In the illusion, the images of Lan Zhiyu and others were vague. Just when Lu Yanli entered again, he seemed to realize something and turned back.
In the hall, all the red-robed believers raised their heads in unison and looked in his direction. Under the shadow of their cloaks, he could seem to see the smiles on their lips.
This should be an illusion, why can they see themselves
It was another long, dark journey in the chaos. Lu Yanli didn't know how long he had walked. He seemed to have walked very far, yet he seemed to be still in the same place. Just when he thought he was almost lost in the darkness, the sun shone on him again.
He heard a strange language. He had clearly heard it before, but now it seemed strange to him. He didn't know how many people were speaking this strange language. The voices of countless men, women, young and old overlapped and converged into a sea, high and low, floating and indistinct.
My head hurts... dizziness, tingling, swelling...
The sound annoyed him.
Where the hell am I
What are they talking about
After a long, long time, my ears became quiet.
Lu Yanli opened his eyes.
The tingling and dizziness he had just felt had not yet disappeared. He could no longer care about so much else. He was filled with deep shock. Even though he had experienced so many strange things, everything before him was still beyond his imagination.
He came to a strange altar.
Snow fell heavily in the mountains, and the cold wind blew over the blood-red flags at the four corners of the altar, causing the thick metal poles to tremble slightly. There were carvings of strange beasts and birds at the four corners of the altar, and the ground was covered with the fur of unknown animals, cold and soft.
Countless red-robed believers also gathered under the altar. At this moment, they stood quietly in place, arranged in a strange pattern, and bowed their heads devoutly.
The priest stood beside him, also bowing his head devoutly, and low prayers came from under the shadow of his cloak.
No one looked at him, just like before, everyone ignored him.
Lu Yanli looked and saw neatly piled up white bones around the altar.
Those are human bones.
He also looked at the priestess, a familiar face - he had seen her in the park near his home before.
The cold wind brought the lingering smell of blood straight into his nose. Lu Yanli took a tentative step forward and reached out to touch the nearby flag. As expected, his hand passed through and touched nothing.
He once again came to a strange time and space.
It looked like a strange country. Their robes, long hair, and various strange rituals and decorations did not look like a modern country. He even saw the patrolling soldiers standing in the distance, wearing armor, motionless in the wind and snow, like a statue.
After the priest finished his strange mumbling, he bowed his head and gave instructions to the audience. The believers spread the news one by one to the soldiers. The leading soldier waved his hand and soon they brought the sacrifice over.
To be precise, they were driven over.
Lu Yanli stared at the offerings in astonishment.
They look very strange. Generally speaking, they are still human beings, with heads and limbs. But if you look closely, many of them have deformed limbs. Some of them have animal fur covered on their bodies, some have scales on their bodies and a metallic luster. Many of them either have incomplete facial features or have accidentally grown a few extra features.
A mother was holding her child, walking in the procession. The child opened his mouth and cried silently. Lu Yanli saw that every inch of his mouth was covered with sharp teeth, and his long and thin tongue was hanging out, dripping with saliva.
"Wow..." The baby started to cry, and seven arms stretched out from the swaddling clothes and waved. Others were not surprised and whispered something, and the mother had to cover the child's mouth to prevent him from making any sound.
Two rows of soldiers surrounded them, with their swords pointed at the chained sacrifices to prevent them from escaping.
Compared with these soldiers and believers, the "sacrifice" is simply an alien, like a human, but not like a human.
The sacrifice was brought to the foot of the altar, and Lu Yanli could see the cruel light in the eyes of the red-robed believers below the stage.
After the priest said something, the sacrifices lined up in a long row and obediently came to the platform to welcome death.
Surprisingly, there was no expression of pain on their faces. Instead, many of them had strangely distorted faces filled with glory.
The deformed corpses fell one after another, forming a circle. There were no screams or wails. They welcomed their death quietly.
When the last sacrifice died, the priest on the stage stood up excitedly. She spoke very quickly, saying something to the sky. Every time she said a word, the believers in the audience echoed her. Then, everyone opened their arms to the sky.
The priestess remained in this position and waited motionlessly for a long time. After a long time, she became a little disappointed.
There was no movement, except that the wind grew colder.
He said something else, and just when everyone was about to put down their hands, there was some movement faintly heard in the sky. The whistling wind stopped for a moment, and several snowflakes mixed in with the stagnant cold air fell down.
Cold, endless cold.
It was not the severe cold of winter, but rather a chill that came from the deepest part of the earth, coming in waves from the sky and from all directions, invading people's hearts little by little.
Lu Yanli sensed the long-lost coldness.
But the others didn't seem to notice. They just looked around in amazement at the snow that suddenly became turbulent, and then cheers broke out in the crowd.
