61
Ning Gu had no time to think about what was happening in front of him. Frightened people kept running out of the fire, their faces, hair, and bodies covered with scattered ashes.
The air was filled with the smell of smoke and dust, a smell he had smelled in ghost towns before, but it was much lighter and difficult to notice without careful listening.
The chaotic fleeing crowd once again ran past from all directions, mixed with the cries of children.
"Run?" Ning Gu was a little unsure. It seemed that he couldn't use his abilities, and he didn't know if Lian Chuan was affected.
"Look at what a scavenger is." Lian Chuan slowly squatted down and supported himself on the ground with his hands.
"I can't wake up Betelgeuse now!" Ning Gu also squatted down.
"I know." Lian Chuan said.
"Then what are you doing squatting here?" Ning Gu stared nervously in the direction where the crowd was escaping.
"Hidden." Lian Chuan replied.
Ning Gu found that the people around him were not tall. Even in such a chaotic scene, he and Lian Chuan were still very conspicuous standing in the crowd.
"Where is this? If it's not the main city, where is it?" Ning Gu asked in a low voice.
"It's a certain generation of the main city," Lian Chuan grabbed a handful of ashes from the ground with his hands, "Such a thick layer of ashes, was it originally like this, or was it burned like this?"
"What does scavenger mean?" Ning Gu asked.
"I don't know. The literal meaning should be," Lian Chuan cleared his throat, "the man who cleans the road."
Ning Gu looked at him.
"The one who cleans the road, ma'am." Lian Chuan expanded on it.
"The lady who cleans the road?" Ning Gu was stunned. "Whose lady?"
"The people who clear the road!" Lian Chuan repeated it with a stronger tone.
"I see," Ning Gu nodded, "Then I'm in the same business as you guys. You're the cleanup team."
"So I want to take a look." Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu turned his head and looked at the people running around. Apart from being generally short, their clothing styles also looked a little unfamiliar. He looked up at the sky. It was the same black color, but without the black fog.
Is it evening
"Whose consciousness is this?" Ning Gu said, "If this is not the main city, then it is not your consciousness... Where did the precursor experiment come from?"
"The data of the previous generation's main city will be retained." Lian Chuan.
"Could it be your consciousness?" Ning Gu asked.
"Theoretically, it's impossible. Data is just data." Lian Chuan looked at the flames that were suddenly jumping in front of him and became a little chaotic. "Lost Valley is what was left over from the previous main city. The poet has been in Lost Valley. This may be the poet's consciousness or memory..."
"What does he want us to see?" Ning Gu asked.
"Not necessarily, at least Qi Hang doesn't want us to see it." Lian Chuan said.
A row of uniformed men rushed out from the chaotic fire, holding weapons in their hands.
It is indeed not the current main city. The main city does not have such uniforms, and the weapons are completely different, all shaped like small cannon barrels.
"Scavenger?" Ning Gu clenched his fists.
"Go quickly," the man in the middle waved the weapon in his hand, "don't resist in vain."
"Let's go." Lian Chuan said in a low voice.
When the two of them stood up and backed away, the man suddenly raised his weapon and pointed it at them: "You! Who are you? Where are you from!"
They were indeed different from those who had escaped before. Their heights, clothes, and everything else were different, especially Lian Chuan, who was still in uniform.
"The rebels' secret army, right?" Several people raised their weapons and pointed them at them.
"Be careful." Lian Chuan saw a sudden black color appear in the fire behind them, and pulled Ning Gu back suddenly.
The opposing weapon fired, and a cloud of smoke rose from where they had been standing, but there was no light from the weapon.
The weapon attacks here are not something visible to the naked eye.
There was a dark shadow flickering in the firelight.
Not one or two, but one piece.
When the men with weapons turned back and aimed at the fire, the dark shadow had already walked out of the fire.
The weapons fired again as the shadows simultaneously rushed forward towards them.
