Todd's body has just finished mutating, and his clothes have turned into a pile of cloth. The metal scales have not completely receded, and the strengthened muscles are still in an excited state.
Meredith, who was sitting next to Rachel, first glanced at Todd's lower body, then glanced sideways at the turbulent waves of the woman next to him, and blinked: "I can avoid it if you need it."
Later, she added: "Of course, if you don't mind, I would be more than happy to be an audience."
Todd was stunned for a moment, but later he realized that the other party had misinterpreted his intentions.
"Things are not what you think!" Todd pointed to his clothes and said anxiously: "There is a large amount of radioactive ore buried underground in the Kingdom of Shadows. If you stay underground for a long time, these radioactive materials will be contaminated
It can reach the skin and clothes, causing lasting damage to the body. Therefore, the most important thing at the moment is to change your clothes quickly and rinse your body with clean water!"
Looking at the two women, they still looked like they didn't understand.
Todd jumped up anxiously and ran back to the main hall of the temple. He rummaged through the supplies on the floor and found a water bag, dry cloth, clothes and furs.
Returning to the door of the stone room again, he put all the supplies in his hands on the ground and shouted to Rachel in the room: "Quick! Clean your body with clean water and put on a clean set of clothes! Meredith, help me.
she!"
After saying this, Todd turned back to the temple hall, took off all his clothes, first dug out a bag of water, cleaned the radioactive mineral powder on his body, and then put on a set of ownerless clothes.
After doing all this, Todd waited anxiously in the hall for ten minutes, and finally saw Rachel appearing in the corridor wearing new clothes.
Regardless of the other party's questions and protests, Todd put her into a sleeping bag made of animal fur, tied the sleeping bag to his back, took a few necessary daily necessities, walked out of the temple gate, and followed the ridge path.
Head towards the top of the mountain.
Lying on Todd's shoulder, Rachel looked at the snow-covered mountain peaks in the distance and asked, "Where are we going?"
"Go to the highest altitude in the Kingdom of Shadows, which is the only safe place away from underground radioactive sources."
"Radioactive source?"
Todd knew that to explain this term, it would inevitably involve a series of special concepts - nuclides, radioactive fields, rays...
In desperation, he explained to Rachel in a relatively simple way: "You can imagine the radioactive source as a huge poisonous gas spore. It emits harmful poisonous gas all the time and can pollute the surrounding water sources and soil.
and air. If any living thing gets too close to it, the tissues and organs in the body will be slowly killed."
"And this gas spore is located in the sacrificial hall, the place where I sat all day and night..." Rachel seemed to finally understand her situation.
Todd stepped deeply into the snow and comforted her: "As long as you stay away from radioactive sources, throw away all contaminated clothes on your body, and wash your skin clean, you can rely on the body's natural healing ability to slowly heal."
Slowly reduce radiation damage."
Rachel's thoughts slowly opened up: "According to this, the reason why the water, air and food in the Kingdom of Shadows are deadly is actually because of the existence of radioactive sources?"
"That's right."
"What about the animals here? Why were they not killed by the radioactive source? Also, those who passed the test, they seemed not to be affected by the radiation."
Regarding Rachel's questions, Todd already has a vague answer in his mind. All of this may be related to the legendary tyrant. But without real evidence, this is just a guess.
Climbing along the path to the top of the mountain, the wind and snow became heavier and heavier.
The fatigue caused by the mutation and the blizzard weather made Todd's pace slower and slower.
Holding Rachel on his back tightly behind him, Todd used his body as a barrier to block the wind and snow while looking back at the way he came.
If you just want to stay away from radioactive sources, reaching this height should be enough. The key now is to find a suitable shelter.
A clear cry came from the sky, causing Todd to look up.
A griffon, holding its prey with both claws, staggered into the snow not far away in the snowstorm.
Seeing this scene, Todd grinned.
Problem solved.
Carrying Rachel on his back, he walked for ten minutes in the direction where the gryphon landed.
Todd found a hidden cave under the snow.
Comparing the size, it is only one person tall and wide.
Carefully stepping on the snow under his feet, Todd jumped into the hole, carefully checked first, and after confirming that there was no threat, he dragged Rachel out of the sleeping bag and put her on the ground.
"Walk behind me and try not to make any noise." Todd used his night vision to observe the surrounding terrain while leading Rachel deeper into the area.
The cave is narrow on the outside and wide on the inside, and there is a ventilation hole at the top, making it an excellent place to stay.
Along the way, there were no traces of radioactive ore, which made Todd relieved; but the biological skeletons all over the ground made him nervous.
After turning a corner, Todd and Rachel finally saw the owner of the cave—two male and female griffins, and their three eggs.
The male griffon immediately noticed the intruder. While warning his mate loudly, he rushed forward to face the enemy with his body.
With the faint light in the cave, Todd and the gryphon came face to face, and both the man and the beast were stunned.
It turns out that this griffin is the unlucky guy in the barbarian tribe who was chased away by Todd.
Todd was a little embarrassed, and raised his hand to say hello to the gryphon opposite: "Ha, the world is really small..."
New grudges combined with old grudges made the male gryphon scream angrily, and flew towards him from the air, aiming his beak at the top of Todd's head.
The latter reached out and struck without haste, and the male griffon was immediately knocked away by a huge force and hit the stone wall heavily.
Ten minutes later, Todd placed Rachel in the lee of the wind and took a closer look at the goat brought back by the griffon through the bonfire that had just been raised.
Turning over the prey that had already been pecked through the throat, Todd pointed to the brand next to the goat's tail and said to Rachel: "Look here, this sheep should not be a creature from the Kingdom of Shadows. It may belong to the southern continent."
A certain village in."
Rachel nodded and agreed with this view: "Yes, the last time we met, it was hunting among the barbarian tribes."
Todd turned his head and glanced at the griffin couple huddled in the corner of the cave: "In other words, this sheep should be safe to eat and has not been contaminated by radioactive sources."
After roasting the mutton and sprinkling it with the salt she brought with her, Rachel swallowed a piece in small sips and then started to feast after confirming that it was all right.
Seeing the invading humans occupying their homes and eating their own food, the male gryphons felt sad and kept flapping their wings and making plaintive calls.
Todd looked back at the couple, thought for a while, and threw over half a roasted lamb and some dried fruits as a gift.
After the humans and animals had eaten and drank enough, the sound of the wind and snow outside the cave gradually became smaller, and the light gradually dimmed.
Adding some dead branches to the fire pit, Todd looked at Rachel sleeping soundly in his arms, and worried about what to do in the future.
If Rachel were allowed to live in the environment at the foot of the mountain, it would be tantamount to committing suicide slowly.
However, living in a cave on the top of the mountain is not a long-term solution.
After running around during the day and feeling tired after relaxing, Todd temporarily put aside this problem and slowly fell into sleep.
Early the next morning, he was awakened from his dream by a strange low roar.
Opening his eyes, Todd saw the griffin couple staring at the entrance of the cave, looking like they were facing a formidable enemy.
Turning his attention to the entrance of the cave, he saw a huge visitor, whose shadow on the wall became longer and longer. Todd woke up the sleeping Rachel and motioned for her to hide behind him.
Finally, one of Todd's regular customers walked into the cave - the manticore that he had given up on executing.
Looking at this monster, stepping on the bones on the ground, completely ignoring the existence of the gryphon, he slowly walked in front of himself, knelt on the ground, and stretched his head towards himself.
Todd immediately understood the other party's intention.
The creature that once pulled him into another soul world wanted to talk to him in this way.