"Aaron, Kiki, Lingji, none of the three of you have ever been to the Taiping Imperial City, I will teach you a lesson before entering the city." Captain Akon said solemnly: "Although we have passed through the whirlpool smoothly, we have only reached the entrance of the tunnel into the imperial city, and there is still a certain dangerous road to go behind. Because this tunnel is actually a huge labyrinth, every once in a while, the maze will automatically change paths, and what used to work will later become a dead end. As you can imagine, the Imperial City is so well guarded that even I don't know how to walk through the tunnels safely. If you're not careful, you may be trapped in the maze and it's hard to get out, so don't fall behind when walking. ”

"Ahh Lingji was surprised: "Then how do we recognize the way?" ”

"Don't worry, there's still me, follow me all the way and don't fall behind." Uji replied confidently, "Many years ago, one of the elders of the mermaid tribe, a very brilliant architectural engineer, Eel, designed and built this labyrinth. It's really surprising why the eel, the favorite eel of the building worker, has such a high architectural talent. Uji once again sighed at the wisdom of the patriarch.

The tunnel in front of me is a dark cylindrical passage. It is surrounded by polished rock walls that are large enough for three whales to swim through at once.

Following behind Uji, the four of them were cautious. Sure enough, it didn't take long for a forked cave passage to appear. Soon after entering, there is a divergent path, sometimes swimming to the left, sometimes going upstream, and sometimes branching in the middle. He hadn't gone far before he heard a rumbling sound behind him, which was the sound of the automatic closing of the mechanical doors in the tunnel and the automatic change of passages. If you want to get out of the maze, it must not be so easy without guidance.

When they came to a passage that suddenly brightened, the shape of the cave wall deeply attracted Lingji and Kiki. It is a very smooth crystal tunnel that glows green, pink, and white, and not far away stands a smooth mirror-like cyan crystal.

It's been a long time since I've looked in the mirror, and the girls rushed over to take a little stinky beauty. In the cyan crystal mirror, two childish little faces grimaced playfully, sticking out their tongues and brushing their hair. Until the call of the captain to follow the team came from behind. Lingji turned her head and was about to leave, when she suddenly found that Kiki was strangely stunned in front of the mirror at this time. The pupils of both eyes are out of focus and become larger.

"Kiki! Wake up, what's wrong with you?" Lingji asked, shaking her.

A giant white swirl. It's like a giant suction cup that releases something invisible, making her body unable to move, and even her breathing will stop. Had all the air she had to breathe had been sucked out? Slowly, slowly, a face emerged in the center of the whirlpool, like the face of a sleeping beauty, surprisingly white in color. Her eyes slowly opened, releasing a vast and empty world from the closed shut.

And the voice behind him changed from very small to louder and louder shouts:

"Kiki! Kiki, wake up......" Lingji cried.

It's like an invisible wind, pushing Kiki, who is caught in chaos and confusion, back to reality. Kiki woke up, and she couldn't figure out what was going on:

"Lingji, did you see that? There is a face in the crystal. ”

"You must be too tired, didn't you look in the mirror and look at your face?"

"Don't you see? There was a face smiling at me. I feel like I've been to this place before and what stories I've experienced. ”

"You, after rushing through the whirlpool outside, you got motion sickness and vomited, and you're still dizzy, right? You said the person in the mirror was laughing, why didn't I see it? ”

Lingji comforted her good sister and smiled slightly.

At this moment, an unusual voice came from behind him:

"Click, click, click......" is the startled cry of the accompanying dolphins, and they infect one by one, and after a short time, all the dolphins cry and writhe their bodies restlessly.

Captain Akon sensed that something was wrong and rushed to Uji's side:

"Uji, what's wrong with you?"

At this time, Uji's eyes were black, and he slowly collapsed under the dolphin. Picked up by the captain, a bleeding wound was found on his chest. The wound was not large, but the blood foam that came out was black, as if it was poisonous.

"Ahem! Cough! Uji said weakly, "It seems to ...... It was as if I had been stabbed by something invisible, a transparent sharp object......" and fainted.

"Uji, you have to be strong, we haven't gotten out of the labyrinth yet." The captain shouted loudly, counting on a miracle: "Oh, I damn it. All the way to this point, someone stabbed you, but I didn't find out. ”

Captain Akang was annoyed by his carelessness, and encountered so many things along the way, and many times he was helpless. Now trapped in this labyrinth, in this maze of large and sophisticated, deep and dead silence.

