Witch Troupe and the Undead

Ten days is enough time to roughly understand the partial functional modules of this barrier. To truly understand it completely, we need to go inside and investigate the nodes and ritual site settings.

"It really takes ten days? Is this barrier really that difficult?" Roach didn't quite understand. Logically speaking, Livia should be able to break through this kind of barrier very quickly, right?

The little witch thought for a moment, then reached out her soft little hand and ruffled Roach's head, giving him an expression that said, "You're just a magical pet, don't think so much." [Imagine your golden retriever coming up to you curious about what you're doing at work, only to get its head angrily ruffled.]

Since it would take ten days, they needed to set up camp nearby. There was a ruin on the side of the Kingdom Avenue—a ruin in the literal sense, the kind of ruin for which nobody even knew what it was used for. Only the foundations and bases of the buildings remained; not a single intact pillar, let alone walls.

Fortunately, the experienced Alessina, after clearing away the piles of rubble, discovered a partially collapsed basement inside the building. It couldn't keep out the rain, but at least it could shelter from the wind, as the floor above the basement had collapsed, leaving a semi-circular pit about 3 meters deep.

Everything in the basement was buried under rubble and soil, forming a steep slope. Vivi had to use her dragon form to carve out a relatively gentle passage on the slope for easy access.

Roach and Alessina spread out two metal poles and laid two layers of waterproof cloth on top of the pit to build a sloping roof, which would at least keep out some of the rain.

Since they needed to stay for a full ten days, the campsite couldn't be just a simple tent and campfire setup. Black Horse unloaded about half of the supplies. To prevent them from being damaged by possible rain or moisture, the dried meat and seasonings were suspended by thin ropes in the center of the ceiling. Below them were Roach's magic water heater and a small alchemical furnace, the latter of which could be used as a campfire, though it was quite expensive for ordinary mages and sorcerers.

However, thanks to Livia, it was actually economical and practical for Roach and his group. Firstly, as a source mage, Roach could produce source essence very quickly and at a cost far lower than that of a normal alchemist. Secondly, even if the furnace did not have source essence, it could be powered by a ritual field set up by a sorcerer.

In Livia's hands, it can be lit with a simple rub, without the need for a complicated ritual site or a long time to maintain the ritual structure. That's why it's said that for Roach and his companions, a regular campfire is not as useful as this magical furnace.

To be fair, the camp was very small and the environment was terrible. Fortunately, due to the power of the Great Sin Magic, there were no snakes, insects, or rodents. Otherwise, this collapsed basement would have been even more unbearable.

Moreover, this camp was actually not safe. Firstly, there was no cover, and secondly, it was located in a dangerous area. Every day, Roach and the other two had to take turns clearing out the approaching Greed Demons. Among them, Alessina was the slowest to clear them out, but made the least noise; Vivi made the most noise, but was the slowest; while Roach was the one who compromised the most.

Besides cleaning up the sin demons, everyone had their own things to do. Alessina was in charge of cooking, and with limited resources, she basically cooked bacon with garlic sauce and toasted bread slices, maybe with some onion rings.

As for Roach, he carried that strangely shaped little shovel and dug around everywhere. It has to be said that although no one really understood how he worked, he accumulated quite a few gadgets over the course of a few days.

Roach held a sapphire between two fingers and examined it closely in the light of a kerosene lamp. It was a sapphire of good quality, carved into the shape of a beetle, seemingly some kind of amulet. Inside the clear blue shell was a golden symbol.

From the perspective of ancient craftsmanship on Earth, Roach couldn't figure out how this thing was made. From the perspective of alchemy, there were seven or eight methods, but he had no idea what the symbol was for. He even asked Livia to identify it, and the little witch said that the symbol had no magical symbolic meaning.

"Perhaps it's some kind of family crest or the mark of a secret organization."

“That’s the mark of the ‘All-Knowing Society’,” Roach looked up. A group of people appeared by the roadside. They were the Imperial Survey Team members he had met below the church earlier. These newcomers didn’t recognize him and Livia at all, and they scoffed at what Commander Augros had said.

“I’ve seen similar things before at the academy in the capital,” said the bespectacled old man who spoke to Roach. He smiled at Roach and his companions in a friendly manner. “Andre, Professor of History and Heraldry at the Royal Noble Academy.”

