One hundred and forty-nine. Then they started fighting each other and the chairs were smashed to pie
"Always?"
The stone statue of the head seemed to glow with a faint light, dispersing the gray fog that shrouded it.
"Always……"
"Where is she?"
Or rather, who is she...
"Your companions, they are all..."
With the whispers of surging gray mist, Lu Li fell into memories.
"After crawling out of the ground, you met Catalina in an abandoned shelter. Why did she appear by chance at that time? Why did she save you at that time? Did she still believe in you and tell you about the new world? And she chose after she no longer worried about survival.
With you?"
"That's her company..."
"It sounds very reasonable for the eldest sister to yearn for the outside world, like your humanity, and secretly leave the Ghost Town with you... But its 'mother' did not show up and did not stop it. Is this really reasonable?"
"That's her curiosity..."
"Psius, a little boy who is still innocent in an old sewer full of filth and sin... Do you believe it? A foreign species, a place surrounded by weirdness."
"That's her innocence..."
"Ophelia was hiding in the ruined basement of the library. She stayed there for twenty-four years and left because of your arrival. But is there really a wraith that can survive twenty-four years without being invaded by the other world? She is
Wraiths are not ghosts."
"That was her burning love..."
"Perhaps your escape is also related to her? The underground rock formation is like a mother's womb, and the turbulent undercurrent is like the amniotic fluid that brings nutrients. When you soak in the river, crawl through the narrow pass with difficulty, and come to the outside world, it is like a baby being born...
"
The head stone shimmered with light.
"She is by your side and never leaves you..."
Lu Li left his memories, his dark eyes calm and calm: "Do you know my memory?"
"There are no secrets in the gray fog..."
"So you can also tell lies."
After the words were spoken, the surrounding gray fog suddenly became thick and gradually enveloped the tarnished stone statue of the head.
Lu Li took a few steps forward, and the stone head statue disappeared without a trace. There was a note on the ground where it originally existed.
Bending down to pick it up, a line of mottos appeared on it.
[It is not difficult to choose between beautiful falsehood and cruel truth. People will choose the former. But only people with reason and wisdom can choose the truth]
Is this a test?
The scene in front of him reminded Lu Li of the "Old Ones Test". He picked up the note and continued to move forward.
The temperature in the gray mist was approaching constant temperature. Lu Li, who was wearing several layers of clothes, began to feel stuffy and took off his clothes, leaving only his shirt and coat.
Continue walking forward for a while, and the second stone statue appears in the gray mist.
"You passed the test, an intelligent life in another world..." it said.
Lu Li did not respond. He observed the stone head statue and the rough ground around it: "Is this the second test?"
"The test is over. I don't believe you can leave..."
Lu Li lowered his eyes and thought, then walked around the stone statue and continued forward.
The stone statue behind him was gradually swallowed up by the gray mist, and a second note appeared in front of Lu Li.
[Persistence and hesitation will bring three kinds of results. Good, bad, not good but not bad. We usually don’t expect good, we just hope it won’t be bad. But what drives us forward is persistence, not hesitation]
Lu Li's leaving is the right answer.
Moving forward again, the third stone statue appeared soon after.
"This is the third test, a question..."
The stone head statue shimmers with light, no longer concealing its purpose: "The gray mist will give those who step into it everything they want. A life of wisdom, what do you desire? Strength, immortality, wisdom, or wealth?"
"An answer." Lu Li said. "Anna's whereabouts."
"All of these can be done. Strength will make you stronger and not afraid of danger; immortality will make time meaningless to you; wisdom can guide you to the truth; wealth will allow you to hire anyone to do things for you, including weirdos."
"What's the price?"
"Destiny has already secretly marked the price for everything, and what you have to pay will be revealed in the future."
Lu Li stopped talking meaninglessly with the stone statue and asked directly: "No matter what, tell me how to find Anna."
"Is this what you want?"
"Yes."
The head stone statue is like the first two stone statues and disappears into the gray mist, leaving a note in its place.
[Don’t lose your nature, but who can say that your lost nature is not your true nature? People who are greedy for wealth are lost in wealth. Perhaps his nature is to obtain more wealth]
Putting away the third piece of paper, Lu Li continued to move forward.
The ground gradually leveled off and was no longer soil mixed with gravel and rocks. After walking for a distance in the quiet gray mist, Lu Li saw a statue of a meditator who seemed to be thinking.
"I am Socrates, the lord of the cracks in the world. Nice to meet you, a wise man..."
The gray mist echoed its words.
Before Lu Li left the mouth, it continued.
"The fragment you are looking for is in your pocket..."
Lu Li paused slightly, then touched his pocket with his palm. He took out a dagger-like stone fragment from the pocket where three pieces of paper were supposed to be placed.
"Although it has lost its power, its residual power can still allow it to dispel the negligible pollution remaining on the earth..." said the statue of the meditator who calls himself Socrates.
The weight of the fragmented stone fragment in his palm told Lu Li that the touch was real, and the indescribable strange power was flowing on the surface of the stone fragment.
It directly gave Lu Li what he was looking for.
"Thank you, I will return after using it."
Lu Li put the stone piece back into his pocket.
"It is an ownerless thing, and now it belongs to you..." Socrates gave it to Lu Li.
"What do I have to pay?" Lu Li asked.
"Nothing is needed..."
"Destiny has already secretly marked the price for everything." Lu Li repeated the other party's words during the third test.
"But what is precious to you is worth nothing to me, and vice versa..." Socrates simply replied.
Lu Li frowned. He didn't like this vagueness about the price: "Be more specific."
"You have already paid part of it, and the rest will be paid in the future..."
This ambiguity reminds one of a prophet. Lu Li wanted to know the details, but Socrates didn't seem to want to tell him.
At least not now.
"Where are the others."
Having already obtained the items for this trip, Lu Li turned to ask.
"They were trapped in the first test. You'll meet them on the way back..."
The "Socratic Bottom" that Lu Li encountered was different from what the guardians described, and it was also different from what the exorcists investigated in the old days.
There is no way of knowing whether this change is for good or bad.
But just like the motto learned in trials, hesitation will not make things worse, nor will they make things better.
Lu Li said goodbye to Socrates and turned back the way he came.
His departure was not blocked. Behind Lu Li, the surging gray mist gradually engulfed the stone statue of the meditator, leaving only whispers filling the gray mist space.
