Pushing open the door to the main house, you'll see three large wooden tables covered in a thick layer of dust, with many tools scattered around them.

Yan Zheng picked them up one by one to examine them: a wand, a plane, a chisel, and a hammer—all woodworking tools.

Unfortunately, it has been unused and unmaintained for many years, so it is full of wormholes and the iron parts are covered with rust.

The furnishings in the other rooms were similar.

Yan Zheng said, "It seems that this courtyard is specifically used for carpentry work, and they must have quite a few carpenters."

Jiang Xi nodded in agreement. He carefully examined a round-backed chair in the corner, looked at it for a while, and then took out a pig bristle brush to remove the dust from it.

He murmured, "This chair is in pretty good condition; it's been coated with varnish."

Yan Zheng laughed: "Like it? We'll all move out later."

It's just sitting there anyway, and if it sits there for too long it'll just feed on bugs.

Yan Zheng stepped out of the house and saw Yan Jing'an standing at the gate of the courtyard, looking around.

He walked over and asked, "What are you looking at?"

Yan Jing'an glanced around and said, "I feel like this forest isn't over yet. Let's turn left and walk around a bit more."

He wasn't one to joke around, and Yan Zheng didn't object. He called Jiang Xi, who was still studying the chair inside the house, out, and the three of them continued walking inside.

Turning left, it was like walking around the mountain. After walking about 500 meters, Yan Zheng stopped the two of them from going forward.

There was an open space in front of us.

Yes, it is exactly what you see: nearly four or five hundred square meters of empty land without trees, with only a few saplings about the thickness of a finger growing there unevenly.

It looks like a small square. This is very strange; why would there be a clearing in the middle of a forest out of nowhere?

Yan Zheng walked forward for about several dozen meters before discovering that the small square was facing a huge cave in the mountain wall.

The opening was so large that it was hard to estimate its size, but it looked to be more than ten meters wide and seven or eight meters high.

It was the largest cave they had seen since they arrived here.

The first thing that catches the eye is the two rows of wooden walls inside the cave, which divide the cave space into left and right sides, leaving a passage more than two meters wide in the middle.

The cave was bottomless and so dark that Yan Zheng couldn't see the end.

He called to the two people behind him to follow.

As Yan Jing'an approached, he discovered that the small square at the cave entrance was entirely paved with gray stone slabs, and a cement-like substance had been used to seal the cracks between the stones, which was why no large trees had grown, only a few scattered weeds and saplings.

The scene inside the cave was quite a shock to Jiang Xi.

I once read in a newspaper about strange tales that there was a village in the south with several hundred people living in a cave, forming a settlement with distinctive ethnic characteristics.

She had imagined what the scene would be like, but it was still not as shocking as seeing it in person.

I finally understand why so many carpenters are needed; the houses here are all partitioned with wooden walls, one next to the other.

Yan Zheng took out a torch from his backpack and lit it. Yan Jin'an was responsible for guarding the cave entrance and providing support from outside.

Jiang Xi and Yan Zheng went inside to check the situation. The cave entrance was clean, with nothing piled up except some fallen leaves and weeds blown in by the wind, but the temperature inside the cave was clearly very low.

As soon as Jiang Xi entered the cave, she could smell a musty odor.

She was very familiar with this smell; it was the same smell she'd encountered in some underground tombs before. It was putrid, damp, and had a slightly fishy stench.

She pulled her scarf up a little, gesturing for Yan Zheng to do the same.

I originally thought the houses inside the cave would be neatly arranged, but upon closer inspection, I found that each house was staggered.

Each log cabin has a window. The houses are staggered, so the windows don't interfere with each other; instead, they let more light into the cabins.

After so many years, much of the timber had rotted and decayed. Fearing they might accidentally touch something they shouldn't and cause the old houses to collapse again, they simply carried torches and patrolled around the entrances of each wooden house.

The first room on the left of the cave entrance is a kitchen.

The kitchen is large, with about three or four stoves inside. It looks like a communal kitchen.

After all, it's not practical or safe for every household to light a fire in a cave. Concentrating the functional areas together saves time and effort and is also very safe.

The first room on the right contained three looms, all covered in dust and cobwebs. Jiang Xi approached with a torch to examine them closely. She wasn't sure if they were still usable, but one of them showed no signs of insect damage.

I'll figure it out more carefully when I have time later. Hopefully, it will still work, or at least give her some inspiration.

Except for the two houses just inside the cave entrance, which are somewhat unique, almost every other house is the same.

Almost every household has a bed, sometimes a single one, sometimes a double one, as well as a table and chairs, some ceramic cups and bowls, or just furs hanging on the wall and tattered bedding on the bed.

There are about ten houses like this.

As they ventured deeper into the cave, visibility dwindled considerably, and the torchlight provided very limited light. Consequently, Jiang Xi clung tightly to Yan Zheng, daring not to let go.

At the very back were two relatively large wooden cabins. Before even stepping inside, Jiang Xi could smell the source of the fishy stench.

She covered her mouth and nose, stopping Yan Zheng's hand from opening the door, and said, "There's nothing in here, is there?"

Yan Zheng thought for a moment and gestured for her to take a few steps back. Jiang Xi was also a little hesitant at first, knowing that she couldn't stand certain scenes, so she took a few steps back.

Unexpectedly, Yan Zheng continued to wave his hand, urging her to step back, and Jiang Xi understood immediately.

Yan Zheng waited until she was about ten meters away before folding the scarf covering his nose twice more.

The lock on the door was rusty. Yan Zheng used his sword to pry it off and then kicked the door open with some force.

Then a buzzing sound came out, and flies kept flying out of it.

Yan Zheng glanced at it briefly before quickly closing the door, then lowered his head, gritted his teeth, and took a moment to recover.

Seeing that he wasn't acting right, Jiang Xi covered her face with her scarf and mumbled, "What is it?"

Yan Zheng waved his hand, not answering her immediately.

After a moment, he walked over and said, "It must be that their previous granaries have all rotted."

The truth is, the scene was so shocking that I almost threw up my breakfast.

Actually, it was hard to tell what it was. You could only vaguely see some dark things hanging from the beam and a pile of yellowish-green, indescribable things on the ground.

Three layers of scarves couldn't block the stench emanating from inside; his stomach churned, bringing tears to his eyes.

It's probably grain, but it hasn't seen the light of day for so many years, and the temperature here is low; I guess even in summer it's not high. The grain is piling up here, so it's actually rotting more slowly.