Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 128 Camping in the wilderness?
As dusk approaches, the forest gradually darkens, and the dim light shines into people's eyes, bringing a deep sense of dusk. The wind also becomes cold, whistling through the bleak forest, giving people a gloomy feeling.

Occasionally, if you look up inadvertently, you can see through the gaps between the branches and leaves a huge orange-red fireball gradually sinking, with half of its shadow swallowed up by the outline of the mountains. The remaining light flows over like a tide, dyeing the forest layer by layer, and the endless darkness is a rare sight for people who have been trapped in the city for a long time. Even in the city of Rustin, which lives in harmony with nature, you can never see such a pure and natural sunset scene.

As the sun sets, the night falls silently. It will take some time for the silver moon to reach the dawn. Before that, the world is in a dark stage, especially in the mountains covered by dense forests. If it weren't for the luminous moss on the tree roots, bluestones and cliffs lighting up and releasing weak fluorescence, it would be difficult for travelers to see what is within a meter in front of them.

A night like this is obviously not suitable for moving forward, and many wild beasts are nocturnal. For them, night only symbolizes the beginning of the hunting season. Even in the dark, their eyes are as sharp as swords, their ears are keen to capture any movement, and their claws move silently. They are simply born for killing.

Lingge didn't want to use his own body to test how sharp the hunter's claws were, so after nightfall, he took his companions to look for a temporary resting place nearby. Finally, they found a cliff sheltered from the wind. There were several tall and sturdy wild oak trees growing here. They were arranged in a triangle and surrounded a flat open space. The lush branches and leaves blocked the cold wind. As a temporary residence for travelers to avoid the night, it was the most suitable choice.

A few hundred years ago, you might have found camps left by adventurers or hunting cabins left by hunters in the woods, but now they have all decayed beyond recognition, submerged in a sea of ​​vines and shrubs, or even become the dens of some wild beasts. This seems to mean that in the Sosen Mountains, civilization will be assimilated by nature and become its protector.

Linger placed his backpack at the root of the tree, picked up some dead branches and leaves nearby, gathered them in the middle of the clearing, and then took out the matches he carried with him and began to try to make a fire. In the wild era, fire was a symbol of civilization, bringing the heat that was indispensable for survival, and also to drive away the wild beasts lurking in the forest, so that the flying sparks could burn into the depths of their flickering eyes.

The goblin Xie Mi flew around a few wild oak trees, patting their trunks like an experienced lumberjack, then nodded with satisfaction, and the butterfly wings behind him cast bursts of dreamy light, and he whispered: "Fairy magic--"

"As you wish, strange changes!"

As the voice fell, under the power of the magical fairy magic, the three ordinary wild oak trees suddenly underwent strange changes: their branches began to stretch, like the arms of a giant, and finally hooked together, with the branches and leaves above tightly entwined, forming a circle around the open space; the vines clinging to the branches also grew at an astonishing speed, and in the blink of an eye they fell to the ground, firmly rooted in the soft soil, closing the open space in the middle like a wall, forming a very solid shelter.

"call!"

Shaymi wiped the sweat from his forehead, looked at the tree canopy dome and vine wall he had created with his own hands with great pride, and said happily, "Great, it really worked! Although my elder sister told me similar examples when she taught me magic, this is my first time trying it!"

"Whoosh!"

Metien gathered the fallen leaves at the roots of the trees, compacted them carefully, and covered them with blankets to make simple bedding, which would definitely be warmer at night than sleeping in a bed; Linger took a few branches of suitable shapes and made them into a support, poured the water carefully prepared by Master Shelia into the pot she carried with her, and placed it on the fire to heat it; Saint Shallia led the lamb and searched for unrotten acorns on the leaf-covered land. When the lamb dug an acorn out of the ground, Saint Shallia would immediately put it away and tell it to wash it before eating it, completely ignoring its sad eyes... The simple camp was instantly filled with a homely warmth.

The treetops above our heads seemed to have grown more luxuriant, tightly blocking the sky above the open space. Even if it rained, there was no need to worry about rain falling in and wetting the warm fallen leaves on the ground.

Lingge finally lit a cluster of flames, like a red star in the forest. He leaned over carefully and blew gently with his mouth, letting the flames spread among the dry branches and leaves, gradually forming a bright bonfire. When the branches and leaves crackled and burned, the flames leaped and golden red sparks flew, bringing warmth and light to the travelers in the darkness.

Alice, who had watched the entire construction process, asked curiously, "What happens if it doesn't work?"

"Hmm?" Shaymi hesitated. "I'm not sure. Maybe these oak trees will turn into dryads and attack us?"

"You guy!"

Alice was extremely angry. It was fine to buff the enemy to increase the difficulty of the battle, but she even wanted to kill wild monsters in the safe zone. You are still a human being: "Don't use magic you are not proficient in, asshole!" "Isn't this successful? It's because you are too fussy, Alice, eh?"

"There's no use in being cute!"

"Wow, Alice is going crazy, Metien, save me!"

……

Unlike the tranquility of the forest at night, dinner in the camp was carried out in an extremely noisy state. It was not until Lingge could no longer bear it and gave each of the troublemakers a warning look that they calmed down and sat around the campfire to eat obediently.

After dinner, Lingge wanted everyone to rest early to prepare for tomorrow's journey. But Alice said righteously that she still had undeveloped games to complete and could not be so lazy, so she hid aside to tinker with the game console; Metien, at the instigation of the elf Shemi, climbed up a nearby tree root and looked out of the tree canopy, trying to see the stars in the night sky.

It was obvious that they were all very excited about their first trip. For a moment, they could not calm down and even forgot that they were in the Sosen Mountains where wild beasts and aliens lurked and the balance of order roamed in secret, rather than the open wilderness on the outskirts of Rostin for tourists to go outing. The dangers lurking here were like the tides surging silently in the darkness, which could swallow people up at any time.

Speaking of the Balance of Order, a figure flashed through Ling'er's mind.

"What are you thinking about?" Saint Shallia's voice suddenly came from behind him. Ling Ge turned around and happened to meet her golden eyes that sparkled in the firelight. Although it was a question, there was no curiosity in her eyes, but just a kind of natural calmness, as if she had thought so in her heart, so she asked so.

Ling Ge retracted his gaze and stared at the bonfire in the open space: "I just figured out some things."

"What's the matter?" Saint Xia Liya gathered her skirt and sat down beside him. Seeing this, the lamb bleated in dissatisfaction, probably thinking that Ling Ge was too ignorant. He knew that Saint Xia Liya wanted to warm herself by the fire, but he didn't even give up his seat. It was really hateful.

"About why the Balance of Order suddenly appeared in the Thorsen Mountains."

The firelight jumped, flickered, and swayed in the young man's eyes, as if it had its own will: "In addition to eliminating aliens, heretics, and unregulated magicians, they actually have another responsibility, which is... to eliminate those false religions that do not obey the control of the "Religious Decree" and resist with force."

Seventeen animist religions, including the Society of Prayer.

Coincidentally, Lingge met an animist yesterday.

Rochelle, the walker of the Fertile Soil Sect.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)