Morlett followed the young officer out of the woods in a daze. These things were too incredible for him. He had never heard of things like meditation spaces and spirit servants. As a leader of the Black Guards, intelligence and information were always his proudest things. In the empire, there were people stronger than him, and some nobler than him, but few knew more than him. Today's series of events refreshed his cognition.
Realizing that he had not been deceived, he could finally listen to the officer's introduction of the place with a little calmness. He also remembered the young officer's name, Song Hongyang.
The two of them walked out of the autumn woods, and what appeared before their eyes was a spring scene. He saw the green fields separated by horizontal paths, extending to a town in the distance. And behind the town, the green gradually changed to white, and in every direction there were snow fields and snow-capped mountains that wrapped up this spring scenery. It was as if this was a place in the world of ice and snow that was blessed by the gods of nature.
Mollett looked down at his feet. He was standing on a dividing line. Behind him was the ground covered with dead leaves, and in front of him was green grass. He held a yellow fallen leaf in his left hand and a bunch of fresh green grass in his right hand. The grass and leaves felt very real. If there was anything different from what he had seen before, it was that they were a little cleaner: "These grass stems, leaf veins, dust, no dream can be so real. If it weren't for the changes in my own body, I couldn't believe that this was not a real world. I would rather believe that I was teleported to some other world."
Song Hongyang smiled briefly, stretched out a hand, pinched his thumb and index finger in the air and pulled, a cigarette appeared in his hand, he snapped his fingers, a cluster of flames appeared between his fingers. "I'm not a magician, and this is not magic. Have you ever seen someone create something out of thin air?"
He put the cigarette to his lips, took a deep puff, and then made a second one in the same way, handing it to Mollett, "Try it, this is something good that is not available in the outside world."
Mollett took the cigarette and took a puff, imitating Song Hongyang. The taste was a bit pungent, but for a soldier like him, he fell in love with the taste at the first puff.
Song Hongyang said: "We spirit servants will gradually master the ability to transform this world with our will in the meditation space. To put it bluntly, Luo Ling will share some of the control here with us. Mages are naturally better at this, but we warriors can do it. After that, you will find that you will not be hungry. Eating or drinking is just to enjoy sensory stimulation. How can there be such a real world?"
"Well, you're right." Mollett took another puff of cigarette. The smell of tobacco entering his lungs felt both real and unreal. "You don't seem to be that hostile to me. We were mortal enemies just now outside."
Song Hongyang said: "Since they have become spirit servants, they are our own. No matter whether we dislike each other or not, we will fight in the same trench in the future. There is no such thing as betrayal among spirit servants."
"You mean, she controls everything, including my will?" asked Mollett.
"No, your will is still yours, but your existence depends on her." Song Hongyang said, "If she blocks your access to the spiritual power here, you will be imprisoned in the deepest part of this world. Time and space will have no meaning to you. Just think about how terrifying this is. You don't want to go that far."
"No wonder she wanted to 'save me' like this, it turns out she made me her slave."
Song Hongyang laughed and said, "Being a slave is better than being dead, isn't it?"
Mollett said: "Indeed."
"Come on, follow me to pick up your subordinates." Song Hongyang exhaled a puff of smoke, "By the way, take a look at this place, it's much better than you think."
The two walked along the path towards the town in the distance. From a distance, the town was a patch of black and white. As they got closer, Mollett found that the town looked very peculiar. The houses in the town were not tall, with the most being three stories high. The houses looked very similar, with white walls and black tiles. The roofs looked very peculiar, and at the corners, they were always raised, drawing a graceful arc.
When they entered the town, they crossed a stone arch bridge, under which there was a small stream surrounding the town. Although he had never seen a town of this style before, Mollett could feel a sense of beauty and a distinct exotic atmosphere.
"This is Taoyuan Town. The name was chosen by everyone's vote. However, I don't like it very much. The houses here are built in the architectural style of my hometown.
Luo Ling built this town in the beginning to accommodate those of us whose bodies were destroyed by the Black Death and only our souls were left. At that time, the town was only one-third of its current size. Later, we built our own houses and expanded the town, and continued in her style. The houses you see now were all built by us brick by brick. "
There were almost no people in the town. The one or two people who appeared occasionally were mostly dressed similarly to Song Hongyang. When they saw Mollete, they would look at him a few more times. Their eyes were not friendly, but they would not come up to ask anything.
"There should have been a lot of people living in this town originally, right?" asked Mollett.
"Yes. Most of the spirit servants are outside fighting. Hehe, those who came back here were killed. If I hadn't been killed by you, I wouldn't be responsible for the task of guiding you."
"No wonder those guys looked familiar." said Mollett.
The two walked in the town, and Mollett discovered that there were actually restaurants, shops, and workshops here, but now they were all empty. Mollett asked, "Are there any restaurants here?"
Song Hongyang walked along the stone road and said, "Although we don't need food, what's the point of living if we can't eat and drink together. Eating and drinking are not just for living."
Mollett thought to himself that this was an idea that only aristocrats would have. Just ask every poor person in the world who can only eat black bread, isn't the purpose of eating and drinking to live
Song Hongyang finally stopped at an open space at the other end of the town. Mollett saw a light gate standing in the air in the square.
Song Hongyang said: "This is where your subordinates will appear soon. When we were guiding your soul in just now, because your soul was too powerful, some problems occurred, so you fell into the Four Seasons Forest. Now, Luo Ling has reinforced the passage here, so we can guide them accurately." (To be continued)