<h4>Chapter 26 - New Crisis</h4>


    While Zhao and Blockhead stood by theke, Meirin whispered some incantations, and pretty soon ayer of water appeared around them.


    They were shielded as a wave of water rolled them on to theke.


    Zhao found that the three of them were now standing in a transparent blue ball, and there was something like a geyser holding them up on theke.


    This was Zhao''s second time encountering magic. The first time was when Meirin used a simple lighting spell and made a water bubble for him. And now they were using magic to ride over theke like a reed going down a river.


    As they moved over theke, Zhao couldn''t help but be shocked. He knew that there was magic in this world and that Meirin was an eighth level water mage, but he was still amazed.


    Meirin looked very rxed, confident in her ability over the water, like she was invincible. When she said that there may be a spirit beast, she wasn''t even a little worried, because she believes that she can easily kill it.


    Using magic to ride on the water rapidly got them across, where before it took them three hours to walk to that valley, but now it only took them half an hour to reach the other side of the mountain. Fortunately, they saw the cave that was the entrance to the mines near the castle, which proves that this was indeed the sameke. This means that they could use thiske as a waterway, allowing them to move in secret to the valley.


    Once they reached the other side, Meirin removed her magic, and Zhao could finally jump down to the ground. Feeling the earth under his feet felt really good. When they were going over the clear water, Zhao couldn''t shake the thought that he was going to fall into it, making him feel ufortable.


    After the trio walked through the cave, they saw a lot of ves working. It wasn''t noon, not yet the time for them to rest, so a lot of them were cleaning the mines, while many other ves were doing carpentry.


    To keep the blue-eyed rabbits in this ce, they will need a lot of fences. And since they didn''t have iron, they had no choice but to use wood.


    When they were exiled to the castle, Green brought some wood, although not very much. He preferred to buy finished products, because he knew that even if some of the ves knew some carpentry, they wouldn''t be able to make anything tooplicated. After all, ves with good craftsman skills couldn''t be bought with a cheap price.


    When the trio appeared, the ves were taken aback, immediately bowing down three times to them. The trio nodded their heads at the ves, and then walked out of the mines.


    Meg and Rockhead were standing outside the mines, and were very surprised when they saw the three walk out. Meg quickly greeted them and asked, "Master, Grandma, how did youe out from the mines?"


    Meirin smiled. "We came from across theke. On the other side, there''s a valley which we have chosen as the most appropriate ce for cultivation. Master has just improved some of thend there, so now we''re back."


    Meg''s eyes lit up. "Really? That''s great! I did not expect that you would be so sessful."


    They spoke some more about theke and the valley, until Meirin turned to Zhao and said, "Master, let''s return to the castle to rest. I have something to tell you."


    Zhao was surprised for a moment. He didn''t know what Meirin wanted to talk about, but after seeing the solemn look on her face, he immediately nodded his head. "Well, then let''s go back. Blockhead, you stay and help Meg and Rockhead." Blockhead agreed to stay, while Meg said that they would continue to look after the ves.


    Meirin and Zhao went to the living room after arriving at the castle. Zhao looked puzzled. "Grandma Meirin, what do you want to tell me that you couldn''t say outside?"


    "Master, when we came back today, on the way, I explored the situation with theke, but I didn''t find any strong water magic. There are only two exnations for this. One, the water spirit beast is very powerful, and very good at hiding its wherabouts from me. But that is almost impossible because I''m a mage of the eighth level. I am very confident that nothing can hide in the water if I tried to look for it. The second exnation is that there is simply no powerful water spirit beast at all. That would mean that there must be another reason why there are no fish in the water."


    Zhao soon realized the seriousness of the problem. The undergroundke was an important part of their ns for the future development of his fief. If there was no way to raise fish, then they would lose an important source of funding. If such argeke couldn''t be used, then that would really be a waste. Zhao was sullen. "Can you identify the reason?"


    Meirin''s face was also heavy. "I once heard a rumor, although I don''t know if it''s rted to theke situation." She paused. "They say that there is a reason why the ck Waste is so close to the carrion swamp. It''s because every so often there would be an army of toxic undead spirit beasts that would charge into the ck Waste, and then kill every living creature. In doing so, they would poison the soil and turn this area into a wastnd of death. But no one hase to the ck Waste for a long time, so this rumor has never been proven. But if it was true, then this is probably the reason why there are no fish in theke."


    Zhao''s face changed. If it really was like Meirin said, then this was big. Meirin, Green, Blockhead, and Rockhead could handle themselves, but some of the ves couldn''t fight. If undead spirit beasts really dide out of the carrion swamp and attacked them, then those people would die.


    Zhao rubbed his forehead, which was a habit he had in his past life.


    Meirin was also worried. If such a thing could happen, then they might have to stop their ns for raising money, making it hard for everyone to live here.


    "If what you say is true, then we''re in big trouble," Zhao said. "Grandma Meirin, we''ll wait for Grandpa Green toe back before we discuss this any further. But I''ll tell you, starting tomorrow, stop the ves from cleaning the mines. Instead, we''ll use the supplies we brought to build some simple weapons. The ves could train at the same time they''ll be making repairs to the castle. If anything happens, we could rely on the castle to withstand an attack. And if that doesn''t work, I could put everyone in my space so we could avoid those undead spirit beasts."


    Meirin frowned. "But we''ve already been in the ck Waste for a few days and yet nothing hase out of the carrion swamp, so there might not be a problem. I hope that my worries are unnecessary."


    Zhao shook his head. "Whether it''s something we should worry about or not, we still need to take preventive measures. Right now there''s a chance for the Buda n to thrive here, but if all was lost, then there would be no hope for us to stand on."


    "Well, I''ll go make the arrangements. But you should know that most of the supplies we brought were for living. We simply didn''t bring any weapons, so how do we make some?"


    Zhao couldn''t think of anything. If his spatial farm''s level was high enough, then he could nt some trees and make weapons out of them. But his current level was too low. And he couldn''t just give the ves corn stalks to defend themselves against the undead.


    Zhao rubbed his forehead until there was a big red mark on it, but nothing came to mind, until all of a sudden he noticed the stone floor. A light bulb shed in his mind. "Grandma Meirin, tomorrow, we''ll tell some of the ves to bring a lot of stones back, so we could prepare some stone weapons. Although they aren''t exactly powerful, it should be enough to defend ourselves with."


    Meirin thought about it, and agreed. "Well, thanks to the king, we couldn''t take any weapons with us, so that will have to do for now. But if that''s the case, then when Greenes back, we''ll have him purchase some weapons soon."


    Zhao nodded. He really did not think that one day they would have to return to the Stone Age.


    Looks like the higher ups in the Empire really didn''t want to give them a way out, otherwise they would have allowed the Buda n to take arms with them to the ck Waste. He didn''t believe that none of those guys didn''t also hear of those rumors about the ck Waste.


    It wasn''t enough for them to face starvation in this ce, they might also have to face a new crisis of undead spirit beasts.