5 Explore the building

In the early morning of April 12, Milo, Kolan, Irene, Nightsparrow, and ten other guards set out along the stone path, each carrying plenty of food and water, and the guards sent men to push carts to carry some supplies, enough for the team to last five or six days.

The stone road was uneven, but it was better than no road at all, and the wheels of the cart could easily get stuck in the sand, and the night finch tied it to the outer ring with hemp rope in sections, barely keeping the wheels from sinking into the sand and slipping. The women in the team were given a headscarf to protect their faces from tanning, and even then beads of sweat could not stop sliding down their faces, and the heat made them breathless, and most of them were miserable.

There was still no wind, and under the scorching sun, the scorching heat swept every inch of the sand and stone slabs, and many of the people in the team were setting foot in the desert for the first time and fully felt the horror of it. It was impossible to tell how long it had been, for the sun was always shining directly on the earth, the sand was scorchingly hot, and the team was tormented by exhaustion and hunger to the limit.

"I see, this stone pavement can fry eggs." Nightfinch grumbled.

"Well, I've actually seen anyone do that." Kelan responded, "It's better to talk less and save your strength." ”

The procession marched slowly, and at the suggestion of Captain Allen, a limited ration of fresh water was introduced, but it was still quickly depleted in the hands of some people. Milo looked around and saw a thin layer of sand and dust on the sand farther away on both sides of the stone path, presumably getting lost once you entered. The stone road and the surrounding area are not eroded by sand and dust, and are obviously intentionally arranged. He thought of the "weapon" mentioned in the wind chime letter again, and couldn't help but wonder what could create such a magical and terrifying sand. But the heat forced him to stop thinking and focus on the road.

"Isn't it noon, let's rest and eat." Melo wiped the sweat from her face and said, but it was useless, and new beads of sweat soon seeped out again.

Klan looked back in the direction of the coast, the camp, the beach, and the sea were blocked by layers of sand dunes, the sun hung high in the sky, and she couldn't judge how far and how long she had walked, only that the stone path ahead was endless. "Hey, let's take a break."

As soon as she heard that she was going to rest, Night Sparrow shouted to the people who were far away in front of the group, "Irene! Come back, rest for a while! ”

I don't know if she was lying down on the steamship all the time, or if she was interested in the desert for the first time, she was very energetic, and even overflowed with physical strength - she rushed to the front of the line with full energy, jumping and jumping on the stone slabs separated from each other, encouraging the marching team, and even took off her leggings to prevent heat, revealing her slender and beautiful white legs between her boots and skirts, which made the male soldiers in the guard sigh and make the female soldiers envious. Such a rough way of dressing detracted from her former aristocratic status, but the military life she had been looking forward to was even more rude than that. By the time Night Sparrow called out to her, she had already overstepped the group by more than two hundred meters.

Erin heard the shouting and turned around and waved at everyone, which elicited an enthusiastic response. But then she climbed a small sand dune in front of her, and had no intention of returning. Everyone was not worried about her, and began to set up a simple sunshade pergola and prepare for rest......

"Hey-" Erin's voice reached the group, and she waved vigorously from the sand dunes ahead, "Ahead...... Stuff...... Come ......"

"What is she shouting?" Someone asked, Erin's voice was not clear.

"Looks like she's found something." Someone else said.

Seeing that the pergola had not yet been erected, Milo ordered, "Go on a little further and see what you find in front of you." The team continued to drive along the stone path. Erin stood still and waited for the group to join her, peering incessantly over the front dune.

After a while, everyone also climbed the sand dunes. "Over there!" Erin pointed into the distance and shouted, and everyone saw it—in the vast desert where the stone path extended, there was a very conspicuous little black dot! It reflects a dim light under the sun's rays.

"Ahh Probably the place we're looking for! Nightsparrow said.

"It seems so. Attaboy! Erin. Milo said approvingly, and Erin smiled with a happy expression. So let's go straight there and rest again? Melo shouted to the crowd.

"Hoo !!" The guards shouted in unison.

"It's a bit risky, but it should be fine." Nightsparrow said to Kolan.

"It's good that morale is high," said Kolan, "and as long as there are no enemies coming, it should be fine." ”

Fortunately, Nightsparrow and Koran's fears did not come true, and the team marched all the way without encountering any obstacles. The "black dot" is getting closer and bigger, and it is clearly visible that it is a building.

"Strange, there are no slates." The guard soldier on the cart said suddenly, because everyone's attention was on the black building, and they didn't notice that the stone road under their feet had come to an end.

"Leave a sign here and come back to find your way." Milo set up a pergola at the end of the stone path as a landmark to find it, and the team continued to the black building with confidence. After a while, they arrived at the building, and everyone realized that it was a black stone brick building, with square houses, sharp edges and corners, and a serious atmosphere was revealed, as if the building itself was the embodiment of solemnity. Everyone stared blankly, shocked by the structure that stood abruptly in the desert.

"Is that the door?" The Guards asked, pointing to a large rectangular entrance to the building.

"It looks more like a window," Milo said, "and the frames on all four sides are obvious. ”

"Well, this is just the very top of the whole building," agreed Kolan, stepping on the soft sand under his feet, "The bottom part must be buried by the sand, which is why the stone pavement has come to an end early—it has been buried." ”

Before the sun knew it, it had turned west, everyone's morale and strength had been exhausted, and some people were preoccupied with continuing to eat lunch, when in fact it was already past dinner time.

