She walked forward along the moss-covered rocky ground. She didn't feel cold at all in the cave. The gentle wind blew from all directions, making the air almost as fresh as outside. The slope slowly went down, and the noise from the outside world was soon eliminated.
Completely isolated, only the girl's soft and steady footsteps remained.
Anya didn't feel scared at all - not because Elder Xi was waiting outside. The scenery in front of her was inexplicably familiar, as if... she had been here before, more than once. She tried to search her memory, but found nothing.
The cave was twisty and winding, with forked roads of all sizes constantly unfolding in front of her. She relied on her intuition to choose the direction to go forward. Sometimes she would reach a dead end or an underground river, and could only return along the original path. Fortunately, the scenery ahead never changed.
The lack of repetition proves that she has not lost her way.
There was no sun or starlight visible underground, so time seemed less important. She took a short break twice on the way, ate some biscuits she had brought with her, and filled her water bag with a clear spring. She passed again.
For about half an hour, after rounding a slightly familiar corner, the scene that Lin once described appeared in front of her.
It was barely possible to see the huge oval cave at the other end. The mist filled every corner of the cave, emitting a faint light but not blocking the view at all. Anya extinguished the light source in her hand and vaguely saw the cave.
In the deepest part, someone is sitting against the wall.
She walked towards it. However, the clouds and mist gathered in front of her, outlining a pure white figure that looked young.
"Who are you, the new monster in the village?" The white girl floated in the air, looking into her eyes curiously, "There is nothing fun here, go back quickly!"
Anya shook her head gently.
"I am a human," she said, "You are You'er, right?"
The girl nodded.
"I came here to find Asang from Linglan Village. Qingluo said you know where he is."
"Asang is here. But... he is resting and doesn't want anyone to disturb him." The girl stared at her intently, "So, I won't let you pass."
This was not the answer she wanted, but it was vaguely expected. It seemed that the "dream spirit" in front of her did know something. Anya tried to make her voice softer, "Why did he choose to rest here... instead of in the village?"
?”
"I don't know." You'er shook his head and said, "He often rests here. He has been like this since before I was born."
The monster in front of her is still in its infancy, but Anya is not sure how long it will take for the "Dream Spirit" to truly grow up. This means that the 'Asan' may have stayed here for a long time, even before he became Suzuran
A member of the village before.
In the memory, the past 'demon kings' tried to find the source of those 'helps', but found nothing. Maybe the other party had been living in this deep cave, alone... until he met Qingluo more than fifty years ago.
"You seem... worried about him." The white girl suddenly said, "Are you Asang's friend?"
She almost forgot that the monster in front of her could sense the emotions of the outside world - and even be affected by them. Anya took a few deep breaths to calm down a little.
"Maybe..." She lowered her head, as if talking to herself, "I have never seen his face, but... he should have helped me -"
"It doesn't matter." A gentle voice said, "You are here, that's all."
Anya raised her head, just in time to meet the pair of emerald eyes. Just one glance, and it seemed as if something controlled her thoughts, making her almost unable to look away.
He was indeed not a Yinil. No Yinil had long green hair or such slender and elegant ears. Likewise, she had never seen such an unforgettable expression. The man's eyes were mixed.
Sadness and tenderness, as well as longing that is so thick that it cannot be dissolved, seem to have accumulated for hundreds of years until this moment.
"Mr. Asang..." She swallowed hard so that she could speak, "Is that you?"
The young man looked at her tenderly, as if he was looking at an extremely rare treasure, "That's right, Anya."
"It was you... who helped me, and every previous demon king?"
The corners of Asang's lips slowly raised, and it was the most touching smile Anya had ever seen, "Yes."
"And you... are the one who first integrated the demon clan and established the alliance."
"That's right." The young man nodded without hesitation, "You remembered, Anya." His voice was softer, "What do you need me to do this time?"
So far, she has achieved most of her goal this time. Her intuition tells the girl that as long as she speaks now, no matter what the request is, the man in front of her will agree. However, she gently pressed her chest, exhaled, and said
I plan to bury it deep in my heart.
There must be a reason why Asang has such a special attitude towards her. This may be a worthless curiosity about her ideals - but Anya doesn't want to accept...or "use" the person in front of her in this situation.
The kindness of men.
"Asang." She said softly, "Can you answer a few questions for me?"
The man looked at her silently, and the meaning in his eyes was very clear: everything was as she wished. So she lowered her head, avoiding those two gentle eyes, so that her heart could temporarily settle down.
"What is the reason for your alliance...?"
"Her wish is to make this continent a place where any intelligent creature can live safely." Asang's voice seemed very close and yet very far away, "The empire has protected mankind, so what I need to do is let
Monsters find a home."
This sounds like her wish, Anya thought. But the man mentioned in his words was obviously another person. She suppressed the strange thoughts that suddenly came to her and asked another prepared question.
"You...have been paying attention to me, right." The girl felt her heart beating fast, "Can you tell me the reason?"
There was silence for a moment. The man seemed to take a few steps closer and stood less than two feet away from her. She raised her head slightly, stared at his chest, and imagined what the look on that handsome face would look like now.
"I think you know, Anya." The voice seemed to contain infinite expectation and tolerance, "You must know."
But she couldn't remember anything. The girl looked around, trying to find some clues that she could use. She saw You'er sizing up Asang and herself not far away, her round eyes full of questions; the walls of the cave were very strange.
Smooth, very different from what she had seen on the road - there was nothing unusual about the magic here. The only remaining possibility was that someone had deliberately repaired it.
The girl's eyes moved forward along the rock wall. There was something standing quietly at the end of the cave, which did not look like a natural product. She took a breath and ran quickly over there.
As the distance gradually got closer, she could see clearly that it was a rectangular stone tablet. It was about three feet high and one and a half feet wide. It was made of white granite with light blue patterns. It was solid and simple. What was engraved on one side of the stone tablet?
, she crouched down and tried to read, but it was a language she had never learned.
The soft footsteps stopped not far behind. Anya did not look back. She did not want to see the disappointed or sad face of the other party. She took another step forward, stretched out her hand, and gently touched the unreadable words.
There was a cold and hard touch on her hand. It was as if something was beating inside the stone tablet, exactly in sync with her heartbeat.
Anya closed her eyes again and tried to read the content of the stone tablet with her heart instead of her sight.