Chapter 453: Confused Journey

It was dark and chaotic, as if the sky and earth had not yet been separated. There was only a hazy and endless fog above, below, left and right. The walking figure was staggering, walking in the depths of the endless fog, at a loss as to where he was.

How long have we been walking like this? How long will we have to walk like this? Why did we embark on this road, and when did we embark on this road?

The traveler thought a little dazedly, feeling that he had forgotten a lot of things. He even forgot his own name and origin. It was as if he had been walking on this endless path in the fog since the day of his "birth". His destination was the forgotten end, and his starting point seemed to be something from another life.

But suddenly a breeze blew, slightly dispersing the surrounding fog. In the slight coolness, the traveler felt his consciousness become clear for a moment. He raised his head and saw the mist floating. The originally blurry path became clear, and there were unknown wild grasses swaying in the field of vision, and the tall grass was higher than the knee.

The gray and colorless grass path, the gray and colorless sky, in this chaotic world, all colors seem to be saturated with some kind of muddy "gray", and the boundaries become blurred.

What to do?

Oh, keep going...

The passerby subconsciously took a step forward and continued to move forward driven by a driving force that he had even forgotten.

Another figure seemed to appear in the mist, swaying in the same way, and walking forward with him. The figure had a similar outline to his, but it looked particularly faint - the passerby was in a daze and didn't pay any attention to it, and just walked forward for a while.

Then the shadow merged silently into his body.

He suddenly remembered that he seemed to have done something big, something that he had planned for a long time and could almost be regarded as a big thing to save the world.

What about that big thing? Was it a success? Was it a failure?

He suddenly became a little confused and hesitated to move forward, but suddenly, another breeze blew, further dispersing the fog around him.

He saw that the range on both sides of the grass path expanded, the fog further dissipated, and the whole world became clearer. In the distance, there seemed to be an endless gray wilderness, but at the end of the wilderness, there seemed to be the shadow of some man-made object standing.

He felt himself taking another step forward, moving forward aimlessly.

Is it going to rain around here?

The passerby was thinking with some doubt. He looked up, but saw no sign of rain. He was curious about why he suddenly thought of rain. After thinking about it, he felt that it might be because he had lived in a place where it always rained for a long time...

Unconsciously, another illusory shadow emerged from the side of the path and quietly merged with him as he walked.

He recalled more things.

His plan seemed to have failed, at least... it did not happen the way he had imagined, but at the same time he felt an inexplicable sense of relief, as if that big thing had finally come to fruition, and someone else had stepped in and helped him a lot.

I should have thanked him, but it seems like I didn't have the time.

The traveler continued walking forward, and after walking for a while, he saw a big bonfire.

The bonfire was blazing, shining brightly between the mist and the weeds. Many magnificent and exquisite stone pillars had been built around the bonfire. Upon closer inspection, there were twelve stone pillars in total, each of which had a knight in armor carved on its surface. There was also an arch above the bonfire, which was simple and solemn, exuding a certain solemn and dignified atmosphere.

Who built this?

The passers-by walked over unconsciously, came to the huge arch, and sat down to rest beside the campfire.

He thought that this should be an altar-like place. The people who built the stone pillars and the arches obviously regarded the fire as something sacred and solemn to be worshipped and revered.

Another shadow walked out from nearby and merged with him in the flickering firelight.

The passerby was stunned for a moment, looking at the fire in front of him, and then seemed to suddenly remember something.

He reached into his arms and felt something cold.

When he took it out, he found that it was a small crystal seed - in fact, it was just a crystal clear, irregularly shaped stone, but for some reason, he knew it was a seed.

He stared at the seed blankly for a long time, and then he seemed to suddenly understand something, and a smile appeared on his face: "Oh, you are still here."

The seeds glowed faintly in the light of the campfire. Although they had no words, they seemed to be communicating something silently with passers-by.

Passersby seemed to be able to "understand" the meaning of the seeds - because for a long time, they were in tune with each other.

"In that case, then come with me." The traveler nodded with a smile, stood up from the campfire, and looked up into the distance.

The firelight conveyed to him the memories and information about this wilderness——

Those who are protected can rest by the big bonfire named "Hope". This bonfire uses "suffering" as firewood. Travelers can unload their burdens by the fire and continue to travel deep into the wilderness. Further ahead is a path named "No Return". The path is hidden deep in the tall grass and can only be seen by the chosen ones and the knights who protect the fire. Further ahead is a cathedral of protection. The church does not worship anyone, but only provides shelter for travelers in the wilderness...

The traveler turned around and glanced at the campfire, and found that the flames seemed a little brighter than before. The warmth from the fire nourished his soul, as if urging him to continue on his way.

