Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 129 Is she a very good sister?

At night, the shadow of the mountain would be like a ferocious beast that would prey on its prey, swallowing up those creatures that were not strong enough with its fangs and claws. Sometimes, it would crush the corpses of insects into the soil to become nutrients for the roots of plants; sometimes, it would use its breath to heat the flesh and blood of birds to ignite the firewood that supports the next body... When the weak die, the images of the strong are carved on their corpses. This is the innate habit of the earth: it can generously carry every tiny wandering soul in the millions of miles of soil, but it can also overturn them all in an instant and reduce them to ashes.

Therefore, the first sentence in the teachings of the Fertile Earth Sect is: Serve the gods of the earth as gently as we serve our parents, and as cautiously as we serve beasts.

The Thorson Mountains are undoubtedly the most unpredictable, dangerous, and capricious of all the beasts, and Rochelle is going to try to conquer it today.

The traveler stands on the top of the mountain, with his solid feet that have walked thousands of miles, stepping on the deep rock layer, overlooking all the scenes of the survival of the fittest in the endless dark night, knowing that no matter how cruel the struggle is, when the sun rises tomorrow, everything will still live safely under the soil and rocks, just like the alternation of countless generations in the past. Therefore, he once again felt the majestic figure and vast mind of the earth, which deeply shocked the insignificant people.

He slowly leaned over, knelt on one knee, and grabbed a handful of soil mixed with fallen leaves, moss, decaying germs, insect corpses, rotten seeds and broken grass roots with both hands. He stared closely at their decline, vitality, struggle, silence, yearning, pain and anxiety during their existence. He closed his eyes as if praying, and his voice was like mourning.

"The spirit in Mount Thorsen."

"The traveler has traveled thousands of miles to bring you the call of Mother Earth."

"All that is scattered and separated will be reunited under the will of the Holy One."

"In the name of Rochelle, I challenge you."

The spirit of the mountain has accepted his challenge. In the next period of time, he will have to survive alone in this dangerous mountain, facing attacks from wild beasts, hostility from other species, and even natural disasters such as earthquakes, landslides, and floods. The wild and desolate land will do everything it can to wipe him out and eliminate its most devout believer in order to grant him a glory that matches his faith.

Not to mention, there were those silver mad dogs, sniffing his scent and chasing him relentlessly.

Fortunately, their main force still stayed in Metosh, and seemed to be planning another action. Therefore, those who came to hunt down Rochelle were only some of the lowest-level arbitrators. No higher-level judges appeared, not to mention their two most mysterious leaders: the Deputy Chief Judge and the Chief Judge.

"If I had conquered your wild, savage, great power."

Rochelle slowly loosened her hand, and the handful of soil in her palm did not fall, but was picked up by a sudden gust of wind and floated towards the distant mountain peaks. The fallen leaves were like dead butterflies, the mosses were like fluorescent lights, the bodies of flying insects regained the power to fly, the rotten seeds grew towards the silver moonlight, and the broken grass roots looked for the next place to take root... The earth is decay, struggle, and also a fertile force.

"Then please allow me to take the spirit of this mountain away."

After completing the ceremony, Rochelle stood up, put on the hood of her gray robe, turned around, and walked down the mountain step by step in the direction she came from.

"To complete our common great cause."

But Rochelle was used to it, because he had traveled all the way here from the "City of Holy Steel" Rhaetom in the far north, and had dealt with the Balance of Order many times, although they were all unpleasant interactions.

Awoo——!!!
Suddenly in the dark night, a long wolf howl was heard, resounding through the silver moon in the sky, followed by the roars of beasts one after another. The birds were startled by the roars and scattered from the branches where they were roosting, turning into countless dark clouds.

Perhaps in the eyes of the Balance of Order, Rochelle the Walker was just a minor illness, not worth the trouble—even though he also had the strength of a Sequence 5, and was only one step away from becoming a demigod. But the true core of the Fertile Earth Sect, those Sequence 4 and Sequence 3 old guys, had all been killed, so what could a mere Sequence 5 Rochelle do?
Such contempt brought great convenience to his actions.

soon.

The traveler walked forward step by step, silently reciting, his determined eyes seemed to penetrate the cold wind of the night: We will succeed soon. I will not let you down.

teacher.

……

In the warm and bright camp, Lingge sat in front of the campfire, still thinking about the scene when he met Rochelle. Fate always makes all coincidences happen in an inevitable form. If the balance of order in the mountains at this moment is indeed for Rochelle, then he who has had some intersection with him may not be able to escape the shackles of this net no matter what.

Is this intuition? Or a premonition? Ling Ge couldn't tell. In fact, he should have realized it when he promised Saint Xia Liya to continue moving forward, instead of just thinking about it now. One possibility that cannot be verified is that young people always seem to have some sense of escape in their bones.

He pursed his lips: avoiding responsibility, avoiding promises, avoiding other people's expectations, avoiding past memories, avoiding a certain belief and strength that is not innate but acquired later in life...

"do not be afraid."

Suddenly, the firelight in front of him was covered by someone's shadow, and a pair of hands gently covered Ling'er's head, gently stroking the soft silver hair: "If you feel afraid, you will be afraid to move forward; if you are afraid to move forward, you will lose to yourself. Ling, do you want to lose to yourself?"

With her back to the bonfire, the girl's eyes were clear and bright, clean and untainted by the dust of the world. Lingge was a little dazed, but not because of her face and warm breath so close to him, but because in his memory, there was only one person who would touch his head and comfort him with a caring tone, and that person had left this lonely young man forever.

When the shepherdess made a similar move, would she know that she was imitating someone from long ago? Or was it that person who wanted to convey something through her hand? Lingge thought absentmindedly and did not get an answer.

Saint Xia Liya suddenly withdrew her hand, and the warm touch on her head disappeared at once. The girl seemed to realize that she had done something very rude. She took a step back, and a rare look of panic flashed in her eyes: "Sorry, Mr. Ling."

She raised her hands, staring at every winding and disappearing line on her white palms, and murmured, "I don't know why I did this, but my hands moved on their own. Can you believe it, Mr. Ling? It's like, it's like I often did the same thing before?"

Therefore, when she saw his confused expression, she made such a rude gesture. It was instinctive and out of pure concern, without any impurities.

Ling Ge could sense it. Otherwise, he would not have recalled Mr. Yang Ke's shadow from her. He looked at the girl silently for a while, until the lamb jumped out to express its loyalty, saying that you should not be too fussy and should be able to take it or leave it. It was just a touch on the head. I was often touched on the head but I didn't say anything... Then he retracted his gaze, refocused on the campfire, and whispered, "I believe you."

The girl breathed a sigh of relief.

"And Saint Shalia."

Ling Ge continued, deliberately not looking at the other person's face: "You must have been a very good sister in the past."

The girl was stunned for a moment and forgot to answer.

The young man was looking at the bonfire, while Saint Shallia was looking at him. A crimson flame was burning in her golden eyes, which gradually rose and flickered upward, reflecting a golden-red river. The beautiful face looked at it, and suddenly tilted its head, with curved eyebrows and eyes: "Sorry, I forgot, so I don't know."

"But, maybe it's like that?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)