Leaning against the door panel and playing with the lyre in his hand unfamiliarly, shuzheng was guarding the two people talking in the room. And Mesago had already gone out early to buy all the magic materials she needed.
Recalling the hands that had just pulled the hem of his clothes, and the pair of pleading and worried eyes, shu taught the professional rogues a lesson impatiently. When a man and a woman live alone in the same room, it is the woman who should be afraid. Do you think she is capable of eating you?
However, the little girl responded with a smile, "I'm not bad at eating people, I've almost reached the point where I don't need to spit out bones." Such words made the already timid professional rogues almost rush out of the door. She probably just wanted to see the professional rogues panic...
Everything was under instructions, and it was completely left to the little girl to decide what to talk about and what not to talk about. shu didn't explain anything from beginning to end. He just suppressed the professional rogues's thoughts of escaping and allowed him to talk to the adult obediently.
Perhaps that adult was belittling her ability, but it should be easy for her to control whether a person's destiny is smooth or bumpy. So what kind of path will Magenta be led on? But even if he knew it, he wouldn't be able to understand how that road made him feel if he wasn't the person involved.
Just like myself, if there are people who know the inside story, it is not difficult to imagine their surprised and ridiculed faces, but that process and future are the most satisfying life path for me. It would be nice to be able to walk on this road happily and wait expectantly for the results to arrive. What else is there to be dissatisfied with?
Thinking of this, shu sighed softly and couldn't help but smile a little. This is a smile from the bottom of my heart. Things that are too perfect will only bring more false feelings. For a consequentialist like shu, as long as the ending is satisfying, it doesn't matter how difficult the process is.
"Ah~~"
The screams that echoed throughout the hotel came from the room behind them. shu dropped the lyre without saying a word, drew out his long sword and pushed the door panel open. I saw Magenta sitting on the ground, looking at the empty front in surprise. There were no signs of fighting or any damage inside the room. So why is Magenta screaming loudly again? Could it be... "You really got your ass kicked!"
Not thinking about her words, Magenta just looked ahead blankly. "No...gone...the person is missing!"
Me! Such a small thing... forget it, it seems that the adult did not do anything indecent during the first meeting, as she said. But the way of leaving is still the same as before, coming and leaving without a trace. shu retracted his sword and looked at the semi-demented Magenta. "It's no big deal. Does it need to be that loud?"
"She...who is she?"
"Didn't she say that?"
Putting on an innocent expression, Magenta just shook her head slightly. shu placed the long sword and the lyre that had been thrown outside in a corner of the room, and closed the door. Ask the questions in your mind. "Then what were you talking about just now?"
"She only asked me some strange questions, like what I wanted to do, or what I liked. And she also gave me the cloak." Magenta pointed to the cloak placed safely on the bed, and The bed is the same color and doesn't look anything special. Magenta continued to ask, "Who is she?"
Maybe that adult doesn't want to be affected too deeply. That's right, if the interference is too serious, things may move in an unexpected direction. Sometimes it is better to let nature take its course and then give a fatal kick at the key point. A fatal kick...? How could I have such an idea? shu was puzzled, probably too deeply influenced by that adult.
After getting a glass of water for himself, shu said calmly: "Have you heard of the name Hoshimi from Seven Samurai?"
Nodding, confused, thinking hard, suddenly enlightened, face livid, teeth chattering, hands trembling. "Ah~"
shu covered his ears to block the unpleasant demonic sound that penetrated his brain, and shu felt dissatisfied. "Don't you have a sore throat? Wouldn't it be a good idea to use your screaming energy elsewhere?"
"The girl I just... I just... saw is the legendary Hoshimi who can predict everything!"
"Yes! Yes! Relax, it's not a big deal." shu waved his hand impatiently.
"Oops, Oops, I didn't know about this. I forgot to ask her where to go to find Sister Shen Jing. What should I do? What should I do? shu shu, do you know where to go to find her? Or is it too late to chase her out now? Where does she go and where will she stay?"
