Chapter 9: The Night on the Other Side (Part I)
The steam valve rattled behind him, and six pairs of mechanical wings rose and fell in sequence, propelling Jonah into a swift flight over the twilight hills.
It was the seventh hour of flying, and Jonah could feel his body temperature constantly being carried away by the wind, and he untied one of the corners of the burden behind him in an extremely awkward position, groped for a piece of bread and handed it to his mouth, finding that his mouth could not be opened, and his whole face was frozen and numb.
Below was a rapidly sweeping brown hill, and judging by the topography, he should have left the borders of St. Bouron and entered the mountainous Bazelar. The raging cavalry and smoke on the Red Clay Plateau were left far behind him.
After the initial fear and excitement of flying wore off, Jonah felt his head dazed, and he even took a nap in the air for a while, so much so that he couldn't say goodbye to the ruins of Redstone Fort.
As the ability to think returns, the hope of a bright future and the shame of running away alone ensues, leaving the young astrologer apprentice at a loss, happy and sad.
After a while, he began to study how to operate the lame Henry II, and sadly discovered that the strange device of a steam golem toy, tattered brass pipes, and stale leather, was a joke on Ben, with the valves and levers that controlled height, speed, and pitch on the back of the machine, and he stretched his arms as long as he could, the tips of his fingers not touching the edges of the valves.
Fortunately, the two belts in charge of the direction were working properly, allowing him to fly towards his destination, and as for how to land, Jonah decided to resign himself to fate.
Barely chewing half a loaf of bread, it was completely dark, and Jonah swept past a medium-lit town, the aroma of hot food wafting through the air and causing his mouth to water.
The sound of the hooves of the horse's horse's cavalry of the Zavi Empire had not yet broken the calm of Bazelar.
A few days ago, he was a bystander to the world, and the jungle of swords and guns he walked through would consciously open up a path of forbearance, but ever since the mentor told him that the tyrant Jerizavitan unilaterally announced the tearing up of the agreement, causing the members of the five guilds in the Western Continent to bleed, Jonah has had an inexplicable fear of the word soldier.
He had seen too many people die, but he had never imagined that the corpses that were unrecognizable could be himself, or even his mentor. A sharp pain flashed through Jonah's heart at the thought of his mentor, and he sighed, but the wind poured into his mouth and coughed violently.
Tonight, the 30th star in the 1st house "Bear" will shine in the southern canopy, and Jonah opens his eyes to find the stars he is familiar with, "Bear" and the 7th house star "Little Boat" are the main pairs of stars he study, and the starline has the characteristics of "light, heat and morphological changes".
The illuminated star array on his staff was carved into the ruby by Mentor Koshavoy using the power of this starline.
Finally finding the trace of the "bear" in the dense companion star, Jonah calmed down a little, closed his eyes and felt the warm energy of the starline piercing through his heart.
After an unknown time, the monotonous sound of the wind in his ears became muffled, and Jonah opened his eyes to find the hilly terrain far behind him, and the vast alluvial plain unfolding under the starlight. He flew over the land of Bazelar, and before him was a vast terra nullius, on the north bank of the Colombo Saint River.
If the direction is correct, his destination Cherry Ferry is not far away, hoping to land safely at Cherry Ferry, falling into the Colombo village and falling into the other side of the holy river is not a happy ending, Jonah pursed his lips, adjusted the direction of "Lame Henry II", and tried his best to find the river and town at the end of his sight.
Suddenly, there was a soft bang behind him, the smooth flight trajectory changed, the aircraft jolted, and fell dozens of feet in a flicker, Jonah was dizzy, and he felt that the bread he had just eaten rushed to his throat.
He opened his mouth wide in horror to see the wooded plains of the North Shore flicker away from him, and the starry sky swirling.
Oh no, the floating star array carved into the black crystal is about to collapse, Jonah thought, reaching in vain to touch the joystick backwards, but unable to stop the six pairs of power wings from flapping dutifully.
