In the oasis.
There was no wind at all.
A second ago, the sky was still full of wind and sand, but when Zheng Xiu's "finishing touch" fell, the wind and sand stopped, and the fine sand from high in the sky fell like a sand rain.
For a moment, Zheng Xiu had the illusion that his ears were poked open by something.
The sound of sand rubbing against each other in mid-air, the breathing of the Xieluo River, and the friction of two camels in the sandpit filled my ears.
The world in front of him was brighter, just like in the past, Zheng Xiu was watching the world through a thin veil. Now, as Zheng Xiu pushed open the seventh door of the [Painter] door, this "gauze" was torn open, and the colors in front of him became more vivid.
Zheng Xiu looked surprised, stretched out his hand in the sand rain, and caught the fine sand from the sky.
A handful of fine sand piled up into a hill in Zheng Xiu's palm.
"congratulations."
A sigh broke the silence at the moment, and Xie Luohe smiled slightly. She seemed to know what happened to Zheng Xiu.
"When the thaumatologist goes deeper into the door and opens the seventh door, the thaumatologist's five senses will undergo earth-shaking changes. Only the thaumatologist who opens the seventh door can get closer to the 'stranger' '."
Zheng Xiu's eyes flashed. Xie Luohe had the memory of herself and "Feng Bei", and she could be said to "know Zheng Xiu thoroughly." At this moment, Xie Luohe revealed it at a glance. Zheng Xiu didn't intend to hide anything, so he shook his head gently, calmly. road:
"But I am a 'foreigner'."
Xie Luohe did not comment on this, but asked: "Do you have a 'birthmark' unique to other people on your body?"
Zheng Xiu put his head close to Xie Luohe and breathed hot breath on Xie Luohe's face.
Xie Luohe was startled for a moment, then closed his eyes, his long eyelashes trembling wetly, hiding deep expectations.
"You touch it."
Zheng Xiu wondered why Xie Luohe suddenly closed his eyes and remained motionless while chatting happily, so he anxiously grabbed Xie Luohe's hand and touched the knot on his forehead.
Xie Luohe knew that he had misunderstood. He felt ashamed and annoyed, but his face was as calm as water. He dug hard at Zheng Xiu's forehead, leaving a bright red mark.
Zheng Xiu grimaced in pain.
This shrew's hands are so strong.
Xie Luohe picked at it a few times and said softly: "This is it?"
"My alien birthmark."
"Nonsense." Xie Luohe let go and said with a smile: "How can there be a birthmark of a foreigner on the inside? It's just a bone bump. What kind of birthmark is it?"
"What about yours?" Zheng Xiu asked, wondering whether you would believe it or not.
Xie Luohe pointed to his right eye and blinked hard.
At this time, the "foreign birthmark" in Xie Luohe's right eye faded away and could not be seen clearly.
Zheng Xiu shook his head: "I'm asking about 'your' birthmark."
Xie Luohe was suddenly startled, his eyes widened, and his cheeks were instantly bloodshot and red, like a girl's bellyband, brightly red.
For the first time, Zheng Xiu saw the shyness of a girl on Xie Luohe's face. He was so frightened that he took two steps back, fearing that Xie Luohe would repeat his old tricks and do something strange.
"Bah, I won't tell you."
It seemed that Xie Luohe's birthmark was in a strange position, so Zheng Xiu wisely didn't ask any more questions.
Maybe it grows on the buttocks...
Who knows.
Xie Luohe looked away and abruptly changed the subject: "Perhaps the reason why you haven't become a real 'foreigner' yet is because you are missing something at this time."
Zheng Xiu sneered: "What's missing? I still have to meet the noble man who put three moles on the soles of my feet?" He replied half-jokingly and half-seriously, but with a smile, Zheng Xiu couldn't laugh anymore. Because Xie Luohe's words reminded him of Feng Bei's true transformation into a "foreigner", the smile on his face faded and he fell into deep thought.
Back in Baili Village, Feng Bei shed a layer of human skin and became a real "stranger".
He also has to shed his skin?
Zheng Xiu touched the knot on his head and felt a little confused.
This is difficult.
Xie Luohe carefully held Zheng Xiu's face, and his cautious movements seemed to be touching a treasure that could break at the touch of a finger. She whispered in a voice that only two people could hear: "If possible, I hope you will never become a 'foreigner'."
"let it go."
Whether they are aliens or not, and when they can become real aliens like Feng Bei and the others, Zheng Xiu has no say in this. Since he entered prison, the world has changed drastically. There are all kinds of bizarre things happening around him. His Zheng family thaumaturgy has developed in droves. Zheng Xiu, as the pilot of the big ship "Zheng Family", has long been dead. It's up to you.
In fact, Zheng Xiu had long discovered that his "stranger" was very different from the strangers he had seen.
It's just that now that I'm discussing it with Xie Luohe, I can't come to a conclusion or resolve my doubts in the end.
Zheng Xiu could only go deeper along the doorway, maybe he could find the answer.
The answer to everything.
