The sky is dark and the earth is dark, the sun and moon have no light
It was so dark, so lonely, and completely silent.
"Here it is again!"
Xu Sheng's body fell in the pouring rain, but his consciousness was still active.
Familiar, couldn't be more familiar.
This is the "Dark Forest", Xu Sheng has "visited" here many times.
"Am I dead?"
Xu Sheng asked himself, not understanding the situation. He thought: Could it be the same as before, where he stayed here for a while, then the thunder from the sky stirred up the fire on the ground, and his consciousness returned to his original position, intact.
"Am I still immortal?" Xu Sheng said to himself: "Maybe I am really the 'destined one', with an immortal body, an immortal body, well... that's not right!"
It's indeed wrong. Xu Sheng suddenly realized that this place is not the same as before.
No... wind! To be precise, there is no sound of the air flow.
Yes, even if there was no strong wind before, there would still be some weak airflow. But now, even the airflow is gone, and it is truly dead silence.
"It seems we are in big trouble this time." Xu Sheng murmured softly.
Without wind, would there be thunder? If there was no thunder and lightning, there would be no fire. If there was no fire, wouldn't we be trapped here forever?
"don't want!"
Xu Sheng couldn't help himself and shouted loudly. Then he widened his eyes and looked around, trying hard to see what was going on around him. However, all he could see was darkness, boundless darkness, pure darkness.
Is death such a boundless loneliness?
"Impossible" Xu Sheng denied himself, but when he thought about it, it seemed that it was not impossible. After all, no one has ever been resurrected. If you tell the Yang people about the underworld, how can you know that death is not what it is now?
If death is like this, then the "Dark Forest" is just a place of death. Xu Sheng has visited this place more than once, which means... he has been on the verge of death more than once.
"Is this the underworld? Are there ten palaces of Yama here? Where is the Naihe Bridge? Where is the Road to Huangquan?" Xu Sheng kept asking questions, but no one was destined to answer.
what to do?
Xu Sheng had no choice but to wait, wait for the wind to rise again, and wait for the thunder to strike again that day.
A long time, a long time, like ten thousand years.
Although there is no standard of reference for time in the "Dark Forest", Xu Sheng also knew based on experience and intuition alone that he had waited too long this time, longer than any other time before.
"It seems that the wind and thunder will not come." Xu Sheng smiled bitterly, what is this? Is this what death is like?
If I die and become a ghost, and go to the underworld, what about the other souls? Could it be that this "dark forest" is my own "hell", or maybe the underworld is too big for me.
Haven't had time to meet other ghosts yet.
Xu Sheng thought of many things at once and cursed in a low voice, "Damn it"
The invisible cold wind that once damaged the body and harmed the spirit now made him miss it.
Without wind, there would be no such bone-chilling feeling, and Xu Sheng's eyes and ears were useless here, and his six senses were blocked. Over time, he actually forgot his own existence!
He forgot everything, his name, the past, and where he was. Xu Sheng, or in other words, his consciousness, still stayed in the "dark forest", but he remained silent, ignorant, and ignored
The external object is motionless, as if it is not here and does not exist.
die!
His current state is no different from death. If there were objections to whether Xu Sheng was dead before, now, anyone who judges will definitely conclude that this is death.
But, he didn't die.
After an unknown amount of time passed, Xu Sheng suddenly opened his eyes.
"Who's calling me?"
Xu Sheng shouted, then touched his forehead, and suddenly broke out in cold sweat.
"What happened to me just now? Why do I feel like I am resurrected from the dead? It seems that I have been wiped out of thin air and summoned back by something. What is it?"
...
"puff!"
There was something strange in the temple. The fat monk clasped his hands together and remained motionless. His originally fair and fat body had now become shriveled and dull.
Xu Sheng's soaked body was put aside, and beside him, the old blind man was holding on to his erhu desperately, making bursts of soul-stirring sounds from his mouth.
...
"This is...I actually...!" Xu Sheng stood up immediately, his heart trembling.
He can actually see it!
Although his surroundings were still pitch black, when he looked intently, he could vaguely see some light and shadow. The "dark forest" was no longer completely boundless darkness for him.
This is undoubtedly extremely exciting for Xu Sheng. Although he does not see very clearly, at least he no longer knows nothing. He has some ability to explore this "secret place" and has some knowledge of the unknown.
The fear has diminished a lot.
"Here...!?" Xu Sheng looked hard, stopping every step, very cautiously.
"Is this really a forest?" As his footsteps extended, he was surprised to find that in this "forest", except for the giant trees that towered into the clouds and had no end in sight, there were no other plants. There were no flowers or grass.
, there are no vines, no moss, the entire land is a flat surface, too flat, as if it was cut by something.
Moreover, the most unreasonable thing is that the trees in this "dark forest" are surprisingly the same. Not only are they the same size, they are all the same straight and upright, without even a bend, as if they are molded from the same mold.
of!
It turns out that Xu Sheng had a few quick glances at the "Dark Forest" under the light of the fire. At that time, he discovered the weirdness in it, but he was not sure about it. Now, after his long and careful observation, he has a certain understanding of this place.
Gained a clearer and more certain understanding.
This is not a forest in the strict sense, or in other words, this is not a forest.
"These trees...!" Xu Sheng's hand gently brushed over the tree trunks, and his heart tightened.
"wrong!"
He boldly touched a few handfuls, frowned, and said uncertainly: "Is it made of stone?!"
He was a little scared, but he still got close to the tree and looked at it carefully.
There are words!
Xu Sheng took a breath. On the branch, there were several big characters! Although he couldn't see clearly in the thick darkness, he tried his best to look and he could still make out a rough outline.
One hundred million...one thousand and sixty thousand...eight hundred and forty thousand.
It’s actually a number!
Carved on the giant wood is an extremely ancient text that is rarely mentioned in the Classics and History. Fortunately, the words here are simple numbers, and Xu Sheng can barely recognize them.
"It's not just one tree, it's this one, and this one." Xu Sheng looked around and found numbers on every giant tree.
He was very puzzled, and then slapped his forehead, "Could it be a number?"
Alas!
As soon as this thought came out, he became unsteady and took two steps back. If it was really a number, then this place would be even weirder.
In other words, it is very likely that this place has been carefully arranged by someone, or an unimaginable "being"!
Game!
There was only one word in Xu Sheng's mind. It was obvious that he was involved in some overall situation and acted as a pawn.
"Who? Who is planning it? Who arranged all this?" Xu Sheng asked, but there was silence.
Helpless, he could only give up, steel himself, and move forward slowly with the help of his weak eyesight.
After not walking for long, Xu Sheng felt very tired. He felt uncomfortable, but he was extremely at ease, because tiredness could make him clearly feel his own existence.
Under all the hard work, Xu Sheng collapsed. Even though he was unwilling, he still sat paralyzed on the ground.
"咻咻"
Suddenly, he seemed to hear something, and stood up in a panic. He held his breath, raised his ears, and listened carefully...