"You can finish reading these words in one breath, I'm really impressed by you. Do you really have no interest in becoming a mage?"
Faced with shu's ridicule, Magenta still just stomped around the room minding her own business. He murmured in his mouth: "Where to find it? Where to find it?"
"Don't even try to find her." shu sat aside and said sarcastically, "She has always been the only one looking for someone, and no one has found her. But if I want to find your sister Shen Jing, I know a place where I can ask."
The last, more constructive suggestion quickly caught the professional rogues's attention, and he cast a sincere look at shu. Coupled with the tears that had gathered in the corners of his eyes just now because of his anxiety, shu's dazzling appearance gave him an unspeakable feeling. If he had allowed his instincts to take over, shu might have punched out.
Clearing his throat, shu put on a serious expression. "Tower of Time."
"Tower of Time?" Such a term is a bit unfamiliar to a professional rogues, and the word "puzzle" seems to be engraved on his face. Just listen to shu continue to explain: "Yes, it is the Tower of Time. It is located in the trial forest that has lost its accurate position in the modern era. It is a holy place that records everything in the past."
"so?"
"So we can find out any facts that have happened there, such as the last location of your sister Shen Jing."
"Then hurry up and leave!" Magenta quickly stuffed the things into the bag, pulled shu and rushed out.
"Hey! Let's at least wait until Misago comes back before we go together."
After hearing what he said, the professional rogues let go of his hand without hesitation, "Then just wait slowly." The footsteps of Da Da Da came from near and far away.
shu that sighed helplessly just turned its back and shouted to the back: "Do you know where the trial forest is? I know."
The sound of tapping footsteps came closer and closer. After all, the time spent waiting for Mesago should be much shorter than asking someone...
After more than twenty days of journey, we finally arrived at the entrance of the Trial Forest. Although it is said to be an entrance, it is actually just an obvious meeting point between forests. Behind it is the form of an ordinary forest, with sparse camphor shus, poplars..., cute little animals and peaceful birdsong. But the scenery in front of me gives people a completely different feeling.
Towering ancient shus grow densely together, but there are second and third layers of shus below them. At the bottom are vines, moss, weeds, mushrooms... It's like a variety of completely different environments are overlapped and layered. There is a high mountain in the distance, and the misty clouds and mist appearing and disappearing add to the mystery. The midday sun shines through the slits of the top shus. Although it is not very bright, it is still a different kind of enjoyment.
A professional rogues, a mage, and a warrior of an unknown profession were sitting under a shu outside the Trial Forest, with a freshly stretched tarp on top. The professional rogues insisted on entering the forest directly, but was suppressed by the soldier's stronger insistence. But after a while, the professional rogues's insistence on continuing to appeal was shattered by a heavy rain.
The dense rain made it difficult to see the environment ahead; although in this winter, it was still very warm around the trial forest. But if you get caught in such heavy rain, you may get sick even if your whole body is soaked. No matter if you are an adventurer who exercises regularly or a mage who is already weak enough.
"Aisi, you knew it was going to rain." Mesago added an extra waterproof and warm robe to his robe. I packed my things and waited for shu's answer.
"Yes, there will always be such a heavy rain in the afternoon in the Trial Forest. Just get used to it." He rested his head on shu trunk, and shu leisurely looked at the heavy rain outside and enjoyed the light rain inside. The professional rogues on the side said nothing, staring at the hazy forest in the rain. "What's wrong? You've witnessed the legendary great forest with your own eyes. Are you so moved that you can't express it?"
The professional rogues didn't answer. He just looked at the hazy scene in front of him quietly. The cloak he wore clearly reflected the color of the external environment. If the raindrops were not moving, it would be difficult to tell which part of the professional rogues is where. This is what the adult entrusted to him. Treasure──Cloak Chameleon, a treasure that can blend into the background. shu smiled and leisurely enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the various expressions of the other two people.
