Wandering to Wulian, it is hard for Nier to imagine that her escape trip from being held hostage has turned into an adventure.

The white-robed woman Yan Ning who happened to meet on the road was actually Tao Qian, the former head of Bailu Cave, which is really ridiculous and funny, because in Nier's memory, all the records about Tao Qian, in addition to explaining that Tao Qian is a man, also said that he was very pedantic and instigated, and lectured people all day long in Bailu Cave, reciting dogma like an old man, making everyone avoid.

However, at this moment, the woman sitting in front of her, holding a half-empty wine urn in one hand, smoking a thick marijuana cigarette in the other, and a trance in her eyes, is simply 108,000 miles away from the legend, and Nier can't imagine how there can be such a big gap.

“...... After the coalition was disbanded, I was unemployed, and the guy from Gongjin wanted me to go back to work, or I would find a pit to bury myself, so I went back. Later, they thought that I was too notorious before, so they asked me to stick my beard and pretend to be a man, and appear as a man. ”

"I know, don't keep spraying cigarettes at me, I'm dizzy...... However, you don't instigate at all, why do people say that you are an old pedant and old-fashioned?"

"It's because I hate to be instigated, and I work there all day, and I'm annoyed to death, so I want to skip work. I asked my little brother Wuji to help me build a dummy of the Ancient Demon Dao, which looks the same as my men's clothes, and can walk and talk, and put it in the corridor of the academy, so that everyone can see my stand-in, and I can skip work reasonably, but the dummy has some flaws, as if something is not very good......"

Yan Ning frowned, grabbed her hair, and finally clapped her hands and said: "I think about it, it's AI, I don't know what it means, it seems to be some kind of artificial intelligence, in short, the AI of that mechanical dummy is bad enough, no matter who you see, you will only recite the thirty-six precepts and seventy-two minor laws of the White Deer Cave, if you read it for a long time, your hair will smoke and catch fire, and finally everyone in the academy will run away when they see it." ”

Niel laughed, and it was vaguely conceivable how the mechanical dummy of the White Character Family, full of dogma and smoking hair, was rampant in the White Deer Cave, causing Confucian students everywhere to compete and avoid each other.

However, for the story that Yan Ning said, including how she got to know the Iron Mask Ladyboy, how she participated in the rebels, and how she later returned to the White Deer Cave, these stories are completely from the past, which makes Nile feel very confused, it turns out that there is such an inextricably complicated relationship between this woman and the White Deer Cave.

So, what kind of mood and thoughts does Yan Ning have today?

Her affection for Rou Ning made Nier reluctant to become an enemy with her, so she asked the old orcs in private. This is not an easy job, because every time she is caught in the long tongue array of the old people, Nier, who is tragically bombarded by the spirit, often feels that her life is worse than death, like this time, as soon as she opened her mouth, before she could ask a few words, the old people dominated the topic.

"Girl, what are you doing in the Wulian Autonomous Region?"

"I ...... I went to visit relatives, by the way...... Let's travel!"

"Visiting relatives, girl, are you our martial arts practitioner? ”

"Hey, it's rude to say that, I'm a native of Wulian, although I went out to wander out after I was a teenager, but before I was a teenager, I lived at the foot of Huaguo Mountain, where I remember every grass and tree very clearly, don't call me like a stranger. ”

Nier said proudly, feeling a little back to when she first left her hometown, she felt that human beings were cunning and treacherous, far less affectionate and righteous than Wu Lian's neighbors, and now she can return to Wu Lian and see the simple human affection that she has not seen for a long time, that feeling is indeed great.

But the old orcs around don't seem to think so......

"It's not like it, it's not like it, even if you've been away for a long time, but you don't look like a martial arts person at all, you can't answer anything when you ask you, you don't even know what specialties Huaguo Mountain has, how does this look like a martial arts person?"

"I ...... I just forgot...... If I think about it a little, I'll remember it right away, and you'll know I'm not lying......"

The old orcs' questioning accidentally hit a psychological blind spot that Niel had never thought about. Since she wandered into the outside world, she had never thought about these questions, or perhaps, she had subconsciously avoided them. Seeing that Huaguo Mountain is in front of her, and it will be there today, Nier has a feeling of homesickness in her heart, which can even be said to be ...... Fear.

