Chapter 153 Welcome to the Twelve Kingdoms

When Akashi Seijuro woke up, he was lying on an unknown beach.

He felt no apparent pain.

The height of the fall was close to one hundred meters. Normally, with this level of momentum, even though there was sea water below, the impact should be no different from hitting the concrete floor directly.

——In mild cases, the internal organs may be damaged and the whole body may be fractured. In severe cases, the patient may die outright.

But he's fine.

Because of this [it's okay], even though his vision was still disturbed by the water droplets and his ears were filled with the same sound of waves, Akashi Seijuro was 100% sure that they were no longer there.

In other words, they never actually fell into the sea from the beginning.

As for where this place is...

The red-haired boy propped himself up on the soft, damp sand and half-sat up. He leaned over and patted his ears, trying to clear the water. He then took a quick look at himself with his newly cleared vision.

There are indeed no major injuries, but it's a bit wet.

Suzuki Sonoko fell ten meters away from him.

It is also the boundary between the sea water and the beach. The shallowest part is almost deep enough to submerge a person's ankles.

Rather than fainting, she looked more like she was simply asleep. Her expression was serene, and her posture was lazy and almost cute. Her floating hair was covered with a halo of light refracted by the liquid, and as the ripples surged, it constantly spread layer upon layer of golden-brown light.

A new wave of tide pushed her sleeves, and Suzuki Sonoko was actually sliding slowly into the sea. Light and shadow floated on the exposed half of her arm, and against the backdrop of the sand, she looked as beautiful as a piece of white jade emerging from the water.

——Only a few traces remained where there should have been bloodstains, and one could vaguely see the distribution of the canine teeth in Akashi-kun's mouth.

Akashi-kun, whose canine teeth were also very well developed, coughed twice while supporting his heavy body, then stepped forward to check her temperature.

Warm, not dead.

That’s right, Akashi thought, if he could fly, he would most likely not die.

In this posture, he once again looked around the coast, his hand unconsciously pinching the other person's arm:

If people soak in water for a long time, they will gradually lose temperature. Akashi is very cold now, but Suzuki Sonoko's body temperature - whether it is the part above the water or the part below the water - is surprisingly constant.

It’s a truly heartwarming 36.5 degrees.

Holding this only source of heat, Akashi was sure that this was definitely not the sea near Tokyo. Looking around, he saw mountains next to the coast, and they were endless mountains.

There was a strange smell in the air that Akashi didn't know how to describe. He was probably catching a cold, the tinnitus wasn't entirely from the water in his ears, and his nose was half-blocked.

This smell is like some kind of floral scent, with a strong earthy smell.

Probably like... an earthworm crawling out from a flower bush?

Akashi sneezed again, and when he glanced at the bushes in the distance, he saw a figure who was only concerned about his head and not his butt.

It was a little kid holding a stick.

The point is that he wasn't wearing pants.

His clothes were altered to a larger size and had no sleeves, so whenever he tried to hide his upper body behind a tree, his bare buttocks would be exposed from behind.

How should I put it...

When you look at this skinny monkey-like black boy, you will feel a sense of wildness.

It is wild, poor and dangerous.

Before Akashi could get too mad, the child suddenly screamed. At that moment, accompanied by a strange loss of senses, Akashi was unexpectedly sensitive and detected an almost solidified fear from the child.

The next second, the child covered his mouth in boundless fear, curled up his body, turned around and ran away!

The hairs on the skin beside Akashi's ears stood up instantly. A huge breath came from behind him, and the violent air pressure blew away the water flow, hitting his skin even more painful than a needle prick.

He held his breath, hesitated for a long time, and finally chose to turn back.

It was a huge bird's beak.

——A sharp bird beak that is larger than half a human body.

Behind the bird's beak is a body that twists and coils like a snake.

The feeling at that moment was like being suddenly pushed to the edge of a cliff while blindfolded. The sour breath could almost instantly damage a human's eyes. The big bird with a snake-like body tilted its head nimbly, and the wind and waves made a loud noise when its wings flapped.

Akashi calmly stopped his actions immediately.

He maintained a stiff posture as if he had a stiff neck, and subconsciously clenched his hands.

In other words, he pinched Suzuki Sonoko's forearm with such force that he almost couldn't control it.

It felt like grabbing a piece of warm cotton, which did nothing to relieve the psychological pressure.

