Chapter 72: I feel bad, why isn’t it the weekend yet? * …
*
"I once heard a bard tell such a story."
"The young king got a string of magical gems that could take him on a journey in his dreams. Unlike the hardships of reality, he could get everything he wanted in his dreams."
"Everywhere there were rare treasures and wonderful stories, and laughter flowed like a spring in every corner. As a result, the young king gradually ignored reality and immersed himself in the joy of dreams."
Your Majesty, I beg you to take a look at reality.
The helpless people shed tears. Your Majesty, why are you reluctant to wake up?
The boundary between reality and illusion blurred in the dream, and it lasted for a long, long, long time.
So long that the sea turned into mulberry fields and the grass and trees covered the city. Hundreds of years later, the young king woke up from his dream and found that his country had become a desolate ruin. Only he remained the same.
"...Stop talking."
I told the story in fragments, coughing from time to time. The elf placed his hand on my forehead, and his body trembled slightly.
A blizzard swept past the cave, bringing a bone-chilling chill. Odysseus and I huddled together, blood and life draining from my body.
I don't know why. Although I don't feel any pain, the feeling of dying is very real.
My vision was blurry and the scenery I saw gradually turned into large patches of color. I vaguely saw Odysseus's forehead covered with cold sweat, and he kept repeating something. His voice was sometimes louder and sometimes softer, and it was hard to hear clearly. I listened carefully for a long time before I finally understood what he was saying -
He was asking me if it hurt.
It doesn't hurt at all, it's just a dream.
Odysseus' voice trembled with endurance. I took a breath, reached out and touched his face soothingly, leaving a glaring red on the elf's face.
My consciousness gradually became distant. I lowered my hands and squeezed out a thin sound from between my teeth.
"Don't cry, Odysseus..."
We will see you again in the next reincarnation.
*
I suddenly opened my eyes.
My body fell rapidly with gravity, pulling away from the clouds above my head. A strong sense of weightlessness attacked my senses, and at this moment, a hand grabbed me from above.
Still on the top of the mountain, the howling wind cut my skin. The elf's long silver hair fell on my face. Odysseus tightened his arms and pulled me up little by little.
He hugged me tightly, his chest shaking. The scene from the first dream replayed itself, and the elf spoke the familiar words to me again in a hoarse voice:
"Where are we going?"
"Return to the Elf Forest."
*
How things turned out like this has to start from when Odysseus took me down the mountain.
Unlike him in real life, Odysseus' dream in the game is a disaster.
This was the first time I had seen such suffering in a dream. Strong winds and rainstorms followed one after another, and landslides and earthquakes continued. The visibility was extremely poor, and I could not count how many times I almost fell down the short mountain road of less than 200 meters.
Fortunately, Odysseus was always quick to pull me up. It's hard to say whether this was a buff he gave himself or my short arms and legs affected my performance.
I wiped my face. The cold snowstorm made it hard to open my eyes. Odysseus pulled me into his arms and said solemnly, "There are many snow pits ahead. Be careful not to fall in."
He seemed very familiar with this place. I carefully avoided the vulnerable area: "Where is this?"
"Many years ago, this place was full of moonflowers and was the favorite paradise of the goddess of nature. Then one day, a fire started here. Since then, a never-ending blizzard has enveloped this place."
I immediately understood where this place was. It was true that the mountain was burned, but it didn't snow. Don't blame me, I know nothing.
My eyes widened. Odysseus stretched out his hand to block the snow that was flying towards my face, and slowly added the last sentence: "This is called the wrath of the goddess of nature. Unless the humiliation is washed away one day, spring will never come again."
"So what does this have to do with us being here?"
Odysseus avoided the point and said, "This place is also called the Land of Atonement. All the elves who have done wrong will come here. There are also meditators who come here to practice. I... have something that I can't let go of, so I came here."
Your story is quite complete, with a beginning and an end. I frowned: "What does this have to do with you?"
“.......”
The elf lowered his eyes and looked at me, his eyes flickering. I waited for a long time without waiting for his answer, so I asked again. After a long while, he whispered: "Because I regret it. If I hadn't given you the amulet, you might not have been in trouble."
"Those people are here for the Moonflower. You are not important to them. But the amulet I gave you has my magic power, which makes it a clear target for them."
He was silent for a while, then whispered, "I killed you."
In response to his words, the blizzard became more violent. I sighed inwardly and held his face.
“It’s not your fault.”
"You gave me the amulet just to protect me. You can scold the Black Mist believers and help me get revenge, but you shouldn't blame yourself. Your good intentions are beyond doubt, and this kindness should not be misinterpreted."
Odysseus' pupils shrank into a point, and he pushed me away. This body was not as flexible as it was outside the dream. I was caught off guard and fell on the snow.
It didn't hurt much, but it surprised me. I turned my head, and the white snow fell on my cheeks. It was quiet all around.
I tried to call out: "Odysseus?"
Only the sound of the wind answered me.
*
If you give me another chance, I will never talk to Odysseus in such a dangerous place. At least I have to find a safe place to do this.
Two hours later, I fell down again and I swore silently in my heart.
After several attempts, I finally figured out the pattern of this dream.
Once I or Odysseus dies, the dream will reset to the beginning. Odysseus must have died many times before I came, which is why he has been in a coma in reality.