A vortex of clouds slowly formed on the horizon, but it was hard to see clearly through the blizzard. Lu Yanli saw... he saw a little bit of an illusory red limb extending from it.
It was like a hand, trying its best to stretch out a few fingers from the sky, but it was too huge, and after just sticking out a little, it stopped in mid-air.
It seems... no one is watching
They were all amazed at the sudden snowstorm that covered all the sacrifices. They thought it was a miracle, and in joy, the priest led the believers to dance in the snow while holding up the animal bones, regardless of the cold, and gave orders again.
Soldiers arrived with more offerings.
This time the sacrifice was even more deformed than the previous one. It no longer looked like a human being. Some of its limbs were crawling on the ground, and it was being dragged away with an iron chain tied around its neck. Its long tail was dragging behind it, sweeping back and forth constantly.
He watched everything that happened and heard the screams of those creatures before they died. Then, their bodies were thrown beside the altar, and the heavy snow quickly covered them, layer by layer, and those creatures disappeared in the crystal, and even the smell of blood became faint and inaudible.
Perhaps seeing that he was unable to enter, an item fell from the whirlpool.
It is a small red statue.
It fell right on the stage, right at Lu Yanli's feet.
He bent down and raised the fallen statue.
Strange... At this moment he was suddenly able to touch real objects again.
The wind and snow in the sky stopped, and layer after layer of thick cumulus clouds pressed down, preventing the sunlight from passing through.
"That's it, we succeeded!" In the hall, the priestess's holy face could not contain her joy. She carefully held the statue and presented it to the king.
In recent years, the wars have continued and the people have suffered. Although the king is devoted to the people, he thought the war would end. However, the enemy country invited a great witch from somewhere and cast a curse on the entire Erdai Kingdom, turning nearly half of the people into mentally handicapped half-human, half-beasts.
Later, the enemy called on all other countries to attack Erdai because Erdai had angered the gods and brought punishment from the gods. Although the people fought desperately, there were too many enemies, and... they had not received the will of the gods for a long time, so long that they almost thought that the gods were going to abandon their people.
With morale low, they could only retreat again and again, and even the king of a country had to live in the mountains and forests.
She didn't believe that their ancestral gods would be willing to protect them!
Those things that have become half-human and half-beast are no longer their brothers and sisters! They are the best sacrifices to awaken the ancestors.
Sure enough, they succeeded!
After nearly a hundred years of silence, the great god responded to his devout believers again when the country was in ruins.
The king was also very happy and hurried down from the throne to greet the statue.
He placed the twisted and strange statue from heaven on the throne, making it stand high above and look down on everyone.
Lu Yanli didn't understand what they were saying. He realized that the thing was looking at him again, so he took a few steps back and left the hall.
He had guessed that since the entity itself could not pass through, he used the statue to collect the required flesh, blood, and faith.
Now he felt a little regretful that he did not bring the green spores with him, otherwise, he would have been able to destroy one at all.
Leaving the hall, Lu Yanli walked among two rows of palace maids wearing simple robes. There was a long black corridor with columns carved with exquisite patterns.
He saw two children.
A boy and a girl, their faces were very similar. The only reason they could be identified was because of their clothes. The boy was wearing a black robe with red edges, and the girl was wearing a red skirt. They were spinning in circles in the snow.
Around their waists, they all had a jade pendant of familiar style.
Lu Yanli subconsciously reached for his coat pocket, then felt relieved.
The jade pendant was still there, lying securely in his pocket.
Two children were playing in the snow, throwing snow grains at each other. They had not yet realized what defeat would mean.
It's not just about moving frequently.
Lu Yanli did not find a way to quit. He kept watching. He watched the king pray in front of the statue every day. He must win this war. He watched the king order heavy taxes and let skilled craftsmen from all over the country enter the palace as soon as possible to build taller and bigger statues for the gods. He wanted everyone to come and worship the gods!
I don't know if it's because of God's blessing, they won more and more battles, and the king's face was more and more proud. But Lu Yanli knew why they won.
They let those aliens participate in the war.
Half human, half beast, they retain the strength of beasts and consciousness of humans. Their mental incompetence means they will not resist. They are the best soldiers - there is no need to feel sad if they die.
Soon, the Erdai Kingdom regained its territory and they moved back to their once vast and fertile hometown. They believed that this was the blessing of God, and for this, they became more loyal to God.
They learned songs and dances to summon gods, and forced their faith into every piece of land they recovered. Twisted and bizarre idols proliferated in the country.
And the number of aliens in the country... is also increasing.