——It was Suzuki Sonoko who almost woke him up.

The girl, whose half body was still submerged in the water, suddenly let out a series of groaning sounds.

Akashi shouted "Oh no" almost at the same time as the bird's beak turned its head due to the noise. His heterochromatic pupils instantly shrank to the size of a needle tip, but just a second later, the huge bird's beak tilted forward slightly and then retracted with a whoosh.

Along with the rapid movement that almost made the sound of breaking through the air, the flapping sound of wings was also heard behind him. The shallow water almost turned it into a light rain, which made Akashi unable to open his eyes.

Because of the backward movement, the red-haired boy thought that this was a prelude to gathering strength to attack. However, after the thing with a snake body and a bird head retreated a circle, it actually swam in front of the two of them in circles from the opposite direction.

The next second after Akashi saw the creature's eyes clearly, the huge snake silently bent its body.

Its head is shaped like a bird, and when its wings are spread and pressed down, it looks...

Akashi thought calmly that if he put it in the shoes of an ordinary creature in nature, its posture would actually look like a humble salute.

Because of the difference in size, Akashi and its drooping head were almost on the same plane. When they passed each other, he could clearly detect traces of wisdom in the other's orange-yellow eyes.

It has wisdom.

It probably also has complete thinking logic.

Therefore, Akashi concluded that it was indeed performing a salute, or in other words, doing something of the same nature as a salute.

The next second, the thing whizzed past him, its agility totally disproportionate to its size.

Akashi clearly felt the coolness of the scales as they brushed across his arm at a tiny distance, and as it moved away, the faint screams of children could be heard from the forest.

Akashi heard his own heartbeat at the same time, but he immediately remained calm and did not look back.

Due to his talent, he was an ordinary high school student most of the time, but that didn't mean he knew nothing about monsters and demons.

With no ability to counter the trap, it's lucky to be able to dodge it. If you can run, just run quickly. Who knows what kind of hell this place is...

"Um……"

At this moment, with a soft moan, Miss Suzuki finally sat up in a daze.

The girl had no idea what had happened before. She was as graceful as if she was slowly waking up from her big bed at home. She pulled his arm and rubbed it upwards, then naturally leaned on Akashi's shoulder.

She pulled the boy's hand as if to block the glaring sunlight, frowning and gasping for air with a hissing sound.

Akashi was covered in moisture, his hair stuck to his face. He looked down at the girl leaning on his shoulder. His tense heartbeat had not yet calmed down, and it was so loud that it hurt his eardrums. For a moment, the beating was so intense that it felt like he was about to fall in love.

However, the so-called "falling in love" is just abnormal hormone secretion, and it shouldn't be this quick.

As the girl fell asleep again, Akashi Seijuro calmly changed the two of them to another place. His blood circulation was now very fast, which suppressed the symptoms of nasal congestion and headache, but if he continued to stay in the water, he might really die.

As he moved towards the shore, he analyzed that the reason he had a throbbing reaction was 100% due to what is called the suspension bridge effect in psychology.

Moreover, Akashi didn't think that everything that happened today was Suzuki Sonoko's fault. After all, it was he who took the initiative to find her - but people cannot completely control their emotions through rational analysis, not to mention that Akashi was only sixteen years old.

So at this moment, the disgust caused by the unnecessary complications still lingered in his heart, and he managed to suppress the false excitement brought about by the suspension bridge effect.

But Akashi's reason still prevailed. He felt that if he calmed down for three to five days, he would probably be able to overcome this anger. And Suzuki Sonoko was the daughter of the Suzuki family, and he couldn't just leave her alone - in fact, his upbringing didn't allow him to just leave like that.

The red-haired boy held onto the reef for a while, then carried the girl on his back and walked towards the shore step by step.

This journey can be said to be very long.

Although Suzuki Sonoko's condition was much lighter than expected (it could even be said to be abnormally light), she seemed to have symptoms of a headache in her semi-conscious state. When the pain was severe, she would naturally cry.

Akashi was on the verge of catching a cold and having a fever, and every step he took was like fighting a battle. As soon as he entered the forest, he had to sit down against a big tree to rest.

Fortunately, Akashi-kun was the heir to one of the three major chaebols and had taken anti-kidnapping courses for several years. Although the objective conditions were very difficult, he still managed to light a fire.

