmet.

”Yes. There may be other exits,” Rex replied hopefully. ”In this case, there’s a bigger chance we find treasures here. We’re really lucky!”

Simbady cared more about safety than treasures. He did not expect to find a cave underneath the desert because the rock here was just too thin to form such a humongous cave. After all, this was only 20 meters beneath the water, and he was also concerned about whether the dome would cave in.

Simbady decided to report to Graycastle what he had found after he got out of here. Although it was a little unfair to the Society of Wondrous Crafts, he had to make sure that the cave would not pose any potential safety hazards to the Festive Harbor above it.

”The wind seems to come from that direction,” Rex said as he placed his helmet next to the pond and raised the oil lamp. ”Let’s go take a look.”

Simbady drew out his knife and followed him slowly.

As they delved further into the exploration, Simbady found the cave became even more bizarre.

Soil appeared as they moved on, and grass gradually replaced moss as they marshaled further, giving Simbady an illusion that he was strolling at Silver Stream Oasis.

”Unbelievable. There are green plants here,” Rex remarked in amazement. ”I thought only mushroom and moss would grow here.”

”Maybe... we should head back,” Simbady said hesitantly. ”I feel this place...”

He stopped dead.

”Feel this place what?” Having not heard anything back from Simbady, Rex turned around and asked, ”Hey, what are you looking at? Wow, a flower!”

Simbady felt his chest constrict. Next to him was a beautiful little flower with pastel purple petals and fragile, delicate leaves. ”This is... the Flower of Providence...”

”Is it very rare?”

”No... they used to be everywhere,” Simbady said in a low tone. ”I never saw it before, but I’ve heard about the legend of Three Gods Emissary. It’s rumored that this kind of flower is coastal. Like a splendid purple ribbon, they used to be the most beautiful flower in the Southernmost Region.”

”There were flowers... in the desert?” Rex asked in astonishment.

”It wasn’t a desert here in the past. This land used to be covered with trees, meadows and rivers,” Simbady explained while shaking his head. ”However, after the departure of Three Gods Emissary, this place gradually turned into a desert. That’s not my point. My point is, there’s a detailed description of the Flower of Providence in our documentation. Once these flowers settle at one area, they will never grow anywhere else. That’s why you don’t see them in the oasis. They should have been extinctive now...”

”I see,” Rex mumbled while clicking his tongue, ”Perhaps the desertification didn’t spread to this underwater cave, so the Flower of Providence lives.”

”Is that really so?” Simbady wondered, getting even more confused. For some reason, he had a strong feeling that this cave used to be an oasis.

Meanwhile, the purple flowers around him became denser. Simbady did not think the presence of these flowers was a pure coincidence.

While Simbady was debating whether he should proceed with the exploration, he suddenly heard a gentle ”crack” underneath.

Then a jet of flash erupted from the ground, creating a haze of light around him.

”What happened?” asked Rex in surprise.

”I... I think I stepped on something,” Simbady said, swallowing hard. ”It seems to be a plank.”

”Is it a trap?” Rex said as he bent over and brushed away the grass and flowers around him. ”Well, this is... haha... hahaha...”

The laugh reverberated across the cave, making all the hair on Simbady’s neck stand on end. ”What are you laughing about? Oi, tell me what it is!”

”Haha, treasures! We’ve found treasures!” Rex said vehemently. ”Look!”

To Simbady’s dismay, underneath the earth lay a densely-patterned stone tablet that emanated a soft glow. The light escaped from underneath his feet, making the entire tablet as transparent and luminous as a jade. The tablet was not as hard as it appeared. When Simbady stepped on it, much to his consternation, the surface of the tablet sank a few inches.

What was more incredible was that the dent magically disappeared on its own after Simbady removed his feet. Meanwhile, the light also faded away, as though everything he had just seen was an illusion.

”Is there any more amazing treasure than this?” Rex exclaimed in exhilaration while stomping on the ”stone tablet”. ”If I could send this tablet to the King of Graycastle, I’ll be the honorary explorer for sure!”

”But... it’s too big,” Simbady said apprehensively. Judging from the part above the ground, the ”stone tablet” might be even larger than him and Rex put together. It was definitely not an easy task to transport it out of the cave.

”We’ll manage. I’m sure we can find a way to get this work. Perhaps we can look for some other exits? ” Rex suddenly broke off and then said, ”Hey, looks like there’s another tablet here.”

Rex took a few steps in the directon Rex was pointing at and soon hit another similar ”stone tablet”. In the soft light, more and more grayish white tablets floated out of the sea of flowers.

”There’s one here, and there as well...” The two men tried to count how many tablets there were as they marched forward but soon abandoned this idea.

It was not long before they noticed that the Flowers of Providence were gradually replaced with those jade-like stone tablets. Light erupted everywhere as they proceeded.

Then a giant wall blocked their way.

”Oh God...” Rex gasped.

Feeling a little cold, Simbady slowly raised his head and saw a stone wall loom over him in the soft light. Then they found out that it was not a ”wall” but a pile of numerous stone tablets.

Some of them were broken and some slashed in half. However, most of the tablets were rectangular. The random way in which these tablets laid on top of each other gave Simbady an ominous feeling.

They resembled thousands of buried coffins.