Abyss Express

Foreword:

There is only one thing in the world that is a treasure, and that is knowledge.

——Socrates

After crossing the mountain valley and walking about fourteen kilometers further, Xueming saw a vast and vast forest.

Oscar carried a half-truck of roasted mole and followed the priest. When they reached the exit of the valley, the two of them stood on the high ground and looked at the entire Elf Sanctuary. Oscar was also shocked beyond words by the scene - he had arrived. I have been here many times, but every time I see this sanctuary, my mind can't help but leave my body.

This depression is full of life. In the freezing environment, there are many towering trees piercing the sky. Looking up, you can see the dome of the cave more than a thousand meters away. There are many caves at the top.

Looking ahead, there is a maze-like forest of gray and green. Those gray forests are wood that has been petrified over time.

There is a bright blue light rising into the sky, it is in the center of the sanctuary, illuminating every part of this cave.

Thick mist emerges from the mountain forest, as if the trees in the forest are breathing, constantly emitting heat and puffing out mist.

From time to time, one or two beasts can be seen passing by from low altitude, and then flying higher. It must be that they have seen suitable prey. They are going to hunt in the canopy of the tree. When flying high, they will be aggressive and violent, galloping around in the air, using their height. He came to increase his speed and swooped down into the mountain forest. When he lost his trace, a shrill scream could be heard immediately.

Rhythmic, slow footsteps came from the mountain forest, and from the faint light, huge shadows could be seen. These shadows were hundreds of meters apart, taking care of each other, and demarcating their respective territories. It seemed that They are bipedal humanoid creatures with different heights ranging from ten to tens of meters. The one closest to the exit of the valley - the "little giant" that Xueming can clearly see, is about twenty-two meters tall.

These strange people are the mountain monsters described in "The Great Split" and the ancestors of the disaster beasts.

"Let's go." Oscar exhaled a deep breath and prepared himself mentally.

Xueming did not answer, but helped Brother Lang fix the nails for the safety rope. On a low slope platform at the exit of the valley, the two found a simple camp of the expedition team.

This camp was reserved for the people of the expedition team to change their equipment, and it was also a temporary residence. There were two stone buildings to resist the infestation of snakes and insects. Brother Lang and Xueming slept for four hours during the shift, and changed their clothes when they woke up. Wear light clothes. The further you go down, the higher the temperature becomes. When it reaches one-third of the height, the temperature is almost back to 11 degrees Celsius.

After passing six temporary settlements in a row, the further they go, the more dilapidated these temporary settlements are. It is not that time has made them deserted, but that the range of activities of the disaster beasts is getting closer and closer. Saladin's hunting ban period is also the elves. The active period of the beast in the Holy Land.

The safety ropes of the two people were placed for more than 300 meters. The slope of this depression finally came to an end. The surface of the tree is pitted with many weathered caves and fissures.

At the entrance of the road, there are four routes marked by the expedition team, leading to Highland No. 1 to Highland No. 18 respectively.

If you want to go to the Thirty Thousand Miles Post, you have to bring an ice ax to climb the mountain. The No. 12 Highland that Alphonse went to before is on a platform of a broken fossil giant tree, but it has been too long since Homo sapiens has set foot on it. There is a nest of golden eagles. The gryphon occupies this geomantic treasure.

At this moment, at this moment, their cell phones rang in unison.

Oscar immediately called to the priest: "Don't answer!"

Xueming saw the communication tool light up, instinctively took it in his hand, and saw clearly the caller on the phone screen - it was Xiaoqi's call. It popped up along with the call prompt, and there was also a picture of Xiaoqi's call, a couple. A photo of the two of them.

Oscar held Jiang Xueming's hand, immediately hung up the phone, and turned off the phone at the same time.

He did not dare to speak loudly, so he leaned forward and sent a wolf kiss to the priest's ear, reminding him in a low voice: "There is no communication line or signal here."

Xueming couldn't figure it out now——

——In that case, who made the call?

