Chapter 105 "Can we really escape...?"
Her cell was about the same size as mine, but much damper; the straw on her bed was all wet, unlike mine, which was at least half dry.
Moreover, the air was even colder, and breathing it made my lungs feel very uncomfortable.
I can never stay long, and most of the time I have to invite them up.
For some reason, we both tacitly avoided mentioning each other's identities. She was secretive and reserved, and I remained silent.
But to pass the long hours, we devised a study plan.
She taught me the languages of the four cardinal directions, and I taught her the language of the elves. Although I can speak the languages of the Eastern Lands, I'm not particularly knowledgeable about writing. Long ago in the wild lands of Bernot, I could read all sorts of documents, but to be honest, I couldn't understand every sentence; sometimes I had to guess.
As for the languages of the West, South, and North, I can only speak them with a rudimentary understanding. This is because the languages of the East, South, and North may share a common origin, and many words and logics are similar. If I can speak the language of the East, I can barely understand the languages of the West, South, and North. But I know almost nothing about the written languages of these three regions.
Now she's teaching me from scratch, very patiently, and I'm really enjoying it. While I'm learning, the little girl is learning along with me.
She laughed and said, "I never really cared about teaching her before, but now that you've appeared, I don't know why, I've suddenly become very motivated."
I also patiently taught the mother and daughter elf language. Although I had only studied it for a few months on the island of Artis, I learned it quite well and was able to teach others.
As I learned, I discovered that this woman was a very talented person. She not only taught me languages, but also how to manage fiefdoms, finances, and court etiquette. Sometimes, when she was in the mood, she would even teach me and the little girls to dance social dances. We would dance together in the dimly lit prison cell, and when we got excited, we would even laugh out loud.
Sometimes she would analyze the situation of this continent for me, "In terms of military and economic strength, the Eastern Territory is the strongest, but the Eastern Territory has a major weakness, which is internal chaos. Several princes are fighting tooth and nail for the throne, even at the expense of national interests. The king is not upright and is unpopular. In the long run, the country's strength will be greatly weakened."
"Secondly, there is the North. When things are good in the North, such as when there are no natural disasters in winter, the profits can even be greater than in the East, meaning the North is richer. However, the North also has a major weakness: the king is a puppet, and real power is controlled by a group of nobles and wealthy families who are eager to control the entire country's economy and then manipulate politics. Once the monarchy collapses, the entire country will fall apart."
"The Southern Territory is a country with moderate military and economic strength. At present, it does not have any major weaknesses. However, due to the internal strife in the past few years, its economic situation is not good, which has also affected its military. Therefore, their queen has been seeking alliances. As a result, the queen's stepdaughter has been married off multiple times, each time for profit. For many years, this country has not had a truly capable monarch or prime minister, and its strength has not been able to rise."
"The western border is the weakest in terms of military and economy. First, it is located in a remote area, making economic development difficult. Second, after the eldest son inherits the throne, the other children have almost no chance of survival, which can easily lead to internal strife. Third, its military capabilities are weak, and it has produced almost no capable military talents in the past decade, making it easy for other countries to defeat it. If it weren't for the fact that the western border has always been in a geographically advantageous position that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, it would probably have been swallowed up long ago, leaving not even bones behind."
"What about the Elf Kingdom?" I asked.
“They’ve been hiding in the Elf Realm, so I don’t know much about them,” she said. “But since they’re the native inhabitants of the continent, they must be quite wealthy. If we include them in the main continent, they should be the richest nation on this continent.”
I was secretly amazed; she was quite accurate. I had seen some of the elves' wealth, and the word "astronomical" wouldn't be an exaggeration.
"As for the military," she said, "the elves are too well hidden to judge. I can only say that if they can put aside their hatred, cooperate with the main continental countries, and fight for some resources, their military should be able to take off."
“They are very intelligent,” she added. “I’m referring to the elven leaders over the years. Almost none of them are stupid or wicked; they are all shrewd and highly capable, which is their advantage.”
"How did you know?" I asked in surprise.
She smiled and replied, "That's how I know."
A very subtle and euphemistic way of answering.
——
Under her careful guidance, I made rapid progress and learned to recognize more and more characters from all directions.
She would praise me from time to time, saying, "It seems you have a good foundation. With just a little guidance, you've made rapid progress."
I smiled sheepishly.
In return, I started teaching them some things, such as math, geometry, and physics, mainly the little girl. Her mother didn't seem interested in these subjects, except for occasionally listening when I taught math.
“You explained it very interestingly,” she said. “You explained it better than any math teacher I’ve ever known, making dry numbers so interesting.”
I smiled and said, "Thank you."
