Chapter 4 The Song of the Chrysanthemum and the Sword—4
We stood silently at the East Station for 40 seconds, looking out at the desert-like hills surrounding the Magic City. At this time, we saw that the wild flowers in Dehang had bloomed and withered. It was as if they were miles away and the various shadows on the ground were visible.
They are all bright and dazzling. However, the winter fog can only support a thin layer of ground cover moss, orchid bottle trees and a few other plants. Zhao Xuebin looked at the lines of the foothills of western Hunan in the distance. His girlfriend asked softly: "What will happen to my future life?"
Is it terrible?" "No," he said, kissing her forehead gently again, "I think we will live a beautiful life."
A few days ago, the special operations soldiers of the Tianlong Group built a former enemy command post here and set up a blockade 30 miles deep in Dehang to prevent any tourists from wandering around. Captain An looked at the distance from his command tent.
His musings were interrupted by the radio operator's voice, who asked, "What's going on, sergeant?" The soldier said, "I called the security outpost and asked them to give hourly status reports, but the 6th and 9th didn't.
echo."
"Where is the vulture now?" "Twelve miles northwest of us."
"Tell them to go to the southeast and find the white jeep that broke down halfway," the commander gave another instruction, "Call 27 and ask him to give a detailed introduction to the man they rescued and tell him to park the car where he is.
The team from Dong.Changyao will meet them in about 35 minutes."
The general looked at him from the other side of the field table. "What do you think of 27's actions?" "He may meet up with the change flies at any time." "When they wiped out the demon tribe, they seized this nameless wooden box. It seemed to be a ghost.
Fang’s relics.”
"We are always very sensitive to the movements of the apostles," his face was suddenly distorted by a burst of pain, "Who do you think the vulture's wife is?" "I remember they told me about their sad emotions.
"
"Her name was Liang Wanting," Xi Yue said. "She also died in the Dead Sea near Dehang the day before yesterday." "He never talked about her, but when he saw us, there would often be a look of surprise in his eyes." "I'm not just
I've seen this look in his eyes again and again." "It's as if all of us have some ghost of the past."
Their words reminded me of the summer when I was 19 years old. In Beishan, Mudanjiang City, I saw Kondo Mei riding a bicycle. She was wearing a white cotton skirt. I was far away and could not see the color of her eyes clearly, but I didn’t know
Why, I know they must be dark. Since then, I have been thinking about her every day. It is already dusk. I will remember that afternoon for the rest of my life. However, she is a phantom that I can never catch.
Xiyue and I were holding ice-cold gin and soda in our hands. However, when the distorted sound of the security outpost came from the radio on the back wall, the school officials were horrified: "In such a short period of time, how could the dead apostle suddenly die?"
There is no trace, no body left for us.”
The half-hour battle estimated by Xiyue was only 10 minutes off. At this time, I suddenly heard a roar. I saw the 40mm rocket launched from the Type 69 launcher and landed on the side of the temple 400 meters behind me.
. Several nearby demon clans dodged the metal stream of the Mad Scythe in the hands of the dragon team, and escaped into the black hole in the daytime. I could see these people, but their bodies seemed to be transparent. Most of the illusions were worn on their bodies.
It was a cloak. The ancient altar dedicated to the God of Death was covered with rubble, and the choking smell of gunpowder filled the air.
We slightly poked our heads out from behind the remaining wall. Now, two Russian-made Mi-8 transport and combat helicopters were parked 50 meters away. We walked under the long tail boom of the helicopter and entered the rear hatch.
in the shadow cast.
Xiyue gently tapped the half circle marked on the chart with a pair of brass compasses, pointing out a route leading to the end of the magic barrier: "Between here and the Dead Sea, there are like more than 100 islands along the way.
Hills." "People from the demon clan appear frequently in this area. They seem to be looking for what they are looking for."
"The divine light we saw was on the west bank, 2 to 3 kilometers north of Jiluo Town." Zhao Xuebin looked at Xiyue. "This still seems geographically unlikely." "What do you think of this invisible plane?"
?”
Xiyue took out the unknown wooden box he had taken from the apostle. We were afraid that when we pried open the lid, we would find only moist humus inside. He anxiously took out the Swiss Army Knife from his pocket, opened the thinnest blade, and started to pry.
Inside the lid of the box were a few strange knots of religious notes. I said, "They seem to have escaped the corrosion of time very successfully."
"These seem to have been carved out in a hurry." "I don't find it strange at all that ancient people were afraid of the underworld." "However." "The eyes on the surface of the wooden box seem to be moving with our movements."
Xiyue asked me: "Do you remember seeing the religious sacrifices from the ghosts in the southwest? They were carved from poplar wood." I shook my head. "I have never seen anything like this."
After observing the knot from all angles, he inserted two tweezers under it from opposite directions. Then he began to pick out the knot upwards until he placed the colorful rope on a glass plate. He put the tweezers
Put it back to the side, and finally separate the colorful ropes.
"Okay," he breathed a sigh of relief, "now we will soak these metal ropes in mild detergent to remove the stains and rust spots on them." "Now we will ask you to find out the original meaning of each rope.
"
"So what is the translation?" Zhao Xuebin and I asked. Then the (Jumen) team member next to us took out the computer, typed a few keys, and then leaned back on the chair. He said: "They
It means walking in the dark for 24 days and sailing in the light for 86 days. No matter what the color represents, there are another 12 days there." "It represents a code word for entering the ruins of a certain god."
