Why play in a band if you don't form one for life?

As soon as she grasped the hilt of the sword, she heard a crisp sound and the sword broke.

LAYER stared blankly at the half-broken sword in his hand.

Everyone stared blankly at the half-broken sword in her hand.

“…Huh?” LAYER showed a rare helpless expression and looked at No. 2, “I really didn’t use any strength.” No. 2 nodded blankly.

Yazi and Shizi looked at each other. "This should be... the sword chooses its master by itself, or something like that?" Yazi guessed.

Shizi had already climbed to the boulder and flicked the half-broken sword left inside expectantly: "Xiao Congyu, you can come out now."

no response.

It was a little awkward for a while. Shizi quickly changed the subject: "Since you pulled it out, the sword belongs to you...but what about the rest?" She looked at LAYER who was still a little confused.

"No, this can be considered as pulling it out... uh, let me take a look." LAYER pinched the half of the sword stuck in the boulder. There was another crisp sound, and LAYER pinched a small piece of the blade between his two fingers.

There was silence again.

"Well... considering its age, it's not impossible..." Saya tried to explain.

LAYER accidentally touched the body of the boulder, which immediately caused a cloud of dust to burst out. With a few low bass sounds, the dust was dispersed, and in front of LAYER was a fragment of the boulder, with the remaining half of the blade buried inside.

"...LAYER, are you very strong?" Shizi re-examined LAYER's whole body.

She suddenly felt a little worried about Duohui's future.

"Should it be... just the normal level?" LAYER looked at his hands and tried to push the pillar next to him, but of course he couldn't move it.

When they left, LAYER carried a leather bag to hold the knife. They still hadn't found a way to repair it, and they couldn't just throw it away, so they could only take it with them and think about it later. LAYER No. 2 had regained her composure. She walked to the edge of the shrine and pointed out the city's subtle structure to everyone.

No. 2 had not been here long, and had only explored the area on the Blood River side. One reason was that he had no time. Another reason was that the original bridges on the river had collapsed, and there was no other way to cross the river.

The thick fog began to dissipate at some point. The scenery below the mountain became clearer and clearer, and the streets of the city were clearly visible. With the help of Yukina and No. 2, Shizi drew a detailed map of the city.

"What is the name of this city?" Shizi asked. This is a lost history, and she is quite interested in it.

LAYER No. 2 lifted her hair and recalled: "Hoori."

Shizi's face froze for a moment.

"Speaking of this, I have something else I want to show you." LAYER No. 2 remembered something and led the way again.

After going down the mountain, they came to an abandoned house, which had been carefully tidied inside and seemed to be No. 2's usual residence.

"I originally lived in a shrine on the mountain, but later moved down for convenience." Number Two opened a small door next to the abandoned house, walked in, and soon carried out a pile of antiques.

"These are..." LAYER leaned over, picked up a piece of pottery, and looked at it carefully in the sunlight, "It seems to have words on it."

"Yes." Number Two introduced, "I collected objects with writing on them from all corners of the city. It seems that a writing system has developed here that is the same as modern Japanese, but slightly different." She took the pottery fragment from Layer's hand: "This piece... originally belonged to a pottery pot, and the name of the craftsman was written on it."

"Can I take a look?" Shizi squatted down with shining eyes, staring at a piece of iron.

"Mr. Wu...are you interested...?" asked Rinko.

"That's right!" Shizi nodded repeatedly, "A lost civilization, an independent writing system, a history that is unknown to the world... Can I live here for a while?" She looked up and asked No. 2.

Before No. 2 could answer, Youxi reminded him, "We are not here for archaeology, Wu. If there is nothing else important here, we should leave."

Shizi's face fell all of a sudden. "Just one day, okay? Meow~" She raised her front paws and made a cute expression.

"...That's not what you said at that time." Youxi was unmoved, "You can't do it when it's your turn?"

"Well, alright, alright," Lisa stepped in between the two of them, "Yuukina, it's okay to rest for another day, right? I'm also a little interested in this city."

However, Shizi had already stood up. "Forget it, Lisa, Yukina is right..." She showed a helpless expression. Thinking of the political system, culture, and industry of this city, she was eager to start interpreting it immediately, but - she was the one who told Yukina that collective action was the most important. She still had a glimmer of hope: "Then, I'll take these away and read them slowly on the way, it should be okay?"

"You still have to sail." Saya reminded. The light in Shizi's eyes quickly dimmed.

"But we can help you." Hong Xia said, she squatted down and stroked the fragments of history, "Let us translate them."

Shizi's eyes lit up again. "Thank you." She smiled at Hongxia.

LAYER 2 watched the scene: "It's great." She whispered to herself. LAYER stood beside her: "Indeed, it's great."

She changed the subject: "Are you still going with us next?"

Number Two was a little uneasy: "Is it really possible?" She naturally wanted to leave as well. She had tried to leave on her own before, but her strength was close to that of an ordinary person, and she couldn't find any tools, so in the end she could only wait here.

LAYER smiled gently to reassure her: "Don't worry, we are all very gentle people. Even if we still have some doubts in our hearts, we will not reject you."

"Then..." Number Two stretched out his right hand and bumped fists with LAYER, "Please give me your guidance."

Soon after, the speedboat set off with 16 people on board. The speedboat parted the scarlet water and sped upstream. Shizi was fully focused on the surrounding scenery, trying to imprint this ancient city that he had just passed by in his mind.

