This jungle is like a dark prison. There are towering trees everywhere, and the huge and lush canopy blocks the sky so tightly that sometimes when walking in it, you can't even tell the difference between day and night.
Moreover, this prison is not safe yet. There are terrifying jungle killers hidden everywhere in the darkness, hunting everything that passes by. Even Helfas is always nervous and cautious.
Every being here is a hunter.
At the same time, they are also prey.
Helfas didn't know how long he had been walking. To be precise, he didn't know how long he had been lost inside.
He felt physically and mentally exhausted, dizzy, as if he was walking in purgatory.
The moisture of the jungle comes in.
It was obviously very humid, but it was as hot as a furnace.
He even felt like he was stinking and rotting.
"ha……"
"Whirring whirring……"
Herfas hunched over and gasped for air.
Through the torn clothes, you can see the wounds and scabs on his body. Even though they have initially healed, at least there is no flesh and blood, they still look very scary.
It was a battle with Weird, and the other party left it on his body.
Calling it a battle is actually a bit of a self-comfort.
In the dark.
He didn't even see the opponent's appearance clearly, he only saw a terrifying sharp claw reaching down from the sky to catch him. Even if he summoned the insect form of the Biphasic Demonic Insect in a hurry, he still suffered.
to severe damage.
If it weren't for the fact that after escaping through the narrow and complex terrain in the jungle, the tree-shaped biphasic demon insects tightly wrapped his wounds and maintained his life.
He probably died in that jungle a long time ago.
He narrowly escaped death and finally understood his position in this jungle, freeing him from the dream of enthralling self-confidence in which he successfully sealed the seal twice.
Being able to successfully seal the weirdness twice was not because of how strong he was.
It's because someone provided him with enough information both times, allowing him to know all of the opponent's weaknesses.
When walking in the dark.
When the body becomes weak, when it is on the verge of death.
People's self-confidence and many things they believe in will become extremely fragile.
Helfas didn't even have the strength to walk, but was supported by inertia. He felt that he couldn't see anything clearly in the jungle with so many shadows at the moment, and that monsters might rush out at any time and kill him easily.
While he was searching for a way out in a daze, all kinds of distracting thoughts kept coming to his mind, criticizing his previous thoughts.
"The seal is weird, do you have the qualifications?"
"You are just a lucky person who got a certain ritual by accident."
"Those weird things are so scary, don't you have any points yourself?"
"On a full moon night, don't you understand what the world is like?"
"You are still running around in a daze. What did you want to do, and what did you accomplish?"
At the same time, he was still talking to himself.
"I don't want to seal all the weirdness, I just take it one step at a time."
"I just want to get more power."
"I just……"
He even learned the farmer's language.
"Yes, I...I just don't want to abide by the rules of this world."
Towards the end, the voice became increasingly blurry.
Even he himself wasn't sure what he wanted to do.
Because he doesn't even know who he is, so how can he know what he really wants to do deep down in his heart.
The moment you walk out of the jungle.
When the sun shone on him, he knelt directly on the ground.
His eyes gradually became familiar with the light. When he saw tribal herdsmen driving dragon beasts appearing in the distant plains and beside the river, Helfas let out a long breath.
"ah!"
He bent down hard and rubbed his face.
"ha……"
"Finally came out."
——
He exchanged a few hard-boiled eggs with the herdsman who was driving the Velvet Dragon. While eating, he followed the herdsman back to the other's tribe.
Helfas looks a little bit vicissitudes of life. He can also use the knife made by the Golden Tribe to cut his hair into a short hair that is best to take care of. At most, it will look like a dog gnawed, but at least it will not get worms and it will be easy to grow.
Clean.
But the beard was a bit difficult, and the clothes on his body had become tattered. He looked no different from a savage, and he no longer had the aura that was beyond this era.
Now he has perfectly integrated into this era.
But even so, the shepherd recognized his identity at a glance.
The black hair and eyes are really too conspicuous.
The shepherd pointed at him and shouted.
