Mana, the name of the white beast—Longgang had given it the name temporarily. Judging by how well the little beast accepted it, with its tiny tail wagging from time to time, it seemed quite content.
The hidden passage descended vertically, reaching a depth of roughly thirty meters.
After that, Longgang fell into a stone-built passage. The walls were inlaid with a kind of luminous stone, crisscrossing in every direction... The light was not harsh—in fact, it was rather gentle—yet it made the entire passage look quite bright.
Longgang continued deeper and discovered a small opening along the way, just large enough for Mana to pass through—the sort of hole the little fellow had probably made itself.
"What's inside?" Longgang asked the little fellow sprawled on his shoulder.
Of course, he received no answer... The little fellow could not speak. Even though Longgang could communicate with it, all he could sense were some vague thoughts, which were actually quite chaotic.
But no one had probably been here for a long time... Not even Mojito. It likely had never discovered this place.
Even Longgang himself would have missed it if he had not possessed the ability to communicate with living creatures and sensed Mana.
This had once been a village of herders... Why had they built such a passage beneath the village? Where did it lead?
Longgang soon found the answer.
At the end of the passage, he saw another village!
It was at least half the size of the one aboveground. Its roads were narrower, and its houses stood closer together... At the same time, it was just as deserted, and it had likewise been abandoned for a long time.
The moment he entered, Mana leaped down from Longgang's shoulder and swiftly ran into this underground village.
Longgang instinctively glanced upward...