"Rocky, um, alchemist." Following the principle of not hitting a smiling face, Rocky also gave the other party a very forced smile.

"Where did you find it?"

"In the roadside bushes," Roach shrugged. It really was in the roadside bushes. He had originally gone to check the soil to determine when the road was built, but he dug out a very exquisite jewelry box from the mud. He didn't know who had deliberately buried it, but inside was this sapphire beetle.

"What good luck! There are no more than five of these omniscient brooches in the entire empire." The old man also sat down cross-legged, at a distance that was neither too close nor too far from Roach.

"What is the All-Knowing Society?"

"Huh?" Professor Andrei was stunned. He thought the other person was also interested in ancient history, but it turned out that he didn't even know this? His attitude immediately turned a little colder, but he still explained to Roach what the All-Knowing Enlightenment was.

"The All-Knowing Society was a secret society in the early days of the Empire. It is said to have existed before the establishment of the Empire, with a history of at least four or five hundred years. Their main purpose was to prove that everything in this world is false and an illusion of consciousness. It is said that they were also the earliest spiritual mystics and proved the existence of the spiritual source."

“However, from what I understand, the spiritual source was used by the source sorcerers much earlier. If that’s the case, then surely the entire Knowledge Society can’t all be source sorcerers?” Roach countered, and Andrei’s eyes lit up immediately. “You even know about source sorcerers? I thought not many people knew that term anymore!”

In Chinese, "mystic sorcerer" and "mystic mage" seem very similar, but in the local language, it is a very obscure word. So obscure that if Roach said the word directly, nine out of ten people would be completely clueless. Even among alchemists, those who are not fond of studying the history of alchemy probably wouldn't know what the word means.

"I've read some related materials," Roach shrugged. "I can't exactly tell you that I'm a Mystic Mage. The oldest textbook I've ever read was written about 1,200 years ago, right?"

Although Roach had doubts about the figure of 1,200 years ago, because judging from the book's structure and the degree of aging of the pages, it was at most 120 years old.

However, since magic does exist in this world, and this is indeed a magic book, Roach couldn't guarantee that it wasn't an ancient book from 1,200 years ago, which is why he felt his expertise was somewhat lacking here.

According to Earth's knowledge system, what is absolutely impossible or possible to use as a condition for dating may not necessarily hold true in another world. Even Roach wanted to try carbon-14 dating, but unfortunately, he didn't have the equipment or ability.

"Hmm, you usually enjoy reading about the history of alchemy?" Most alchemists don't have this kind of interest; they're already exhausted just learning the theoretical knowledge and mathematical tools of alchemy itself. As for the history of the discipline? Who reads that kind of stuff for no reason!

Only alchemists of a certain level or higher would temporarily consult books when faced with ancient alchemical manuscripts and encrypted recipes that are difficult to decipher. Even then, they would not necessarily read the history of alchemy, but would directly seek help from historians like Andre to investigate the origin of the manuscripts and recipes.

In a sense, it is also the main source of funding for the history department of the Royal Academy of Noble Families, and even the main source of income for historians like Andrei.

"Ah, you should look at some of them. It's mainly because you need to look at ancient recipes to understand the changes in various references." Roach nodded. This is also a learning threshold for arcane sorcerers. Many of their terms and references are completely different from modern alchemy. You need to look up history books and the evolution of alchemy to understand what is what.

Roach suffered so many explosions because he knew nothing about the local alchemical history or even the local history. A normal alchemist would have been at least a "tenth-generation bomber" by now.

“Indeed,” Andrei nodded in agreement, “However, alchemists these days rarely have that kind of patience.”

At this point, he couldn't help but sigh. Although it was indeed his main source of income, for someone who genuinely loved history and enjoyed digging through old papers to find the secrets and stories hidden in the past, this undoubtedly gave him a sense of frustration.

"So, you're also in charge of investigating the origins of these formulas and artifacts?" Roach asked curiously. On Earth, this is indeed a fairly common source of income and research project.

However, this kind of thing is usually a lot of work and little money. The "a lot of work" means that the cultural relics that are commissioned for investigation are not the kind of cultural relics whose backstories can be found by simply flipping through a book. It usually takes several years or even more than ten years of work. In addition to flipping through books, you also have to visit the site, investigate and visit other museums, and look for clues from other ancient books, cultural relics and excavations.

