After taking the items left behind by Keyins, the stone wall on the left slid open slowly, letting out a dull, rumbling sound.
Where a solid wall had stood before, a somewhat bright passage appeared, looking completely out of place in the rather gloomy dungeon.
“Looks like we won't have to take the long way around.” Looking at the passage before them, Loviki recalled the rather convoluted route on the original map, a small smile playing on her lips. “Does this count as going through the back door?”
“Yes, the route to the third floor is much simpler now,” Flora replied, blinking.
“Though this Life Witch is a bit eccentric, she's actually quite nice, and she really does leave treasures behind.” Loviki adjusted her cloak and stepped into the passage. “As for her playing tricks on me... I'll forgive her.”
The walls on both sides of the passage were completely different from before. Instead of rough stone, they were made of polished, deep-blue stone slabs with a faint, ice-blue sheen on the surface. Magical lamps were embedded every few steps, casting a soft, gentle light.
“But why did the Life Witch leave all her things in the dungeon?” Loviki asked, somewhat puzzled. “Setting all this up must have taken a lot of effort...”
Flora nodded gently and turned to look at Chen Mian.
“This witch left a long time ago... at least, there are no signs of recent activity in this dungeon.” Chen Mian paused before adding, “Judging by the lingering aura, the mechanisms here were mostly left behind over four hundred years ago.”
“Four hundred years ago... Keyins left back then?” Loviki was slightly taken aback. “Records regarding the Life Witch cut off over five hundred years ago, meaning she stayed in the dungeon for over a hundred years before leaving. Where on earth did this immortal Life Witch go after that?”
“I don't know,” Chen Mian said, shaking his head. “Let's keep moving. If you're curious, continuing our search might bring us the answers.”
“Yeah.”
Although the passage leading to the third floor of the dungeon had no turns, it was very long. The three chatted as they walked, and it took them quite a while to reach the end. Once they stepped out...
The walls began to shift, and the bright passage sealed shut behind them once more.
After walking a short distance further, they spotted a staircase emitting a frosty chill around a corner—the entrance to the third floor of the dungeon.
A light layer of frost had already formed on the walls on both sides of the stairs. The temperature on the third floor was much lower than on the second. There were also many traces of blunt force impacts and leftover frost-steel powder on the steps.
Flora stopped in her tracks, looking at the marks along the stairs. “There used to be a lot of frost-steel minerals formed here, but they've all been mined.”
“The source of the frost steel is on the third floor, so it's only natural that there would be a large amount of frost-steel ore here.” Loviki looked at the scarred stairs and said, “Barring any surprises, except for the unexplored areas, all the other frost-steel ore has probably been mined out. If we could find dwarves to help forge it, a piece of high-purity frost steel could greatly enhance a weapon's strength.”
The three didn't linger any longer and continued forward. Every so often, they would see the remains of chiseled ore veins, exposing the grayish-white rock beneath.
When they arrived at the third floor, it was much more bustling than they had imagined.
Most of the adventurers were heavily bundled up in layers of clothing, sitting on both sides of the corridor to rest. Only a small number of people stayed in the dungeon rooms alongside the corridor.
Most of the adventurers paid no attention to their arrival, simply sitting nearby and chatting, while some had set up pots by the wayside to cook food.
A middle-aged adventurer with a thick beard looked up, saw the three of them, and warned, “Hey, newcomers. Don't just go into any room on this floor to rest at night. If you want to rest, it's best to stick together in a group.”
“Why is that?” Flora asked, looking at the adventurer.
“Last night, two teams of adventurers died in their rooms. Both of the deceased teams were veterans of the third floor. They had been here for nearly a month just to mine frost steel, but on the day before they were set to leave, they were wiped out while resting,” he said, his expression grim.
“Was it because of a dungeon trap?”
“I don't know, but a safe room has never suddenly turned into a trap room before.” The bearded adventurer said meaningfully, “The dangers in the dungeon have never just been magical beasts and traps... Anyway, you'd better stick together when you rest, and don't enter empty rooms too easily.”
Having said his piece, he lowered his head and went back to eating his dry rations, saying no more.
“Thank you.” Flora nodded slightly, taking the warning to heart.
The three continued along the corridor. There were significantly more adventurers on the third floor than on the first two. Most sat around temporary camps on either side of the corridor, the glow of campfires dancing against the cold stone walls. Occasionally, soup bubbled in iron pots, sending out the aroma of dried meat and wild vegetables.
However, the atmosphere was far from relaxed. Low-pitched conversations had replaced the noisy clamor of the first two floors, and every face wore a look of vigilance.
“It seems what happened in the dungeon yesterday wasn't that simple.” Loviki lowered her voice, her eyes sweeping over the tightly shut stone doors. “That uncle didn't just mean for us to watch out for traps.”
“Yeah, there are no restrictions on entering the dungeon,” Chen Mian said calmly, though his tone was somewhat cold. “It's only normal for some scum to slip in.”
“You think someone is behind this?” Loviki raised an eyebrow.
“You can tell just by looking at their reactions.” Chen Mian didn't stop walking. “We'll go retrieve the items on the third floor first, then we can come back and check it out.”
“Okay.” The two nodded in response, asking no further questions.
But they could clearly sense that Chen Mian was slightly annoyed.
As the three of them passed through the most bustling central area of the third floor, the path gradually became deserted.
The firelight of the adventurer camp was left behind, and the magical lamps on both sides of the corridor grew increasingly sparse. The light dimmed, leaving only the soft golden glow in Flora's palm to illuminate the path ahead.
The deeper they went, the more bone-chilling the cold in the air became.
On the walls flanking the corridor, the frost was no longer a thin layer, but had condensed into jagged, tooth-like icicles.
“There are signs of a struggle ahead.” Loviki suddenly stopped, her eyes landing on the stone wall at the corner ahead.
On the stone wall before them were five deep claw marks, each a full two fingers wide, extending from the top of the wall all the way to the ground. Ice-blue frost-steel debris still clung to the gashes.
“It's not just in one place.” The light in Flora's hand grew brighter, illuminating the corridor further ahead.
Broken fragments of equipment lay scattered on the ground, including a shattered hilt, along with several pools of blood that hadn't fully dried yet.
The blood was splattered, trailing off into the depths of the corridor, as if something had been dragged away.
“Whatever it is, it shouldn't be far.” Loviki frowned slightly as she looked at the blood trail.
The three continued forward, following the trail of blood.
The corridor grew narrower and narrower, and the magical lamps vanished almost completely, leaving only the golden glow in Flora's palm to light the way.
A musty smell and a faint scent of blood hung thick in the air.
“There's something ahead,” Loviki whispered, her right hand already resting on the hilt of her sword.
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