"So deep!"
Stingham's cries continued.
There were actually a few sewer holes beneath the huge fountain-like water current, each over thirty meters deep at least.
The water coming out from the sewer holes fell into the dark river below like a big waterfall.
Splash! Splash!......
The group fell into the dark river like dumplings. They only managed to balance themselves by controlling the flow of arcane particles flowing on their bodies.
"It's really huge! Was this built by the Mountain Dwarf artisans?"
Ayrin leapt out of the water. There were platforms on both sides of the dark river made from stone slabs. The dark river was clearly man-made.
As they looked up, they could see covered bridge-like passages and the obvious ruptures on the water passage.
It seemed that if not for the broken parts, there would be no waste water flowing up to the surface. The wastewater would definitely flow along the dark river to a faraway place, probably some lake or a deep valley of some mountain range.
"Ayrin, you still dare to open your mouth wide and act like going on a tour. Don't you think it's smelly down here!?" Stingham complained.
"It's bearable. As long as you don't breathe in too hard, it isn't really all that smelly. The water in here also seems clean." Ayrin looked at the waterfall above, "Rather than this, the stench from the Skunk Devil Summoning was the real deal."
"It should be here."
Grandmaster Yi took a look at the sheepskin map he took out and pointed at the huge passage on the left side ahead of the dark river, "We will enter from there. There won't be any waste water. It's the passage for large machinery and metal golems to move through when constructing this underground sewer."
"Why do I feel that something is wrong? What's that sound?" Stingham stared at the huge passage in fear as he heard some rumbling sounds coming from there.
"There shouldn't be any water there, right? Why is there so much water vapor rushing out!?"
Rinloran became even more pale as he felt the urge to puke. Meanwhile, a raging gale gushed out from the passage along with foaming mist.
"Grandmaster Yi, didn't you tell us that there shouldn't be water inside!?" Meraly also screamed.
A terrifying gush of water current that seemed to be a combination of dozens of Water Dragons rushed out from the passage!
"What's going on!?"
Grandmaster Yi was also dumbfounded.
The entire group got washed into the dark river by the water current without putting up much of a resistance.
It was only the beginning.
After getting carried along the dark river, they reached the edge and dropped down in a grand waterfall. They were knocked about in the water and lost all sense of direction.
Everyone suffered from the huge impact and felt extremely uncomfortable.
After the water current eventually slowed down, the group popped their heads above the water's surface. Dumbfounded expressions flashed across their faces.
They were in an area not marked on the map.
The place they ended up at seemed like a lake. Many drains branched out from the lake and transported the water to all directions.
There were at least thirty to forty passages around the lake, and a portion of them seemed to be heavily damaged.
"What's going on?"
Stingham grimaced, "Grandmaster Yi, didn't you say we should go through that passage? Then why did the current there drag us here?"
"I don't know either." Grandmaster Yi groaned in reminiscence, "Could it be that he gave me a fake map because I bargained for eight silver instead of his price of ten silver?"
"That's screwed up! Grandmaster Yi, you have reached the highest level of screwing people. You even screwed yourself!" They became teary-faced.
"Oh yeah!"
As Ayrin used an arcane skill to leap to the bank, he suddenly remembered something and turned to ask Grandmaster Yi, "Grandmaster Yi, aren't you close to Professor Plum? You could just let us go in, why did you screw yourself up?"
"He's just an acquaintance." Grandmaster Yi waved his cane like an oar. His feet stepped on water and he glided to the bank, "I came with you because I heard the Eternal Youth Grass grew in patches in the Green Dragon Divine Temple. Those who eat it will look younger."
"So you wanted to steal things for yourself as well! No wonder you're so passionate!" They immediately felt that Grandmaster Yi was unreliable.
"It's fine! We can just backtrack from the waste water current." Grandmaster Yi took a glance at the group, "Doa Royal Palace is built on the highest ground, and water flows from high to low. However, we need to find the safe spots marked out on the map, or we might encounter powerful monsters or city patrols."
"Can that map still be trusted?" They lamented. A thief like Grandmaster Yi was too unprofessional.
After a few minutes, Grandmaster Yi shouted in excitement, "Found it! This is the Seven Puddles Zone on the map. It's made up of seven clear springs. After getting diluted by the seven springs, the waste water flowing out of the Royal Palace becomes no different than normal river water. This is a safe zone. If we follow this path up, we will be able to find another safe path."
"It does look safe."
Ayrin and Charlotte looked at each other.
They were at another junction of many water passages. The water passages arranged into a 'rice(米)' character shape. Streams flowed through the junction. Seven clear water pillars that looked like plaza fountains diluted the waste water until there was almost no smell.