In a place like the woods, fire is the source of all security. Akashi doesn't know how to drive away insects, but it seems that there is none here.

Night comes earlier than expected and is safer than expected.

But Akashi was still woken up in the middle of the night.

The one who made all that noise was not the attacking beast, but Suzuki Sonoko.

Akashi Seijuro looked at Miss Suzuki in the dim firelight:

She was as clean as she was during the day, the sand and dirt in her hair fell off naturally, and she didn't look embarrassed when she lay on the ground.

Because he had tested her body temperature and confirmed that it was always constant, Akashi-kun slept on the warm side without hesitation before going to bed last night.

But looking at her now, Miss Suzuki was far from being as contented as she was when she was unconscious last night. She had slipped to the ground at some point, lying on her side with her head resting on the huge tree roots, and was banging her head against the hard trunk again and again.

Akashi could hear the crisp sound of "bang bang bang", which showed how hard the collision was.

In addition, her arms were twitching. Her arms, which were as white as jade during the day, were now covered with scratches. At first glance, it looked like some insect had bitten her nearby. However, when Akashi checked vigilantly, he discovered that Suzuki Sonoko would unconsciously stir her arms in between banging her head against the wall.

Those bloodstains were all caused by her own scratches.

Although her face is still that of a young lady, I have to say that after seeing such a scene, you will not have any other thoughts except creepy.

Akashi-kun was so shocked that he didn't dare to sleep for the rest of the night.

Morning also came quickly. Akashi still kept the flame after the light came. The good news was that he didn't really have a cold, and Suzuki Sonoko...

Suzuki Sonoko was still in a coma, and occasionally continued to self-harm when she was half asleep, but she recovered quickly.

The wounds scratched at night almost disappeared by ten o'clock in the morning, and there was no scar left at all. If it weren't for the blood stains left between the nails and on the clothes, Akashi would really think that he was hallucinating due to too much stress.

Apart from this smell of blood, he confirmed after careful investigation that there was no stronger smell coming from the depths of the mountain, and there were no sharp screams in the second half of the night.

This means that although the monster with a bird's head and a snake's body walked towards the direction where the naked child left yesterday, it did not cause any unbearable killing consequences, so there may still be people nearby.

——Of course, he didn't know whether the thing ate human flesh and spit out human bones yesterday. If it just ate it raw, it would be normal for there to be no bloody smell.

But around noon, Akashi had eaten the only delicious stick left in his pocket. Just as he was about to climb a tree to get bird eggs because of hunger, he heard intermittent footsteps on the path deep in the woods.

That was a group of villagers.

The child I met yesterday was also in the queue, being held by a boy who was only a few years older than him. He was dressed in the same sharp style as always. The adults were pushing small wheelbarrows. Although there were not many livestock accompanying them, it was clear from the look of them that they were moving.

The skinny kid still had a runny nose. He was stunned when he saw the fire, and pointed at him and shouted "Ah" without any context.

=====

The Queen of Qing Kingdom lost her way, and the fake king took control of the government. Because there was no one on the throne, the country was in chaos.

When there is no king, the power of Qilin cannot cover the country. Limu is the only existence that can help the villagers resist demons. After Limu is gone, if they don't want to wait for death, they can only find a nearby village and quickly merge themselves into it.

Yesterday afternoon, the Limu village in the valley was destroyed by demons. Now this group of people have no choice but to leave their hometown and prepare to cross the mountain to visit the villagers next door.

And they took this detour all because of a word from a child.

——He said he saw foreigners dressed in luxurious clothes on the shore,

"And the demons will avoid them!"

The skinny monkey-like child opened his arms and described with all his might, "I saw a big snake bowing its head towards them!"

This is not impossible. After hearing this, the head of the village thought: The situation is so chaotic now, it wouldn’t be surprising if anyone comes washing up from the sea.

And now, he looked at the red-haired young man in front of him: his hair was thick and shiny, his teeth were white and neat, and he looked delicate and tender, so he might really be a descendant of an official.

As for the girl, I couldn't see her clearly because she was lying down, but she had a lot of jingling ornaments on her body. Maybe among them there were similar treasures that could scare demons.

The old man pursed his toothless lips, thought for a moment, and finally spoke, asking him, "Young man, what's wrong with you? Do you need help?"