The rain gradually became smaller as time passed, and shu was also considering the time to leave. Suddenly a majestic roar came from the depths of the forest, frightening the professional rogues to the point where he completely lost his cool and planned to turn around and run away. It was all thanks to shu's hold on him that he didn't let him run away.
"What was that just now! What was that just now!"
Unhooking the tarp from the top and throwing it into Magenta's arms. shu looked deep into the forest with a strange smile. "It sounds like the cry of a long-jawed tyrannosaurus. They are fighting. They are very big. Maybe you and I combined can only have enough space for them to fit between their teeth." At the same time, he clasped Magenta's back collar.
"Help! Help!"
Beginning with shu, Magenta walking in the middle, and Misaka behind, a group of three people entered the legendary trial forest. Along the way, shu just looked around with all his energy; while Magenta, if she hadn't been warned by the veteran, might have used the cover between shus to move forward in hiding. Now he just followed shu obediently.
shu's words were also very simple. He just pointed at shu trunk that Magenta's back originally rested on. "Did you see those three marks? Those are the claw marks of the tooth wolf. It means that this is the road it will pass through, and no one should approach it. Oh, that's right! As long as the green bamboo thread on your head is not close to the attack range of the tooth wolf, The two animals basically don't interfere with each other. This is a wonderful balance phenomenon in the trial forest. And don't think that you don't have to be afraid of anything with that cloak. At most, you can just hide. The animals here Relying on the sense of smell and keen sixth sense, that cloak can only deceive stupid humans."
Our professional rogues just screamed and clung to shu's body. Of course, after a while, the screaming stopped again. Because of the saying that "screams may cause unknown dangers".
The ground that had just rained was filled with rotten dead leaves, and swamp gas curled up, which made the three people walking there quite uncomfortable. But the person in the lead just kept walking forward, and those following behind couldn't stop.
Distinctive sounds echoed in the forest. Sometimes colorful birds burst out from shus nearby; sometimes you can see groups of chirping monkeys leaping across shus in the distance. Except for the green bamboo silk at the beginning, the group did not see any powerful and threatening creatures.
"Isn't this a trial forest?" Magenta asked doubtfully, while shu simply nodded.
"Then why don't you seem to see any scary creatures?"
"Do you want to see it?" shu asked simply, and the way Magenta shook her head in fear almost made him laugh. "Actually, in the trial forest, every creature has its own territory and attributes. However, the territories cannot be completely connected, so a kind of "no-no-no" zone is created that I call a 'corridor'. In When walking in the corridor, just be careful not to get too close to other animals, it's okay."
Mesago, who was following behind, felt strange. "Aisi, how do you know so much?"
The man in front suddenly stopped and squinted at the person behind him. After a while, he started to move forward slowly again. "I have lived in this forest for three years. The number of times I almost lost my life is several times more than the total number of crises I encountered when venturing outside. Do you think I should be familiar with this forest?"
"Oh~ Then you have killed a lot of monsters, so you must be very strong. Enough to protect me." The professional rogues tightened shu's left hand and looked around uneasily.
"No! Except for hunting and self-defense, I don't harm any animals, plants or the environment. Besides, except for sleeping, I don't have a fixed territory to protect. This is a tacit understanding between animals living in the trial forest. Well. When practicing in the trial forest, to become stronger is not just to kill all the creatures here to be called the strongest, or to train yourself by destroying the environment by cutting down shus and breaking large rocks. Basically, that is the most meaningless and waste of time. The practice here focuses on mental training. You must always be alert to your surroundings to avoid becoming prey of other predators. This is the thing that can teach the most in the trial forest."
Magenta held onto shu's hand tightly and refused to let go, making the man impatient and wanting to teach this professional rogues a lesson. But Mesago didn't pay too much attention to the pushing and pulling movements of the two people in front of her. She just paid careful attention to the movements around her and saw if she could pick up any useful medicinal materials. "That's right! I heard people say that the deeper you go into the trial forest, the stronger the monsters become. Why? It doesn't feel like there is any special magical power here, it's just that there is quite a bit of frantic aura from the animals."
