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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
After about a minute, the burning sensation in my eyelids subsided. I slightly opened my eyes and found that the white light had disappeared. It seemed that something new had appeared before me; the stone platform had vanished, and in its place stood a silvery Cylinder.
To be precise, this should not be called a Cylinder, but rather a mass of silvery mist shaped like a Cylinder. It was over three meters tall and about two meters in diameter, with numerous Starburst flickering at its center. Despite its relatively small size, it gave off an overwhelming sense of cosmic vastness.
Is this the Land of Eternal Sleep? Is the legendary demon—Moon Demon—hidden within this Land of Eternal Sleep?
I looked at Lin Tao, whose expression was quite peculiar. Following his gaze, I saw Aijia Yu and An Ran. Aijia Yu tilted her head, seemingly puzzled by the mist's purpose, while An Ran wore an expression of excitement, her eyes filled with fervor.
"Let's all go in!" Lin Tao took a deep breath, as if he had made a significant decision.
Once again, it was An Ran who stepped into the white mist first. As soon as she entered, she vanished from sight.
I let out a wry smile and followed closely behind An Ran, stepping into the mist. The moment I crossed the threshold, the scenery before me transformed dramatically into an incredibly grand sight.
Endless white clouds spread out before me, among which floated dozens of... I didn't know how to describe them. These floating objects resembled large pieces of land that had been excavated. To put it another way, they looked like giant islands suspended in mid-air. Each floating island had mountains and waterfalls above it, while thick vines twisted below, lush and verdant.
Aside from the floating islands, there were no sun or stars in the sky; strangely enough, light permeated from the edges, illuminating the entire Land of Eternal Sleep as if it were daytime.
Each floating island was connected by a Suspension Bridge, composed of five silvery chains. Three chains hung below while wooden planks were laid on top. I couldn't be sure they were wooden planks since I had never seen planks glowing blue before. The upper two chains served as handrails, swaying gently when the wind blew.
Have I entered a fantasy realm?
Looking around, I noticed that I was also on a floating island. The trees here were massive, with diameters exceeding ten meters, and countless vines sprawled across their branches, reaching up to the clouds. To my left was a cliff with a beautiful waterfall cascading down like a jade belt, filling the air with refreshing mist. An Ran stood in front of me, gazing into the distance with an increasingly evident fervor on her face. Following her gaze, I saw that she was focused on the most distant floating island, which was distinctly different from the others—not only was it particularly large, but it was also surrounded by a layer of moonlit radiance.
I heard a gasp beside me; I didn't need to turn around to know it was Kong Xuan. Then came Aijia Yu and others; everyone was mesmerized by the breathtaking scenery before us.
After all six of them walked over, Lin Tao asked An Ran, "So, is it here?"
An Ran nodded and pointed at the moonlight-colored halo of the floating island. "That's right, Moonshadow Island is right there!"
I asked in surprise, "Moonshadow Island?"
An Ran ignored me and turned to walk towards the Suspension Bridge. The rest of us had no choice but to follow her.
Except for Kong Xuan and me exchanging a few words occasionally, the others remained silent. Eventually, we both found it pointless to continue talking and stopped. Fortunately, I could still enjoy the scenery along the way; unknown flowers and plants were competing for attention, and colorful birds occasionally flew from the trees into the sky, their long tail feathers shimmering like rainbows.
I wondered how much one of those birds would sell for if I could catch one.
After walking for about three hours, we reached the Suspension Bridge. An Ran stopped and said, "This Suspension Bridge can only accommodate three people at a time. If there's even one person missing, it won't work. If anyone tries to cross the bridge alone, they will definitely meet a terrible fate! No more talking; since there are six of us, Zheng Nan, you will team up with Kong Xuan and Mo Green, while Lin Tao, Aijia Yu, and I will form another group."
Is the Suspension Bridge just for show? Crossing it could lead to death? Could there be traps? I carefully examined the bridge to find any differences.
From a distance, the Suspension Bridge didn't seem like much, but as we got closer, I realized how magnificent it was. Just the five silver chains were over a meter thick each. The width of the Suspension Bridge was nearly twenty meters, and the planks underneath were neither gold nor silver but vaguely transparent, permeated with a faint blue light. At the front of the Suspension Bridge was a flat area that looked like a mirror, with three round white patterns the size of tabletops in the center.
An Ran stepped onto the middle round pattern. With a whoosh, a cloud lifted her up and stopped after rising about a foot.
What! Is this some kind of Nimbus Cloud?
Aijia Yu glanced back at us and without hesitation followed Lin Tao onto the white round pattern. Her eyes were filled with anticipation as if she were a three-year-old seeing a new toy. Kong Xuan and I exchanged glances, both understanding each other's thoughts—this girl has never seen anything like this before.
With two whooshes, Lin Tao and Aijia Yu were lifted by clouds on either side of An Ran. The three held hands and with a whoosh floated along the blue Suspension Bridge toward the floating island on the other side.
Yes, it seems a bit contradictory. Since it makes a whoosh sound, the speed must be very fast, while the word "drift" implies a slow speed. "Drifting over with a whoosh" is indeed a flawed expression. In reality, clouds are like that; they appear to move slowly, but in the blink of an eye, they can reach the other side.