"I'll go in first," Nightfinch took a step forward, "and if anything happens, I can use the transformation magic to escape." Then he lit a torch and went in through the window.

The others had to wait while eating, and from time to time someone looked out the window, but they could not see the night sparrow or the light of the torches. "Let's go down, I don't know how many floors there are." Everyone speculated. Since they have not seen the night sparrow return, some people have become restless, believing that there is a mystery in this building. However, Milo thinks that it is too early to be anxious, and he still has a lot of trust in the strength of the Night Sparrow.

The sun is about to set, the afterglow is about to dissipate, and the temperature has not dropped much, but it gives people a cool feeling because the sun is no longer shining directly. As the faint light licked the western horizon, there was a sound in the building, followed by a blindfolded fire. The guards who noticed the movement hurriedly poked their heads in to see that the night sparrow had appeared in front of the window.

"I'm back!" Later, when she saw the relaxed expressions on the faces of the guards who came to meet her, she hurriedly said, "Don't worry, I'm fine, there's no danger down there." Milo and Erin were also happy to see her return, handing over food and water, and Kelan was not in a hurry to ask about the situation under the building, but also signaled her to replenish her strength first and rest for a while.

As night fell, the soldiers lit campfires and sat on the ground in front of the building. The night sparrow had eaten and drunk enough, and began to tell the people the following situation: "The inside is very large, and the part exposed above is the top layer, and I have counted six floors, all of which are airtight and have no light, and if you go down, you must prepare a sufficient number of torches." At first, there was only one room on each floor, and when you got to the first and second floors, counting from the bottom up, there were many rooms on the two floors, and it seemed that this protruding part was a tower. The rooms were mostly empty, only a few rooms had some things in them, and we will look at them in detail when we go down. There was a locked room on the ground floor, and I couldn't get in any of them. ”

"Wait, is there a hallway on the first floor you said?" Kelan asked.

"Yes, there's a metal door, but it won't open, it's definitely blocked by the sand outside."

"Hey, do you think there's going to be a basement?" Kelan asked everyone again, causing everyone to guess for a while, and no matter what kind of answer, they all mentioned the locked room. "Need to go down and see for yourself." Kolan concluded.

After resting for a while, they began to prepare the tools for exploring the building—torches, oil lamps, and firewood...... All the tools that could be used for lighting were taken out. Melo and Nightfinch were assigned a number of men, Koran, Melo, Nightfinch, and Erin and the four guards went down to explore first, while the others stayed on the top floor first, and when the advance team went down, each floor of the tower was to be manned from above, so that they could receive and relay information.

"Okay, without further ado, let's go down now!" Milo cheers everyone on, saying that he always remembers the time limit given by Captain Allen: ten days. A day was already spent on the road, and counting the time to return, there were less than nine days left for them to explore here.

The descent went smoothly, and torches lit up the walls of each room that passed through. The crowd searched cautiously for fear of something suddenly emerging from the darkness or missing out on some priceless treasure. Eventually, Koran and Nightfinch were the first to reach the second floor (counting from the bottom up).

"From here, you can see the hallway and the other rooms on the same floor." Nightfinch said. Koran nodded, and began to search each room one by one. Mello followed closely behind Koran and Nightfinch, and behind him was Erin, and the girl couldn't hide her curiosity about the interior of the building, and couldn't help but look around, not missing every corner. There are no door panels on the door frame of the room, presumably the wooden door panels have been completely corroded over the years, which also makes it more convenient for the group to explore. In the first room they explored, they saw a rectangular stone pile the size of a human figure.

"That's?" A voice asked.

"It's the stone mound," Koran replied, "don't come near, don't disturb the deceased." Then she bowed in the direction of the pile, apologetic and respectful. Erin also folded her hands and greeted the deceased with the etiquette of the Wanyuan Sect.

"Those ...... on the wall Is it a word? Melo asked suddenly, and the group's eyes moved to the wall, and they found that there were indeed engraved words, but because the wall was black as a whole, these words were not easy to find under the light of the torches.

"I can't read the words." Erin struggled to make out the words, but said with a frown.

"I don't understand it either." Milo followed closely.

Nightfinch's eyes flashed, and she said, "These are ancient characters from the Saknusem Manuscript, I can read them...... and the people around them turned their eyes to her, hoping to get the meaning of these words from her...... But the latter doesn't quite understand, the previous content is 'good people will win'......" she said, she looked at Kelan, out of respect, and wanted to ask for advice.

Kelan understood what the night sparrow meant, stared at the words on the wall, thought for a while, and said, "Survival of the fittest." There was no exclamation, everyone looked at each other, because the phrase engraved here obviously had its meaning, but it was somewhat unclear to the current visitors.

"Let's explore the next room first." Koran exited the room with a torch. In the adjoining room, there was nothing particularly noteworthy, but with previous experience, the group also found text on the wall, also written in ancient characters from the Manuscript.

"Natural selection......" Kelan interpreted the result, but this word made everyone even more confused. Without staying too long, Kelan led people to the innermost room on the second floor, and before entering the door, the night bird spoke.

"Kelan, this should be the room where the 'weapon' is." Hearing Nightfinch's words, Kolan, Milo, and Erin all widened their eyes.

The "weapon" that can create dust and black shadows is finally about to unveil its mystery and reveal it to people.