Chapter 174: Gain and Loss
It is said to be an island, but in fact, in the season when the land is completely covered with white snow and ice, the so-called Stirling Island has been completely connected to the surface of the Tulong River. If it weren't for the jungle on this island, it would be hard to tell.
Stirling Island lies quietly in the middle of the Tulong River, looking like a white hill with a towering jungle on it, which looks a little beautiful from a distance.
The dogs ran happily and soon came to the island. Mo Lin opened up the five senses to the maximum, but he didn't get the slightest useful feedback.
"Yueyao, do you have any special feelings?" Mo Lin knew that the demon clan had a more sensitive sense of the Dragon Ball, so he asked Yue Yao.
Yue Yao shook her head, and it didn't seem that she had found anything.
"Anyway, let's set up camp here first, and if you don't find the Wooden Dragon Ball, you won't leave." Mo Lin stopped the sleigh, built a bonfire, and then told the dogs to obediently surround the bonfire, and fed them a few large pieces of dried meat, and then walked to the forest with Ling Huzi and Yueyao, wanting to carefully check the situation on the island.
"It's so beautiful here, it's like a fairyland." Walking into the forest, Yueyao couldn't help but admire.
"Yes, indeed." Linghu Zi nodded in agreement.
Mo Lin felt the same way, it was the first time he saw a white forest, all the trees were hung with white and crystal snow, and the branches were painted white, making people feel like they were in a dreamlike world.
The forest is dense and thick, and there are many big trees that can only be hugged by seven or eight people, so that Fox Zi and Yueyao playfully play hide and seek around the big trees, and they are very happy.
The three of them walked all the way through the forest like this, leaving three series of footprints on the white expanse of clean snow, and walked more than ten miles, but they did not find anything abnormal.
"There's a hill over there, so it's probably where the green dragon's lair was in the first place." Soon the three of them walked out of the forest, and Mo Lin saw a small hill in front of him, and had a guess in his heart.
Soon came to the front of the hill, but Mo Lin was very disappointed, this hill did not look like it could hide the green dragon no matter how it looked.
"Compared to the red dragon, this green dragon is really unlucky." Mo Lin sat down on a large rock on the hill, and couldn't help but feel a little ironic about the barren and wild ice fields everywhere.
Compared with the red dragon who has been in poverty and luxury on the continent of Chixian Shenzhou for many years, the green dragon in the story is very miserable, although he also ate some people, but he was quickly killed by the powerful magician Sterling who suddenly rose.
It is said that the origin of this wild ice field is due to the after-effects of Stirling's ultimate magic, "Eternal Winter". Originally, it was a plain with abundant products and people, but after the eternal winter of Stirling, it became a perennial ice field, and it was difficult for humans to survive.
"What a force that has to be." Mo Lin thought about the ice and snow along the way, and couldn't help but yearn for the genius magician Sterling hundreds of years ago.
"If I had been born hundreds of years earlier, it would have been very refreshing to be able to learn from him." Mo Lin thought to himself.
Ling Hu Zi and Yue Yao didn't have as many thoughts as Mo Lin, they were giggling and frolicking on the left side of the hill.
"Brother Mo Lin, you said that it is always cold and snowy here, will those trees feel cold?" Yueyao made a fuss for a while, probably a little tired, ran to Mo Lin's side and sat down, and asked him.
"The snow is like their quilt, and it won't get cold when you cover it." Mo Lin replied with a smile.
Before he could speak, he was stunned. With a flash of lightning in his mind, Mo Lin couldn't help but get up and look at the jungle.
The trees in that area are very thick, and many of them are very large, estimated to be hundreds of years old.
"If these trees existed hundreds of years ago, under the magic of eternal winter...... And after the dragon slay, it became a barren land, how did they come to be? Mo Lin muttered to himself, feeling more and more strange about the jungle in front of him.
"You wait for me, I'll take a look." Mo Lin said to the two women beside him, and his figure floated, jumped high into the air, and then shot into the forest like electricity.
Mo Lin's figure leaped high, and soon surpassed the tallest tree in the jungle. Visually, the tree was at least thirty meters tall, and it was rare to see such a tall giant tree even in the deep mountains and dense forests of the Sunset Mountains.