As Oscar walked towards the entrance of the giant tree maze, he explained in a low voice: "During World War II, the expedition team also encountered this kind of supernatural event. They set up a radio station in the temporary settlement, but they always received strong magnetic interference. The children of a mountain giant have been hunting Homo sapiens.”

"It uses this method to detect the location of the Homo sapiens team, and uses its strong and violent psychic tide to simulate electromagnetic signals, making your electronic devices start to be [haunted]. When you answer these communication requests, you will also hear the arrival of your loved ones. The loved one screams hysterically for help – he is a cunning hunter.”

"According to legend, in earlier times, King Arthur came to this holy land with the Sword in the Lake to find the fertility stone that makes up the Holy Grail. His army fought with the mountain monsters in the maze and stabbed one of the hunter's eyes. It escaped and has been harboring a grudge against Homo sapiens ever since, preying on its weaknesses."

Speaking of this, Xueming lowered his head and glanced at the rune stones in his backpack.

[Of course it wasn't me. ]

Brother Wolf continued:

"——The archaeologists gave it a code name and called it [Divine Bloodlines]. These mountain monsters inherited their father's wisdom and were all children born from Mimir's corpse."

"I remember that there was a Surte Pyro child named William who was unknown."

"DB (abbreviation for Divine Bloodlines) was also born in this way, but compared to William, the descendant from Muspelheim, DB's bloodline is purer, taller and larger."

After the two entered the giant tree maze, the instruments on their bodies no longer worked.

The compass began to spin, and the readings of the spiritual disaster probe and barometer also kept beating.

The environment gradually became dark, and the lush branches and leaves of these giant trees blocked part of the light source of the sanctuary. Walking along the sign, every few hundred meters, Oscar had to use his sharp four claws to climb up the tree trunk of the maze to confirm his position in a place with a wide view.

After repeating this several times, Brother Wolf's physical strength was exhausted very quickly. When he landed on the ground for the fifth time, Oscar was out of breath.

Jiang Xueming didn't understand. He pointed to the road signs at the forks: "Oscar, the expedition team has marked these intricate forks. Why do you still have to climb up to confirm the direction?"

"Because it's a hunting season now." Oscar explained: "In this complex ecological niche, many low-level little creatures have disappeared. They hid back in the soil and hid in caves to spend the winter."

"These marks are not reliable." Oscar knocked on the sign made of nickel-iron alloy. The sign marked the specific direction in Chinese, English and Russian: "Balloon scorpions like to appear in environments above 17 degrees. According to the summer caving search, Based on Lin’s experience, we should spray anthelmintics now, because not only will scorpions come to us, but there are also three types of blood-sucking worms that will come to us.”

Oscar pointed at the dense holes in the roots of tree trunks in the forest——

——His sharp claws suddenly penetrated the hole, digging out a pit more than twenty centimeters deep.

"That's the kind of bug."

He brought out two shriveled long-shelled insects. It looks like a centipede, but is much larger than a centipede.

"Biologists call it a tree snake. Now it has entered a dormant state, and its predators have also slept. There is no food source. Counting up this food chain, there are many beasts that have to expand their territory to find enough of essence."

"So the hunting ban period is also a period when the Elf Sanctuary reorganizes the territories of wild beasts. Its environment is not as stable as in other seasons. The larger the beasts, the more essence they need. If they don't have the habit of hibernating, like the mountain demon, Such huge regional overlords cannot find food, so in order to maintain their lives, their territory fighting activities will become more and more frequent, and cannibalism also occurs."

With that said, Oscar cut off the head and tail of the tree snake, squeezed out the internal organs and chitinous carapace, and stuffed it into a food bag.

"Think of something good. If you follow your brother wolf, you will definitely have no shortage of food and drink. The sanctuary in winter is full of food, and these hibernating bugs won't resist."

"As for this street sign, you take it seriously."

Oscar pointed to the mark on the iron plate——

"——There is a large humanoid unit. It is blue, which means there are mountain demon activities here. But now is the hunting season, no one knows this person."

Oscar read about the troll's signature on the street sign.