After finding a strip of cloth and bandaging Uji to stop the bleeding, Captain Akon looked at the surrounding cave passages, not knowing which was the right direction. Once you make a mistake, it is difficult to come out again, anxiety and invisible pressure fill this small space, and the crystal stone walls in the space also reflect a mysterious light.

Lingji senses and searches for the alarm jellyfish around her, trying to summon a pet alarm jellyfish that doesn't belong to her. But as a result, there are many passages in this maze where the alarm jellyfish are not visible, and they only guard a small piece of their territory, especially the exit and entrance of the maze.

The atmosphere almost froze, but time slipped away uncontrollably.

"Every time I go in and out of this labyrinth and enter the imperial city, Uji is my guide." The captain was a little frustrated: "Today he led us halfway and fainted, is there anything you can do?" ”

After a few seconds, he broke his silence and said, "Let's try it this way, let's take a look at the entrances of each forked passage, and we may find any useful information." For example, smells, undercurrents of water, light, even small sounds, and perhaps bioelectricity. ”

The four of them spread out and observed one by one at various intersections around them.

Kiki clasped her hands together and swam to the hole in front of her, praying for a miracle. It happened that she passed in front of the crystal mirror just now, and her silhouette was reflected in the mirror.

"Hmm!" Out of the corner of Kiki's eye, she noticed something wrong with the image in the mirror. She slowly turned her head to look in the mirror. If you don't look at it, you are startled, the girl in the mirror is not her own appearance. Except for her face, she is a terrestrial human girl who stands on two feet and wears a beautiful yellow dress with a sunflower pattern. There he smiled at himself.

In an instant, Kiki felt something blow up her scalp......

"Who are you?" Kiki asked.

"I am you, you are me." The girl in the mirror replied

"You liar, how can there be such a thing?"

"I am the self in the depths of your memory, and when you face this mirror with an energy field, you discover the self in your memory."

"Why are you different from me? If you were me. ”

"This ......" The girl in the yellow dress hesitated, as if she was embarrassed.

In this monotonous space full of white, except for this girl, all that is left is white, and nothing else can be perceived. Kiki was about to continue asking questions, but saw the girl slowly moving in the white space, as if she was about to turn around. Maybe she's really just a shadow in the mirror, and when she turns around and turns to a certain angle, she finds that she's flat. It's like a card turned over, a pure flat image, an ethereal illusion.

But when the back side came, another person appeared. He was an old man with a white beard that grew beyond his height. Broad forehead and straight shoulders. Dressed in a longitudinal black and white robe, his body appears quite slender and floats in the white in front of him.

Kiki can't believe it, what is this place? And who is this deep-eyed old man? I couldn't help but feel a panicked tremor in my heart.

"Hello, kid." The old man spoke first, and his voice was low: "I am a memory that the eel building worker has put in your mind. ”

"Hmmm! Are you the engineer? Kiki was scared.

"Yes, I'm the one who created this labyrinth. The reason why you want to keep a memory in your brain is because you will have a lot to do in the future. But now you ......" The old man closed his eyelids and slowly opened, and his eyes shone with a clear light.

"But what?" Kiki still feels scared.

"But now you are too weak to be strong enough to face this vast ocean. If you are not prepared, it is not this ocean that will drown you, but the fear in your heart. ”

"Why? What does my future hold? "Kiki has been going all the way since she left home, and there are many things that she can't understand, which makes her feel confused, how fate will play tricks on her? What kind of play did the Creator direct to her?

"I can't draw any conclusions about the future, if you want to know the result, you have to experience it yourself to have the answer, and your fate is in your own hands."

"But, but what should I do?" Kiki was a little lost.

"You have to find the answer yourself, and you have to create the future yourself. You can't rely too much on others, and when you can finally be independent, everything will have an answer. The old man's image zoomed in and approached Kiki, who held out his right index finger.

"Time is running out, go ahead, go find the answers!" The old man's outstretched finger emitted a dazzling white light, which made Kiki's eyes hurt, and she couldn't see anything after the white flowers......

"Kiki, Kiki, what's wrong with you?" Lingji shook Kiki, who was standing in front of the crystal mirror in a trance.

"Hmm!" Kiki came back to her senses and gasped: "Was I in a daze again just now?" ”

"yes, what's the matter with you? It's been a while since you've been rushing through the whirlpool outside, haven't you gotten the dizziness over? Still uncomfortable? Lingji asked.

"How long was I in a daze?" Kiki doesn't know how much precious time she's lost.

"About five seconds." Lingji replied in the affirmative.

"What? Five seconds. I feel like I've had a long dream. Kiki forced her composure.

