Chapter 70 Cave Hello, I'm here to ask for money
Hawkins glanced at the map, then at the cave in front of him, scratched his head, and said, "I guess your eyes are different from mine. I see a cave, but in your eyes it looks like a cliff."
Darien thought for a moment and said, "You go down first, and we will follow you."
Hawkins swallowed and said, "What if I really fall down?"
Darien said, "I will collect your body if I consider the situation. Your house will be mine, but I will not raise your dragon."
Hawkins said, "I still owe you money, a lot of money. How much do I owe you?"
Seville continued, "Twelve thousand three hundred and four gold coins."
Darien said, "I will bring you back to life."
Hawkins sighed, put Zephy down from above his head, stuffed the map into Darien's hand, and then took a step forward.
In Darien's eyes, Hawkins took his first step but missed the target and fell.
Maybe it was because the cliff was so deep that a big man couldn't make any sound when he fell. Darien tried to lean out a little and look down.
Hawkins' voice came from the air in front of him: "Come in quickly! I'm fine! There is indeed a hole here!"
Darien turned back and smoothed his shirt: "Here I come."
Seville picked up the little green dragon squatting on the ground and followed Darien.
Darien missed his first step and his vision went dark in an instant. He seemed to be really falling, but less than two seconds later, he was back on flat ground.
Hawkins was standing right in front of him. He had lit a torch and was shining it against the wall of the cave.
Darien glanced outside the cave and saw Sewell carrying the little green dragon and walking towards them steadily.
The feeling of weightlessness just now should be caused by some kind of formation covering the cave entrance.
"What are you looking at?" Darien looked away and walked to Hawkins and said.
"There's moss on the rock wall. It smells like small-leafed green moss. Do you want to scrape some off?" Hawkins said.
Small-leafed green moss is a potion ingredient with a high degree of substitutability, and is not considered a common ingredient for pharmacists.
"Yes, Sewell, return the dragon to him and remove half of the moss from this patch," said Darien.
Sewell returned the little green dragon to Hawkins, and then began to shovel the moss by the light of the torch.
After shoveling for a few times, he stopped and said, "There are words on the wall."
Darien and Hawkins also came over to look, and the three heads were crowded together.
Hawkins spoke first: "I don't understand what's written on it. It looks like an earthworm, and it makes me dizzy if I look at it for too long."
Darien said, "Don't look at it anymore. You'll start hallucinating if you keep looking. These words are magical. I can understand a little bit. It must have been written by your ancestors. It's a hymn praising the owner of the cave for bestowing him wealth."
Hawkins rubbed his eyes and said, "I seem to see a circle of little people dancing around my head... Since my ancestors could write hymns, it must be a very large sum of money."
The sound of scraping against the stone wall rang in their ears.
Darien and Hawkins turned their heads and saw Xavier scraping the moss with a knife. Noticing their gaze, he stopped and said, "What's wrong? Did I disturb you?"
Hawkins said, "Thank you, the little people dancing around me are gone."
Darien said, "It's a bit harsh indeed. Hawkins, does your map show how to get to this cave where I can get the money?"
Hawkins handed him the torch: "Hold it for me first, let me take a look."
He spread out the map and studied it carefully.
Darien glanced at the map. The ink on it was a mess, like an overturned ink bottle on the yellowed parchment, and he couldn't make out anything at all.
Hawkins studied it for a long time, frowning, as if he couldn't understand the map just like him.
Darien asked, "Is there something wrong with the map?"
Hawkins said, "There's nothing wrong with the map, but there are a lot of forks in the road we need to take, so we have to hurry."
Sewell scraped off half the bag of moss and let the rest continue to grow freely on the wall.
Hawkins held the map, Darien held a torch for him from behind, and Sewell walked at the end, and they continued on their journey.
The Golden Cave was a bit damp. The further they went in, the more herbs they encountered. Darien and Hawkins both had a great demand for herbs, so they walked and stopped, and before they were halfway through the journey, their pockets were already bulging.