The firing of the weapon created a gust of wind in the air, and the black shadow swayed with the wind like an illusion blown by the wind.
But the forward speed did not slow down at all, and it passed through the bodies of these people almost at the same time, as easily as if there was no obstacle at all.
For a moment, it was hard to tell whether the black shadow was illusory or these people were illusory.
Then these people disappeared into the shadows.
"Run." Lian Chuan suddenly grabbed Ning Gu's hand.
This time he did not retreat, but turned around and ran in the direction where the crowd had fled.
Ning Gu turned around and looked back.
The black shadows did not chase after him, and their movements did not seem to be particularly fast, but what made Ning Gu feel frightened was their numbers.
Black shadows kept appearing in the firelight, stretching out to both sides, and the team could not see the end.
Wherever there is fire, you can see black shadows swaying constantly.
They didn't have a clear appearance, and no part of them could be seen clearly. Apart from the general human shape, there were no other details.
It's like some kind of shadow parasitic on fire.
Lian Chuan pulled Ning Gu forward until they reached a place where there was no fire, and then they stopped and hid behind a pile of ashes that was more than two people tall.
The people who were fleeing in front seemed to have scattered. There was no one around and their shouts could no longer be heard.
"Is this the scavenger?" Ning Gu asked softly.
"It should be." Lian Chuan said.
"Their speed is so slow," Ning Gu said, "Why can these people still be chased by them?"
"I'm not sure." Lian Chuan looked around. "There seems to be a high place over there. Let's go there and try to find a way to get out. It's not safe here."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
The platform that Lianchuan saw was a man-made building. It was already badly damaged, but the stairs on the side were still there.
"This looks like a lookout?" Lian Chuan stamped his feet as he walked up. "It's solid, not a house."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
At the top is a platform, which looks like the big platform in the square outside the City Affairs Hall. On the day of the celebration, Consul General Su will stand on it and announce the start of the carnival.
"This is a..." Ning Gu had already stood on the edge of the other side of the platform and looked ahead in shock, "What the hell is this place?"
Lian Chuan walked over and saw what was on the other side.
The place where they were standing seemed to be a high cliff, and the other side seemed to be cut by a knife, and it dropped steeply downwards.
There was a large flat land in front of us. Under the faintly glowing sky, we could see the shadowy ruins and a few sparse lights flickering occasionally.
And further away, there was a flame that formed a piece. Lian Chuan turned around and saw the flames in the distance behind him.
The fires formed a circle, which was gradually tightening inward.
This is a world that is on the verge of destruction.
"Those people were driven here," Ning Gu was stunned for a long time, "The fire circle kept closing in, and these people had nowhere to go, so they could only flee towards the center..."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
"Finally, the circle becomes a point," Ning Gu turned to look at him, "and this generation of the main city ends."
Lian Chuan didn't say anything.
"Where are the street cleaners?" Ning Gu said, "The fire has burned so badly, do we still need them to kill people?"
"Make sure there is nothing left," Lianchuan said. "The desire to survive is very strong and can allow people to survive in incredible ways."
"Are you talking about yourself?" Ning Gu said.
"We have to leave here," Lian Chuan said, "If we can't find a way to escape or a door to go back, we will disappear at the last point."
"But we should still be in the Lost Valley," Ning Gu said, "right? We are just consciousness."
"Well," Lian Chuan looked at him, "then we might be trapped here forever, leaving two empty shells in the Lost Valley."
Ning Gu instantly thought of the bodies of those travelers at the border of Tongue Bay, and a chill ran down his back.
"What should we do now?" he asked.
"Look for something special," Lianchuan said. "We can write down everything, but we can only remember the important part. This is the poet's memory. There must be something special about this part, which is why we came here."
"I see." Ning Gu looked around, "I'll look for it."
Lian Chuan fumbled with his uniform.
"What's wrong?" Ning Gu suddenly became nervous, "Are you injured?"
