Wasteland Echoer

July 12, 557 years of the New Lunar Calendar.

Crusted Federation, Extreme Cold Special Zone, Area A (Old Yashuang Area), "Man-Made Lake", inside "Buchen Ruins", "Central Quasi-Core Area".

Luo Ka and "Future", who were all wet, crawled out of the biting and cold pool water, panting heavily, wiping off the clean water on their faces, and leaned against a rectangular stone slab with traces of time erosion. On both sides, the remaining magic power in the body surged, trying to slowly restore physical strength.

"Sneeze!" Luo Ka sneezed, hugging his body and trembling slightly unconsciously due to the cold.

Seeing this, "Future" quickly helped him take off his cotton-padded clothes, put them aside, and tried to surge the dark magic power in his body, trying to resonate with the coldness in Luo Ka's body. After a series of complex magic power reactions, , guide it outside the body.

Fortunately, a few minutes later, a dim, almost invisible dark blue energy was led out of Luo Ka's mouth like a ribbon, floated into the air and disappeared.

"I really didn't expect that, Luo Ka." "Future" said helplessly:

"Every road in this 'deep ruins' should be downwards. The deeper the area it leads to, the lower it is in absolute terms. It seems that when the emperors of the past generations built this place, they didn't have any Deliberate consideration was given to expanding the space from the flat surface, but instead digging downwards to make it deeper.

"I feel that if it is not to resist the mythical disaster called 'floods and thunders resonate, and all things are overturned with the same yoke' in the Holy Word, it is an attempt to bury some unknown secrets that are enough to destroy the world."

Luo Ka didn't say a word. After feeling the chill in his body subside a little, the magic power of fire surged in his body. But the strange thing is that in the Chinese language that burst out of his mouth this time, in addition to the only sentence he had always memorized: "s.shikmiryutor yoevxi. (The flame continues)", he also subconsciously added a sentence later.

"s.shimiryutor yutorfa (Chinese: flame blooms.)"

Immediately, the dim yellow flames sublimated into crimson, like something swaying from the lava deep in hell.

Its shape is very similar to the greedy demon Mammon in the Orthodox myths and legends that lures humans into the abyss of desire. The blazing flames that last for a full minute, the fire and sparks emitted form the wings and the head of the eagle, until all the symbols on the surface of Lorca's body. The unclean icy water completely evaporated, and they turned back into square "oil lamps" shrouded in blue outer flames.

First he was stunned for a second, and then Luo Ka quickly noticed the abnormality. A trace of human panic flashed in his eyes, and then quickly stabilized, but he still asked in surprise:

"'Future'...have I...been affected by 'Shang'?"

"This is normal." "Future" replied lightly:

"I estimate that this should be the central area of ​​the 'Bitter Relics' that Sophia mentioned. I estimate that it should be the 'central quasi-core area'. This is far from the real core, which is where you and Nahaka met a few weeks ago. The 'core area' that we forcefully jumped into is still at least two floors away.

"Then again, gradually being affected by 'sorrow' is the process we must go through before entering here. It doesn't matter whether it's good or bad, and it's always better than being directly crazy."

"Why?" Luo Ka asked with some confusion:

"My flames have been distorted. I have never believed in an orthodox bishop, and I have never truly been associated with those patriarchs and believers. However, demons appeared in my flames, and I said a sentence that I have never learned before. The new 'Chinese'. I'm afraid..."

"Remember, Lorca." "Future" quickly covered Lorca's mouth and warned:

"If you and I can enter here, we must have forgotten fear. We will not create any fear, and there is nothing that can scare us. Darkness is our friend, and 'sorrow' is the medium to adapt to this place. Flame It is a weapon worth using, and 'light' is the goal we have always pursued.

“Everything in the world has its own inherent attributes and functions, and their existence is just playing their role. Any so-called ‘fear’ thing we come into contact with is just a wrong connection with them through our ignorance.

"Connection is universal and we cannot escape it. You and I have been fighting against humans for so many years and have experienced countless death threats. Since we are not afraid of death, there is nothing worth fearing. Do you understand?"

Luo Ka couldn't respond, so he could only stare at "Future"'s eyes that had turned pure black with clear eyes, and nodded vigorously.

Seeing this situation, "Future" felt a little relieved, put down his hand, picked up the dry cotton clothes and put them on Luo Ka, and continued:

"Don't catch a cold. If you catch a cold, we can't make hot water here, and there are no human antibiotics for you to take. No matter how powerful our magic power is, it is also at the spiritual level. Once the body is damaged, the 'Wuxinren' virus will not It will definitely save us.

