After being prepared for the adventure, Gao Fei and his party left the camp and continued traveling towards the west.
After climbing over a hillside, the valley ahead is surrounded by green bushes, and in the center of the valley, you can vaguely see the white building spiers, reflecting the sunlight and shining brightly.
"There is a town ahead, just right for a rest."
Dimitri the lion ran down the hillside happily.
Gao Fei, Jiang Feng, Ma Yun, Vita and Nick quickly chased the lion, fearing that this reckless guy would get into trouble.
After passing through the bushes, everyone couldn't help but stop and stared blankly at the white city wall in front of them, with astonishment in their eyes.
The 10-meter-high city wall is covered with neat ceramic tiles, which are white, smooth and spotless.
The gate in the center of the city wall is ajar.
The lion could no longer restrain his curiosity and ran in quickly.
Gao Fei also followed in.
The streets surrounded by city walls have smooth, shiny and white floors, like a giant porcelain plate.
Most of the pedestrians on the street are only three feet tall, wearing colorful clothes and pointed hats, typical of dwarfs.
These dwarf citizens have different postures, some are rushing, some are doing business, some are arguing with others, but they are all still, as if time has stopped passing.
Gao Fei walked closer and took a closer look. It turned out that these residents were all fake ceramic dolls.
The houses located on both sides of the street are also made of ceramics, with a layer of bright glaze attached to the surface.
Looking into the distance, you can still see many livestock sheds, surrounded by porcelain fences, and herds of cows, sheep, horses, pigs, and chickens standing there quietly, all of which are also lifelike porcelain carvings.
From the streets to the houses, to the pedestrians and livestock on the streets, everything in this silent and strange city is a ceramic sculpture, like a fairy tale kingdom.
If this city were to be shrunk, it would be a very delicate toy, even an ingenious work of art.
However, all of them are of real size, and the craftsmanship is too exquisite and realistic. Against the backdrop of fairy tale tones, it highlights the eerie atmosphere.
"Hello, is anyone around?"
The lion stood on the street and shouted loudly.
No one answered.
Only the echo echoed over the silent city of ceramics.
"In other words, except for outsiders like us, there are no other living people here?"
Ma Yun couldn't help but shudder.
"It feels like walking into the set of a horror movie... By the way, what is this effect?" Jiang Feng asked her boyfriend.
“The uncanny valley effect.”
Gao Fei pointed to the ceramic maid milking the ceramic cow on the roadside and said:
"When the doll or doll's body shape is similar to that of a real person and is relatively real, but not enough to be completely confused with a real person, it will give people a particularly scary feeling."
"Brother Fei is right." Ma Yun added from a psychological point of view, "If the images of these porcelain figures were less realistic, more crudely made, or more cartoonish, like Vita and Nick, they wouldn't be the same.
It makes people feel scary, but on the contrary, it feels cute and cute.”
"Just because these porcelain figures are so real, we realize more strongly that these guys who look like humans but are not humans are a group of aliens!"
"If you determine that it is not our species, you will inevitably suspect that the other party has bad intentions, which will lead to a sense of crisis."
"The sense of terror is actually the human brain's stress response to potential threats, reminding us that we need to be more vigilant."
"It seems that the legend is true, dear friends, this is Patra Castle!" Scarecrow Vita exclaimed.
"Vita, how much do you know about this weird city?" Goofy asked the Scarecrow.
"Frankly speaking, I don't know much. For a long time, the 'Ceramic City' Patra Fort was considered to be just a legend."
"Occasionally, travelers returning from the mountains claim that they were lost in the desolate mountains and accidentally visited a mysterious city."
"Although no one can provide a complete map to this lost place, there is a similarity in the stories told by different travelers - the walls and buildings in the city are inlaid with white tiles.
The inhabitants and animals are also made of ceramics."
Vita looked around.
"As we see now."
"Vita, I have a question." Ma Yun took over, "Why is this city called 'Patra Fort'?"
"The residents of the city said so. When travelers left here, they spread the name to various places, and eventually it reached my ears." Vita replied.
"That's strange. The streets and alleys of this so-called Patra Castle are silent, and the residents are just a group of lifeless, cold porcelain statues. Unless the porcelain statues can speak, who can outsiders communicate with?" Jiang Feng was surprised.
ask.
"In fact, most of the legends about Patla Fort point out that there are indeed very few living ceramic figures in the city who can move around freely..."
Vita stared at the ceramic pedestrians standing quietly on the street with strange eyes, as if he was worried that when the bell rang, these ceramic sculptures would come alive and start singing and dancing.
"It sounds very much like some kind of construct, similar to you and Nick. Since both the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman can talk, there's no reason to think that the Ceramic Man can't."
The lion patted a porcelain patrolman next to him who was wearing a uniform and carrying a dagger at his waist. He felt cool and smooth to the touch.
Because his hand was too strong, he accidentally pushed the porcelain statue down and shattered all over the floor.
"Oh! It seems that these ceramic figures are more fragile than scarecrows. I hope the poor guy can accept my apology."
The hairy lion looked at the ceramic shards apologetically.
The crisp cracking sound echoed over the silent streets.
Some of the ceramic figures who were standing quietly seemed to be disturbed by the sound. They slowly turned around and looked at the pile of fragments with dull eyes.
"Wow! I'm alive, I'm alive! I'm really alive!"
Ma Yun's eyes widened, it was hard to tell whether it was because of fear or excitement.
On the whole street, about twenty ceramic figures became active, walking stiffly towards the lion Dimitri from different directions. Their dull faces looked particularly eerie.
"Hey! Citizens of Fort Patla, please listen to my explanation!"
The lion roared eagerly.
"I didn't mean to destroy your compatriots, this was just a moment of negligence, a small accident!"
"I swear, I didn't mean it! I just patted him lightly, like this-"
The lion patted another ceramic figure next to him and showed it to the activated ceramic figures surrounding him, showing how gentle he was and that he was not intentionally causing damage.
Snap!
I don't know if I should call it a coincidence, or it was planned in advance. As soon as the lion's claws touched the second ceramic figure, the other person lost his balance, fell to the ground on his back, and broke into two pieces.
