Song of Time – Dusk Awakening Verse

Secret Doubt

The bonfire beside the chariot was burning hot.

The four-person team, who was finally able to regain safety, ate up an iron pan of "Emon's" special egg fried rice, a large pot of essential assorted vegetable soup, and a few bowls of milky cloud sliced ​​sour. Buttermilk, together with Yunuo's specialty of Huadu-dried red fruits, is perfect as an after-dinner dessert.

The Great Swordsman took out a stubby wooden box from his pocket, opened the seal and sprinkled a few times on the buttermilk, a handful of scraps mixed with grass leaves floated into the bowl, and the air suddenly became strange. Fragrance. He packed the wooden box and put the bowl next to Gloria. The girl picked it up unceremoniously, and as soon as she put a spoonful into her mouth, her eyes narrowed.

"It's so delicious! The yogurt really needs to be matched like this to be the most perfect!" With a dim sense of happiness on her face, she couldn't help but dig a big mouthful before turning around to sincerely recommend to her companions, "You come too Try it, it's delicious!"

"I think... the original taste is pretty good, let's forget..." The little doctor who has already had a psychological shadow keeps away the unknown ingredients and seasonings of the Great Swordsman, and is totally unwilling to try again.

Rhea didn't like sweets at all, shook her head and drank a few sour buttermilk, put the bowl aside and spread out the map, frowning and continuing to think about the direction of the next move.

This hidden underground cavern seems to be safe at the moment, at least not found any suspicious monster traces in the range she has patrolled back and forth. Deep in the cave, you can find cold and sweet groundwater. There are fluorescent moss and fungi growing beside the water, which can provide minimal lighting. She even found a few unknown tails in the shallow waterway. The white fish, at least in terms of survival comfort, this place is a perfect refuge.

The only thing that puzzled her was the information revealed by the cave itself: except that the entrance of the cave is slightly narrow, the more you go in, the more the ceiling of the cave extends upwards, and it soon exceeds the visible range of the fluorescent light. She also found traces of manual digging at various corners, as if to deliberately widen this already huge cave.

For what purpose was this place built? When was it abandoned again? She found no words about this cave in all the fortress records she compiled. As a healer who rarely went out, how could Yuno know the existence of this hidden place?

These questions hovered in her mind like a Northland vulture that could not be dispelled, and she involuntarily glanced at the little doctor, but she still did not ask for anything that involves privacy, unless the other party voluntarily confessed. He will never spy.

Yuno naturally felt the gaze projected on him. He had made a decision in his heart at this time. He no longer hesitated. After sipping the dessert, he gently pushed the bowl aside, and after some consideration, he explained it in a low tone. Get up: "Because of some unexpected reason, I came here eight years ago, just before the catastrophe... It was still during the war, and my friends who came with me were also involved in the battle and couldn’t leave. ... At that time I was young and ignorant, I didn't know what fear was, I just felt it was very exciting, now I think about it..."

He lowered his eyelids and sighed, and reached out to put a stick of firewood into the fire: "I remember that was when the Western army launched a general offensive. Everyone rushed to the front line, but we were locked in the conference room and couldn't go out. He was very angry at the time. He... didn't seem to want to waste time in the castle like this, so he took me to find the secret path, and along the secret path we came all the way to the cave..."

"You mean, this cave has a way to the fortress?" Rhea snapped the map together and interrupted him quickly, with a strange surprise on her face.

"Yes, right in the deepest part of the cave. Didn't I... ever mention the secret road?" Yuno recalled what he had said before, and found that this important information was really not mentioned, and suddenly felt really careless and uncomfortable. Wiped his nose.

"I want to confirm it first. If you can enter the fortress through a secret road, you will save a lot of trouble." Rhea was eager in her heart, hurriedly stuffed the map and stood up, her eyes swept over the comrades who were illuminated by the fire. The face seemed to be asking for advice.

"Well, why don't you just go with everyone, just to digest, maybe you can find something good!" Gloria took out the dessert in two or three bites, patted her **** and stood up, and put the bowl into Emmon's hand. A plug, without any explanation, jumped into the chariot, "Come in, don't waste time!"

Immediately after a low hum, the track strips began to rotate. Yuno helped Eamon pack the tableware and got into the carriage. Rhea waited until they all sat down and settled before waving a small ball of ice to extinguish the flames. , Leaped silently, and flashed into the car.

The giant scorpion chariot started again and drove along the puddle to the depths of the cave. The crawler mode is most suitable for this uneven terrain. The body only undulates occasionally, and overall it is fairly stable. Everyone was sitting around the bridge, looking relaxedly at the fluorescent moss that occasionally appeared in the field of vision, and started chatting about the topic just now while doing nothing.

"So, didn't you discover the secret road by accident?" Rhea leaned against the door, leaning forward slightly, wondering.

"I've never been to the fortress, how could I have known it, but he seems... as if he knows this is the case..." Yuno's expression was serious and frowned. To this day, he is still being able to be a friend Knowing the origin of this secret path is hard to understand.

