“Whether you succeed in obtaining the relic or not, I will not wait for you at the foot of the mountain.
After you complete this event and go down the mountain, you need to walk back to the previous road. I will linger there from time to time, for up to ten days. I wish you good luck. "
The driver mechanically left a few words and drove the carriage away.
The three of them were not in a hurry to climb the mountain, but first conducted a series of observations on the situation at the foot of the mountain.
After standing in the gray woods for five minutes, he was neither attacked by any animated trees nor encountered the rabbit monster that blocked his way before.
The area that should have been dangerous seemed unusually quiet.
“The diseased creatures in the woods at the foot of the mountain, whether they have consciousness or not, instinctively dare not approach this place.
According to the records of the investigation team, any animal that approaches the pilgrims will have its eyes gouged out. Perhaps this is the reason why nearby creatures dare not approach this pilgrimage route.
The order in which we go up the mountain is temporarily arranged as follows:
I was at the front and I explored the way with Little Grape.
I'll be leaving the task of covering my rear, Mr. Reagan. If your sensor detects that I've taken the wrong road, or if you find that the mountain road behind me has changed under the influence of the gray domain, please remind me immediately.
Jin, you stay in the middle.
Whether I was in danger ahead or Reagan was attacked from behind, you were always there to provide support."
"OK!"
Xiao Pei on Jin's shoulder also started to get serious. The chicken feathers on his body were spread out at a fixed angle, revealing the multi-eye structure inherited from Grandma Chicken, which could also play the role of precise observation and seeing through illusions.
Yi Chen, who was walking in the front, gestured to wait, "Little Grape seems to have fallen asleep. I'll go call it."
As the idea was conveyed to Lorian, Little Grape's true self was released from the consciousness ward constructed by Lorian.
He crawled out from between the collar with his whole body trembling, one of his hands still on Yi Chen's neck, feeling as if he was hollowed out.
When we started climbing the mountain on the rugged mountain road,
Yi Chen was also a little curious. Little Grape didn't say anything. Based on its personality, it should have kept complaining.
"Hey, are you okay? I wanted to tell you about Yuehen in advance, but seeing that you were so excited about contacting Lenghu Cemetery, I thought of forgetting it. Did Lorian do anything to you?"
"No… "
"We are already climbing the mountain, and we will soon encounter special patients related to polyphthalmia. Maybe we can get the high-quality grapes you have been dreaming about."
"oh."
After Little Grape gave a simple response, it crossed its legs and sat directly on Yi Chen's shoulders. In this state, it seemed that it was just short of having half a cigarette in its mouth, and seemed depressed.
"Then please slow down a bit."
This state did not last long. Little Grape's pores overflowed with cold lake water. She washed her face with cold water to cheer herself up.
Then he said seriously: "Give me all the grapes you got while climbing the mountain. If you can help me advance and evolve to a higher level, there might be a glimmer of hope."
Yi Chen smiled slightly and didn't explain anything further.
After a night of communication with Yue Hen, Yi Chen did not see any disguise on the other's face and was basically certain that it was a sincere communication.
Even if they wanted to kill him, as Yue Hen said, they would wait until Yi Chen grew up to be mature enough, that is, until he broke through the "limits of human beings".
Although we still need to consider some detailed threats, what we need to do now is to focus on mountaineering.
There is currently only one winding mountain road in the Qi District, and there is no need to make any fork in the road.
After about fifteen minutes of climbing, the "pilgrim" who was recorded in detail in the incident finally appeared on the mountain trail.
Their bodies are as slender as dead trees, which may be related to long-term hiking and lack of nutrition.
He was wrapped in only a piece of tattered cloth.
They all hold a small object in their hands, such as a glass marble, a metal ring, or a piece of paper, which are relics of their former relatives. It seems that they want to lead the souls of their relatives to the other side of the world without disease through the pilgrimage.
Kneel on the ground, lean forward, and put your head on the ground, forming a triangular kneeling posture.
Without verification, it is easy to determine that these pilgrims are dead. They are the weak ones who were eliminated early and did not have time to develop diseases.
Their corpses were neatly lined up on the following mountain path, with one every two or three meters, extending into the depths of the thick fog in the mountains, and it was impossible to confirm whether there was an end.
"Little Grape, help me."
Yi Chen tried to get close to the body of a pilgrim, and like a worker hanging a safety rope, he let Little Grape slowly descend with the roots tied to it, and peeked at the pilgrim's face buried at the bottom.
The visual scene transmitted back was quite strange, causing Yi Chen to frown.
The dead pilgrim had his eyes taken away, which was expected, but he still retained a smile.
This smile was not painful or distorted, but a genuine smile of relief from the heart, one that could even be described as 'excited'... It was as if his own pilgrimage had not failed at all and was still continuing.
Yi Chen observed that several dead pilgrims were in the same situation.
As he was observing the fifth body,
Reagan at the end of the team noticed something unusual and shouted, "William, be careful of the back of the corpse!"
Almost at the same time as the shouting, the back of the corpse really began to move.
Because it was covered by the tattered cloth, it was not clear what was moving, but there were many of them, in different sizes.
Yi Chen did not step back, but took back Little Grape who was "hanging"... Let Little Grape observe the strange movements on the back alone, and Yi Chen chose to close his eyes.
At the same time, Yi Chen stretched out his hand to signal his teammates at the bottom of the mountain road, asking him to try to handle the matter first, and they would judge whether help was needed based on the situation.
Crunch, crunch~ The back of the corpse continued to wriggle in multiple particles without any further changes or threats, as if it was just waiting for passers-by to uncover the tattered cloth covering the wriggling area.
Phew~
Yi Chen held the axe in one hand and pinched the edge of the cloth with the other, pulling it slowly.
As the rag slid down his back, an extremely uncomfortable and dense scene was observed by Little Grape's one eye and transmitted back to Yi Chen's brain.
The back of the corpse was covered with grapes of different sizes, from various mountain animals, but lacking human eye structures... These eyeballs may be related to the pilgrims' diet when they were alive.
Just as the rags slipped off,
All the granular eyes were staring at the 'revealer' in front of them, and a mental invasion carrying a psychogenic element instantly acted on Little Grape.
But... Buzz!
The mental shock from the giant eye at the bottom of the lake went in the opposite direction.
It feels like a "confrontation of waves", but this kind of spiritual collision is invisible to the naked eye.
The next second,
Crackling~ It was as if someone was setting off firecrackers in the mountains. All the eyes on the back of the corpse exploded, and no one survived.
After doing all this, Little Grape put her hands on her hips and said with disdain:
"This kind of low-end childish art is deliberately concealed and pretentious. It's really rubbish~ I can't even muster the appetite for such low-quality eyeballs."
The little grape that killed the target instantly seemed to have regained its confidence.
He immediately recovered from his depressed state, stood upright with one hand on his waist and the other pointing towards the mountain road at the top.
"I'm going to blow up all of your shitty grapes today, so come on!"
(End of this chapter)