59
Ning Gu rarely saw Lian Chuan have any big expressions, let alone an expression of surprise. For a person like Lian Chuan who lives just for the sake of living, how could there be something that could make him uncontrollably surprised besides being called a little trumpet
"What's wrong?" Ning Gu immediately leaned over and took another look at the piece of paper. For the eight hundredth time, he saw those three lines of words that he didn't recognize any of but should be able to trace down.
"It's a bit too coincidental," Lian Chuan looked at the piece of paper, "How could there be such a coincidence."
"What coincidence?" Ning Gu said, "Will you die if you don't keep it a secret?"
"No." Lian Chuan replied and continued looking at the paper.
Ning Gu glared at him: "Since you won't die, can you tell me something?"
Lian Chuan placed the paper on his knees and read it to him word by word.
"Savior?" Ning Gu was not surprised at all and grasped this point first.
Perhaps it was because the meaning of these three words could be understood without considering the context, and he had been giving himself this title in a serious manner for quite a long time and was very familiar with it.
"Who is the savior?" Ning Gu held the piece of paper, "Does this mean there is really a savior... What's wrong with this person? He didn't even tear the whole thing, but only tore off a small corner..."
"Did Lin Fan ever mention the savior or anything like that to you?" Lian Chuan asked.
"No," Ning Gu glanced at him, "How could he possibly say such a childish word."
"I thought you didn't know." Lian Chuan said.
"Don't know what?" Ning Gu was stunned. "Childish? I know, I like being childish. What, do you have any objection?"
"No." Lian Chuan turned the paper over and over again for a while, "Then have you seen anything handwritten by Lin Fan? Or anything written by him."
"I haven't seen it. His room is full of books with words printed on them... Do you think it was written by Lin Fan?" Ning Gu took the paper. "Do you think he deliberately let me see it? It's unlikely..."
"Hasn't he been reminding you before?" Lian Chuan said.
"You've been to a ghost town, you know how strong the wind is," Ning Gu said, "Isn't the chance of a piece of paper like this being blown right to my feet when I put it in Tongue Bay a little too low?"
"A piece of torn paper, torn from something that seemed to be recording some events, happened to have the words 'Savior' torn on it, and then happened to be picked up by a person who claimed to be the savior every day, and this person happened to have opened something that was said to be open only by the savior..." Lian Chuan leaned against the wall of the cave, "The probability of this is not that high."
Ning Gu looked at him, and after a long while he took a breath: "Why does it sound like you are scolding me?"
"State a fact." Lian Chuan said.
"What facts?" Ning Gu frowned.
"There are people who say every day that they are saviors," Lian Chuan said.
"Still scolding me." Ning Gu confirmed.
"Then I'll scold you," Lian Chuan glanced at him, "Do you have any objection?"
"Not yet," Ning Gu leaned next to him, "I can't care about opinions right now... What about the first two sentences? What's incredible? He seems very surprised. What code? Brain... Brain what? Brain? What's wrong with the brain?"
"He has lost his brain." Lian Chuan said.
"Lian Chuan!" Ning Gu turned around and glared at him, "What do you mean?"
"Code," Lian Chuan closed his eyes, "Code, code is indeed closely related to us. Everything in the main city is arranged by the system. The system determines day and night, the system determines whether the sunlight is bright or dark, and the system determines what the food we eat tastes like... Do apples really taste like that? Are oranges really sweet? Or..."
"Is it really sweet?" Ning Gu understood what he meant. "Is it really sweet or is it the system telling us that it is sweet?"
"It's like a dream," Lian Chuan turned his head and looked at him, "Can you taste anything in a dream? No, but you can tell what something is when you eat it. When you see the purple ration, you know it tastes like grapes, because your brain tells you that purple tastes like grapes."
"What does that have to do with me picking up the piece of paper?" Ning Gu asked.
“… It doesn’t matter.” Lian Chuan said, “I’m just talking about another message on the piece of paper.”
"Oh." Ning Gu responded.
"But if you really want to find a connection, I can make one up for you," Lian Chuan said.
"Then you make it up." Ning Gu said.