"Low pay" means that this kind of work is usually commissioned by museums or is a project done by university professors. Making money? You must be dreaming!

Of course, the sense of accomplishment from this job is unparalleled. After the origins of each item are clarified, the feeling of glimpsing a trace of the past from the other side of the river of time is hard to describe. However, as I said before, the sense of accomplishment is still not enough to match the actual benefits.

"Yes, I usually charge them a large sum of money." Those who commission this work on Earth are either museums, political missions, or private collectors. They don't spend much money, and they don't need to know everything. Moreover, a significant number of private collectors are experts in the field themselves, because those who aren't have already been swindled out of their money. (Refer to the National Treasure Gang)

But the alchemists here are different. They are genuinely waiting to use the alchemy, or it is directly related to their academic achievements or even economic gains, so their willingness to spend money is completely different.

As for why they didn't investigate themselves, Roach, being a semi-alchemist, could understand them. People only have so much energy; if they did everything themselves, an alchemical research project might take twenty or thirty years to even make any progress.

Rather than wasting irreplaceable time doing it yourself, it's better to spend some money—after all, this amount of money might be a huge sum for a historian, but just a drop in the ocean for an alchemist.

“Professor Andre, we need to set up camp here.” The Knight Commander of the Thunderbird Knights looked at Roach, his brows relaxing slightly. After all, Roach was a certified alchemist, and the rune disk he had opened and placed beside him proved that he was indeed an alchemist of a high level, so his attitude was slightly better.

"Oh, I see. I'll talk to this young man some more." Although Professor Andrei wasn't the team leader, he was the core of the team. These two things weren't contradictory. The team leader exploring the ruins needed to be able to deal with various dangers, make choices at critical moments, such as whether to escape or continue deeper, and also plan the team's supplies and routes.

However, they are all serving these scholars, and will try their best to satisfy and respect their opinions without threatening the team or others.

"Hey, don't camp under those trees over there, it's not a good spot."

“Sir…” the other person glanced at Roach, “Please do not offer opinions on areas you are unfamiliar with.”

"..." Roach shrugged. From an adventurer's perspective, the area under the trees was indeed a good place to camp. It was close to a water source, far from enemies, and the terrain was open but not without any defensible features. It was situated at the angle between the barrier, the riverbank, and the main road.

However, Roach had taken soil samples there before, and the soil condition was not ideal. Water had already seeped in, which meant that the soil below had been softened and eroded by the river water, and the soil was only held in place by the roots of that dead tree.

It doesn't seem like it will collapse anytime soon, but it could collapse at any moment, and it's impossible to say exactly when. That's why Roach and his crew chose to camp in the more dangerous ruins closer to the cemetery and woodland.

Why, young man?

"Because the riverbank has been severely eroded by the water flow, and judging from this phenomenon, the river has either changed course or been changed by humans. I speculate that it is the latter." Because when samples were taken from the riverbank, traces of ancient engineering were found.

"Based on my speculation, this should be an artificial river, a waterway built by diverting water from other places. However, over time, the stones that originally protected the riverbank may have been washed away by floods or collapsed due to years of disrepair. Now the water flow is directly eroding the soil on the riverbank, constantly scooping away the lower layers of soil."

Luo Qi pointed towards the stone bridge, "Look at the right side of that bridge, where the bridgehead is. Isn't that section of the riverbank further inward than the left side, which is downstream? That means the river has a slight curve here, causing erosion and carrying away a large portion of it."

"And look, isn't the terrain on the bridge pier side a bit higher? I dug up the soil there before to check, and it was all silt. It must have been soil scooped up from upstream that flowed with the water and accumulated year after year after being blocked by the bridge pier."

"So?" Andrei carefully observed the river's condition, then looked at Roach.

“So, based on my judgment, the location where you are camping has likely been hollowed out by the water flow, just like the marks left by the water on the rocks. It looks like flat ground on the surface, but it may collapse into the river at any moment.” Roach shrugged.

"Moreover, this river should also serve as a water conservancy project. Based on the river's course and its overly regular channel, the former Black Forest was probably farmland on the outskirts of the Kingdom of Luster, or even large-scale farmland, which would have required these irrigation canals. However, they have all been blocked by silt and filled into flat land. So the question is, where did this silt come from?"

