Rather than a basement, it was more like a long, narrow passage stretching deep underground.
Gu Jianlin found it hard to imagine that such a hidden place existed beneath the garbage dump of Black Cloud Stronghold. Handmade cement candleholders stood occasionally along both sides of the narrow tunnel, each holding candles on the verge of melting away.
"Remember to close that stone slab."
The little girl walked ahead, turning back to remind him.
Gu Jianlin turned around and shifted the stone slab back into place.
By the faint light, he noticed that the slab was smeared with mottled blood. Hanging above the entrance was a black flower, as though withered, carrying an ashen, deathly hue.
"Brother Lin, what is this place?"
Having survived the disaster, Cheng Youyu leaned against the wall and slowly slid down, panting heavily.
Gu Jianlin shook his head, signaling for him not to speak, then firmly sealed the exit with the stone slab.
In the darkness, the little girl struck a match and lit a candle.
The firelight illuminated a childish little face. Due to malnutrition, she looked thin and sallow.
Yet her eyes were clear, bright and lively in the flickering glow.
"That is made by mixing Stone Statue Tree oil with human blood. A few years ago, someone discovered that when used together with the fragrance of Formless Flower, it could turn an enclosed space into a barrier independent of the world when the black fog descended. That way, you can sleep peacefully at night without fearing the Great Ruins."
The little girl spoke in a soft voice. "The black fog can't get in either."
Gu Jianlin roughly understood.
The so-called Great Ruins were those monsters.
And the black fog seemed to be a disaster that had plagued this Forbidden Zone for a long