66 Ancient Temple
◎ Real and fake humans, hunted by the earth ◎
When a military region upgrades its rank, it offers a general learning class, a requirement for a deeper understanding of the world. Sentinel Yan, despite his improved mental strength, still harbors a deep-seated disinterest in this subject, leaving him feeling lethargic and bored during the class.
So out of all the long speeches, she only remembered a little bit.
It was because Kong Wei was twisting her under the table at that time. She held up her tired eyes and, determined not to embarrass Officer Kong, she stood there like a stick.
That information finally squeezed into her mind with difficulty. At that time, the speaker on the podium said... According to federal statistics, even after a hundred years of reproduction, the actual number of people who fled underground for refuge may still be less than one million.
But on the earth, there are tens of millions of natural people who have been stranded, disappeared, or alienated, which is more than ten times their number.
These monsters had taken over the surface, leaving only a tiny portion of the dungeon. Compared to this world, those who struggled to stay underground were truly insignificant.
But they are human beings.
They possess human civilization, retain the patterns of reproduction and survival that once existed, and carry on humanity's past. Everything underground seems to be desperately trying to prove that they are human, the continuation of the human race.
Even though they are in the minority, they are real people.
And here——
Yan Xunzhi raised his eyes.
White smoke rose into the sky. In the center of the temple, the ancient and majestic Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva sat on a lotus, holding a staff, with his head slightly lowered, his eyes narrow and long, looking down from above.
Open the gates of hell and save all living beings from suffering.
There were three statues of gods, Guanyin on the left and a goddess on the right. She had never seen them underground and did not recognize them.
Yan Xunzhi knelt on the mat, and their gazes finally converged on her, seemingly gazing at her, yet also looking up at the sky.
Do monsters build temples and worship gods? Do monsters have gods to worship? Do monsters pray devoutly to gods for peace? Do monsters think about past lives and present lives?
They have lost their minds, but they can clean the temple spotlessly.
They have no sense of right and wrong, but they can offer sacrifices, burn incense, tell fortunes, and pray.
They believe in past lives and present lives, but what are their past lives and present lives? Now that they're above ground, would they want to go underground? They adapt to the world, evolving with it, but what price do they pay for the randomness and unpredictability of the future?
Yan Xunzhi didn't know.
There was an inscription in front of the door, but she just glanced over the words very hastily.
I don’t understand. Yan Xiaoshaobing didn’t regret not attending the class seriously, because even if he did, he still wouldn’t understand.
There are a lot of people living underground, and their language and writing have been changing over the years. Perhaps the language on the ground is also changing, and their writing has long been very different. She has no idea what the inscriptions on the tombstones are about.
One thing is certain.
There may have been different civilizations on earth, but they all worshipped similar gods.
Are they human? Yan Xunzhi could no longer think that way. She thought of the man in the South District whose neck she had cut. He was wearing a hood, his face hidden from view, revealing only his deep blue, narrow eyes.
She thought, aren't they human?
If humans who have undergone the world's radiation mutation are monsters, then what are these sentinels who have undergone countless drug experiments and body function modifications underground?
The cushion was faded and old, its edges frayed and its threads tangled. Yan Xunzhi raised his head and met the statue's eyes.
They see people on the ground as twisted, alienated monsters, but what about the natural people on the ground? How do they see them?
Do they feel that they are backward, submerged insects?
When I went out, I smelled a fragrance.
She looked in the direction of the fragrance and saw that not far away, several people were gathering and roasting the dry food they brought with them using muskets.
Seeing her, he waved enthusiastically, extremely excited, "Hey! You finally came out!"
What does finally mean?
Yan Xunzhi easily snatched the baked pancake away and asked, "I was in there for more than a quarter of an hour? Why didn't you leave?"
The mixed group guide answered casually, "I left, then got lost in the wind and sand. I decided to come back, so I ran back in a hurry. At least there's no wind and sand here, so I can live a little longer. What if the wind and sand leave me later?"
“…”
Yan Xunzhi was silent. He hadn't noticed when he first came out, but now that he looked closely, he saw that there were indeed two people missing from the team.
"How long have I been in there?"
The guide who was warming himself by the fire looked at the time and said, "About eight hours."
Yan Xunzhi's scalp tingled. Not only was his mental judgment affected, but even the time displayed on his helmet was messed up.
This is a local worship site. You never know when people will come. She has been here for more than eight hours... She jumped up and was about to leave.
In contrast, the mixed group guide, who had also guessed the situation, seemed particularly nonchalant. "Why don't we just stay here? The underground will come to us. We should try our best to please them. Maybe they'll take us in. This will protect us from the wind and sand! I don't think it's as bad as they say underground."
“…”
Yan Xunzhi silently complained, "Do you know how powerful the Earth is? You are so weak, how can they look down on you..."
I also vaguely thought, at least there should be someone like me...
Bah. Bah. Bah.
Everyone agreed that it didn't matter who killed them, whether they died early or late, so they continued to bake and eat pancakes in front of the ancient temple.
At least it wasn't a hard bun, so Yan Xunzhi took it out and toasted two pieces. As he was using the musket, he looked at the dense branches around him and suddenly his hands started shaking.
It's so dry. If she accidentally sets the surrounding area on fire... Has this tree ever been transformed?
Although they said it didn't matter, their bodies were still honest. After they finished eating, they carefully spread out around and hid their mental fluctuations and waited.
After two days, the wind and sand really moved away after twists and turns.
Yan Xunzhi climbed out of the branch and thought, the faith on the ground is very useful!
