"Little grandpa, how is it, have you contacted Master?"

Packing up his gear, Shikanoya asked the little old man No. 3 on the side.

Since just now, the little old man No. 3 has been sitting cross-legged on the ground and meditating, and he is trying very hard to get in touch with his own body and his master.

But unfortunately, the space we are in now is too abnormal.

Not only is the mobile phone communication completely out of order, but the "strange talk communication" is also not easy to use. Little Old Man No. 3 can only feel that there is still a faint connection between the body and himself.

Through this connection, there may be a possibility of "communication" between the two sides, but the current "signal" does not support this.

"Woo woo woo."

Little Old Man No. 3 shook his head in response.

"Well, it looks like things are more troublesome than we thought at first." Xiaolu didn't get depressed immediately, and at the same time suddenly thought of something, "By the way, little grandpa, you have lost contact with the original little grandpa 0, right?" That is, you are now on your own? ”

"Abba whoop."

The little old man No. 3 nodded, then began to get up from the ground again, and clenched his fist with one hand and tapped his chest.

The Void Monk's garb swayed with his determined movements.

This action is usually done by the little old man when he expresses his loyalty to Kamiyagawa.

Xiaolu has been with all the weird people in the family for so long, so he can naturally understand the meaning.

"That's what I asked, I don't have to doubt you." Luyeya hurriedly waved his hand, "That is, even if Master went to another world before, you won't lose contact between your clone and the body, right?" I was just trying to say that maybe the place we are in now is even weirder than that inner world. ”

Suppose that the consciousness of the little old man's clone and the main body was disconnected at the moment when the loyal No. 3 followed Kanoya and jumped off the earthquake crack in the Ocha and was teleported here.

Even if No. 3 forms an independent consciousness, he should still retain all the memories of his previous body.

That's why he has always maintained closeness and respect for Shikanoya, one of the eldest ladies in the family, as before.

From this point of view, Xiaolu thinks that even if the little old man No. 3 is independent, he can still be trusted, and he is still the elder in the family who is very reliable.

He had no reason to betray Master and himself at all.

Moreover, if you want to protect yourself before being rescued by the master, the fawn must also rely on the little old man No. 3.

"Aba, Aba."

The little old man raised his hand and touched his chin, which was kind of echoing the deer's guess just now.

He has the nature of a scout and has a strong sense of perception. And like the ontology, he has a lot of experience in exploration. In his opinion, this place is indeed too unusual.

His body had followed his master to explore many strange places, and now although it looked a little ordinary on the surface, the level of weirdness hidden in the secret may be even greater than that in those worlds.

Just because the little old man's body and clone were forcibly disconnected, and the clone even derived an independent consciousness from this.

"So what are we going to do now?" The fawn became distressed.

At present, there are two paths in front of her, one is to wait in place, waiting for the master to save herself; The second is to take the initiative and try to explore the surrounding area, maybe you can learn more about this strange area.

She didn't think about separating from the little old man No. 3, such as letting the latter explore the surrounding area and stay where she was or something.

"I feel like it's better to stay with my little grandfather all the time, isn't that the case in horror movies...... The protagonist group had to act separately in a very terrifying and weird place, and then they were killed one by one......"

That's how the fawn thinks about it.

There is indeed some truth in her thoughts.

After all, Kanoya is not the god of God Blocking and Killing God, his own strength is limited, and all his current confidence comes from the props sent by the master and teachers.

If the little old man No. 3 leaves her side, then her perception of emergencies and dangers around her will be greatly weakened.

It's better to act together, at least there is a response.

Of the two options available at the moment, Shikanoya actually prefers the second one.

In the end, she is an apprentice of Kamigu, and she still has some adventurous spirit in her bones, and it should be better to explore around and grasp a little information than to be passive with a black eye now.

However, although the fawn occasionally recklessly jumps, it is not really stupid. Not far away, she didn't want to get close to the depressed village that seemed to be very large, so she only planned to explore the periphery first.

As soon as this idea was proposed, the little old man thought about it for a while and agreed.

Together, they began to explore the surrounding area in the direction of their original village.

……

There were muddy mountain paths along the way, and the white indoor shoes at the foot of the deer field house were already stained with mud.

