Nightmare Light

Chapter 60: Pocket Watch and Skeleton
After the frequency modulation ended, Lin Wang appeared in the space of the giant tree, covered in white flames.

Without waiting to stand firmly, he started running towards the giant tree.

The space beneath his feet expanded and contracted, and in an instant, he was at the roots of the giant tree.

The cat was sleeping in a tree hole when it was awakened by Lin Wang. It suddenly raised its head and hit its head against the tree roots. It meowed, raised its paw to rub its head, and its black fur exploded.

Lin Wang didn't bother to pay attention to her. He raised his hand and called down a vine, then carried the paper bride into the sky.

"Lin Wang!"

"Lin Wang!"

The cat girl's voice rang out.

Lin Wang turned his head and saw the black cat transformed into a cat girl again, climbing up the tree trunk using both hands and feet at a very fast speed.

He separated a vine and pulled the cat girl up.

The cat girl squatted beside him, looking at the paper bride in his arms with some curiosity.

The Paper Bride had one of her paper hands dangling down and waving in front of her. The Cat Girl raised her paw and patted it gently.

The two hands touched in mid-air.

Lin Wang saw this scene, but he was anxious to save people and did not speak to the cat girl.

While he was thinking about the treatment he would have later, he was wondering in his heart: Why would the clay Buddha come back to life?

It is absolutely impossible for the Night Wanderer to hold back intentionally - he doesn't have the courage.

He recalled that when he was burning the clay Buddha before, he felt a resistance. That resistance made him burn it for a while longer before it was completely burned out.

This kind of resistance had been encountered before when fighting against the Blood False God, but I didn't feel this kind of resistance when fighting against the Bad Dead.

This resistance...what is the origin of it?
Lin Wang felt that there was an invisible logical chain that was gradually connecting the evil god, the clay Buddha, and the disappearance of the white fire in the bodies of the fog people.

The feet trembled slightly, and the vines ended their rise.

Lin Wang came to the only green leaf of the Alsophila spinulosa tree.

He controlled the vines and brought the fruit whose power Lin Wang had absorbed to himself.

The fruit has been used, but since it is the fruit of the World Tree, it is a treasure of great value.

And the greatest function of fruit is fertility.

The fruit was light golden green, and cracked open in the middle. Looking inside from the crack, one could see a faint golden glow. Lin Wang reached out and slowly placed the paper bride inside.

"Creating visitor profile, Paper Bride."

"Repair the Paper Bride's injuries."

He gave three or four orders in one breath.

[The command has been accepted and a new process is being established]

[Note: This command will permanently change the function of this fruit. Do you want to continue?]

"continue."

【Confirm, the process starts executing. 】

The fruit gradually closed and retracted under the leaves. Lin Wang felt the information coming from the fruit and only breathed a sigh of relief after confirming that the paper bride's condition was indeed improving.

Subconsciously, I rubbed the cat girl on the head.

The cat girl didn't resist the action, but rubbed it against his clothes: "It's really like him."

"Huh? What truth?" Lin Wang didn't understand the cat girl's question.

"You and that woman." After the cat's curiosity faded, it became lazy again.

She squatted down casually on the vine platform and half-closed her eyes: "That woman also likes to bring guests back."

"She is also bringing guests back?" Lin Wang was stunned at first, then he remembered that the owner of the tree also lived here before.

It is perfectly normal for a host to bring guests to his home.

So he didn't think much about it, but asked the White Cat (her name): "I'm going out. Do you want to sleep in the tree, or should I take you down?"

He thought that after hearing this, the cat girl would just choose a place nearby and continue sleeping.

Unexpectedly, after he asked the question, the white cat opened its eyes and looked at Lin Wang, its amber eyes staring deeply at Lin Wang.

She asked Lin Wang: "Do you often encounter danger when you are outside?"

Lin Wang was stunned for a moment: "Sometimes... why are you asking this?"

When the cat girl spoke, her tone was full of matter-of-factness: "Meow will go help you fight."

Lin Wang didn't understand: "Help me fight? Why?"

The cat girl walked in front of Lin Wang and slapped the vine with her hand. The vine platform trembled slightly and fell rapidly under the tree.

She turned her back to Lin Wang, looked up, with a proud look on her face and a tone full of entitlement.

"Meow is the owner, and of course the owner has to protect his pet."

……

Lin Wang woke up with a gloomy expression.

With a bit of sadness.

What is it like to be treated as a pet by a cat?
"Awake? Didn't sleep well?" Lao Zhou's voice came from a distance. Lin Wang turned his head and saw that the funeral master had woken up and was controlling several coffin-bearing skeletons on patrol. "It's normal to not sleep well when sleeping in the fog for the first time." Lao Zhou smiled. "Everyone has trouble sleeping the first time in the fog. Many new recruits have been scared and cried."

"The veterans even had a custom of telling new recruits embellished ghost stories when they first entered the fog, and then hiding aside to see how long it would take for them to cry..."

A low laugh was heard over the communication channel.

