Kalinger walked to the rock wall and set the elf down. Wu Ri touched the stone wall with one hand and said, "Mr. Hunter, you have to promise me one thing."
Kalinger said, "Don't call me that, wouldn't it be better to call me by my first name?"
Wu Ri looked back at him: "Sorry... what's your name?"
Kalinger repeated his name dumbfounded. Rime seriously repeated what he said just now: "Mr. Kalinger, you have to promise me one thing. No matter what you see in the Moonfall Tower, please keep it secret."
"Of course. Bounty hunters have tight mouths," Kalinger said.
Rime nodded, and recited the spell as before, and the gate of the Falling Moon Tower appeared on the rock wall.
Entering the Falling Moon Tower this time, the atmosphere inside the tower seemed to have changed slightly. The air is darker and more humid than before, and the temperature has dropped a lot. In short, it is less suitable for living things to live in than before.
Rime directly took Kalinger to the floating plate. Kalinger asked: "If you want to reach the bottom of the Moonfall Tower, do you have to go through the spell barrier?"
Rime said: "There is indeed a magic barrier. It's actually very simple. If you can't go down alone, you can go with me. Jinghu's magic barrier is only open to him. If others want to come in, he must lead it personally." guests."
The previous few rides on the floating disc, Kalinger was able to see the appearance of each floor clearly, but this time, as the floating disc slowly descended, the things around him became more and more blurred, and the boundaries between floors were gradually swallowed by darkness.
"I saw your laboratory before," Kalinger said. "You seem to have caught a lot of infected bodies. Are you experimenting with that small drug?"
"Yes. It's a pity that I did it very slowly. I'm too clumsy, far less skilled than Teacher Jinghu."
After the surrounding space became completely pitch black, Rime and Kallinger walked up a section of stone steps. The stone steps are disconnected from the other steps above and must be reached through the floating disc.
They had only taken two or three steps downward, and the surroundings changed again. What they were standing on was not stone steps, but a slope made of hard soil.
The two went down the ramp, and after a while, they came to the huge crystal wall in the darkness.
Kalinger thought he was well-informed, but he was also deeply shocked by the sight in front of him.
Wu Rime knelt down, the hem of his robe was stained with dirt, and his long pale golden hair fell to the ground. He pressed his forehead and palms against the crystal wall, his lips muttering inaudibly.
At first, Kalinger wanted to reach out to help him, but he felt that the rime might be casting a spell, so he stood aside and did not touch him.
Inside the crystal, a group of lighter-colored shadows gradually emerged from the deep darkness. The shadow and the rime looked at each other from a distance, and there were waves of vibrations in the crystal.
The shadow almost spread to the front of the rime, separated from him by a distance of one person's width. When the palm of the rime moves, the shadow has been closely following the trajectory of the hand.
Sometimes the shadow retreats into the deep, and sometimes rushes to the shallow layer. It hits the surface of the crystal again and again, just like a big fish that cannot break free from the shackles of the water surface.
"What is this?" Kalinger instinctively touched the hilt of his sword. Rationally speaking, he also understands that this thing should not be afraid of ordinary swords.
Rime replied: "It is the source of this alien infection."
"It seems to be a living thing, not a demon's bone or something..." Kalinger walked in, carefully observing the shadow swimming in the crystal, "It's a bit like a shadow creature, or some kind of alien creature that I haven't seen before. You say it is the source of infection, but this is not in line with common sense, living demons cannot cause alien infections, just like living people cannot spread ghoul disease."
Wu Ri nodded: "I know quite a lot. Bounty hunters are really not easy."
Kalinger laughed and said, "It's rare to hear you praise someone."
Wurime continued: "You are right. Under normal circumstances, living demons will not cause alien infection. But in the laboratories of necromancer and alien school researchers, these common senses are often subverted. Although they will not let living demons spread the infection, they will transform the abyssal elements that can spread the infection so that they have the soul and mind of a living creature."
"You mean..."
Rime touched the crystal and said: "Mr. Kalinger, as you can see, what is isolated in the crystal is a huge cluster of abyssal elements. This kind of thing is like fire or water, which should be just unconscious elements, but This element cluster has autonomous consciousness and aggressiveness, in a sense, it is equivalent to a living demon, and at the same time can infect the surrounding water, soil and creatures."
"Let me guess again. Could it be... It is the research result of your teacher?"
"Yes, it is the result of the teacher's research," said Wusong softly, "it is also Teacher Jinghu himself."
