A Night on Rocky Hill
There are almost no clouds in the sky, and the strong sun scatters light and scorches the earth. Even if there is a cool sea breeze, people still feel a dry mouth. Under the harsh sunshine, the creatures in the desert have all restrained themselves, even the elements have not appeared, which also saves Sang La and his party a lot of trouble.🍪🐟 ❻➈ 🎄🐤
As the scorching sun began to slant, Zul'ra, Bolvar, Shandris, Brann saw that the distant rocky mountains had grown much larger, but they still had a long way to go to reach them, which meant they would have to spend the night in the desert.
Spending the night in the desert is extremely dangerous because, unlike the heat of the day, the desert temperature drops drastically at night. During this cooling period, countless predators and other creatures emerge to replenish their water and energy.
In search of a place to stay, Brann rode Gryphindin ahead to lead the way, and he found a rocky hill on the beach ahead that could serve as his shelter for the night.
Of the four, although Zul'ra and Shandris had experience living in the wild, their survival skills were far inferior to Brann's, a survival master. Therefore, his choice of location was not questioned.
Before the sun set, Zul'ra and the other three settled on the rocky hill, ate a couple of biscuits, drank some water, and then began chatting, waiting for nightfall to come and rest.
Brann sat atop a rock, boasting to Zul'ra and the others about his adventures in summoning monsters and describing the troubles they might encounter that night— Naga, sandworms, lions, and so on. However, none of the people present, even the pampered Bolvar, were intimidated by him; Paladin was a paladin of considerable strength.
Undeterred by the danger, Brann began to recount the environmental traps he had encountered during his archaeological work. They were like rocky outcrops exposed on a beach after the tide receded, where adventurers would carelessly rest. When the tide rose at night, Naga would ride the tide and take the lives of the adventurers in their dreams under the cover of darkness.
"By the way, Brann, have you checked out this rocky hill we're on?" Zul'ra asked, glancing at the rocky hill around them as Brann described the dangers of the tides. He wasn't scared, but the hill seemed a bit out of place on the beach, and it appeared to have quite a few caves.
"Don't worry, I checked. The rocks here don't show any signs of long-term seawater immersion, and the tidal flats I mentioned are quite obvious." Brann chuckled when he saw Zul'ra looking around, thinking he was frightened by his words.
"That's not what I meant. I meant, this hill is quite big. Could there be some bugs hiding here...?" Zul'ra rolled her eyes at the Dwarves who was only grinning at her.
"Okay! This place is indeed quite large." Brann smiled at Zul'ra without saying anything, but after seeing her roll her eyes, he obediently looked around. After taking a closer look at the terrain, he suddenly became interested. He hadn't noticed when he was checking the environment earlier, but this rocky hill was indeed quite large and abrupt.
"What's wrong?" Shandris noticed Brann's serious expression.
"Nothing, it's just that I feel like there might be some kind of ruins here." Brann stood up. He noticed that the rocky hill was not only large, but also showed signs of human carving. There were cave-like shadows under some of the boulders, which he hadn't noticed before. It seemed to be a ruin disguised by the environment.
"Ruins? Would there be any zombies or Undead left behind?" Bolvar asked with a smile.
"I don't know, let's go look around!" Brann glanced at his companion, Gryphindin, Gryphon was resting on a protruding rock and seemed perfectly fine.
"No way!" Zul'ra blinked as she saw Brann about to explore the area. She wondered if he'd accidentally released something here!
"Just taking a look. I just want to find out if there's anything significant about these ruins that can prove their origin." Brann's archaeological interest was piqued.
"That's exactly what I'm worried about. It seems like wherever you go, trouble follows." Zul'ra pursed his lips. That's exactly what he feared—who knows what he might unearth while doing archaeological work!
"This is a slander, a serious slander. How could trouble arise wherever I am? Those troubles have been there for a long time." Brann defended himself vehemently, as if Zul'ra's words made it seem like he had created the trouble.
"For safety's sake, let's search the area thoroughly!" Bolvar, somewhat worried that something might happen that night.
"Everyone be careful. If anything happens, shout loudly. Should we split up?" Zul'ra glanced at Shandris, who hadn't refused, and could only agree to the search plan.
"No need, it's just a small place, less than a few acres. You go there, Bolvar, you go this way, Ms. Shandris, you go to the top. I'll wander around." Brann rejected Zul'ra's idea of dividing into groups and began assigning search directions.
Looking at Brann's eager expression, Zul'ra rolled his eyes. He felt that places Brann was interested in were usually not good places, and it would be safer to act in groups. However, judging from everyone's intentions, they didn't seem to want to do that, so they would have to act alone.
Following Brann's directions, Zul'ra circled the left side of the hill, staring wide-eyed at the strangely shaped rocks, searching for any unusual creatures with her Far Sight, but found nothing. Finally, Brann, who was searching among the rocks in the distance, called out to her:
"Here I am! Everyone, come quick! Look what I've found!"
Without hesitation, Brann leaped up the rocky hill Brann headed toward the source of the sound. He felt it was necessary to keep an eye on Brann, but when he arrived, Zul'ra had already disappeared into a cave under a rock.
"Brann, can you please stop in such a hurry!" Zul'ra grinned and bent down to follow Brann into the cave beneath the jagged rocks.
The cave was an empty passage leading to an unknown destination. The passage was clean, but the beginning of the passage was a bit narrow for the tall Zul'ra, who had to bend over to walk through. Fortunately, the air was well-ventilated and the light was bright.
"Brann!" Zul'ra looked down as he walked through the low passageway. Looking at the empty, flat passageway with traces of human carving, his heart skipped a beat. He and Brann had entered one after the other, how could Brian have disappeared in the blink of an eye?
"Brann, I said..." Zul'ra called out twice, intending to turn around to find someone, but then froze when she turned back.
Thank you for the donation, SuiKongWu, and thank you for your support.