"Then why didn't I see you telling ghost stories to each other when we entered the fog this time?" Lin Wang asked curiously. The bad emotions he had in the dream before were unknowingly taken away a lot.

The channel instantly fell silent.

After a long while, Old Joe's deep voice came from the communicator: "Our regiment's mortality rate is too high. We haven't recruited any new soldiers in several years."

Lin Wang was silent for a while, shook his head and stood up.

He walked to the collapsed earth wall and looked towards the end of the road.

Soldiers, dry bones, without hope,

Fog, dirt road, indescribable.

The words I wrote are... so damn negative.

Lin Wang shook his head and secretly complained to himself.

Old Zhou came over and asked curiously, "What are you talking to yourself about?"

"Nothing." Lin Wang shook his head, looked at Lao Zhou, and asked in the entire channel, "I'm a little curious, if you can't get new recruits, what will you do in the future?"

"What should we do? What can we do?" Lao Zhou smiled. "This is war... We are soldiers."

There was silence in the channel.

Lin Wang turned his head and looked around the entire watchtower.

The soldiers were either lying or sitting, with their eyes open or closed, and no one spoke.

But Lin Wang understood the soldiers' subtext.

We are soldiers.

This is war.

We just go to fight and die.

"The general adjusts the pocket watch of victory and defeat, the soldier's bones are placed in the hourglass, his soul... is burning..." a soldier sang in a low voice. (Note 1)

Soon, more soldiers joined in the low chanting.

In the mist, from the small sentry post, a solemn and deep chorus was carried into the fog.

Old Joe sighed and shook his head. He did not stop the soldiers' chorus, but stood up silently and began to organize his equipment.

"Oh, you poor creatures... The reason you've ended up like this is because..." The handcuffed member of the Mist Tribe suddenly woke up and hummed hoarsely, "You've always treated the mist as your enemy."

"Hey! Don't talk to us in that tone! You are a prisoner now!" The soldier on the side was startled and shouted at the Mist Clan member.

All the soldiers woke up.

The Mist Tribe member showed no sign of nervousness. He simply grinned and said, "Don't be nervous, young soldier. I just overheard your conversation. I have no hostility."

Old Qiao walked over and said, "Mist tribe member, what do you want to say?"

The Mist Tribe's gaze slowly swept across all the soldiers, then paused for a few seconds on Lin Wang's face. He chuckled, "I want to tell you the story of the Mist Tribe."

"Why are you suddenly willing to cooperate?" Old Joe narrowed his eyes and looked alert.

"Because, starting a few hours ago, I lost contact with some of my tribesmen."

"You've lost contact with your tribe?" Old Qiao was shocked. "How could this happen?"

"I don't know." The Mist Tribe member shook his head. The mist on his face slowly moved, looking extremely strange. "The fate of the Mist Tribe members is connected to the mist. Every Mist Tribe member can sense all the other members... Where is the map?"

Old Joe took out a map and spread it out in front of the Fog Clan members.

The Mist Tribe member pointed at the map and said, "This is it... I've lost all the sense of the tribe members here."

"Is this the location you pointed out to us earlier?" Old Joe glanced at the address, frowned, and asked in a vigilant tone, "What exactly is your purpose?"

The Mist Tribe member looked into the depths of the fog, remained silent for a few seconds, and then slowly spoke: "The story has to start from the time of Emperor Qianguan."

"The Three Emperors period?" Old Qiao frowned. "Why bring it up so far?"

"The emperor of our Mist Clan was originally a groom for your Candle Clan... isn't it ironic?" The Mist Clan member chuckled and didn't respond to Lao Qiao's words at all, continuing to talk to himself.

"Our Emperor Tang Qianguan worked as a groom for the Candle Clan Emperor Ji Zhaohai. Later, the Mist Clan also guarded the border for the Candle Clan..."

The words of the Mist Clan member were full of disrespect, but hundreds of years had passed since the Three Emperors period, so no soldier jumped out to argue with the Mist Clan member. However, when they heard him call the emperor by his real name, many people frowned.

"Later, the Mist Clan fell ill, and was driven into the mist by the Candle Clan..."

"Nonsense!" a soldier couldn't help but shout in retort. "The history books clearly state that they were driven out because the Emperor of the Mist Clan led his troops to attack the Candle Clan in the Tang Dynasty! They were defeated and expelled! And they weren't driven into the mist, they were only sent to guard the border!"

"Oh? That's what your Candle Clan's history books say?" The Mist Clan member said, "Hey!" again. "Interesting... Never mind. It has nothing to do with my story."

He grabbed a handful of his face, and a cloud of mist was caught in his hand. His face instantly revealed the white bones beneath the mist, looking extremely strange. "What I really want to say is... Actually, the mist is not an enemy, but a blessing."

"What are you talking about?" Old Joe frowned.

"Have you ever thought that the mist on the Mist Clan members might not be a curse... but a direction of evolution?" The Mist Clan member said slowly.

Note 1: I recommend that you listen to this song in conjunction with the Soviet song "Cuckoo" for a better understanding. (Victor Cui version)

(End of this chapter)