What he said was a completely unfamiliar prophecy, but the amazing thing was that Akashi was only unfamiliar with three or five words, and then he naturally understood what the other party meant.

What’s even more amazing is that he suddenly felt that he could speak it too.

The old man finally decided to take them with him and generously gave them a small cart and a donkey to pull the cart. He said he was helping, and he really helped very generously.

——But King Yu has abdicated for many days, and demons are rampant. The road over the mountains and across the ridges is still long. The head of the village wants to use these two people as amulets, otherwise it is unknown how many people can make it all the way.

In a very short time, Akashi connected the other party's friendly attitude, the child's shouting, and what happened yesterday, and guessed: the other party was probably misunderstood because of the behavior of the bird (snake).

But after confirming the other party's motives, he no longer had to worry too much about the threats posed by these people and could accept their help calmly.

——So although he realized the cause, he didn't explain it immediately.

If they don't explain clearly, if they encounter an attacking demon on the way, they will be useless and may be held accountable by the angry villagers.

But if I tell him now, I’m afraid I’ll be thrown into this forest in a minute, and I’m not sure if there will be a tomorrow.

In such a strange place, where you don’t even know where to find food, you should be content if you can find a “guide” who is willing to help.

He walked in the middle of the team, looked at Suzuki Sonoko, who was unconscious and being pulled by a donkey cart, and thought, I hope what happened yesterday was not an accident, and you really can make a difference...

There were very few livestock accompanying them, and most of the people carried their own loads (which showed how generous the old man was to them after giving the donkey to them), so the pace was very slow, but Akashi was not worried about not being able to keep up.

——Because he didn't know how to drive the donkey, another child sat at Suzuki Sonoko's feet and was responsible for driving the cart. He really had nothing to do and just walked.

I probably didn't even walk twenty miles that day.

In other words, it is about ten kilometers, which is equivalent to running about ten laps based on the large playground in Luoshan.

Before it got dark, the villagers were ready to set up camp. There were seven bonfires in total. Akashi noticed that he and Suzuki Sonoko were arranged in the middle one.

If ordinary people saw this, they would probably think they were being protected, but Akashi roughly analyzed the old man's behavior and felt that the other party might be using them as a stabilizing force -

They are in the middle, which means that the radiation range (of the treasures they may have that can resist demons) can evenly cover the entire rest area, and everyone can get a certain degree of protection.

The good news is that no demons attacked that night.

The villagers don't have to worry about dying, and he doesn't have to worry about being exposed.

The bad news is that the old village chief came to talk to him.

The old man was smoking a bag of dry tobacco, which didn't smell good. His face was full of simple wrinkles, but there was an unconcealable shrewdness in his eyes.

Under normal circumstances, Akashi was not worried about how to deal with a shrewd old man. He was almost the second principal in Luoshan, and his words were sometimes more effective than those of the dean of studies.

But now he knows nothing.

Forget about [what to say to be exposed], he is even limited in his ability to [realize that he has been exposed].

We can only respond to each move as it comes.

The old man first made small talk and asked them what was going on, "Did a disaster happen at home?"

Akashi said yes.

The village chief added, "It's not easy. The world has changed. We can only run away. We don't know when a new king will appear."

Akashi still couldn't understand the ins and outs of this sentence, but from this moment on, he paid close attention to every new word that came out of the old man's mouth.

They talked for a long time that night, and the half candle that the old man had left was even used up. Akashi was completely exhausted - he managed to get through it by alternating between skills such as [answering a question with another question], [changing the subject in various ways], and [keeping silent but unable to speak]. He only talked about the information that the old man had revealed himself, and he managed to get through it.

The two parties seemed to be chatting back and forth, but in fact, most of the time, they were just repeating the same content.

When it was time to go to bed, the old village chief was about to leave. The sixteen-year-old Akashi almost couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief:

The more perfectly structured a society is, the harder it is to fish in troubled waters. He noticed during the day that everyone in this team had a clear household registration certificate, which was divided into two parts, making it extremely difficult to forge.

If we really investigate, the identity of the illegal resident will be exposed in minutes.

Seeing the old man lift the curtain and step out of the door, Akashi's heart, which had been in a state of anxiety all night, was about to fall back into his stomach. The old man paused at the last moment and said, "By the way," he turned around and asked, "Where are your certificates?"

