In the blink of an eye, it was the end of October, and the three of them finally arrived at the boundary of Qinglize. Qinglize was very large, housing several villages and towns, and they were as broken as isolated islands in the ocean. After many years, they were not too big in size.
There have been drastic changes, and many small villages have even disappeared. After all, this is a swampland and is not suitable for large-scale construction projects.
However, compared to the past, not even that long ago, this place has become completely different. The lush grass has turned yellow, and it seems that we have ushered in a winter that Qinglize will never usher in. The pond water has dried up.
, there are deep cracked pits everywhere. If people are not careful, they will slip down because of the loose soil around the pits. Some pits are very deep, revealing the dead bodies of ancient creatures.
Dead skeletons. Some of the corpses are considered fresh. They may have slipped and fallen. But each corpse is very thin, and it can be seen that they have experienced hunger during their lifetime. It stands to reason that there should be insects eating up these corpses. After all, it is damp.
The rainy Qingli Ze is full of tiny figures in any season. However, as far as the naked eye can see, no one has seen a single trace of an insect.
"The situation is getting worse." Wenying followed Han Shang closely and said while looking around, "Isn't this the warm south? Why????????????????
The conditions are even more desolate than in the north? Is this really Qinglize?"
"Unfortunately, it seems so." Xie Zhe said helplessly, "Although we didn't take this road when we came here in the past, according to the map, we have indeed arrived at the edge of Qinglize."
Hanshang also said: "There are really no signs of life here. Although it is much better than the desert, it is this half-dead look that makes people uneasy. We have also walked through places that are not deserted. We were not naive at that time.
Has everything returned to normal? The result was that we were not chased and beaten by monsters. Do you still remember that deer with three eyes? Even if it dies, who would dare to eat it?"
"That deer is indeed strange. Even if it is a monster, generally speaking, the third eye should be born in the center of the forehead. Most normal lives are born symmetrically and follow rules. Its third eye is like a second mouth.
They all appear on one side of the face. From a distance, I thought the white ones were teeth, and suddenly turned my dark eyes, which really shocked us all."
"Ah, stop talking." Wenying waved her hand, "I don't want to think about it at all. There are too many weird things there. It's really unseen and unheard of."
"Do you still remember that sheep?" Xie Zhe suddenly asked Han Chang.
Han Chang was stunned for a moment and couldn't think of anything for a long time. When I asked Ying, I didn't know what he was talking about. He just said:
"I saw a lot of normal and abnormal animals along the way. They ranged from chickens raised in fellow villagers' pens to buffaloes that are several times the usual size. However, we didn't seem to see any sheep?"
"No, it was a sheep we saw when we were with... Ling Quan. Where was it? Well, that was the first time we met Mrs. Shen Wenzheng and her daughter."
"Ah! I understand. At that time, we hadn't met Xue Miyin yet." Han Zhang thought about it, "That sheep... was infected with the disease, right? At first glance, it looked like he was poisoned. You
I feel..."
"Well, I thought about it for two days and felt that they are somewhat similar, but not the same. I suspect that they were all enchanted by some evil spell from the Shadow Pavilion, perhaps related to the epidemic. But so far, humans still have
It was not greatly affected. Those who left just found another life because they did not have enough food."
Han Shang shook his head and said, "Who knows? Maybe it's not visible in people of the same generation. You see, those who have problems are those who grow small and fast. Relatively speaking,
People live a long life, so the impact may not be so obvious. But if they continue to eat those changed vegetation and animals, no one knows what the future will be like."
"Don't sound so scary." Wenying felt a chill.
"No... I agree with Han Chang's statement. Along the way, we have seen five or six villages. Each of them has its own weirdness, but the people have become extremely indifferent because of the lack of food. They
It’s not that we haven’t asked for help, but there is nothing we can do, and we can’t help. Because the area is remote, the court has not responded yet, maybe the news has not been passed on. When will the earliest changes happen?
, no one can tell for sure, but in some places there are some strange signs as early as the beginning of the year. Remember that town where the well water turned blue? They said that something strange happens in spring. I saw at night, in the village,
There is a faint light emitting from the well mouth, but no magic can be felt, only pure spiritual power. Moreover, it is not a good spiritual power. They pollute the water source, but people have no other choice."
Wenying sighed and said: "Although no one is willing to take us in anymore, villages and towns are much safer than sleeping in the wild. I really can't stand these fears.
I don’t know when the monster will attack at night. But luckily Ling Huan is not here, she must not be able to bear this grievance..."
Xie Zhe did not answer. Han Chang cleverly avoided some topics: "Some of those monsters are not even monsters, they are just mutated animals. Generally speaking, they will not attack humans... and some even
Few of them only eat grass. If they choose to attack humans and monsters, I’m afraid they are really starving, right? The balance of life has been completely destroyed.”