Xie Luohe solemnly put away the painting.
Looking at the woman in the painting, Xie Luohe couldn't conceal his joy, and then a hint of sadness quietly flashed across her face.
Before the birdcage was dispersed, Zheng Xiu entered the sandpit and fought "Xiaohe" and "Xiaomo" out. Zheng Xiu was surprised to find that after the sudden end of the sandstorm, there was something more in the eyes of the two camels.
The temperature is getting cooler, and the cool moonlight spreads over the sand dunes. Only at night, the desert finally reveals a different color to the world. It is an icy blue that once seen once, will never be forgotten.
I simply ate some dry food and boiled a pot of boiling hot water. After simply satisfying their hunger, Xie Luohe and Zheng Xiu leaned against the two camels and slept harmoniously together wrapped in warm cloaks.
Huh...huh...huh...
Xie Luohe's nose twitched and he snored slightly.
Zheng Xiu noticed that Xie Luohe seemed to have really fallen asleep. Remembering Xie Luohe's words about "never falling asleep", he couldn't help but smile and said softly: "Liar."
The process of opening the seventh door of [Painter] came earlier and more easily than Zheng Xiu imagined.
But looking back on the journey he took as a "painter", when he finally opened a new door, what he brought to Zheng Xiu was not ecstasy, nor an accident, nor a shock, but a natural and natural thing. .
"Is it pretending?"
Zheng Xiu discovered that the real way to penetrate a door is not to talk about it, nor to mechanically implement a seemingly specious rule. This way you can indeed get a foot in the door, but you can't go any deeper.
The deepening of the [Painter] path made Zheng Xiu understand that when he truly lived in the world as a "Painter", until that moment, he forgot about the "Prisoner" and everything else.
Xie Luohe grunted and changed into a more comfortable position in Zheng Xiu's arms.
Zheng Xiu smiled, feeling calm in his heart. Xie Luohe's sleeping face made it difficult for Zheng Xiu to associate the usually invincible shrew with her at this moment. Gently patting the "Luohe Brush" beside him with one hand, Zheng Xiu's calm heart was filled with indescribable ripples, and Zheng Xiu gradually fell asleep.
The next day, it was three strokes higher.
Xie Luohe originally wanted to take a bath and set off, but when she saw the light red color in the pool and the blood color had not faded, she reluctantly gave up the idea.
On the way, Xie Luohe naggingly scolded Zheng Xiu for polluting the oasis, and it was okay not to take this broken path.
She seemed to really not want to watch Zheng Xiu go deep into the door.
Zheng Xiu smiled and dismissed Xie Luohe's thoughts.
Although Zheng Xiu stopped the storm with a painting, when he looked back and thought about it, Zheng Xiu could not remember how he achieved that "finishing touch" at that time. It seemed that it was just a flash of inspiration and extraordinary performance.
Zheng Xiu vaguely understood that it was probably at that time that he "briefly" replaced the scenery in front of him with the scenery in the painting, and used the theory of ghosts to explain it. At the moment he finished the painting, a small ghost ghost was generated in the oasis, causing a sandstorm. Stopped.
Next, the two rode camels and walked along the "Green River" opened by their predecessors. The wind was sunny and the weather was beautiful, and they did not encounter the bad weather that night again.
It's August, and the terrible scorching sun is scorching the desert, and the heat visible to the naked eye is distorting everything in front of us.
At the end of the dunes in the distance, a yellow rock wall loomed.
At first, Zheng Xiu subconsciously thought of the sudden change in scenery as a mirage, but Xie Luohe said with certainty: "We will reach Sun Chan Valley after half a day's walking."
She has walked this road before.
Sure enough, Xie Luohe didn't trick him this time.
As sunset approached, Zheng Xiu's ears twitched slightly, and the sound of someone shouting faintly came from ahead, mixed with the roar of the wind and sand.
Although Zheng Xiu pushed open the seventh door of the [Painter] door, his five senses were strengthened. But it is still incomparable to Xieluohe, far behind.
Cicada Valley.
As the name suggests, it is a valley.
Between the bare peaks on both sides, there is a road leading straight into the interior.
Weathered stones were piled randomly on both sides of the passage. One of the largest stones was engraved with ancient characters, which were a bit like hieroglyphs. Zheng Xiu knew where this place was in advance and could vaguely distinguish the three "Sun Cicada Valley". The shape of the word.
The two people who were tired of the journey approached Sun Chan Valley. Suddenly, Zheng Xiu frowned and pulled the reins to stop the "little river" under his crotch.
Ding~
A crudely made arrow struck from high altitude and nailed the two men ten steps away.
Zheng Xiu silently touched the Luohe pen on his waist.
"Don't worry."
Xie Luohe smiled and stretched out his hand to signal Zheng Xiu not to act rashly. He took off the veil used to block the wind and sand, revealed his true face, laughed towards the mountain and said, "It's me! Xie Luohe!"
After a moment of silence, the dull sound of horns sounded from the bare mountains on both sides of the valley.
