The red moon returns

Chapter 485: Tindalos City (two chapters in one)

When Lynch opened his mind and used his consciousness to perceive everything around him, the whole world seemed to become two in his cognition.

One is the spiritual horizon, the field of vision is getting more and more distant, and the light column is getting smaller and smaller. Then countless similar light columns enter the spiritual horizon, countless blue light columns are densely intertwined, weaving into a three-dimensional net in the dark chaos, extending endlessly to the end of perception. In each light column, there is a blue light stream flowing slowly, like a torrent rushing in a river.

The torrent of time, the river of time, is indeed very vivid.

From another perspective, it was still what Lynch saw, but at some point, his sight had been able to penetrate the blue light beams around him and see everything clearly under his feet.

It felt a bit like looking down on an area from a high altitude, but what he saw was a little beyond his understanding.

There was no longer a pitch-black chaos below. Through the blue halo, one could see countless strange worms emitting faint light and wriggling in the darkness.

These worms were of different lengths and thicknesses, and they slowly stretched and wriggled in the darkness, just like earthworms burrowing deep underground, but their numbers were far denser than earthworms. Looking down, within the range of vision, hundreds of millions of densely packed "earthworms" filled Lynch's entire consciousness.

Lin Qi opened his mouth wide for a long time without making any sound. He stared blankly at the spectacular and strange scene below for a long time before he said in a dry voice: "What are these things?"

"What consciousness observes is the whole picture of the river of time. Oh, it is the part you can perceive. In fact, except for the gods, no mortal creature can perceive its true whole picture. The specific explanation is more complicated. In short, all the time in the entire world and every branch of it, after being corrected by the power of the law, is presented like this. And what you directly observe is the time corresponding to our current point on this branch of time in the normal world. I think you have a better understanding ability than most people in this era, so you should understand it. Well, it's good to understand. As for the specific time, it is a bit troublesome to measure, and there is no need to do so. I estimate that it is probably the end of the Quaternary Period."

"What about those glittering worms?" This question also concerned Lynch.

"Worms? Oh, that's all you normally see."

"what?"

"When we are in the River of Time, everything in the normal world appears in this form in our observation. If we look at you, your two girlfriends, or even Milt's house, we will see the same state."

"Why is this happening?"

"The relative coordinates are different. When we observe the outside world in the river of time, we don't see what they did at a certain moment, but the traces left in time throughout their lives. Every moment of its life will leave traces in time. These images come together to form the time traces you see. Each time trace represents a conceptual individual."

"Does length mean how long they exist?"

"Yes, the longer ones are mostly objects, and the shorter ones are living things. Since the lifespans of living things are not very different, there is no obvious difference."

Even with the acceptance accumulated from his previous life, Lynch still found it very difficult to understand. He moved along the same angle in silence, watching the worms below, representing the trajectory of time, wriggling back and forth along some kind of strange trajectory. It was as if he saw countless ordinary, diligent people living a monotonous life, being born, growing up, getting married and having children, and eventually disappearing in the depths of time.

I feel a little emotional.

"What about the Supreme? Even if the gods are not eternal, their time must be extremely long. But I haven't found anything like this."

"..." A feeling of obvious speechlessness and contempt came from his consciousness. After a moment, Yis resumed communication, "You want to observe the gods?"

Oh yeah, I forgot that gods are unobservable and incomprehensible, and those who try to do so die in turmoil.

Lin Qi smiled awkwardly and was about to change the subject, but the next moment, the scene in front of him suddenly changed.

The billions of worms decreased dramatically, from densely packed throughout the field of vision to a sparse population of less than one percent, leaving Lynch stunned.

"It should be some kind of disaster, and it may have killed many lives." The Yiss man's tone was emotionless, as if he was talking about tomorrow's weather. "Hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, but a volcano is more likely."

"What about the great disaster?"

"It won't be a catastrophe. A catastrophe would cause more people to disappear, and it would be very obvious in the river of time."

Lin Qi nodded, stared at the worm world below, and asked thoughtfully:

"So, if we jump into the river of time, it means we travel to another point in time?"