"Ms. Orisis, where does it go in the winter? There's no way to be sure about this - smarter trolls will also change the position of road signs, like this iron sign, you have to look carefully. "

Brother Lang removed the signpost. The signpost was originally hung on the tree trunk. There are two sets of hooks that can be removed and replaced. Every year, the territory of the mountain monster must be re-planned.

But now its hanging buckle has been deformed, and it seems to have been simply and crudely nailed into the bark of the tree.

Jiang Xueming sighed in surprise: "What a smart predator."

"Yes, the mountain demon has very high intelligence." Oscar turned over the back of the iron plate and could see some mud spots. He stuck out his tongue and tasted the mud: "This was done by another troll. It has nothing to do with Ms. Orsis. It should be a male with a good temper - it had a very mixed diet when it changed the road sign. , has begun to chew the bark of the tree to find bugs to eat, and its claws contain some slight poison. This poison comes from two types of reptiles. They both eat fluorescent grass and have an anesthetic effect."

"If this mountain monster had a more grumpy temper and was stronger, it would not touch these elements with lower energy density - just like the basic principle of carnivorism, animals that can eat meat will never eat it. Grass. Nature does not pay attention to nutritional balance. In order to support the physical strength of hunting, lions have to eat meat all the time.”

"Once an omnivorous animal like the troll starts chewing tree bark, it also means that it becomes weak and is dying of food."

With that said, Brother Lang changed a route. Originally, the two of them wanted to choose a route from five directions that was not occupied by mountain monsters. Now, according to the clues obtained by Oscar, the direction seen from the tree trunk observation point also contained feces and scent pheromones. Judging from the distribution, it is safest to take the Qingxi Trail on the southwest side.

Jiang Xueming admired Oscar's path-finding skills very much. Without the help of Brother Wolf, the pampered Homo sapiens in modern society might not survive the next day in this environment. Even if he had psychic powers as his trump card, this dangerous mountain and dangerous water would be almost impossible. Deadly creatures are everywhere.

Continuing forward for more than 400 meters, Brother Lang walked faster and faster, seeming to adapt to the dry, cold and hard forest land in winter. He climbed up the tree trunk again, climbed to a height of more than 30 stories, and was close to 100 meters to determine his direction.

While waiting for Brother Lang to come back, Xueming was also observing the surrounding environment. This is an open area, the giant trees are not as densely growing as the outer forest, and the roads are gradually opening up.

This made Xueming feel vaguely uneasy - because the winds coming from all directions were chaotic, and the smell could follow these winds to different places, as if there was an invisible hand stirring up a hurricane.

Before Brother Lang went down to the ground, bursts of rustling notes sounded from among the lush branches of the tree trunks. Xueming instinctively turned his head to look. Under the faint blue light, a pair of blue animal eyes passed between the tree trunks at high speed and "flyed" over his head.

The muscular figure is like a cheetah, with a body length of about two hundred centimeters. It is like a dexterous big cat. The fur on its body is almost the same as the bark of a gray fossil giant tree, and its two tails are swirling in the air. , maintaining the balance of the body, scratching the bark of the tree to climb the branches, and then with a strong force of the shimmering claws, he rushed out for more than ten meters, jumping from one tree to another.

"Oscar!" Xueming didn't care to be silent and didn't want to stay quiet.

Think about it carefully, the leopard-shaped beast scurrying above your head is obviously trying to avoid the predator! And it specially passed over Xueming's head. This smart beast obviously couldn't outrun the hunter behind it and wanted to divert trouble to the east. It smelled the scent of Oscar and Xueming and wanted to bring the hunter over.

Hearing Jiang Xueming's shout, Oscar was careless and almost fell from the tree. The green-gold wolf jumped back and forth between two giant trees, and returned to the ground in just a few breaths.

"Go, go, go"

Oscar hurriedly pulled up the priest, almost holding Xueming under his arm. He kept half of the Mole King's meat for use at this time——

——He cut open the thick layer of fat on Kukuka’s body, took out the blowtorch while running, and reheated the piece of barbecue to make it emit a fishy aroma.