Crossing the big tree, Mo Lin's figure did not stop, he tried his best to activate the light point of the wind, and continued to rise as high as possible. As he slowly increased his height, the outline of the jungle gradually appeared in his field of vision, at first he could only peep at the leopard, and when Mo Lin's height was enough, the general appearance of the jungle was finally fully presented in front of him.
"As expected." Mo Lin was overjoyed in his heart, his guess was indeed correct.
A snow-white jungle under him formed a strange shape, if you saw it by chance, I was afraid that it would not make people think of it, but Mo Lin looked at it with conjecture, and it was clear at a glance.
The shape of this jungle actually made up the shape of a coiling dragon, and from top to bottom, the dragon head and dragon claws were lifelike, as if a giant dragon coiled on the earth was sleeping.
"Finally found it." Mo Lin smiled, his guess was indeed correct. Judging by the shape of the jungle, they must have been conceived from the corpse of the green dragon. On this cold and frozen wild ice field, if it weren't for the nutrients provided by the wooden dragon balls in the green dragon's body, this jungle would not have been able to grow so lushly.
Mo Lin spun around in the air, determined the center point of the jungle, and waved his hand to throw the red soul out, nailing it into the jungle as a marker.
Having made the mark, Mo Lin fell back onto the hill.
"How's it going?" The two girls saw Mo Lin's actions and asked hurriedly when they saw him come down.
"Let's go, come with me to dig up the Wood Dragon Ball." Mo Lin said with a smile. He took the two girls by the hand and went straight into the woods.
Entering the forest, Mo Lin had to verify it, he walked under a tree and gently kicked it on the trunk.
The trunk of the tree shook slightly, and the snow on the branches fell, revealing the green branches and leaves covered in snow.
Ling Hu Zi and Yue Yao were stunned, they thought that there would be dead branches and leaves under the snow, but at the moment, these trees clearly maintained the green of spring and summer.
After experimenting with several trees in a row, Mo Lin finally determined that this place was indeed nourished by the Wood Dragon Ball, otherwise such a contrary thing would not have happened.
Linghu Zi and Yue Yao also understood, and they happily followed behind Mo Lin, but they found the red soul in a moment.
The Red Soul was stuck in the ground, in the heart of the jungle.
Mo Lin held the Red Soul, and the red, orange and yellow spiritual energy on his palm burst out, centering on the Red Soul's sword blade, emitting bursts of heat. The snow that covered the ground began to melt, turning directly from snow to gaseous state, scattered among the trees.
When the snow melts, the ground is dark. Mo Lin leaned down and grabbed a handful of soil in his hand, the soil was soft and fertile, and it seemed that there were plenty of nutrients.
"It should be here." Mo Lin's fingers adjusted on the hilt of the Red Soul's sword, and the spiritual energy also filled the blade of the Red Soul, which soon changed the shape of the Red Soul, and the sword turned into a small shovel.
"I've wronged you." Mo Lin slapped the blade of the red soul and began to dig on the ground.
Ling Hu Zi and Yue Yao also refused to be idle, and helped Mo Lin move the large stone away.
The three of them were not ordinary people, their progress was fast, Mo Lin was flying like a sword, and soon dug a big pit in the ground, the depth was enough to be one person high. However, what puzzled him was that no trace of the keel had been found at such a depth, and it seemed that it was buried very deeply.
"Is it here?" Yue Yao asked a little deflated.
Mo Lin had to grab a handful of soil every time he dug for a while, and after listening to Yue Yao's question, he smiled: "If my guess is correct, it will be soon." ”
"How do you know?" Yueyao raised her head, her eyes flickering and asked.
"Look at the dirt." Mo Lin pointed to the two walls of the pit, "Is the color different?" ”
Yue Yao observed carefully, clapped her hands and said, "Indeed, the deeper you go underground, the greener the color becomes." ”
"So, the Wooden Dragon Ball is down there." Mo Lin smiled and used the red soul to dig up a large piece of soil and throw it into the pit.
After digging for a while, Ling Hu Zi suddenly exclaimed, Mo Lin looked over, and saw her pick up a white bone.
