The right passage was sealed by wooden boards.
Durin used a tool to pry open a hole, and after both of them squeezed in, they loosely covered the wooden boards again, using the faint light of their mining lamps for illumination.
Under Slaut's guidance, the deeper they went into the mine, the more the soil color gradually changed from yellow to black, and it was clear that the black sand contained many stones, making extraction difficult.
"The crystal won't be dug away, will it?"
Durin asked with heavy worry.
"Impossible!" Slaut patted his chest and swore, "Very few people pass this way, and to avoid being discovered, I even deliberately covered it with sand and made a mark on the wall!"
"Alright, I hope to see the beautiful crystal then." Durin said, feeling a little relieved.
The rock walls here were very solid.
After touching the rock wall, Durin came to a conclusion.
The traces of artificial excavation on the rock wall were still very obvious.
Durin measured his steps, and after walking about a hundred meters, the traces of artificial excavation finally ended, and what remained were natural fissures within the mine.
Looking up closely, both sides of the path still had facilities for miners to nail and hang mining lamps on the wall, proving that they had been here before.
However, the hanging mining lamps were covered in dust and not lit, indicating that even if miners had been there, they hadn't returned for a long time.
Advancing in this pitch-black mine, Durin felt a little nervous, his gaze surveying the surroundings, fearing that a small stone creature might suddenly dart out of the darkness.
He didn't want to end up injured without even finding the crystal.
Soon, Slaut stopped.
Seeing the old miner stop moving forward, Durin asked, "What's wrong? Are you sure it's here?"
He was already starting to feel a bit uncomfortable breathing, and his mood couldn't help but become irritable; this was likely due to changes in air pressure.
"I... I can't quite remember.
I only know it's in this area; I won't be wrong, cough, cough, cough!
It's just that I've forgotten the exact location of the crystal...
No, no...
It must be here, it's just... where did it go?" Slaut explained while coughing.
The duck about to be caught showed signs of flying away.
Durin immediately became furious, grabbing Slaut's collar and hissing in a low voice, "Are you messing with me?! You tell me you only know it's in this area!
Didn't you make a mark?"
Slaut stammered, "There... there... there's a mark!
Let me look!
It must be here!
Also, please keep your voice down."
"Hiss... Okay, think carefully, where exactly is the mark!" Slaut's reminder made Durin take a deep breath and say in a lowered voice.
"Alright, alright." Slaut nodded repeatedly.
As he spoke, he held up his mining lamp, his entire face practically pressed against the surrounding rock wall, his eyes wide, using the faint light to search for the mark he had previously carved into the rock wall.
In the silent mine, his swallowing could be heard.
Durin, feeling frustrated, lowered his head, and then his gaze fell upon the ground, where there were numerous pitted footprints, clearly sunken in.
These footprints were fresh and messy, likely from several creatures.
The footprints were deep, pressing the mine's soil down almost a palm's depth, indicating that the owners of the footprints were either wearing heavy armor or were very heavy.
However, this was Zaun, an Undercity mine, so it was impossible for heavily armored soldiers to appear.
Therefore, the owners of the footprints were almost certainly small stone creatures.
Upon receiving this information, Durin felt increasingly uneasy.
He immediately looked up and asked sharply, in a hushed voice, "Did you find it?! Hurry up!"
"Keep looking, keep looking. Almost... I remember it being right here." Slaut quickly replied.
Durin could only wait anxiously where he stood, occasionally turning his head toward the other direction of the mine shaft, afraid that a small stone man might appear.
After a moment, Slaut shouted ecstatically, "Found it! Found it!"
Hearing this, Durin quickly leaned his head over for a closer look and clearly saw a deep 'X' mark on the rock wall pointed to by Slaut's finger, with a layer of sand covering the area below.
Thus, the two hung their mining lamps on the wall, then pulled out their pickaxes and shovels from their baskets—these were their mining tools.
Durin picked up the pickaxe, weighed it in his palm, and then began to work.
The sound of striking was clearly audible inside the mine shaft, and the occasional conversations prevented the gloomy underground from feeling too desolate.