A day and a night had passed since the opening of the Dead Man's Swamp.
Even so, the huge figure still seemed to be lingering in Ye Lingyu's mind. There are no clouds in the Dead Man's Swamp, but if it were the outside world, the huge pale bones must tower into the clouds. Opening your eyes and closing them are all fragments that cannot see the whole picture. In her mind, the image of the desolate skeleton was like a broken puzzle piece, trying to piece together a complete image in an erratic form.
It's shuddering.
Her memory of what happened then was vague. Mu Yuejun said something to it, Xie Zhe and Han Zhang also said many words of advice. They were indeed a little shocked when they first met, even if they had been mentally prepared. However, the two of them did adapt faster than themselves. Is it... that general? Suzuki-kun's friend? It was once a human being. There were many soldiers around it, although none of them were complete. There were even little monsters with only skeletons left, but they were all covered in battle armor. The styles, colors, and degrees of wear of the armor are all different, perhaps a mixture of characteristics from different eras and places, but now they are all gathered here, under the command of General Mu. As for the general, he may have once had a majestic armor, but the world's fighting spirit caused it to expand continuously, and it became what it is now, with nothing to wear.
Ling Huan still remembered that it made a terrifying sound when it bent down, similar to the strange sounds described in Zhiguai that would echo in places like valleys or empty streets - at least it was similar to what she simulated in her mind. Clicking, clicking, it seems like it will break in the next moment. Its terrifying face hung straight down from a high place, very close to her. The two empty eye sockets wanted to suck away the soul of people. She could even see the fine and sparse holes in the bones.
It gave itself something to hold at its fingertips. Ling Huan followed it blankly, holding it in his hand, and then realized that it was a book. She didn't know why, but her eyes were clearly filled with fear, but she couldn't move away from the desolate skeleton, and she didn't even think about opening the book. At that time, did his companions and Mutsuki-kun look at me and say anything to me? She couldn't remember clearly.
Even if it’s only been a day.
Han Chang picked up the book and shook it in front of her, and it took her a while to come back to her senses.
"Are you confused?" Han Sheng said, "Why are you so absent-minded after coming back from the Dead Man's Swamp?"
"The miasma around General Naked is the strongest. She may have inhaled more accidentally through the gauze. The medicine Mutsuki-kun took has eliminated the toxicity of the miasma, and it should be restored after a while."
Han Zhang retorted to Xie Che, "I see, it was the general's majestic appearance that shocked her."
"Stop talking about those useless things...can you put Wan Guizhi away?"
"Wan Gui Zhi?" Ling Huan woke up completely and suddenly raised his ears.
"Really? Have you forgotten that General Shi still has to entrust us to do things before he is willing to be reincarnated?"
"What...is it? Wan Guizhi...isn't he in Death Shadow Pavilion?"
It was as if she had just woken up. The two looked at each other for a while and frowned in unison.
"You are too forgetful."
"Yes, you didn't hear what we said yesterday, did you?"
did not hear? Impossible, she is very confident in her hearing. But she recalled what Xie Zhe had said, and felt that maybe she had accidentally inhaled the miasma, and something was wrong with her whole body. Mutsuki-kun had already left. She knew that there was a simple goodbye part in her memory, although she was a little absent-minded at the time.
"When we were at the Death Shadow Pavilion, the Wangui Zhi was indeed still in Lord Gaoyue's hands, but when we were resting, Lord Kanna had already taken the Wangui Zhi from Lord Gaoyue and handed it over to General Mu. The general’s request.”
Han Chang still held it in his hand and waved it twice in the air. Ye Lingquan stretched out his hand and motioned for him to hand it to him, and Han Zhang did so. This book is very ordinary and very old. Although it has not reached the point where it will break when pinched, it has become damp and yellowed, as if it has lost its vitality. The cover is plain navy blue, dyed with polygonum indigo. She tried flipping through a few pages, but found that there was no end.
"this……"
"This is the one that Mr. Gao Yue re-binded." Xie Zhe sighed, "In the past, it was folded and bound, but later it was mostly bound with threads, so she sorted it out. After all, after Mr. Liang Yue left, he protected it. The spiritual power has also dissipated, and the paper has become very fragile.”
This seemingly thin book can contain so many things. Even so, Gao Yuejun can still take care of it, but Ling Huan probably doesn't know how to do it. She closed the book and gently touched the cover, which felt velvety. This is also a characteristic of very old books. It seems that after the restoration, it has been read countless times in the Shadow Pavilion.