The bone was about more than a meter long, about the same thickness as Mo Lin's arm, Mo Lin took it in surprise and looked at it: "Found it!" ”
With the discovery, the three of them worked harder, and soon unearthed more bones along the site where the bone was found.
Mo Lin was in charge of digging down, and Ling Hu Zi and Yue Yao were also in charge of cleaning up the dirt around the keel, and soon they cleared a large deep pit with a radius of forty steps, and the keel was located at the bottom of the pit, curled up together.
It was already dark, and it took a lot of time to dig the hole. However, the spiritual energy blooming on Mo Lin's palm still illuminated the dragon bones clearly, and the bones of the entire giant dragon were entangled, and it seemed to be struggling.
Mo Lin couldn't help but think of the end of the legend, when the green dragon was frozen by Sterling with the magic of eternal winter. Presumably, the Green Dragon maintained this posture from that time until it was buried in the ground forever by time, becoming part of the great legend of Stirling.
"Where will the Wooden Dragon Balls be hidden?" Yue Yao asked curiously.
"It should be in the dragon's chest, right in that part of the heart." Mo Lin pushed the dragon's bones away, and after hundreds of years of precipitation, the dragon bones were still extremely hard.
Probably because it had been frozen, Mo Lin felt a cold patch on the keel. Most of the time, he needs to pry it with the Red Soul to separate the tightly entangled keels before he can burrow into the dragon's skeleton.
Finally opening the entangled keel, Mo Lin finally entered the dragon's chest, and as soon as he entered, Mo Lin felt a soft force.
"That's ......" Mo Lin extinguished the light in his hand, and a faint green darkness immediately appeared in front of him.
Mo Lin leaned over and reached out to grasp the green darkness in his hand.
A cool feeling poured into his body, and the round beads fell into Mo Lin's hand. Originally, Mo Lin thought that the Wood Dragon Ball would have any conflict with the dragon soul power in his body, but at this moment, he found that his worries were superfluous.
Completely different from the arrogant power of the Fire Dragon Ball, the power of the Wood Dragon Ball is restrained and deep. Mo Lin stroked the wooden dragon ball, feeling a throbbing in his body, and all the fatigue was swept away by the power in it.
Mo Lin excitedly held the wooden dragon ball and climbed out of the dragon's skeleton, Ling Hu Zi and Yue Yao saw the wooden dragon ball in his hand exuding green glory at a glance, and said in surprise together: "You found it?" ”
"Let's see." Mo Lin stuffed the Wooden Dragon Ball into Ling Huzi's hand, and after so many twists and turns, he finally found the Wooden Dragon Ball, which was worth the trip.
"What beautiful beads." Ling Hu Zi played with the wooden dragon ball in his hand and said happily.
"I'm going to play too." Yue Yao came over and curiously grabbed the wooden dragon ball and held it in the palm of her hand.
At night, the wooden dragon ball emits a comfortable pale green, and the crystal light on the bead flows, making people feel quiet and serene.
After a lot of hardships to find the first dragon ball, Mo Lin was in a good mood. He sat comfortably on the dragon's skeleton and pulled the red soul back into his waist.
At this moment, Mo Lin's heart moved, and he looked up at the top of the pit suspiciously.
There was only a starry sky overhead, there was no abnormality, Mo Lin felt that he was probably too sensitive, and just about to breathe a sigh of relief, a black shadow swept in front of Yue Yao, bringing a gust of wind.
With a flash of green light, the wooden dragon ball had already fallen into the hands of the black shadow, and then disappeared into the darkness with a surprising speed.
"What people!" The blood-red sword light stabbed out like lightning, from drawing the sword to stabbing it in one go, without half a minute of hesitation.
"Poof!" A splash of blood splattered, followed by a scream. In the darkness on the edge of the pit wall, a figure slowly appeared, and he still held the wooden dragon ball tightly in his hand.
Yue Yao was just about to take the Wooden Dragon Ball back, but two more shadows flashed out, one grabbed the Wooden Dragon Ball and quickly disappeared, and the other blocked in front of Mo Lin's sword light.
