In a world without darkness, souls yearning for light tirelessly move forward, toward the distant sun, praying for warmth.
But this path is far too long; the soul that seeks the light will ultimately perish on the road, never seeing or truly touching the light before it dies...
Along the way, Bai Hao saw many such scenes: countless souls leaving their bodies and falling on the road, even crawling towards the sun, but in the end they could only die and disappear, turning into white bones on the road, watching every soul that yearned for the sun leave its body.
The road to the sun is littered with countless white bones, and few actually manage to complete it.
Walking along the path of white bones, Bai Hao walked forward step by step, and finally saw a huge palace amidst the bones covering the mountain. It was magnificent and resplendent.
Unlike any palaces they had seen before, this palace was clearly not occupied by a soul separated from its body. The tightly closed city gates also demonstrated its formidable defenses. There were even two large red lanterns hanging above the entrance, emitting a warm firelight, which made the surrounding soul separated from their bodies dare not approach the city gate.
"There seem to be living people inside this palace." Carefully sensing the subtle atmosphere in the air, Bai Hao caught a whiff of life, the life force that only living people possess.
There may still be living people in this palace.
Bai Hao stepped forward and knocked on the door lock.
Three dull knocks echoed around the room, lingering for a long time.
The surrounding souls were also startled by the knocking and all gathered around. However, when they arrived at the door, the light from the lanterns enveloped the area in front of the door, forming a striking barrier. All the souls consciously stopped outside the light and dared not cross the boundary.
At the same time, the palace gates creaked open slowly.
A small head peeked out from behind the door. It was a little boy. Seeing Bai Hao outside the door, he asked in a childish voice, "Are you human or a soul separated from your body?"
"Hello, I'm a traveler passing through. I saw that you still have lights here, so I thought I'd stop by for a rest." Bai Hao smiled slightly, indicating that he meant no harm.
"Traveler?"
The little boy glanced at Bai Hao, then at the souls separated from their bodies behind him, and finally opened half of the door, saying, "Come in then."
Bai Hao followed the little boy into the palace. The first thing that caught his eye was a square, with rows of lanterns hanging around it, their warm light illuminating the entire square.
In the very center of the square stands a huge bronze statue, depicting a four-headed dragon, each head unique, lifelike, and with a ferocious expression.
Upon seeing the bronze statue, Bai Hao felt a sense of déjà vu, as if he had experienced this feeling somewhere before.
"Big brother, where are you from?" the little boy asked curiously as he led the way.
"I come from a very far place. I traveled a very, very long way to finally get here," Bai Hao said with a kind smile.
The little boy's innocence allowed him to feel relaxed for the first time in this world, a feeling he could never experience in the outside world.
The dilapidation and decay outside seemed to be completely isolated here, as if it were another world.
In this crumbling world, such a palace is a rare haven. Perhaps after traveling thousands of miles, you will find that this is the only true haven. Once you miss it, it may be for a lifetime.
"arrive."
The little boy led Bai Hao to an empty hall. The hall was dimly lit, and each lantern was a golden dragon head, resplendent in gold.
"Are you all alone here?" Bai Hao was puzzled as he looked down at the empty hall, only to find that the little boy was nowhere to be seen!
He was all alone now!
"What's going on now?" Bai Hao frowned, realizing that things were definitely not as simple as they seemed.
How could a little boy possibly survive on a stomach in this world, in this place?
Just as Bai Hao was observing the situation in the hall, another sound finally came: heavy footsteps walking on the ground.
He looked up and saw a figure slowly walking out from behind the screen at the back of the hall.
To be precise, it is not a person, but a creature with limbs and facial features like a human, but with a face like a dragon, with prominent dragon horns, a short dragon tail swaying behind it, and a completely white body.
This is clearly a dragon-man!
Bai Hao was startled when he saw the dragon-man emerge, and almost drew his sword.
"Hello, guest. Welcome to Dragon City. I am Longman, the master of this place," the dragonman said with a polite smile.
"Hello, my name is Bai Hao." Bai Hao greeted him with a smile and gave a brief self-introduction, while secretly observing the dragon-man.
Dragon City, Dragon People... Based on the information Bai Hao has gathered so far, they are very likely the true dragon race of this world, and the only one at that.
Having once prospered alongside the Divine Source Dynasty and jointly established its reign, the True Dragon Clan should have held a noble and exalted position. However, with the decline of the Divine Source Dynasty, the True Dragon Clan has lost its former prestigious status in this world and can only hide here like a coward, living their own lives in Dragon City, ignoring the collapse of the world outside...
It's just unknown whether these dragon people are here to escape the catastrophe, or whether they have been exiled or imprisoned here.
“Now that everyone outside is separated from their bodies, why are you still traveling around? Is there something you absolutely must do? If you need anything, perhaps we can help you,” Long Man asked.
Perhaps it's because I've been here for so long that I want to find someone to have a proper talk with.
After a moment of internal thought, Bai Hao smiled calmly and said, "There's nothing much to do, but when you're alone, you have to find something to do and go out to see the world."
"Indeed, in this broken world, if it's pitch black and you can only live in the same place every day, with no one to talk to and nothing to do, such a life might really drive a person insane," Long Man said with a sigh, deeply moved.
"It's rare to meet a stranger, so I'll tell you our story. You may already know it, but I just want to talk to someone and confide in them. I hope you don't mind."
"No, go ahead and tell me. I need to rest for a bit too." After thinking for a moment, Bai Hao indicated that he was willing to listen.
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