Luo Qi pointed to the withered tree: "Look, that tree and the trees behind the barrier are probably the same type of tree, except for their different sizes. I have reason to guess that they might be trees planted by the ancient kingdom to protect the riverbank and soil."

Using plants and trees to reinforce dikes was a common ancient river engineering method, because the intertwined roots of plants could act like steel bars, fixing the soil in place and thus preventing the rammed earth river channel from being destroyed.

Moreover, when carrying out similar projects, the mud bricks used themselves also needed to be mixed with glutinous rice, lime, and grass stems. Although the ancients did not understand the mechanical principles involved, they died during their long struggle against floods.

"Therefore, trees were planted on both sides of ancient rivers, partly for aesthetic purposes and partly to prevent long-term erosion and damage to the riverbed. But look, because these trees have completely rotted away, only this one tree remains here. Where do you think the other trees went?"

“We came in from the cemetery. If we had followed the river along the side of the slum, we might have found many traces of decaying ancient trees downstream.”

“I never thought we could observe from this perspective. Hmm, Mr. Roach, you’re right, it is indeed a bit dangerous there.” However, when Andrei took the initiative to negotiate with the Thunderbird Knights, the latter simply moved the camp a little closer to the trees. The knight commander still insisted on his own opinion, thinking that Andrei was overthinking things.

Of course, he was still somewhat wary of the water seepage. Although he didn't believe it would collapse, it meant that some aquatic monsters might burrow out from underground and attack them. That's why he had to move the camp closer to the road.

"You can't reason with a damned ghost." Roach watched coldly, especially since the knights' tents were positioned on the outer side to defend against monsters that might emerge from the opposite bank or the river.

“However, the current isn’t very strong, they won’t drown,” Alessina said. She observed the river; the current wasn’t rapid, nor was it very deep. At most, it would only cause the knights a moment of trouble.

Chapter 117 Chain Reaction

The arcane furnace emitted a warm glow, and the iron pot on top simmered a thick broth. Broth, roast meat, and bacon were the three holy meals of adventurers. Basically, the more experienced the adventurer, the more skilled they were in each of these three recipes, and Alessina was no exception.

Smoked bacon is shaved into small pieces and stewed in soup with cheese chunks, along with onions and scallions. The stewed broth is served in individual wooden bowls and accompanied by bacon slices and dry bread cooked in a small pan.

Simple yet quite delicious, sharing it with companions in such a ruined camp by the light of an oil lamp swaying on the roof has a unique flavor.

Livia leaned on her cane, her emerald green eyes gazing at the survey team's camp across the way. They were also having dinner, but their meal was quite different from Roach's. It mainly consisted of spicy and sour beans stored in tin cans, accompanied by smoked meat and cheese.

Canned food already exists in this world, but the variety is very limited. Currently, there are only three main types: pickled herring, spicy and sour beans, and green peas. Canned meat has not yet been developed, or at least it has not been found or sold within the Empire.

Livia twitched her nose, looked up at the sky in surprise, reached out her small hand and vaguely grasped something, then let go again. The next second, a large raindrop landed on her nose, the cold touch making her shiver and then shrink back into the camp.

"Drip!" The raindrops made a crisp sound as they fell on the rocks. After a few brief, clear, harp-like notes, a torrential downpour began, accompanied by a sweeping wind that lashed against the tarpaulin overhead, making a crackling sound.

"Damn, it's really raining. Hurry up and move the stuff inside." Roach put down his rice bowl, quickly pulled out another roll of waterproof cloth, hung it on the frame, then weighed down the dangling ends with stones and hammered in a rock piton, thus forming a triangular space similar to a tent.

Livia touched the flame of the arcane furnace, twirled lightly, and with a flick of her wrist, a golden flame ignited at her fingertips as her skirt billowed. Instantly, a ring of flames ignited around the camp, evaporating the rainwater flowing in into a layer of hot, humid steam that spread out of the tents.

"Fire magic, no matter how many times I see it, it seems miraculous." Vilandera shook her head. It's not that a normal arcane mage can't do it, but it's absolutely impossible for them to do it so quickly and easily. The exploding flames in her hands are like tamed pets.

