Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 236 Will I meet acquaintances here?

"Linger, did he say that?"

"kindness."

Metien, who came back to deliver the message, nodded and quickly comforted her, "But don't worry, Sister Xiaoxia, he is definitely not angry, he just wants to talk to you in person. After all, Lingge is such an awkward person, he never says what he wants to do directly, you just have to get used to it."

"Thank you, Metien."

Saint Xia Liya gently stroked the lamb's soft fur and said softly, "I understand. I will find a time to apologize to him in person."

"Aren't you going now?"

"Do not."

Saint Xia Liya shook her head and glanced at the lower reaches of the river. She couldn't see the young man from here, but she felt as if she saw him. She said in a very firm tone: "He needs a quiet environment to think now. He probably doesn't want others to disturb him."

"Ok."

Saint Shallia was right. Lingge really wanted to be alone to think calmly, so he left the camp where his companions were resting and came to the river section further downstream, staring at the gurgling river alone.

It was not until the road ahead was blocked that he suddenly came to his senses and found that the river ahead was blocked by scattered mudrock, earth, fallen wood and broken branches. There were fallen trees and lying weeds everywhere. The mess did not look like it was left after a rainstorm, but rather like it had just experienced a severe mountain flood.

Is it a beast?

The young man was alert but not panicked, because he knew that although the wild animals in the mountains were ferocious, they were still afraid of humans. As long as he was calm enough, he could scare them away; if he turned around and ran away, it would be like exposing his cowardice, which was undoubtedly a stupid move.

He waited in silence to see whether the unknown beast was waiting for an opportunity to strike or turn away. To his surprise, a steady and heavy voice like a rock came from behind the grass and trees: "Believers from a foreign land have met again here. This reminds me of the philosophy that the saints once taught: fate is not constant, and there are thousands of predestined relationships in the world. This is also the case at this moment."

Although he could no longer see his companions, Linger still walked forward unconsciously, as if deliberately avoiding something, his footsteps on the soft and wet riverbank after being soaked by rain, leaving a string of straight footprints. Looking back, they looked like a string of pearls.

When I first saw this river, the water was clear and I could see the fish pecking at the water plants and the smooth, round pebbles below. After days of heavy rain, the riverbed was widened and the river became faster and more turbid. Small whirlpools collided and crushed countless water droplets. I had to look carefully to distinguish whether the ones floating in the shadows of the stones were swaying water plants or flowing moss.

Fertile Soil Sect, Walker——

He didn't know what he was thinking about, or whether he needed to think about it. The answer to the question was simple, it was nothing more than departure or stay. As for the pros and cons of the two choices, everyone knew it. The reason why Alice and others didn't want to talk about it was nothing more than fear of getting a disappointing answer. Only Lingge knew that disappointment or not was a hypothesis, and necessity or not was real. That's why he fell into such endless thinking, trying to explore the special meaning behind it with a kind of foolish stubbornness.

Lingge still remembered that they had a brief conversation in front of the Central Theater on Square Street. At that time, he said that they would meet again one day, but he didn't expect it to come true so soon.

Seeing that Saint Xia Liya had her own plans, Metien did not try to persuade her, but was a little puzzled: Why does it feel like Sister Xiao Xia seems to know Ling Ge very well?
Even... better than yourself?
……

When Lingge heard the voice, an expression of surprise suddenly appeared on his face. The next moment, a burly man wearing a tattered gray robe, animal skins, and dressed like a plateau man, had already pushed aside the grass and trees that blocked his view, and appeared in front of him with steady steps. He looked at Lingge with his deep brown eyes. In his deep eye sockets, there was a kind of silent and fierce power accumulating like a volcano.

The river flows through the gaps of the wreckage and ruins, and can go to places that people can't go. Lingge shook his head helplessly, thinking that he would have to change direction later and could not continue along the river. He exhaled lightly, turned around and wanted to return to the camp to tell others the news. At this moment, there was a rustling sound suddenly coming from the messy and tangled grass and vines on the left.

"Rochelle?"

Linger recalled his name from memory and whispered it softly.

"I'm glad that you still remember my name, strange believer." His voice was so low that it caused a series of low resonances among the earth and rocks that buried the fallen body. "If the timing was not inappropriate, I might be happy to discuss with you the significance of this reunion. Unfortunately, the Arbitrator of the Balance of Order is still chasing me, eager to take off my head and make the blood of those believers boil into nothingness. This is something I don't want to do. If I drag innocent people into the disaster, it will be against the teachings of Mother Earth. Therefore, please forgive my impoliteness and forgive me for not being able to talk to you for a long time." The Arbitrator of the Balance of Order is chasing Rochelle? Is it because of the "Religious Decree"?