"The reason why the strength becomes stronger as you go to the center is not complicated. Because there is a rare fruit that only grows in the center of the forest. Every animal wants to monopolize this resource, and the instinctive struggle begins. Of course. The stronger the power, the better the territory it can occupy. Over time, the trial forest has formed the unique ecological distribution it has today. Coupled with its unique environmental climate, it even isolates the world inside and outside the forest."
"Rare fruits?" Words like this stimulated Mesago's memory. In her mind, there were only two rare fruits in this world, and only that one would grow in this environment. "Could it be..."
"Yes, it's a banana."
"Banana!" "Banana!" Hearing this term, the four eyes of the mage and professional rogues lit up at the same time.
The excited professional rogues approached shu. shu believed that if a professional rogues had a tail, he would be able to see him wagging his tail fiercely now.
"Really! Really! There are really bananas here! That banana that is said to be more nourishing than ginseng and more powerful than Ganoderma lucidum! If you say so, isn't it possible to find a thousand-year-old rotten banana! That so-called banana As soon as you eat it, you will immediately ascend to immortality. It is the greatest tonic among tonics and the most panacea among elixirs!"
Next to me, Mesaka is thinking about if I can find dried bananas as medicinal materials...oh~ I really laugh at the thought of such a result. The Master deeply felt that this trip was worthwhile.
"Don't be too greedy, you guys. I've been in the Trial Forest for three years and I haven't even been able to replenish it half of the time. How lucky you are! What's more, I've searched everywhere I can, and there are only a few that I can't deal with. Giant beasts, I have never searched the lairs or territories where they live. Do you want your life?"
The expressions of regret were unreservedly displayed on the faces of the mage and professional rogues, while shu mercilessly attacked their dreams.
Suddenly shu panicked and pressed down on Magenta's head, dragging it back hard. At the same time, there was a "pop!" sound, and shu trunk behind Magenta shattered.
The crescent-shaped white hair that opens upward is the first thing that catches everyone's eyes, paired with a pure black background and a strong body. A huge body about two people tall, both its arms and fangs are infinitely threatening. It is the Crescent Black Bear, one of the beasts that requires special attention in the Trial Forest.
A group of people looked at each other, looking at the angry crescent black bear standing in front of shu trunk that was smashed by it. The Crescent Black Bear made no further movements. It just raised its huge body to warn of the approach of strange animals. After calming down their fear and panic, the group of people had time to notice that there was another crescent black bear dying under a shu not far away. There was a bone-deep wound on his chest, his beating heart was clearly visible, and blood was flowing out continuously.
Compassion is probably the second most important emotion among professional rogues, besides timidity. He carefully took out the wound medicine from his bag and planned to approach the injured beast. But he was grabbed by a shu. "don't want!"
"Why?"
"The forest has its own rules. If you show too much sympathy, you are only hurting them. What's more, it is very dangerous to approach an injured beast casually. Don't think that they will easily open their hearts to accept you, a strange animal." The two of them. Watching the uninjured crescent black bear keep licking the wounds of its companion. The bleeding showed no sign of stopping, but shu still looked on with cold eyes. "Being tainted with the aura of cowardice will only deprive them of the power to survive in this cruel forest. Don't judge this place by the standards of the human world. Perhaps your momentary sympathy may be a more harmful weapon to them."
Professional rogues keep sending out suspicious signals. shu carefully led the others away from the temporary territory newly established by the two crescent black bears. After being out of danger, shu's expression softened. "In the Forest of Trials, no animals will fight with each other for any reason other than hunting and competing for territory. To live in such a world, you must abandon your human identity and become a ferocious animal. If you just pass by, Then please keep your status and do not interfere with or destroy the balance of this world. Unless you have a strong determination to change this place, rather than just messing around and leaving, leaving nothing but chaos."
