Techniques and Dao

Chapter 151 Bewitching Space
"Hey hey!"

Hua Sheng and Mie Ying quickly jumped up from the ground and stomped on the flames with their feet.

At the same time, Hua Sheng noticed an open space ahead and, in a moment of quick thinking, jumped forward and immediately pulled Mie Ying out of the fire.

Looking back at where the flames landed, there was a pile of firewood on the ground.

The three flames that were originally meant for lighting happened to fall onto the dry firewood, and as the saying goes, dry firewood immediately catches fire when it encounters a raging fire.

Using the dim light from the pile of firewood on the ground, Hua Sheng peered over the wall and was surprised to find that the passage above was extremely flat.

Unlike the irregular cave walls where they had fallen, the hole above the pile of firewood was a perfectly regular rectangular opening.

Moreover, the rectangular opening is lined with bricks on all four sides, so meticulously crafted that it looks like it was made by hand.

"It's so flat and smooth, no wonder I couldn't stop myself from sliding down even when I tried to brace myself with my hands and feet. The friction is simply not enough."

Hua Sheng muttered to himself.

He craned his neck and peered upwards again by the firelight. Sure enough, the opening above was also a flat rectangle. Due to the limited distance illuminated by the firelight, the area beyond this rectangular passage was completely dark and he couldn't see anything.

"This place looks like it's been renovated. Who would actually want to live so deep underground?"

Hua Sheng pondered, "This looks like the location of a bottomless pit. Perhaps it really is like the bottomless pit in the Trapped Sky Mountain described in the novel."

Since the bottomless cave in Trapped Sky Mountain could contain a palace, it's not surprising that these man-made traces here exist.

But the more this is the case, the more vigilant we need to be, indicating that there are unpredictable things at the bottom of the cave.

Thinking of this, Hua Sheng bent down and rummaged through the burning pile of firewood, trying to pick up a slightly longer piece to use as a torch.

Just then, Mieying's voice came from behind:

"Hanamori, look at this... what exactly happened?"

Hua Sheng rummaged through the firewood, thinking that Mie Ying was talking about the passage, and replied, "It looks like it's been modified down there, we have to be careful."

"No, this clearly looks like someone lives here..."

"It's a bottomless pit, isn't it? I bet Jane was brought down there because there are people down there..."

Mieying interrupted him: "That's not true! Turn around and see for yourself!"

Hua Sheng happened to find a piece of firewood that could be used as a torch. He turned around and stood up. Mie Ying was in the space about a meter behind him.

The light from the torch illuminated the surrounding space.

For a moment, even Hua Sheng was dumbfounded.

The place where Mieying stood was less an underground cave and more a standard "room".

Just two steps away from her was a large fabric sofa that could seat three or four people. In front of the sofa was a wooden coffee table in the style of European furniture.

The place they had just climbed out of was a fireplace, and the neat rectangular passageway was the chimney of the fireplace.

This is nothing like a cave; it's a room. Its sophistication even earns it the title of a "living room."

"Huh? The underground decoration is so exquisite!" Hua Sheng was really puzzled.

In the dark room, he walked around holding a torch. Unexpectedly, next to this "living room" was a small, homey "dining room".

There was a long wooden table that could seat five or six people, with six wooden chairs beside it. Not far from the table were a sink and a stove for cooking, making it practically a complete open kitchen.

Hua Sheng looked down at his feet; it was a wooden floor. Looking around, he saw wooden walls as well. He went back to the living room and found two more wooden doors.

"This place... is a little scary..."

Upon seeing the two wooden doors, Mieying's voice betrayed her fear. She said, "If there were any strange beasts underground, that would be one thing; I could teach them a lesson. But why is this a fully furnished room, spotless, without even a cobweb? It's like… it's like someone was living in this room just now. But this is hundreds of miles underground…"

Looking at the house, Hua Sheng couldn't help but feel a little uneasy. Who would build a place that looked like a "cozy little house" in this underground cave?

What was the builder's purpose?
Hua Sheng turned around and gestured for Mie Ying to stay where she was.

"You stay here and don't move. I'll go see what's inside the house."

Mie Ying crossed his arms over his chest and said in a trembling voice, "Yes, be careful."

As she spoke, Hua Sheng used the faint light of the torch to push open the wooden door closest to her.

The wooden door is made entirely of wood, and the doorknob is handmade and unpainted. It feels less like a house in the city and more like a vacation cottage where the owner occasionally stays.

Hua Sheng pressed the doorknob down, but it wasn't locked. With a slight push, the door opened a thin black crack.

He peered through the dark crack in the door, but couldn't see anything. Hua Sheng simply opened the door wide with a creak, and the torchlight illuminated the interior, allowing him to vaguely see its structure.

The flames flickered, casting intermittent light throughout the room, making it difficult to discern the situation inside.

"Jane?" Hua Sheng asked tentatively in a soft voice, "Jane, are you inside?"

There is no sound.

The only sound around was the crackling of the wood in Hanamori's torch, which was exploding from the high temperature.

Hua Sheng carefully entered the house.

Mie Ying asked softly from outside the door, "Shouldn't you take the Golden Cudgel in your hand first?"

"It's alright. There's no one inside," Hua Sheng said, standing in the middle of the room. "It's just an ordinary bedroom."

Mieying peeked inside and, just as Huasheng had said, there was a double bed in the room, with bedside tables on either side and a simple lamp on each table.

Apart from that, there is only common furniture such as wardrobes inside.

Seeing the desk lamp, Hua Sheng suddenly remembered something and said, "Mie Ying, can you check if there's a light switch on the wall by the door?"

Mieying casually reached out and touched the wall; sure enough, there was a switch! She pressed it, but no light came on. Bored, Mieying pressed it a few more times, click, click, click!

She shrugged and said helplessly, "Of course there won't be any electricity!"

"Indeed... there shouldn't be electricity in this place hundreds of miles underground, but how could a complete house be built here?"

Hana lay down on the floor and cautiously looked under the bed, but there was nothing there.

Then, opening each wardrobe, they found that it was filled with clean and tidy clothes.

There are clothes for adult men, adult women, and children, all of which are modern in style.

Hua Sheng felt increasingly confused and couldn't help but say, "What's going on? It looks like someone is living in this house."

Mieying glanced at the wardrobe and then reached out to wipe the clothes. The clothes were neat and clean, and didn't look like they had been there for a long time.

She said, "Not only are there people living here, but it looks a bit like a family of three?"

(End of this chapter)