"Black-haired...black-haired person."
"I have heard of you. The merchant mentioned your name when he came."
"You are very powerful and defeated the terrible monster."
"I've also heard about the new farmer tribe and your story, saying that you defeated the human-faced tree, the terrible monster that destroyed the old farmer tribe."
The herdsman respected Helfas very much. Not only did he shout exaggeratedly when he recognized him, he even refused to pay Helfas for eating eggs.
"You have done many good deeds, and you are very powerful. I admire you very much, and I will treat you to it."
"Of course I know you."
"Otherwise, why would I take you back to the tribe directly?"
Helfas did not expect that his reputation among the dragon tribes in this area would become so great before he knew it. Tribes as far away as the Full Moon Forest knew about him.
Come to think of it, this should be the credit of the businessman.
This made him feel a little embarrassed. He felt that he had been boasted too much and he didn't seem to have done much.
Especially since he still looked so embarrassed at the moment.
However, Helfas was still very happy when he heard the news from the businessmen and farmers.
It has been half a year since I left that beautiful oil-bread farmland, and it was even more than a year ago that I parted ways with the businessman.
It had been a long time since he had met the two of them. He had been wandering around various tribes and jungles. Most of his time was spent on the road, chasing the so-called weird rumors. This was the first time he knew about the two.
A person’s recent situation.
Hearing the familiar name, Helfas quickly asked: "Have merchants been to your tribe?"
The bearded man had a new name, and he was called Merchant. The other party told Helfas when they parted.
But a farmer is still called a farmer.
The shepherd waved his whip in his hand, danced and talked shirtless, and took out some objects to show to Helfas.
"The merchants came with people and brought many things, including bone needles, spinning wheels, and bone shuttles, as well as beautiful pottery bowls and pottery vases with patterns on them. Our leader also bought their necklaces.
"
"They took away a lot of cloth from our place, as well as a few female velvet dragon beasts."
"Their stuff is good, so we gave him the best too."
The shepherd's words were very simple and sincere with people of this era.
Helfas said happily: "Everything seems to be going well and there are no problems on the road."
The shepherd was also impressed: "They dared to come over such a long way. It's really impressive."
This is the best news that Helfas has heard recently.
It also made him feel comforted.
On the road.
Helfas made a sound and helped drive the beasts away.
Unknowingly, we arrived at a gathering place for dragon people. What we saw were houses made of mud and roofs made of wood.
You can see women gathering together, skillfully using spinning wheels and waist machines, and some people are lighting a fire to cook in front of the stove outside the house.
This is a very large tribe, with a population estimated to be very close to the limit of 1,000 people. It is also the tribe closest to the Full Moon Forest.
Because they are good at weaving, they are also called the Weaver Tribe by the dragon people in the Land of the Full Moon.
Therefore, it can be seen that a high proportion of tribal people wear cloth, instead of mostly wearing animal skins like other tribes.
Helfas liked this prosperous scene very much. He seemed to feel something special from this tribe.
perhaps.
This is civilization!
While walking among the tribe's houses, Helfas saw a round-neck sweatshirt hanging outside, so he asked the person at the door.
"Can you sell these clothes to me?"
"I'll trade this for it."
He took out a piece of folded dragon skin from the flattened backpack. It came from a ferocious dragon beast and was very rare for tribesmen.
The other party didn't think about it for long and the deal was successfully concluded.
I found a place and cleaned it up, bandaged the wound, and put on new clothes.
He didn't stop and just started the routine he had been doing for so long.
Every time Helfas went to a tribe or met a person, he would ask that iconic sentence.
"Is there anything weird near you, or have you heard of anything weird?"
Helfas has been collecting weird information. He has recorded several cloth scrolls, but most of these information only have a name or a code name.
Weird things like the Biphasic Demonic Insect and the Human-Faced Tree have completely understood their characteristics, and there are still a few tribes and people who dare to understand their characteristics and try to use all their extraordinary powers.
