Twin Cities: I am the man of many myths

Chapter 253 Void Burrowing Beast

The weather in Shurima is extremely changeable, which means that there are only a few hours a day when one can work and travel: in the early morning and a little before evening.

Apart from that, the locals spend the rest of their time avoiding the high temperatures and cold.

But it's clear that this rule doesn't apply to Li Ke and his group.

After three days of effort, under Taliyah's magic, Rick arrived at the place he longed to be: a river deep in the desert.

"That's really strange, Rick. Why would there be a river in a place like this?" Jinx, wearing large sunglasses and a hat, with her coat half-on, reached out to take off her sunglasses and peered curiously at the flowing river in front of her.

Li Ke was also surprised at this moment, and his expression was not much better than Jinx's.

Because when you've been walking in the desert for days, constantly in contact with sand, and then suddenly you see a river, the feeling is truly indescribable.

Especially since there are no trees around this river, it truly stands on the yellow sand, flowing westward. Even with Li Ke's strength, after projecting his divine sense, he could not see the end of the river's flow. Therefore, Li Ke did not know where it led.

When Taliya reached the riverbank, she touched the water with her finger, then put it in her mouth, smacked her lips twice, and said, "This is definitely fresh water."

She is indeed a native of Shurima, but Shurima is too vast. Taliyah grew up in her tribe and hasn't traveled to many places. This river is quite spectacular for her.

Only Jax, with a hint of nostalgia in his many eyes beneath his helmet, explained to the crowd, seeing their curiosity about the origin of the river, "This river comes from Ixtal."

“That primeval jungle?” Taliya blinked. She had heard her father say that in the east of Shurima, there was a wild and lush primeval jungle where three of the four seasons were rainy seasons.

"Yes, this river flows from Ixtal and branches out at Vikola. The main river flows towards Farajse, while the branch forms two major rivers: one is the Rek River, where we are now, and the other is the Kohali River."

Upon hearing Jax's words, "Leikejiang" Li Ke's expression immediately turned strange.

Rekjan Reksey, wait, is this also a coincidence?

Then, Li Ke looked at Jax and asked, "Jax, when did this river appear?"

Jax pondered for a moment before speaking: "From the very beginning of Shurima's birth, thousands of years ago, the mountains and jungles of Ixtal blocked the flow of water. But the Ascended Queen Setaka intervened, severing the mountain ridges, destroying the rainforest, and diverting the water from the primeval jungle into Shurima, where countless oases were built."

"Actually, the original Shurima Empire was not as arid and impoverished as you think. In my time, Shurima was prosperous and had extremely abundant water resources. In fact, you could say that small oases could be seen every few miles on the map of Shurima at that time. Water was not a valuable thing in Shurima."

Jax spoke with a touch of emotion, then continued, "The rivers of Ixtal, the springs deep beneath Shurima, and the oases created by the divine power of the Ascended."

Honestly, Jax has become much more talkative.

From the moment he arrived in Shurima, Jax's emotions fluctuated noticeably. He was no longer a silent, fighting fanatic who only wanted to fight, but a person full of stories who was always thinking.

After hearing Jax's explanation, Rick understood.

In Azir's personal story, Sivir was stabbed in the back by the Cassiopeia, and the blood that flowed from her wounds became a sacrifice to awaken Azir. However, when Azir returned, he saw his descendant Sivir severely injured and unconscious, her fate unknown.

Azir did not hesitate at the time, and directly chose to give the hope of life to Sivir.

He used the last bit of power he had used to revive himself to heal Sivir, thus gaining the approval of the Sun Disc. The ascension ritual that he had failed to complete in his previous life because of Xerath was revived, and Azir obtained the power of the Ascended.

Then, springs of earth wells gushed forth in Shurima, forming vast oases. The earth trembled, temples revived, and a tremendous transformation took place, centered on the sun disk.

Therefore, what Jax said is true.

In Shurima thousands of years ago, water was not a scarce resource.

As for the relationship between Reksa and Rekjiang, Li Ke believes that it can only be said that after the locals saw the void creatures, and because these creatures only moved around Rekjiang, they gave a name to the largest one in the group, the queen.
Jax guessed what Rick was thinking and said, "The Void creature you're looking for, Rek'Sai, is indeed named after this river."

Narrowing his eyes, Jax continued, "Most Void creatures lack intelligence and are merely beasts that act on the instinct to devour. Take the Void Beasts of Kalice, for example. The Void race that the local Sand People call Exe, are basically just a bunch of earthworms with no intelligence whatsoever. And their queen, Rek'Sai, is nothing more than an earth-burrowing beast with beastly instincts and a little bit of intelligence."

"Apart from a few powerful void creatures that name themselves, all other void creatures are named by me, the human."

Upon hearing this, Li Ke nodded.

“Let’s go, Rick, let’s not waste any more time,” Jax said.

Li Ke nodded, and at the same time, Aatrox's voice appeared in his mind.