He nodded and continued walking forward with the tiny seed.

…

Irene sat cross-legged on the coffee table, her hands on her knees, swaying back and forth boredly like a tumbler.

The small grayish-white "stone ball" was floating about ten centimeters in front of her eyes, swaying slowly from side to side as she swayed.

Then after a while, the stone ball began to "rotate" again, while also "revolving" around the little doll's head.

"I still think this ball is a bit ugly, what should I do?" Irene suddenly looked up and looked at Yu Sheng who was typing on his phone, "Can I paint it pink?"

"You can paint it any color you like," Yu Sheng said casually, "if you think it's nice to see a pink ominous youth version of the wandering star circling around you all day long."

The little doll imagined the scene and immediately showed an expression that he couldn't hold back: "Eh - I feel a little disgusted..."

Then she turned her head to Hu Li who was standing beside her and said, "Hey, silly fox, your hometown is also a place for cultivating immortals. What if your magic weapons are not good-looking?"

"It can't be sold if it doesn't look good." Hu Li said casually.

"…Asking you is useless."

Irene pouted, then suddenly stood up and raised her hand to grab the stone ball that was floating next to her. They held it in their hands and observed it carefully, muttering: "What do you think this thing can be used for... It's hard, but you can't throw it out to hit people, right? Hey, it used to be able to talk, but now it can't even speak."

Yu Sheng didn't even raise his head: "It's noisy enough to have you as a chatterbox in our family. I feel good about this one not talking."

Irene thought about it and threw the Ominous Star (Youth Edition) towards Yu Sheng, but the latter stopped it with his hand without even looking at it, and threw it back to her.

"It seems that throwing it at people won't work," Irene caught the stone ball angrily, put it next to her head and continued to rotate it, then looked at Yu Sheng who was holding the phone curiously, and finally couldn't help asking, "What are you doing? You have been busy since just now."

"Sending a message. I was just chatting with Baili Qing about the 'Star Derivative Body'. I told her roughly how the incident was resolved. She asked me when I would move back home. I told her I would have to stay here for a few days to deal with the aftermath." Yu Sheng finally raised his head and looked at Irene. "And now I'm chatting with Little Red Riding Hood. She's finished her college entrance exam and is looking for people to chat with. She seems to have a lot of free time."

Irene was just raising her hand to poke at the ominous star that was floating past her eyes. When she heard Yu Sheng's words, her eyes immediately lit up: "Hey? Little Red Riding Hood finished the college entrance examination? How did she do?"

"I didn't ask, but judging from her current state, she shouldn't be bad," Yu Sheng said casually, "After all, she studies hard, unlike Changfa who just slacks off all day."

"Be careful, Changfa may crawl out of the basement soon. She's always elusive..."

"I said the same thing to her face. She's almost a senior in high school, but she can't finish an 800-word essay and she still wants me to write it for her. She gets nine out of ten math multiple-choice questions wrong and has to ask Bai Xue, who's in her first year of high school, for help when she doesn't understand something. She just wants to go out and have fun during the holidays. Such a big valley is not enough for her to mess around..."

When Yu Sheng mentioned the leader of the problem children in the valley, he couldn't help but start complaining, which made the heartless Irene laugh. Hu Li, who was sitting next to Irene, raised her head at this time, and her big eyes stared at the ominous star orbiting next to the little doll's head. No one knew what the nine-tailed fox was thinking, but she suddenly reached out and grabbed the stone ball from mid-air.

"Ah, silly fox, what are you doing..."

Irene was startled. She had just said half of her words when she saw Hu Li rummaging through his tail with his other hand, taking out a few walnuts and placing them on the table. He then grabbed the Ominous Star and started smashing the walnuts.

A few snaps, clean and neat.

"Hey," Hu Li smiled and looked up at Yu Sheng, "My benefactor! This thing is very useful for cracking walnuts!"

Yu Sheng was stunned: "...You used the Ominous Star to smash walnuts?!"

Hu Li didn't think there was anything wrong with this, and took out a few more walnuts from his tail. After he had cracked them all, he casually put the Omen Wandering Star back to the orbit next to Irene's head, and picked out a few of the best walnut kernels and put them in front of Yu Sheng: "My benefactor, eat some walnuts."

Irene realized it belatedly at this moment, and quickly grabbed the stone ball and held it in front of her to examine it carefully. As she examined it, she muttered, "Don't worry, it may be a little ugly, but it's a 'magic weapon' after all... huh?"

She tilted her head in confusion.

She didn’t know if she was seeing things, but she felt that this ugly stone ball seemed to... open its mouth just now?

(End of this chapter)