"Hawkins, thank you for your invitation. It's worth the trip." Darien picked a hallucinogenic mushroom from the base of the wall.
"I think so too." Hawkins picked another red mushroom.
They were so engrossed in picking herbs that they almost forgot they came to the Golden Cave for money.
It was Sewell who asked, "How far are we from here?"
Hawkins stuffed the red mushroom into his pocket, took out the map and took a look. "Almost there, almost there. Let's go forward. When we come to a fork in the road, take the left. Then, at the next fork in the road, take the middle. Then go straight..."
Darien said, "Stop, you don't need to talk anymore. It makes me dizzy. Lead the way."
Hawkins led them around and around, and finally, not far ahead, they met a troll walking around.
The troll was huge, with bulging muscles like stones. A head much smaller than its body was wrapped between its two arms, and the ground trembled with every step it took.
Just behind the small area where it was walking, there was a stone doorway.
Darien asked, "Do we have to go through that hole to get in?"
Hawkins carefully examined the map, then looked at the troll, nodded, and said, "Yes. But it's okay. According to the elders who have been to the cave, if you give the troll some fruit, it will let you go. Do you have any fruit with you?"
Darien looked at Sewell, who was always in charge of the preparations.
"I brought apples and strawberries and a jar of orange jam," said Sewell.
Hawkins said, "Bringing you along was the right decision! You're so reliable! Bring them all out!"
Sewell gave him two apples and a jar of marmalade, but no strawberries.
Hawkins didn't ask him for more, as what he had should be enough.
All his elders came out of the cave alive, and he had never heard of anyone dying here. This method of feeding fruit should be true.
"Go ahead, we'll be here to support you mentally." Darien gave him some encouragement, "Come on, Hawkins!"
"I'll do my best." Hodgins approached cautiously with the apple and marmalade.
As soon as Hawkins left, Sewell put a plate of strawberries in Darien's hand and said, "You should be hungry at this time."
Darien said, "A little bit. Is this the one that was planted in the box, or is it the one in the flower bed?"
Sewell said, "It's in the flower bed."
While they were eating strawberries, Hawkins had already walked up to the troll and started trying to communicate.
"Hello. Let me introduce myself. I'm Hawkins. Would you like some fruit?" he asked nervously.
The troll in front of him was twice as tall as him, and if it got angry, it could crush him into strawberry jam in an instant.
Darien put the big strawberry into his mouth, bit it with his teeth, and the light red juice flowed on his tongue.
The troll in front of Hawkins squatted down and said, "I'm stupid. I like to eat fruit."
This troll looks very ferocious when it doesn't speak, and can smash a person into a meat patty with one punch, but after it starts talking, it immediately becomes very honest, just like its name, and seems to be a bit stupid.
Hawkins handed over the apple first, then the jam jar. He glanced at the troll's thick fingers, then took the jam jar back, unscrewed it, and then handed it over.
The squatting troll looked a little small. He opened his mouth, put the apple in and chewed it, humming with pleasure: "It's a sweet and fragrant apple. Benben likes eating apples."
Hawkins said, "Just eat it if you like. Have some jam."
The troll finished chewing the apple and poured the small jar of jam into his mouth: "It's delicious, sweet orange flavor. Benben likes eating jam. You are Benben's friend, and Benben likes you too."
Hawkins took the jar handed back by the troll and said, "Thank you, you are cute, and I like you too. I have two friends. Can they go through this door with me?"
The troll said, "No, you have to give Benben fruit so that he can pass through the door."
Hawkins hurriedly waved to Darien and Sevier.
Luckily they still had half a plate of strawberries.
Darien grabbed a few for Seville and walked over with the plate to feed the troll.
The troll didn't mind that strawberries were small fruits and ate them very happily, saying that he liked eating strawberries just like he ate apples and orange jam.
They were let go.
After walking through this stone door, the cave is no longer a damp stone wall, but a garden paved with beige stone bricks. The top of the cave is also inlaid with light element stones for lighting.
It's time to extinguish the torch.
Hawkins said: "We are now in the back garden. If we go through the back garden, we will reach the cave owner's room."
