The dark sky and the endless dark red water only connected at the horizon. The whole world seemed to be only black and red.
A staircase winds down from the water, floats in the water, connects to the bottom of the water, and disappears in the depths, as if leading directly to hell.
The dark red water is not clear, and seems to hide some secret. Black shadows can be vaguely seen in the water.
“Is this the land of the dead?”
A skeleton wearing a black robe and with strange and stiff movements stood beside the downward stairs.
"Maybe, I'm not sure. Actually, this is my first time here just like you guys," Jacques confessed.
He had never successfully entered the Land of the Dead before.
"There is nothing here except water... Do you want to go down this staircase?" Yunsheng asked.
"The color of the water is very similar to that of the Red River!" the sturdy white mushroom interjected.
He has a psychological trauma about the Red River, which started not long ago.
The moment you fall into the Red River, psychological trauma naturally sets in.
Not to mention that I have been a mushroom for so long, and I don’t know how long I will be one.
"It is indeed very similar." The red mushroom that seemed to emit golden light from certain angles poked its head out from the black robe and looked closely at the dark red water surface.
Just as he was about to say something else, he suddenly stopped and went back into his black robe.
"Someone is coming."
The strange black-robed skeleton became quiet and stood there blankly.
Behind him, another skeleton in a black robe appeared out of thin air.
He walked over, glanced at the strange skeleton, ignored it, and went straight up the stairs, down step by step, into the bottom of the river.
Oddly enough, when going from the shore to the bottom of the water, the black robe worn by the skeleton should have floated up, but in fact the hem of the robe drooped naturally, no different from walking on land.
"He went down." Yunsheng said, he was nestling in the skull, occupying the best view.
"Let's go down and take a look. Raise your hands if you agree," Luo Zheyu suggested.
The mushrooms' thin arms were all raised up with a "swish".
"Ready—left, right, left..."
The skeleton stepped onto the stairs in a strange and stiff posture, walked down the winding stairs, and stepped into the water step by step, allowing the dark red water to submerge its thighs, then its chest, and finally its head. The entire skeleton was completely submerged in the dark red water.
Yunsheng held his breath and moved his eyes up and down and left and right.
he yelled with his mouth shut.
Just now, I could barely see some dark shadows on the shore, but when I was in the water, I could see those dark shadows clearly.
It's a pile of corpses.
A corpse that was corroded to the point where its flesh was incomplete and its bones were exposed.
There are humans, beasts, birds, and even dragons.
They floated slowly in the dark red water, scattered one by one, near and far, as if not interfering with each other.
The mushrooms were startled by the scene and fell silent for a moment; even the skeleton forgot to control itself.
Poof!
Suddenly, a stream of clear spring gushed out from the dark red water flow and quickly explored the side of the stairs. Before merging with the dark red water flow, it seemed to touch an invisible barrier and turned back.
All this happened extremely quickly. In just three seconds, the dark red water flow merged with the clear spring water, and there was no difference between the two.
It is also not under Luo Zheyu's control.
"Let's go."
Luo Zheyu said.
There was an invisible barrier between the corpse and the staircase, and even water couldn't pass through, so they couldn't go over to find out what was going on.
"Hmm?" Yunsheng widened his eyes and looked down at the red mushroom in his chest.
"?"
Luo Zheyu didn't understand what he meant.
Yunsheng pointed at his own mouth, then at the latter, and made a "mmm" sound.
"Oh, I can breathe here, and the water won't go into my mouth."
Yunsheng and the mushrooms below heard this, took a tentative breath, and found that it was true, and they immediately relaxed.
"This water is really strange..."
The mushrooms continued to control the skeleton and walked down the stairs.
The further down you go, the dimmer the light becomes.
But one could still see the back of the black-robed skeleton walking in front. He seemed to be walking on an ordinary path, calm and accustomed to it.
He didn't pay any attention to the corpses in the dark red water.
"I really don't remember anything." Jacques suddenly muttered.
"Don't remember anything?" Yunsheng asked in confusion, and the other white mushrooms also turned their heads to look at Jacques.
"The undead in front." Jacques pointed to the black-robed skeleton on the stairs in front.
"His bones are still fresh."
Yunsheng shuddered: "Why do I feel like you're talking in such a perverted way?"
Jacques ignored him and continued:
"He must have transformed into an undead creature recently, which means he is likely to have had the same experience as us, but now he is oblivious to everything around him."
"The undead creatures in this area are humans. In other places, there are beasts and dragons... I have been in the Dead Forest for longer than you think. I have learned about other mushrooms and their facial features, heights, and body shapes. There was even a mushroom that was transformed from a human and said that it was missing two toes on its right foot. So after they grew seven spots and turned into undead creatures, I paid special attention to them."
"I found them, but they seemed to be born undead creatures and have no memory of the past."
"You mean... after growing seven spots, we will not only become undead creatures, but also lose our memories!" Yunsheng was a little panicked.
He is weak and has already developed one spot. When he develops three, it will be the same as having seven.
One waits to die, the other dies immediately.
Jacques nodded.
He stayed in the belly of the skeleton, and Yunsheng couldn't see his nodding, but the latter didn't need this reaffirmation.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry, move! Let's move faster."
Yunsheng urged.