Kalinger looked at the crystal. When the shadow was very close to the crystalline surface, he could see the outline of the shadow—it was a huge humanoid object.
It is several times larger than common humanoids, but not as stocky as trolls. It is slender and sinuous, with distorted proportions, like a human-shaped shadow cast on a stone, pulling out strange dancing lines under the trick of light.
Rime looked at the crystal, and briefly told about Jinghu.
Jinghu came to this mountain hundreds of years ago. His purpose was to enter the mountain and find the battlefield sites and relic buildings recorded in ancient books.
The locals have rumored that there are demons hiding under the mountain, but this is both true and false. What "the dragon ate the demon and turned into a mountain" is obviously nonsense, but this area was indeed a battlefield in ancient times, and there were indeed bones buried deep underground, among which were a large number of alien creatures. In the earlier years, in order to commemorate and guard, people built a spiral underground temple that went deep into the mountain and went vertically downward.
Jinghu transformed the ancient ruins in the mountains into a research room, lived here all year round, and romantically named the ruins "Moon Falling Tower".
As for why he was far away from his hometown and alone, Wu Ri never got a clear answer. He could only guess that because Mr. Jinghu was an elf from the southwest forest, the elves rarely got involved in otherworldly studies and necromancy. They regarded such schools as blasphemy and usually kept them at a respectful distance.
There is nothing much to say about the life of Master Jinghu. To laymen, it is nothing more than a bunch of boring journals.
In short, this "tower" and the various mechanisms in the tower are all handwritten by Jinghu, including the huge crystal barrier in front of him, which was also developed by Jinghu to study the abyss elements safely.
Over the long years, Jinghu has developed a vague friendship with the human villagers at the foot of the mountain. According to Wusong's recollection, Jinghu seldom laughed, but when he received the villagers' reply, he was amused to laugh out loud several times.
Despite this, the distance between the elves and the villagers has never been closer. Jinghu is unwilling to have too much friendship with humans, and the villagers are also a little afraid of things like elves, mages, and demon remains.
Rime doesn't remember how many years he has been with Jinghu. It should at least exceed the lifespan of an ordinary human being.
In the past, he never contacted the outside world, let alone corresponded with the villagers. It was not until recent years that he had to contact the villagers.
Because Teacher Jinghu is no longer here.
In a failed magic experiment, Jinghu took out the abyss element by himself, but failed to control it, so he was infected by a foreign world.
If nothing is done, Jinghu's body will gradually mutate, and his soul will dissipate little by little. After the original personality dies, he will become a true abyssal creature. This process cannot be reversed, it can only be delayed, but Jinghu is not depressed or afraid, on the contrary, he is a little excited.
He didn't give up. He not only restarted the experiment, but also regarded himself as the last experimental subject.
"So, this is his achievement?" Hearing this, Kalinger carefully observed the shadow in the crystal again, "A cluster of alien elements with self-consciousness? This is what he wants to make? What can it be used for? "
Rime smiled ashamedly: "I can't answer this question. I don't have as much knowledge as my teacher. I only know that a lot of arcane research seems useless in the early stage, but in fact, it is possible for them to continue to develop. Changed a lot of things. Just like your sword, it has high-level arcane protection enchantment on it, which is named dragon bite weapon. A long time ago, when mages just studied the enchantment method, they could only make characters appear on the molten iron , and it can only be written, but the spell cannot take effect. Back then, people didn't understand the meaning of this matter."
Kalinger nodded: "That's right. But your teacher has become like this... Can he continue to conduct research? It is said to have self-awareness, but this thing is just a mess no matter how you look at it. Its wisdom reaches the depths of the abyss. Are inferior monsters inferior?"
"Yes. It is not as smart as a dog." Wusong said.
Kalinger was silent for a few seconds, and asked: "... Is that how you judge your teacher?"
"This is the truth. Although it is said to be a quiet lake, in fact... the quiet lake has long since disappeared."
"Did you really compare it to a dog?"
"I have made basic interactive attempts on it, and compared some indicators with various animals and humans."
Rime answered very seriously, as if she didn't notice the subtle banter in Kalinger's words.
When writing the letter, he was full of witty words, but he was so sincere and gentle when speaking face to face... Kalinger wanted to tease him a few words to relieve the tense atmosphere, but instead he made himself feel guilty.
In addition, Kalinger has one more curious thing: inside the crystal is the "result" of the transformation of Jinghu, and sitting outside the crystal is the corpse left by Jinghu...
