The sun is high

Xiuge quietly waited for the change to happen.

It didn't take long for the weird "eating" session to come to an end. So far, Xiuge found that the "exchange" or simply "sacrifice" process he had experienced had nothing to do with the conditions they required, as well as his own What you end up with is closely related.

As for the magic engraving opportunity and the Touch of Charron that he exchanged for twenty silver coins for the first time, they are not included in this list. According to Theseus' previous statement, it was to prevent the "actor" Shuge from appearing at the beginning of the play. Some "mercy" given to a violent death.

Although it sounds a bit annoying, it is an undeniable reality.

"The hair of the swamp witch gave me two alchemy bombs, and the three belly rats and long tails were exchanged for the running rats, and then... the set of female noble accessories gave me a relatively sufficient magic reserve."

"So, what can the essence of the changeling insect bring?"

Xiuge looked at the two black mouthparts, watching the residual liquid that used to belong to the changeling bugs being continuously absorbed and swallowed. As this process continued, the black mist that originally sealed the transparent glass cabinet began to change. On the contrary, the amorphous existence that filled the cabinet became more and more clear, and its color began to become gloomy, and finally turned into a complete blackness.

Xiuge couldn't tell what it was, but he could feel that it was gradually becoming more concrete and powerful. Now he only felt that what was in front of him was a black fish tank, and there was a huge fish in it. He was constantly bumping into the cell that restrained him.

Finally, the last bit of the changeling bug mucus was completely absorbed, so the words that sealed the cabinet and the two slender arms that turned into mouthparts also collapsed and disappeared in an instant. Now, Xiuge and his own There is only a thin layer of glass blocking the unknown existence.

The continuous collision stopped, and Xiuge stared forward. He clearly felt a "line of sight" in the glass cabinet in front of him, as if the being in the cabinet was looking at him.

"Whatever it is, come on...I'm ready."

He breathed a long sigh of relief, then stretched out his hand and slowly opened the glass cabinet door.

This seemingly simple action caused an extremely violent reaction. The moment the cabinet door was opened, a deep and thick fog exploded in the cabinet. Before Xiuge could withdraw his hand, a dark A slender arm poked out from the mist, and its palm accurately clasped onto Xiuge's wrist. The astonishing force exerted on him actually dragged Xiuge forward.

"What is this?"

Even though he had been mentally prepared before, Xiuge did not expect that this "interaction" would be so violent and direct.

He quickly supported the table in front of him with his hands to prevent himself from being dragged forward. However, the arm seemed thin, but its strength was frightening. No matter how hard Xiuge exerted force or retreated, he could not withdraw his arm even half an inch. , on the contrary, he would let his body continue to lean forward after a few inadvertent gasps.

"Should I let it drag me over?"

During this tug-of-war, this weird question popped out of Xiuge's mind.

This was the first time that such a situation had occurred. Xiuge suddenly realized that the things he had obtained through "offering sacrifices" before did not give him any room to "reject", not even the entanglement of Charron's Touch. , regardless of the bites of the running rats, their impact is swift and direct, and I have no chance to resist...

However, this time, it seemed different.

During the brief period of thinking and absent-mindedness, the black arm exerted force again, so Xiuge almost lost his balance. Under the violent pull, the palm of his right hand and his forearm were dragged into the cabinet. Among them, the dark and thick mist was stirring, like the stomach of some kind of creature.

The cabinet was only that big, and Xiuge was sure that the arm he stretched out far exceeded the depth of the cabinet, but he never encountered any obstruction, as if the arm had been swallowed into another space.

Numbness spread, and Xiuge could no longer feel his palms and forearms, as if that part of his limbs had never existed.

At this moment, a strong sense of uneasiness surged up. Although this time, there was no warning sign in the spiritual world, but Xiuge did not dare to let the other party continue to pull him. He stepped on the ground with both feet, At the same time, the body fell backward desperately.

"Something's wrong...this isn't right!"