Everyone agreed that once they became a different species, they would lose their original status and be forced to serve in the army. The better ones would be able to retire and return home, but the worse ones would die on the battlefield, leaving no trace.
Finally, one morning, when the king got up, he was horrified to find that hair that did not belong to humans had grown on his arms.
He is also becoming a stranger!!
The king's eyes were red with anger, and he could not believe it. He hurriedly covered his arms with his long sleeves, pretended to be sick in bed, and asked his servants to fetch him some water.
He saw his face in the basin.
Fortunately, there has been no mutation yet, but... He touched his face with his furry hand.
When the general returned victorious, the king refused to see anyone and locked himself in his bedroom. He even refused to see his own children, whom he once loved the most.
Lu Yanli sat opposite him and found it very interesting to see strange-colored animal fur beginning to grow on his face and his ears gradually becoming pointed.
"God" cannot stop this curse, no matter how much the king begs.
A king who stayed indoors gradually lost his prestige. Finally one day, unrest broke out in the country and a general usurped the throne.
The war would not involve Lu Yanli himself. He was in a mysterious state. He did not feel sleepy or hungry. It was as if he was watching a movie. And now, he had a premonition that the movie was about to end.
The king, who has gone completely crazy, wants to sacrifice his son, the next ruler, to God. He wants his son to replace him and transfer the abnormality in his body to his son.
Anyway, he will have other sons in the future.
At night, Lu Yanli heard the boy's desperate cry.
No one went to help him, and no one dared to provoke the anger of an already mad king.
Lu Yanli walked over.
For some reason, the boy seemed to look at him, and his crying gradually stopped.
"Can you come here for a moment? Help me?" The boy grabbed the railing door and begged him.
Lu Yanli looked left and right, and he was the only one in the empty hall. The boy also saw him.
After so many years of observation, he had already learned the language of this country. He walked forward and squatted in front of the boy: "What do you want to do?"
"Do you know who I am?" The boy didn't mean to show off. He just stated his identity, "I am the prince of Erdai."
Lu Yanli nodded: "I know." He reminded the other party, "But, you are locked up here."
The boy had never played such a weird person before. When he heard the other party say that, he was instantly discouraged. "I know, I'm going to die." Tears flowed from the boy's eyes. He took off the jade pendant from his waist and handed it to him: "Can you call my sister? She lives in the deepest palace. She likes to light a lantern and walk in the yard at midnight. At that time, there are no palace servants around, so you can get close to her. This is a token. If you give her this jade pendant, she will definitely believe it."
"I... I'm dying. I'm going to die tomorrow. I want to see her..." The boy shed tears and looked up to beg him reluctantly.
"Okay." Lu Yanli accepted the jade pendant.
"You have to give it to her! Please."
The androgynous boy was trapped in a cage, but his pleading could be heard from a distance.
Lu Yanli did not break his promise. Others could not see him, but the brother and sister could see him suddenly. When he walked into the palace, he saw a beautiful girl who looked very similar to his brother, holding a lantern and walking in the dark courtyard.
Lu Yanli knew what she was doing.
She liked flowers. There was a kind of flower that only bloomed at night. She planted a lot of it and went to see it every day with a lantern.
Lu Yanli stood beside her, watching the white flower rustle slightly, bloom quickly, and then wither. The girl sighed, turned her head and asked, "Who are you?"
Lu Yanli handed her the jade pendant: "Your brother wants to see you."
"Me?" The girl was puzzled. "Didn't he become a different species?"
Legend has it that people who turn into alien species become insane and don't recognize their relatives. Ever since the king pointed out that the prince had offended the gods by turning into an alien species, she has never thought of her brother again.
"He wants to see you." Lu Yanli didn't say much, but just placed the jade pendant in her palm.
He was going to leave the palace tonight, and happened to pass by the girl's palace. After seeing her accept the jade pendant, he continued to walk forward, climbed over the wall and went out of the gate, heading towards the temple as he knew the way.
The king of Erdai Kingdom couldn't sleep well recently, so he just moved into the temple. After Lu Yanli went in, he saw him holding the priest's hand, asking her to express her sincerity to the god and let him turn back into a human.
Lu Yanli could see the impatience in the priestess's eyes. Although she agreed, she turned around and told the general.
The king who has become a different species can no longer be the king.
The next day, the king sent his confidant to secretly send the "prince" into the temple.
The leading guard said that in order to prevent the secret from being leaked, the prince was given a mute drug and his face was covered with a cloth, so no one saw the prince's true face along the way.
Lu Yanli felt something was wrong. He followed the king and saw him stretch out his hands, which had turned into sharp claws, and peel off the cloth.
Judging from his appearance, he is indeed the prince, with no signs of forgery.
