"Actually, sometimes, I feel that this world is quite unreal."
While walking, Namilia suddenly sighed.
Under the moonlit night, the two of them were still moving forward.
"Master, what is real and what is unreal?" Tang Guozhong said.
Namilia mused: "My life is like your broken mythical realm, full of unreality."
"No logic, no reason?"
"Actually, I know that there is truth and logic behind these things."
"Then why isn't it true?"
"Dramatic? Or...inexplicable? I don't know."
Namilia sighed. He raised his right hand and looked at the strange power belonging to "The Traveler" flashing on his fingertips. The light blue, translucent halo surrounded his fingertips like fireflies. He You can rely on it for "travel".
The six months in the dark world seemed to be longer than the previous twenty years in "reality".
"Master, there is actually one thing that people often don't realize." Tang Guozhong said.
"Um?"
Tang Guozhong sighed and said: "Reality is magical and full of drama, but virtual things often pursue a sense of reality."
"you are right."
...
On a dim moonlit night, Namilia and Tang Guozhong walked along at a steady pace.
The two of them seemed to have long been familiar with this steady journey of stepping on the ground.
Not long after, the morning sun on the other side of the sky had not yet appeared and the night was gradually fading. The two of them saw the village not far away.
Withered vines and old trees are full of dim crows, and villages are full of flowing water.
"Is this the Cow Horse Village?"
"Master, this is also the first time in this era that I have left the story world."
"The map says that a cross between cattle and brown horses was bred here fifty years ago. This kind of cattle and horses have the endurance of cattle and a simple and honest character, and are as fast as horses. Therefore, they are commonly used in nearby areas. It is famous as a means of transportation that replaced horses and oxen pulling carts.
But now it looks a little dilapidated. "
The dead trees were as jagged as rocks, and the crows above them flew up and flew into the distance along the slightly bright sky.
A little boy, who looked to be four or five years old, wearing shabby linen clothes and straw sandals, stood under the tree, with a pair of sad eyes on his dirty face.
"elder brother."
When he saw Namilia, he couldn't help but scream.
"Hello."
Namilia walked over, looked at the village not far away, pursed her lips slightly, bent her knees slightly, put her hands on her knees, and looked at the little boy.
"Brother, my kite is hung on a tree and I can't get it. Can you help me get it?"
The little boy's eyes were bright and he said expectantly.
"Didn't the adults in your family tell you not to talk to strangers easily?"
"But I don't think my brother is a bad person."
"Um?"
"Because my brother is good-looking."
"..."
Namilia glanced at Tang Guozhong, who smiled and said: "Master, judging from the previous information, the trade in Niuma Village is prosperous. Although I don't know what happened now, it is reasonable for the child not to be timid. .”
"Okay, where's the kite?"
The little boy pointed to the top of the head. On the top of the dead tree, among the messy branches, a prismatic "kite" made of branches and thin paper hung on it.
Namilia raised his head, the light blue spiritual light flashing in his eyes. He was going to use "travel" to get himself to the tree trunk, get the kite, and then come down.
But the next moment, he didn't do that. Instead, he stretched out his right hand and took out something like a leather bag from his backpack.
Aiming at the branch with the opening, there was a "whoosh" sound, and a dagger made purely of spirituality suddenly spewed out from it.
Click.
The branches were chopped and the kite fell to the ground. Namilia picked up the kite and handed it to the little boy.
"Stop climbing trees."
Namilia looked at the little boy holding the kite tightly and smiled.
"Thank you brother!"
"You're welcome, is there a cow-horse village ahead?"
"Yes, brother, in the village recently..."
When the little boy said this, he suddenly covered his mouth with his hand. He looked at Namilia pitifully and sobbed: "Brother, I'm sorry, dad didn't let me say it."
"It doesn't matter."
Namilia looked back at Tang Guozhong and said softly: "Something seems to have happened in Niuma Village."
"It's okay, Master. The child can still come out, which means the problem is not big. Maybe... there is something wrong with the cattle and horse industry chain."
"Well, we're just passing through and staying the night."
At this moment, the little boy pulled the corner of Namilia's clothes.
"What's wrong?"
"Brother." There was a sly smile on the corner of the little boy's mouth. He made fists with both hands and raised them slightly: "I have a piece of candy in one hand and three pieces of candy in the other hand. Brother, guess the three pieces of candy." Which hand? If you guess it right, I'll give it to you."
Namilia laughed a little: "Is this a reward?"
"Well, brother, dad bought this from Xibe City. It's very valuable. Xibe City imported it from Funong."