"And, then again. You know why you almost go crazy the first time you enter an area near the 'core'? It's because there's no adaptation process."

"The process of adapting?" Luo Ka asked doubtfully, looking towards the "future".

"'Sorrow' was given an official explanation in the 'Occult Vocabulary Definition Project' led by Ivan XXII. The so-called 'sorrow' refers to anger, hatred, resentment and despair caused by 'death and disaster', etc." A condensation of negative emotions." "Future" explained:

"But this is not exclusive to mysticism. Everything related to 'sad' will always appear in human beings. This is the price for human beings as a race to obtain supreme wisdom that can overcome everything.

"It is precisely because of these emotions and even 'sad' itself that it is a substance produced by human beings' own emotions. Therefore, if you want to resist the most intense 'sorrow', you need a gradual adaptation process."

"How...adapt?" Luo Ka asked.

"It's very simple, 'just adapt'. For human beings, after experiencing a profound suffering and pain, they will become stronger and more determined. If you can enter the so-called 'saint' of the Khitanris If you regard 'all things as extremely ordinary products, become emotionless, and regard all wonderful things as ordinary and lowly things', then the extraordinary power represented by 'Shang' will not be able to make you The mind is distorted, and everything you see and think about will return to its original appearance." "Future" explains from the perspective of Eastern philosophy:

"The Khitan people often say: 'Heaven and earth are unkind and treat all things as stupid dogs.' This is a mantra to overcome mental influences, decreased sanity, and even distortion of common sense. In other words, in an environment of gradually deepening 'sadness', your While the spirit is constantly being repaired, negative connections with it are also being quietly cut off.

"When we go through all the challenges and finally reach the 'core area', and even the 'lowest bottom' that leads to the so-called hell, 'sorrow' will no longer have an unnecessary negative impact on us. This is enough to explain why Ivan The Twenty-second Emperor, and even the previous emperors, often stayed for more than two months when inspecting the Kushen Ruins."

"I understand, 'future'." Lorca analyzed:

"In other words, even if my power is distorted in some way, and some knowledge that I have never learned appears in my memory, as long as I look down upon them and treat them as normal phenomena, then no matter how fantastic or weird things are, they will become Ordinary events, if we accept them and acknowledge them, they will no longer affect our thinking, right?"

"Absolutely correct." "Future" smiled and nodded:

"But there's just one thing we can't get from the distortion."

"Future" said, groping in his jacket pocket, and took out the piece of paper that Sophia gave him just now with the "prophecy content" printed on it. He folded most of it as before, only revealing the second part that needed to be read. sentence, recited:

"The primordial era has never ended, and the race of wisdom has not yet ruled; the hoofs of giant beasts shake the heaven and earth, and the riddles of eternal night are silent."

"The original era, if my guess is correct, should be the first era, which is the era of dragons, also known as the era of dragons. The race of wisdom should refer to humans, or us related to them. This sentence The implication of the words is very strong. At this stage, in this 'quasi-core area in the middle', there should be dragons." After "Future" put the unusually clean, neat, and brand-new paper back into his pants pocket, he analyzed:

"As for whether they are friends or enemies, I don't know. But does the following sentence remind us that there will be no battles, but that we have to rely on wisdom to solve certain puzzles?"

While they were analyzing, both Luo Ka and "Future" suddenly felt an extremely uncomfortable burning sensation coming from behind.

After jumping up suddenly and standing aside, the two of them discovered that the dilapidated stone slab that had been "beaten by weather" now actually reflected many bright red crimson words that were incompatible with the surrounding environment.

Immediately afterwards, "Future" felt a stabbing pain in his chest. He took out the coat of arms he had just picked up from his inner pocket and held it in his hand. After feeling the flow of magic power, "Future" analyzed:

"The stone slab... seems to have some kind of resonance with the coat of arms. In other words, I feel that the light pillar that was produced after defeating the monster created by 'Kappa Chibin' just now may be the hallucination it brought to me, otherwise there is no way to explain it. , we stepped into the light pillar and quickly fell into the water. We swam for twenty minutes and almost drowned before we came here from another exit of the water pool.

"Moreover, in just a few minutes, the water contaminated by 'Shang' evaporated completely. This is not simply the effect of the magic source."

"You are right, young man." A rich male voice came from above the two of them.

Both Luo Ka and "Future" looked up warily, but unfortunately, they saw nothing but a chaotic darkness.

After a few seconds, the sound reappeared:

"That coat of arms is called 'The Roar of Zhuo Gen'. If it were the era before 'Long Qing', it would be enough to awaken any compatriot of my race who is sleeping in the realm of eternal sleep."