This is really not 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 a lot. Naturally, Xie Zhe would not rush her. Instead, he waited patiently and gave a warning when she was near the break of the ladder. It might be easier to dawdle like this, but she didn't want to let Han
She waited below for too long. Besides, Xie Zhe was also looking after her. If her partner had been worried for nothing because of herself, she would definitely feel bad.
Ling Huan raised her 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 and look at the weeds between the rocks on both sides.
, or the cracking 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 looked quite strong, which gave her some peace of mind.
"Stretch your right foot further to the right...yes, then lower it."
The dry wind made Ling Huan's face hurt. Fortunately, the sound of the wind was very light and did not disturb Xie Zhe's reminder of the location of the next step of the ladder. Ling Huan's slightly disordered breathing due to nervousness gradually became regular, and her arms and legs became stronger.
Every time she looked up, the cliff above seemed a lot further away, which encouraged her to move 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 acknowledgement.
.They turned around, 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 were only large stretches of sand dunes, dividing the sky and the earth with gentle waves of sand, bending the originally straight horizon into a staggered arc.
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 take a step forward.”
"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 single and difficult to distinguish
Road. More importantly, 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 go beyond the scope of our eyes at this moment, we will not be able to see this mountain.
, 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 eyebrows 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. At the moment, it seemed that this was the only way.
They shared the luggage and tried to lighten Ling Huan's burden as much as possible. She apologized and thanked her repeatedly, and did not make any meaningless refusal. After all, she was the weakest among them. If she was too deep in the desert because of the heavy load,
Procrastinating one foot after another will actually delay everyone's schedule.
The sun gradually rose, gradually turning the pale sand sea into golden color. There was no special landform in the field of vision. They could only see patches of different shades of yellow, from light gold in the sun to dim brown in the shadows.
Brown, dyed all over the undulating sand dunes far and near. The wind is constantly passing over their surfaces, raising the sand and dust into the air, and it looks like the wind is also dyed into light gold.
At first, Ling Quan could still feel the changes in the surrounding scenery. The gentle slope with accumulated sand gradually grew taller and turned into a small hillside whose top could not be seen clearly. Gradually, just as Xie Zhe said, she lost her perception of distance and could only rely on
The flow of sunlight and growth in the mouth
She was thirsty and judged that she had walked for a long time. The desert in winter was not too hot, and there was even a chill in the shadow of the sand dunes, but it was very hot under the sun and the air was very dry. She had to constantly restrain herself in order to restrain herself.
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 go any further, 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 be a waste of everyone's energy and patience. What's more, the other two were willing to accompany him here, which was a great honor. He had to give up and nodded.
He turned around and went back in the direction where Xie Zhe was looking. Ling Huan
Looking back at the road we came 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 road were a little shallower, perhaps worn away by the wind. I'm afraid if they stay a little longer, those
The deep or shallow footprints will disappear completely.
A gust of wind without temperature blew, and some yellow sand rolled up. Ye Linghua patted his face and felt that a lot of gravel was stuck on it. He didn't realize when the sand was coated before.
It took them about the same amount of time to go back. Maybe they were a little tired, so they didn't actually walk to the base of Pingding Mountain in the same amount of time. Logically speaking, they usually walked longer and longer, and it shouldn't take less than a morning.
I'm so tired. Maybe the scenery along the way is too
It was monotonous, there was no change, and they came back with no results and no expectations, so they felt exhausted. When they went back, they walked against the sun, which had not reached its highest point. All three of them felt that their faces were very dry. Although it was winter
It's not hot, but it's 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 was probably about the same size as the mountain itself. Moreover, the edges of the shadow were as neat as those cut by a knife, and were as smooth as the top of the mountain.
It's exactly the same. The small undulations of every plant, every tree, every leaf and every stone are also clearly shown. However, these cannot be seen unless you go closer.
"I heard that in some places, to build a very tall building, you just stick a foot-long stick on the ground. When the shadow is as high as the stick, you can determine the height of the building. 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 has already gone elsewhere, lengthening the shadow. Before Ling Yu could finish speaking, Han Chang suddenly ran towards the shadow area, and quickly
It was like a gust of wind. I wonder where he got such energy. Xie Zhe and Ling Huan looked at each other. 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, they set off too early. It was about the end of the afternoon. Ye Lingyu looked at the two people standing next to the shadow.
They all looked thoughtful. Han Sheng 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 boundary between light and shadow? The boundary here is clear, one light and one dark. At this moment, 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 with the other two people watching, he slowly pulled out the Fengyun Slash from his waist. When the sword left the white copper scabbard, the buzzing sound became more obvious. The sword seemed to be trembling slightly.
The frequency is very fast, and it has just started.
"It's probably some kind of... hint. Maybe at this time, the shadow and the mountain are exactly the same."
Before Han Sheng could say anything, Xie Zhe suddenly thrust his sword into the edge of the mountain shadow. The sword penetrated deeply and made a special friction sound, but it didn't sound like metal or sand. A burst of golden light came from
The 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?!"
Looking into the distance, Ling Quan 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. And in
Below the building complex, there is a piece of sparkling water, subtly connected with the golden sand. It is difficult for them to judge whether this scene is flat or three-dimensional. But what can be confirmed is that all of this is
They had never seen it when they came.
"...Mirage Tower?"
Xie Zhe's tone was hesitant, but his men did 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 track. Han Chang did not move.
He stood there, staring at the absurd scene in front of him. For him, perhaps this was not the first time he had seen such a weird illusion.
But is this the time and season when mirage towers should appear? As the light and shadow split, the earth and the sword trembled together, and moist wind spurted out from the cracks. The three of them clearly did not move, but they were far away from the bizarre scenery.