"Okay, then I guess there are three pieces in this hand."
Namilia pointed casually at the little boy's left hand.
"Brother guessed wrong!"
The little boy opened his hands, one piece in his left hand and three pieces in his right hand. They were all round candies wrapped in white sugar paper, and some letters were spray-painted on the sugar coating.
"That's regretful."
"Brother, you guessed wrong, but it doesn't matter, I'll give it all to you."
The little boy put his palms together and placed four pieces of candy in front of Namilia.
Namilia took away the candy: "Thank you, we are looking for a place to stay. Can you take us there?"
"Okay, my father is the guest owner in the village."
The little boy smiled and led the way.
Namilia and Tang Guozhong looked at each other and walked into the village.
This place is more of a town than a village, but in the Inner Dark Realm area that is not within the scope of the main city, most of these scattered villages and towns have a "village" style.
This is a legacy of historical style. Many of today's villages, such as the Niuma Village here or the Luma Village that I passed by before, were villages with more than a dozen families many years ago. They were not qualified to enter the main city. Their ancestors They settled in these places during the wilderness. As time went by, more outsiders settled, trade and farmland gradually developed, the population expanded, and the villages expanded, but the landmark buildings in the "town"——each Cathedral churches, auditoriums, schools, hospitals, these buildings tend to be of the post-age era but have not become popular.
In essence, these villages are somewhat similar to "tribes", and many places still have some ancient customs. After all, the Orthodox Church does not bother to preach in these places.
There is no other reason, there are few people.
Compared with the three major cities with a population base of millions, these villages with a population of several hundred or several thousand are really not worth mentioning. In addition, each village has gradually formed its own complete operating system over the years. The trading system has the feeling of a "poor world" isolated from the main city.
Walking on the loose stone ground, the two of them walked into Niuma Village. It was surrounded by a very simple iron fence, and there were also low square buildings inside. It was four or five o'clock in the morning, and occasionally you could see a few plainly dressed people on the road. People carrying buckets were busy yawning.
Not long after, the little boy led the two of them to a two-story house. The house had a flat roof and the walls were plastered. It looked a little more advanced than other houses.
"Niu Ma Ke Village."
Namilia silently thought about the sign in front of the Kezhai gate.
In fact, any Hakka village that can be named after a village is either extremely representative and influential.
Or, this is the only guest village in the entire Niuma Village.
The three of them pushed open the door curtain and walked into the guest village.
In front of the front desk, there was a cabinet of drinks, and a big man was lying on a chair in confusion. He opened his eyes after hearing the sound.
"Er Ma! Did you run out to play again?" The big man roared, jumped up, walked out of the stage and grabbed the little boy's ears.
Erma is the native name of the little boy, and his real name is Niu Erma.
Because the little boy ranks second in the family, and the eldest, naturally, is called
Cow special horse.
"Dad, we have a guest! Please save some face for me!"
Erma was in pain and said with a red face.
"Children, look at the little cow and horse next door, and then look at you! To save face, have you ever given up to your father! How can you become a big cow like your father in the future!"
The big man said angrily.
In Niu Ma Village, because it started with cows and horses, it can be said that the current prosperity is entirely due to the blessing of crossbred cows and horses, so cows and horses have naturally become synonymous with glory.
Just like nicknames like "Kilinzi" and "Little Pony".
Namilia coughed twice.
"Hello, let's stay at the hotel."
"Well, the room fee is twelve taels per day, or ten dollars per day. No points are charged, just coupons."
The big man looked at Namilia with a smile, let go of the hand holding the two horses' ears, rubbed his hands, and secretly looked at the two of them.
Daute is the common currency of Funong and Wenwan, and Laner is the currency unit of Alte. Points are the currency between players, and coupons are also a type of points. Generally, they will only be issued for tasks above the fear level. You can Exchange for some rarer things in the system mall.
Namilia had never heard of coupons before, after all, she had never been exposed to them.
Tang Guozhong walked forward in time and placed a few Daote cards on the table: "Master, let's stay one night first and see how you rest?"
Namilia blinked: "I'm a little tired these days. I don't know if the master missed me in Funong."
"The master should still be busy now, but he must miss the young master very much."
"Haha, I'm afraid the old man is busy having sex with the girl."
The big man's breathing quickened slightly, and then he said: "Two distinguished guests, we have a more advanced apartment here, which is... the bishop's suite."
"How many dotes?"
"Twice as expensive as normal ones."
"What's the difference?"
"exist..."