In order to relieve this feeling, Niel walked around, her injuries had been more than half better in the past few days, and she was now in the wilderness, and she did not have to worry about the enemy attacking, so she was naturally quite relaxed. But when she unconsciously approached the camping place of Yan Ning, she heard that there was a commotion there, and the sound of excitement kept coming out.

(Someone is doing it?Who is it?Shi Chong: Are they coming?)

Niel had this assumption, but when she did not hesitate to break into the woods and see what was inside, she was speechless with astonishment.

There was indeed a fight in the woods, and although it was fierce, it was a very low-level battle, and Niel, who regretted why she had broken in, even wanted to turn around and leave immediately.

Alone, surrounded by a fierce wind in the center, it was Chirez who caused the black shadow of those strong winds with his high-speed body, and it was Chirez who was more correct to say that he was seriously injured and degenerated into a bat and black cat.

Degraded into a cat, Chires' lethality has diminished, but even so, he is still the most dangerous feline in the world, moving at high speed and turning into a black wind, swirling around Rouge, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

Yan Ning was dressed in a white robe fluttering with the strong wind, standing in the center of the encirclement with a smile, as if she was ignoring the murderous intent dilemma in front of her, and Nier didn't know if she had real skills, or if she just smoked too much marijuana and felt no more cerebral paralysis.

(By the way, she said that she used to be a demon hunter in the White Deer Cave, specializing in hunting and killing demons who came to the human world, and fought with Chireth at that time...... Alas, these two should not have been put together. ）

Yan Ning doesn't look like a very generous and generous woman, and Chirez is even more revenge, putting these two dangerous people together, new hatred and old hatred, how can there be no reason not to have an accident?

Chireth finally launched an attack, but Rao is movement was extremely fast, advancing and retreating like the wind, and every time he wanted to get close to Yan Ning's body, it was like encountering a layer of copper and iron walls, no matter how he pounced, he couldn't break through that invisible qi wall.

Yan Ning didn't move, and she couldn't see any signs of her luck, Nier looked at it fixedly, and finally found five colored crystals of different colors and the size of a thumb at her feet, judging from the decorations, it seemed to be some kind of enchantment formation, no wonder Yan Ning could be so fearless, it turned out that the arrangement had already been made.

(I forgot, she told me that she was an immortal Taoist in the White Deer Cave, and she knew the same oriental immortal arts as the iron-masked ladyboy...... ）

Niel remembered this, and her gaze woke Chires, noticing the five hedrons below, roaring angrily, and immediately rushing towards Yan Ning's feet.

"Ha, old friend, I noticed it so late, so I can't say that I won't give you a chance. ”

In the coquettish long laughter, Yan Ning's hand was like electricity, and the grappling technique was even more bizarre, it seemed that she wanted to grab Chirez's neck, but Chirez avoided it slightly, her technique changed immediately, and she grabbed Chirez's tail lightly, and then pulled the cat's tail, and smashed it mercilessly into a big rock next to her.

"Devil Clan, more than a hundred years ago, I told you to go back to the Demon Realm and not come again, why are you still here?

Yan Ning drank in his mouth, but there was no mercy in his hands, he grabbed the cat's tail, and frequently threw it at the rock, which was both heavy, and although the rock was hard, it didn't take long for it to be smashed into stone chips, as if it had been cut down by a big knife and a giant axe. Chirez bore the brunt of the blow, and after the injuries he had suffered at Shangri-La had not healed, and his strength had been greatly affected after he had turned into a cat, how could he be tortured by such an impact? It didn't take long for a little bit of blood to splatter out, leaving a shocking stain of blood on the rubble.

Niel had been watching from the sidelines, but when the blood splashed on her cheeks, and there was a hot pain, she suddenly came to her senses, and she rushed forward with an arrow step, grabbing her hand, stopping Rou Ning's tapping behavior.

"Stop, stop fighting, if you keep fighting, you'll really die. ”

Nier didn't have any good feelings for Chiretz, but everyone was in trouble and life together before, and they finally had a little affection, but now it's not good to see him being abused like this, so she grabbed Chiretz with her hand, protected the scarred black cat on her chest, and took a few steps back to prevent Yan Ning's pursuit.

"Didn't you saints of the White Deer Cave say that you want to repay grievances with virtue? You are so vicious, where do you look like a White Deer Cave person!"

"Oh, little girl, it's very interesting to speak, what classics have you read in the White Deer Cave?

