บท 26: The Aeki in the Granary
The serpentine beast was as wide as a person and thrice their height. It was a heavy beast that slithered its way towards the house Re'Kha had taken refugee within. It lifted the front half of its body and slammed it on the door, feeling it tremble under the force.
The serpentine beast lifted itself once again and slammed on the door, noticing a creaking sound. In its eyes were three Kalha each, rotating around the socket as the serpentine beast repeatedly slammed itself on the door.
With every impact, the door creaked louder and louder, the sounds of something breaking resounded repeatedly. The granite layer was the first to break, crumbling to the ground in pieces. Followed by it was the door that was bent ajar from the impact.
The serpentine beast plopped through the gap in the entrance, crashing onto the floor with a loud thud. Blood leaked out of its body while the Kalha in its eyes had burst from the repeated shock due to the impacts. Through the gap in the door it had created, the Kalha flew like a stream, soon filling the house to the brim.
Re'Kha was just about to descend through the flight of stairs when she heard a sound. The sound was too faint to be heard. After all, it would have been mostly absorbed by the thick walls. But, as she had kept her Wind Qi perception through the entire space in the granary, she could perceive the faint sound that seeped through the walls.
'They've already broken through the door.' Re'Kha thought, noticing an airway in the granary that led to the top. Through her perception, she noticed that the airway spanned only a tenth of her little finger's thickness.
The ends of the airway seemed to be blocked by a sturdy piece of cloth to prevent the insects from getting in. It was probably installed to prevent the air within the granary from getting mouldy.
Re'Kha dared not extend her perception beyond it. Through the airway, she could extend her Wind Qi perception to the outside. But, the moment she did would spell her doom. If the need arises, she planned to stay holed up in the granary until the people from the settlement decided to return.
Though, if she was being honest, she didn't have any hope in their arrival for the time being. 'As a prime settlement with a massive population, Burkurel city would have been swarmed with danger on all sides now. First the beast tide, and now the Kalhas. They wouldn't have time to clear out the danger in the settlements now.'
She deactivated her Wind Qi perception, resting for a couple of breaths before activating it again, 'Even if I somehow escape from this settlement, I would die before reaching Burkurel City. It would be better to rest and recover here for the time being. At least, I wouldn't be pressed for food.'
She let out a depressing chuckle, muttering under her breath, "One thing after another, when can I rest?"
When she concentrated, she could hear faint sounds from the other side. She dared not imagine the scene beyond the walls now. Re'Kha grabbed the items she had brought one by one and descended the stairs, placing them on the underground floor that was the granary.
It was a large space full of pillars that supported the house above. Each pillar was wider than what her arms could wrap around. Placed on the floor, forming neat rows were vats her height. Contained within them were foods of all sorts.
The vats weren't made from porcelain like the usual ones. The ones before her seemed alive. Re'Kha noticed tiny roots of sorts extend out from under them and enter a gap in the floor, heading deeper into the ground. The roots had filled the hole, preventing her from seeing through.
Re'Kha wasn't puzzled, for she knew the species before her. Aeki, a vat-shaped tree that was used to store food. After being placed in a location, their roots would burrow into the ground and absorb nutrients to sustain themselves.
And, any type of food could be placed within them to be preserved. As long as the Aeki doesn't wilt, the food within would be preserved, keeping it fresh, irrespective of the time that had spanned. The Aeki also had convenient lids at the top that could be opened and closed like a lever.
Re'Kha opened and closed the lid of every Aeki, making a mental note of the food stored in them. When she opened the lid of the Aeki at one corner of the granary, she heaved a sigh of relief. For, contained within was drinkable water.
Among Aeki, some stored water. And, unlike the regular Aeki, they absorbed water from the ground, purified it, and stored it inside them. This created a potable water source, so every household that could afford to buy one definitely had them.
Its replenishment rate was enough to satisfy the needs of a family of four, including bathing, washing clothes, etc. After seeing it, Re'Kha was no longer worried about her survival. She had enough food and water to last more than a decade.
'That's strange.' She frowned, find some error in the layout. She looked around the granary, finding the area she sensed being less than the ground floor. As the kitchen was located on one corner of the house, she could confirm the ends of two walls based on it—as she had entered the granary through the entrance in the kitchen.
As two of the four walls in the granary aligned with the two ends of the house, it didn't make sense for the other two to not align and be located closer than the border. Normally speaking, it didn't make any sense.
"Unless," Her face beamed as she scuttled through everywhere in the granary, tracing her hand through all the pillars and the Aekis. Finally, situated within a pillar was a tiny crease that upon pulling moved a rectangular block.
It revealed a lever inside that upon pushing revealed a manhole next to the pillar. The manhole was ingenuously hidden under the tile one of the Aeki's roots traversed upon before entering the tiny hole situated next.
Re'Kha extended her perception through the route that headed underground before moving up to the other side of the false granary walls.
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