Tang Guozhong raised his eyebrows and took out two more Daotes from his wallet: "Master, you no longer need to be as tight as when you were training. You deserve the best."
"All right."
...
The big man respectfully handed Namilia the key, and then guided the two of them to the second floor.
"Woof woof!"
As soon as they reached the second floor, there was a big yellow dog barking at a group of people on the dark red corridor carpet.
"Go! Go! Dahuang! Get down! Don't disturb the distinguished guests!"
The big man quickly drove the dog away, and then said with a smile: "You two, please forgive me for the dogs raised in the store."
"It doesn't matter."
Namilia waved her hand and walked into the room with Tang Guozhong. As the door was opened and closed, the simple "bishop's suite" came into view.
It's not spacious, but it's neat and clean. There are two double beds in the bedroom. The living room is not too big, with a table, a few chairs, and a sofa on the other side.
Comes with a simple kitchen and bathroom.
Namilia went in and looked, well, there was no bathtub.
Such a suite, if it were in a soft city, would definitely be the cheapest inner-city villa style.
No, even the lowest-end inner-city villas are in better condition than here.
"call..."
Breathing a long sigh of relief, Namilia put down her things, washed her face, lay down on the soft sofa, and took a deep breath.
"Ahem...open the window and let some air flow."
Soon, Tang Guozhong pulled up a chair, leaned his arms on the back of the chair, sat on the chair, and looked at Namilia.
"Master, you can open a spiritual barrier."
"Hmm... I remember that one of my respected elders used it when I was in Ruandu."
"Did you learn the barrier at that time?"
"No, I mean, I don't know how to do this."
"...Okay, I'll do it."
Tang Guozhong groped around in the suitcase on the side. There was a mezzanine under the change of clothes. He took out a yellow paper charm from it.
With a crisp flick of the wrist, the yellow paper charm burned out of thin air, and a faint smoke rose up, slowly spreading to the windows, doors, and walls, forming a faint smoke barrier.
"At least I'm not afraid of being eavesdropped." Tang Guozhong said, "It's a relatively low-level soundproofing spell."
"It's very useful. It doesn't require consuming spiritual energy." Namilia praised.
Tang Guozhong shook his head: "The talisman paper... was from hundreds of years ago. In this era, it may not be available."
"That's a shame." Namilia blinked.
"Okay, let's get down to business, so you feel the aura of the favored one of the hanging Lord?"
Namilia pointed down.
Just now, Tang Guozhong suddenly mentioned the "fake identities" of the two of them, and Namilia also wisely started to cooperate in acting.
"Yes, young master, I noticed a familiar smell as soon as I entered this guest house." Tang Guozhong returned to the chair and said with some uncertainty: "The smell is not strong. I don't know whether it is because of the weakness of the other party or the The superb concealment means that I cannot accurately identify the source of the smell. I can only know that it is coming from upstairs."
"So, maybe there are neighbors who are chasing us next door? They figured out in advance that we would settle here?"
"Although this is nonsense, Master, I do not rule out this possibility."
"I can not understand."
"This probability is not high, because I am not sure whether the source of the smell is the boss, or it may be that the smell comes from some older memories in my memory, some familiar old friends or their inheritance, etc..."
"It never hurts to be cautious."
Namilia nodded, put her hands in her pockets, and suddenly touched a few hard things. She took them out and saw that the blue candy wrappers were candies given to her by the little boy before.
Slightly opened, it is a crystal dark blue candy, somewhat reflective under the light, just like a common low-quality hard candy, with a... plastic texture.
"This kind of thing should be quite precious here." Namilia muttered.
After all, due to the environment, this place is like a mountain village in the mountains, and the children have almost never been out of the mountains in their lives. Common things in the city have become rarities in the mountains.
at this time.
Buzz!
Suddenly, transparent waves appeared in the air. At the same time, the black smoke wrapping the doors and windows actually caused violent agitation!
In the ripples of the air, a silhouette slowly emerged, that was,
A big yellow dog.
Namilia and Tang Guozhong looked over at the same time, looking at each other in shock.
"The soundproof barrier of the talisman paper only serves to insulate sound and cannot withstand attacks." Tang Guozhong explained first, and then looked at the dog with bright eyes.
"Besides, Master, I understand."
"Okay." Namilia took a breath and looked at the big yellow dog who smiled innocently, stuck out his tongue, walked towards her, kissed you and rubbed his trouser legs.
"You won't tell me that this dog is the favored one of the Hanged Lord? The one who is chasing us is a dog?"
"No, Master, this should be the descendant of an old friend of mine."
