Although we talked, we did not relax our search for clues for a moment, but there was nothing worth mentioning along the way. Later, when we leave the cave carved out of the cave and enter the unknown land shrouded in darkness, most of the rest of the journey is spent in silence. Neither Tuttle nor I dared to take it lightly.

About an hour later, the two of us arrived at the last and deepest empty cavern we had explored yesterday. Here, the thick darkness almost condensed into substance, even my yin and yang eyes could not penetrate, and the light of the magic lamp on Tuttle's waist was confined within a radius of three or four meters.

Luckily, that strange hallucination—I'm not sure, maybe something else—didn't reappear. But we still haven't been able to find any trace of Mallory. Although there was no water in sight, the air around was very humid, suggesting that there must be some form of groundwater behind the darkness, and perhaps we could find a dark river.

"I mean, Mallory can't have fallen into an underground river, right?"

As we learned from yesterday, the distance between the monk and me was never more than a meter. At this moment, he stopped and looked at me with a solemn gaze.

"It's possible, but we didn't hear the water...... There must be something wrong. ”

He shook his head, his gaze returning to the front. The darkness here seemed to come alive, suppressing the light from the magic lamps in a semicircle less than two meters in diameter, and beyond was an abyss-like black curtain. But I can't think of the darkness as a fog or any other entity, because we are not hindered in any way.

Unless...... Unless, "they" are deliberately avoiding direct contact with us, and can block out the perception of a senior warrior monk and the divine thoughts of a Taoist priest. As for the possible purpose of this practice...... There is no doubt that it was a trap.

The thought made me shudder. I told Tuttle about it, but to his surprise, the latter smiled back with a mild, playful smile.

"You're thinking too much, Cloud. Although I am not an expert on literature, it is safe to say that the phenomenon itself is not too harmful. ”

At this point, he seemed to hesitate, looked at me for a long time, and then continued: "To tell you the truth, the monastery where I used to be located is located on the outskirts of the cold plain, among those treacherous mountains. Although we warrior monks advocate a return to nature and asceticism, we do not resist communicating with our neighbors, such as offering services in exchange for food and goods. ”

Remembering what Kuranis had said, I took a deep breath, trying not to let myself show too many mood swings. Tyndalus Hound, this evil presence is like a sharp blade hanging over my head, and I am not at peace at all times.

Although the spells they cast on the amulet could save my life, being hunted and dragged into another dimension, even in a living form, was probably not a good end. And now, the clue I'm looking for is right in front of me.

"Well, although the beliefs are different, we have the same concept on this issue. Taoism does not discriminate against non-human beings. One of my elders is a cat demon. ”

"Ha, I'm too worried. That's right, the communication of Xuanyang Dao people is not limited to human beings. ”

Once again, I heard the people of this world mention that ancestor. To be honest, most of the manuscripts and notes left by Xuanyang Daoist were studies of the dream world and other mysterious things, and there was very little information about himself. I only know that he is a master who has cultivated to become a Yang God.

It's a pity that although I really want to inquire about the legendary monastery and the deeds of the ancestor Xuanyang Daoist, now is not a good time for small talk, and I am still very clear about this.

"So, you mean, this kind of darkness that seems to have a physical body, is actually harmless?"

"Yes. This phenomenon is not a threat to human life, unless you define repressed perception as a hazard, but we usually don't think so. ”

When Tuttle is not speaking, he fits the words "resolute and mune" very well, but as soon as he speaks, he shows that his thinking ability is equally excellent.

"In fact, some warrior monks take advantage of this special dark environment in their training. However, according to the records, this phenomenon may also be accompanied by something more deadly, but ......," his brow moved, "I'm not very familiar with the ancient records, and I can't be sure what happened to Mallory." ”

After searching the cave, in addition to the passage into the place, we found three other "exits" that led to the distance. One of them extends slightly upwards, while the other two are roughly parallel to the floor of the cave. After a careful search, we found scraped rags and tiny traces of blood on the skin near the hole that stretched upwards, beside a craggy rock in a place where we had to pass.

"I think that's what Mallory left behind. Yesterday we all thought he was going back, but we didn't expect him to go deeper. Cloud, remember what you said yesterday?"

It cannot be ruled out that Mallory had suffered the same thing. I nodded, "But I think it's very unlikely." My eerie dreams began to appear months ago, and I was on another continent - in a village called Hatig. ”

In any case, since I have not been caught up in dreams or hallucinations of unknown origin for the time being, it may be safe to guess that those dreams have nothing to do with the darkness here, that yesterday's events were just an accident, and that Mallory's experience had another reason.

I also considered another possibility, which was that the real culprit was my dream. This is the land of dreams, and since Kulanis's dreams can shape a kingdom, my dreams may also have some magical and great power. However, judging from the records of the Xuanyang Daoists, our orthodox Taoist monks are as round as the Divine Qi, and unless they cultivate some methods related to dreams, they will not dream in the usual sense, let alone leak out of the Divine Qi to the Illusionary Dream Realm. Therefore, I have decided not to put aside this unconfirmed conjecture of Tattle for the time being, so as not to add to the annoyance.

"You're right. The best way to know what happened at the time is to find Mallory himself. Let's go. ”

The path to the passage from this cave is not easy to follow, requiring several successive climbs of rocks one to two meters high, which are not friendly with their strange shapes and rough surfaces. It wasn't as difficult as climbing the high, steep rock faces, but if it did, Mallory wouldn't have fled into the passage in panic, I presume.