After Professor Hagrid's useless dissuasion, Lu Li left the canopy with Professor Chris and took the elevator in the tree hole in the mixed area to the lower level.
Human proportions are as small as ants in the dark tree holes leading deep underground. Professor Chris is the slightly larger one.
Other elevators hung with fluorite lamps around them were ascending or descending, and the dark tree hollows echoed with the sound of the winch rolling.
Passing by the middle and upper grades, their elevator did not stop and continued downward.
"He's not in the giant tree?"
Lu Li looked at the shiny edge at the bottom of the tree hole, which should be the surface.
"As a heretic, that guy is not qualified to enter the academy." Professor Chris, who was fat and hugged her chest, said. She was even fairer in the darkness, as if she was covered with a shimmer.
The title of professor comes from his status in the old days.
A few minutes later, the slightly swaying elevator connected to the bottom platform, and the exit of the tree hole was illuminated by bright light.
But this is not the key point. There is still space behind the wooden planks under your feet, leading to the dark and lightless underground tree root area.
That's where the lower colleges and restricted areas are located.
The students on the surface platform consciously avoided Professor Chris. Not only did they respect his identity, but they also had awe of his strength. The gaze that fell on Lu Li was much more unpredictable. Although it had nothing to do with malice, it was definitely not malicious.
Not in good faith.
"That's why we have to distinguish what is light and what is darkness in the lower, middle and upper grades. Staring at the abyss for too long... without becoming part of the abyss."
Humans are good at adapting, and all beings are good at adapting, because those who cannot adapt have long been lost.
And this also brings about a terrible speculation: whether the weird people from the abyss, from the darkness, from the mist, from the other world were once the same as humans.
Is it just that in the long period of time and contact, they lost their nature, civilization and history?
Giant Tree Academy must prevent this from happening.
A small figure walked under the tree hole, and the gatekeepers in front blocked the way.
"Deputy Principal Chris...and our Mr. Exorcist." The elder gatekeeper stationed at the tree hole turned his one eye and observed Professor Chris and Lu Li: "Where are you going."
"Rhodes Block, meet a friend." Professor Chris said arrogantly. She seemed to dislike the night watchers.
"Where are your masks?" asked the elder gatekeeper.
Professor Chris took out two medicine tubes from her handbag and gave them to Lu Li.
"Drink it." She raised her neck and swallowed her own.
"Safe area, the stay time is before dark." The line of sight paused briefly, and the elder gatekeeper motioned for his men to get out of the way.
Professor Chris nodded proudly and walked out of the tree hole with Lu Li and arrived at the surface.
After the primitive darkness enveloped the earth, Lu Li saw them again.
Black lines that are finer than snowflakes and more disordered than flying insects are blocked at the edge of light. They are so diffuse in the outside world that they can barely be seen in the darkness of noon. Different from normal darkness, they are like living creatures, corroding everything they occupy all the time.
, so they are also called "living darkness".
"I don't like them...they take the rules too seriously." Professor Chris's complaints about the night watcher rang in her ears: "I fought with them many times when I was not the deputy dean. I'd better pray for you.
You won't be caught by them while you are at Giant Tree Academy, and don't try to resist if you are caught, otherwise you will be waiting for endless trouble."
The almond-like sweet potion he took began to take effect. The surging dark lines were blocked outside the mouth and nose. The figures around him were not treated like this. They all wore crow masks or closed masks. The dark masks followed Lu Li and Professor Chris.
, unable to distinguish the expression.
But Lu Li could smell the blood on some people.
"You can start taking on tasks when you become a middle grader."
Lu Li's attention fell on the building outside the black mist.
There are some windows with lights on in these decayed and faded buildings. Although there are not many, the occasional shadow cast on the curtains shows that there are still people living on the surface.
Professor Chris told Lu Li the answer: This is a colonial area.
It means the area already occupied by them.
The evidence is the occasional passing figures and patrolling soldiers on the street.
But the colony represents more than that: many people believe that the surface of the earth no longer belongs to them, and that over a long period of time they will become underground cave dwellers.
This is indeed the case. There is only a circle at the foot of the giant tree in the colonial area, and beyond that is the safe area. The area that has been cleared but cannot be garrisoned is the clearing area further out.
The safe zone and clearing zone are also known as the buffer zone, which prevents the colonial area from being directly exposed to darkness. It is also the furthest distance that Giant Tree Academy can radiate.
Rhodes neighborhood is in the safe zone. The streets here are quiet, far away from the light and noise.
【Sterling House】
Professor Chris walked up the steps of a house with a wooden sign and opened the ajar door.
squeak
Entering the quiet house, the light of the oil lamp illuminates the graffiti-like ancient marks and other symbols on the walls.
Professor Chris led him to open the door to the basement and ducked into the passage.
After more than a dozen steps, a rough cave extending deep into the cave appeared before us. Fluorescent blocks were scattered and embedded on the rock wall, and suspiciously exposed brains grew beside them.
"Monkey brain fungus only grows in dirty, moist places illuminated by fluorite light."
Professor Chris said: "It seems that it will lose sanity points, but the brain soup using it as the main ingredient is an excellent potion for warming up sanity points."
"Recover?"
"No, but it can slow down the speed of decline. It is a standard medicine for middle and upper grades and lower colleges." Professor Chris's voice echoed. "So you need to learn, dear, there are many things about us and this era.
Don’t even know.”
Some distance forward, they saw desks and utensils placed in a simple cave, as well as a dirty, unkempt old man.
"Sterling, it's time for you to tidy up this place."
"I might be able to solve a problem or come up with a new idea during the tidying time." The old man at the desk glanced at the table and continued his research with his head lowered. "I know you, Mr. Chris, the exorcist that everyone knows about."
,What did you bring him for?"
"test."
Sterling paused, took off his glasses, and looked at Lu Li with bloodshot eyes: "Do you believe in science?"
"Science does not need to be believed, it exists by itself." Lu Li said calmly.
"My dear, it seems we are very similar..." Professor Chris covered her mouth and said with a charming chuckle.
"If I didn't know you well, I would have thought you asked him to say that." Sterling looked at Lu Li and his eyes became friendly: "Chris said the same thing at that time. She said there is no need to believe in science, it exists objectively, but it is no longer
It belongs to this era...For this reason, I didn’t want to talk to her for a long time.”