She patted the little girl's bald head and said, "It will benefit you to learn these things, so study hard."
The little girl didn't say a word, but nestled tightly in her arms.
The little girl rarely spoke; I almost never saw her speak. Living in such a secluded environment, rarely seeing anyone, she had long lost interest in talking.
The little girl was very thin, with honey-colored skin. Her face looked as if it had been sharpened, with deep depressions on both sides. Her nose was high and thin, with a slightly hooked tip, exuding a cruel aura.
Her mother, however, had delicate features and fair skin; she probably resembled her father more.
I occasionally couldn't help but ask her father why he didn't bring her up with him.
Her mother replied, "How can a dead person receive her?"
I was stunned and didn't dare to ask any more questions.
“My name is Diya,” her mother said to me this time, “and my daughter’s name is Beatrice.”
“I couldn’t think of a better name,” Di Yaruo smiled and hugged her daughter tightly, “so I just picked one randomly.”
“That’s a nice name,” I said.
"It's so common, but I'm too lazy to think about it."
One day it rained heavily—this is what Di Yaruo told me. We couldn't see the rain or hear it, but when it rained, the soil on the ceiling above our heads would become very loose, and when we touched it, it felt as if it had been moistened by water.
“This only happens when it rains heavily,” Diya said, “and it’s continuous heavy rain.”
"Why?" I asked.
“I’m like you, I’m used to using pebbles to mark the date,” Diya smiled. “Every year, shortly after spring arrives, the soil on the ceiling is still loose, which is the rainy season in the East. In other seasons, even if it rains, the soil is still hard.”
"Mother, what is rain?" the little girl suddenly asked.
Di Yaruo stared at her without answering.
“Rain is water falling from the sky,” I gestured with my fingers, “like this, like silk threads, falling from the sky. Some threads are long, some are short, and thousands of threads intertwine together to make rain.”
"Mother, I really want to see the rain." The little girl snuggled into Di Yaruo's arms.
Di Yaru stroked the little girl's back, but said to me, "Atris has been here since birth. She has never seen the sun, the sky, or any other people. She always thought that the mainland referred to our prison and the small area outside the prison."
After a long silence, I suddenly asked, "Is it possible that if we dig upwards while the soil is still soft, we can go up another layer?"
“Going further up, we might not be so lucky to encounter a female prisoner like you,” Di Yaruo laughed. “If it were a man, all three of us would be finished.”
“Not necessarily.” I stood up. “Let’s measure the dimensions with our palms. Maybe if the measurement is accurate, we can move up layer by layer.”
"What do you mean?" Di Yaruo asked, slightly surprised.
“I’ve been observing for a long time. There’s a corridor outside my cell, and around the corner of that corridor is a staircase. Every time, the jailers come up the stairs to bring me food. So, the reason we broke through the ceiling above my head might just be because of the corner of the stairs in that corridor.”
I have heard the footsteps of the jailers many times, as well as the occasional conversations with other jailers, so I can't be wrong.
As I spoke, I jumped down from the mother and daughter's cell, observed them carefully for a while, and then looked up at Di Yaruo, who was curiously peering into the hole, and smiled, "Your cell is the same size as mine. It seems that the prison here is built to standard dimensions. This makes things easier for us. We can measure the dimensions precisely and then dig layer by layer. Maybe one day we can dig to the top and find a way out."
"Is it possible? Is it really possible? Can we really escape?" Di Yaruo suddenly became agitated.
“We’ll only know if we try,” I said. “It’s better than waiting to die here.”
Without looking at Di Yaruo's expression again, I began to take precise measurements and draw a sketch on the ground, showing our cell and the possible terrain outside the cell.
I would take measurements everywhere every day, and sometimes Di Yaruo would provide me with some information, such as what she heard the prison guards say about a laundry room upstairs, "a single room under the stairs at the corner, where there is a water pipe."
I'll draw the water pipes in as well, so we don't dig in the wrong direction. If we dig in the wrong direction and the pipes break, water will gush out, and our operation will be exposed.
To my surprise, Beatrice would sometimes offer me information. “Sister, I think you’ve drawn this wrong. The stairs at the end of the corridor should be here,” she would say, drawing a dot on my wall drawing with a small pebble.
"How did you know?" I asked.
“I could tell,” she said calmly. “When they turned the corner and went up the stairs, their steps slowed down and became softer. Apparently, the stairs were a bit steep, and they had to slow down.”
I looked at her in surprise and gave her a thumbs up, but she turned her face away indifferently.
Perhaps because she grew up in a dungeon, she was extremely cold and taciturn, rarely uttering a word unless absolutely necessary.
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Author's Note: Please shower me with nutrient solutions, votes, and comments! Mwah!
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