Captain Akon and Aaron rushed to hear the news, and they also wanted to know how strange the mirror was, and looked in to find nothing but their own shadow.

"You dreamed, what did you dream about?" The captain asked.

"I dreamed of an old man with a long beard, who called himself an eel."

"What?" The captain's eyes widened and his chin widened: "Eel, he ...... He...... He has been dead for many years. ”

One sentence made everyone present shiver.

"What happened in the dream?" The captain then asked.

"I didn't say anything, it wasn't that I didn't ask questions, I just didn't figure out what he said. But ......" Kiki was a little unsure.

"But what?" The captain was a little anxious.

"But after he left, I suddenly felt as if I had been here before. And when I think about the terrain of this labyrinth, it seems to be very clear, but how did I come here before? It's so puzzling. "Kiki has lived in Wucun since she was a child, and she has never been anywhere, which is too strange.

"Huh!" Lingji screamed, "Then you can take us out of the labyrinth!" There was a hint of excitement on her face.

"It's just a dream, is this kind of information reliable?" The captain questioned, is it too naïve for children to dream and adults blindly follow the information in the dream? If you can't get out of the wrong way, it's a few precious lives! Kiki is too young to know the seriousness of this life-threatening matter. As an elder, I was helpless.

"I know you're under a lot of pressure, Captain, and it's not something you want to see if something happens to any of us." Aaron, who was always silent, spoke: "Why don't we stand in two teams, one team is willing to follow Kiki, and the other team is not." Let's see which team has the most people, shall we? ”

"It sounds like a bet on your life, but it seems to be a way, whoever chooses to go with him will have their own destiny." The captain sighed: "But I'm still not at ease. ”

As soon as these words were spoken, Kiki also felt the pressure. Does her memory have to be correct? Could there be any mistakes? Could it be that the current labyrinth is different from the original labyrinth? Or maybe the dream is just an illusion. A little girl who has been doing nothing, just with an inexplicable dream, feels that she can change the fate of several people. Doesn't that sound like a joke?

But...... But......

Kiki's heart began to be entangled, on the one hand, it was a desire to save people, and on the other hand, it seemed to be groundless information. If the information in the memory is an inaccurate hallucination, not only will it not save people, but it will put people in greater danger anyway.

"You all know what's going on, you have to make a choice." The captain came to the group of dolphins trapped in the maze together: "Those who are willing to go with Kiki swim to her, and those who are unwilling to stay on my side." ”

The dolphins seemed to understand the captain's words and thought for a few seconds, then waved their tails one, two, three...... Swam to Kiki's side. The captain actually understands in his heart that dolphins are talented, intelligent, spiritual, and even have a sixth sense. The probability of optimism in what they choose is relatively high, but who can guarantee that there will be no eventuality?

Lingji, Kiki's best friend. Good sister, there is no need to question that you are on Kiki's side. Aaron is not very assertive and neutral for the time being. Of those dolphins, only one did not reach Kiki. Everyone looked curiously at the last dolphin, who had not made a choice, only to see it swim up to the unconscious Uggie and arch its head under him, letting Uggie press against his back. Then he picked him up and swam to Kiki's side.

"Hah!" Lingji shouted as if she had won a great victory: "Look! This is providence. He chuckled.

The captain couldn't laugh or cry, and then looked at the neutral Aaron, who also stood on Kiki's side at some point. So he tilted his head and glared at Aaron, and two words escaped from his mouth: "Traitor!" ”

Ultimately, the minority obeys the majority. Let a girl's dream decide everyone's fate. Oh! There is also a pod of seemingly intelligent dolphins.

When it is difficult to make a perfect solution to something, luck becomes a very good thing that can make your journey smooth and have a happy ending.

Kiki, who has always been not very confident in doing things, has awakened a dusty memory for some reason. Let her lead the team with courage and zigzag all the way forward. Beside him was Captain Akang, who was illuminated by a luminaire overhead, and Uji, who was closely followed by Lingji and the dolphin. At the end is Aaron, who carries a sharp stone and follows the captain's instructions to make marks on the stone wall on the road in case of emergency.

Moving forward all the way in the labyrinth is like a dream walking on thin ice. Hope is at the end of the passage, suppressing the mood of every traveler.

After passing through a lighted tunnel, a large hall appears in front. A large crystal stone on the top shone a yellowish glow, illuminating the entire air-filled hall. In the waist-deep water, everyone showed their heads and bodies, and the most excited were the dolphins who urgently needed to breathe.

Dolphins and whales belong to the same family and use their lungs to breathe. If you spend a certain amount of time in the water, you need to swim to the surface and breathe through the air holes on the top of your head. At this time, in this mysterious and airy hall, only dolphins are swimming happily, breathing desperately.

