"Did you hear anything?"

On a natural path deep in the forest, Shirley suddenly stopped and muttered suspiciously.

"There wasn't a sound, but I could smell it...... That distinct 'stench,'" Dog stopped beside Shirley, a low, disgusted voice coming out of his throat, "more than one, mixed with the filth of chaos and unintelligence, and the pure, blind impulse to destroy......"

"Looks like those 'old acquaintances' are here again," Shirley muttered, "they're really tireless, what is there in this 'Dream of the Nameless' that deserves their attention, that so-called 'primordial blueprint' is so attractive?" ”

Ah Dog didn't speak, but just lowered his body, carefully sensing the residual aura around him—the aura left behind by the Annihilation Cultists and the Dark Demons.

It finds something familiar in those breaths.

"The Annihilation Cultist named 'Richard' is among them." It suddenly looked up and said.

"That guy still dares to come?" Shirley's eyes widened in surprise for a moment, "Last time I smashed him like that, I thought that guy would at least have to lie in the real world for a while......"

Ah Gou shook his head: "It seems that they have made sufficient preparations when they 'fall into a dream', and they have enough protection at the mental level, and the injuries they suffer in the dream will not have much impact on reality...... This also makes sense, after all, they must have a full understanding of the operation mechanism of this place after organizing so many people to enter the Dream of the Nameless. ”

Shirley frowned, "Are they still around here?" ”

"It's been a while," Dog cautiously judged, "the aura of the dark demons is fading fast, but it's hard to say how far away they are from here now - Shirley, we need to be careful, that 'Richard' is too, he knows you, and the trick from last time won't work a second time." ”

The expression on Shirley's face suddenly became nervous, she quickly checked the surrounding environment, turned her head and said seriously, "Then why don't we find a place to hide here?" Wait for the dawn of the real world - the forest is so big anyway, the cultists shouldn't turn back. ”

"I don't recommend this, don't forget the weird and dangerous 'erosion' phenomenon - it can happen suddenly and spread quickly," Dog shook his head, "No corner of this place is safe, the only possible safe place may be inside the so-called wall of silence, we have to find that 'wall'." ”

As it spoke, it raised its head and looked in a certain direction deep in the forest: "Those Annihilation Cultists are also looking for the 'Wall of Silence', let's follow them from a distance, as long as we do a good job of concealment, the initiative is in our hands." ”

"Tsk, well, I'm just going to say it casually," Shirley said helplessly, smashing her tongue, "Then let's go, and be careful not to get too close to those cultists." ”

The dog nodded, carefully checked the remaining breath in the air and the direction it pointed out, and walked forward—but it only took one step forward before suddenly stopping again, and at the same time quickly whispered: "Attention, someone is approaching!" ”

Almost at the same time as Ah Gou's words fell, Shirley heard the sound of footsteps suddenly appearing nearby—the sound was without warning, as if someone appeared nearby out of thin air, Shirley instantly tensed, and then grabbed the chain with one hand, and suddenly turned her head to look in the direction where the sound came from.

A tall elf girl appears in Shirley's sight.

She was dressed in a strange light armor that looked like some kind of hunting suit that would allow for movement in the forest, reinforced in key places, and she had long, sun-like pale blonde hair with a faint blue thread woven between them—and in her hand was a strangely shaped weapon, like a combination of a spear and a tomahawk......

After seeing this elf girl who seemed to appear out of thin air, Shirley was slightly stunned, and in the second or two when she was stunned, the elf girl had already taken a step towards her.

"Didn't you receive an order to evacuate? Why are you still moving outside the walls? ”

Hearing the other party's voice, Shirley opened her mouth, and the sudden change made her a little at a loss, but she quickly reacted, and her acting skills and observation from childhood to college played a role: "Ah, I ...... I'm lost, I'm about to go to the Wall of Silence. ”

The strange elf girl didn't seem to notice Shirley's nervousness just now, and she didn't even show any strange expression to the hideous and terrifying appearance of the dog, who didn't have time to dodge because of the suddenness of the incident, she naturally nodded to Shirley and the dog, and said, "You and your companions are encroaching on the area where the phenomenon is active, this place is not safe - fortunately, you have met me, a forest ranger." ”

As she spoke, she pointed in a certain direction in the forest with the axe in her hand: "Follow me, and I'll take you to the Wall of Silence." ”

"Ah...... Good. Shirley was stunned for a moment, then reacted quickly, and quickly called the captain in the depths of her consciousness while dragging the dog to follow the other party's footsteps.