Ye Linghua remembered that they had gone to another place - a place far away from Qinglize. Because the Swamp of the Dead is a hub extending in all directions, the few people passed through the special door of flowers and trees when they left, but in fact they had reached a completely different area. Compared to Qinglize, it was too dry here. She always felt uncomfortable in her nasal cavity, and she might not be used to it yet. So she rubbed her nose and Han Chang had already poured water for them.
There is a lot of wind and sand in this area, blowing from far away. The nearest one is a lonely flat-topped mountain, which can be seen through this temporary hotel. The buildings in this nameless town are low, probably to prevent wind and sand. After all, in front of the town is a flat, wide, endless wasteland. Looking around, there is not a single bit of green at all.
Xie Zhe looked over and said softly: "That mountain doesn't look big."
"It's bigger near and smaller in the distance, brother. The sun at noon and the sun in the afternoon are actually the same size. I didn't refer to it. That's the truth."
"What? Are they the same size?" Ling Huan looked at him in surprise.
Han Chang, who was refilling the cup, spilled the tea.
"...the same size. Because the sun is high in the sky at noon, there is no comparison, so you think it is small; in the morning and in the afternoon, there are houses and trees in the sky to compare, and they seem bigger. If you don't believe it, you can use your finger to measure it yourself."
"That's so dazzling..."
"Anyway, this mountain is quite big." Han Chang also looked at it through the window, "They said that this is the closest entrance to the Eclipse Tower. As long as there are weapons like Fengyun Zhan that can disrupt spiritual power, It can be used as a key to enter that place.”
"Is there any other way? I heard that there are many roads..."
"We haven't set off yet, why is Miss Ye so discouraged?"
Xie Zhe smiled. He was carefully wiping the light sword. It looks smooth, shiny and clean.
"Isn't this a prepared plan?"
Having said that, the three of them actually felt a little unsure. How can a weapon serve as a key? Is it possible that there are huge locks specially designed for weapons-sized keys? What's more, in such a barren wilderness, where can you see a "door" like the entrance to the Shadow Pavilion? There's no way to put a lock on an entrance like that.
Here they are not cold, rather it doesn't feel like winter at all. In areas such as deserts, there is no concept of winter. Therefore, Ling Huan always feels that the "New Year" is far away from him. Isn’t the year also a concept closely related to ice and snow?
At noon, the three of them were getting a little hot, especially riding a rented camel on the vast Gobi Desert, which was baked to a crisp by the winter sun. There is a sunshade on the camel, but the sun shines from the front and the shadow goes to the back of the buttocks. The sun rose slowly and then set slowly, and they finally felt cooler. It took them most of the day to reach the shadow of Pingding Mountain. Even so, there is still a long way to go. But the climate here is strange. Once you stay away from the sun and hide yourself in the shadows, you will immediately feel cold. They had to put on the coats they had just taken off not long ago.
Han Zhang sighed at the end: "It's a bit troublesome. I'm afraid we won't be able to go back at night. It will be very cold here at night. I heard it can kill people. Have we brought enough to protect ourselves from the cold?"
Xie Zhe, who was at the front, responded: "That's probably enough. We always bring stuff for winter."
They came to the foot of the mountain. Here, the camels can no longer move forward, and people can only climb up by themselves. There is a row of wooden piles here and a simple shed, which is a resting place for the rented camels. Camels are very smart. Sometimes they get lost for some reason and can find themselves again. The slope on this side of Pingding Mountain is already relatively gentle, but it is said that the opposite side is as steep as a cliff. As for where the so-called gate of Eclipse Palace opens, no one is sure. Mutsuki-kun just told them, "The place where Pingding Mountain is located", which was extremely vague. But according to Xie Zhe, he felt that he had said it clearly and enough every time. No matter how much he was pressed, he could not give a simpler explanation.
This hurts them. After all, this mountain is really high and big. Although the upper part has become flat due to wind erosion and other reasons, the climbing time of the entire flat-topped mountain is still difficult to estimate. First of all, when climbing a mountain, there are other mountains for comparison. At least you know roughly where you are climbing. This solitary mountain is a bit embarrassing. What's more, even on such a mountain, the vegetation is sparse and scarce, the sand is difficult to fix, and every step you take is a bit soft, for fear of slipping down accidentally. Only in those ravines that have been eroded by nature can some water rarely accumulate, giving rise to poor green.
Han Chang's hands and feet are still very nimble. Here, he probably regained some of those days of running in the mountains and fields. Although he was the last to go up, he quickly surpassed the other two. Xie Zhe had no choice but to slow down and keep an eye on Ling Huan's foothold at the end. Han Chang stopped on a wide platform, turned around, and felt a little emotional.
"Look - the oasis we came from."
The two looked back.