She bowed three times inside, and used her own incense to burn a circle, and really prayed for blessings! As expected, you have to worship the gods on the ground. It seems that their previous procedures have been wrong!
With the reference of the sun, they could roughly determine the location of the military zone.
Just run into the signal range. Once the helmet regains signal, the location of the ground tower will be displayed.
The wind and sand followed their direction of movement. Yan Xunzhi led the team for a while before running headfirst into the sand. Unsure whether the wind would expand or blow in the opposite direction, they could only try their best to keep their bearings steady and bravely walk into the wind and sand.
Being lost in the wind and sand once again seemed desperate and long.
Yan Xunzhi's machine froze and she was forced to go offline. She thought confusedly, should it be moving in a straight line?
How on earth could so many natural people on the ground survive and reproduce under such a disaster?
Suddenly, a guide in the channel said in surprise, "I'm connected to the signal!"
Entering range? The Sentinel's ability couldn't connect to the ground, but Yan Xunzhi, now wearing the Mixed Row Guide's helmet, attempted to activate it. The screen flickered for a moment, revealing the underground tower and her location.
They really returned to the military area.
There were nine people in the team when they were separated. When they reconnected to the signal, only four machines were left active on the communication station.
The exoskeletons of the only two people still online had also reached critical value. Yan Xunzhi said directly, "Follow the coordinates and run!"
"From now on, there's no need to support others, and don't worry about foreign objects. Just run, run back to the ground tower as fast as you can!"
At the same time as the connection to the underground was made, the Federation had already sent out support personnel. As long as they ran back to the ground tower, even if there was a string of foreign objects following them, there would be someone to deal with them.
The three of them disappeared in the yellow sand in the blink of an eye.
The mixed team guide lost his exoskeleton and ran behind for two steps before stopping.
Yan Xunzhi squatted down and said, "I'll carry you."
The mixed team guide smiled and said, "You are injured too..."
"Come up!" Yan Xunzhi didn't waste time talking to her. "I'm a speed expert."
The mixed-row wizard paused for a second, then climbed up without hesitation.
Not being a sentry, unable to run fast, and lacking a helmet, she could only rely on unstable communication to guide her. Death was a high probability. But no one wanted to die, and she wanted to live, even if... even if there was a kind-hearted person with her...
Yan Xunzhi weighed her, made sure she was sitting firmly, and ran towards the coordinates of the tower on the ground.
Her mental power was strong, and even though the others had already been affected by the radiation from their prolonged stay on the surface, she could still make out the presence of the Earth Troopers in the distance. They were approaching at a rapid speed, without disguise, and heading straight for them with a clear goal.
——Her spiritual imprint may have been discovered.
Yan Xun's heart sank.
She has become an alienated body, and the spiritual imprint left behind can be traced back to its source.
But without the spiritual imprint, she would never find the ancient temple again. Everything would be in vain, and she would have rolled around in this quagmire in vain. Yan Xunzhi could only hope that the ground was not running fast enough, and she would still have time to return to the ground tower before them.
Besides, it seems that there is only one local leader, while they have five people divided into four groups. Choosing one from four is not necessarily...
...Shit! Why are they coming for her?
So fast!
Yan Xunzhi shed tears like noodles in the wind.
Didn’t she say that God was really cruel to her this time when she came to the ground... She usually had good luck, so where was her good luck this time!
The ground had interfered with communications, and the underground city was no longer contactable. Yan Xunzhi could only predict that at the current speed, someone would probably be there to pick him up about a thousand meters from the tower...
Then there are still 1,600 meters left.
The mixed team guide said behind her, "I feel a mental fluctuation."
One thousand two hundred meters.
I knew it a long time ago! Yan Xunzhi didn’t have time to reply to her.
The mixed team guide thought she was not taking it seriously, so he felt it for a while and then said, "It's very strong, it's approaching us."
Eight hundred meters.
The mixed team guide was almost terrified by this leaping approach. How long did it take from the feeling to the intensity? Is the Earth's movement so fast?
Four hundred meters!
Yan Xunzhi felt victory was in sight, "There's spiritual power ahead to support us!"
And it was a large group of people! A lot of mental power!
The mixed team guide was surprised that a sentinel could sense things faster than she did, and he stretched his neck in hope...
Bang!
The sound of mental bullet shooting!
Yan Xunzhi tried to dodge, but it was too late.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
There were three more sounds in succession, each extremely subtle, and she felt a sharp pain in her shoulders and waist.
Shot! Fortunately, his legs weren't injured. Yan Xunzhi didn't care at all, even using the momentum to continue running forward.
The mixed team guide suddenly pressed against her, his hands grabbing her clothes at the chest. Yan Xunzhi was a little constricted by the tugging, and just as she was about to speak, there was another faint sound of gunfire.
Yan Xunzhi dodged this time and the bullet passed by her.
A series of "fuck" sounds were heard not far away, followed by someone shouting, "It was Di Zi who fired the gun. Di Zi has a gun, everyone be careful!"
We're here! Yan Xunzhi rushed completely into the wind and sand's field of vision.
The entire large group of about thirty people were supporting the team, and the two sentries who had just separated from them were already hidden behind them. Seeing her coming, they quickly protected her in the encirclement.
Completely out of danger. Yan Xunzhi relaxed, took a breath, and said through gritted teeth, "There should be only one..."
Before she could finish, someone next to her exclaimed, "Where's the medic!"
【Author’s words】
Pickled Fish: I thought it was the Tang Dynasty, but it turned out to be the Xiongnu...
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