Chapter 23: A Day Trip to the Dungeon: Rock Man and Hell Lava Sausage
Each fresh strawberry shipped from the Green Sand Dunes is round and plump, and is now being melted with rock sugar in a brass pot into a beautiful rouge color.
Ye Wan kept stirring the pot with a wooden spoon. The pulp and syrup made a rustling sound while stirring, and the wooden spoon was stained with a beautiful layer of strawberry candy shell.
The "celebrity effect" is a terrible thing. Since that report, a large number of warriors have come to the tavern to order spicy fish cakes, seaweed rice rolls and strawberry cakes, and called it the "Brave Set Meal", causing even the prices of fish cakes and strawberries to increase a lot.
Then Ye Wan's thoughts returned to Kiara, remembering the story in the newspaper and what she said when she was drunk that day...
Youan coughed.
Ye Wan continued to cook the strawberry jam while emptying the air.
Youan coughed again.
Ye Wan gave him a puzzled look and asked, "Do you need a licorice tablet to moisten your throat?"
The latter stretched out a pale, slender finger and tapped the pot: "It's almost burnt, Miss Ye Wan, the tavern owner who is jumping up and down."
"Ahhhhhhh!" She jumped up and hurriedly got some water to pour into the jam. With a "sizzle", a burst of white smoke came out. Ye Wan hurriedly dripped lemon juice into the pot.
Youan, who always had a sour face, laughed out loud for a rare moment. His tense shoulders relaxed, and the sunlight coming in from the window cast a golden edge on his eyebrows.
Ye Wan put down the lemon in his hand, stared at him for a while, and smiled: "Thank you for the reminder from the lettuce boy who woke up with cream on his face."
His smile froze abruptly.
The two were staring at each other in the kitchen when Emma opened the door with ease: "Good day, you two, are you loving and hating each other again?"
"There's only killing each other." Ye Wan said dryly.
"Oh, it's fun to spend the whole day in a house thinking about how to kill each other." Emma shrugged and explained her purpose before Ye Wan could retort: "Want to go to the dungeon?"
"But it's not just warriors..."
Emma waved her hand. "Ordinary citizens can enter the first floor, too. The monsters there are very low-level, having been largely wiped out by the warriors who came before. Now it's free for citizens to visit, and the food the dungeon dwellers make is delicious! I really like the Enma Daioh Hell Ramen."
Ye Wan became interested in the underground city. Since it was safe, it would be okay to go and explore it.
"That's great, I'm very interested." Ye Wan said.
The opening ceremony of the Brave Conference was held in the circular Iris Square in front of the City Hall. Various associations carried huge, colorful flags that fluttered in the wind. The fountain in the center of the square gushed out seven-colored water, forming a rainbow bridge across the square.
The speaker at the opening ceremony was the mayor of Calmette, a dwarf with cropped bangs, almost as tall as Ye Wan's waist. Some staff from the city hall had placed wooden boxes in front of the magic loudspeaker in advance.
The sun was really strong today, and the square was crowded. Ye Wan wiped his sweat and whispered to Emma, "Is this the legendary mayor?"
Emma nodded. "The tabloids said he had dwarven ancestry, which is why he was able to find three gold mines on the outskirts of the city in just one year and was then promoted to mayor."
Dwarves are a race that lives deep within the Earth. Most dwarves are natural miners and gold prospectors, relying on their instincts to sense the location of gemstone and gold mines. Before the enactment of the Magical Creatures Act, many vicious merchants captured dwarves to search for gold and mineral veins for them.
The mayor did have a very unhappy face like the dwarf, but due to the special nature of his position, he had to show a huge fake smile in order to win the votes of the citizens.
In Ye Wan's opinion, it would be better not to laugh.
When the elves in the distant clock tower rang the loud noon bell, a wizard in holy robes waved his wand, and the iris relief on the ground suddenly retreated, and then the ground in the center of the square slowly cracked, revealing a deep hole.
The mayor said excitedly, "Now, I declare the Kingdom's 124th Brave Tournament officially open. Let us welcome the warriors into the dungeon with the warmest cheers!"
The fireworks at the edge of the square instantly rushed into the bright sky. The daytime fireworks were silver-gold, exploding into thousands of golden and silver streamers falling.
Amid the citizens' cheers, the warriors who had been prepared jumped into the cave one after another.
Ye Wan asked: "What about us?"
