The school on the upper floors of the White Tower and the classrooms where young children are raised are beautiful and warm.
The teachers are gentle and loving, and the children in guide uniforms are playing carefree.
A boy was not playing with his friends, but was sitting alone in a corner drawing. The teacher came over, bent down and half-crouched beside him, smiling,
"Tsubaki is drawing again. Can you show it to the teacher?"
The sketchbook depicts a colorful sea of flowers under the starry sky. A long colorful corridor winds through the sea of flowers, leading to a pavilion made of gems.
Gorgeous brushstrokes, dreamlike composition, a world that only exists in fairy tales.
"Wow, it's a sea of flowers. Xiaochun's painting is so beautiful." The teacher praised in a very exaggerated tone, pointing at a row of small red graffiti on the edge of the sea of flowers and asked,
"But what are these red railings? The teacher thinks the color seems a bit too abrupt."
Those red graffiti looked like blood and were very uncomfortable.
"Those are wooden stakes with sentinels hanging on them. The red color looks like blood flowing down." The boy pointed at the red with his tiny finger and explained seriously, as if he was stating a fact.
The teacher's face suddenly changed. He forced a smile, stood up and left quickly.
"You are so stupid. You know the teacher won't like it, so why do you insist on telling the truth?"
The person who said this was a girl of the same age. Like him, the girl did not participate in the children's games. She sat nearby, reading a book of her own.
She looked thinner and darker than the boy, but her eyes were bright and her young face showed a hint of indifference.
"But, Xiaojiu. This is the picture I dreamed of." The boy stroked the beautiful sea of flowers on the picture with his fingers and lowered his head. "I think this is the world outside the tower. I have lived in the tower since I was a child and have never seen the outside world. I just want to paint the world in my dream completely."
"Outside the tower?" said the girl named Xiaojiu. "It's not like this outside the tower."
"That's right. Xiaojiu came in when he was very old. Have you seen the real sky outside? What kind of world is that?" The boy became excited, "I really hope to have a chance to go out and take a look."
"The world outside." The girl murmured softly.
In her memory, the world outside the tower was only a sky covered with coal dust, endless coal briquettes, and those hideous villains.
Grandpa was very old and had many illnesses, but he was the only person in the world who truly loved her. Unlike the teachers here, who only smiled on their faces. The emotions in their hearts were so ugly that she didn't even bother to read them.
It's a pity that grandpa died. Died in the dark night.
At night, Xiaojiu was lying in his own small dormitory, and he heard the sound of paintbrushes coming from next door.
The brushstrokes were quick and rapid, and the sound continued until late at night.
"Aren't you going to sleep yet?" Xiaojiu turned over a little impatiently.
"Oh, sorry." The sound of painting on the other side of the wall stopped, and the boy's voice came, "Because this might be the last time I paint, I painted a little hurriedly."
There was a small window between the two rooms, separated by a solid iron railing.
After a while, the boy stuffed his sketchbook through the gap in the railing.
"Xiaojiu, I want to give you my sketchbook." The boy's childish face appeared behind the prisoner-like bars, revealing a flattering smile, "I always feel that one day you can help me take it out."
His face was pale and a little panicked, as if he knew what was about to happen.
Xiaojiu knew that he was the one with the strongest mental power among their group of children.
Sometimes this classmate can even perceive the world far away, and is so sensitive that he can predict some things that will happen in the future.
But in this school, being too good is not a good thing.
Late at night in the student dormitory, there was a lot of footsteps outside the corridor.
That sound struck the hearts of the two young children, and the faces of the two people looking at each other across the window turned pale.
Xiaojiu hesitated for a moment, then quickly reached out and took the picture album.
She lay down against the cold wall, holding the sketchbook, and immediately heard the sound of the door next door being opened.
There was some slight commotion afterwards, the stomping of army boots, and the muffled groaning of a boy with his mouth covered.
Xiaojiu lay there motionless, curled up into a small ball, hugging the sketchbook tightly, trying to steady his breathing and pretending to be asleep.
She knew in her heart that the little boy who loved painting in the next room had been taken away.
This kind of thing actually happens quite often in this completely closed academy.
Every now and then one of my classmates disappears.
The teacher would not mention it too much, nor would he allow them to ask too many questions, as if that child and that young guide did not exist in the world.
Soon, new children wearing pure white guide uniforms will be brought in, some are very young, and some are about her age.
The school is still full of laughter, as if it will always be carefree.
The door of the house next door was closed again, and the footsteps quickly moved away and gradually disappeared.
Everything fell silent.
After a long time, Xiaojiu's tightly curled up body slowly relaxed.
With the dim light of a night lamp, she opened the picture album she was holding in her arms and read it page by page.
The boy's paintings are beautiful, colorful and bizarre.
There are pale pillars and countless palms reaching towards the sky.