As soon as he threw it away, the fragrant Kukuka hung on the tree, and Oscar led the priest as fast as flying, digging the soil with his three claws and flying deep into the forest.

After running a hundred meters away, the two hid in the maze on the outskirts of the forest. They heard heavy breathing and heavy footsteps in the distance.

Oscar took the priest to explore inside again, and the sound of footsteps suddenly disappeared, replaced by the sound of chewing, tearing, and tearing bones and flesh.

As he got closer, Xueming saw a huge "person" standing there.

Its lower limbs are skinny and about twelve meters tall. Its legs are skinny and bones, with many green saplings seeping out from the blue-gray skin. Its feet are more than eighty centimeters long and have only eight toes.

Its ankles are obviously different from those of Homo sapiens. They are closer to the tibia and the toes are longer, just like the toes of an orangutan.

Looking up, its thighs are as thin as its calves, as if it hasn't had a full meal for a long time. The secondary sexual characteristics are almost invisible because the cold winter has made the reproductive organs retract into its belly. It was half-clothed, and there were two pieces of excess skin on its waist and abdomen. They had bright red bacterial spots growing on them. These dirt-harboring places became the residence of fungal communities.

There is a deep pit in its abdominal cavity, which should be the scar left after being attacked by the expedition team's weapons. A twisted mass of charred skin can be seen in the lower right abdomen. This part of the body is weak, and a twisted intestinal cavity can also be seen. Squirming.

It has no hair, and like William, its back has only twenty-five myotomes and twenty-five vertebrae. The shoulders are very narrow, unlike William's incredibly large frame, which is more like a thin and tall telephone pole.

Like its two legs, it only has eight fingers. At this moment, it is twisting the half-hung meat of Kukuka and using sharp nails like steel knives to separate the bones and flesh. It is afraid that this big mouth with air leakage will waste food, bit by bit. Kukuka's bones were chewed into pieces and slowly swallowed into his stomach.

The appearance of this mountain demon is similar to that of Eastern European people, with a high nose bridge, deep eye sockets, and protruding eyebrows. Beyond the cheekbones, there are no ears visible, only two pitch-black "listening holes". The skin on the neck and face has turned gray-white, with wrinkles like tree bark.

Xueming just looked at it, watching this huge creature slowly stuffing Kukuka into its belly.

Oscar has no intention of leaving. Remember in Spinach Heights, Brother Wolf collected some balloon scorpion venom?

These anesthetics come in handy at this time——

——The mountain demon seemed to be aware of the existence of Xueming and Oscar.

When its slow and heavy body turned completely around, it felt like the world was spinning. It found a nearby tree, slowly leaned against the trunk of the tree, and sat down without making any sound.

It hummed and breathed hard, but it showed no ferocious expression and had no intention of intimidating its natural enemies. When it closed its eyes, the wrinkled skin on its neck began to spread to its head and face, creeping toward its gray chest and belly.

In just a few seconds, it turned into a stone statue and seemed to have fallen asleep.

"It won't wake up until the next spring." Oscar breathed a sigh of relief, "Let me introduce, this should be Gonzalez, who is a pair with Ms. Orsis on the street sign just now. It has a good temper - - He just refuses to sleep in the winter, wants to occupy other people's territory, and always feels that he is very good at fighting, and can knock him down with just one injection of 70 milliliters of anesthetic every time."

Xueming had already reached the mountain monster. When he pressed Mr. Gonzalez's skin, he found that the monster had completely turned into stone and could no longer be pressed.

Oscar: "They are all Mimir's children. After Mimir's death, many mountain giants were born, and the mountain giants gave birth to them - turning stone is also their innate magical power."

Xueming: "Wow, Brother Lang."

Oscar: "There is only one thing in the world that is precious, and that is knowledge."

Xueming: "Kukuka fed it, so what should we eat?"

Before he finished speaking, at this moment——

——A fierce roar came from behind the two people.

The leopard-shaped disaster beast that was just running for its life seemed to feel that it was okay again, so it came back.