Excitement, grievances, panic, doubts, thousands of thoughts were blocked in my heart, my mouth was half open, the tip of my tongue trembled between my teeth, but I still couldn't say even half a word.

But feeling the real strength of my shoulder, and the rude and strong tone, my consciousness was also very clear - it was not an illusion, the man who could give people a solid support, he was not dead.

In a moment, I felt a little warmth welling up in the corners of my eyes, and all the anticipation, sadness, and despair converged into a reproachful sigh,

"You, why are you here now! Where did you go before? ”

The big man was silent for a long time, and just when I thought he hadn't heard, a faint breath slowly drifted into my nose. For some reason, the pressure and depression deposited on his body were dissipated and melted by this strange dark fragrance, and his next words became particularly earnest in the diffuse pleasure,

"I'm sorry, little brother, I'm late. But then, Lao Tzu will definitely be able to bring you out of this hellish place alive! ”

Hearing his familiar and unwavering promise, my only remaining fears vanished, and my heart was filled with unwarranted conviction.

However, under this exaltation that pervades every vein, there seems to be an imperceptible dissonance, and I seem to have forgotten something, it is a kind of pent-up and neglected fear, which is like a drop in the ocean for the rest of the surging emotions.

"In this way, you follow them first, and when the time comes to get off the mountain, I will lead you to a safe place, rest assured, as long as we move fast enough, they won't be able to react."

After hearing the big man's plan, I frowned, and countless questions suddenly popped up in my mind, but just as I was about to speak, those questions that were already on my lips melted one after another like ice and snow in early spring, leaving no trace.

In the refreshing fragrance, my heart was left with only comfort and joy, and with restless excitement, I replied tremblingly,

"Good! Good! I'll go now! Just go and inform Yao! We, we're together! ”

"Hehe, go ahead."

The big man's hand moved away from my shoulder, and I immediately stumbled towards Yao not far away like a student with the title of the gold list eager to inform his parents.

"Huh?"

Half a meter apart, Yao took a few breaths, and then turned his head with a complicated expression, as if he had smelled some unbearable stench.

However, at this time, I didn't care about Yao's slightly abnormal behavior at all, waving my hands and almost lying on her ear and whispering incoherently,

"Yao? Yao! That person, that person, he's back! Do you know? Do you know who he is? ”

In the sloppy gaze, I saw Yao struggling to break free, retreating a few steps away and watching me vigilantly.

And I just felt that there was chaos in my mind, and all the memories and experiences were boiling violently in a dirty iron pot.

Through the similar darkness, my gaze seemed to pass back to the cold cavern, the narrow platform by the deep pool, on which the big man was standing, staring at the swirling ripples.

Memories overlap with reality, and the fragmented pictures are staged alternately, I don't know whether it was intentional or unintentional, I stared at the solemn Yao, and said the facts that the big man stated to me at the beginning,

"He, he's the father!"

"Huh??"

Even without using my eyes, I could imagine what kind of shock Yao was hanging at this time.

Suddenly, the raging and cold wind in the canyon blew away my dazed and crazy gaze, and at the same time, the strange fragrance that could not be described in words gradually disappeared in the whistling wind.

The moment the smell disappeared, I instantly fell to my knees as if my soul had been drained, and I trembled uncontrollably. The heart was beating so fast that exponentially the blood was sent to the brain, and the dense and fragile nerves around the temples were bursting in pain. For a moment, I could only hold this position, moaning in pain like a dying illness.

"Huh? Hmmm! ”

Seeing such a scene, Yao hurriedly put away her previous guard, and crawled close to the stone wall, squatting on the ground and patting my back, while scanning me in a panic and worry.

I knew what she wanted to ask, and I knew why she was so anxious, but I couldn't say anything. Leaning on my back, my skull seemed to have an extra hole, and an invisible claw was digging deep into it, mudding almost all the memories and emotions of a few minutes ago, and the only thing that remained was a deep and strong hint.

"Down, downhill......"

Perhaps completely trusting its reliable subordinates, Xun didn't notice the slightest abnormality. And I took this opportunity to raise my head with difficulty and whispered to Nian,

"After going down the mountain, run with the big man!"

As soon as I finished speaking, a cold turbulence flowed into my chest, and with a very convulsion, I turned back sharply, but above the empty stone steps, there was only endless darkness.

I shuddered, speechless.

"What's going on......"

Muttering, my head ached again, as if my subconscious mind was preventing me from delving further. In the sharp tinnitus, even the memory of the fragment disappeared, I turned my head in a hurry, and said to Yao who was stunned in place,

"Just now, there were so many of us behind us - all, all ......"

