"Changes at dawn?" Hao Ren became curious, "What is it?"
"The village is not always active. When the first rays of dawn hit the fence at the edge of the village, everything immediately loses its vitality and falls into a strange state of suspended animation. I suspect that this magical land is not
It runs perfectly continuously, so it needs to 'rest' for a few hours every day. By noon, the village will be restored."
"It seems that the distortion of time and space here will be weakened after dawn," Vivian mused. "It should be easier to break through the blockade by then, and it will also prevent any traps from being triggered."
Hao Ren also nodded in agreement: "Yeah, and we can wake this thing up after dawn or we have to carry her out."
Everyone's eyes fell on Lily, who was sleeping soundly. Everyone showed their gentle eyes caring about a stupid dog. Vivian sighed: "Lack of heart is really the most precious thing in life. I don't know how she does it."
No matter where you go, you can eat and sleep.”
That night, except for Lily, who was fast asleep, no one had much rest.
Hesperius thought of what happened to the Olympus family back then, and many thoughts kept her awake; Vivian was very sensitive to the strange atmosphere lingering in this village, and she was a nocturnal creature, so she might as well stay overnight
Hao Ren didn't sleep; Hao Ren was too disturbed by the constant noise in the square, so he worked with the data terminal to study how to communicate with the little evil spirits. As a result, his fingers were bitten several times...
As for Pierre, according to him, as long as he acts in a way that conforms to the villagers' behavioral patterns, they can weaken their vigilance. He has bypassed today's surveillance, and no one will come to him before noon the next day.
It was troublesome, so he found another room in the longhouse to sleep for one night.
As for the Wang brothers and Catherine who stayed in the square, Pierre said that they had been "too immersed in this land and assimilated quite seriously" and it was difficult to regain their senses at the moment. Contact with them rashly would only lead to the collapse of this land.
The power of the curse causes them to become alert, so the best way is to leave it alone. If the curse can be removed from the outside in time, they may still have the possibility of recovery.
The next morning, when the first ray of sunlight shone into the small village, Hao Ren and the others immediately felt that the atmosphere nearby had really begun to change.
"It seems to have calmed down," Vivian listened carefully to the movements in the village, "and the activity of living things is weakening."
The data terminal also reported: "The surrounding space-time distortion is reducing, and it is confirmed that some kind of energy decline is occurring on a large scale."
Pierre led Hao Ren and his party out of the longhouse and walked in the village that suddenly became quiet.
Everything around is different.
Those ancient houses appeared more dilapidated than before, and the mottled wooden walls and roads seemed to have faded and were covered with a layer of gray. A strange smell mixed with the smell of dust and slight putrefaction floated in the air, but it was distinct.
It's unclear where this smell comes from.
Lily rubbed her eyes and yawned widely. The strange smell in the air made her frown: "Huha...it smells so bad."
Pierre led everyone towards the edge of the village. They didn't see any villagers along the way. The place was now lifeless, as cold and silent as a tomb. Hao Ren asked curiously: "Where are everyone going?
Did you go? Did you disappear because of the decline in magic?"
"They are all in the house." Pierre said, coming to a small wooden house by the road and pushing open the rotten door.
A middle-aged villager was lying quietly on the low bed in the wooden house. Hao Ren stepped forward and took a look and found that the villager's skin was shriveled and pale, and his body was abnormally slumped as if dehydrated. However, he was not dead: after getting closer,
, Hao Ren found that the villager's chest was still rising and falling slightly, and he was still breathing, but it was just too weak to be noticed.
Vivian stepped forward and touched the other person's skin: "It's lower than my body temperature."
"Living people, but no different from death," Hesperius said softly, "This kind of living dead phenomenon was quite common in the territory of the Egyptian pantheon at that time. They were good at creating legions of half-dead people, but it was still not the same as here.
Same."
"Nothing on this land is an illusion. The houses are real objects that have been maintained by magic to this day, and the villagers are also living humans. It's just that supernatural forces have distorted everything, making them exist in a rather strange state," Pierre shook his head.
"To be honest, I don't know what will happen once the curse is really lifted. Maybe without the support of magical power, the people here will die immediately, and the village will be reduced to ashes instantly..."
"According to your statement, this village was reduced to ashes more than two hundred years ago. Now this land is just haunted by a dead soul that refuses to disperse," Hesperius looked at the spirit world detective.