Darien said, "Have your elders never revealed anything about what this cave is like?"
Hawkins shook his head. "They were asked to keep it strictly confidential. This was the only condition for obtaining the property."
Darien stopped asking and began to admire the garden.
This is a well-tended garden. Both sides of the beige stone brick path are covered with a layer of soft grass, on which various flowers are planted. These flowers are not precious, but common varieties, such as roses, irises, dahlias... They grow well in places without sunlight, and each one is carefully cared for by the owner of the garden.
In addition to the most basic flowers, plants and trees, there are also garden tables and chairs covered with a white tablecloth with red polka dots, and a set of light yellow glazed tea sets. The owner of the garden must love life very much.
"It's quite beautiful here. The flowers planted here are much more complete than those in the tower." Darien said as he looked around.
"If you want, we can also plant some other flowers in the garden that will bloom at the same time," said Sewell.
"That's a good suggestion." Darien agreed.
"There is also a fountain and a pavilion here, and a grape trellis behind it." Hawkins was also fascinated by this garden.
The three of them walked and looked, and soon they crossed the garden and came to another door.
This is a wooden door, embedded in a stone wall. The stone wall is painted orange-red with mineral pigments, as warm and brilliant as the rising sun. Two sunflowers are hand-painted on both sides of the door.
There is a bell above the door. If you pull it, the person behind the door should be able to hear it.
Hawkins stepped forward and rang the bell.
The crisp sound of a bell came from behind the door. It was so quiet in here that the sound of the bell echoed for a long time and reached everyone's ears clearly.
From the time the bell rang to the time it stopped, no other sound came from behind the door, as if there was actually an empty shell behind the door.
"It seems like there's no one inside... Should I pull it again?" Hawkins hesitated and stretched out his hand again.
Before he touched the rope, the wooden door creaked slightly and opened.
"Hello." The person behind the door said with a smile.
The person who appeared behind the door was a long-haired man, tall, gentle and handsome. There was a thin golden chain on each of his bare feet. No wonder there was no sound when he walked over.
"Hello, I'm Hawkins. I want to come, I want to come..." Hawkins was a little embarrassed. It was very embarrassing to ask people for money directly. He was embarrassed to speak directly.
"Hello, I'm his friend Darien. I came here with him," Darien said.
"Hello, I'm his assistant Sevier." Sevier pointed at Darien.
"Theodore." The man pointed at himself. "Come in. I know why you're here. But before that, let me entertain you. It's been a long time since we've had any guests here. You can stay here for another night."
It was already late. Darian and his friends had missed dinner when they walked here. They only had some bread slices and their stomachs were growling with hunger.
And if you stay here for one night, you don’t have to sleep in the forest. No one would refuse such an attractive offer.
Theodore stepped aside and invited them into his house.
Behind the cherry wood door is the equally warm cherry wood floor, and the walls are covered with light blue floral wallpaper, which looks very cozy.
They had just walked such a long distance and were already exhausted. The warm yellow light of the candlesticks and the comfortable house made them subconsciously relax.
"Our boots are dirty." Hawkins lifted his foot. "Your floor is clean. I think we should clean it before coming in."
Darien also looked down at his boots. These boots had been worn on hillsides and grass, on muddy roads, and across puddles of water. The heels were covered in mud, and there was loose dust and grass on the uppers. If he walked on the clean cherry wood floor, he would definitely leave dirty shoe prints.
"I'll get you some slippers, you can clean your boots outside the door first," said Theodore.
He left with light steps, and now there were only three of them left outside the door, with six dirty boots, which would take a long time to clean up.
Darien looked at the lawn next to him and thought that he was in someone else's house, so he took out his handkerchief and wiped it, but the handkerchief was no longer useful.
Theodore would be back soon, and they could put on slippers and leave their boots outside the door. There would be no thieves here anyway, so the boots wouldn't be stolen.
Darien followed Theodore, and they crossed the porch and were led into the living room.
"What would you like to eat?" Theodore asked.
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