Chapter 122 The wandering man chases the phantom.
The location is not far away. Here is a monument placed in an open space.
There is actually more than one such monument in Nanling, and it can be seen everywhere in some heroic cities.
Because these monuments represent a past event, a disaster that caused many lives.
Shadow world.
Its existence itself is a disaster, bringing countless pain and death.
The monument in front of me is already a few years old. It was a stone tablet from more than fifty years ago. So now, not many people come to worship. There are only a few flowers placed in front of the monument, and some remains left after burning. of ashes.
The old man Liu Huai put the things in front of the monument. His expression was neither surprised nor strange. He just stared calmly at the densely packed names on the three-meter-high monument and spoke calmly.
"Sister, are you okay down there?"
"Brother, I'm getting older, and the sequelae are getting more and more serious. This time, I came a long time too late. If I hadn't met a kind-hearted little girl, I would have been here for a while. I can't even remember it for a moment, so you won't blame me."
Stroking the stone tablet, the incense burned quietly, white smoke floated up, and the wrinkles on the old man's face were obviously more wrinkled.
"It would be great if you could still blame me."
He looked at the name on the stele, touched the carvings on it, and smiled softly: "But it's almost over, brother will go down soon, I probably don’t have long to live... If I wait a little longer, I can talk to you properly. I have done a lot of things over the years, but none of them are as good as before, none of them..." He said
. He stopped, feeling a little more choked up in his throat.
He said many, many words to the stone tablet.
He mentioned his family, his sons, daughters and grandchildren, his old comrades-in-arms, and many more words.
Su Ruoji sat on the chair next to her and swayed her calves, not deliberately listening or keeping quiet.
When the time for one stick of incense has passed, the incense has been burned, and the old man has finished worshiping his relatives.
"Child, are you hungry? Want a steamed bun?" The old man took out a white-flour steamed bun and said, "I made it myself, grandpa." "Isn't
this a sacrifice?" Su Ruoji blinked and asked, "Can it be eaten?"
"It's edible, she won't care." The old man also took out a steamed bun and took a bite: "It's so sweet."
Su Ruo took a bite of the steamed bun, chewed it, and immediately her eyes lit up: "It's really sweet. "
I'm afraid children won't be able to eat such authentic white flour steamed buns now." The old man laughed. Seeing Su Ruo devouring it, he hurriedly asked: "Eat slowly, eat slowly, don't choke, there is no one I'll grab it from you."
Su Ruoji nodded and continued to nibble on the steamed buns. She really hadn't eaten much steamed buns, but she had eaten a lot of steamed buns, and she happened to be a little hungry.
At this time, Liu Huai saw someone coming to pay respects. It was an old man in a wheelchair.
"Old Liu?" The other party also saw Liu Huai and shouted.
"Sister Zhang?" The old man immediately stood up and went over to greet her.
Su Ruoji didn't like to interrupt others, but she was bored after eating the steamed buns. Children just can't sit still and ran away more than ten meters away in a short while.
She saw a cat, so she tore off a piece of steamed bun and handed it over... Children don't know that cats don't eat steamed buns.
While she was tugging at the cat, she didn't realize anything was wrong. She didn't notice the black shadow spreading from under the streetlight in front of her.
Liu Huaizheng was chatting with his old friend, and suddenly a familiar call seemed to ring in his ears.
……elder brother!
Liu Huai stopped talking and suddenly looked back. What he saw was the shadow spreading out, and Su Ruo fell into it.
The little girl seemed to have fallen into the water like a pebble. If she hadn't looked back this time, she would never have been able to detect it no matter how much she looked for it.
The shadow world is like this, sometimes it comes with a huge force like a storm announcing its existence; sometimes it comes like a floating cloud, and no one notices it coming and going.
The only difference is that it is not so beautiful and may take away a fresh life every time it appears.
This scene is like a reappearance of the scene fifty years ago.
But fifty years ago, he was just an ordinary ten-year-old boy who knew nothing and understood nothing.
Watching her sister being devoured, she stood there, unable to do anything, not daring to get close or to hold her outstretched hand.
It was like a nightmare that had haunted him for decades.
I woke up from my dream for a long time, remembering my sister's cry of 'brother'.
Nightmare and reality overlapped, flashing back and forth in his memory.