"The tourist trail is on the other side!" a volunteer wearing an iris-shaped hat shouted to maintain order. "Tourists, please remember, for your own safety, you can only visit the first floor of the underground city!"
Around the back of the square, there is a building similar to an elevator, engraved with golden runes. Tourists line up in long queues and enter in batches.
After a lot of effort, it was Ye Wan's turn. As soon as they entered, they smelled the odor of stale, rotting wood. Ye Wan was curious: "Why is there such a smell?"
"Well, this elevator only opens once a year, so don't be disgusted by it," said Emma.
The elevator slowly descended, and there was silence and darkness all around. After an unknown amount of time, the elevator came to a steady stop.
Everyone held the lighting stones distributed by volunteers and walked out of the elevator.
Every few steps, a volunteer would say, "Be careful, the road here is very bumpy, so be sure to watch your step!"
There was the unique dampness of a cave here. In the light, one could faintly see the dark moss climbing on the cave. Occasionally, drops of water dripped from the top of the head, soaking the pancake.
"Squeak!" It shook its head rapidly, and the water droplets splashed onto Ye Wan's face.
She wiped her face and asked, "Why on earth did I have to come to this place? Can I go back?"
"No," Emma said ruthlessly, "The elevator to the exit is on the other side. We must finish walking through this tunnel."
Another drop of water hit Ye Wan's head. You An took off his coat and threw it on her head.
"Why is it so dark? Am I blind? Oh, it's your coat. Thank you, Youan."
The latter said: "Just to prevent you from screaming again."
Ye Wan held his coat above his head, and Pancake slipped in.
After walking a long and difficult distance and going down a spiral stone staircase, the underground city finally became lively. It was a large underground square with many people setting up stalls.
"This place used to be the haunt of trolls, and there were falling rocks at certain locations. But don't worry, this area is now completely commercialized, and all potential dangers have been eliminated by the relevant departments." A tour guide was leading a group of tourists and giving a detailed introduction.
"Oh, that's too bad. I didn't see the Yanma Daiou Hell Ramen shop from last year. That ramen was really delicious. It had a huge, well-marinated piece of barbecued pork, a milky, rich broth, chewy noodles, and half a perfectly soft-boiled egg. The chili powder was also fragrant and spicy, and the owner would even scoop me a spoonful of fragrant fried garlic chips."
Emma looked very disappointed, so Ye Wan had to comfort her: "I can also make pork bone ramen. Tell me in detail later and I will replicate it for you."
There were many small shops in the square. Ye Wan became interested in a shop on the outermost side with a picture of a pizza. "Let's go in and take a look."
After pushing open the mottled wooden door with difficulty, a baking aroma wafted out from the shop. Several moon ivy fruits on the wall emitted weak light, making the shop look old and dim. There were no separate tables in the shop, only an extremely long wooden table in the middle, covered with a layer of years of sunken oil.
You An frowned; he was a bit of a germaphobe. Ye Wan, however, was excited; a messy little shop like this was the easiest place to make delicious food.
"What would you three like to order?" A deep and powerful voice came, a bit like the roar of a huge rock rolling down a cliff.
Ye Wan turned around and was startled.
The person who was speaking was a rock man, with a head made of stone and a body made of piled stones. He was very tall and bent slightly when talking to people.
"Uh... this..." Ye Wan hurriedly looked up at the menu on the wall, but found that she couldn't understand the runes at all: "Any recommendations?"
"Oh, our specialty must be the Hell Lava Sausage Cocoa Pizza!" said the Rock Man enthusiastically.
"Of course, you can choose something else." It clenched its two stone hands tightly, and a rustling sound of gravel rubbing against each other was heard. Ye Wan and others saw with their own eyes a pile of stone chips sliding down from its palms.
It sounds like a threat.
So Ye Wan and the others firmly stated that they only wanted Hell Lava Sausage Cocoa Pizza. The Rock Man nodded in satisfaction and threw a pile of unknown fuel into the stone kiln. The flames immediately jumped to the ceiling.
Then it took a piece of sausage from the railing, broke it directly onto the crust with its hands, and spread a thick layer of mushroom sauce on it.
Finally, a few people saw it put an entire box of cheese on the crust.
Emma whispered, "Can this be delicious?"
"We seem to have entered a shady shop." Ye Wan no longer had any hope for the taste of this pizza.