The branches and leaves of the golden tree reach up to the sky, but the trunk of the tree sheds golden tears.
There is a scarlet cave covering the entire picture, and in the center of the cave is a pulsating scarlet egg.
In the magnificent temple, there are countless scratched eyes.
There are many towers, all dyed black, red, no longer pure white, twisted and deformed, crumbling...
The last one was painted today. After a night of refinement, the picture is so vivid that it seems real.
Bright flowers, brilliant starry sky, and a jewel pavilion standing far away in the sea of flowers.
At the entrance to the sea of flowers, there was a row of sharp wooden stakes. The sentinels who died tragically looked in agony, their red blood watering the land full of flowers under their feet.
Xiaojiu wiped the edge of the canvas with her fingers, revealing a small corner of the white skirt. It looked a bit like a guide's uniform.
If you have to use your imagination, it's as if there is a guide like you, walking into this colorful and bloody picture.
Yun Luo stood in the sea of flowers, looking at the row of glaring blood-red wooden stakes in front of him.
Sharp wooden stakes stand in rows at the edge of the sea of flowers, tortured sentinels, blood that dyes the earth red, and a giant mantis slowly approaches.
Everything was the same as the photo he had kept since childhood.
I knew in my heart that this was an illusion. The events in the photo had happened ten years ago, and the teacher had died long ago.
He knew that he was being carried away by a powerful mental force and was being invaded by the enemy's mind.
But the teacher whom I had respected since childhood was right in front of me, covered in blood, struggling in agony under torture, and shouting my name in pain.
"Xiao Luo, help, save the teacher."
Yun Luo couldn't help it and took a step forward.
Just one step, one foot down, and the world in front of me collapsed.
He waved his arms to steady himself, only to find that his right hand had been broken.
Where is my hand? When was it broken
Yun Luo was shocked, his mind was in a mess, and his body was falling down.
Countless chaotic voices rang in my mind.
"Xiao Luo, the teacher has to go on a mission. He may be away from you for a while. You stay at home and wait for the teacher to come back."
The teacher who taught him since childhood squatted down, smiled and touched his head.
The father's majestic voice sounded, "Your teacher has died. Why? Of course, for the glory of the empire."
"It is common for sentinels to die in contaminated areas. Put away your tears and be polite. Your teacher is just a civilian, he is not worth your tears."
"Yun Luo, I don't know what you are thinking! You are a noble, and the dirty and dangerous frontline battlefield is not suitable for you. You are not allowed to lead the team anymore."
The comrades' voices rang out, "Captain Yun, Captain Yun, you are so amazing. We never thought that there would be such an amazing warrior like you among the nobles."
"Team Cloud, don't go forward. Let's retreat. We can't save those children. That's the Golden Tree contaminated area, there's no way back."
Countless noises ring in my ears.
Whether it was pain, kindness, slander, or sarcasm, the voices in his memories mixed together and made him feel a splitting headache.
The fall stopped.
He was pressed into a cold iron cage.
Several giant poultry strode towards him. The monsters clamped his body and arms, and no matter how he struggled, he could not move.
He could only turn his eyes with difficulty and watch helplessly as a cold saw blade cut through his muscles and bones bit by bit, and as he screamed, his right hand was cut off alive.
This was his deepest nightmare.
The nightmare was resurrecting and fear gripped his heart.
His arm was broken, and he was locked in an iron cage. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a monster holding a paintbrush, and the cold tip of the brush drew a strange rune on his abdomen.
He knew what it was.
They were modifying his body, about to turn him from a human being into an animal imprisoned on a farm.
Didn't I wake up? Yun Luo thought in confusion.
In fact, I have never been saved, nor have I escaped. I have always been living miserably in this hell.
It was just that he was crazy and had a dream. He dreamed that he returned to the crowd and met his best friend.
The sentry opened his eyes in despair, looking at the endless dark sky above his head.
A tiny tentacle emerged from nowhere.
It was very small and didn't have much power. It just tapped his forehead lightly, leaving a slightly cool feeling.
[Yunluo. Wake up quickly] A familiar voice was calling him.
Yun Luo was in a trance for a moment.
The force of the clamp disappeared, and he seemed to be lying on a haystack in a warehouse. A guide with a vague face said to him,
"Wait here, I'll open the door."
When he was young, his teacher touched his head and said to him, "Xiao Luo, wait here. The teacher is going to the contaminated area."
When he grew up, Guide Lin said to him, "Wait here, I will open the escape door for you."
He was so weak and never had the strength to do anything but wait in the back.
The black unicorn neighed, smoke came out of its four hooves, and it stepped out from the void, carrying Yun Luo on its back and sprinting out.
Yun Luo opened his eyes and found himself riding on the back of a unicorn, leaving the dark nightmare and returning to the sea of flowers.