Tang Guozhong smiled. He looked at the dog, his eyes full of memories.
Well... Namilia recalled the moment just now, the moment when the dog appeared out of thin air from the ripples in the air.
So, this is a mutated dog?
This ability, like "walking in the spirit world", can ignore obstacles in reality. It is similar to one's own "travel", but one is "walking" and the other is "jumping", which is still different.
The big yellow dog was still rubbing Namilia's trouser legs, looking very close to him, while Namilia stroked the dog's head with some thoughts in his eyes.
"Hundreds of years ago, I had an old friend who was accompanied by a big yellow dog. We had many stories."
"You and that dog ancestor?"
"...With that old guy."
Namilia teased the big yellow dog and threw the candy to it. The big yellow dog picked it up slightly, bit it, swallowed it, and then sat on the ground with saliva, looking at Namilia obediently.
"Smart dog, so good."
"That... ancestor dog accidentally ate the extraordinary potion back then, and it followed my old friend all the way up. These memories are too blurry for me, but that dog was a romantic type, with extraordinary substances and strange substances. Likewise, it will not die out and may be passed on to future generations with childbirth.”
"Uh-huh."
"This dog should have some blood relationship with the original one, but after so many years, this blood inheritance has become extremely thin, and it is probably a genius among dogs who accidentally awakened. It is probably the same strength now. A grotesque mutant."
"Then... why is it so close to me?" Namilia was a little confused. He threw the hat aside. The big yellow dog ran over quickly, picked it up with the hat in its mouth, and placed it at Namilia's feet.
"I don't know. Maybe it's because you have a natural affinity for animals, Master?"
"Well... talk about something serious."
"Well, I really don't know. Normally, you should be close to me..."
Namilia rubbed the dog's neck. The hair was soft and felt good.
But at this moment, he touched something that didn't feel right.
Observing carefully, Namilia suddenly discovered that there seemed to be a very thin thread tied in the thick hair on the dog's neck. It fell off after a slight tug. It looked like a thread made of black hair woven into a hemp rope. .
On the other end of the line, in the hair next to the dog's neck, there is something that doesn't feel right because it is blocked by the hair.
yes,
A dirty bunny ear.
"What... is this?" Namilia was a little surprised. He looked at an ear in his hand. He saw that the thing was only a quarter of a palm in thickness and no more than a palm in height.
A child's prank?
"Well, Master, let me take a look?"
"Woolen cloth."
Tang Guozhong took it and looked at it carefully, but found nothing unusual.
"It's a very ordinary material with no spirituality, just like the rabbit earrings sold on the roadside." Tang Guozhong said.
Namilia frowned slightly. He didn't know why these rabbit earrings were so ordinary, but he always felt a little familiar, as if he had seen them somewhere before.
Suddenly, a picture flashed in his mind.
That was his first game in the story world.
...
"Hi, you awake?"
"Chen An, you are on the left and I am on the right!"
"It's a pity that we are just players. If we can survive this story world, then..."
"Then have you ever thought about what your leaving means to your original daughter?"
...
...
Namilia's memories were interrupted by the moist heat in her palms.
He looked in front of him, and the big yellow dog looked at him with a naive smile, then lowered his head and raised his hat with his nose.
Namilia took a deep breath, picked up the hat, and threw it hard into the distance.
"Woof!"
The big yellow dog ran towards the hat.
But he ran halfway, and then,
"Paji."
fall down.
The dog's legs twitched a few times, and his body lay on the ground, suddenly trembling like an epilepsy.
"Huh?" Namilia stood up and walked over.
Just when he reached the place, the big yellow dog had stopped moving.
Namilia squatted down, and Tang Guozhong also walked over.
After testing his breath, Namilia found that the big yellow dog had breathed his last.
This couldn't help but make his pupils shrink slightly.
Tang Guozhong also squatted down and opened the big yellow dog's closed eyelids.
I saw that deep in the whites of the eyes, where there should have been some red blood threads, were covered by light blue blood threads, and the light blue blood threads were still rising upwards.
At the same time, the big yellow dog's body quickly became cold.
There are some frozen stubble on the tips of the hair.
"Gulu."
Namilia swallowed.
"Just, just like that, dead?"
"Master, I am certain that this was not caused by your hat loss."
Suddenly, Namilia stood up, and he remembered something.
He quickly took out the remaining three pieces of candy from his pocket and looked at the blue icing.
In my mind, I pictured the bright smile and voice of the little boy when he gave me candy:
"Brother, you guessed wrong, but it doesn't matter, I'll give it all to you."
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