"woo woo woo woo--"
The rapid sound of the horn was followed by shouts one after another, like a song in the mountains.
"Yoohhhhh-"
"Yo la la ah la la la -"
"Yo kaka yo yo——"
Like a secret code.
"Let's go into the valley. Xiao Momo, don't be afraid, they know me and won't mess around."
Xie Luohe waved to Zheng Xiu and called Luotuo Xiaomo by the way.
"You... entered with your face?" Zheng Xiu watched helplessly as Xie Luohe reported his name, then turned over and jumped off his hunchback, leading "Xiao Mo" into Richan Valley calmly and calmly.
Xie Luohe turned his back to Zheng Xiu and replied casually: "Didn't I tell you earlier? I arrived here a few years ago."
"No, I mean..." Zheng Xiu's mouth twitched: "I heard them shouting very excitedly. As the most evil person in the world and the bandit leader of Yunhe Village... you shouldn't do it."
"It's very simple." Xie Luohe said with a smile: "When I came here, there were many tribes around Richan Valley. They made a living by robbing and killing people in the desert. When I came here, I thought that everyone would come anyway, so I The 'Scorching Sun Tribe' in Cicada Valley cleared away all the desert horse thieves and other tribes within a hundred miles, settling the disputes among the desert tribes. They were grateful for my great kindness, and now I am revisiting my old place after a few years. , they were naturally very happy.”
"Hiss..." Zheng Xiu opened his mouth and sucked in a mouthful of sand.
Xie Luohe's words were an understatement, but Zheng Xiu could obviously imagine what Xie Luohe meant by "cleaning up".
Only when the killing is "clean" can it be called "cleaning up".
Zheng Xiu's subsequent silence made Xie Luohe realize that Zheng Xiu didn't like hearing this. He frowned slightly and sighed in his heart, but did not elaborate.
After entering the valley, the mountain walls on both sides gradually opened up and became spacious. There is a cave inside.
The desert residents living in Richan Valley call themselves the "Scorching Sun Tribe".
When hundreds of tribal residents, men, women, and children, happily walked out of their simple mud houses to greet the Xieluo River, Zheng Xiu had the illusion of traveling back to primitive society.
Most of the men in the tribe had their upper bodies bare and their lower bodies wrapped in animal skin trousers. Their bodies were painted with animal blood and painted with different patterns. Tribal women cover their chests and lower bodies to look extra cool.
The children were very unrestrained, running naked on the sand.
Perhaps it was the spirit of the painter at work, but Zheng Xiu soon noticed the pattern of paintings on the tribal residents. It seems that the older or the stronger the men, the more "sun" patterns are painted on their bodies, while women and children do not have "sun" patterns painted on them.
Zheng Xiu also noticed that there were many complicated jewelry hanging on the woman's hands, feet, neck, and waist. Under the sunlight, the jewelry reflected bright light.
"It's gold!"
Zheng Xiu carefully identified that the jewelry they were wearing was actually made of gold. The color was not pure, but it was obvious that it was simply refined gold. The gold jewelry contained “bird” bones.
An old man, with wrinkles on his skin and "scorching sun" painted all over his body, walked tremblingly towards the Xieluo River with the support of two old women.
"Thank you sir, you've been here for a long time!"
Zheng Xiu counted and found that the old man had a total of forty-nine "scorching sun" paintings on his body. He should be the first brother in the tribe.
Xie Luohe smiled and cupped his hands towards the old man: "Elder, you are well."
"Come, come, this way."
Several young tribal women with red faces took their camels away, and then several more young women with green eyes came up and followed Zheng Xiu deeper. As he walked, Zheng Xiu noticed someone touching his body.
Xie Luohe reprimanded loudly, using words that Zheng Xiu couldn't understand.
The women who were groping Zheng Xiu left with disappointment on their faces.
Zheng Xiu was confused: "The customs here are weird. Do they think of me as...something else?" Zheng Xiu was not stupid. He was embarrassed to say that the tribal women who had just sneaked into him looked like Quite... rippling.
Xie Luohe did not explain, his ears turned red, and he smiled and said: "Ignore them. When I left, I casually agreed to the elders and asked them to bring some men over, but they misunderstood."
Zheng Xiu was curious: "Then how did you respond?"
The corners of Xie Luohe's mouth raised slightly, holding back a smile: "I said you were a prisoner I captured, and you had to go back and clean yourself before killing me, so they left disappointed."
"Really?" Zheng Xiu was confused.
"Really." Xie Luohe said firmly.
Hundreds of people marched in front, happily leading the way.
After those rippling tribal women left, Zheng Xiu was empty.
After walking a hundred steps, the breeze came, cooling and refreshing, instantly dispelling the heat and fatigue of Zheng Xiu's long journey.
Behind the valley, it suddenly became clear that there was an oasis.
On the oasis, there are many neat houses with pavilions, flying arches and pavilions, gurgling water, green mountains in the distance, light mist, and flocks of birds, which once again gave Zheng Xiu the illusion of traveling to another world.
Behind the desert, there is a cave like a paradise.