After only about half an hour, the fawn and the little old man came to the end.

Yes, the end.

The road ahead looked like it had been cut open by a knife, and there were straight cuts, as did the mountains and the ground here.

Beyond the section, there is a thick gray haze.

The fog was so thick that it was impossible to see what was inside, but I could hear a whistling sound that seemed to come out of nowhere, like the sound of the wind, like the howl of a monster.

Standing on the section of the mountain and looking down, there is also a thick gray fog below, and I don't know how deep it is.

In short, when Kanoya looked down, he felt instinctively dizzy.

She calmed down briefly, took a large rock from the dark woodland and threw it towards the knife-cut cliff.

The stone fell into the mist without making a sound.

After a long time, there was no sound of landing.

"How deep is this cliff? Or is there no end at all? Kanoya shrunk his neck.

Now, she was even more convinced that the place she was in was definitely not reality.

Because the front was impassable, Luyeya had to go into the mountains and forests under the leadership of the little old man No. 3.

The woodland is a labyrinth of dense branches that shade the sky, but there is no need to really worry about getting lost when scouts are around.

It's a pity that the two of them explored for a while, and when they came to the soles of the deer house, they didn't find a way out, but instead went around and returned to the vicinity of the depressed village.

"So, there's no way out of the outside world?"

Even Kanoya, who is always positive, can't help but be a little depressed at this time.

It's dusk.

The forest environment outside the village was already dark, and the daylight faded again, making it even more silent and terrifying. It was a little cool in the evening, the sky was still gray, the sun was only halfway down and there was no obvious light, and the gray of the sky revealed an infinite darkness, stretching into the distance.

The fawn rested in the distance on the outskirts of the village, and simply drank a little water from his own cup.

Then I broke a small sandwich and ate it.

She had limited food and water with her, but fortunately she didn't have a lot of food. And probably because she was nervous and worried now, she didn't have much appetite.

After resting for a while, the little old man No. 3, who was on guard in place, suddenly sensed something.

He quickly got up from the ground and motioned for Shikanoya to run away.

There is something in the direction of the mountains and forests close to where they are!

Shikanoya reacted quickly, quickly got up and followed the little old man away.

At this moment, she seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, far away in the mountains and forests, when she heard a beast barking.

Like a wolf howl.

The mountains and forests at night are not easy to move, and Luyeya does not dare to turn on the flashlight of the mobile phone to illuminate it directly, for fear of attracting something unknown, so the speed of hiding and escaping is not fast.

All around was a dull gray, silhouettes of grass and trees distorting on the ground and in the air.

Shikanoya struggled to suppress his rapid breathing, and the bush branches around him cut across his arms and thighs, and it hurt a little.

As she ran, she saw the little old man in front of her, No. 3, turn his head, raise his hand and stretch out three fingers.

"Three? What is close to us has three meanings? ”

The fawn was flustered at the moment.

She didn't have any experience fighting on her own, after all.

And what's worse is that she doesn't know what the little old man No. 3 perceives.

The unknown itself carries a natural sense of horror.

After the little old man No. 3 pointed out the number of threatening targets in the mountain forest, the fawn glanced back and seemed to see a bright light shining not far away.

Her steps were chaotic, her feet slipped, and she rolled directly down a slope.

"Hmm...... It hurts......"

The fall hurt, but Shikanoya didn't dare to make too much noise.

Her right knee was a bit heavy and painful, and she struggled for a while before she could barely get up from the ground.

"Woohoo!"

The little old man was anxiously talking to her side, and the next second his figure suddenly dimmed and disappeared.

The scout didn't play shakuhachi, but just restrained his breath.

However, with the perception ability of the fawn, at this level, he couldn't see where the little old man No. 3 was, and he could only get a little strengthened sense of smell by practicing incense, and vaguely smelled that the other party was still around, and he didn't leave himself.

Naturally, the little old man didn't run, but just hid by the side of the deer field.

Danger was looming, and they couldn't run away.

Therefore, the little old man No. 3 had to hide his breath, stay by the side of the deer, and see the next development of the situation before making plans.

His main body did often run away when he followed Kamiya to explore before, but that was because his master was very strong and strong enough to deal with various crises and emergencies.