"The code determines that the savior will pick up the savior's paper," Lian Chuan looked at him, "You picking up the paper is a set event. If you don't pick it up, the paper may float past there again and again."
Ning Gu half opened his mouth and looked at him in shock: "Your story is a bit scary."
"Eat something," Lian Chuan stood up and walked to the table. "After eating, I will go find the poet. You wait outside the cave. If anything happens to me, pull me back."
"Now?" Ning Gu stood up quickly, rubbing his legs that had been numbed by Lian Chuan's pressure and were just beginning to regain strength. "Isn't it too hasty?"
"The poet has come to see you," Lian Chuan said, "He is almost awake even though he is not fully awake yet. It is safer to be proactive than passive."
"Why don't I go," Ning Gu said, "Every time he comes, he looks for me. I have Qi Hang's ability. He even asked me who I am. What if I can't pull you out..."
"Taking the initiative to find him doesn't give him the chance to choose," Lian Chuan said, "If you go, you will be the only one who can enter his consciousness. If anything goes wrong, I won't be able to enter. Do you understand?"
"I see." Ning Gu looked at him, "You're afraid I'll die in there, right? I'm really touched."
"This sentence sounds like an insult." Lian Chuan lowered his head and took a box of rations and opened it.
When the ground shook again, Jiuyi had just repaired his foot, but he had not completely cut off the part that had melted together with the pipe.
The material of the pipe was better than those in the Lost Valley. He kept a part of it, which made his attack power stronger and he would be taller when he stood up.
"What's wrong?" Fulu ran over in panic, "Is the crack coming again?"
"Let's go up and take a look." Jiuyi said.
Fulu and Shouxi turned around and ran towards the nearest exit with a few little bats.
The cleanup team outside the exit had already set up camp, using bat tools to cut the black iron and build several layers of shelter.
"What's wrong?" Suki ran out and asked, "Is it cracked again?"
"Yes." The compass pointed in the direction of the Black Iron Wasteland.
In the distance, a bright flame was surging and jumping, slowly moving towards the main city along the cracks in the ground from the depths of the Black Iron Wasteland.
This crack is parallel to the previous one, but closer to the Lost Valley.
Many bats jumped out of the exit and squatted on the wasteland, watching the flames rising into the sky in the distance.
"Why is it fire here?" Ning Gu said, "The ones in the ghost town are all lightning."
"I don't know," Lian Chuan looked in the direction of the main city, "These may be two completely different places."
"Was the Ghost Town missed?" Ning Gu suddenly turned his head and leaned close to Lian Chuan's ear and lowered his voice, "Whether it's the main city, the Lost Valley, or the Black Iron Wasteland, there are no indigenous people, right?"
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
"If the old ghost didn't lie," Ning Gu still kept his voice down, "is the ghost town the corner that was missed during the last destruction?"
"Maybe," Lian Chuan said, "so let's destroy them together now."
Ning Gu looked at Lian Chuan. This guess shocked him, but Lian Chuan looked calm after hearing it.
"Are you surprised?" he couldn't help asking.
"Surprised." Lian Chuan said.
"...Okay." Ning Gu nodded.
The crack still stopped at the edge of the Black Iron Wasteland outside the main city, and was slightly further forward than the previous crack.
Lian Chuan looked at the scene in front of him and couldn't tell what he felt.
It was like the hand holding a revolving lantern, drawing lines on the ground, one, two, maybe three, four... eventually there would be one line passing through the main city.
Those fires will burn in the main city, and the residents who have nowhere to hide will be reduced to ashes in the fire.
First the people, then the houses, and then the whole city.
How many cracks will there be
Will anyone survive
Ghost town, or lost valley
"Come in." Lian Chuan turned around.
Ning Gu suddenly reached out and grabbed his arm, his voice trembling: "What is that?"
The bats all around started shouting, and the sharp metallic sounds merged into one.
Lian Chuan turned his head and saw changes in the sky above the main city.
All along, the sunlight has been like a net, blocking the invasion of black fog and providing a clear sky for the main city, although apart from the light, nothing else can be seen when looking up.
The day is pure white and the night is pure black.
But now, at dusk in the main city, the sunlight in the sky seemed to be torn apart, and something was slowly sinking in from outside.