Another soft sound sounded, and Jonah clearly felt his weight multiply, and in desperation, he drew a beautiful parabola under the push of his wings, and rushed towards a leafy broad-leaved tree. The canopy of the trees magnified infinitely before his eyes, and Jonah had only time to curl up on all fours and close his eyes.
Boom.
It's dark.
......
Gu Tie struggled to open his eyelids to look at the game world, moving his fingers to get used to the unfamiliar body again.
He found himself lying on a hard wooden bed, covered with tattered animal skins, with a low roof, and a burning brazier hanging from the beams of the house, the only source of light, which made the walls flicker and dark. The warm air smelled of tobacco and an unknown rancid smell, and apart from the bed, there was only an old wooden table, behind which sat a thin old man in a white boxy hat and a brown felt cloak, his withered hands supporting the chin of a few sparse whiskers, dozing off.
"It's changed so much, I can't keep up with the times. I'm sure Old Shaw is crying in some more miserable corner of the world waiting for me to save him, huh. Gu Tie muttered with a little headache, calling up the memories of this body in the more than ten hours that he was not online: he decided to run away, find his mentor, the flying machine, and fall.
“...... Damn, my life is a blockbuster!" Gu Tie grew his mouth in surprise, and then found that there was pain everywhere on his head, body, and back, and his left leg simply lost control.
“...... At least it's an inspirational film, and I'm in charge of the role of a disabled teenager. This sad main quest...... Gu Tie grinned and sat up, picked up the animal skin to take a look, and sure enough, his left leg should be injured, wrapped in bandages, and he was only wearing intimate clothes on his body, robes, packages, deerskin bags, and "Lame Henry II" did not know what to do, only the staff was leaning alone in the corner.
"That, uncle......" Gu Tie shouted at the dozing old man. Little by little, the old man's head slept soundly.
"Hey, don't sleep, tear people down to dirty clothes, why don't you give me an explanation......, uncle?" Gu Tie stepped on the wooden floor, hurting his leg so much that he almost lost his breath.
"Huh?" the old man woke up, following the prestige. The flickering light of the fire illuminated his skinny face, crawling with wrinkles, and there were no eyeballs in his empty sockets.
"Holy. Gu Tie was startled again, almost sat down, and hurriedly used his staff to support his body. "Who are you? What is this place?"
The old man looked at him with interest in his eyes without pupils, wiped the saliva from the corners of his mouth, and said happily: "My family." ”
"What am I doing at your house?" Gu Tie looked down at his crotch. This seventeen-year-old Kiyohide Shota doesn't feel so safe physically.
"You're Daddy's customer, this teenager. I snatched their supper from two hundred Colombo - that is, you, in exchange, received the pile of junk that fell with you. Equal exchange, guests and hosts enjoy. The old man stared at him happily.
Gu Tie frightened himself away from the old man's void gaze.
He thought about it carefully, but he couldn't find any memories that had fallen into the hands of the Colombo people, and in the time that he had fainted, the ghost knew what had happened, maybe the old man had just kicked himself in the bushes and dragged him home.
"Give me back the robes and purse, sir, no matter how hospitable you are, this emergency roadside assistance is worth the money for a dinner. “
"Your bread is so unpalatable, and so are the sausages. The old man pouted. "The astrologer's robe is too ostentatious to kill you, and the bag of glittering gems is even more so, just go out and take a look. Daddy Tong is not bullied. “
Gu Tie was stunned for a moment, leaned on his staff, and pushed open the door of the house where the paint was peeling. The cold air swept in, and Gu Tie shivered.
The endless black-gray flat-topped stone houses, one after the other, stretched densely into the distance that the starlight could not illuminate, and a huge roar was heard, and there was humid water vapor in the air.
After taking two steps left and right, Gu Tie understood.
It was a town by the river, and in the center of it was an eighty-foot square, and in the center of the square stood the hut in which he was located.
There is no other possibility. The river is the other side of the holy river. The town is Cherry Ferry. He reached his destination—or rather, the hapless game character who broke his leg.