He couldn't explain how he felt at the moment, but his intuition told him that if he didn't resist this time, something bad would definitely happen.

The tug of war was painful and long. Although Xiuge was in a dream at this time, he could feel the clearest sense of physical fatigue.

Fortunately, after the initial explosion, the power of the black arm began to slowly weaken. After getting over the initial surprise, Xiuge finally regained the upper hand in this tug-of-war. He began to slowly Pulling his forearms and palms out of the black mist, the lost sense of touch returned.

Immediately afterwards, the black palm that was tightly clasped on Xiuge's wrist was forcibly dragged out of the fog with brute force.

The situation was completely reversed.

Perhaps it was a flash of inspiration in his heart, or perhaps it was his hatred for this shameless sneak attack. When the black palm and the thin arm appeared again, Xiuge's anger rose from his heart to his fear, and he suddenly Turning his right hand, his fingers took the initiative to clasp the strange black palm, and then he started to violently drag the opponent backward while cursing angrily.

"ah!!!"

An unpleasant, ear-piercing wailing sound came from the black mist. It was not a human wailing sound, but a booming sound caused by the air flowing through the narrow space. However, Shuge did not intend to let go. He gritted his teeth and faced backwards. After a hard exertion and another violent exertion, the black hand and the thick "mist" connected to it were finally completely pulled out of the cabinet. There was only a sticky "snap" sound, and that The amorphous ball of strange colors fell to the ground, and it was only then that Xiuge discovered that it was actually not a black mist at all, but a liquid ball with properties similar to those of the changeling bugs.

After leaving its own shelter, this weird thing seemed to lose all its power immediately. It limply fell to the ground and squirmed slowly, while Xiuge took a step back and watched its subsequent changes vigilantly. .

Under Xiuge's gaze, the boundaries of this irregular black "goo" gradually became clear bit by bit, and it began to take on its own shape - it was a dark human form, thin and frail, but actually Seems a little pitiful.

However, gradually, Xiuge noticed something unusual.

He noticed that the face of the pitch-black figure began to have more subtle lines. Although it was still dark, in the dim light, Xiuge still captured a sense of familiarity in the black face.

"Is that my face?"

He wasn't sure and didn't want to confirm further, but the next second, the figure turned from black slime changed its posture. It knelt on the ground, crawling forward like the most loyal and humble servant. When it reached Xiuge, it lowered its body and gently stretched its head over.

This time, Xiuge did not dodge, so he saw the dark figure kissing his feet gently.

With this action, all the previous uneasiness completely dissipated, and the magic disc in the spiritual world finally reacted. It began to rotate rapidly and stirred up the magic around it.

Affected by it, the pitch-black shadow that surrendered once again transformed into its original mucus form. It surrounded Shuge's body like a fluid, and finally, it surged toward Shuge's body like a tidal wave.

There was no pain, no suffocation, and no weird hallucinations... The only thing Xiuge felt was a cold feeling, which climbed up along his ankles and finally covered his whole body.

The innermost area of ​​the magic disk, the last groove, welcomed its own guest.

A dark humanoid outline appeared in the groove. It looked so similar to Shuge himself that even in the groove, it was posing as if it was writing at a desk.

Xiuge originally wanted to use magic power to overwhelm the past, so as to "interrogate" the true name of this magic, but perhaps the previous violent actions have completely conquered it, and a strange message has been engraved with this magic power. came to Xiuge's mind.

"The faceless mirror messenger dwells in the core of the dark abyss. He is the slave of the endless palace and the audience of the mad singer."

Xiuge repeated these words silently in the air. He opened his palms, and as the magic power was mobilized, black shadows flashed across his palms.

…

It was night, and although there had been a heavy rain, the water vapor brought by the "Poseidon's Roar" still shrouded the edge of the Luowei Plateau.

This time of year is the most painful torture for the soldiers standing guard in these areas.

"Ah! Damn, it's so wet!"