However, after hearing this, Yao slowly stood up, trembling and raising an index finger, from the face engraved with fear and unknown, I found the meaning she wanted to express, and then read it out as if demented,

"You mean the ...... behind us Only one person? ”

I laughed to myself, just to hide the truth hidden behind the despair,

"No way, I remember, we walked in the middle of the line, and then the big man took them all one by one-"

But halfway through the talk, even I began to wonder if it took so much manpower to monitor two powerless wastes? And the cooperation and strength of these dwarfs are obvious to all, how can a big man alone quietly break into the position behind me.

Unless, these memories are all fake.

I remembered the unnatural aroma from earlier, and I only felt a cold sweat sliding down my back.

"But, but, believe me, he said he would be waiting for us at the foot of the mountain."

Rubbing my swollen head, I shook my head and said, my heart was stunned and at the same time I kept looking for an explanation, maybe this is all the design of the big man? Maybe it's just that he's gone to another path now? At least the tone of voice and the trusting attitude I heard at the time were not hallucinations!

Thinking of this, I hurriedly held Yao's petite arm and grinned comfortingly,

"It's okay, go down, after you go down, there will be a way! There will be! And now that we look back, we have no way out! It's full of Wei Ming's people! Dead! Do you understand! ”

If it weren't for the fear that Xun would notice something unusual, these words would have been roared out.

But regardless of the form, Yao finally nodded, turned and cautiously walked towards the monster swaying below. And I quickly put away all kinds of crazy thoughts and followed without looking back.

The soles of the shoes make a crisp and long-lasting sound against the old stone slabs, but there is no echo in the vast valley. Every two steps, I had to look back, and although I didn't know if I wanted to see the big man actually appear, the nervousness of the twist of my neck always tortured me to death.

As the sound of the murmuring water became clearer, some of the details of the dark and hollow valley were revealed.

Grabbing at the hollow rock crevice, I stopped and looked down, a faint glow of sinuous fluorescence flowing silently in the deepest depths. In the thick darkness, this only source of light is like a fairy's garment, bringing some solace to the dead and illusory world.

"Strange ......"

Struggling over an upside-down stone, I muttered to myself,

"How can this still be bright?"

But on second thought, I thought it was ridiculous, after all, compared to other things that were beyond the rules of biological composition, rivers with shimmering light were normal to the extreme.

Since the distance from the ground was not much, Yao's courage was a little better than before, and she even had time to observe her surroundings. After hearing my voice, she was also a little curious, looking at the zigzag stream in the distance, and there was something fascinating in her eyes.

"Alright, let's go."

As I spoke, I walked quickly to Yao's side, but instead of doing so, she raised her arm excitedly and pointed to some dots of light on the riverbank. Compared to the young Yao, my eyesight is definitely not so good. So he simply made a show and prevaricated and took her on.

The closer I got to the bottom, the steeper the stairs became, and in the end I had to barely fall off the slippery stone slabs with almost my hands and feet. And the monster walking in front of Yao doesn't seem to have this kind of trouble, it is like having a sucker on the soles of its feet, no matter how steep the road ahead is, it is like walking on the ground.

"Damn! What the hell? ”

Scolding secretly, I climbed down a short distance again, turned my face sideways and shouted at Yao, who was still struggling with which hand to change,

"Hey! Are you okay? ”

I saw Yao raise her head with great effort, her eyes full of exhaustion and hardship, but perhaps because of her age's unique self-esteem, she just made an OK gesture to me and continued her lame climb.

Although the trickle was close at hand, the speed of the team was too slow to attach. I crawled as hard as I could, reading the seconds in my mind, as if that would make time a little faster.

When I counted to almost two thousand, I finally heard the sound of Yao falling to the ground.

"W-so long."

Sighing softly, I sped up and climbed down, and in a few moments, I landed firmly on the ground as my feet kicked hard.

"Huh?"

When I was balanced, I looked strangely at the ground at my feet, for the imaginary heavy crash did not sound, but was replaced by an inaudible friction.

"It's ...... Grass? ”

I rubbed the ground, and sure enough, there was only a light rustle.

However, this busy pastime was fleeting, and in an instant my hair stood upside down, and I remembered the ghostly vision that haunted me, and if what the great man said was true, then it should be ......

Just as I was glancing around in the very low visibility environment, a few meters away from the river, there was a sudden thud, as if something had jumped in.

Suddenly, the already mysterious atmosphere suddenly tensed to the extreme. Xun raised his right hand vigilantly, and several sharp arrows were also placed on the bowstring. Without hesitation, the group of monsters born for killing began to walk in unison towards the source of the sound, and I took Yao's cold hand and slowly stuck to the hard surface of the rock wall.

But then came not only the chill that seeped into the bone marrow, but also the fragrance of ecstasy wafted out in the darkening valley.

And then there was the cry that made my scalp tingle,

"Why are you still stunned?! Come on!!! ”