“But the young lady’s magic can’t be created out of thin air. We have to keep the arcane furnace burning. Fortunately, it can use the power of the Great Sin.” Roach checked the fuel bottle on the side of the arcane furnace. The silvery-white essence inside was less than 1/3 left. He had to replace it with a new bottle filled with pink Great Sin Essence to keep the arcane furnace running.

"This should last until tomorrow morning," Roach said. After changing the bottle of essence, he used a new small shovel to dig a simple drainage ditch in the ground and drain the rainwater into the sewer not far away.

"However, if the rain continues, our area is still prone to flooding. If we find the water level rising at night, we should move to higher ground."

“Okay, then I’ll take the night watch tonight,” Vilandella said, explaining that dragons are creatures that can go for months without sleep, or sleep for months at a time. “Besides, I can also keep you out of the rain.”

Vilandella reverted to her dragon form, but unfortunately, she had only recently transformed into a dragon. Although she was not a fledgling dragon, she was still in a state between a young dragon and a baby dragon, and her size was not large. Even with her dragon wings fully spread, she could not cover the entire gap.

Like most fire-elemental dragons, the Ash Dragon has a relatively high body temperature, and the dragon magic it emits will fill the surrounding area with a smell similar to wood ash. Plants and flammable materials will be constantly eroded by this magic, becoming scorched and in a smoldering state, just like being contaminated by white phosphorus bombs.

This ability ensures that most raindrops evaporate before they fully hit the ground during heavy rain. The only drawback is that it produces a continuous cracking and popping sound as water droplets evaporate.

At the Dead Tree Camp, the Thunderbird Knights, though arrogant, were still quite professional. They promptly reinforced the tents in the camp, ensuring they were a certain distance from the dead tree, and then erected a simple rain shelter over the campfire to prevent it from going out.

The campfires they build are constructed by piling up an earthen platform on the base that is higher than the surrounding ground. This greatly prevents rainwater from seeping in and wetting the fuel and wood or extinguishing the flames.

This rain was not a continuous downpour, but a standard shower. First, there was a sudden burst of strong wind and rain, then a few minutes later, it turned into a light drizzle and gentle breeze. After a while, accompanied by a damp and cold wind, another downpour came like a whip.

"Professor Andre," the Knight Commander looked at the professor who seemed hesitant to speak, "as I said, that Lord Roach is nothing more than an inexperienced academic alchemist, and the little fellow beside him couldn't possibly be a witch."

Because academic witches have fixed residences or positions, they have their own fame and reputation; while non-academic reclusive witches are often good at adventure and wilderness survival.

"They chose a terrible place to camp. The ruins were safer, but like now, they turn into puddles whenever it rains. You see, they've clearly used some kind of magic to drain the water."

The rising steam in the distance couldn't be hidden, nor could the ring of fire that appeared and disappeared within it. The only thing that surprised him was the dragon. He didn't know if it was a real dragon or a dragon descendant. If it was the latter, wasting the team's powerful combat strength and limited transformation time to drain the water seemed like a losing proposition.

"They've already used up their spells and essence, and soon they'll find it hard to keep going. So your suggestion to travel with them is just adding to our burden."

They didn't even know that when camping overnight in the wild, you should never choose four places: under trees, on slopes, in basements, or in ruins. Under trees you can take shelter from the rain, but if there's a thunderstorm, you'll be completely caught off guard; slopes may seem like a terrain advantage and shelter from the wind, but if there's a landslide, you'll all be buried alive; basements may be flooded or unstable and collapse; ruins may contain secret passages, traps, or, at the very least, sudden collapses.

These are common mistakes novice adventurers make. They only see the benefits and ignore the risks brought by these low-probability events. And usually, when you think nothing will happen, that's when things are about to go wrong.

“If that’s the case, we should stay away from the riverbank. I think what that young man Roach said is right. The soil and terrain here do have problems and may collapse due to being softened by rainwater.”

“Professor Andrei, I’ve already checked,” the knight commander interrupted him. Although this guy was arrogant and conceited, he wasn’t stupid to have gotten to this position. Of course he would check the river. Even if there was no collapse, the floodwaters rising in the middle of the night could wash everyone away. This was something that had to be considered when camping by the water.