"Pretending!"

Then Aatrox shouted, "Rick, for questions like this, you should just ask the great Aatrox next time. What he says is just what he heard from others. But I'm different. I personally participated in the Void War. You ask him about things related to the Void, not me. What are you thinking?"

Arriving in Shurima, Jax wasn't the only one overwhelmed with emotion upon returning to his familiar surroundings; Aatrox was too.

However, unlike Jax, who was single-mindedly focused on restoring his homeland and driving away the Void and had never wavered in his beliefs for thousands of years, Aatrox had fallen and destroyed his own glory. Therefore, when Aatrox returned to Shurima in his conscious state, he became silent.

A couple of days ago, Li Ke did ask Aatrox about Shurima and the Void, but Aatrox simply didn't answer Li Ke's questions and remained silent.

After all, when Aatrox returned to this land in his lucid state, his heart was filled with guilt and remorse.

He's probably coming out now because he can't stand Jax's showing off.
"Naaatrox, do you have any information about Rex?"

Lee asked Aatrox in his heart, amused.

Aatrox answered Rick with a confident voice: "No."

"?"

"Then what do you want me to ask?" Li Ke laughed angrily.

"How could I possibly understand such a weak insect? I was fighting the Void Watcher, a colossal, sky-covering, twisted creature. At most, it was just a fragment that fell from the body of the creature I killed."

“This guy isn’t even worth my time to investigate!” Aatrox sneered.

He wasn't bragging. As the Grand General of the Ascended Legion and the strongest under Empress Setaka, Aatrox was at the forefront of the Void Battlefield back then. Creatures like Rek'Sai were simply not worth his time.

Rick shook his head, ignoring Aatrox, and instead had Taliyah continue using magic to travel. Taliyah obediently used her magic and continued westward.

But in Rick's mind, Aatrox continued to scream.

"Li Ke, use me to kill the void worms. You absolutely have to use me! Otherwise, I'll get angry with you!"

"Did you hear that?!"

"Use me!"

On the way, Li Ke listened to the strange cries of Lyratox in his mind and felt quite helpless.

Not only does he have a loud voice, but he's also a damn chatterbox!

Suddenly, Li Kezhen felt a pang of longing for the silent Aatrox who had first entered Shurima.
------

Kalice is the only road leading to southern Shurima, directly to the commercial city of Zerima.

Although Kalicesal has been designated a forbidden area by Shurima's traveling merchants and explorers in recent years, there are still reckless individuals who venture along this route, for danger lurks everywhere in Shurima.

An unfamiliar sandy path is no less dangerous than the monsters on Kalikse. After all, no one knows what kind of creatures might lurk on that sandy path—man-eating bandits, or bone-eating poisonous insects?

Therefore, even though the Exys on Kalicon are notorious, some northern sand people still venture onto this trade route. They are desperate people, and risking their lives to go to Zerima is their only option for survival.

It is a timeless truth that people die for wealth and birds die for food.

And just like now, in the cool afternoon air on the sandy road, a small caravan is stepping into this dangerous sea of ​​bones.

"Watch your step. From now on, our lives are tied to this camel. Anyone who dares to wander off and attract Exeed, I swear I'll throw him out and make him buy everyone time with his recklessness!"

With scars on his face and a headscarf wrapped around his head, Charles spoke in a low voice as he walked at the front of the group. He lifted one foot, his bare foot stepping on the gravel. He squinted, feeling the burning pain from the sole of his foot as his big toe dug deep into the gravel.

This was Sharl's experience. As a seasoned sandman who had traversed the Sea of ​​Bones, he possessed his own wisdom. Taking a step forward, he continued, "First, let your big toe sink into the gravel, then let your entire foot land on the ground, and then shift your body weight from your back foot."

The rest of the caravan followed in Charles's footsteps and cautiously stepped onto the Sea of ​​Bones.

"Sharl, won't our conversation attract Exeed?"

“Don’t worry about that.” Charles shook his head and then said to everyone, “The Exy’s hearing is very strong, but that is only limited to sounds below the sand. They can’t hear sounds above the sand.”

Charles added, "And even if we do attract the Exys, we must remain calm. The Exys have no sight; they only have a sense of smell and hearing. Otherwise, what do you think I've been smearing the thorny palm juice on you all this time? So, as long as you hold your breath, I'll pat the sand camel's rump to make it run, and the Exys will blindly chase after it."

Hearing Charles say this, everyone immediately breathed a sigh of relief, and the younger members of the group became much bolder.

Because the Exosees don't seem as scary as I imagined; they seem rather stupid?
But Charles saw through the boy's luck and immediately cursed, "Get your attitude straight, you bastard! Over the years, every arrogant guy like you has died at the hands of Exys."

"Exysa is indeed not scary, but Rek'Sai is."

