The orange-red fire danced in the center of the camp, lighting up the eyes of the boys and girls who gathered around the campfire again.
A few hours ago, the three of them took advantage of the opportunity of a successful raid and led the crowd towards the unknown front in the depths of the ice dome. Only when they could no longer hear the killing cries of the coalition forces behind them could they dare to stop and look back. Only then did he realize that he had traveled more than ten miles, so he camped on the spot and finally had a breather.
The ice dome that collapsed in the blue flame explosion now has a large hole with a radius of about 10 miles above everyone's heads, which seems to have opened a huge round window. At the moment, the wind and snow outside the ice shell have stopped, and the night is clear. , the stars and moon are shining brightly, and the Milky Way fills the sky.
"Look, that light is coming again!"
Ning Yue, who was holding the white fox in her arms, raised her head, pointed at the starry night in the far north and smiled, her eyes shining with excitement.
Following the direction of her finger, she looked out through the circular hole the size of a copper basin, and saw that the ink-like night sky was gradually dyed with a light greenish color by something unknown. Then, a ray of light seemed to shake off the hand of a goddess. The brocade drew a soft curve on the sky.
The curve kept twisting, changing into colorful colors. It was green at first, gradually turned into blue and purple, and then turned into red, as if a piece of paper was unfolded in front of everyone, with the sky as the paper and the colorful light as the ink. , a picture that seems to have no beginning and will never have an end.
"The light gas this time is even more beautiful than what we saw on the ship before -"
The red-haired girl held her cheeks with her hands and stared at the dreamlike light, muttering to herself, "I never thought that the three of us would be reunited here in this way. …But it’s okay…everyone is fine…”
As the girl talked, tears gradually filled her eyes. Thinking of the changes in things and people after so many years apart, and remembering the ugliness she had faced, her emotions gradually became excited, and she suddenly turned her head He buried himself in his arms and sobbed silently.
"An ominous thing? Where did my father get it from?"
"When my father was young, he and a friend from his hometown sailed a boat out to sea. However, they encountered a storm near Whale Bay. The mast was blown off and the oars were lost. They could only drift northward with the current - —”
The black-eyed boy patted his chest, pretending to be fearless. However, the face of the father opposite him suddenly became solemn:
The young Jiang Yan suddenly clapped his hands and said as if he suddenly realized something. He had never thought that his father, who had always been honest and obedient, had such a legendary experience. He hurriedly asked more questions, "What happened next? Dad, you Is that where I saw the ancient city?"
Jiang Yan was also infected by his father's emotions and felt his heartbeat begin to speed up. He understood that his father's appearance was not deliberately disguised to scare him, but a fear that penetrated deep into his bones. However, he didn't wait for him to ask again. , but the mother beside them interrupted them angrily:
"When did you become more greedy for wine than a little stammerer? Don't even look at the time now!"
Facing his father's vague answer, the black-eyed boy was completely immersed in endless imagination, and even his stomach, which was still growling, was not as hungry as before.
The red-haired girl raised her head again, and even though she glanced at the other person, her tears turned into a smile:
"Dad, please tell me quickly, what does that ice city look like?"
"Oh - no wonder daddy, you always warned us that we should never go near the frozen sea in the north in this life."
The younger sister also turned around and chuckled at her older brother. Jiang Yan could clearly see the vivid red color in the exquisite sterling silver necklace hanging around his neck. He even saw the tip of his younger sister's nose, a hint of red. A small black mole the size of a sesame seed but extremely clear...
"The world is much bigger than you think. The places we have been and the things we have seen are just a drop in the ocean. Being a father is also a chance, and we can only get a glimpse of it - as for Haier, he is just a drop in the ocean. Even if you really meet a money-obsessed father, I'm afraid he will only regard the ruins as a pile of mutilated and rotten stones, and won't even take a serious look at them."
Ning Yue immediately became anxious and took a step forward to hold the other person's hand: "What's wrong with you, little stutterer? Did you remember anything correctly?"
At this point, the man cleared his throat subconsciously, seeming to recall the extremely tense life and death scene back then, "We drifted all the way past Lema Cape in Shuozhou, all the way to the depths of the frozen sea in the far north. That's where , my father’s friend collapsed because he couldn’t bear the severe cold, and died. But it was my father’s luck that he drifted into a warm underground river under the ice and survived.”
