Chapter 3

As the 'False Sun' lit up, a warm red light shone down on a group of dwarves busily working at the base of a distant stone wall.

It was a vast, fertile land, with neatly arranged fields where various strange crops grew lush and vigorous.

From the deeper mines, the sounds of 'clinking' and 'clanging' could be heard continuously.

On the training ground, Witch War was enveloped in a rising mist of hot air, which rose more than a meter high, forming a large white fog. His muscles were twitching violently, and he held a stone ball almost as tall as himself with both hands. Under his bronze skin, the veins bulged, and occasionally a flash of light could be seen passing through them.

Witch Gold, Witch Silver, and Witch Copper were also on the training ground, working hard to build their strength. Various heavy tools were being wielded in their hands, and they would often throw them to the ground, creating loud noises.

Inside the stone castle, Witch Iron sat by a square table, looking out the window at the scene on the training ground.

On the square table, the sand tray was filled with characters drawn by Master Ash with a stone strip. He looked at the scrolls that Witch War and others had brought back from the Bear family with a worried expression.

"Difficult, difficult, difficult... Is this... the method for making crossbows?" Master Ash hit his forehead hard with the stone strip.

"Crossbows... using ox horns?"

"Ox horns?"

Master Ash looked thoughtfully at a few ox warriors on the training ground, who were swinging large wooden axes and practicing with loud shouts.

"Ox... ox horns... the horns on their heads, they should be usable, right?"

"Then, what is fish glue?"

Master Ash hit his head hard against the square table, feeling very troubled.

"Profound and unfathomable... this is the knowledge left by our ancestors in ancient times... Peace!"

Master Ash raised his head, rubbed his aching head, and looked seriously at Witch Iron.

Witch Iron withdrew his gaze and his wandering thoughts—just now, he had been imagining himself as a powerful cultivator, effortlessly playing with the heaviest tools on the training ground.

Looking at the complex characters in the sand tray, his scattered gaze refocused, and Witch Iron sighed lightly.

"Ancestral knowledge... Master, you once said that wisdom is not just blind memory and inheritance, but more importantly, learning to question!" Witch Iron looked seriously at Master Ash: "So, ox horns and fish glue do not exist."

Master Ash was stunned.

Witch Iron said even more seriously: "Just like the sun, moon, and stars in the book, just like rivers, lakes, and seas, they do not exist!"

Before Master Ash could speak, Witch Iron continued: "Just like the apricot flowers sold in the deep alley in the morning, they do not exist..."

Master Ash raised the stone strip and hit Witch Iron's forehead hard, looking angrily at him: "Learning to question, is this how you question?"

Witch Iron spread his hands: "No one has ever seen them!"

Master Ash was stunned.

He slowly put down the stone strip, mixed up the characters in the sand tray, and sighed deeply.

Master Ash's gaze became very sad.

He reached out and touched Witch Iron's forehead, and said softly: "The premise of questioning is that you have enough wisdom... Peace, neither you nor I have enough wisdom to question the things left by our ancestors..."

Witch Iron also sighed.

Master Ash stood up, walked to the window, and looked at Witch War and others on the training ground.

"My master once told me..." After a long silence, Master Ash muttered: "We cannot be swallowed by darkness, we cannot become beasts... violence and slaughter cannot obscure the light of wisdom left by our ancestors..."

"Look at your father!" Master Ash pointed to Witch War, who was drenched in sweat, with a strong light shining through his skin: "He is the strongest warrior among the families of the nearby castles... but twenty years ago, after he saved me... he also understood the respect for knowledge... respect for inheritance..."

"Him?" Witch Iron looked at Witch War in surprise.

He then looked at Master Ash: "I thought you were always... part of our family!"

Master Ash smiled and took out another scroll, carefully unfolding it.

"The things in here are even more interesting..." Master Ash said softly: "Come, let's ponder together... oh, look, what beautiful words... I wonder what kind of great person the ancestor of the Bear family was, to leave such a legacy..."

'Green sleeves, gentle heart...'

Master Ash sighed heavily again: "So beautiful... but how to explain it?"

'Uh'... Witch Iron spread his hands and subconsciously looked towards the training ground.

