It's not exactly a friendly place. Ling Huan didn't know where to turn her eyes. Logically speaking, she should be looking at her feet, but once she lowered her head, the sight of a steep cliff made her legs numb and her hands trembled.
At first, this slowed her down considerably. Naturally, Xie Zhe would not rush her. Instead, he waited patiently and warned her when she was near the break of the ladder. It might be easy to dawdle like this, but she didn't want Han Chang to wait down there for too long. Besides, Xie Zhe was also looking after her. If her partner had been worried for nothing because of her, she would definitely feel bad.
Ling Huan raised his head while holding the rope ladder, and took a deep breath. She no longer stared fearfully at the dizzyingly distant ground below. Instead, she tried to move her eyes away appropriately to look at the weeds between the rocks on both sides or the crackling blue sky above her head. Every time she was about to set down, she had to look down cautiously, trying to focus on the ropes of the ladder. They seemed reasonably sturdy, which gave her some peace of mind.
"Stretch your right foot further to the right...yes, lean down a little further."
The dry wind made Ling Huan's face hurt, but fortunately the sound of the wind was very light and did not interfere with Xie Zhe's reminder of the location of the next section of the ladder. Ling Huan's breathing, which was slightly disordered due to nervousness, gradually became regular, and his arms and legs became stronger. Every time she looked up, the cliff above seemed much further away, which encouraged her to stay away from it and get closer to the ground.
Perhaps because of her concentration, she felt that she landed faster than she thought. When she finally stepped on solid ground again, her soles felt weak due to the psychological gap. Xie Zhe gave her a hand and waved his hand in response to her thanks. They turned around, and Han Shang was walking around, looking at the land in the east and smelling the wind in the west.
"What did you find?" Xie Zhe asked him as he patted his dusty hands.
Han Chang stopped when he heard the sound, faced them, and rubbed his nose sadly.
"I found... there is nothing here. Not to mention the entrance, there is no unusual spiritual induction at all."
"What did you say you were doing rushing down here in a hurry?"
"Isn't this considered exploring the way? Besides, what if there is some more advanced magic that hides the door." Han Sheng laughed, "If you haven't noticed anything, we can only go deeper into the desert. gone."
The three of them looked into the distance together. There are only large stretches of sand dunes, which cut the sky and the earth with gentle sand waves, bending the originally straight horizon into a staggered arc of far and near.
Ye Lingyu touched his luggage and hesitated:
"Are we going to go in like this? I heard from people who are on the trade route in my family that if you want to go a long way in the desert, you need to prepare a lot of food and water. Moreover, if you don't take a camel, it's difficult to walk in the sand. It’s hard to get moving.”
"Miss Ye is right. In addition, we also need a compass and a map." Xie Zhe frowned deeply. He looked back at the tall flat-topped mountain behind him, as if he expected it to become the pointer of the compass. "The scenery in the desert is monotonous, and it is difficult to distinguish the road. What's more important is that there will always be wind blowing the sand, which will not only cover our footprints, but also blow the surrounding landscape beyond recognition. Once we step out, we can only see it now. If we can’t see the mountain within the range, we are bound to lose our way.”
Han Chang sighed heavily.
"Okay, you two, of course I won't put everyone in danger - how could I let Sister Ye follow us and be unable to find the way, exposed to the wind and sun and eating sand for several days?" He pretended to smile lightly. After a moment, his brows could not relax, "We will only go as far as where we can see the cliff. If we still can't touch the entrance, we will turn back and make another plan."
Xie Zhe thought for a while and didn't object anymore. For now, it seems that this is the only way.
They shared the luggage to try to lighten the burden on Ling Huan. She apologized and thanked her repeatedly without making any pointless rejection. After all, he is the weakest among them. If you are dragging your feet in the desert due to heavy loads, it will actually delay everyone's schedule.
The sun gradually rises, turning the pale sand sea into golden color. There was no special landform in their field of vision. They could only see patches of different shades of yellow, from light gold in the sun to dull brown in the shadows, dyeing the undulating sand dunes far and near. Wind kept passing over their surfaces, raising sand and dust into the air, and it looked as if the wind was also dyed pale gold.
At first, Ling Hu could still feel the changes in the surrounding scenery. The gentle slope with accumulated sand gradually grew taller and turned into a hillside whose top could not be clearly seen. Gradually, just as Xie Zhe said, she lost the perception of distance and could only rely on the flow of sunlight and the growing thirst in her mouth to judge that she had walked for a long time. The desert is not too hot in winter, and there is even a chill in the shadows of the dunes, but it is very hot under the sun and the air is very dry. She had to constantly restrain herself to resist the urge to drink water frequently.
After almost an hour, the three of them found nothing.
"Go back." Xie Zhe stared in a very far direction. "If we continue walking, we will really get lost. There is no single dune in the desert that can be used as a reference. They are changing every moment."
"..."