"Is it the exit?!"
"It must be the exit!"
"It appeared! The exit appeared!"
“There really is an exit!”
Guangguang was lying on the hammock on the second floor. The vibration just now had shaken off the wall paint on the ceiling, leaving her covered in debris.
When she heard the sudden series of shouts coming from the street outside, her first reaction was to pull out the weapon given to her by Li Liang from the secret pocket under the hammock.
However, the shouting today was something that had not been heard in Area C for a long time.
During this period, apart from the shouting of the preaching team that could be heard in the distance, the only sounds of fighting, screams, wailing, crying, and desperate cursing swept through the streets from time to time.
Every sound is frightening.
Outside area B, it is already a wilderness.
And since yesterday, the patrols that would normally catch fugitives haven't even been seen.
When everyone is a fugitive, there are no fugitives.
She jumped out of the hammock, ran to the window, and slowly looked out.
There were many people standing on the ruined street downstairs, all of whom had run out from their hiding places.
Everyone looked up with shock written all over their faces.
After making sure there was no danger, Guangguang stuck his head out of the window and followed everyone's gaze upwards.
A huge translucent bubble slowly emerged from the sky-like sunlight, continued to sink, and hung above the northern boundary of Area B and Area C.
Guangguang looked at the scene in front of him and was so shocked that he lay on the windowsill for a long time without moving.
It was not until she heard a noise downstairs that she suddenly retracted her body and pointed her gun at the stairs to the second floor.
The first floor had been completely reduced to ruins. After several sweeps, the second floor was also almost damaged. If someone rushed up, Guangguang's only way to protect himself would be to shoot.
"Me." A voice came up from the bottom of the stairs.
"Uncle Fan?" Guangguang recognized it as Fan Lu's voice, but he still held the gun without relaxing.
"It's me," Fan Lu stretched out a hand from the stairs and shook it, "I'm alone."
Guangguang didn't lower his gun until he saw his entire body and made sure that there was nothing wrong with his expression.
"Weapons of the cleanup team?" Fan Lu recognized them at a glance.
"Yeah." Guang Guang nodded.
"That kid Li Liang gave it to you secretly, right?" Fan Lu smiled and looked around.
"I thought you were still in Area D." Guang Guang said, "There's nothing to eat or drink here now."
"I have it," Fan Lu said, "You can ask me if you need it."
Guangguang hung the gun on his waist, went to the window and pulled the torn curtains halfway, so that the building would look intact from the outside and it would not be easy to expose that there were people living upstairs.
"What is that?" She looked again through the gap in the curtains.
"I don't know," Fan Lu said, "but it's definitely not the exit."
"Why do you say it's not an exit?" Guangguang asked.
Although she also felt that it was not an exit, to be precise, she did not quite believe that there would be an exit, and it was even more difficult for her to believe that the exit would appear so obviously.
But when she heard Fan Lu say "not an exit" in a very certain tone, she suddenly realized that she was vaguely disappointed.
Even if you have made a choice that you will not regret, living is still the most primitive instinct in many people's hearts.
"Let's go," Fan Lu said, "Whatever this is, follow me to Lost Valley. The boss asked me to take a few travelers there. The cleanup team is also there."
"I'll stay here," Guang Guang said, "I want to stay in a familiar place and bear witness."
Although it has changed beyond all recognition, it is still a familiar place. I will remember what the collapsed houses looked like, what the empty shops looked like, and what everything that has disappeared looked like.
Fan Lu said nothing more, took off his backpack, took out a small gun and threw it to her: "This is what I kept for myself, I'm giving it to you."
"Is there any special use?" Guangguang immediately understood what he meant.
"You will die without any pain," Fan Lu said. "After you have seen enough and witnessed it, you can use it if you want."
"Thank you." Guang Guang laughed, "I always thought that an old cleaning team member like you, as well as the captain, wouldn't need something like this."
"You overestimate me." Fan Lu also smiled.
"It's like a ball, a transparent ball," Fulu gestured, "It looks this big from the Lost Valley. It should be even bigger if you look at it from the main city."
"There's nothing in there, nothing to see," Suki added, "not even a shadow."