On the training ground, Witch Copper was drinking water on the side, while Witch Gold and Witch Silver stood about ten meters apart. After staring at each other for a while, the long knives in their hands suddenly flew out, turning into two black streaks that collided fiercely.

Sparks flew, and the sound was deafening.

The two long knives collided violently thirteen times in the air before separating and landing heavily on the ground.

Witch Gold and Witch Silver both exhaled deeply, and large patches of sweat appeared on their bronze skin, dripping to the ground like rain.

Following the cave where Witch War and others returned, through a winding tunnel with many forks and wrong turns, walking for nearly a hundred miles, bypassing many dangerous sinkholes, and crossing a natural stone bridge over a scorching lava river, they reached the territory of the Bear family.

In a dark side tunnel, a fist-sized night-luminescent mushroom emitted a dim blue light, illuminating a rock dwarf covered in wounds.

When the Bear family was destroyed, this rock dwarf had luckily escaped the search by Witch family warriors, but today, he fell into the hands of even more terrifying people.

In the darkness, a curved dagger with a faint blue glow cut across the rock dwarf's throat.

A large amount of blood spurted out, and the rock dwarf convulsed and fell to the ground.

The rock dwarf's blood was naturally tinged with a grayish-white, but it quickly turned the same light blue as the dagger. The rock dwarf's body also turned a light blue and began to rapidly corrode and rot.

Extremely potent poison.

"Chiyou's Tooth!" The night-luminescent mushroom was crushed, and a gentle voice sounded in the darkness.

"Even in a remote place, there are good things?" Another voice sounded.

"I said, the more remote the place, the better the things," a voice laughed.

"Chiyou's Tooth, which can shatter steel shields with a single strike!" The initial gentle voice sounded, laughing: "Unfortunately, it was taken away."

Laughter echoed in the darkness, then the darkness returned to silence, and no more sounds were heard.

The 'False Sun' lit up, and red light shone on Witch Valley.

In the large hall of the stone castle, Witch War was eating a shiny piece of roasted meat while giving instructions to Witch Iron.

"Eat well, eat until you're full, then follow me to the mine."

Swallowing a large piece of roasted meat, he took a big gulp of water and exhaled contentedly.

"Those little dwarves used mountain-breaking thunder to crush rocks and find a vein yesterday, and it seems they dug into another cave."

Scratching his thick beard thoughtfully, Witch War laughed like a well-fed jungle tiger: "I hope it leads to a populated area... more opponents are always welcome!"

Witch Iron was working hard on a large cooked animal bone.

The bone had been cut, and he finally managed to dig out a large piece of white, tender bone marrow, which he stuffed into his mouth.

Hearing Witch War's words, Witch Iron rolled his eyes.

Witch War was a bit embarrassed.

He rubbed his head and laughed dryly: "You mean the incident three years ago? Hahaha, who knew that behind the exploded mine was a nest of venomous spiders? Damn, I don't know what those beasts ate to grow so big and have so many baby spiders!"

Witch Gold, Witch Silver, and Witch Copper, who were sitting nearby, shuddered simultaneously.

"Father, will we be that unlucky this time?" Witch Gold looked at Witch War seriously.

Witch War stood up, glared fiercely at his three sons, then grabbed Witch Iron's shoulder and dragged him out.

"You three, stay at home."

"Um, the ground mushrooms are almost ripe, take people to apply the last fertilizer... if you don't work, where will you get food?"

"Remember! Ground mushrooms like rock pythons' droppings! It's a bit smelly... but if you don't work, where will you get food?"

The faces of Witch Gold, Witch Silver, and Witch Copper stiffened simultaneously.

In the deep, winding mine, rock dwarves had specially planted a large amount of night-luminescent moss.

Without torches, the night-luminescent moss was enough to light up the mine.

Small lizards and spiders crawled on the mine walls, and occasionally, a few venomous snakes would dart out from somewhere. Before they could hunt the small lizards, the nearby rock dwarves would quickly smash them to death.

In just a breath, these snakes would be eaten down to the last scale.

Riding a gray rock lizard, Witch War and Witch Iron quickly moved through the mine, and whispers of rock dwarves could be heard from the side tunnels.

The whispers were filled with fear, and in the dim light of the night-luminescent moss, many rock dwarves could be seen kneeling in terror.