"No," Lian Chuan said, "activate the backup energy."
"Can the uniform be used?" Ning Gu asked.
"Yes," Lian Chuan nodded, "but there are no weapons."
Ning Gu immediately began to feel around on his body: "Let me see if there's anything I can use."
"The clothes you're wearing," Lian Chuan glanced at him, "are they the same ones you wore when you were in the ghost town?"
"Well," Ning Gu looked at it, and suddenly seemed to have discovered something, and raised his head to look at Lian Chuan, "You also had a uniform in the ghost town, and our time point is the same!"
"Yes." Lian Chuan pressed the side of the uniform trouser leg, and the small lid that popped open was empty.
"This was when we went to Tongue Bay," Ning Gu pointed at his leg, "You've already taken out your brass knuckles."
"Where's that piece of paper?" Lian Chuan looked at him, "You picked up that piece of paper before this, right?"
"Yes!" Ning Gu quickly searched in his clothes, "Could there be any mechanism in the paper?"
"I don't know." Lian Chuan said.
"What do you know?" Ning Gu sighed.
"I know you are really slow." Lian Chuan said.
"Here!" Ning Gu held the piece of paper between his fingers and handed it to him.
Lian Chuan didn't answer it, but just stared at the piece of paper.
"What's wrong?" Ning Gu glanced at the paper, then quickly turned it over and over again, "The words are gone?"
"Find the person who wrote this." Lian Chuan said.
The only place where people can still be found is probably in the ruins under the cliff.
Lian Chuan followed the messy footprints on the ground and found a gap.
"Go down from here?" Ning Gu stuck his head out and took a look.
"It's probably here," Lian Chuan said, "but we have to climb down. It's too high. If we jump down directly, we will fall to our death."
"Can consciousness also die from falling?" Ning Gu asked, "Whether we are dead or alive, is it also a kind of input like smell?"
"It's possible," Lian Chuan climbed up the edge of the cliff, shone the light on his uniform downwards, "There is a way, let's come down."
A narrow path carved out of the cliff that can only accommodate one person.
Ning Gu followed behind Lian Chuan, moving forward little by little along the cliff beside him: "Fortunately, I didn't live here forever."
"What's wrong?" Lian Chuan asked.
"It's too high," Ning Gu said, "How could this generation of the main city have such a terrain? The highest place in the ghost town is the bell tower, and the highest place in the main city is the light thorn, right? Is there any place higher?"
"No more." Lian Chuan said.
"The bell tower and the light thorns are not even one-fifth as high as this..." Ning Gu frowned, "My legs go weak when I look down. Only the vertical holes in the Lost Valley can compare. But we didn't have to go down like this when we went down the vertical holes..."
"Why are you looking down?" Lian Chuan said.
"I can't help it." Ning Gu sighed, "I've been wondering what's outside the black fog, what's on the other side of the border... Now I see it, it's actually like this..."
"This is not outside the black fog," Lian Chuan said, "This is another frame of the revolving lantern."
Ning Gu was silent for a while: "Is it a place that no longer exists?"
Lian Chuan didn't say anything.
"If we can't go back," Ning Gu said, "and stay in this place that no longer exists... then do we still exist?"
Lian Chuan stopped and turned to look at him.
"What's wrong?" Ning Gu asked.
"Don't think about things that haven't happened," Lian Chuan said, "find the person who wrote it."
"Yeah." Ning Gu nodded.
Lian Chuan continued to walk forward, and Ning Gu followed behind him. He didn't look down again, for fear that his legs would weaken and he would fall, so he just stared at the back of Lian Chuan's head.
After walking in silence for a while, he smiled and said, "Let me think about it for a second. Do you want to listen?"
"Speak." Lian Chuan said.
"If I'm really trapped here, it might not be so bad," Ning Gu said, "At least I'm not alone. You're here. Luckily it's you... Who do you hope to be?"
"You can do it." Lian Chuan said.