Han Chang also knew that going deeper would only be a waste of everyone's energy and patience. What's more, the other two are willing to accompany him here, which is a great honor. He had no choice but to give up, nodded, turned around and headed back in the direction where Xie Zhe was looking. Ling Huan looked back at the road she had come from. It was difficult to see the outline of Pingding Mountain clearly. Xie Zhe's eyesight was probably much better than hers. The footprints on the way here are a little shallower, maybe a little bit worn away by the wind. I'm afraid if they stay a little longer, those deep or shallow footprints will disappear completely.
A gust of wind without temperature blew, and some yellow sand was swept over. Ye Linghua patted his face and felt that there was a lot of grit on his face. He didn't even realize when the sand had coated it before.
It took them about the same amount of time to return. Maybe we were all a little tired, so we didn’t actually walk to the base of Pingding Mountain in the same amount of time. It stands to reason that they usually walk farther and longer, so they shouldn't be so tired in less than a morning. Perhaps the scenery along the way was too monotonous, with little change, and returning with no success and little expectations, so I felt exhausted. When they went back, they walked towards the sun, which had not yet reached its highest point. All three of them felt their faces were very dry. Although it is not hot in winter, the sun is really hot.
"……Huh?"
Seeing that the outline of the hill was very clear and close in front of his eyes, Ye Lingquan suddenly stopped.
Han Chang turned around and asked, "What's wrong? Are you too tired? How about we take a rest."
Xie Zhe said, "We're almost there. It's not too late to rest in the shade of the mountain."
"Ah, no... you see, the edge of the shadow of this mountain is really flat."
The two looked over there and found that Ling Huan was right. The current mountain shadow on this empty and flat land is probably about the same size as the mountain itself. And the edge of this shadow is as neat as the knife cut, just like the smooth mountain top. The tiny undulations of every plant, every tree, every leaf and every stone are also clearly shown. But you can't see these unless you get closer.
"I heard that some places build very tall buildings by inserting a ten-foot-long stick into the ground. When the shadow is as high as the stick, the height of the building can be determined. So if there is something now, you can By measuring the length of the shadow, you can know how high the mountain is."
But where can I find such a long rope? And after the equalization, the sun had already moved elsewhere, lengthening the shadow. Before Ling Huan could finish speaking, Han Chang suddenly ran towards the shadow area, as fast as a gust of wind. I wonder where he got such energy. Xie Zhe and Ling Huan looked at each other, and the former suddenly seemed to understand something and chased after him, leaving the confused Ye Ling Huan standing alone.
"you--"
Forget it, let’s catch up when you have time to shout.
She ran over panting. At this time, the sun still had not reached its position at noon. After all, it was too early when they set off. It's about the end of Sishi now. Ye Lingquan looked at the two people standing next to the shadow. They both looked thoughtful. Han Chang clapped his hands. Although he was still frowning, the corners of his mouth were raised.
"Okay, if Ling Huan hadn't said this... I really wouldn't have thought of it. Maybe the secret of the Eclipse Palace lies here."
Ye Lingyu seemed to understand something. Isn't this the place where light and shadow meet? There is a clear boundary here, one light and one dark. Just then, they heard a strange buzzing sound, very thin, but very clear.
"Is it Mingsha?" Han Chang looked at the sand outside the shadow, "No, it seems..."
"It's a sword."
Xie Zhe took a deep breath and slowly pulled out Fengyun Zhan from his waist under the gaze of the other two people. When the sword blade left the white copper scabbard, the buzzing sound became more obvious. The sword seemed to be shaking lightly, very quickly, and it had just started.
"It's probably some kind of... hint. Maybe at this time, the shadow and the mountain are exactly the same."
Before Han Zhang could say anything, Xie Zhe suddenly thrust his sword into the edge of the mountain shadow. The sword sank deeply into it, making a special friction sound, but it didn't sound like metal or sand. A burst of golden light overflowed from under the sword, and they opened their eyes in unison. The light was too dazzling, and at the same time, there was a special cold wind escaping from it.
"What is that?!"
Ling Hu looked into the distance and exclaimed. Beyond the light, a unique scene rose in the distant desert. It was a group of buildings with white walls and black tiles, like houses unique to the water town. Below the building complex, there is a piece of sparkling water, subtly connected with the golden sand. It was difficult for them to judge whether this scene was flat or three-dimensional. But what is certain is that all of this is something they have never seen before.
"...Mirage Tower?"
Xie Zhe's tone was hesitant, but his subordinates were not. He drew the sword across the shadow of the ground with force, as if an invisible force controlled his hand holding the sword, exerting force on an existing trajectory. Han Chang stood there motionless, staring at the absurd scene in front of him. For him, perhaps this was not the first time he had seen such a strange illusion.
But is this the time and season when mirages should appear? As the light and shadow split, the earth and the sword shook together, and moist wind spurted out from the cracks. The three of them clearly didn't move, but they were getting closer and closer to the bizarre scenery.
No...it's a fantasy coming to my face.