These small creatures, no more than a meter tall with thin arms and legs, were at the bottom of the food chain in this harsh world.

Even though they had a fairly high intelligence!

But as Master Ash said, they lacked 'wisdom,' so they lacked 'power'!

Without 'power,' they were the sad objects of the law of the jungle!

Following a newly opened side tunnel for a few miles, golden spots the size of fists could be seen on the cave walls.

This was a high-quality gold mine, and gold nuggets were undoubtedly top-notch currency!

More than a hundred rock dwarves were swinging small mining picks, striking the rock walls and producing countless sparks.

Seeing Witch War and Witch Iron approach, the rock dwarves quickly stopped their work and hurriedly knelt on the ground.

Witch War ignored the dwarves and led Witch Iron to the end of the tunnel, where a black cave several meters in diameter appeared on the rock wall. Cold, damp air blew out of the cave, and the sound of water could be heard faintly.

A few gray dwarves stood to the side, respectfully watching Witch War and Witch Iron.

Witch War patted Witch Iron's head and said in a deep voice: "I know what you're thinking..."

Witch Iron shrugged and looked at Witch War: "But I can't do it!"

Witch War squinted at Witch Iron: "Maybe, your mother's side can help you... but it might come at a great cost... too greedy, too greedy... I mean, your grandmother... that old..."

He cursed colorfully and spat on the ground: "But you are my son, right?"

Shaking his head, Witch War snorted and scratched Witch Iron's nose hard with his finger: "In the past two years, save up some good things. In a few years, I'll take you and the third one to see your mother... but only a brave man is worth such a great effort!"

The muscles in Witch War's face twitched violently, and he gritted his teeth: "Greedy... too greedy... do you have the guts, boy?"

A gray dwarf lit a large torch and threw it into the dark cave entrance.

Witch War smiled, drew a long knife, and nodded at Witch Iron: "From today, I'll train your courage! Ha!"

Laughing loudly, Witch War waved to the warriors following behind and led the way into the cave.

"Peace... if you don't dare to come in, go back..."

"Stay and study with Master Ash... studying is always good..."

"That's what your grandfather said to me when he hit me on the head with a thick stick!"

"That old guy always had a point!"

Two ox warriors, two blue wolf warriors, and a dozen gray dwarves entered the cave one after another.

Witch Iron was stunned, pondered for a moment, and then grinned: "Mother?"

Patting his gray rock lizard, Witch Iron urged it to crawl into the cave.

A cold, damp breeze hit him, and soon his hair and face were covered in water droplets. The humidity in the cave was astonishing.

The ground was uneven, with pools of water in many places. Surprisingly, there were small, transparent, phosphorescent creatures swimming happily in the puddles.

Witch Iron had never seen or heard of many of these creatures.

Some were the size of a thumb, round with tentacles, and moved gracefully in the water, their elegant movements captivating Witch Iron.

One by one, torches were lit, and rock dwarves carried large amounts of night-luminescent moss into the cave, piling it up to illuminate the darkest corners.

"Wah... ha!" Witch War, holding a long knife, suddenly laughed loudly.

"This place is interesting, a good place! A really good place!" Witch War laughed aloud: "Water source! An inexhaustible water source!"

Witch War was so excited that he danced around, and the family warriors were also jumping and shouting with excitement, especially the two blue wolf warriors, who ran around on all fours in a frenzy.

Witch Iron took a few steps forward, and in front of him was a vast, dark expanse of water.

He had never seen so much water in his life.

The water was turbulent, and a deep, rumbling sound came from beneath it. The surface was full of whirlpools of various sizes, and the water was extremely dangerous.

Witch Iron felt dizzy and stared at the vast expanse of water, subconsciously stepping back a few steps.

"Is this a river?"

"Is this a stream?"

"Is this a lake?"

"Is this a sea?"

"I have never seen, never seen so much, so much water!"

Outside the Witch family stone castle, two ox people were hiding behind a small stone spire, lying comfortably on the ground and enjoying cooked white mushrooms.

Suddenly, a blue glow flashed, and two slashes appeared on their necks. Blood spurted, and two ox heads the size of wine jars rolled a few steps away.

"Shh... the hunt has begun!"

A gentle voice came from the darkness.

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