"Where's the painting?" I asked.

Looking at the "encounter" of the lotus flower in series, the ancient painting is the key to the distortion.

Lianhua shook his head: "It has been lost in the Mogao Grottoes, and it should have been stolen by local thieves." ”

I bowed my head and was speechless, Lotus came here because of that painting, and the painting was gone, and the possibility of her returning to the starting point was too small.

Of course, even if she had that painting, she might not be able to go back.

"I used to persuade myself that it was good to be there." She pointed to the east, "There is money and power, there is wine and meat, sometimes it is full of friends, sometimes it is like water...... However, there was always a voice in my heart shouting - go back, go back ......"

Her voice choked suddenly, and then she hung her head sadly.

It is impossible for a person to live in a foreign land forever, just the foreign land in space is already unbearable, let alone the double foreign land in space and time - people are not plants, as long as they have roots, water, sunlight, and oxygen, they can live anywhere.

Human beings are animals with feelings, and if this kind of feelings are incomplete, no matter how good the enjoyment is, they will not be able to taste it.

"Are you sure you can find a way back when you go to Mogao Grottoes?" I asked.

"Whether it works or not, you have to try again." Lotus replied.

"You haven't told me yet, what kind of visions will appear in the hall when the others go to take the scorched wood?" I asked again.

Lotus thought thoughtfully: "The illusions that appeared at that time were the best side of my heart, as if the things I had pursued all my life were displayed in an instant. For example, I once saw that I was awarded the Medal of Honor for Warriors, the highest in the great powers of the north, and became the pillar of the country, the highest command system of the spy agency, and the first person under the emperor of the north. ”

"As a result, it came true in an illusion?" I asked.

Lotus nodded and replied, "Indeed, without the illusion, there is still nothing." I've tried this several times, but none of them have yielded tangible results. ”

Vaguely, I seemed to have found the crux of the problem, lowered my head, stared at the dead grass on the ridge and thought silently.

Jiao Mu has always been collected in the Chuntai Hall of the Star Picking Tower, and is enshrined with the statue.

When I took the scorched wood, the statue was gone to ashes in an instant.

"The focus is on the Star Tower, not anywhere else. If you bypass this point, you will lose the best opportunity to solve the puzzle. Therefore, only in the capital can you get the most correct clues. Little by little, I figured it out, "Now, we can't run away from the war, but we have to rush forward against the flames of war, into the heart of the war, which is where the conflict is most intense." ”

"I'll go back." I got up.

"What?" Lotus didn't understand.

"I'll go back, go back to the capital, and go back to the Star Tower." I repeated in a low voice.

It's not easy to explain this idea, and a large part of it comes from my sixth sense, which is not supported by theories and is not enough to convince others.

"Are you crazy?" Lianhua shook her head, "Now that the capital is under the control of the invading army, and the slaughter of the city is about to begin, if you go back at this time, won't you throw yourself into the sea of fire?" ”

I didn't explain it to her at length, but just asked, "What are we living in this era for?" ”

Lianhua replied without hesitation: "Of course, I will do everything I can to return to the original point." ”

Her origin is at the entrance of the staircase at the Central Building on Hong Kong Island, while mine is at the anti-thief pit in Dunhuang.

"Since scorched wood is the key, then, how much do you know about scorched wood?" I asked again.

Lotus shook her head blankly: "There is only a little understanding, it can trigger illusions." ”

She said a lot, and we didn't know anything about Scorched Wood except for the fact that she "caused illusions".

What I think is that since I have come to the origin of the scorched wood, I must seize the opportunity to understand the clues related to it clearly. It is a great opportunity to learn about history while standing on the site of history. Escaping at this moment is tantamount to entering Baoshan and returning empty-handed.

"I'll go back, do you want to come along?" I asked.

Lotus did not answer immediately, but looked far to the east.

I can understand her ambivalent feelings, she just got out of the tiger's mouth, and going back at this moment is tantamount to throwing herself to a dead end.

She can understand, but her people may not.

"If you have any concerns, I'll go back by myself, and everyone will leave it at that." I say.

The complexity of the two Song rivers and lakes must be lower than that of the 21st century, so with my wisdom, I will definitely be able to come and go freely and get out of the way.

"Well, I'm with you, but we've been west for a day—" she said hesitantly.

"Hurry up, it's just the middle of the night." I say.

With my personality, once I have decided on a direction, I will move forward steadfastly.

We immediately turned over and landed, chose two horses in the best condition, brought a little water and dry food, and set out on the road we had come from overnight.

We couldn't talk while the horses were galloping.

I was in front, lotus was behind, running wildly all the way.

Actually, I'd love to see a vision of my future from the Starry Tower.

Everyone wants to foresee their own future and decide their own steps forward. Because of this, there are so many diviners.

When the outline of the capital appeared in the field of vision, the union and I restrained the war horse.

In the distance, the ancient city was already in a smoky, lifeless state. The gates were wide open, the drawbridge was falling, and there was silence on the city walls, and there was no one left.

We couldn't even hear the cries for help, which proved that it was all over and that the whole city had fallen.

The brutality of war has been documented in many texts, so I don't need to repeat them all. The reason why this battle of city destruction is called "the difficulty of Jingkang and the shame of Jingkang" is enough to show its tragedy.

"Those who should not have come back will only increase...... Vexation. Lotus sighed with some chagrin.

We don't have a chance to do anything for this city, after all, taking a dozen people against the overwhelming barbarian horse team of the northern minorities is tantamount to using the mantis arm as a chariot.

"Go to the Star Tower." I'll be brief.