Akashi guessed that what he was referring to was probably the household registration certificate that could be divided into two.

The old village chief's face was unclear in the shadows. He seemed to be talking to himself: "You two don't look like people from Huang and Zhu. Why don't you have it?"

As soon as the words fell, the tent felt as if it was suffocating.

Akashi opened his mouth, but ultimately decided not to speak because hesitant.

I hope this face of [I have something to hide.jpg] can withstand the other party's inquiring heart.

The old man really stopped talking.

Although Akashi Seijuro was worried about being suspected, he really had no choice because he didn't have enough information to make a judgment. He didn't understand how serious the issue of "not having a household registration" was in this world...

This night was restless.

But because of fatigue, Akashi still managed to sleep well all night. Even if Suzuki Sonoko rolled around and picked stones in the middle of the night, she couldn't wake him up.

The next morning a young lady came.

When Akashi woke up, she was feeding water to the unconscious Suzuki Sonoko. When he opened his eyes, he was shocked to see that there were multiple people in the room. However, the young lady acted as if it was a matter of course. She handed over the basket at her feet and said that she was bringing them food for today's breakfast.

When traveling, you can only eat two meals a day, one when you set out and the second meal after setting up camp. The time interval between meals is very long, so you must eat enough no matter what.

The young lady was very outgoing. Akashi didn't understand whether the customs here were so indiscriminate, so he didn't want to ask her to leave.

The girl squatted beside Suzuki Sonoko, poking her clothes with her fingers from time to time.

After a while, the girl spoke up and said, "Her bracelet is really beautiful."

“This thing should be very valuable, right?”

She asked Akashi.

Akashi Seijuro rinsed his mouth and looked up. It seemed to be a set of yellow diamonds that Suzuki Jirokichi had auctioned three months ago. It would be worth several million dollars if converted into US dollars. The person in charge of designing it should be a master. Even the thin line was made with great complexity.

Thinking of this, Akashi suddenly felt a sense of strangeness for no reason.

It was only two days, but he seemed to have been away from modern society for a long time...

Because he thought a lot in an instant, after he came back to his senses, he found that there was someone who seemed to be waiting for him to answer the question. After opening his mouth in vain, the young lady actually expressed her understanding.

"You are missing something."

She pursed her chapped lips, looked up at him, then lowered her head to look at the unconscious Suzuki Sonoko.

"You...are not actually fleeing."

Akashi's hand holding the ladle paused.

"Did I get it right?"

Her relaxed tone made Akashi feel a little relieved.

——This girl is the same as the old man last night. She is most likely one of the educated and knowledgeable people in the village. Fortunately, she is obviously not very cunning. When she discovers something, she can't help but say it out.

Much easier to deal with than the old man yesterday.

On the other side, the young lady raised her hand and touched Suzuki Sonoko's earrings.

The cut ruby ​​was crystal clear, and the reflected light looked like a diffused flame. The girl's earlobes were soft and white, as if they would fall apart if pinched gently.

"Who would wear clothes like this when they're fleeing from disaster, right?"

Akashi followed her gaze and saw that Miss Suzuki's outfit was indeed a bit... coincidentally, it was somewhat similar to the clothing style of these villagers, but more exquisite and not as grand.

The girl pinched the fabric hanging from Suzuki's sleeve and said, "You two don't look too bad if you say you're fleeing. You don't seem to be seriously injured if you say you're being chased."

Akashi thought that the obvious difference between his sportswear and Suzuki's clothes exposed something, but the young lady suddenly changed the subject and sighed.

“It’s not easy for you either.”

She looked at Suzuki Sonoko with a hint of pity in her eyes: "She is willing to give up money and a comfortable life and follow you like this. She is really brave..."

The young lady raised her eyes to look at Akashi, her face full of relief: "No wonder you don't want to leave her, I wish you happiness."

Akashi Seijuro:...

Akashi Seijuro: "...Hmm?"

The young lady obviously misunderstood the reason for his change of expression. She immediately raised her hand to comfort him and said hurriedly, "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone. We don't care about this here, elopement or anything like that—"

At this point, she paused and asked uncertainly, "I see you didn't bring your certificate, and she's still wearing her casual clothes, and she hasn't even taken off her jewelry, so... you guys just eloped on a whim, right?"

Akashi Seijuro: "..."

Akashi Seijuro: "Yes, we are planning to elope."