"Is it convenient to reveal his origins?" Rhea still couldn't guess who the "friend" was, hesitated for a moment, and couldn't help asking.

"Sorry, Sister Rhea, it is not convenient for me to talk more about him... But I can assure you that he is very reliable and a very loyal good partner." The little doctor shook his head, earnestly The friend made a promise.

Rhea sighed regretfully without getting the answer she wanted, and fell silent. The carriage was dead and without vitality. In order to disturb the embarrassing atmosphere, Gloria deliberately laughed and said, "Eight years ago you were only eight years old. You dare to go to the battlefield like this!? You are more powerful, even this lady will bow down to the wind!"

"What's great, but I followed it sneakily..." Yuno smiled bitterly and shook his head, "If the war was tense at the time, he would have been..."

He suddenly paused, his lips trembling slightly, but he could not make any sound, as if his ability to make a sound was instantly taken away. He thought he had finally made up his mind to face the memory calmly, but the facts proved that the pain accumulated over the years was far more difficult to overcome than he thought.

I can't escape anymore, cheer up, Yuno! Be brave... he kept shouting in his heart, wanting to gain enough strength to support it, but when he took a deep breath, and finally uttered the words "Send me back", he seemed to be He hung his head as if he was weighing down, as if he had just been sitting still.

There was no one in the compartment to speak anymore. In this embarrassing low pressure, only Amon looked as usual. Perhaps it should be said that he has no extra expressions to replace.

Fortunately, this dark and vast underground cave was not too deep. Not long after it had been opened, a whole uneven stalactite wall appeared in front of it, completely blocking the road. It seemed that this was the end of the cave.

Everyone filed out of the car. Although the mood was a little depressed, the little doctor tried to cheer up, and through the shining of the car lights and fluorescent lights, carefully examined this seemingly familiar but actually strange secret.

The environment here is very different from the entrance of the cave. The large flat stone bricks on the ground were obviously laid manually. When I took a close look at the lamp, I could find many black marks that had been crushed by the machine. On both sides of the stone wall, there are many rotten wooden boxes and wooden frames, and a few piles of torn black coarse cloth. Gloria, who is thinking about treasure hunting, rushes in. She just turned over a few times and was rotten. After the wooden shelf collapsed, it smelled of mildew and smoked back.

"Bah, baah, they are all rusty iron bumps, not even a decent thing, huh!" She hummed disgustingly with her eyebrows rolled, looked at the black dust on her hands, and hurried to the side. I washed my hands next to the waterway, and yelled at the ice-like temperature again.

"This place has been abandoned for a long time, and I don't know who built it..." Yuno walked up to the pile of rotten wood and looked at it a few times, pointing to a clearing next to the pile of rags, and said, "There were still racks there. A test-type Lettering aircraft, so I guess this cave may be a hidden aircraft experiment base."

"Lettering aircraft..." Rhea murmured thoughtfully. Of course she knew this newest small flying machine in service. The double wings and sword-shaped body like a bird make this aircraft have an excellent Flexible air strike capability has now become the main development direction of the Federal Air Force.

But why set up an experimental base in this dark cave? Any existing aircraft test site requires a lot of manpower and material resources, whether it is testing or assembly and maintenance. This remote and hidden cave simply cannot meet the requirements. Perhaps it is more likely that this is an escape route secretly prepared by the military... She thought of aircraft. There was a guess in his heart, but he didn't say much, and urged the little doctor to continue searching for that secret path.

"I can remember this very clearly, right behind the waterway over there." Yuno greeted everyone to follow, fumbled for a while on the rock wall next to the waterway, and found the mechanism button in an inconspicuous gap. He was overjoyed and pressed the mechanism eagerly. With the sound of low and rough friction, the smooth rock wall in front of him suddenly dented and moved to the side, exposing a circular hole about one meter high.

Rhea raised the fluorite lamp and took a picture inside. The dense road was covered with neat gray bricks. No obvious signs of damage were seen. There were also a lot of fluorite embedded on the top. Under the low light, countless sudden ventilation could be seen. And the flying dust.

"Great!" She clenched her fists in excitement, a blush flashed across her face. With this secret path, entering the fortress is no more barrier-free, and more importantly, in case of any irresistible danger in the fortress, they can also use the secret path to get out quickly, which really makes her feel the worry. Went more than half.

"You are really our lucky star!" She couldn't help but stretched out her hand and rubbed the little doctor's head, regardless of how much surprise this would arouse him.

"Hey, this lady has done too much too! If it weren't for me, he couldn't find the entrance!" The girl who had washed her hands hurriedly jumped back to ask for her credit. Rhea saw her cheeks puffed up and was not convinced. Amused and laughed out loud.

"Well, everyone knows you are the best... Let's set up camp under that rock wall, and set off at dawn tomorrow morning." The obstacle to the way forward has been cleared, and when she relaxed her mind, she rarely teased and touched it. In the gap, press the mechanism to close the secret crossing again, and walk to the chariot to prepare the tent and camp tools.

