The scene before me began to clear, and a gentle breeze brushed against my face, giving me a cool sensation.
Phil Gray then realized he was standing on the mountainside, and when he turned around, he saw that the others were there too.
"Where is this?" Mrs. Dean's voice came from behind.
“This doesn’t seem to be the wilderness outside Duer City. Look, there’s not a trace of snow here,” Phil Gray said, pointing around.
Depending on the temperature of their region, and the different environments of the wilderness and the city, the snow would take at least ten days to completely melt, and there was not a trace of snow even in the shaded areas away from the sun.
It's like that heavy snowfall that never happened a few days ago.
"Have we been teleported somewhere else?" Patrick asked.
“It’s also possible that we’ve entered a separate space.” Eli pulled a withered blade of grass from the ground. “The plants here are not much different from those in Duer City.”
“That probably didn’t travel that far,” Mr. Allen said.
“No,” the leader shook his head, “this is an independent space, created by the god of time and space.”
"Follow me."
"Space created by the god of time and space?" Dwyer murmured to himself.
The leader walked towards the top of the mountain, and they followed him up.
After a slightly difficult climb, they finally reached the summit.
Looking out from the mountaintop, the entire region appears to be mountainous, with two high mountains to the north and south, situated on the northern peak, with a valley in between. Further into the distance, there are only blurry, wavy water-like boundaries, whereas in the real world, one can clearly see much further into the distance.
"How... how did we get into this space?" Mr. Allen asked, wiping his sweat and panting slightly.
Phil Gray told them about how he put the Flower of Destiny into the groove.
“There seems to be a small town in the valley!” Patrick looked down and spotted a cluster of houses and buildings near a group of farmlands, densely packed together, along with roads. Of course, from this vantage point on the mountaintop, they looked exceptionally small, but luckily his eyesight was pretty good.
"Perhaps this is the real ruin." The leader was somewhat excited and took the lead in running towards the valley.
Mrs. Dean, who had just caught up, sat down on the ground, exhausted. "Climbing mountains is so tiring. God of life, grant me strength!"
"Try circulating your divine power; that should alleviate the pain somewhat," Mr. Allen said, helping her up.
The group followed the leader's footsteps, walking along the mountain path.
Until the leader suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" Patrick asked.
"The sound of someone calling for help."
"What?"
The leader turned a corner and headed diagonally downwards, where they could see a huge rock.
"Where is anyone?" There was no sign of anyone around the rocks.
Phil Gray, however, heard a rhythmic knocking sound.
"Is there anyone down there?"
“Let’s try pushing it open,” Patrick suggested.
With the combined efforts of several people, they easily pushed the rock away by half a meter, revealing a deep pit underneath.
As the light shone into the pit, a hoarse voice could be heard from inside, "Finally, someone's here! Quickly, pull me up!"
"There really are people here," Patrick exclaimed.
Then he took out a long rope from the space stone, which looked extremely sturdy, and lowered it down.
"Grab the rope!"
Seeing everyone looking at him, he smiled and said, "When you're on an adventure, you always need to bring some useful tools."
The people in the pit climbed out by grabbing the rope, and only then could they see who was inside.
It turned out to be a boy in his early teens, skinny as a rake, with short brown hair and somewhat cloudy eyes.
“Poor thing!” Mrs. Dean tried to brush the dirt off him, but the boy pushed her away.
"Don't touch me!" The boy looked them over and showed a grateful expression. "Thank you for saving me. I've been down there for almost three days. If I hadn't come out soon, I might have died."
As he spoke, the little boy touched his belly.
"Is there anything to eat? I'm so hungry."
"Here you go." Patrick handed over a chicken leg.
After he finished eating, Patrick brought him a glass of water.
"Young man, how did you conjure this up?" The little boy finished drinking the water and looked at Patrick with curiosity.
"That's rude. You should call me big brother."
"Huh? Are you out of your mind?" The little boy gave him a disdainful look.
"How can you talk like that!" Patrick patted his head. "Can you still walk? Let me carry you." With that, he picked up the little boy.
Seeing that the people had been rescued, the leader stopped and continued walking forward with his head down.
“Are you a resident of the town up ahead?” Patrick asked.
“Of course, besides the town ahead, where else could you be from? Wait, you look unfamiliar. I’ve never seen you before in all these years. You’re outsiders!” The little boy struggled to jump off Patrick’s arms.
“You’re still young, it’s normal that you haven’t met us before,” Patrick said.
"What are you talking about again? Someone with a normal brain can talk to me. You're in your forties or fifties and you're still talking nonsense." The little boy glared at him.
"Wait, oh, God of Fate, look closely, I'm at most twenty years old, how come you say I'm forty or fifty!" Patrick picked him up again.
"Stop fooling around, hurry up, or you'll fall behind the group."
“You are definitely outsiders. I’ve seen everyone in Pop Town for almost seventy years. You are definitely not residents of the town,” the little boy continued.
"How did you even get in here?!"
His words finally made the people who were rushing on their way stop.
"What did you just say the town's name was?" Phil Gray asked.
The little boy was put down, and he looked at the crowd and slowly said, "Pop Town. How did you outsiders get in here?"
“Duke Pope, what does this town have to do with the believer who recorded the descent of the gods?” Phil Gray muttered to himself.
"Have you never had any outsiders come here?" Dwyer asked.
"You little brat, don't interrupt adults. Go play somewhere else." The little boy pointed to the withered tree next to him.
"Huh? How did I become a child?" Dwyer was so angry that he puffed out his beard and glared at his child.
“Everyone in our town has climbed over the mountains and touched that boundary with their own hands. Although we are born, grow, and die here, we know that there may be another world outside, but we can’t get out and they can’t get in.” The little boy’s eyes flashed with confusion. “As time goes by, more and more people question the existence of the outside world. Now, the young people born are almost no longer curious about the outside world. We will eventually accept our fate of being here forever.”
"Perhaps, this is all the arrangement of the god of fate."
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