"But why do I have a bad feeling about this?" Stingham shuddered.
"There are two red lanterns there!" Meraly suddenly exclaimed.
"......"
Everyone became speechless again.
Two red light dots floated towards them from the pitch black passage.
Along with the light dots was a strong arcane energy fluctuation unique to demonic beasts.
An enormous silhouette appeared in their sight.
It was a strange humanoid monster.
It was more than three meters tall, had a body similar to a human covered in black hair. However, it had the head of a fish and barbels growing under its jaws. Sharp yellowish teeth grew inside its fish-like mouth.
"What the heck is this monster!?"
"Grandmaster Yi, you must be Grandmaster Screwface, you just screwed us again!"
Stingham was teary-faced. He had never seen or heard of such a monster. However, the arcane energy fluctuation coming from its body was at least on the level of the Fire Caracal Lord. More importantly, they might be discovered by the patrols if they fought it.
"It's a rare monster. It may be a monster that only appears in underground sewers like this, since I have never seen it in any books before. However, don't panic." Grandmaster Yi spoke in a serious tone, "It's just a lord level monster. You should also know that lord level monsters have a strong obsession with territory. As long as one such lord level monster appeared here, there should not be any other powerful monsters nearby."
"That sounds reasonable." Ayrin, Charlotte and the others looked at one another.
If they killed that lord level monster, they should not encounter any other monster for a while.
Also, it was better to encounter a lord level monster instead of an emperor level monster.
"Is it? Old man, what you said only applied to the low-intelligence bugs living in the forests outside." However, at that moment, they heard a voice with an authentic Doa accent.
"You can speak?"
Ayrin and Stingham exclaimed in bewilderment.
It was the hairy fish head monster who spoke.
"How is it strange?"
Another voice could be heard.
"The human race is the existence with the poorest talent. They only obtained strength through learning the Draconic language. Since even the human race can speak, what's strange about us being able to speak?"
Another splash of water accompanied that voice. Two more silhouettes appeared before Ayrin's group.
One of them looked like a crocodile. His body was bronze colored and a pair of membrane wings grew on its back.
The other one also looked strange. It seemed to be two huge black fish glued together. It had two heads and its body maintained a half-standing posture. The voice came from its two heads.
"Nightwalker, Cave Lord!"
After seeing the two-headed black fish-like monster, Meraly changed her expression.
The Cave Lord, which had the nickname Nightwalker, was an extremely rare monster. However, due to its many unique talents and abilities, it had left many anecdotes in the records of the ancient Kingdom of Doa.
She remembered that some of the books described the place where the Cave Lord passed through during battle would become a dark road. The Cave Lord would become faster while staying on that road, while other arcane masters would suffer arcane damage while staying on that road.
Most importantly, she remembered that the Cave Lord could use its two heads independently. While one would focus on battling, the other could refine arcane particles. It would be able to replenish the arcane particles it lost in battle.
"Little girl, you got good eyes. I am the Cave Lord."
"Allow me to introduce. This is the Shoal Lord." Hearing Meraly's exclamation, the two heads of the Cave Lord showed a proud expression. It nodded towards the crocodile-like monster and introduced it. Then, it turned around to look at the fish head monster that appeared first and said, "That is the Swamp Lord."
"Three lord level monsters? Grandmaster Yi, can you screw us over any worse?" Meraly almost went crazy. She felt the urge to use her Golden Holy Sword to chop up Grandmaster Yi.
At that moment, Stingham mumbled, "All of you can speak just like Emperor Evil Eye which was killed by us?"
"What?" The three lord level monsters were taken aback.
"Hey, do you eat people?" Ayrin suddenly looked at the winged crocodile-like Shoal Lord and the twin-headed black fish-like Cave Lord.
What? You're scared?
The three lords felt relieved. The Cave Lord smiled menacingly, "Relax, we don't have such a hobby. Since there aren't many arcane masters who would come here to die, we would have died from hunger if our diet consisted of humans."
"You guys eat poop then?" Stingham mumbled. He felt disgusted at his own imagination and shuddered.
The Cave Lord almost passed out due to anger caused by Stingham's assumption and roared, "Idiot! There are plenty of fish and prawns in the clean water! There are even enough huge blind fish for a lifetime's worth of food in this underground dark river! They are a hundred times more delicious than the meat of beasts on land!"
"That's good. I won't get a trauma from eating you then." Ayrin suddenly smiled and looked at the three lords, "All of you look plump, you should be delicious."