In the chuckle of Yan Ning, Nier's face flushed, she usually lacks patience and doesn't like to read, these words have only been mentioned by people, but if you ask where it came from, the ghost will know where it came from!

"And you are completely mistaken, the saint who said this sentence has never been in favor of repaying grievances with virtue, but advocates the use of chairs to repay grievances, I can't find chairs and stools here, I look for a big stone, that can be regarded as drawing inferences, in line with the teachings of the saint!"

Seeing that Yan Ning said it seriously, Nier only felt confused, although she didn't read much, she had never heard of such a ridiculous thing as using a chair to complain, did this woman deliberately play tricks on herself?

"Nonsense, I've never heard of this kind of thing, don't think that if you read two more books, you can talk nonsense, how can a saint say such a thing?"

"Alas, no knowledge is no knowledge, and it's useless to even tell you what others have told you. Take it and see for yourself!"

Yan Ning smiled freely, raised her hand and threw out something, Nier reached out to take it, her right arm was loosened, Chires, who did not want to be sheltered, took the opportunity to run away and slip away, Nier didn't have time to care, just looked at the thing in her hand, and found that it was a book, and it happened to have turned a page.

"It's ......"

Niel looked at the first four big lines of "Analects?Xianwen", and the next two lines recorded a dialogue.

What is it like to repay grievances with virtue?

Zi said: "How to repay virtue? The chair repays grievances, and repays virtue with virtue." ”

After these two dialogues, there are vernacular annotations explaining the principle of "repaying virtue with virtue and returning an eye to an eye", and the most accessible objects in the world are folding stools and chairs, whether they are teahouses and wine shops, or the courtyard of the home, they are all readily available, so if you meet on a narrow road and meet an enemy, you don't need to think about it, pick up the chair you are riding on, and knock it down - the chair to complain.

"How, how can there be such a reason...... Is this book published in White Deer Cave?"

Unable to believe what she was seeing, Nier turned the book over, first saw a line of words "Tao Yanning Compiled? Minming Study Publishing", then turned to the cover, and when she saw the words on it, she screamed in shock and dismay.

"What, what? "Spring and Autumn Warrior Group Portraits? What You Don't Know About Kong Zhongni?!"

The cry was amused, and it was full of anger, and the girl's roar hovered in the deep mountains and dense forests, startling the birds to flee, and the beasts to run, and not to disperse for a long time.

※※※

As predicted by Yan Ning before, this trip is nearing the end, whether Nier wants it or not, they only have one day left to travel from the Huaguo Mountain Domain, and the next morning, everyone continued to set off on their way, and in the evening, they finally climbed the ridge.

According to Yan Ning's previous statement, as long as you walk in this direction and cross the past, you can reach Shuilian Town, and Nier's mood of being close to home has not improved, but the closer she gets, the faster her heart beats, and the whole mountaineering process seems to have become a fierce war of resistance for her, and her heart beats faster and faster, and even sweat keeps flowing down her forehead.

You can't be wrong with your own memories. The appearance of his hometown, the fragrant smell of lemongrass chickens sold at the entrance of his former residence, the sound of his neighbors shouting at night, and the noise that includes both orc and human language are all deeply remembered in his mind, and even the peach wild flowers swaying on the left side of the village entrance on the way out of Shuilian Town, that image is so clear that it seems like yesterday.

This is where he grew up, and because of this, he can refuge Chires's lies with peace of mind, while continuing to tell himself that there is no need to worry about the so-called origin problem, that he is the only sister of his brother, the princess of Reyns, and that everything is as simple as that.

"It's really ugly, little girl, you're sweating profusely? Does climbing a mountain make you so tired? It seems that your heavenly strength is not very good!"

"Less, less, I just haven't healed from my injuries yet, if my injuries are healed, I won't put this little mountain in ......"

"Why explain so much, take a brave step forward and see what you want to see! From here, you can directly look down on Shuilian Town. ”

Carrying the crimson sunset, Yan Ning stretched out his hand generously, and his white palm was as soft and delicate as white jade, as if he was inviting and provoking Nier.

"What's the big deal, Miss Ben is afraid of you?"

Nier pursed her lips, resolutely stretched out her hand, held Yan Ning's palm, and with a little leverage, stepped on the top of the high mountain, and the scene on the other side of Huaguo Mountain immediately came into view.