Behind every monster whose power and characteristics are fully known is a bloody price, countless sacrifices and sacrifices that go beyond courage.
Thanks to the propaganda of businessmen, Helfas's tribe was not ostracized and quickly integrated into it.
even.
Many people in the tribe came over specifically to see the legendary figure Helfas. Men, women, and children surrounded Helfas as if they were looking at some exotic animal.
Helfas was a little unaccustomed to it, but compared to this, at least it was much better than those situations where he would run away in fear as soon as he saw him.
A person has been alone for too long, and he still wants to hear more people's voices and talk to people.
Perhaps, this is part of the reason why he collects weird information everywhere!
"Weird, who dares to have more contact with those existences!"
"I heard..."
"I've heard recently that there are strange things with horns appearing in the east."
"..."
The people in the tribe talked in a flurry, sometimes asking questions and answering questions, and the topic changed as they went on.
Except for a few people, most people even lack the ability to clearly express a meaning in language, and their words must be accompanied by gestures.
If Helfas hadn't had special abilities, it would have been difficult to understand what they were saying.
Helfas didn't get much complete information about the weirdness. Most of it was about so-and-so who had seen something weird before, and heard stories and rumors, some of which were true or false, with speculation.
Helfas knew what should be recorded and what should not be recorded by listening to his heart.
The crowd dispersed and he slowly closed the scroll.
"well!"
"There's no useful information, not even a few people I've actually seen."
Come to think of it, there are not many people who can actually come back alive after encountering something strange.
at last.
Coming to this tribe, the biggest gain and happiest thing for Helfas was actually getting two new sets of clothes.
In addition to the one set on the body, the other set also has patterns and is sewn on with needles.
Of course Helfas was reluctant to wear it, so he put it at the bottom of his backpack and wrapped it in leaves.
He remembered the merchant's words.
"People always want to dress nicely."
Even if he couldn't use it for the time being, he still hoped to have a better set of clothes.
I hope that one day I can wear it happily and appear in front of others.
Although he did not get any weird information, these gains also made Helfas very happy, and even felt a little better deep down in his heart.
Apart from these.
He can also live in a room temporarily, which should be the best place he has lived in recently.
In the house.
He lay on his side on the bed because he was afraid of touching the wound on his back.
But even so, the feeling of a bed still made him feel comfortable.
He curled up in a ball on the bed, and even felt like he wanted to fall asleep like this and sleep comfortably.
Never go outside again, never run around in the jungle and wilderness, to face those terrible weirdness.
But it's still early to get dark, and it's still bright outside.
He got up and walked around the room, and suddenly saw a picture on the wall, but when he looked carefully, he found that it was a picture carved on stone.
"map?"
"Whose house is this and where is the map?"
Helfas rarely sees maps. Only people like him can understand how precious things like maps are.
He came outside and found someone to ask.
The tribesman responded.
"There is no one left. He left a month ago."
"This is the map to the temple. It should have been prepared when they set off."
Helfas's original movements stopped immediately, and he came back to his senses in surprise.
"What?"
"Temple?"
This was actually the first time Helfas heard the word God. He originally had no idea what the syllables of this pronunciation meant. He truly understood its meaning through the ability to read the other person's heart.
But I don’t know why, the moment I heard this word, another word with the same meaning immediately appeared in my mind.
Just like the other words that popped into his mind before.
Helfas quickly stepped forward and asked: "What temple?"
The other party said: "There was a legend a long time ago that someone saw a temple deep in the Full Moon Forest, which worshiped the great gods."
"Every month, some people in the tribe leave the tribe."
"And many of them will go looking for the legendary temple and the great god."
Helfass understands.
It's said to be leaving, but actually it's evicted.
Because once a tribe exceeds a thousand people, the possibility of a large population gathering to attract powerful monsters is higher, so each tribe controls the population of its own tribe.
The elderly, those who are sick, or those who leave voluntarily or involuntarily for various other reasons must leave at this time.
Some began to wander, just like the businessmen before.