"It seems that Kiki is right, but why?" The captain was amazed.

"I don't know, maybe my mom should know something, but she never told me about it." Kiki looked at the glowing yellow-brown crystal on the top and said slightly.

"Look at this!" Lingji shouted from the side, "There are murals on this stone wall. ”

Following the direction of Lingji's finger, several other people gathered around and looked up. I saw that the mural was painted with a mermaid old man who looked like a god, and in front of him was a dense group of mermaid people who worshiped him, and he was sitting on the back of a huge sea turtle.

"Uncle Akang, I don't have much of an impression of this mural, do you know what is painted on it?" Kiki asked.

"I think it should be the ancient god of the sea god who created the mermaid wisdom clan in the ancient legend of the mermaid clan. It's quite a long time ago! The captain only knew a thing or two: "I heard the old man say it when I was very young, and it is estimated that not many people will remember this ancient legend now." ”

The frescoes also depict a stately palace, mountains, sea, sun. Everything seems to tell a magnificent history and splendid civilization, and now only the memories printed on the wall remain.

Kiki's mind flipped over the three-dimensional map of the labyrinth, what had come to her mind after facing the magical crystal mirror. In addition to the many traps and memories of the location of the route, there are also some other secret passages that have nothing to do with entering and exiting the labyrinth. Leads to deeper underground, where other, more mysterious things still hold away. And what are those more mysterious things? But I don't know.

"Kiki, what do you think of again?" The captain broke her musings: "It's time to go, we haven't gotten out of the maze yet." ”

The sound of the trap door closing in the distance from the direction of the road I came, and there will be a trap door opening soon in the direction of the head, and you can't miss this open trap door, the door of life.

Kiki led everyone towards the next tunnel fork and continued to set off, and now it was important to hurry. One is to rescue the dying Uji, and the other is to save everyone out of the labyrinth. She thought about the route as she walked, but she also knew that it might not be long before she would return to the labyrinth she was destined for and unravel more of its secrets.

Uji is crouching on the back of the dolphin, and the situation is getting more and more dangerous. This made Kiki speed up her journey through the labyrinth, and she didn't have time to appreciate the grandeur of this huge labyrinth, nor did she have time to marvel at the profound wisdom of the people who built it. Perhaps, like many people who live in the present, they have hurried through their lives, but they don't know how many beautiful scenery they have missed along the way.

When they saw the swarms of alarm jellyfish reappear, everyone was excited. It was a harbinger of coming out of the labyrinth, a tunnel of light, behind a group of alarm jellyfish that seemed to be welcomed with a graceful dance.

Lingji excitedly rushed to the forefront, and after passing through this final tunnel, a brighter light appeared, and a huge and magnificent city came into view.

It was a city built in a gap in the rocks of the seabed, with a rock dome in the shape of a pyramid. The rock extends diagonally underneath to form a stable fulcrum. The stone walls of the dome are densely inlaid with glowing stones, illuminating the massive city below. And the city is not all soaked in water, but in clean air.

Kiki and Aaron were also stunned by the white city in front of them, and schools of flying fish could be seen flying over the city from time to time. How many years, manpower and material resources will it take to build such a large city? It's a city full of wonders.

"Children, what you see now is only one of the four outer cities in the outer part of the main city. The four outer cities surround a larger main city. The captain introduced.

I can't hold back the joy in my heart. Kiki, Lingki, and Aaron take on terrestrial human forms and run along the stone path to the city, cheering and embracing the world ahead. There is a small canal with flowing water on the side of the road, which is the passage for dolphins to enter the city, and dolphins are also chasing through the canal. The remaining Captain Akang, who was carrying Uji on his back, chased and shouted all the way behind:

"Hey, hey, wait for me, wait for me......"

But a green shadow flew through the sky, which alerted Lingji. I saw the green shadow fly to the top of the city wall and stop there, it seems to be a flying mermaid, it is not difficult to guess that her fate pet should be a flying fish. Then a siren remembered, the gates opened, and a trotting of soldiers armed with spears rushed out. The phalanx moved over, and the momentum was mighty. But it doesn't feel like the atmosphere is right, it's not like a welcoming ceremony, it's more like a reaction to an alien enemy.

While a few people were surprised, the guards surrounded several of them. The white uniform, the bright spear, and the not-so-friendly eyes made several people stunned. All the spears were pointed at them, and one of the leading soldiers pointed a finger at them and shouted:

"Catch the intruders!"

……