"This ...... It's Shuilian Town. ”

Condescendingly, the scene of Shuilian Town was in full view, and in that sunken mountain, Niel's most feared sight did not appear, and although it was shrouded in a thick white mist, it was still evident that there was a house there, nestled in an orderly manner in the thick fog.

The most feared sight did not appear, what she saw in front of her was not an empty wasteland, and Nil's whole heart was occupied by the joy of returning to her hometown, and no matter how many people were still watching, she cheered and ran quickly down the hill, towards the town below.

The downhill mountain road is quite steep, and it is not easy to walk, but with Nier's martial arts, she naturally doesn't care, kicking on the steep mountain wall, her whole body flies out, jumps to another protruding rock, rises and falls a few times, and easily comes to the bottom of the mountain, rushing into the dense fog of five miles.

As you run, the scene of the town gradually becomes clearer, and the noisy voices in the village are also heard in the wind, and the familiar feeling is just like the past, and even the flowers and plants on the side of the entrance road are swaying and swaying as when they leave, as if welcoming the return of the old man who has not been seen for a long time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm back. ”

Niel screamed and rushed into the village, so ecstatic that she ran to her former home as soon as she entered the village, but ignored a strange fact.

The noisy voices that she had heard outside the village disappeared the moment she stepped into the village, and the whole village became a dead silence, without half a voice, and on the way to her former residence, she did not meet half of the villagers, and the village shrouded in thick fog was like a dead city with no one in sight.

Immersed in the joy of her heart, Niel was oblivious to these phenomena, and ran to the seventh room on the west side of the village, which was a small thatched hut, although simple, but neat, with the faint scent of thatch sun-burned, which was the deepest smell in Nier's memory, and the broken wooden door, which was not very reliable, had to be held against another large stone every rainy day, so that it would not be shaken by the wind.

"Hey!"

According to her most familiar habits, she kicked the door open, and Nile entered the thatched house that had not been inhabited for several years, originally she had been worried about whether the house would fall into disrepair due to lack of care, and it was so dirty that it was full of cobwebs, and even dilapidated and collapsed, but when she opened the door, the whole thatched house was clean and clean, without a trace of dirt, and the simple tables and chairs were neatly rested, as if its owner had just pushed the door and left, and the years of time were completely gone.

(Why is it so clean?...... At least cobwebs...... ）

Niel quickly thought of the answer, it must be a kind neighbor who helped take care of it, so the house was so spotless.

Wanting to thank her neighbor, Niel rushed out of the door, but was shocked to find that the dense fog around her gradually dissipated, and there were no people, men, women, children, and creatures on the empty streets, and the shouting and noise that she had only heard before entering the village was so quiet that she could not hear a single sound at the moment, as if all human voices had never existed.

"How is this happening? Where did everyone run away?"

Nile looked around hesitantly, trying to find something, but even without her eyes to see, not to hear with her ears, her heavenly consciousness told her the same fact, there was no sign of life within a hundred feet, not at all.

Even the dullest of the people will notice that something is wrong at this moment, and Niel wanders the streets blankly, looking at each house one by one. It was indeed the appearance of the house in her memory, every grass and tree, without the slightest change, even the half-open window, that position, was no different from the memory.

Why is it so consistent? Why hasn't it changed in a few years? Why have all the people in the village disappeared?

Countless mysteries appeared in her mind, and Nile was at first frightened and wanted to jump and scream, but as the facts gradually became clear, the pressure turned hope into despair, and she only felt that she was standing in a bottomless hole, sinking rapidly, and could no longer see a single ray of light.

After wandering like a wandering spirit for a long time, and finally found that she had nowhere to go, Ni'er returned to her former home, sat down at the small table, and poured herself a glass of water.

There was a sound of soft footsteps outside the door, someone pushed the door open and came in, Niel didn't look back, just by feeling, she knew that the person who came was Yan Ning.

"Sit, welcome to my house, would you like to pour you a glass of water?"

Without waiting for an answer, Niel took a cup of her own and slowly poured the water. The expression on her face was neither joy nor sorrow, just a wry smile after giving up hope, and her eyes reflected the waves of water shaking in the cup, which looked extremely bleak and lonely.

"It's strange, I've been away from home for a few years, no one has helped me clean it, the house is still so clean, even the tea is still so fresh......"