15 minutes later, we flew through 28 channels covering the fifth and sixth kilometers. I saw the gray-black landscape of the Dead Sea. The world was added with complex colors. I even felt the mint smell of the wind. It seemed that they called this place the Devil.
The castle. Every arc is indescribably beautiful. Xiyue and I discussed and practiced the inflating and deflating process of the kayak, and assigned the marine technology standard mk1-dci water walkie-talkies that we were responsible for controlling. We studied it carefully.
understand each step and gain mutual understanding.
When Xiyue put on the diving suit, I asked him: "Why don't you wear a pressurized dry suit?"
"The water temperature is indeed a bit lower, but it is still bearable, so we don't have to worry about hypothermia. Compared with using a pressurized dry suit, we can move more freely in a wet suit. If the skin
If the raft is overturned by the rapids, we have to struggle to turn it over in the water. At that time, it is very important to be able to move freely."
"The Na Jing of (Seven Kills) hasn't come yet, and I really don't want to leave." Xi Yue said. "I also want you to do something for me." "You have to remember where the Magical World returns to the Dead Sea."
"Unless absolutely necessary, we will not stay in the river for more than a second." "2 degrees Celsius is a bit cold, but it is still bearable." "They told me that there is a wide river under this surface.
, I don’t believe it at all. Although I have seen it with my own eyes now, I still haven’t given up my doubts.”
At this time, we seemed to be falling freely in the underground cave filled with dark blue mist. I glanced at the depth gauge, and the pointer was fixed at more than 60 meters. From this point on, the tributaries gradually poured upward into the main river, and the water pressure gradually decreased. However, this time
The action is completely different from that in the jungle of the Palei Mountains. Now we are entering the dark underground world of hell that neither humans nor animals have ever seen. Therefore, it is easy to develop claustrophobia; and the fog barrier formed by the resentful spirits is also
There is a risk of disorientation. This covering leaks all remaining light.
"Hurry up," Zhao Xuebin shouted, "it looks like we are going to lose our direction." We let the lights on our helmets shine directly forward, but it seemed to be of no avail. I saw Xiyue sliding into the mist and disappearing.
We were wrapped in water foam. At this time, all I could do was hold on to the aluminum tube and look forward. I crouched in front of the engine propeller blades at the stern. The air-cooled engine only made a dull pop when exhausting
Sound. I saw that the color of the water had changed from the blue of the limestone cave to deep black. The bottom of the river was covered with colorful stones, like scattered agate. The color of the water at the bottom of the pool was getting brighter and brighter.
This deep limestone cave. Its ruins represent the Guifang civilization. It is a fusion of various mysterious cultures, and its origin is rarely known. When we descended to less than 1 meter from the water, Zhao Xuebin and others
Wearing the diving standard EXO 126 mask, we put the mouthpiece of the air conditioner between our teeth, and then jumped into the sacrificial pool and disappeared. I glanced at my watch every minute, and 15 minutes had passed.
, the two divers still did not surface.
At this moment, I suddenly felt as if I was being sucked into a slit. In fact, only 20 seconds had passed. My compass told me that I was being rolled to the southeast of the sacrificial pool. I saw something on my lower right side.
It was a metal product that flickered in the darkness. It weakly reflected the light of the diving light that was obscured by the mud. Later I saw that it was like a ghost, leaving me alone in this sacrificial pool.
When I reached the end of the underground river, I used pliers to bend the buckle of the auxiliary belt into a C shape to serve as a hook. There was still no one in front of me. I carefully looked at the crude equipment that helped me climb to such a high place.
The chisel hammer was still as good as new. I spent a minute pressing it against the stone wall and using the chisel hammer to bend it again. I thought the darkness would obscure my sight and force me to climb up by feeling.
Climbing. However, a strange light appeared under my body. It looked like a white bush growing in the mud. I grabbed a branch covered with knobs and gently pulled it out of the mud.
When I pulled it out, I realized that what I was holding was the spine of an ancient sacrificial victim.
"The pool is 37 meters deep," I told Xiyue and the others over the intercom. "The bottom of the pool is covered with bones. There are probably 200 skeletons lying here." "No one wants to bump into this person in a dark alley late at night.
Plant something.”
When I was about to surface, I suddenly saw a skeleton's finger bones standing upright in the gloomy pool. I couldn't help but feel the coldness running down my back and up to my neck. Next to the skeleton's chest was a rusty pair of bones. breastplate, and the skull is still covered with an iron helmet from about BC.
I suddenly smelled a certain smell. How did they describe the smell? I tried hard not to let the smell slip away. I could detect a dim reflection. The purple aura slowly dissipated, and the earth was clear and bright, glowing. The color of roses. This ghost said to me: "I have been waiting for a thousand years to finally see my friend again. The aura of stars in your body is so beautiful." "I discovered the power of the same origin in your body.
"No... I know I can no longer... I can't... For it, I didn't even hesitate to crush my original spirit," the weak Shadow took out a black book stained with some human blood from his chest. The book composed of the brilliance on the cover, "...the purpose of the group of murderous apostles...is to snatch this "Book of Life and Death"...must...not be taken away by them." "It seems to be collected by the ancient great witch. The Great Book of Buddhist Scriptures."