They set out, in the direction of the "Wall of Silence", through the natural paths covered with dead leaves, over the rugged glades, and into the depths of the forest.

The elf girl with a strange weapon in her hand walked in front and rarely spoke on the road.

Of course, this is not conducive to gathering intelligence, so Shirley can only take the initiative to break the silence, and after thinking about the topic for a while, she asks, "By the way, what's your name?" ”

The elf girl suddenly stopped, turned her head and looked at Shirley's eyes very seriously, and after two or three seconds, she whispered: "My name is Shireen—I hope you can remember my name." ”

Shirley's eyes widened.

……

In the depths of the vast darkness and fog, on the "Lost Country" with a strange and silent atmosphere, Duncan, who was sitting at the sailing table and communicating with the "goathead", suddenly stopped talking with the "goathead".

He frowned slightly, as if listening to a voice coming from afar, and the expression on his face changed rapidly, from confused to thoughtful.

The "goathead" on the table reacted to Duncan's abrupt pause—after Duncan stopped talking, it fell silent, neither questioning nor expressing itself.

The "goathead" that appears on the Strange Lost is like a half-asleep "answering machine", except for the first time when it says hello, and in most cases as long as Duncan does not speak to it, it rarely reacts.

Duncan glanced at the goat's head.

In the end, the goat's head didn't explain what it meant by "Sassarca died a long time ago", it just repeated the phrase monotonously, as if the mind was stuck on this "message".

After a moment's hesitation, Duncan got up and left his seat and walked to the quaint oval mirror not far away.

The goat's head on the nautical table slowly turned its head, silently tracking Duncan's movements with its gaze, but still not saying a word—the wordless gaze was particularly terrifying.

However, Duncan was now more or less able to ignore the strangeness of the suspicious goat's head, and he went straight to the mirror, reaching out and knocking on it.

Agatha's figure appeared in the mirror almost immediately.

Duncan watched closely behind him, sensing the change in the aura in the captain's chamber - but the suspicious goat's head did not react to Agatha's presence, as if it could not be seen.

"Captain." Agatha in the mirror also glanced cautiously in the direction of the goat's head, and only after confirming that the other party really didn't react did she breathe a sigh of relief and nodded to Duncan.

"Shirley and Dog meet another 'Shirin' in the forest." Duncan responded to Agatha's compliment, and then said bluntly.

Agatha opened her mouth, her expression was a little stunned for a while, and then she immediately reacted: "Then Miss Lucrecia's ......"

Duncan nodded, "She's still with 'Shireen'." ”

The two men fell into a brief silence through the mirror, apparently neither of them having any ideas.

After a while, Agatha took a light breath and broke the silence: "Captain, I have also made some discoveries here. ”

Duncan subconsciously lowered his voice: "What did you find?" ”

Agatha in the mirror raised her hand and wordlessly pointed to the door in the deepest part of the captain's quarters—the wooden door that led to the captain's quarters.

"Just now when you were talking to the goat's head, I shuttled through the various mirrors on the Lost Country, and all the positions and scenes presented were no different from the real Lost Country, except for this...... I was blocked by a strange 'barrier'. ”

Duncan immediately looked in the direction of the captain's quarters, and as he listened to Agatha's account, his eyes grew serious.

After a moment of thought, he strode to the door.

On the nautical table, the black goat's head wood sculpture creaked and moved again, and a pair of deep, cloudy dark eyes tracked Duncan's movements.

Duncan gripped the handle of the door with his hand, but instead of pushing it open, he turned his head to stare at the goat's head on the table—after looking at each other for a moment, he spoke in a deep voice, "What's in there?" ”

"I don't know." Goathead said slowly.

"Can I go in?"

"I don't know." The goat's head opens as if repeatedly.

“…… What happens if I go in? ”

"I don't know." The suspicious goat's head seemed to repeat that sentence forever.

But either way, it doesn't seem to have the intention of stopping.

Duncan took one last deep look in the direction of the goat's head, then withdrew his gaze to the familiar door in front of him, took a deep breath, and turned the handle vigorously.

A chaotic overlap, as if an empty space formed by the repeated rendering and superposition of countless abstract lines appeared behind the door.

Deng stood firmly in front of the door, looking at the scene inside the "room"—in the chaotic superimposed abstract lines, he could still vaguely make out some things: the bed, the table, the window, the wall.

And yet all these things are distorted, as if they were reconstituted in the mind of a deranged person, and reproduced in a reversed dream, and they are not at all recognizable!

(End of chapter)