As they were talking, Charles's face suddenly stiffened, because he felt a tickling sensation on the back of his foot as it was stuck in the gravel. Charles was experienced and immediately figured out that it was the ticklish sensation caused by the gravel bouncing onto the back of his foot.

"Don't you fucking move!"

With a loud shout, Charles pinched his nose and wrapped his clothes, which were stained with the thorny palm juice, around himself to avoid attracting an attack from Exeed because of the smell.

Seeing Charles's action, the others immediately followed suit, standing up straight and not daring to move.

Charles is right.

Because just half a minute after everyone held this position, countless pits of varying sizes suddenly appeared beneath the yellow sand of the sea of ​​bones in front of them. These pits connected to each other, forming a strange underground world.

In the sunken quicksand, one can vaguely see purple shadows moving about.

A hint of panic flashed in Charles's eyes. He had no idea what was going on. Hadn't they just entered the Sea of ​​Bones?
Based on past experience, the Exys are located deep within the Sea of ​​Bones; they are not active in this area at all!

This is why Charles is teaching those greenhorns here, because this place isn't dangerous, but now a group of purple shadows are darting around underground.

As they darted about, the yellow sand was swept away, and Xia Er's feet sank deep into it, feeling as if he were stuck in a swamp.

"Those who don't want to die, you'd better hold back!" Seeing this, Charles hurriedly shouted again.

Running away was out of the question. Exys were incredibly fast, and even on horseback, they couldn't escape their pursuit. Their only hope of survival was to endure and wait for Exys to leave.

Hearing Charles's words, some people in the standing crowd who were about to kick him held back.

But this couldn't go on, because the sand was flowing away even faster, soon reaching above the knees, and then it started to grow towards the waist.

At this rate, they will die here from breathing difficulties even without Ixey eating them.

Charles gritted his teeth and forced himself to endure, but a young boy in the group could not bear it any longer. The fear of death made him lose his mind. When an Exothel darted out from not far from him, he immediately broke down, screamed, and began to struggle violently, bracing himself against the sand with both hands.

The Exo that had just passed by quickly turned around, and the Exos around it instantly shifted their positions to face him.

"No, I don't want the money anymore, I want to go back, I want to go back!"

"I don't want to die! Don't eat me!"

Shouting, he crawled out of the gravel and ran in the opposite direction of the sea of ​​bones, trying to escape this terrifying place.

"puff--"

As the yellow sand swirled, several enormous creatures leaped out from beneath it. They were about three or four meters long, with fat heads and small tails, and their appearance resembled that of half-human, half-insect.

They had enormous "hands" with outward-facing claws, and their entire bodies were covered with hard purple and dark blue carapaces. The carapaces were covered with sharp bone spurs and cracks, with a faint purple light flowing between the cracks. Their heads were triangular in shape, and their faces did not have obvious eyes. Instead, they had organs that seemed to sense sound fluctuations. Their huge lower jaws were full of sharp teeth, and they were pouncing on the mentally broken youth.

Upon seeing this, Charles felt a chill run down his spine.

Sure enough, when they saw him being surrounded and killed by Exy, the rest of the team were also terrified. In their fear, their already unsteady bodies began to sway, instantly attracting the attention of the other Exy.

"run!"

Charles immediately shouted, "Now is not the time to pretend to be a wooden doll and avoid danger. Now, the only way to survive is to run, to run!"
Damn it, those green recruits are a real menace!

Just as Charles pulled himself out of the quicksand, got up on all fours to run, and thought the young man was about to die in Exe's mouth, he saw a sudden flash of red light.

In the blink of an eye, a black and red heavy sword descended from the sky, falling vertically and piercing straight through the body of an Exy. The Exy didn't even have time to scream before its body exploded instantly, splattering purple blood onto the sand. The surrounding Exy also went berserk instantly, letting out terrifying howls.

Visible blood vessels spread from the massive greatsword, then permeated the surrounding sand. In the very center of the black and red greatsword, a terrifying eye appeared, a wild and chaotic eye.

Charles was stunned, and then something even more incomprehensible happened.

That black and red greatsword... it spoke?!
"Li Ke! You son of a bitch, I told you to use me to kill these bugs, not to throw me out here!"

"I am the great Aatrox, how dare you treat me like this!"

A, Aatrox?

For a moment, Ciel was somewhat confused by the name, and even forgot about the crisis.

The name seemed strangely familiar to him.

Then, a voice rang out, bringing Charles back to his senses.

The voice was gentle, with a hint of laughter.

"Stop joking, Aatrox, isn't this still killing someone?"

Charles looked up and saw a young man flying in the air. He had black hair, a handsome face, and was looking at the black and red heavy sword with one hand behind his back.

Upon hearing this, the black-and-red greatsword roared in anger. The crimson threads that emanated from it seemed to outline two hands, crossed over the blade. The greatsword's pupils, too, were fixed on the black-haired youth in the sky as it shouted its fury:

"Fuck you!"

(End of this chapter)