Who is "Smog"? Or, what is it
When Rime talked about the interaction with Jinghu, Kalinger imagined two identical elves, but in fact it was definitely not the case. The current rime is the corpse of Jinghu, so what was the form of the rime in the past
Wu Ri told so many secrets about Falling Moon Tower, but didn't mention his identity. It certainly wasn't because he forgot to mention it, obviously he was avoiding or procrastinating on purpose.
The shock waves from the depths of the crystal became more and more intense, causing the ground to tremble.
Rime once again lay her whole body on the crystal wall, muttering softly, as if to appease the cluster of elements inside.
After the shadow receded a little and stopped impacting the surface of the crystal, Rime helped the crystal to get up slowly, staggered back to the side of the ramp, and sat at a suitable height. Kalinger also followed, holding the scabbard and standing in front of him with folded arms.
Wu Ri said: "Teacher Jinghu has expected the situation today. This element cluster was born directly in the laboratory. It is a very powerful prototype. It is more dangerous than any otherworldly item. If it is not controlled properly, not only the animals in the mountains will be infected, and the infection may invade the entire Black Tree Village, and even more cities in the distance. Therefore, the teacher also designed a set of coping methods in advance, and asked me to implement them slowly in the days to come. As long as I follow the steps step by step Follow the teacher's instructions, and the alien infection will definitely be terminated."
"How does it end?" Kalinger asked.
"The same as the common method you know, kill the infected body."
"Kill the elements?"
Rime said: "I understand your doubts. Elements are not demons, so they can't be 'killed', they can only be driven away or homogenized by themselves. But this element cluster is different. After Teacher Jinghu's soul is integrated into it, now it is A living thing."
"How to kill? Break the crystal and let it out?"
Rime shook his head: "It can't be released easily. When the teacher refined the elements, he used the remains of demons from the entire ancient battlefield below the ruins, so what we see now is very powerful...Mr. Kalinger, you understand the power system of abyssal creatures ?"
Kalinger put it bluntly: "I've slain demons. More than once."
Rime said: "The analogy is more intuitive... The power of this element cluster is almost equivalent to a demon lord. If you understand the creatures of the abyss, you must understand that this is not something that a few hunters or spellcasters can deal with."
Kalinger nodded slowly. Through the crystal, he couldn't intuitively feel the power of that thing.
He knew a little bit about things like demons. If what Wu Ri said is true, to kill this demon lord-like abyss creature, at least a few knights must be mobilized, and then a group of high-level arcane spellcasters... and even if they win, they will suffer heavy casualties.
"However, we don't have to worry too much," Wu Ri said with a smile, "it was made by the teacher, and the teacher certainly knows how to destroy it. Over the years, I have been carrying out the teacher's instructions and preparing little by little. I can Weaken this elemental cluster, wait until the time is right, and finally neutralize it. Now that the spell is almost ready, this disaster can end."
"What spell?" Kalinger asked.
Wu Ri showed a troubled expression: "I can't tell... I'm really not very knowledgeable, but I can only follow the teacher's instructions."
He never liked to meet people's eyes. Now, he raised his head and caught Kalinge's eyes, and then immediately averted his eyes.
"Don't you believe it?" Wu Song said, "If you know other mages, you can talk to them, they must understand. It is true that not every apprentice can understand the research of the mentor, but even if they don't understand, they can Carry out the order."
Kalinger said, "Are these things written in Jinghu's notes?"
Wu Ri said: "Yes. It's all in the notes, which he intends to leave to the world. Because of this, he doesn't mind destroying the first successful experiment. In the future, there will always be someone who will continue to study these in a safer environment. .His notes are in the study, if you want to see them, you can read them."
Karinge thought to himself, the research results of your mages are all recorded in arcane characters, I can't understand them at all...
Wu Ri said that he didn't understand the spells left by Jinghu, and he didn't know if he was telling the truth, or he was sure, anyway, others couldn't understand the notes.
Rime continued: "After sunset today, I plan to activate the final spell. Before that, I have to deal with the finishing work. You always said that you want to help, so I really want to ask you to do something, can you? "
Kallinger said, "Of course. Tell me."
"The first thing is about the other infected bodies in the mountain," Wu Song said, "In order to concentrate on casting spells, I will gradually remove all protective spells on the mountain, cut off the magic connection of all golems, and only keep the minimum lighting in the forest. But in this way, the remaining infected bodies in the mountains may run into the village. I have sent the golem to clean up several times before, but I am worried that there are still infected bodies that have not been found. I hope you can help me clean up the whole place. A mountain, wipe out all the infected bodies that are still alive."