The group worked together, and soon built a fire again, nailed the thick tarp tent, sat around chatting a few words and assigned the night vigil arrangement, then each got into the warm sleeping bag to rest.

There is always a lingering coldness in the damp cave, and even if you have fallen into a dream, you can't get rid of its entanglement.

Yuno was not sleeping peacefully. Half-dreaming and half-awake, he seemed to have seen the past again, and seemed to have returned to the cataclysm. But this time, all the figures in his field of vision were like painted painted paintings, blurred and erratic, and there seemed to be some power in it. Prevent him from gaining memory.

He was anxious in his heart, perseveringly chasing the flying phantoms and running, without knowing that they were tired, but in an instant, all those figures disappeared without warning. Immediately afterwards, he heard a low, weird laughter coming from behind, and turned his head in horror. A black shadow suddenly rushed towards him, expelling him from the dream.

"Ah..." He woke up from the nightmare, subconsciously wanted to whisper, but was immediately covered by someone and dragged it over.

Rhea clutched his mouth tightly and pulled him to her side, then turned her head to stare at the barely visible slit in the tent entrance, her serious expression was incredibly surprised.

The little doctor was taken aback by her, and he shook his arm twice before reacting. He patted the opponent's arm awkwardly to signal to release, and looked around with holding his breath. The inside and outside of the tent were all dark. Everyone was surrounded by the entrance, which was tightly covered by the curtain, and looked like they were waiting, and they didn't know what happened.

Since he couldn't ask aloud, he could only carefully leaned into the slit of the curtain and looked out. Under the weak illumination of the fluorescent moss, he could vaguely see a lot of small black shadows appearing beside the waterway not far away, along the water. Pan lined up and walked forward slowly, seemingly crowded, but hardly heard any sound.

Because the light is too weak, he can't tell what the dark shadows are. He can only guess that it may be some unknown underground monsters. Their size is very different from their counterparts on the ground. The shortest one seems to be connected. He didn't reach his knees.

The group of beasts kept moving forward in silence, and the camp was silent, until the figure of the last monster staggered around the corner, he breathed a sigh of relief, only to feel cold sweat on his forehead.

"What are those...?" He suppressed his voice extremely low, and asked carefully in Ria's ear.

"...It's no different from the monsters above, but it's reduced in size... Maybe it's a monster cub." Riya finished her muttering and was silent, still squatting and staring at the dimly covered area outside the tent. , Beware of the sudden appearance of the next batch of little black shadows.

"Cubs!? Monster cubs!? They, aren't they the product of chaos and supernatural power?" Yunok never heard anything about monster cubs, mumbling stupidly, and looking at the other two companions as if to verify. go with.

"I've never heard of it... There will be such a cub... It's really an amazing discovery!" Gloria jumped up excitedly, pacing small steps back and forth in the tent, her eyes straight. Jin Guang, "If this lady can catch one and go back, she will definitely make a fortune! No, no, such a good opportunity must not be let go. You have to think about it, and think about it...Ouch!"

Rhea threw a small ice pellet on her forehead with a backhand, and scolded without looking back: "Don't think about it all day long, until you understand their threat, you are not allowed to go crazy!"

"Huh, so fierce, be careful not to marry..." The girl whispered, and then moved to Emon to please, "Now, big man, this difficult task is left to you, okay?"

The Great Swordsman closed his eyes and motionless from beginning to end. He lifted his eyelids when he heard this question. He quietly looked at the girl for a few seconds, but he was indifferent. He closed his eyes without saying anything and continued his constant meditation for thousands of years. .

"If you don't speak, I'll assume you agreed!" The girl turned around in a circle with joy, and then secretly stuck her tongue out at the back of the female archer.

"But, those, those monster cubs... why are they here? And the way the line was going forward just now... is it too weird?" Yuno's doubts grew thicker, and even a sense of absurdity emerged. , Because for a moment, he actually felt that those monsters were wise.

"The cave is so big, there must be other entrances and exits. It seems that they are more like regulars here... In short, we have to be more cautious." Rhea finally confirmed that there was no more movement around, and put the curtains The junction was tightened again, and then he turned his head and glanced at everyone, his expression still tense, without a slight smile.

There will be cubs among the monsters. Even if they are as experienced as her, they have never encountered it before... This sudden guess disturbed her for a moment. Perhaps the upper level of the guild had already received some trouble, and only then specially released a mission to confirm it. Some? She has no way of knowing this, but the seriousness of this matter is self-evident-if monsters can really reproduce offspring, their number will increase geometrically, and in a few years I am afraid...

"Let’s rest for a while, we will leave at dawn." She didn’t dare to guess anymore, rubbed her forehead with a little fatigue, and sat opposite Eamon next to the entrance, as if two door gods were guarding one by one. Got this little tent.

The teenagers looked at each other, did not speak any more, each retreated into the bed with their own thoughts, and tried to fall asleep again.

The tent was still quiet, but the night covered by doubts was destined to be difficult to restore the tranquility that he had before.