But Miss Kanoya ...... That's it.

If you run away, then you will be really disloyal and unjust, and you will not have the face to see the master again in the future.

Moreover, when the three targets in the mountains and forests got closer, the scouts with superior perception felt that the danger had decreased a little.

Maybe the target of those three things wasn't Miss Shikanoya at all?

Maybe things will turn around.

Rustle –

Behind him came the sound of bush branches rubbing against each other.

Kanoya smelled a smell similar to that of a human, and there was a strange smell of water and earth, as well as the smell of gunsmoke.

Mixed together, it feels dangerous.

But the fawn's knees hurt so badly that he barely wanted to lift his feet and walk again, when he suddenly heard a loud "bang" from behind him.

Dirt clods splashed under your feet.

The smell of gunpowder was strong.

Someone fired.

"Wow!"

Kanoya whispered, leaning down quickly, holding the brass chain of the incense burner with one hand, and reaching into the outer compartment of the schoolbag with the other hand to pinch a spice bag.

Rustle –

The sound of shrubs churning again.

A dim but intense light shone on Kanoya's somewhat panicked face, making her unable to open her eyes for a while.

When she finally got used to the light, she saw a figure standing on the slope.

"Ah, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I thought it was the wolf. The man spoke, his voice a little old, and although he said "I'm sorry", his tone was cheerful.

The smell of a human being, as well as the smell of water and earth, all emanated from the person's body.

The smell of gunpowder smoke and gunpowder came from a double-barreled gun in the opponent's hand.

It looked like a shotgun.

"Shotgun-wielding ...... Hunter? Is it an individual? But...... It doesn't always feel right. ”

Kanoya clenched the copper chain of the incense burner and didn't move.

Japanese society theoretically prohibits the possession of guns by private individuals, but this "prohibition" is not so strict. If an individual can obtain a legal gun license, then they can legally own a firearm, but the type of firearm owned is very restrictive, and only shotguns and air guns can be purchased.

Generally speaking, it is very difficult to obtain a gun license, and the capacity of shotguns and air guns that can be held by an individual cannot exceed two rounds.

It is only allowed to be used for hunting and shooting events.

But for this reason, there is a real chance to see hunters with shotguns in some parts of Japan.

Although the number of such people will be very small.

The hunter walked down the hill with a gun and a flashlight, and Shikanoya could see each other more clearly.

It is a grandfather in his sixties, with gray sideburns, resolute facial features, and a very tough body, with a steady pace in the mountains and forests.

And strangely enough, the old hunter always had a charitable and empty smile on his face.

Just laughing all the time.

"You little girl, why stay alone in the mountains and forests at night, it's very dangerous." The old hunter said in a concerned tone.

"I ......"

Shikanoya didn't reply, and he didn't know how to reply.

Just as she hesitated, there was another rustling sound on the side, and two more figures appeared with flashlights.

They were two middle-aged men in their thirties, a man and a woman, who also held shotguns in their hands.

Like the old hunter, the two new ones had strange smiles on their faces that couldn't be dispersed.

The flashlight flickered, shining on their faces, grinning mouths and baring teeth.

This smile made Shikanoya feel uncomfortable.

"A girl? I thought it was the wolf. Old man Watanabe, did you shoot just now, did you hurt someone? ”

The middle-aged woman from the two new hunters said this, trying to check on the condition of the deer house.

But Shikanoya resisted and shrank back.

"Didn't hit it. But I think it scared her, and it's not good for me to shoot. The old hunter surnamed Watanabe said with a smile.

"You say...... Wolves, right? ”

Shikanoya finally spoke at this time, but he took the initiative to divert the topic away from himself.

The three people in front of them looked strange, but they seemed to be able to communicate.

And the three shotguns in the other party's hand made Shikanoya only try to communicate.

"It's miles, it's miles." Grandpa Watanabe nodded, "After the earthquake a few days ago, there was a mudslide in the mountain, and it collapsed in several places. Then the brute suddenly appeared, and had already injured several people in the village. Takao and Yuki and I thought about joining forces to hunt that beast. ”

Shikanoya didn't speak again when he heard this reply.

She thought of a question -

Japan, are there wolves?

(End of chapter)