Not reasonable? In a dreamlike fairyland with flying clouds, which of these things makes sense?
After An Ran, Kong Xuan, and Mo Lu jumped down from the cloud, I looked at them as they stepped forward and stood on the round pattern. The cloud quickly drifted back from the opposite side and stopped in front of us. We exchanged glances and stepped up.
With another whoosh, we floated to the other side.
Regardless of our thoughts, An Ran silently led us onward.
There were no unexpected situations along the way. Whenever we got hungry, An Ran would find some fruits by the roadside for us to eat. I didn't even consider whether these fruits were poisonous. If she wanted to kill us, she could just have Lin Tao give the next command; why bother with poison? Well, although these fruits had a strange smell, they were particularly filling when eaten.
In the Land of Eternal Sleep, there is no night; we could only determine our rest time by checking the time on our phones. After walking for nearly four hours, we finally arrived at the largest floating island, which was our destination: Moonshadow Island.
Apart from a faint halo of light, Moonshadow Island was no different from other floating islands—there were huge trees, beautiful waterfalls, and colorful birds everywhere.
An Ran pointed excitedly at the tall mountain in the center of the island and said, "At the top of that mountain is a magic circle where the Moon Demon sleeps. You will witness the glorious moment of the Moon Demon's return to earth..."
"Wait." Kong Xuan suddenly interrupted An Ran loudly.
"Uh?" An Ran looked at Kong Xuan in surprise.
"I need to pee!" Kong Xuan said bashfully.
A flash of killing intent appeared in An Ran's eyes as she looked at Lin Tao, seemingly seeking his opinion. Lin Tao shook his head with a smile and waved at Kong Xuan: "Hurry up!"
Kong Xuan greeted me, and I felt a sudden urge to relieve myself, so I quickly followed Kong Xuan behind a nearby tree. Before we left, Kong Xuan called out to Aijia Yu, "Do you want to join us?"
Aijia Yu glanced at us but ignored our invitation, her gaze fixed on the distant mountain peak.
Once we reached behind the large tree, I took out my belongings and performed a move called Great Peng Spreading Wings followed by High Mountain Flowing Water, feeling quite at ease. Just as I was enjoying myself, Kong Xuan quietly asked, "Zheng Nan, don't you think something feels off?"
I responded with a sound of confusion.
"Well, our role is just to help them open the Gate of Slumber. After opening the Portal, they will likely kill us to silence us, yet here we are, still alive and well. I don't believe she brought us here just to witness the resurrection of the Moon Demon," Kong Xuan said with a puzzled expression.
"How strange; I've never met someone like you. If others don't kill you, you're not happy about it? I have a gun here; do you want me to shoot you?" I scoffed. "Lin Tao must have his reasons for doing this. Have you ever seen the Suspension Bridge challenge that requires three people to work together?"
"An Ran, Lin Tao, and Mo Lu are also three people; we aren't needed!" Kong Xuan immediately countered.
I rolled my eyes. "Who knows? There might be challenges later that require six people to cooperate. Existence itself is reason enough; we definitely still have value!"
Kong Xuan responded with an "oh," seemingly accepting my answer. "By the way, if you shot Lin Tao dead right away, would he have time to control us?"
I hesitated before answering, "I'm not sure; if I miss a vital spot, he could easily order us to our deaths."
"Then keep your handgun hidden until it's absolutely necessary; it might save your life," Kong Xuan said with a shiver.
I also shivered and put away my Great Peng Bird. Just as I was about to step out, I heard Kong Xuan exclaim in surprise and turned to see him pointing at the trunk. "Look!"
Following his finger, I saw two rows of carvings on the trunk. The first row read 'Li Zhen was here,' and the second row stated 'Republic of China March 18th, 17th Year.'
I smiled nonchalantly and said, "What's so surprising about this? Old Li likes to carve inscriptions everywhere. He even left a signature in the maze ahead; otherwise, how would I have thought of the acrostic poem 'Left One Right Two'?"
Kong Xuan cursed under his breath and then said, "But the switch for the Gate of Eternal Sleep is made of Yin-Yang Material. Are you implying that Old Li is also a Yin-Yang Physique? A Yin-Yang Physique is a once-in-a-thousand-years occurrence, you know."
I snorted, "First of all, it's called Yin-Yang Physique, not Yin-Yang Person. Secondly, stop talking about once-in-a-thousand-years; I'm tired of hearing it. I'm not surprised at all that Old Li is a Yin-Yang Physique. Third..."
Kong Xuan interrupted disdainfully, "The Suspension Bridge ahead requires three people to cross. Old Li is just one person! How did he get to Moonshadow Island? Also, damn it, Lin Tao's Land of Eternal Sleep only opens once every three hundred years. Before participating in the revolution, Old Li could have only been around for a maximum of one hundred years, right? How did he enter the Land of Eternal Sleep?"
I was taken aback as well; wasn't it supposed to be once every three hundred years?
Kong Xuan turned around again and exclaimed once more.
"What now?"
"Look for yourself!" Kong Xuan pointed to another spot on the Trunk.
I leaned over to take a look and saw it written above: 'Jin Manyuan was here.'
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