Wenying's attention was easily drawn away. She followed her brother's words and continued: "It's true. In fact, Mutsuki-kun had warned us that night... I just didn't expect the situation to be so bad. However, at least there is Lintian Master.
He sent a message telling us that there has been some progress in the research on broken mirrors. But other than that, he did not provide any other useful information..."
"I think, nine times out of ten, the culprit is the Death Shadow Pavilion."
"It's hard to say."
Xie Zhe said this suddenly, which made the other two people a little confused. Han Chang asked in confusion:
"What else is possible?"
"...I have an idea, but I'm not sure, it's just an inference. You see, in the month we've been moving forward, we've seen too many scenery that shouldn't belong to the Death Shadow Pavilion. Some places are barren and barren, like
Here - maybe the situation was not so bad at that time. The plants had no energy and animals were rarely seen. But in some places, they were so lush that it was incredible, as if they had taken away nutrients from other places.
Same... Of course, the animals here are full of aggression. So I thought, is it that the spiritual veins nearby have been strongly disturbed? It is not an exaggeration to even say that it is distorted. The original distribution of spiritual veins in the world is
The density is uneven, but just like the blood vessels in the human body, there are primary and secondary times. But here, this situation is too serious. It can be said to be death from drought and death from waterlogging. Perhaps - Death Shadow Pavilion is
Maybe you are avoiding this kind of natural disaster?"
"A natural disaster?" Han Zhang tilted his head and said, "I don't agree. It might be the chaos caused by the Shadow Pavilion. A natural disaster? How can they be so capable?"
"But precisely because this influence is so unusual,... I always feel that it is not something that the Shadow Pavilion can do."
Wenying seemed to agree with Xie Zhe. She nodded and added, "And if they really did it, what's the benefit?"
Of course Han Zhang didn't know. Or rather, no one knew about this issue. Master Lintian had clearly investigated something, but he didn't reveal much to them. He only said that there was something fishy here. Now that it has come to this point, it would be considered a natural disaster.
, there should be traces to follow, right? If there are no traces to be found, there is nothing we can do. Xie Zhe has no idea at all, so he can only take one step at a time. Even so, over the past few years, who have he and his friends around him
It's not about crossing the river by feeling for the stones.
Walking forward in this vast and quiet dry swamp, the three of them were cautious and cautiously paying attention to every step they took. When it got dark, they had not found a place to rest, and they did not even look at a stone to block the wind.
Before the last light in the west completely disappeared, Wenying suddenly said that she smelled the smell of plants.
"And it's a very large, very dense forest. Only such dense vegetation can emit such a degree of fragrance."
"I seem to smell it too...is it there?"
Han Chang pointed to a place. Since they all said that, maybe the scenery ahead had really changed. Xie Zhe looked along the direction she pointed and saw something from a distance.
A mass of green. So a few people immediately quickened their pace and rushed over before it became completely dark. Sure enough, when they got closer, they found a forest. Although it was small, the trees were very dense, and the crowns above were even more continuous.
Interlaced to form a complete dome.
Not only that, under the illumination of the fox fire, they discovered many buildings deep in the forest. Although they had been abandoned for many years, riddled with holes, and were occupied by wildly growing plants, they were still sheltered from the wind. Occasionally they could hear
They were delighted to hear the rustling sounds of small animals scurrying through the grass.
"This house is relatively complete. Shall we go in and take a look?"
"It's better to be careful." Han Zhang reminded Wenying, "Since there are no more animals outside, they might be hiding in this spiritually rich forest. Maybe something dangerous has already occupied it. We should
Be more cautious."
"Ying, it should be fine, right? I don't smell the smell of other animals..."
Having said that, Wenying still felt a little guilty. The three of them stood close together and walked into the house one step at a time. The wooden door had been completely eroded, and the walls were covered with dense vines, filling in the missing bricks.
Vacancy. The fox fire completely illuminated the room, and the inner walls of the house were all green. Except for the vines outside the house and dense moss, the house was empty, with nothing but the diffuse, strong fragrance of plants.
"It seems quite safe..."
Wen Ying bravely walked a few steps, and several groups of fox fire followed her. When she was very close to the wall, she discovered that a large piece of bricks and stones in the corner of the house was actually missing, and it was like a vine curtain outside to isolate the outside world. At this time,
There was another rustling sound, and her fox instinct made her think that there was some squirrel or gecko hiding in it. She moved her face closer, and the vines suddenly swayed, and every leaf seemed to be blown by the wind.
Just when she was wondering where the wind in the room came from, something suddenly appeared among the leaves. She screamed and took two steps back, falling to the ground. Upon seeing this, the two people immediately stepped forward to help her up. Han Sheng noticed that her face was pale.
, as if he was severely frightened, he could even hear her roaring heartbeat. Xie Zhe took a cautious step forward and looked at the place where Wenying was looking before.