The black-eyed boy was unhappy, and stopped in front of his father to take him back:
Ning Yue also forced a smile on her face, but it was obviously a bit forced. Behind the smile, the boy in white saw endless fatigue and worry. However, he didn't know how else to persuade her.
"Don't touch me! Leave me alone!"
The young He Han suddenly stood up and kicked the helmet placed at his feet, causing it to roll to the ground. Qi Ziyin and Ning Yue, who were still chatting without saying a word, were shocked. Xue Ling also stood up from the girl. He jumped to the ground in his arms and disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
"My father just saw a huge frozen city under the ice. At that time, he was very shocked. It was not until he returned home alive that he realized that the city under the ice was probably a legend. Left behind by our ancestors.”
"We will definitely come back alive this time!"
"Dad, are you saying that this thing actually comes from the remains left by our ancestors?"
"Where did you find this thing?!"
"When I grow up, I will take a boat with enough clothes, water and food, and then go there with my father, right?"
"Why throw it away? Dad, if you don't want it, just give it to me!"
After pondering for a moment, Qi Ziyin suddenly said firmly, as if comforting the other party and encouraging himself, "When we go back, we can rebuild Mulu City! By then, all your wishes will come true!"
"Daddy, daddy, I found a treasure at home today, do you want to guess what it is?"
Speaking of this, the man suddenly showed fear on his face, and his voice became a little trembling, "What's more, my father seemed to have released something hidden under the deep ice. To this day, I can still hear the sound coming from the ground. There was a rhythmic muffled sound, just like the evil spirits in hell, struggling to knock on the door that locked themselves!"
Ning Yue also seemed to be reminded of past memories by the other party's words, gently stroking the down on Xue Ling's neck, "If I have another chance, I would like to visit the night market on Zitong Street again and go to Westport to catch one The sea, one more time to appreciate the snow blowing on the Yanjiang River in winter, and one more time to look at the twin moons on the Jie Pagoda that are almost within reach - but - all of these are gone now..."
"Right now - right now, isn't it pretty good? Everything is clear and clear, and there are no people or things to disturb my mood."
The black-eyed boy didn't pay attention to her. Instead, he seemed to be lost in thought and muttered over and over again:
The father looked at his eldest son who was full of curiosity, his eyes full of love:
"This thing was picked up by my father from the ruins of an ancient city when he was young - but that was already many years ago."
Only then did the red-haired girl realize that the time had flashed and it was already midnight. She finally realized that something was wrong with Jiang Yan, who had always been silent, and asked:
However, Jiang Yan refused to give up:
"Daddy, daddy, we are still hungry."
The girl's mood dropped again. At this time, she was already exhausted. She had not recovered the energy she had spent casting spells during the day. She even had no strength to cry. She could only bite her lower lip tightly and try to stabilize herself.
Trembling shoulders.
But no matter what the two of them were talking about at the moment, Jiang Yan, who was sitting beside him, said nothing. However, his companions did not notice that the young Hehan's thoughts had already followed the warm and bright flames in front of him.
Drifting back to more than ten years ago, those nights when I listened to my father telling stories with my sister...
"What is it? My father can't guess it." The man who had just returned from fishing seemed very tired, but still managed to keep his spirits up and answered.
The young Duke Ye looked at the stream of light in the sky, his eyes becoming increasingly blurred, "Do you think the light in the sky looks like the fireworks we saw at Huaqing Pool back then?"
"Okay, okay, please stop bragging about the child's father. You are just telling stories to your son, but your daughter is still complaining that she is hungry. Go and borrow some food from other families, so that the children can have a full meal!
"
"Isn't it a city that even Emperor Baijiang can't build?"
"Well, by then we will have booked all the shops on Zitong Street. We can eat as much delicious food as we want and have as much fun as we want!"
"This thing - it is an ominous thing, and it is already so old. If Yan'er likes it, my father can make a new one out of wood for you tomorrow!"
The father screamed in surprise, then took the thing out of the child's hand, put it in the palm of his hand and rubbed it, "Father, I thought it was taken away by a mouse, but I never thought it was still there. But this thing - I still don't want to keep it.