On the wooden stake, the teacher who had taught him for many years looked at him with bloodshot eyes and a sad expression.
"Teacher, from the day you died, I swore to find out the truth about your death. Find out the truth about this world."
Yun Luo raised his only arm and closed his painful eyes on the rack.
"Leave the rest to me, you can leave with peace of mind."
The teacher who had been dead for many years finally closed his eyes in front of him, with a hint of relieved smile at the corners of his bloodstained mouth.
Yun Luo looked around and saw a huge Kraken appearing on the other side of the sea of flowers.
Countless tentacles stepped out from the void, preparing to move into a deeper spiritual realm.
The red tentacles were wriggling all over the sky, and the cold yellow pupils were looking towards him.
That was the spirit of Lin Yuan Guide, his grateful, respected and familiar companion.
The huge Kraken stood in the long colorful corridor across the sea of flowers, and its golden pupils glanced at him from afar.
This is the enemy's mental picture. He has woken up, but Lin Yuan is risking his life and preparing to go deeper.
She didn't open her mouth to speak, but Yun Luo could hear her voice.
[I'll leave the battle outside to you, Yunluo Sentinel.]
Yun Luo opened his eyes on the sofa.
He pulled himself out of layer after layer of mental images and finally woke up in the real world.
In front of him, Du Yuanyuan had just opened her eyes and barely stood up, and the giant panda had already appeared, ready to join the battlefield.
Rachel got up from the ground, her long hair loose, and walked forward. Nicole frowned and was about to wake up.
And Lin Yuan, their guide stood behind everyone with his eyes closed, holding the back of the sofa.
Ni Ji's red knife was stained with blood, and he had been protecting them for a long time.
It's time to join the war, Yun Luo thought, this time he will never stay behind.
The mechanical prosthesis broke halfway, but he still had a hand and a flesh and blood body.
The handsome black unicorn's four hooves produced billowing black smoke, and its sharp horn on its forehead flashed a cold light as it rushed towards the battlefield in front of it.
In the real world, the Sentinels woke up one by one and were fighting fiercely with the mutants that broke out of the ground.
In the spiritual picture, Lin Yuan stepped into the five-colored corridor.
It was a long and winding tunnel. The lights were bizarre and strange. Once you stepped inside, your feet would float and the space would twist.
The forest garden floated in the gorgeous torrent. From afar, I could see the colorful pavilion standing in the center of the flowing splendor. There, the powerful Queen of Food Pang waited for me to arrive at her side with a half-smile.
Lin Yuan spread out his tentacles and swam forward.
A sea of fire first ignited around me. The snow-covered courtyard was engulfed in flames.
This was her biggest concern, but this time she did not hesitate at all and stepped out of the sea of fire.
The magnificent light of the spiritual universe is wandering around us, like a flowing river, surrounded by wandering galleries, connecting the thoughts and memories of countless people.
She saw Du Yuanyuan.
The powerful female warrior cut off the head of her beloved with her own hands. Lin Yuan extended a thin tentacle to connect to her spiritual world, and felt her sadness and pain.
Lin Yuan held her hand and called her name in her ear.
[Yuanyuan, wake up]
Du Yuanyuan came to her senses, nodded at her, and disappeared from the mental picture.
In the long river, Lin Yuan saw Rachel again.
The Golden Lion was drowning in the flood of memories, struggling in pain and suffocation.
A tentacle swam over.
Pushing a piece of driftwood for him. The powerful warrior quickly woke up, floated to the surface, grabbed the driftwood, nodded at her, disappeared in the dilemma of the mental picture, and returned to reality.
She saw Yunluo.
She woke up Yunluo.
Seeing Nicole in pain, she comforted her friend and partner.
Lin Yuan moved forward all the way, and in the chaotic mental picture, he did not shirk or give up, and rescued every one of his companions.
The great pain and heavy suffering endured by each person were clearly conveyed to Lin Yuan's mind.
Moving forward in such a spiritual torrent, she was constantly disturbed by the Food Queen and came into contact with several sentinels at the same time, which gave her a splitting headache and unbearable pain.
But no matter how much pain and suffering the incestuous relationship brought her, it never made her lose her way or diverted her direction.
It seemed as if someone was holding her tentacles.
The hand was stained with blood, yet gentle and powerful, like an anchor in the sea, firmly holding her from behind as she sailed across the ocean.
Keep her awake at all times and don't get lost.
She knew that she was not fighting alone. Ni Ji was outside, also fighting hard and bloody, protecting her and everyone else.
She could feel the Sentinel's grip on the tentacle.
That was her sentinel, giving her sugar, lending her strength, allowing her to be steady, riding the wind and waves, and crossing the sea.
Swim towards the colorful pavilion in the sea of flowers, and towards the Queen of Food standing in the center of the torrent.
(End of this chapter)