The prince's eyes were full of pleading, tears kept pouring out, big drops fell to the ground. The king felt reluctant, but for the sake of the country, he had to harden his heart, flicked his sleeves, and left the hall.
"Let's get started!"
The prince could not utter a cry for help, only blood continued to overflow and flow into the temple. His flesh and blood were gradually absorbed, leaving only white bones.
After everything was over, Lu Yanli reached out and touched the slender white bones in the cage.
It's a girl's bone.
But the king was obviously relieved. He thought that the matter was over and when he woke up tomorrow, he would be able to return to normal and show up again.
That night, the general took the prince hostage and attacked the city.
The prince admitted personally that the king had turned into an alien species and was no longer protected by the gods. The army was demoralized and in chaos. When the priests appeared, everyone turned to the prince.
The king has become a different species and is no longer worthy of being the king.
All the killing and chaos could not affect Lu Yanli. He followed the king closely. He had a hunch that the opportunity for his departure lay with the other party.
In panic, the king led the last group of his confidants to flee to the temple.
Until the last moment, he still believed in the power of "God".
"I... I will give you the whole kingdom! You can do whatever you want with the people in this country. I want to live forever, I want to go to the real kingdom of God..."
Lu Yanli heard the king's wish.
His wish came true.
Having gained the power of an entire country, it can finally travel to other worlds again. Of course, it doesn't mind taking the wisher with it.
Because, this is the wish of the person who made the wish.
Lu Yanli followed beside him, and a second before he fell into darkness, he vaguely saw a red ghost floating over.
Then, this group of people appeared near Shangxian Village decades ago. Also appearing was a small red statue.
Lu Yanli was still not discovered, but he was confined to this village. He watched the two groups of people clash, and finally, these two groups of people stayed in the village.
The king was buried in a tomb in the mountains where time and space were disordered. He was reincarnated every sixty years. Like those villagers, he would be revived once every sixty years.
A ghost appeared in front of the tomb. She wanted to stop the king from reviving and smash the coffin, but the terracotta warriors set up in front of the king guarded the tomb and prevented her from entering. In the chaos, the ghost lost two jade pendants and fled into the back mountain.
Lu Yanli picked up the two jade pendants and walked into the tomb. He placed the jade pendants among a pile of burial objects.
In this way, I will have the chance to get the jade pendant decades later.
Sure enough... He touched his pocket.
The jade pendant in my pocket is back.
The strange relief appeared again in the tomb. This time, Lu Yanli walked forward without hesitation and gently touched the relief...
He encountered a cold nothingness.
Walk forward slowly until you are completely immersed in it.
"Lu Yanli, you're back?"
He heard Lin Chu's voice.
It seemed like he had spent decades in loneliness, no one talked to him, no one could look at him, and when he first heard Lin Chu's voice, it was still a little strange. Shaking his head, Lu Yanli finally remembered everything.
He is still in the tomb.
"Yeah, it's out."
Lu Yanli asked again, but only half an hour had passed.
The others finally discovered that the missing people had returned, and a group of people excitedly surrounded them, asking about their well-being.
"Xiao Lu, where have you been? You scared us to death."
"Nothing happened, did you? Did you see anything this time?"
Lu Yanli shook his head: "I'm fine." However, no matter what others asked, he kept silent.
He just had doubts in his mind again.
Since this "God" doesn't seem to want to kill me, then... who is it that maliciously creates the task to get rid of me
Is there something else behind this
Lu Yanli was fine. After asking him a few questions, the archaeological team members dispersed again and prepared to go to their respective work.
Lu Yanli looked at the familiar furnishings in the tomb. Unlike half an hour ago, he now fully understood how to recognize these words, so he focused on reading in the tomb.
"Now, one last question." Lin Chu pointed outside the door, "With so many spores, how are we going to get out later?"
Although it was enough to make defensive preparations, Lin Chu did not want to bring this kind of thing to the outside world, even though she knew that the chaos outside was probably not much better. She hoped to collect these things and use them to deal with that thing.
"You can try to collect them. By the way, if I remember correctly, there is a statue in the other tomb."
Lu Yanli wanted to try to destroy these things.
The mutation was caused by it. If it is destroyed completely, can the world be restored to its previous state
“After you get out, you should ask for the tomb to be sealed and not to enter again, otherwise…” Before he could finish his words, Lin Chu shook his head and smiled bitterly.
So what if the village is sealed? Decades later, they will still enter.
Lu Yanli was already wrapping his head and face.
He planned to collect more, after all, when he returned to his original world, there would be statues of gods everywhere.
After a long wait, the main tomb chamber was finally collected.
"Let's get ready to go back now. Everyone be careful." Captain Yang put his hand on the door.