What was worse was that I couldn't just wake him up.
Dreams are complex and changeable, and you can't just wake up from them. If you want to wake him up, you have to follow the logic of the dream. In other words, I need to take him to the Forest of Elves.
I asked Odysseus: "How do we get to the Elf Forest?"
"There is a river beyond this mountain. After crossing the river, you will see the Fairy Forest."
This sounds a bit ridiculous. If there is a second way, I will definitely not choose this one.
Who said there isn't one?
*
In the thirty-second reincarnation, the two of us were squeezed into a cave on the snowy peak.
The distance was so close that I could smell the faint scent of grass and wood on the elf without moving. His voice sometimes seemed hazy, as if it was separated by a thin layer of snow. Unfortunately, what he said was not good, so it was better not to hear it.
"Now that you smell this, don't you feel like throwing up?"
I wanted to roll my eyes at him, but unfortunately he couldn't see it. I could only snort hard and get up first to walk out: "If we don't leave now, it will be dark in Tiandou."
Odysseus had no choice but to come up and try to hold my hand, but I held it in my palm instead.
He moved his fingers, but didn't pull them out. He followed me, dodging the shallow pits hidden under the floating snow, avoiding the rocks that looked hard but were actually fragile, especially the one that killed him in the first reincarnation. It was so perfect that it seemed like he had copied the answers in advance.
——In fact, I did copy the answers.
Along the way, Odysseus's expression changed from solemn at the beginning to slow in the middle and finally to bewildered at the end. He only managed to get from the top of the mountain to the mountainside. When I saw his expression, I felt that something was wrong. This guy's face was full of "Is it that simple?"
"I warn you, don't let your imagination run wild!"
Unfortunately, it was too late. I watched the stone under my feet change position and my face turned black.
Dreams will change with the owner's subconscious, which is the real difficulty of this road. Odysseus assumes that this road is difficult to walk, so once he feels it is too easy, he will unconsciously change the route. But if it is too difficult, it will cause this reincarnation to restart.
As expected, even a pig can be difficult to deal with once it can think. I stared at Odysseus with murderous intent, and the latter's expression was a little unnatural: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
I gritted my teeth and said, "Can you just stop thinking and follow me?"
"...It's a bit difficult."
The elf realized that he seemed to have done something without knowing it, and apologized honestly: "In the ranger training of the elves, observing the environment is a prerequisite for combat. I am used to maintaining a thinking state."
Not only that, your training teacher must be very pleased to have a good student like you. He would guess if there was an accident when he encountered any disturbance along the way. Thanks to this, we all died unnecessarily several times.
What should I do? Can I knock him out and carry him out?
Just as I was thinking of some dangerous methods, the elf let out a long sigh and asked me with determination: "Do you know how to leave here?"
I nodded: "As long as you don't think about messy things, I can take you out."
"Even if I'm blind?"
"Even if you're blind—wait, what are you going to do?"
"I can't help thinking about these things. Gathering intelligence is a warrior's instinct, so there is only one other way -"
"As long as I can't see, I won't have any random thoughts. But once you lose your eyesight, the rest will be up to you. Can you do it?"
The elf looked at me calmly, his tone was serious. To me, dying here is just another experience, but to Odysseus, who has no memory of the previous period, it is probably the same as a real death.
My expression also turned serious: "Aren't you worried that I might lie to you?"
The elf cut off a piece of his sleeve, which was just long enough to make a circle. He answered me while tying it around his eyes, his voice steady and calm.
"It's okay, that's my choice."
I chose to believe you, so I bear the consequences.
The words written in his eyes made my heart soften.
"I can do it, leave it to me."
I carefully held the elf's hand. With the cloth covering his eyes, he could only rely on my voice to guide him. Although he said something cool, the elf's movements were very nervous. This was probably his first experience.
His lips were tightly pursed, and his palms were cold. I led him carefully down the stairs, occasionally pointing out the direction he was going.
Odysseus followed me obediently. Neutral beauty is popular among the elves, and he looked even more sickly after being blindfolded. One could even imagine the quivering of his eyelashes behind the cloth.
If players were here, they would definitely take a few photos. But it was different for me. I memorized the strategies I had tested before.
There is a blizzard area ahead, and there are many potholes hidden under the snow. Be careful not to fall in. There are rocks on the left, and a large piece of icicles hidden in the snow on the right. The place to step is very narrow, so you have to stay highly alert...
One step, then another.
When the wind and snow in front of me stopped, I didn't react for a moment, until the orange sunset filled my eyes.
I exhaled and heard the sound of water hitting rocks. The fallen snow melted at the junction of the mountains and the plains, turning into gurgling water, and then rushing forward in a mighty torrent.
Probably because I didn't move, Odysseus, who was being led, tilted his head, as if asking me what I was doing.
I stood on tiptoe to remove the blindfold for him. The elf's long eyelashes trembled, and he squinted slightly because of the sudden strong light, and then opened his eyes wide like a cat. The emerald green pupils blended with the orange-red light, more beautiful than the most dazzling emerald stone.
"Look, Odysseus."
I let go of my hand and let the wind blow away the short piece of cloth. The sound of rushing water passed between us, and I smiled at him, saying a promise that only I could understand.
"There won't be a next time or a next time. I will definitely get you out this time."
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