The white mushrooms didn't have spots, so they didn't have as severe a sense of crisis as he did, but they were also afraid of losing their memories and becoming complete undead creatures.
"I will definitely be laughed at by the dragons if I turn into an undead creature!"
Such a result was unacceptable to them who were so proud.
With the cooperation of the mushrooms, the skeleton walked very fast, and its posture became even more weird, a bit like a race walk.
A skeleton trying to race.
The racing skeleton surpassed the black-robed skeleton and soon reached the end of the stairs.
There is a gray round hole that keeps rotating here. It seems to be a passage, but it looks really scary.
"Jump?" Yunsheng was a little hesitant.
"Jump." Luo Zheyu helped him strengthen his determination.
The skeleton jumped hesitantly... It was not very coordinated, and the parts it could control were limited. Being able to walk and fight was already its limit. It couldn't jump, and instead fell headfirst into the gray passage.
"ah--"
The mushrooms screamed and clung to the bones around them to avoid being thrown out of the skeleton due to the sudden headfirst posture.
…
The scene was devastated.
The tall tower was bent and broken, the city wall collapsed, and only one corner of the low house was left standing, struggling to hold up.
The air seemed to be filled with the smell of decay and dilapidation.
This is a city.
A city that experienced a fierce war many years ago.
The residents of the city had long since disappeared, and only a few skeletons in black robes were walking around in the ruins.
The direction they were heading was the barely intact streets in the city.
"What place is this?" Yunsheng asked casually, and then continued to command the mushrooms to control the skeletons and walk towards where other undead creatures went.
Jacques quietly emerged from his black robe and looked around at the ruined buildings.
The top of his head was dark red, like the color reflected by water waves, wave after wave, even slightly rippling, covering all the debris with a layer of dark red.
This makes them feel like they are walking under water.
Jacques suddenly stared at a half-collapsed building, frowning and looking thoughtful.
"That's Leah's sign."
"Leah? The first kingdom?" A few white mushrooms immediately popped up nearby.
"Zulong...it's actually Leah!"
Yunsheng and Luo Zheyu were completely confused.
"What do you mean? Hey, be serious! Lift up your right foot!" Yunsheng yelled.
Several white mushrooms quickly crawled back to control the right foot.
In the end, it was Jacques, who was used to explaining, who answered the questions.
"This must be the remains of Leah. As the largest kingdom in the past, there must be countless treasures buried underneath it!" Jacques' eyes lit up and he said excitedly.
The white mushrooms cheered in response, as excited as he was.
"Oh, and then what?" Yunsheng had a blank expression.
"Dig out the treasures and bring them back to the nest. I want to sleep with them!" Jacques seemed to be possessed.
"Sleep with the treasure! Sleep together!" The white mushrooms were too excited.
"...What happened to them?" Yunsheng was surprised. "Hit? I don't feel anything unusual."
"I'm daydreaming."
Luo Zheyu stretched out his hand, and a ball of water larger than a mushroom head appeared out of thin air in his hand.
He threw one in each hand at the excited Jacques and the white mushrooms. As one was thrown out, another one appeared in his hand, and this cycle repeated endlessly.
"Wake up."
Jacques and the white mushrooms turned into soup mushrooms and calmed down while being soaked.
"Tell me about Leah, besides the treasure." Luo Zheyu's voice was flat, and the word treasure that came out of his mouth made people feel that there was no passion at all.
Jacques wiped the water from his face.
"Leah is an ancient country. I don't know how much time has passed outside, but it was already an ancient country before I fell into the Red River. It was once the largest kingdom on land. After unifying most of the small countries, it lasted for a full twenty years and was eventually destroyed within three months. No one has found the remains of Leah so far. I didn't expect it to be in the Red River."
"Leah will be destroyed because the king of this country attempted to challenge the entire dragon clan!" Jacques' words revealed a hint of complex emotions.
The skeleton stood there, waiting for Jacques to finish.
"And then? He failed?"
Yunsheng asked.
This is not difficult to guess, just look at the broken city walls and buildings in front of you.
"He succeeded." Jacques gave the opposite answer.
"The dragon tribe suffered heavy losses and signed a contract with Leah to stop robbing and trampling on humans. But Leah also paid the price of destroying her country."
"...Humans are weak?" After holding it in for a long time, Yunsheng only asked this question.
"Tsk." Jacques sneered in response, not wanting to answer such an idiotic question, and couldn't help but mocking:
"What secluded forest did you jump out of?"
"You said that the dragons signed a contract with humans, but when I was outside, I saw dragons destroying human cities." Luo Zheyu said, and he beat up those dragons at that time.
"You are talking about the Disgusting Dragons, right? When Leah and the dragons were fighting and signing a contract, the Disgusting Dragons robbed a wine cellar in a human country. They were afraid that it would be robbed by other dragons, so they hid and drank. They fell asleep together, and Leah's army didn't find them, so the Disgusting Dragons didn't get involved."
“…”
As he spoke, Jacques seemed to remember something and his expression gradually became strange.
"I...I remembered a rumor."
"…It is said that the moat of Leah was formed by holy water poured from the hands of the gods, and Leah's army will always protect the kingdom. Even if they die and turn into ghosts, even if Leah perishes, they will throw their own ghosts into the moat, forever protecting the kingdom and waiting for the king to wake them up."
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