A uniformed soldier of Deland tugged hard on the flag of the Kingdom of Deland hanging on the guard box. Because it was too humid, the flag, which was supposed to be fluttering in the wind and featured an iris pattern, was drooping listlessly. With.

Another Delan soldier took out a thin wooden stick that had been used for an unknown number of years from the guard box, and the two of them worked together and finally succeeded in barely opening the flag of the Kingdom of Delan.

"Praise the God of the Sun, hurry up and drive away this moisture...my crotch is going to get moldy."

"You just got moldy and my chickens are about to hatch."

The soldiers cursed and returned to their positions. The post they belonged to was located in Lone Wolf Ridge near Salem City. There had been an extremely serious wolf disaster here. According to rumors, the source of the disaster was a deformed werewolf. His The existence made this mountain range a dead place that people refused to enter for more than ten years. It was not until the Legal Committee and the Royal Family of Delan organized a large-scale hunt that the severely deformed wolves were wiped out. As for the wolves that spread the plague, and the cursed werewolf were eventually burned alive by the mages at the highest point of the mountain.

Lone Wolf Ridge got its name from this.

But after that, this area ushered in a turning point. Nearly sixty years ago, the land rights of Lone Wolf Ridge were bought by a desperate businessman. Later, a large number of high-quality magic crystal mines were discovered here. After that, the businessman suddenly became the top supplier of magic crystals in the Kingdom of Delan and even the Plains of the Goddess.

In order to get a piece of the pie, the Royal Family of Delan naturally provided a lot of conveniences for this businessman's business. They even added a new military camp and multiple sentries here, euphemistically called it to strengthen their control over Delan. Management of sensitive borders.

But in fact, after that, the Royal Family of Delan can earn an additional amount of high-quality magic minerals every month.

It is very difficult to stand guard at night like this. Fortunately, the commander of the guard camp is not a rigid and harsh person. He will not prohibit the soldiers from engaging in some recreational activities at night. Therefore, several soldiers on the guard post chatted. stand up.

A young soldier pulled at his wet uniform and said anxiously: "Have you heard? There's going to be a war."

"Just fucking fart... Where did you hear this from the gossip?"

"I'm serious. I just came back from Black Forest Castle two days ago. The news is reliable."

After pulling off his shirt, the young soldier began to toss with his pants again. As he tugged, he said, "The girl I know told me that her brother works as a clerk in a place responsible for military logistics. He said that there have been a lot of people recently. A lot of things are starting to be sent here.”

Hearing this, several soldiers nearby who were playing Dragon Teeth also stopped. They held the long crystal blunderbuss issued by the Delan army in their hands, with worried looks on their faces: "It can't be that fast, right? ? Aren’t all the princes from the plateau guys coming here?”

"That's right. Could it be that the plateau guys have gone crazy and plan to start a war during the armistice celebration? This is not a war, it's just a slap in the face of the gods of Van En!"

The young soldier spread his hands: "I don't know, half a month ago I went to exchange some wine with their camp... I originally planned to go there tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, but now it seems that it will be ruined. "

"I'm still thinking about the wine. First think about what you will do if there is a war!"

A veteran with a sharp face mocked mercilessly: "In these two moments, you guys, facing those plateau guys, especially the Votel army... I'm afraid you were so scared that you wet your pants in less than two minutes. , when the time comes, my legs will be so weak that I won’t be able to run even if I want to.”

As the veteran spoke, he recalled his experience on a conflicting border between the two countries many years ago, so his body shook violently and a complicated look flashed across his face.

"Those guys were like emotionless iron men. They didn't even say a word when they attacked. After shooting two rounds, they just rushed over with crystal muskets equipped with bayonets. Damn it, I found out later, That’s even a Votel recruit!”

Thanks to the leaders of "qamda" and "Xianyu No. 233", as well as the helmsmen of "The Only Designated Newcomer" and "Mo Ru Crow"

Crying bitterly (