The red soul trembled, and the sword slashed out, stabbing the person who stood in the way to the ground, but after such a delay, the guy who took the Wooden Dragon Ball had disappeared. In the vast darkness of the night, there was not even a ghost to be seen, and I don't know where he had hidden.
"Who the hell are you?" Mo Lin's red soul swung and pressed on the neck of the person who was stabbed, and the man in black was only wounded in the shoulder, but he did not die.
The man in black gritted his teeth, obviously not wanting to answer. He was dressed in a black power suit, and his body flashed with a black ghostly light, such an outfit, if his actions were more secretive, it would indeed be difficult to find after he was in the dark.
If it weren't for Mo Lin's keen senses, I was afraid that he wouldn't have discovered their existence at all.
"Don't you want to say it?" Mo Lin's brows furrowed, the Wooden Dragon Ball was too important to be lost.
Yue Yao was already crying, she also knew the importance of the Wooden Dragon Ball, but she accidentally lost it, which made the little girl feel very remorseful.
The red soul pressed tightly against the neck of the man in black, and the slightest movement could cut his throat. But the man in black was obviously very hard-boned, and even if he felt the approach of death, he didn't say a word.
After going through a lot of hardships, but being robbed of the Red Dragon Ball, Mo Lin was so angry, he only felt a burst of heat in his body, and a murderous intent came out of his heart.
The red soul is full of murderous energy, and as soon as Mo Lin's blood is hot, he will kill the man in black. At this moment, Ling Huzi reached out and pressed the hilt of the sword, and said softly, "I have a way." ”
Being stopped by Ling Huzi like this, Mo Lin gradually calmed down. Linghu Zi pulled Yue Yao aside and said a few words, and Yue Yao's crying stopped.
Mo Lin didn't know what Ling Huzi was going to do, so he saw her pull Yue Yao to the man in black, Yue Yao squatted down and stared at the eyes of the man in black, raised her wrist and shook it gently.
The Dead Bell on his wrist made a crisp sound, and after a moment, the black-clothed man's gaze drifted, and it seemed that his mind was blurred.
"Who are you, why did you take the Wood Dragon Ball?" Yue Yao asked softly, there seemed to be some magic behind her voice, and there was a special charm. Even Mo Lin was so determined, and when he suddenly heard such a voice, he couldn't help but feel a little shaken.
"I'm ......" The man in black's head shook wildly, as if he wanted to resist Yueyao's question.
"You're safe...... You're going to answer my question, right? Yueyao said again, her words were a little astringent, it seemed that it was the first time she had done this, and she had no experience.
But even so, the man in black obviously couldn't resist the power of Yue Yao's illusion, and after listening to Yue Yao's words like coaxing a child, his eyes became more and more sloppy, and he soon lost his resistance completely.
"Tell me, who the hell are you?" Yue Yao's voice softened again.
"I'm Emerson, we're the Three Shadow Guards, and we're the subordinates of the national teacher Roddick." The man in black, who claimed to be Emerson, had a dull gaze, and when he heard Yueyao's question, he replied with difficulty.
"Why are you grabbing the Wooden Dragon Ball, did Roddick make you do it?" Mo Lin was taken aback, this was beyond his expectations. It turned out that the whereabouts along the way were under the surveillance of Roddick, but Mo Lin never found it, which shows that the Three Shadows Guard has a strong ability to hide traces.
"It's not that the national teacher asked us to do it, it's just that we saw that the bead was very peculiar, thought it was a treasure, and hoped to give it to the national teacher to get a reward." Emerson replied blankly.
Mo Lin was speechless, although the Wood Dragon Ball was indeed the treasure between heaven and earth, it had no effect on ordinary people at all. The Three Shadow Guards actually snatched it in order to get a reward, and they must not know the key to it.
"What do we do now?" Yue Yao asked Mo Lin.
"What are you going to do after you take the Wooden Dragon Ball?" Mo Lin thought for a moment and asked Emerson again.
"I will go and dedicate it to the national teacher." Emerson said.
"Then we'll go to Roddick first." Mo Lin knew the whereabouts of the remaining person and immediately made a decision.
△△△
Situated in the heart of York City, the residence of Roddick is the most luxurious mansion outside of the Royal Palace.
