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墨書 Inktalez
Zhong Kui's Diary
In the image, Kong Xuan exchanged a few words with Yang Zi, who pointed in the direction where Sima Sanguang and I were walking, likely indicating the direction we were leaving. Kong Xuan nodded and turned to speak with a captain-like warrior. The captain made a gesture, and the warriors began to move. Kong Xuan, Yang Zi, and others mixed into the group, and they quickly disappeared into the dense forest.
Seeing me in a daze without speaking, the Golden-Clad Woman casually turned off the projector and tucked the Silver Sphere into her arms.
I was taken aback and looked at the Golden-Clad Woman, who smiled at me and said, "This is an image received five hours ago!"
Suddenly, I understood what she meant. I felt a surge of anger but forced a sheepish smile and said, "Well, I kind of regret it."
"Oh, aren't you just a clay figurine with a bit of temper?" the Golden Robed Woman said sarcastically.
"Let the clay figurine go to hell; I'm not a clay figurine, so where would all that temper come from!" I replied with a laugh. I couldn't help but sigh inwardly; indeed, one must bow their head under the eaves.
"Hmph!" The Golden Robed Woman stood up and pointed at the roller. "Go by yourself."
I stepped forward and grabbed the handle of the roller, pulling on it firmly. It felt quite sturdy. Just as I was about to ask the Golden Robed Woman what to do once I got across, suddenly music started playing—a faint tune that resembled a foreign song.
Seeing my astonished expression, the Golden Robed Woman curled her lip at me, her disdain evident. "Country bumpkin, have you never seen a mobile phone?"
A mobile phone? Isn't there no signal in the Netherworld? How can your phone make calls?
The Golden Robed Woman pulled out a mobile phone from her pocket. After listening for a moment, she frowned and quickly hung up before shouting at me, "Hurry up!"
I was somewhat stunned as the Golden Robed Woman had already started running along the steel wire towards the treetops, shouting loudly as she ran, "That group of soldiers is right behind you; why aren't you moving faster?"
Did they catch up so quickly?
There was no time to think. With a run-up and a strong push, I suddenly soared into the air, gliding towards the tree canopy across from me.
Fortunately, the tree canopy wasn't too far from the cliff. In just a few seconds, I slid into the Big Hole within the canopy, where a branch over a meter wide awaited me below. The Golden Robed Woman stood in front, illuminating the path with a lantern.
As soon as I jumped down, the Golden Robed Woman immediately extinguished her lantern and pressed some mechanism. The branches and leaves behind me swiftly returned to their original state, causing the Big Hole to vanish in an instant, blocking most of the moonlight and plunging everything into darkness.
Bang bang bang! Gunshots rang out from across the way. Bullets pierced through the leaves and struck the branches. Strangely, there was no splintering wood; instead, it produced a dull thudding sound, as if this tree were made of iron wrapped in rubber. How could that be? This tree clearly had leaves. Just then, I felt the Steel Wire above me shake, as if someone had discovered it.
The Golden Robed Woman snorted coldly, "Hey you, step aside."
"It's pitch black! How can I move? What if I fall?" I complained urgently.
"Then lie down on the ground, quickly!"
Hearing this, I had no choice but to lie down. The Golden Robed Woman pressed a switch somewhere, and a whooshing sound followed as the steel cable rapidly retracted, clicking once before falling silent.
"Follow me; they can't come over now," she called out to me.
"I can't see!"
"Okay, I'll hold your hand. We'll walk in for a bit before I turn on the light."
"Alright!" I fumbled to stand up, stretching my hands forward. Accidentally, my right hand brushed against something soft and squishy. It seemed quite elastic. Unable to resist, I squeezed it lightly and immediately realized it must be part of the Golden Robed Woman. Embarrassment washed over me as I froze in place.
"Isn't it comfortable?" The Golden Robed Woman did not move away; instead, she smiled and asked me. At least I didn't feel any anger from her.
"Yeah! It's okay!" I answered honestly.
"You're quite straightforward! I don't like liars." The Golden Robed Woman reached out and took my hand, leading us forward.
After walking for about a hundred meters, the Golden Robed Woman finally let go of my hand, lit a lantern, and I squinted to adjust to the light. Looking around, I saw that everything here was made up of branches about a meter in diameter. Looking down at the branches beneath my feet, I could see that ahead, the foliage was dense and layered, extending far into the distance.
"Let's go." The Golden Robed Woman held the lantern and led the way, while I closely followed behind her.
The further we went in, the thicker the branches underfoot became. Initially, they were over a meter thick, but now they had grown to over five meters in thickness. Looking ahead, almost every branch had a diameter of more than five meters.
"Uh, what should I call you, beautiful?" Feeling a bit bored, I cleared my throat and asked.
"Sadness!" The Golden Robed Woman chuckled lightly.
What the heck? I just asked for your name! What’s there to be sad about? Could it be that your name is something silly like 'Cat' or 'Dog,' which is why you're sad? Just as I was feeling frustrated, the Golden Robed Woman continued, "Sang Ye's Sang, pronounced Xin, Sang Xin."