So after checking the water depth and flow rate, he was sure there wouldn't be any problems, because this was a backwater bend with a gentle flow that wouldn't easily cause the water to rise. Also, this rain was a sudden downpour, not a continuous rain. If it were, he would have to ask the camp to move to the higher ground near the church, even if it meant going back a bit.

“Okay, but we should still be on high alert.” “Yes, I’ve already ordered the tents to be pitched.” The other person indicated that he had already taken precautions, and his experience told him that the rain wouldn’t last more than an hour and a half before stopping; spring downpours like this don’t usually involve a lot of rain.

Just as the knight commander had predicted, the rain had almost completely stopped by the middle of the night, with only a few raindrops occasionally falling. The moon could once again be seen peeking through the thin clouds. If the moon was seen veiled like this at night, it meant that the next day would be sunny and there would be no more rain.

However, Andrei always had a bad feeling. Meanwhile, in the upstream capital city, as the pressure in the reservoir reached a limit, the ancient mechanical switch was activated by the water pressure, the gears were driven by magic to rotate, and the thick chain cast in fine gold started to roll.

The ancient Kingdom of Luster was accustomed to building artificial hills and reservoirs within its cities to store domestic water. This stored water was used for water conservancy projects and ancient water supply systems (similar to the aqueducts and waterwheels of ancient Rome).

The rusty, giant sluice gate was slowly lifted, and the long-accumulated torrent rushed into the light and dark waterways, which were wetted by rain and had accumulated a shallow layer of water. The damaged open channel ran through the city, and water kept overflowing from the gaps, cascading like waterfalls into the city's aristocratic district, submerging half of the city in knee-deep sewage.

Meanwhile, the underground channels roared with the sound of rushing water, spreading throughout the city along the complex waterway system, eventually reaching the water gate in the city wall. "Boom!" The water surged out of the water gate and plunged down from the inner city's platform. This thunderous sound made everyone in the Thunderbird Knights realize that something was wrong, and they hurriedly began to move their supplies.

At the same time, Roach and his companions were also awakened by the thunderous roar. "You guessed it all along?"

“Yes, when I was digging in the soil before, I found that the roots of the plants were very shallow, especially the dead roots, which were very shallow, especially near the river.” Roach said that he had guessed it long ago. “If the river doesn’t rise every few days, it means that they will release and store water regularly, which means that the plants near the riverbank cannot take root too deep and will be washed away.”

In fact, even without this evidence, Roach had already guessed this would happen after discovering the blocked irrigation canal downstream. Since there was an irrigation canal, there must have been a water storage facility upstream. A water conservancy system without a water storage system is incomplete, and if agriculture in ancient kingdoms had developed to this point, this would have been a necessary feature.

Spring floods are a matter that must be taken very seriously. In order to meet the irrigation needs of spring farming and at the same time alleviate the pressure of spring floods or ice jams, upstream reservoirs or dams will inevitably release water.

Without automated magical devices, the already damaged dam would be unable to stop the spring floods under such pressure. Either way, it means that those living near the river will definitely suffer heavy losses.

The reason why the Imperials didn't realize this is quite simple. Roach had already discovered this in Windcandle Village. Their agricultural technology, while not quite reaching the tragic state of 1 planted and 5 harvested in the Dark Ages, was still roughly a state of near-total crop failure, with 1 planted and 8 harvested to 1 planted and 12 harvested.

Wheat and millet are different. Roach wouldn't force a Chinese yield ratio of 1:35 or higher to millet. That's millet, which has more grains. In fact, wheat in ancient China was also low-yielding. Wheat, wheat, the yield per mu was no more than shi (dan), which is where the origin of the saying. It was about a yield-to-yield ratio of 1:10 to 15.

Under this agricultural technology, it's impossible to say that they were completely ignorant of water conservancy projects. However, their understanding of water conservancy projects was not deep enough. In addition, these Thunderbird Knights called themselves guardians of knowledge, and the knowledge they protected was mostly high-class aristocratic knowledge, which mostly did not include agricultural knowledge, which was something that was learned by country bumpkins.

"So, these guys have no idea how water conservancy works, especially what the structure of ancient water conservancy projects is like, and if you add the magic involved..." Black Horse looked amazed after hearing this: "That means the dam upstream and the ones those country bumpkins built are completely different things, right?"

"Correct!"