The voice of the voice became lower and lower, and finally there was a soft "tick" sound, and crystal tears dripped from his cheeks and fell into the clear water in the cup, making small ripples.

"Tell me what you need to tell me!"

Still holding the cup, Nier turned her head to face Yan Ning, her expression had returned to calm and steady, as if she had added a solid armor to her heart defense, but despite this, Yan Ning could still see that behind that seemingly strong rational defense, the girl's heart was still hesitant and helpless, and was roaring on the edge of the cliff of collapse.

"So sure I'll have something to say to you?"

"How can there be such a coincidence in the world? The former head of Bailu Cave went to the deep mountains of Wulian to lead a tour group, and he happened to save my life and escorted me to this poor country. My brother said that it is a coincidence that one dad dies in one day, and it is not a coincidence that eighteen dads die in one day......"

Said playful words, but in the girl's tired voice, there was no smile, but a strong request, and Yan Ning knew that it was time to respond.

"Well, now that you're fully prepared, ......"

Rouge walked out of the house, and Niel followed out without thinking, only to see a group of old orcs standing outside the house, looking at her in a semicircle, as if they were worried, and Chires, who had turned into a cat, was nowhere to be found, but had no time to pay attention to it at the moment.

"More than 100 years ago, when Xiao Qiao and Gongjin raised troops, they used to come here to reclaim and form settlements, until they left, there were still some people who chose to stay, including those who later broke away from the rebels and returned to live here, turning this place into Shuilian Town, which has a short history. However, after a plague eighty years ago, there were no residents here, and everyone either died of illness or left to avoid the disaster, and the history of Shuilian Town came to an end. ”

Yan Ning looked around at the surrounding houses and streets, and said lightly: "And the scene you see now is the memory of this town. ”

"Memories of the town?"

Nile was a little confused, but quickly understood everything. With a wave of his hand, the scene in front of him quickly changed, the originally neat and clean grass huts and wooden houses gradually distorted and deformed, and then returned to their true faces, one by one or dilapidated, or collapsed house remains, and the empty street scene also changed into a desolate scene of trees and weeds, fallen leaves, and decay into mud.

"As for what you see now, it's the true face of this town's existence in the world. ”

Like a nightmare that would not wake up, Niel's reason tried to come to her senses, but she could only watch the teacup still in her hand, which quickly twisted, decayed, and finally turned into a puddle of rancid sludge.

I should have been shocked, but I felt very calm. With a little sad calm, perhaps the most shocking time has passed, or maybe ...... I had already expected this in my heart.

"Pretty chick, don't be sad!"

"Hometown is a thing that belongs to the past, and your eyes should look forward, not nostalgia for the past. ”

"Waking up from a dream will be uncomfortable for a while, but the value of people is not in dreaming, but in what they do when they wake up. ”

Thoughtful of Nier's loss, the old orcs gathered around, patted Niel on the shoulder, or sighed or cared for her, encouraging her as they had come all the way.

This kind of concern didn't make Niel feel much better, but she was really grateful for the hearts of these old people, but when she wanted to say thank you, she saw that the figures of these old people were gradually fading, becoming more and more blurred, their faces with kind smiles became transparent, and their slowly waving hands disappeared into the air, and finally disappeared without a trace.

"This ...... They ......"

In response to Nier's exclamation, it was Yan Ning's flat speech.

"They are the aborigines of Shuilian Town, the last group of residents to survive here, most of them once participated in the Guiyi rebels, and died eighty years ago, I summoned them from Hades, the intention is to let you have a safe journey, and to witness the end of the journey...... Judging by the results, it was a success, and you should thank them for letting them sleep peacefully. ”

Listening to Yan Ning's words, Nier only felt that everything seemed so unreal, the hometown she lived in was a ruin that had long been destroyed, and the companions she had traveled all the way to were the souls of the dead who had been dead for a long time.

The past is gone, but his past is illusory, and when he looks back on the way he came, the individual standing here has no traces of the past to follow.

"Memories of the town and the undead...... Shuilian Town was destroyed 80 years ago, so am I also dead? Am I also an undead standing here?"

"No, the Shuilian Town in your memory is just a memory of the town's past, or just after the end of the Ghost Rebellion, but you don't belong to this memory, in reality, you have never been here. ”

Yan Ning smiled faintly and said softly: "The truth is already in front of your eyes, it just depends on whether you are ready to open it." ”