"That's true, but I don't recommend you do that. Unless you can return to the River of Time by your own power, or get help from other people with time abilities, you will stay at that point in time forever. Everything you do will face resistance that may change the original course of time. Most things will fail. For example, those who are particularly unlucky will never be able to return to the 'present' until they die."

Lynch subconsciously took a step back and left his original position.

"No, you entered the River of Time in the form of a materialized spirit, and you were guided by the Silver Key. There may be other changes, but I am not sure what they are."

The corners of Lynch's mouth twitched. The more he listened, the more he wanted to end this journey as soon as possible.

Although the direct danger was reduced after blocking the hound's perception, everything here was beyond Lynch's cognitive limit, and every action seemed to hide irresistible danger. One wrong step would lead to serious consequences.

It is not advisable to stay here for a long time, and the hounds here are indeed extremely dense. In the short process of entering the River of Time, he has encountered five waves of hounds in groups preying on the fragments of time. Seeing another large group of blue dogs in front, Lynch was frightened.

"I understand. Anyway, I will try to stay away from other time points as much as possible. Anyway, I don't know how to get in. Well, I'd better find the Lord of Tindalos as soon as possible and finish the job. How can I find the corner of time and go in to see the Lord of Tindalos?"

"Pay attention to your mental vision, the intertwining web of time."

"Yes, I see. Do you mean the angle between the branches?"

"No, that's called a branch of the timeline, not a corner of time. You need to look at the nearest 'rivers' under your feet. If the angle of view is right, there will be two or more 'rivers' forming an 'angle' less than 120 degrees, which is the corner of time. If the angle of view is not right, you need to adjust your point and find a suitable position so that there is a 'corner' formed under your feet, and then you can enter. So there is no need to look for it specifically, all corners are connected, as long as you enter, you can follow the trail of the hounds and find the Lord of Tindalos."

"Then what? What will happen when I throw the box to it?" Lynch stopped and asked, "I have only asked this question now, which fully demonstrates my trust and respect. But if I don't ask it now, it's not respect but stupidity. So, what is that box? What will happen after it gets it?"

"Status block."

"Huh? What's that?"

"That is our Yis people's technology, which can help the Lord of Tindalos turn the tide in this war."

"What war?"

"The war between Yog-Sothoth, the Lord of Billions of Lights, and Msisha, the Lord of Tindalos, spans all time. So, even if you smash a stasis block on its face, Msisha won't do anything to you, at least in theory."

"What about actually?" The Yis man's voice fell silent. The long silence made Lynch sigh softly, realizing that the other party could not guarantee it.

But at least he didn't lie or be perfunctory. Showing this level of goodwill was enough. Lynch nodded and, following the previous instructions, began to try to find the right angle.

From the perspective of the body, Lynch roams in time, traveling back and forth through the ages. Blue beams of light extend forward with his footsteps, and billions of time worms stretch and wriggle under his feet.

In the vision of his mind, the spherical network was slowly rotating, requiring Lynch to carefully adjust the angle, trying to piece together an angle of less than one hundred and twenty degrees under his feet.

This is not an easy task. On the one hand, the spherical network composed of time is too large, and it takes a long distance to turn a very small angle. On the other hand, the river of time formed by these light beams is not a straight line but a curve, and the angles between them are almost greater than 120 degrees. It takes patience to adjust to a suitable angle.

Of course there is a third aspect, which is the endless amount of hounds running past from time to time.

As the only inhabitants of the River of Time, the actions of the hounds are governed only by appetite and commands. They are commanded by Msissa, the Lord of Tindalos, and live in the city of Tindalos, deep in the Horn of Time or Horn-shaped Time. Only when they are hungry will they jump into the normal curved time to devour the crumbs of time.

According to popular science of the Yis people, they are individuals composed of dust of time. They are usually in atomized form and only condense into solid form at the moment of attack. Therefore, they can only be harmed by counterattacking at this moment, so they can pass through the human body at will.

