Ji Ran looked around hopelessly and wiped his bloodstained hands on his coat. More candles went out, and the smoke from the burnt wicks, in the red shadows, snaked upwards in a spiral. Smoke like a snake, Ji Ran said sarcastically to himself. He walked over to the desk, tossed away some items, and rummaged through the drawers. No money, no checkbook. Nothing.

“Sicexeome??”

Jiang Xiaoyun continued his series of incantations. Ji Ran glanced at him for the last time, and in that circle, Jiang Xiaoyun opened the last door with a happy smile on his face. There was a dark line on his face, and blood was bubbling out of his mouth, like a river of Taiga cut by a knife of night and darkness.

"Bastard thing!" Ji Ran said. I had to write off the account.

He walked down the stairs to the gray arch at the end.

Passing through the arch leading to the courtyard, walking over to the well railing and the two marble lions, and looking at the railing leading to the outside, he stopped and took a deep breath of the fresh morning air.

He stood still for a moment, as the first red light rose over the horizon, and the light he had left behind when he entered the city caught up with him standing among the gray buildings, leaving footprints on his face.

It made his eyes narrow, and the light reflected his sleepless and exhausted night. Then the light intensified, and the two Venetian lions in the courtyard invaded, and the two lions lowered their heads and meekly accepted the touch of the light. The originally faint red light began to become dazzling, surrounding Ji Ran.

At that moment, at the end of the stairs he had just walked down, from the other side of the last door of the Dark Kingdom, there was a scream. It was a gut-wrenching wail, not at all like a human voice, it was born of utter terror and despair. He could barely hear that it was Jiang Xiaoyun's voice.

Ji Ran pushed open the railing without looking back and walked out onto the street. With each step, you leave it all behind you even further.

Finally, he stopped blankly in the square, surrounded by the dazzling sunlight.

Xie Yubing was still sitting in the car, and the boy frowned, secretly ecstatic in his heart, happy that she had not disappeared with everything last night. He saw her smile so tenderly, incredibly young and beautiful, with her short boyish hair, dark skin, and staring at him, all waiting for him quietly.

The clear green eyes shimmered with cast gold, which was the darkness of any corner of the ancient city, the dark shadow of the bell tower or the pointed arch of the square.

That light seemed to shine brighter when Ji Ran walked into her. Ji Ran looked down at the ground as he walked, ready to say goodbye to his shadow, but he couldn't find the shadow under his feet.

Behind him, in the house guarded by four evil beast statues on the tile roof, Jiang Xiaoyun's wail could no longer be heard.

Or maybe he's still screaming somewhere in the dark, but he can't reach the streets.

Ji Ran lowered his head and laughed from between his teeth, like a cruel wolf.

His emotions were no longer heard at all.

"Who the hell are you?" Ji Ran stared at Xie Yubing directly.

It wasn't just now that he began to suspect the person in front of him.

In fact, from the beginning, he didn't believe that this person was sent by the Lord.

"Who the hell are you?"

Seeing that the other party didn't speak, Ji Ran asked again.

"Does it matter?"

Xie Yubing asked with a smile.

"Important!"

Ji Ran nodded solemnly.

His tone and demeanor speak for themselves.

"I'm the one who protects you!"

"Protect me, protect me, protect me?"

"Protect you through the trial!"

Xie Yubing raised his head slightly, and drew a strange shape with his fingers towards the sky.

What's even more strange is that the shape that was originally drawn against the air actually grew larger and larger, until it spread into the air.

Ji Ran asked suspiciously, "What trial!"

"The Precursor's Trial!"

"What?"

Ji Ran took a step back, and his panicked look instantly filled the space.

However, Xie Yubing didn't pay attention to it, and continued without pause: "Actually, you are the one who was chosen!"

"Me?" Ji Ran looked at the other party in surprise, and said, "Why?"

"Because you're the one who really started the trial. ”

"Started the trial?"

Obviously, Xie Yubing's words made Ji Ran even more confused.

"Yes, do you remember what the first picture was?" Xie Yubing said with a smile.

"A samurai on his own road!"

"And what about the second picture?"

"A man opens the door with two keys!"

"What about the sixth picture?"

"A crucified man!"

Ji Ran replied suspiciously, but suddenly he seemed to think of something, and asked with some fear, "Could it be that my experience corresponds to these paintings?"

"You've finally found out!" Xie Yubing replied with a smile.

However, the tone of his voice made Ji Ran shudder.

She paused for a moment before replying, "Actually, all these trials are for you!

"What is this so-called trial?" Ji Ran was obviously not interested in passing or not, he was now eager to know what his strange experience was for.

"You should have already known about the existence of the Precursor from Jiang Xiaoyun's mouth!" Xie Yubing said, "What I'm going to tell you now is an even more important secret!"

"Secret?"

"Yes! Secret!" Xie Yubing nodded, and continued: "Fifty thousand years ago, the forerunners turned their backs on the gods and lost their protection, and under the interference of the Heavenly Dao, all the gods left the earth and went to the outer world. This was originally a good thing, but it eventually led to the demise of the Precursors!"

"Oh?"

"After the departure of the gods, the suppression of the gods was lost, and countless natural disasters began to appear, first the terrible earth movement destroyed all the houses, then the sea water poured into the land and destroyed all the vegetation, and finally the collective eruption of volcanoes, the smoke and dust that obscured the sky and the sun, and everything lost its vitality. ”

"Could it be that the Precursors were destroyed by these natural disasters?"

"Not really. ”

"No?" Ji Ran was a little surprised by this answer.

"Yes, in fact, these natural disasters only affect the ordinary forerunners, and they have no effect on the omnipotent powers of heaven and earth in the race. For natural disasters, they can open up small worlds to take refuge, and as for food and water, they don't need it anymore. ”

"Then why did the Precursors perish, and didn't even say a word?"

"In fact, compared with the previous natural disasters, what is more terrifying is that the original abundant aura between heaven and earth is gradually disappearing, the forerunner is a civilization that advocates cultivation, and the loss of aura means the collapse of civilization, and those small worlds that were originally opened up by great power have all become unable to make ends meet, and they are destroyed one after another, and after 10,000 years of survival, the civilization that has been maintained for 200,000 years has come to an end. Xie Yubing said gloomily, like a person who had experienced it firsthand.

"Then what is this trial for?" Ji Ran then asked.

"To start the Gate of the Gods and welcome the return of the Gods?"

"Return?

"Collect the key of the Precursor and open the door just now!"

"Doors, keys, where can I find them?"