But soon, a strong aroma of cheese, mushrooms, and the sweet and sour aroma of tomatoes and basil hit them. The rock man confidently took out the pizza baked in the stone kiln and placed it in front of them.
The advantage of being a rock is that you don't need to wear gloves to take food out of the fire.
The chocolate-colored cocoa cake base was baked to a crisp, with the curled edge filled with lava rising high. In the middle was a thick layer of red mushroom sauce and tomato basil sauce, sprinkled with chopped green parsley and coarse black pepper. Although the broken red sausage looked a bit ugly, it was baked to produce a layer of fat, and the casing looked shiny and oily.
It actually looks kind of delicious.
Ye Wan and the others looked at each other, and each took a corner. The rock man owner was very generous in putting mozzarella cheese in the pizza, and when they tore it open, the cheese was stretched out very long.
The cocoa biscuit base is crispy and slightly sweet, and paired with the sweet cheese sauce inside, it feels more like eating a small cookie. The crust in the middle is very chewy, the mushroom sauce is very rich, and the sweet and sour flavor of tomato and basil neutralizes the greasiness brought by the cheese.
Taking another bite of the smoked red sausage, the slightly burnt casing burst open, and the delicious gravy inside overflowed. Finally, Ye Wan tasted the rich milky aroma of mozzarella cheese. The various flavors were extremely impactful.
The three of them quickly shared a pizza.
"I want another takeaway!" Ye Wan said quickly.
The rock man nodded slightly, took the money handed over by Ye Wan, and smiled innocently.
Ye Wan walked back with the pizza in his hand, feeling very satisfied. "The food in the dungeon is not only delicious, but also very unique. Unfortunately, I have to go back to open the shop. I will come back tomorrow to have a look."
Emma wanted to play for a while longer, and happened to meet an acquaintance. She greeted Ye Wan, and then the two parted ways.
So Ye Wan, Youan and Pancake went to the exit together. It was still an old elevator with various patterns.
"I'm going to replicate this pizza when I get back to the tavern. It's bound to be a big hit, right Pancake? Right, Euan?"
Muffin nodded happily, and Youan crossed his arms again: "That's all."
"Wipe the cheese off the corner of your mouth." Ye Wan stared at him.
The latter wiped the corner of his mouth in frustration, only to find that there was nothing there.
Ye Wan burst into laughter.
The elevator slowly stopped halfway up.
Ye Wan's smile froze on his lips: "?"
Youan looked up at the rusted parts and said, "Is it broken?"
"Don't be such a jinx!" Ye Wan covered his face in horror.
As soon as he finished speaking, the elevator began to slowly sink.
"Wait...wait."
The elevator didn't stop at the basement level, but began to descend again. A volunteer shouted at them through a megaphone, "Hold on! I'll go get the sheriff to rescue you."
The elevator was still sinking, and had been sinking for at least ten minutes.
Ye Wan shivered: "We are not going to die."
"Don't be such a pessimist." Youan replied to her.
Finally, the elevator stopped steadily in a pitch-black place, and the back door slowly opened.
Ye Wan smelled the salty smell of the sea.
This is a huge underground cave. Ye Wan and You An are standing on the beach. Opposite is a black pool similar to the sea. Something is slowly swimming over.
A giant octopus with eight tentacles emerged from the black water.
You An immediately drew his sword from his waist and blocked Ye Wan's way. Ye Wan praised him, "I didn't realize you had a sword."
The ugly, giant octopus didn't attack. Instead, it suddenly folded its tentacles gracefully in front of its body, just like a human, and then spoke: "Excuse me, what can be frozen?"
The sound is like wilting seaweed.
Ye Wan felt that this question sounded familiar.
Before You An could even utter the word "water", Ye Wan covered his mouth with his hand.
She remembered, she remembered it all, the stories about the dungeon that Kiara had told her as she dashed around the pub with her beer.
"There's a giant octopus in the lake on the twenty-first floor. It might have stowed away from the Sea of Mist. It's enormous, and it will ask you questions. If your answer mentions the word 'water,' it will suddenly use its tentacles to drag the heroes into the water. The heroes will either drown or be eaten whole."
Without waiting for an answer, the octopus seemed to lose some patience. It impatiently pounced on the beach with its tentacles, and a large amount of yellow sand was scattered on Ye Wan's head: "Answer my question, what can be frozen into ice!"
Ye Wan still covered You An's mouth. She thought quickly and then replied:
"The heart you hurt."
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