Even without the Yis's warning, Lynch was unwilling to let these seemingly insubstantial monsters penetrate him. It felt like a cold wind passing through his body, which was very uncomfortable. Therefore, every time Lynch encountered them, he would avoid them from a distance, which undoubtedly greatly increased the difficulty of adjusting the angle. He didn't know how long he had spent. Finally, in his mind's vision, the river of time under his feet twisted into a suitable angle.

Licking his lips nervously, Lynch stopped and looked around. The river of time remained the same as always, and there was no change just because he was standing in this corner.

"The river of time belongs to curved time, while the corner of time we are going to belongs to angular time, which is equivalent to an isolated island in the river. There is a barrier between the two, but observation cannot see through the barrier."

"How to get there?"

“This world is based on consciousness, and all changes depend on consciousness.”

"By depositing cash?"

The Yisi person said slowly: "Yes, but it's useless now. We need to wait."

"Hmm? Until when?"

"I don't know... right now."

The sudden acceleration of the sound made Lynch's heart tighten, and then he saw the blue light spots around him surging, and countless clouds of smoke spewed out out of thin air, quickly twisting and surging in the light spots, and gathering into shape.

The hounds are out.

Lynch understood what he meant and thought about it in his mind. The next moment, the light and shadow around him changed.

"The barriers of curved time and angular time are very strong. Even legendary warriors cannot break them. But for hounds, it's as easy as jumping out of water. And we use them to break the ripples on the river surface and sneak into their territory."

The Yis people explained to Lynch what had just happened, but Lynch didn't listen.

He was almost going crazy.

It was the first time he knew that the so-called distortion was not only a conceptual description but also a real description.

Because Lin Qi found that his body was strangely stretched into a long strip, and then spiraled upwards in circles. The same was true for his hands and feet, strangely stretched and spiraled. If his consciousness had not remained in his body, he would not even dare to believe that this strange spiral twisted object was actually a human being.

Then he realized that he had left the river of time where he was originally and appeared in an even more bizarre space.

There is no sky, no earth, no sun, moon or stars. There is a thin mist floating in the air, which emits a deep blue light. Everything around looks hazy and like a dream.

Nightmare.

There are countless similar buildings standing around, made up of fog, also twisting upward in spirals, pointing straight to the sky like tall towers. The edges of the fog twitch and shake from time to time, but never dissipate.

Between the tall towers, countless hounds were lying or standing.

They can be identified as hounds simply because of their color and size, but in fact they have been stretched into long strips and then twisted into a pile, making it impossible to recognize their original appearance.

"This is the city of Tindalos, the territory of the Lord of Tindalos hidden deep in the isolated island." As if sensing Lynch's inner shock, the Yis took the initiative to explain, "In the corner of time, time and space have been distorted. What you see is the image that is fed back into your consciousness and you can understand it. So no matter what you see, don't be surprised. They are essentially no different from what you see outside."

"No, I'm surprised... I can still be alive after being twisted like this?"

"Theoretically, no. It is difficult for normal life to enter angular time. But you are a spiritual body now, not a physical body. You don't need to worry about life issues."

"Okay, but there are buildings here? Those are buildings, right?"

"Animals also build nests. Buildings are not the privilege of intelligent creatures. Moreover, although Msisha has not been able to control divine power, it is enough to compete with Yog-Sothoth for the authority of time. Its wisdom far exceeds that of mortals. It is not surprising that there are buildings in its territory."

While communicating in his consciousness, Lynch suddenly heard a real voice.

This was the first time he heard a real voice since entering the River of Time.

"Ow~~~"

A long wolf howl, with great penetrating power, went straight into his ears. The howl carried a strong deterrent force, which made Lynch feel a strong pressure in an instant, and he couldn't help but want to crawl on his knees.

However, before kneeling down, a sense of arrogance rose from my chest.

I am a time traveler, I am Luna's neighbor, and I am also a practitioner of the path to immortality. I don't care who you are. If you want me to bow down and kneel down to you, you are not qualified.

Get out of my way.

(End of this chapter)