Mo Lin and the three of them sneaked into the city quietly this time, and they could have returned to York City faster, but Ling Hu Zi and Yue Yao were reluctant to give up the cute dogs and didn't want to leave them on the wild ice field, so Mo Lin had to let them send the dogs back to Kyle City first, and then they rushed to York City with the art of land soaring.
In the wee hours of the morning, the weather was a little cool, and the door of Roddick's mansion opened slightly, and several subordinates came out and looked around.
The morning mist was scattered in the city, and it was still too early, and there was no one on the street.
After confirming that there was no one, the men opened the door completely, and a carriage galloped out, the sound of horses' hooves scattered in the morning light, and the carriage ran straight to the palace.
As soon as the carriage left, Mo Lin poked his head out of a nearby alley, and he wanted to go directly to Roddick to get back the Wooden Dragon Ball, but he found that he couldn't find the breath of the Wooden Dragon Ball.
And there seemed to be a lot of magicians stationed in Roddick's mansion, which also made Mo Lin feel unknown danger. He is no longer an ignorant child who does not know the world, and such a change is simply telling Mo Lin that things are not as simple as imagined.
According to Mo Lin's knowledge, even if Roddick had to go to the palace every day to see King Al, it had never been so early.
This strange behavior, combined with the anomalies in the mansion, Mo Lin could basically conclude that Roddick had ghosts.
He no longer hesitated, his figure flickered, and he followed behind the carriage all the way to the palace.
Rightly or wrongly, Mo Lin has only one goal, and that is to collect five dragon balls and save the world he loves. And anyone who stands in his way to accomplish his mission is an enemy.
When the carriage came to the gate of the palace, there were already guards who opened the palace gate, and the carriage entered the palace directly without the slightest hindrance.
The city wall outside the palace naturally couldn't stop Mo Lin, he had also entered the palace a few times, and he knew the defense here very well, so he went straight to the nearby remote place, tiptoe a little, the light point of the wind opened, and his body fluttered over the three-person high city wall, and jumped directly into the inner city.
It was quiet in the early morning, and the sound of the horse's hooves of the carriage pointed the way to Mo Lin. The carriage did not go to the main hall, but bypassed the palace and went straight to a rockery garden on the north side of the palace.
Mo Lin followed, and after a short time saw the carriage stop at the gate of the garden. It was Roddick who got out of the carriage, carrying a black iron box in his arms, and as soon as he got out of the carriage he walked into the garden, and soon disappeared.
Mo Lin looked around, found a place where the guards were weak, and quietly sneaked in. The center of the garden is a lake, surrounded by several rockeries, and there is a pavilion in the center of the lake, and the environment is very elegant.
"What about people?" Mo Lin wondered in his heart, the garden was not big, but Roddick was gone, could he put on his wings and fly away? Or is it a retreat?
Thinking of retreating, Mo Lin had a flash of inspiration, he walked through the rockery, and with the vision of his Mo family's genius craftsman, he soon saw that one of the rockeries was a little strange.
When he came to the rockery, Mo Lin saw a swarthy cave, he flashed in, walked a few steps, and sure enough, he saw shallow footprints on the ground at the end of the cave.
Reaching out and touching the nearby cave wall a few times, Mo Lin found a mechanism, and with a slight break, a piece of ground under his feet opened silently, revealing a hole leading to the ground.
Below the entrance of the cave was a dark path, and Mo Lin walked down quietly, and soon bypassed the path and came to a wide tunnel.
There were bright lights on the walls on both sides of the tunnel, and Mo Lin walked in them, listening sideways, and soon heard some clues.
He followed the sound to the end of the tunnel, and saw a wooden door, and the sound came from the door.
"It seems that this is a secret room......" Mo Lin said in his heart, he saw that there was no one around, and when he came to the side of the wooden door, the sound inside clearly poured into his ears.
"National Teacher, are you saying that the legendary Dragon Ball really exists?" This is Al's voice.
"Your Majesty, I have brought the Dragon Balls, please take a look." Roddick's voice rang out.
Immediately, the familiar aura of the wooden dragon ball passed out from the wooden door, and Mo Lin no longer hesitated, kicked the door open, and rushed in.