Magenta, who looked back, was filled with many questions. "Then why was it so seriously injured? What kind of animal hit it?"
shu that bowed its head in thought also showed a puzzled expression. "It stands to reason that the crescent black bear is the strong one in this area, and no animal can beat it. The forest is still the same as when I stayed in the past, and there are no major changes in migration. The animals in this area should not have the brains to understand It's better to set a trap~~… Oops!"
shu, which was halfway thinking about something, suddenly slipped. He fell to the ground and couldn't react for a while, unable to figure out any situation. Instead, the two people behind him squatted nervously next to him, guarding the surroundings. "What happened!" "Is there something wrong?"
Looking at what he had just stepped on, shu sighed. "Banana peel..."
"Oh~ what! Banana peel! Is this it?" Magenta picked up a piece of fruit peel that was about to dry on the ground and smelled the unique smell. "Can banana peels help?"
"Do not be silly."
"Can you take it away?" Mesago walked to Magenta and looked at the banana peel covered with damp dead leaves.
"My suggestion is not to. Carrying the smell of that stuff on your body will only make you the primary prey target of other animals. Besides, I heard that banana peels do not have any significant effects unless they are tempered in large quantities." Dispelled the other question After the two thought, shu looked at the surrounding environment. "Strange? Why are there banana peels here?"
When he noticed obvious footprints on a certain shu trunk, he found more and more footprints on the trunk or other high places. In addition, the banana peel has been left behind for a long time, which proves the rumors heard about a year ago: the 19-year War God Order in the southeast of the mainland has returned to the world. If it were them, it would not be surprising that the crescent black bear would be so seriously injured.
"What's wrong? By the way! Is it normal for banana peels to appear here?" The keen professional rogues also noticed something fishy. shu stood up and brushed the dead branches and leaves on its body. "Of course it's not normal. He was brought out."
"What kind of animal is it? Is it the most ferocious, dangerous and perverted one that occupies the center of the trial forest?"
"Hahaha, that should be right. Do you know what is living in the most central location?"
The two shook their heads in confusion. shu showed a sad smile. "I'm telling you, they are 'human beings'. Huhahaha~ah! Wait a minute, I've gone too far." After shu laughed ghostly for a while, he suddenly returned to his serious expression, leaving the other two at a loss.
Looking at shu, I walked back a few steps and rested under a big shu. Magenta looked a little anxiously at the direction of shu and the original direction. "Why aren't you leaving? Take a few more steps, it's not dark yet. If you don't leave, I'll leave first."
"Bye, I won't send you off." shu looked at the confused expression on Magenta's face and walked forward, while Misago stood there blankly, not knowing whether there was any purpose in moving separately. Just listen to shu murmuring to itself: "Oh! I forgot to introduce it to you. The area we just passed through is a gathering place for animals that forage at night, and the direction we are going to move forward next is for animals that forage during the day. A place where animals gather. Didn't I just say that apart from hunting, they will obediently guard their territory."
Magenta, who had sharp ears, heard shu's gossip. He just stopped and didn't look back or move forward. On the contrary, Mesago on the side asked puzzledly: "How do you know? Aisi."
Pointing to shu trunk not far away, there are very strange light blue lines on the bottom. "That's the mark left by the ferocious tortoise. It is a diurnal animal. There is also a very strange smell in the air. Hmm~ It's dangerous."
Watching Magenta follow his instructions and look at shu trunk, and then look around, shu just chuckled, and then returned to a serious expression. "Don't worry, being bitten by a dire tortoise is just a matter of how many hands and feet you have. If your palm is not bitten off, congratulations to you, because the dire tortoise is a more difficult animal than a turtle. But where is it? They are considered to be very gentle animals in the area, and I have at least hunted them. There are more ferocious ones out there."
The sudden flight of birds scared the professional rogues back to shu. Perhaps what frightened him was not only the strange environment around him, but also shu Na's attitude that he didn't know whether to treat him well or not.