The cliff was actually not too high, and walking down was much easier than it looked. After a short while, they reached the middle.
The cliff was a concave U-shape, and they were now on the right side of the U. They could see the cliff on the opposite side by turning their heads.
It would have been better if he didn't look. After seeing the cliff clearly on the opposite side, Ning Gu immediately leaned against the cliff and didn't want to move.
This kind of cliffs that are everywhere from top to bottom will make you feel weak in the knees more than looking down.
"Huh?" Lian Chuan stopped when he found that he didn't catch up.
"It's okay." Ning Gu retracted his gaze and followed.
But after walking a few steps, he suddenly stopped and looked at the cliff opposite again.
Lian Chuan looked back at him, but without asking any questions, he just turned and looked in the direction he was looking.
In the middle of the cliff opposite, on the cliff wall a little lower than their current position, there was a glimmer of light.
"Is it a lamp?" Ning Gu lowered his voice, "or a fire?"
"Fire will flash," Lianchuan said, "This is a lamp."
"There are people there," Ning Gu stared at him carefully again, "It seems that the road we are taking does not pass through there."
"Go forward to the bend," Lianchuan said, "and then you can jump over."
Ning Gu's eyes quickly looked down to the bottom of the cliff, then suddenly bounced back and fell on Lian Chuan's face: "If you don't jump in, you will die."
"It's possible that I can't jump in." Lian Chuan said and started to move forward.
"That must be a cave, right?" Ning Gu chased after him, his mouth almost touching the back of his neck, and said anxiously, "We don't even know what's inside, so why are you just jumping over there?"
"Then you can just shout and say hello first." Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu took a breath, but before he could say anything, Lian Chuan covered his mouth.
Ning Gu blinked.
"Keep quiet," Lian Chuan looked at him, "Do you understand?"
Ning Gu blinked again.
Lian Chuan loosened his hand and said, "Look for it again."
"What are you looking for?" Ning Gu asked.
"Your brain may be thrown here." Lian Chuan said.
Ning Gu couldn't help laughing: "I didn't mean to shout just now, I was just teasing you."
Lian Chuan glanced at him.
"It's too stressful," Ning Gu said, "I want to relax a little."
"Has it been relieved?" Lian Chuan asked.
"Much better." Ning Gu grinned.
When he reached the innermost side of the cliff, Lian Chuan stopped.
If you go further, you will be parallel to the hole with the light on. If you want to jump over, this is the only way.
The distance is not close, it is at the limit of Lianchuan.
He looked back at the cliff behind him and kicked it twice.
"Now?" Ning Gu asked.
"Yeah." Lian Chuan stretched out his hand to pull him.
"Don't pull me," Ning Gu said, "Keep your hands free. If anything unexpected happens, you'll be the only one who can react."
Ning Gu hugged his waist: "I'll just hold you."
"Let's go." Lian Chuan said.
"Let's go." Ning Gu tightened his arms.
Lian Chuan kicked the cliff hard, and two people jumped from the middle of the cliff to the cave entrance on the other side.
As Lian Chuan leaped, the wind blew past his ears suddenly, and Ning Gu had the illusion that he was suddenly back in a ghost town.
No matter how lonely and desperate the ghost town is, the place where he has lived for more than 20 years will still evoke nostalgia at any similar node.
The bright light in front of me quickly grew larger.
Ning Gu was a little surprised by the speed of Lian Chuan's kick.
The entrance to the cave appeared before their eyes in an instant.
A hole that is not particularly deep.
There is warm yellow light overflowing.
On the side facing them, there was a bookshelf with quite a few books piled on it.
Then Ning Gu saw a table.
I also saw an open book on the table.
And the person sitting behind the desk.
Lian Chuan finally landed on the rock outside the cave entrance, and he almost missed a step.
The sound of it landing made the person behind the table raise his head suddenly.
Ning Gu saw his face.
Most of his face was covered by a dog-head mask.