At this moment, the figures of the two little girls overlapped in his eyes.
The person standing there was clearly his sister.
The old man's body stiffened for a second, and that short second seemed like a century.
He seemed to have returned to the age of ten again, turning back into a weak and helpless boy looking at his sister who was swallowed up by the shadow world.
He had a splitting headache, and the pain caused by the confusion of memory tore his soul apart, and his entire soul went back and forth between the past and reality.
His amnesia struck again.
He faced himself again, and once again saw the ten-year-old boy deep in his soul.
That weak, powerless self.
His soul was screaming, and the tearing pain was like his body split in two.
The young man and the old man were at war with each other.
The young man himself was wailing and crying, but his legs were trembling and he dared not take a step.
The old self stared silently, his eyes became a little distracted, and his memory and consciousness gradually became blurred and drifted away.
A strong sadness was about to overwhelm him...but at this moment, another voice sounded.
"Grandpa..."
was Su Ruoji's cry.
It was her asking for help.
So, both the crying young man and the silent old man in the soul took a step at the same time.
The dust in his eyes was dispersed, and he was already conscious and clear when he took the first step.
Youth and old age merged together and became himself running.
All this only passed in a short second.
A tsunami-like force erupted from Liu Huai's decaying body. The powerful Gang Qi surged through his body, roaring high-spirited, like an angry mountain dragon.
Even if this directly affected his internal injuries and made his already old and damaged organs even more fragmented, he didn't care.
pain?
So what if it hurts!
He couldn't wait, not even a moment, a minute, a second, a moment.
How much time and pain does it take to turn a boy into a man?
Maybe it’s fifty years of guilt and powerlessness.
Maybe it was a heartbreaking moment.
The old man's eyes turned red in an instant, and the roar he made carried out the decision he had made in his life since childhood.
Liu Huai rushed towards the direction of the shadow world, falling towards the shadow world like an arrow from a string, and ran towards the place where the little girl was.
It’s as if I’m chasing fifty years of time that I can never catch up with.
Not knowing whether it is true or false, wandering people chase phantoms.
Fifty years ago, he did not dare to move forward, or maybe it was just a second or two too late.
This time, he was not slow.
The old man hugged Su Ruoji and protected her in his arms, as if he was grabbing his sister's clothes.
The two fell into the shadow world together.
The crowd behind them made panicked noises and shouted, 'Call the police!'
...
As if passing through a layer of water curtain, Liu Huai's back hit the ground and he let out a muffled groan.
This level of damage alone wasn't enough to send him into shock, but what really hurt was the impact pulling on his old injuries.
After fifty years of military life, less than 5% of people can leave the front line alive. Everyone has experienced countless deadly battles.
Holding back the blood that flowed back in his throat, he swallowed the foam and asked in as calm a voice as possible: "Are you okay, kid?" "
Well, I'm okay." Su Ruoji raised her cheek: "I'm okay, Grandpa Liu."
"It's okay if it's okay." Liu Huai inspected it carefully and said as if he was treating a rare treasure: "It's okay if it's okay."
He caught it.
He caught up.
This alone made him extremely happy and overjoyed.
"Are you okay?" Su Ruoji asked in a low voice, reaching out and touching the blood that overflowed from the corner of his mouth: "Does it hurt?" "
I..." Liu Huai looked at the gentle little girl, and the tough man almost wanted to With tears in her eyes: "I don't hurt, not at all. Grandpa is fine."
Su Ruoji didn't understand why grandpa was crying, and he was smiling even though he was crying.
She just thought that he must be in pain, but adults can't just cry or shout that it hurts.
Liu Huai sat up and stood up again.
At this time, his heart was like a fire burning, and an unprecedented strength filled his body, suppressing all the pain.
He originally thought that he would die on the battlefield and burn himself for Daxia. He also regretted why he could not die on the battlefield and lingered on, refusing to see his relatives and comrades.
After this monument, he did not plan to come out again. He had already planned to return home, and then stay there quietly, waiting to die quietly.
But at this time, he was filled with joy.
Maybe the reason why I am alive is for the present.
In order to make up for the regret, in order to be able to go underground to see my sister with a relieved smile!