"Hehe, I'm Zhong Zhengnan!" I found it somewhat amusing and cleared my throat again to hide my laughter. "Can I ask you a question?"
"!"
"Am I really on a tree right now?"
Sang Xin reached out and plucked a leaf from a branch, responding with a question of her own: "Don't you recognize leaves?"
"Uh, I'm just curious. With such thick branches, it must be very heavy. How does it not collapse under its own weight?" I asked.
"The Xuanyuan Ancient Tree is impervious to blades and bullets. For an ancient wonder like this tree, that weight is nothing. You really haven't seen much of the world; you're in for a surprise!" Sang Xin turned to me, looking at me as if I were a country bumpkin.
So this tree is called the Xuanyuan Ancient Tree. No wonder it's so impressive; in my impression, anything with the name Xuanyuan is remarkable, like... the Xuanyuan Sword...
After walking a few dozen meters, we came across a massive wall. The material of the wall was neither metal nor iron, shimmering with a cold light; it must be some kind of special material. Under the lantern's glow, the wall's texture resembled a honeycomb, entirely made up of hexagons. I couldn't see what was inside, and more strangely, the wall seemed to be a giant cylinder enveloping the main trunk of the tree.
In front of us stood a four-meter-high door that also shimmered with cold light, made from the same material.
Sang Xin led me to the door. In the center of it was a Liquid Crystal Display with about ten white dots connected by gray lines.
I was puzzled and looked at Sang Xin.
Sang Xin raised the lantern and smiled at me, "This is a popular sliding unlock mechanism. You just need to draw all these lines without repeating any, and then this door will open. Do you want to give it a try?"
I looked at the chaotic geometric shapes on the screen and smiled wryly, "I'm not good at this!"
Sang Xin gave me a disdainful glance, stepped forward, and swiftly drew several lines on the screen. With a click, the door made a light sound.
"Welcome to Dominion Villa!" Sang Xin gestured for me to enter.
I chuckled and stepped forward, faintly catching a whiff of orchid fragrance that was quite pleasant. I pushed open the iron door, and suddenly light flooded in, momentarily blinding me. After squinting for a while to adjust, I finally opened my eyes and surveyed the world inside.
The entire space was as bright as day. Directly in front of me was a gigantic main trunk. The branches I had walked on earlier were already over ten meters thick, but compared to this trunk, they seemed insignificant. The trunk before me stretched out like a city wall; its diameter was at least one hundred meters wide, with several enormous branches extending outward, each with a diameter of over ten meters.
On various branches, countless large metal houses are suspended. The larger ones are estimated to be around two to three hundred square meters, while the smaller ones measure about forty to fifty square meters. At first glance, it looks like a tree filled with birdcages, though of course, such large birdcages cannot exist in this world.
The branches crisscross like a network of roads, complete with various facilities. Not only are there streetlights and benches for resting, but there are also trash bins on both sides, with groups of pedestrians walking along the paths.
I never expected such a grand setup in the center of the Xuanyuan Ancient Tree. Which real estate developer created these sky villas?
A voice from beside me interrupted my thoughts. It was Sang Xin: “What do you think? Surprised?”
“It’s okay! Is the person accompanying me, Sima Sanguang, also brought here?” I asked, tilting my head. “If everyone is coming here, you didn’t need to split into two groups to bring us.”
“You don’t need to know that much,” Sang Xin replied with a grin, shutting down my question.
Just as I was about to ask something else, Sang Xin raised a hand in a shushing gesture and took out his phone to dial a number: “Nan Zong, the people have been brought here. Yes, yes, okay.”
After hanging up, he closed the iron gate behind him and said to me, “Follow me!”
He led the way ahead while I followed behind. I checked my phone again; it still had no signal. Curiously, I asked, “Why can your phone make calls? Mine has no signal?”
“You don’t need to know that much,” Sang Xin replied cheerfully.
“How rare!”
I followed Sang Xin in silence until we reached the trunk of the Xuanyuan Ancient Tree. There was a circular staircase allowing us to ascend. Along the way, I asked again, “Since this Xuanyuan Ancient Tree is impervious to weapons, how was this staircase installed?”
Sang Xin turned around and smiled at me: “You really don’t need to know that much.”
I... endure...!
Walking to a branch above, Sang Xin led me along the branch until we reached the outermost edge near the Cylinder wall, where we stopped. He pointed to a house hanging in front of us and said, "You can rest in this room."
In front of me was a wrought iron staircase spiraling down directly to the entrance of the room. There was a small balcony of about three or four square meters at the entrance, adorned with various flowers and plants. It was clear that this was a standalone villa with a private garden.
Without saying anything, I walked down the stairs.
"A new colleague will be joining us for the Welcome Dinner tomorrow night. I'll come to get you then. Remember, you must not leave this room unless someone tells you to," Sang Xin said from behind me.
I remained silent and continued down the stairs.
Sang Xin exclaimed, "Aren't you going to say anything to me?"
"You don't need to know that much!"
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