"Has it landed?" Jiuyi asked.
"No, it's hanging." said Fulu.
Jiuyi tilted his head and shook his finger at Heijie who was standing in the shadows: "Let's go to the main city and see if there is any movement over there."
Immediately, several black rings silently leaped up the cave wall and disappeared.
Jiuyi stood up and said, "I have to go to the chanting cave to take a look."
"The poet is not awake." said Fulu.
"Wake up soon. The thing in the main city is different from the crack," Jiuyi thought for a while, "It looks like a trap. I have to ask the poet."
"He'll be angry if we wake him up," said Suki.
"Am I afraid of him?" Jiu Yi opened his arms. "I am afraid! Him? Would I be afraid of a piece of empty consciousness?"
Fulu and Suki jumped to his side together.
"You two don't need to go," Jiu Yi said, "You should be afraid of him."
"Don't be afraid." said Fulu.
"You guys go around the Lost Valley," Jiuyi said, "Ask around and see if there's anything unusual down there. Ask the merchants to hand over half of the goods they have and store them up, just in case the herd doesn't die in a year or two..."
"It can be exchanged for a lot of money!" Suki shouted excitedly.
"You idiots can eat it!" Jiuyi leaned over and yelled.
When Ning Gu took Lian Chuan to the chanting cave, he was completely unsure. It was not because he was unsure about the unknown they were about to face, but because he was completely unsure whether he could find the way.
After walking for a while, he was already confused.
He turned his head and looked at Lian Chuan.
"Go down the sloping road to the lower right ahead." Lian Chuan said.
"How did you know?" Ning Gu asked.
"I know it from the map you have also seen." Lian Chuan turned right and entered the sloping passage.
"Who do you think made that map?" Ning Gu said.
"It depends on whether you can get the answer from Jiuyi," Lianchuan said, "and the person he doesn't want to see is..."
Lian Chuan suddenly shut his mouth before he finished speaking.
"How..." Ning Gu shut up before he finished asking.
A leg slowly stretched out from the corner ahead, a metal leg flashing with cold light.
It has to be said that Jiuyi's modification was very concealed. If Ning Gu hadn't seen Jiuyi's melted feet on the top of the passage today, he would not have been able to tell where else he had been modified except for the mask on his face.
When it was shown to him, he recognized it immediately. After all, there was still the pipe under his feet. However, it had been cut into several small balls, and it seemed that it had no use other than to increase his height.
"What do you want to know?" Jiu Yi stopped in the middle of the road.
"Didn't you hear it all?" Ning Gu said.
"Where are we going?" Jiu Yi asked again.
"Recite the vertical cave." Ning Gu said.
"Go to hell?" Jiu Yi said.
"If I die, you will have no share in the main city," Ning Gu said, "Do you know how to speak?"
"The mine cart tracks are all broken," Jiu Yi said, "and it wasn't my people who broke them."
"Who?" Lian Chuan asked.
"It's a poet," Jiu Yi said, "or it's Jiong Jiong. Whoever did it obviously didn't want anyone to leave."
"What if I insist on going down?" Ning Gu said.
Jiuyi laughed, and the sharp laughter echoed in the passage. It felt like it could vibrate all the way into the body, making people feel very uncomfortable.
"I'll take you down," Jiu Yi turned around and hooked his finger, "Follow me."
Jiuyi brought them to the entrance of a chanting cave.
Ning Gu looked down and saw that the cave wall, which was glowing red, was bottomless.
"Come out alive," Jiu Yi said, "and I will tell you who that person is."
"Do you keep your word?" Ning Gu asked.
"Not necessarily," Jiu Yi thought for a moment, "it depends on my mood."
Ning Gu let out a click of his tongue, raised his leg and stepped on the edge of the hole, then stretched his hand in front of Lian Chuan.
Lian Chuan looked at him.
"Hold on," Ning Gu said, "Hold on tight. What if it falls apart? There are so many sharp vertebrae down there. If you don't hold on tight, what if I get poked in the head?"
Lian Chuan reached out, held his hand, and stood on the edge of the cave with him.
"Let's go," he said.
Ning Gu jumped up at the same time as him and leaped forward.