Callinger said: "It's my job, and even if you don't ask me to do it, I have to do it sooner or later. But...you say you want to clean the whole mountain? The whole mountain? You know this mountain has How old is it?"
Wu Ri nodded clearly, took out a small flannel bag from the inner layer of the burqa, and handed it to Kalinger.
There was a handful of white pills in the flannel bag, the same as the one Wu Ri had given him before. The properties of the pills are slightly different this time, not as uniform as last time, some are big and some are small, some look more delicate, some are rough and irregular, as if they were produced in a hurry.
Rime explained: "You take this to the forest, drip blood on it, gently dissolve it, and smear it on your body or weapon, just like when you lied to my shield guard. For the infected body , this thing exudes an attractive smell, if you walk casually in the mountains and forests, the infection within the range will come to you actively."
He thought for a while, and then added: "Although it is said that you need to use blood to prescribe the pills, you don't have to use your blood. You can use any animal. Or you can go to the laboratory later and put a white label on the shelf. The vials are full of usable blood. And, before you go out, take a lighting stick. The light will dim, and you'll have to use it to light your way."
"You are really considerate." Kalinge nodded and took the flannel bag.
Wu Ri pondered for a while, then raised his head, and for some reason, he suddenly had the courage to look at people.
He said to Kalinger: "Besides, I want to ask you to do one more thing."
"You're welcome, just tell me."
"I want to entrust you to go to the Austrian Federation. I don't know where this institution is, because I haven't been there either. In short, you find them, tell them about the Falling Moon Tower, and then take their People come here. After the cleaning is almost done, don’t go back to the Falling Moon Tower, you have to go down the mountain and set off immediately. Because I hope you can leave quickly to do this.”
This was a somewhat unexpected commission. Kalinger asked, "Why did you go to the Austrian Federation?"
Wu Ri said: "Of course it is for the notes left by the teacher. Everything in Jinghu is in the Falling Moon Tower. These books not only contain experimental details, but also many other valuable achievements left by him. The teacher once told me that I must Protect his books and notes. There are so many mages in the world, someone will come to this ruin to bring the results of research to those who understand them. I can't take so many books by myself, and I'm just an apprentice , I need the help of experienced spellcasters to distinguish them."
Kalinger didn't answer right away. He frowned and looked at the rime, who looked uncomfortable and lowered his head again.
Seeing that Kalinge still didn't speak, Wu Ri asked in a low voice: "Can you...can you do me this favor?"
"But it's okay, but..." Kalinge rubbed his chin, "The job I took was to kill monsters, and the lord would pay me, but it's not my job to help people make bridges. I'm a bounty hunter, you You have to get paid for it."
"How much do you want? Or what? As long as I can afford it."
"It's very cheap," Kalinger said, "I want to know what you are. I want you not to evade or cover up, but to let me know who Rime is and what you are."
Rime has been dodging this topic, but after listening to Kalinger's words, instead of being nervous, he showed an expression of relief.
"I can't tell you now," he said with a smile, "I'll let you know after you come back with the mages, is that okay?"
Kallinger asked, "Will I be sure to know then?"
"I must know."
"Okay," Kalinger approached him, "Then I will trust you for the time being, and I will receive this reward later."
"Then let's go. I'll take you outside the tower..." Before Wu Song finished speaking, Kalinge suddenly reached out. Wu Song was startled at first, and then was hugged by the hunter again.
Wu Rime really staggered when walking, so he silently accepted the kindness.
They first went to the laboratory to get a small blood bottle and a lighting stick, and then sent Kalinger out to finish the work of clearing the forest.
The gate of the Falling Moon Tower opened again, and the sunlight of the day cast under the feet of the two of them. Kalinger put the rime down, and the rime leaned against the door.
Wu Ri confessed: "This time I will temporarily open the tower door so that you can come back to rest at any time during the hunt. At sunset, I will activate the spell to completely close the tower door. If you are in the tower at that time, you must Leave; if you are outside the tower, don't come back. Unrelated personnel inside the tower will interfere with the casting process, causing the spell to fail. This is not a joke, you have to take it seriously."
Kalinger said: "I understand, and then I will go to your second commission."
"Okay." Wu Rime nodded with a smile.
TBC