We still entered through the tunnels, but luckily the enemy had just entered the city, and the tunnels were saved before we had time to conduct a carpet search.

Out of the tunnel, we hurried to the Star Picking Tower.

Although there are traces of looting, there are no corpses or blood.

When I arrived at the Chuntai Hall, I picked up the scorched wood and put it on the offering table.

"You try to pick it up, and I'll see what happens in the hall outside?" I told Lotus.

I exited the Chuntai Hall and stood at the door.

"I can't hold it up, it feels like it's on the offering table, and the offering table is connected to the ground—" Lotus said, grabbing the scorched wood.

She had previous experience, so when she held it, she used great force.

Unexpectedly, she grabbed Jiao Mu at once, couldn't retract her strength, and fell down.

"It's ...... How is it different from before? It was impossible to mention it before, but what is happening now? It's weird, it's weird. She propped herself on the ground with one hand and leaped to her feet.

When she put the charred wood on the offering table for the second, third, fourth time and picked it up again, I knew that the problem was with the statue.

The statue was destroyed, and some mysterious prohibition that existed on the scorched wood was relieved and lost its effectiveness.

In the field of metaphysics, the prohibition occupies a very important position, and its manifestation is similar to the folk often say "ghosts hit the wall, ghosts hit the eyes, and hit ghosts during the day", and the human sense of sight, hearing, and smell has abnormal problems, and it is clear that they can see, hear, and smell, but those things do not exist at all. Or, there is another type, where there is no obstacle in front of you, but you can't walk, can't pick up, can't kick, as if you are locked in a transparent box.

Taoism and Tibetan secrets both have the word "forbidden", while Maoshan Shu and Jiangxi Longhu Mountain have their own more secret techniques, and their manifestations are similar.

Previously, Lotus couldn't lift Jiao Mu, because she didn't find the existence of the prohibition, but she just relied on her own strength to lift it, no matter how hard she tried, it couldn't work, just like a person trying to forcibly open a locked safe.

Lotus gave up her efforts and walked out with a frown, standing in the center of the hall.

"The illusion is here, it's so beautiful and it's fun. Unfortunately, I am already trapped in the cage of time, and even if I see those beautiful scenes, I can't realize them one by one.

"Don't be pessimistic, things are man-made, as long as you work hard, you will definitely be able to change the status quo." I encouraged her.

Faith is very important at this time. As soon as confidence collapses, our combat effectiveness is completely destroyed.

I proposed to go back to the Star Tower, but now I got nothing, and the blow to me was incomparably great.

"Shall we go?" Lotus asked.

I walked to the window and looked down on the dead city.

The change of ownership of the capital is tantamount to the destruction of the country. For the Central Plains, this is a great disaster. Of course, as I said before, in the case of extremely closed information communication, it will take a few months or even years for this news to spread throughout the Central Plains. At that time, the people of the Great Song Dynasty knew the truth about the "difficulty of Jingkang".

The information blockage is actually a good thing, at least it didn't cause a national panic overnight.

I once read a book about the Battle of Nanking during World War II by an American missionary. Standing on the bell tower of the church, he looked down on the city and saw a procession of Japanese soldiers wearing steel helmets walking through the streets at night. He felt exactly the same then as I should have now, and he didn't dare to imagine the evil in the night, and he didn't dare to imagine what kind of miserable scene we would face after dawn.

"Let's go, let's go, shall we?" Lotus urged again.

"To Dunhuang?" I shook my head, "Lotus, actually we ...... We have nowhere to go. ”

This is what I am saying, even if we go to Dunhuang, it may not be able to guarantee that we will find reliable clues. Quite possibly, all the way to the wild, just for nothing.

"How come there is nowhere to go? Go to Dunhuang, or even to the west and south, to the place where the Tibetan secret is entrenched, and get a solution to the problem from the Tibetan secret monks......" Lotus said, her body trembling.

This kind of performance shows that she doesn't believe what she says at all.

I opened my arms, and she immediately pounced on me, leaning into my arms, trembling like a lone leaf on a branch in the cold winter.

"Let's go, here, I'm afraid...... I'm so scared that I always feel like there's a monster squatting in the dark, and I'll choose someone to devour at any time. She whimpered.

"Tell me, what exactly did you see?" I said calmly.

"What?" She looked up in my arms and looked at me with teary eyes.

"What kind of visions do you see? Be honest and don't lie to yourself. I said.

Lotus's eyes were already crying red: "Yes, I didn't see myself...... Rewarded, received by the Emperor of the North, but, rather, rather, rather, was ......"

I knew that not only had she felt the monster's presence, but had actually seen it in visions. She even said that the vision she saw was the scene of herself being devoured by a monster.

Because of this, she was afraid to return to the Star Picking Tower, and she was so nervous.

This is the disadvantage of foreseeing the future, if you foresee a good thing, it is just that, if you see a miserable bad thing, you will immediately carry a huge psychological burden, always worried, unable to explain.

"Don't be afraid, things are always changing, and as long as you are willing to do it, you can get through it." That's all I can do to comfort her.

"The monster is there, right there—" Lotus pointed to the center of the hall, "and it has a large toad mouth, three feet wide, and it swallows me in one mouth." This is my end, this is my ...... The period of death, you say it can be changed, can it really be changed? ”

I am not afraid of illusions, but I hope to find the truth from illusions, and trace them back to the source of truth.

"Tell me about the monster." I calmly prompted the lotus.

Even the most unimaginable monsters always have their true colors.

I suspect that it is in Lotus's mind that it will become a concrete image and eventually appear in front of her eyes.

"Okay, I'll try to describe what it looks like, let me think, let me think about it......" Lotus muttered.