The young man subconsciously glanced at Rochelle and found that his clothes were ragged and there were many hideous scars on his naked body, some of which were old wounds that had already scabbed, while some were still new and still bleeding. This made him look very embarrassed and not as majestic as when they met in Rochelle City.

However, his spirit and energy did not change at all, he remained calm and composed, and it was even further sublimated, giving people a vague feeling of sharpness, as if a dusty sword had finally revealed its edge, making people feel suffocated just by facing his momentum.

The strange thing is that these scars don't look like they were left in a battle. Instead, they look like they were from a fight with some non-human behemoth. Through the wounds, one can still feel the opponent's grand aura: majestic, oppressive, vast, and boundless vitality, just like the mountain range under one's feet...

Ling was surprised by his sudden idea, and even thought it was a bit ridiculous. However, Rochelle seemed to be able to guess what he was thinking. He slowly reached out and pressed on a scar that had not yet scabbed, feeling the throbbing blood vessels and boiling blood under the skin, and said in a low voice: "This is not a human scar, but the glory given to me by the Sosen Mountain. Because I passed all the trials it generously bestowed and proved my piety, it also recognized the power and gave the spirit of the mountain as a reward."

Ling Ge subconsciously asked: "Trial of the Mountain?"

"Yes, the Fertile Soil Sect has been passed down for thousands of years, and believers of every generation have gone through this ritual to prove their devotion to Mother Earth. Only by surviving the trials of mountains and hills, soil and rocks, and enduring the invasions of wild beasts, attacks of alien species, and the trials of natural disasters, can one gain the recognition of the spirit of the earth."

"In other words..." Ling Ge couldn't help but move his gaze to the ruins of the mountain torrent next to him, staring at the buried earth and rocks and broken giant trees in a trance: "You are the one who caused all this?"

Rochelle shook her head slowly: "No, it's the trial of the mountain, and I'm just a mortal struggling to survive in the trial."

It takes more than an ordinary person to fight against an entire mountain on his own.

Ling Ge thought silently, and noticed that he mentioned a crucial point in his words just now: "You just said that after passing the trial, you can gain spirituality?"

"That's right." Rochelle replied, "Everything has a spirit, including mountains, rivers, soil and rocks. In order to honor the will of the saints, I traveled all over the earth, collecting spirits in order to reunite the scattered ones. The mountain spirits of Sosen are an important part of it."

It was indeed so. Rochelle, a walker from the Fertile Soil Sect, collected the spirituality of the Sosen Mountains. And before that, the spirituality of the ancient spiritual spring Sadler buried under the Central Theater was taken away by the believers of the Holy Spring Monks... These two things are enough to prove that the followers of animism are secretly collecting spirituality to realize some ulterior plan.

"What does it mean to reunite the scattered ones?" Lingge asked with a frown.

Rochelle shook her head again: "I'm sorry, this is the core secret of animism. As a practitioner of the Fertile Soil Sect, I can't easily disclose it to outsiders."

It was reasonable. Linger did not expect that Rochelle would tell him all the secrets with just a few words. He was silent for a while and then asked, "Since the people of the Balance of Order are chasing you, where do you plan to escape to?"

Hearing this, Rochelle slowly raised his head and cast his gaze towards the other side of the mountain range. He said in a deep voice, "Across the Sosen Mountains, we will reach the territory of the small neutral country of Leisenburg. At the end of the Snow Moon, the 11th World Expo will be held in Nimscher, the capital of Leisenburg. This is a grand event in the Western Continent. I wonder if you are interested in going to that city to learn more about all the history since the birth of mankind?"

The 11th World Expo?

Ling Ge had heard of this event but had never participated in it, so he replied, "At least for now, I'm not interested."

"Really? But now I'm actually looking forward to the day when I meet you again in that city. Perhaps this is also the teaching of the saints: what is destined must be foreseen." Rochelle looked at Linger deeply, and without waiting for his answer, he turned and walked towards the other side of the mountain, the direction of Leisenburg, and said, "The arbitrators of the Balance of Order are called Silver Mad Dogs. Although it is meant to vent their resentment, it also proves that their sense of smell and resilience are far beyond ordinary people. It is unrealistic to hide anything in front of those arbitrators."

"Therefore, after I leave, if the arbitrator of the Balance of Order comes here and asks you where I have been, you can tell them the truth. You are not a magician, and there is no magical aura in your body. In their eyes, you are just an ordinary person, so it should not be too difficult for them."

"As for the Leisenburg International Exposition, I hope you will think carefully before making a decision. You must know that everything that will happen in the world has already happened; and things that have already happened are not controlled by the will of mortals."

The voice gradually faded away, and when the last sentence disappeared in Ling'er's ears, his back had already dived into the depths of the dense forest and disappeared. Only the young man was left there, staring blankly in the direction he left, wondering what he was thinking.

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)