At this moment, he didn't even think about how to get out alive, he only thought about using everything he had to protect this girl. This was the redemption he had missed for fifty years, and even the gods in the sky could not take her away.
Liu Huai took out the rock gun he carried with him. He never left this weapon and used it for fifty years.
The barrels of the spear were connected one by one, and he held the spear and looked around.
Although he has experienced countless life-and-death battles in the past fifty years of guarding the border, this is the first time he has walked alone in the shadow world.
This is not even a shadow layer, but a matte layer that is even more dangerous than the shadow layer.
The disaster beasts and shadow species walking here range from first level to third level. In his condition, it is extremely difficult for a second level person to deal with them.
Ordinary people must have found a safe place to hide and wait for Chang Yesi's rescue.
But Liu Huai's experience told him that there should be a staircase leading to the shadow layer near here.
He held Su Ruoji's hand and asked, "Are you afraid?"
Su Ruoji nodded: "A little, but I will be obedient."
"Good boy." Liu Huai thought to himself, what a good boy, as well-behaved as his sister. Obedient: "Grandpa will definitely take you out!"
He said this not only to give his children hope, but also to give himself confidence.
He is not that kind of particularly good warrior, neither a king of soldiers nor a special team of the military, but a mediocre person who has managed to survive fifty years to become a third-level extraordinary person.
Why do you call me mediocre? Because in the border area, there are opportunities everywhere. Geniuses can often break through to the third level in half a year at the border. The disciples of Wusheng Pavilion came here to practice for only half a year and then left. They were not as good as him when they came. When the time came, he was thrown thousands of miles away.
After fifty years of crawling around in such a dangerous place, he never shied away from a fight. He received many rewards and opportunities, but they were only at the third level... This had already drained all his potential.
He is definitely not a genius, he is at best a mediocre person... He is almost the same as Guo Jing. He is nothing more than a man who dares to fight, study hard and practice hard to survive.
And now, he was a little scared to death.
It's not that he's afraid of his own death, but that he's afraid that he won't be able to complete his mission and send the child away.
This is what he fears the most!
He said this, holding the rock spear and walking forward.
ten minutes.
twenty minutes.
thirty minutes.
The next step is a blood mark.
More than ten shadow aliens and disaster beasts have been killed, but his walking speed is getting slower and slower, and the staircase has been seen.
But he didn't dare to go any further.
A third-level disaster beast was guarding there, and it was eyeing him.
How was it discovered?
Liu Huai didn't understand.
But soon, he also understood.
"My child, are you of heroic blood?" he asked.
"What is the bloodline of heroic spirits?"
Su Ruoji didn't know. Although she was very active by nature, she was no longer active after seeing the fighting along the way. Instead, her face turned pale with fear.
Liu Huai smiled bitterly, the heroic bloodline, the heroic bloodline of a child. Because he is still young, he cannot control the mystery flowing in his blood. This is the best tonic for disaster beasts and alien species.
No wonder he was targeted.
He could only retreat and hold Su Ruoji to avoid more disaster beasts to delay time.
But he was injured and couldn't walk fast.
Such delay is meaningless and will only lead to encirclement.
And Chang Yesi has not arrived yet... If it is the shadow layer, he must have arrived, but this is the matte layer. You need to enter the shadow layer before positioning. There will be a large error. If you are unlucky, you will miss three or four times in a row. Every time is possible.
"There's no time." Liu Huai felt that he was getting increasingly weak.
He picked up Su Ruoji and put her into the basement of a long-abandoned house.
"Stay here well...don't come out if you don't hear anyone calling you outside." Liu Huai whispered: "Understood?" Su
Ruoji immediately shook his head: "Grandpa, come in too!"
"Grandpa won't go in. , stay well, good boy, and be obedient."
Liu Huai smiled and gently touched Su Ruoji's hair. Guilt, relief, and regret flashed in his eyes, and finally they all turned into relief.
He closed the basement door, stood guard at the door, and raised the rock spear.
There is actually a kind of courage to take care of one man.
The veteran of hundreds of battles laughed loudly, his bloody clothes fluttering like a fierce flag.
Lifting the spear with a bang, all he needed was a jug of wine to drink.
"Stand firm as a rock, I will never waver!"
"Today I deserve to die."
"What a pain!"
"Happy!!"
(End of this chapter)