Some reorganized new tribes, like the current farmer tribe.
The Zhi tribe also has another tradition.
The other party didn't know where he heard it from, so he kept chattering to Helfas.
"I heard that gods are omnipotent, and even this world was created by gods."
"..."
Helfas still felt unbelievable, and he continued to ask.
"god?"
"Is there really a God in this world?"
The other party also hesitated: "I listened to what they said."
Helfas: "Where is the temple?"
The other party said: "The deepest part of the Full Moon Forest."
Helfas opened his mouth wide and looked back at the terrifying jungle.
The sunless darkness from which I had just escaped from death.
——
He said he wanted to lie in bed and have a good sleep, but at night Helfas couldn't fall asleep.
He sat alone at the door, doing nothing, just in a daze.
He speaks alone.
"Want to go?"
"It's very dangerous, you could really die."
After a while, he talked to himself again.
"It doesn't matter if you die, the key is what you want to do, have you figured it out, and can you find the result in the end?"
"Wouldn't it be better to just stay here and live comfortably?"
"Who you are, is it really that important?"
Maybe it was because I was too tired and too hard on the road.
Perhaps it was because no matter how hard he searched, he seemed to be just wandering in the same place. The world was so vast and boundless, and he seemed unable to get out of one corner of it throughout his life.
He seems to have forgotten his original intention of collecting strange information, and is also confused about the reason why he set out in the first place.
"The black-haired man!"
Suddenly, a child appeared and shouted at him, as if he wanted to scare him.
Herfas' thoughts were interrupted, and he didn't think much about it, just thinking it was a naughty child.
He stretched out his hand and took out a breadfruit tree from the side, and asked the child: "Want to eat it?"
Unexpectedly, the child actually took out one: "I have one too, so I don't want yours."
Helfas: "You have one too?"
"Where did it come from?"
The child said with a matter-of-fact expression: "When the merchant came here before, he also brought a lot of these fruits. It is said that a farmer tribe has a lot of these fruits."
Helfas was shocked. The delicacies and precious things he thought were no longer unique.
However, he was not too disappointed.
He looked at the breadfruit in the child's hand and compared it with the one in his own hand.
Then.
Couldn't help but laugh.
He suddenly felt some changes he had brought about, right before his eyes, he could see them so clearly.
There is nothing spectacular, nor is it great.
It was just a child from another tribe who ate a breadfruit.
That's all.
The child moved closer and looked at Helfas curiously.
He then asked: "I heard that you defeated two very powerful monsters, is it true?"
Helfas said: "It's not very powerful, but it is indeed a very dangerous weird thing for us."
The child asked what the weirdness looked like and how scary it was.
Helfas told some insignificant details, and just like that, he attracted many children from the tribe.
And there were more and more people, and finally there was a large area in front of the house.
It was also the first time that they heard that someone dared to confront Weird, and this person was right in front of them. They were all so surprised that their mouths opened wide.
But not long after, someone came over and called them to go back.
The children then dispersed reluctantly.
While running, jumping, and talking about what I just heard.
"The Human Face Tree, it's a weird tree with many human faces, it eats people!"
"Turning people into mummies and then eating them."
"very scary."
And Helfas watched them quietly.
Returning to the house, he raised his head and looked at the map carved on the wall.
"God?"
"What exactly is in the temple? Does it record anything?"
"What kind of being can build a temple?"
"Could it be related to that pillar?"
Helfas paid attention to every detail of the map, and could feel that the person who originally drew it was very careful. He must really believe in the existence of God and have a very strong desire to see God.
And he may have different ideas from the person who originally carved this map, but his desire to seek answers is similar.
Helfas stepped forward.
I rubbed the map on the wall bit by bit without missing any detail.
Next.
He had to go into the dark jungle again and face those terrible weirdness.
Helfas did not expect that there would bring him everything, he only expected that he could find an answer.
Even if you find the temple in the end, you will only find an answer to this world.
Even on this road, it is enough to find a reason to keep going.