Better at home!”
Jiang Yan smiled, reached into his arms, and took out a long and slender object. The object looked like the tooth of a living creature, about several inches long. But when he touched it, it was made of metal.
Although there is a thick layer of rust on the outside, you can still see the sharp tip made of fine steel after digging it open with your fingernails.
Listening to his sister's coquettishness, the black-eyed child's stomach suddenly growled, as if protesting to him. Jiang Yan lowered his head and stretched out his hand to rub his lower abdomen, then looked up at the child with two pierced ears in his father's arms.
The girl with a bun grinned awkwardly.
The man shook his head and did not give a definite answer, but he still seemed to be surprised by what he saw and heard. "It is thanks to the warm water under the ice that I was able to enter the ice field alive."
Deep in the depths, I was able to see that unparalleled wonder by chance."
"You must not go! It's like a huge underground maze there. If it weren't for my father's good luck back then and accidentally triggering the mechanism, he could find the way out of the city. Otherwise, today, my father would have been dead.
Trapped and starved to death in that city——"
My father suddenly laughed and continued to explain patiently:
"It's very similar, very similar..."
As he was speaking, he suddenly clenched his hands and tried to push the door open, intending to throw the thing away.
Unexpectedly, before the girl could touch his body, Jiang Yan suddenly jumped up and swung away the other person's extended hand with a fierce wave of his hand:
As Jiang Yan spoke, he tugged on his father's sleeves, urging him to speak faster. Only then did some of the distracted men react. Looking at their sons, their faces were filled with regrets, as if they regretted not being there in the first place. Take a look around the city:
"Many buildings in that city are hundreds of feet high. Although they are also made of bricks and stones, there are no cracks on the surface. The doors and windows are mostly inlaid with pieces of crystal that are clear and translucent, and some of them are brighter than water. The wide road and the bridge suspended in mid-air supported by thick pillars. I have never seen such a sight, and I am afraid I will never have the opportunity to see it again in my life."
"But, wasn't it during the thousand years after the Great Ascension that people were finally able to avoid being harassed by ferocious beasts and build tall city walls and passes? I even took this iron tooth to ask Hai'er next door today. , he said that his father had never seen this thing before, and he didn’t know what it was..."
"That city - is it the city of the Great Sheng Dynasty? Why has my son never heard anyone else in the village talk about it?"
The father smiled slightly and gently stroked his son's head with his rough hands:
"That city existed long before the Great Ascension and the establishment of the imperial dynasty, but not everyone can go there."
Before he finished speaking, the younger sister on the side took the lead and threw herself into her father's arms, saying in a cooing voice:
Young Jiang Yan asked, full of curiosity.
Jiang Yan keenly caught a hint of something strange in the man's tone.
The child still refused to give up and continued to mutter:
"What's wrong with you, little stutterer?"
The father opposite suddenly fell into silence. After a long time, he nodded slightly:
"I remember correctly...I remember everything correctly!"
"It's really worth celebrating that the three of us can reunite. But it's a pity that if we can have a pot of aged Qingli Shao and a few dishes of delicious dishes cooked by Sister Jia herself, the three of us can't be here tonight. Drunk and unable to return!”
The man was stunned for a moment, then shook his head and persuaded with a smile:
After finishing the meal in the bowl that seemed to have never changed, Jiang Yan licked even the last drop of the soup clean. He touched his still deflated belly and understood the still strong hunger and unbearable pain. During the long night, I could only pass the time with stories told by my father.
"Actually, my father doesn't know who built the ruins and when. It's just that such a majestic and majestic city may not be built even with the power of the whole country."
Qi Ziyin saw this and quickly comforted him.
The red-haired girl didn't know what happened to her companion. She was stunned on the spot, with tears flashing in her blue eyes.
"Little Stammer... we... finally reunited..."
The girl's body swayed slightly, as if she would fall down at any time. However, she tried to calm down her emotions, bit her lower lip and looked back at Qi Ziyin. But before the boy in white could react, Ning Yue had quickly bent down and walked away from him. Picking up Jiang Yan's helmet from the ground, he tried his best to chase after the crimson figure who was gradually retreating, and followed closely.
The starting point is not the first release, and all copies are free.
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