At a glance, "As for the villagers here...if their souls dissipate, leaving only an empty shell, they are just zombies. The moment they are completely 'transformed', these people are already dead. What we have to do now
It is to lift the curse as soon as possible so that the three people who have not been completely devoured can survive."
At the edge of the village, the low and dilapidated wooden fence still stood precariously, drawing a boundary for this cursed place. Pierre stood in front of the fence, looking at the dark forest outside, and shook his head: "Even if
Even if the magic power weakens, I can't leave here. The power of this boundary will not change with time."
Hao Ren stretched out his hand to reach outside the fence. This time, he clearly felt that his hand passed through an invisible barrier.
He had never felt this barrier before when he stepped into the village.
This barrier was rejecting transgressions. He felt a momentary energy fluctuation, and then the data terminal began to read an ever-increasing value. The terminal immediately issued a warning: "The distortion of time and space is intensifying! This place is closing again!"
"
Hao Ren took his hand back, and sure enough, the closure of space and time detected by the data terminal gradually recovered.
"As expected, you can use brute force to break through the blockade, but this will also trigger the secret realm barrier, and when you stop crossing the border, the border will be restored immediately," Hao Ren turned around, "This is very much like an unmanned guard.
System, follow strict rules and act.”
Vivian looked at Pierre: "We can take you out, but to be honest, it's better for you to stay here. We are going to the noble mansion to trace the source of the curse. That place is probably more dangerous than here in the village.
Much higher, and we may not be able to protect you in the event of an emergency."
Pierre smiled: "I also think it's best for me to stay here. If I go with you, I will only be in the way."
"Then just wait for our good news," Hao Ren patted Pierre on the shoulder, "Don't worry, we will definitely not leave you alone."
"I can only place my hope in you," Pierre forced a smile and looked at Vivian, "Your suggestions are worth considering. Maybe it's time for me to retire from this industry."
"By the way, take this thing." Hao Ren felt in his pocket and took out a small communicator and handed it to Pierre, "Use this to keep in touch with us. It's very simple to use."
Pierre took the communicator and frowned slightly: "I'm afraid the barriers around the village will interfere with the signal, right?"
"Don't worry," Hao Ren raised his thumb, "the signal of this thing is not easy to be interfered with. You stay in the village to observe the situation, and we will lift the curse. If anything changes, we still need to contact each other.
.”
Pierre then put the communicator close to his body and nodded firmly.
After finding out the general location of the noble mansion, Hao Ren and his party forcibly broke through the spatial blockade at the village boundary and arrived at the normal forest area.
When crossing the boundary, the whole village shook violently for a while. It seemed that the magical power entrenched deep in the earth was furious because the "prey" had escaped. However, as Hao Ren and his party completely broke through the boundary, all abnormalities appeared.
Recovered quickly.
The process of getting out of the "predicament" was unbelievably simple. However, Hao Ren knew that the "curse" of this village was not a problem at all for his group of people. The real problem was the secret behind it: the missing sea
Gris, the ancient artifact with Vivian's power, and the historical truth that caused the village to be cursed.
Finding out these things is the top priority that stands in front of them.
The road in the forest was still rugged and difficult to walk, but after leaving the village, the surrounding atmosphere became significantly fresher, and the rugged road became less boring. Hesperus walked at the front of the team, and she seemed to
He casually mentioned: "I always feel that the village is not just 'cursed'."
"Yes, the barrier around the village is the result of careful arrangement, with a very clear purpose, which is to 'only enter but not exit'," Vivian replied, "it is more like a cage than a curse."
"The cage is used to keep things," Hao Ren said quietly. "If someone deliberately created the boundaries of the village, then he must be worried that something would escape from the village. As for the people trapped inside... I'm afraid it was just an accident.
victim."
At this time, Lily had completely woken up. She listened to the conversation between Hao Ren and Vivian and interrupted: "Is this cage too weak? For someone at our level, you can just walk out."
Hao Ren thought for a while: "Then there are only two explanations. Either the cage is really that weak, or the cage has been broken through, and now all that remains is an ineffective shell..."
At this time, Hesperus suddenly spoke up, interrupting Hao Ren: "It seems to be right ahead." (~^~)