"Look here, the text is obviously in Latin. I speculate that there used to be a city with a Western civilization background in this area, and the two cities once had close exchanges..." No. 2, wearing the new clothes given by Shizi, has harmoniously blended into the team of people interpreting the documents.

"Well... and here... it seems to be the calendar that this city once used..." Rinko's fingers stroked the fragments of the stone tablet.

The speedboat left the city.

Chapter 42 Ancient Town (Happy Birthday to KSM~)

The speedboat sped along.

There was silence, with only the roar of the jade slip engine.

"How long has it been?" Suddenly, Youkina opened her eyes.

Sayo still had her eyes closed and rested: "If I were to sense the time, at least four or five hours have passed."

LAYER No. 2 finally couldn't help but speak up: "Actually, it was almost dark when we set out... I'm wondering why you didn't stop to rest or eat, but only had lunch after the sun went down."

Hearing this, everyone looked at her.

Shizi looked up and saw the black sun still hanging high in the sky, bringing dying light to the world.

"Number Two, the world you see seems a little different from ours," she said. "From our perspective, the position of the sun has never changed."

"What...!" Number Two's pupils shrank suddenly, "How could it be..."

"What does the world look like in your eyes?" LAYER asked her seriously.

The speedboat sails in the tranquil river of light. Outside the river of light is a floor made of flat glass. There is no ups and downs, as if the world has lost its complicated decorations and only the most basic structure remains. The turbid yellow sky is reflected in the glass, and the speedboat seems to be sailing in the air.

"Green mountains, green water, and the starry sky." No. 2 answered.

"What color is the sun?" asked Yukina.

The shadow of the black sun passed by the side of the ship, and its lifeless pupils gazed at the wreckage of the world.

"Golden red," Number Two answered. "It's so bright that it's hard to look at it directly."

"Is that so?" Youxina closed his eyes again, "Mr. Wu, where's the map? How long will it take to get to the next city?"

"I don't know." Shizi didn't look back, "The map doesn't match anymore."

"Then take out the map too."

Shizi pressed his temple, and a small table rose in the middle of the speedboat, with a sand table on it. On the sand table were normal mountains and rivers. If you look carefully, you can distinguish several small towns hidden between the mountains and rivers.

Number Two came over and checked the map with the help of Hong Xia's light. She did not ask what the world looked like to other people.

"At the current rate, it will take at least three or four days." She finally concluded.

Youxi's eyes widened, which was unusual for him. "It's so far... Then, Mr. Wu, let's stop the boat and take a rest."

Number Two's estimate was very accurate. On the fourth day after their departure, they returned to the ruined world. An ancient town was already looming in the distance.

The speedboat stopped at a stone pier. There was no breath of life. This ancient town was different from the previous one. Although it was also in ruins, green plants grew everywhere between the ruins of the buildings, and naturally began to eliminate the traces of human beings. Outside the town was a lush natural jungle, which was very different from the barren situation in Suizhi's place before. However, bones were still everywhere, entangled in the soil and grass. The types were not limited to the common creatures in human settlements, and even the skeletons of wild beasts could be seen.

White walls, black tiles, stone roads, and horse-head walls.

"Oh, this time it's Chinese style." MASKING said, and she first stepped onto the bluestone slab of the dock.

"Hui-style architecture." Shizi came ashore with a nostalgic look in her eyes. In her hometown, there are many such ancient towns, most of which are cookie-cutter tourist attractions packaged by a few celebrities. She rarely goes out and has no particularly deep memories of them. It's just that when she suddenly saw the familiar scene in the other world, it was inevitable that some emotions would surge.

Everyone was walking on the ancient street. Shizi slowed down her pace, looking up, gazing at the broken walls and the creepers, mosses, and weeds on them. The others knew her situation and did not bother her. They just agreed on where to meet and then dispersed, walked into the shops along the street, and searched for information. Only Yili stayed with Shizi. Soon, they were the only two left.

"Does this count as... fulfilled? Our agreement." Yili seemed to be talking to Shizi, but also seemed to be talking to himself, with a tone that was half satisfied and half regretful.

Shizi shook his head gently: "This is not the place yet. I will take you to the real world, my real hometown."

A hint of satisfaction flashed through Yili's eyes: "Yeah."

"I'm sorry to disturb your time alone." Xiduo's voice interrupted indifferently, "Student Wu, there is something over there that I want you to interpret." She grabbed Shizi by the back of her neck and carried her away without waiting for her response.

Shizi was hanging in the air, struggling feebly: "You should at least take a look at the atmosphere... Stop, stop, stop, don't burn me, Hongxia is going to scold me again!"

Kita was not lying. She led Shizi around, turned left and right, pushed open a black-oiled bamboo door, passed through two dusty and moldy rooms, and arrived at a small courtyard overgrown with weeds. There was a small well in the courtyard, and the wellhead was almost covered with weeds.

Yukina was here too, with thorns tangled around her body, which she was trying to retract, and a dirty stone tablet lying next to her.

"We found this in the well." Youkina said to Shizi, "We can't understand it. Please help us take a look."

Shizi immediately showed an excited look, rubbed his hands together, produced a brush, slowly brushed away the dust, and began to read the words above.

It is a little different from the regular script of the outside world, but it is understandable. Shizi reads it with great effort and then converts the information into vernacular.

"This city... is called Qingyu Town." Shizi said. She felt that the name was familiar, but she quickly put it out of her mind and continued reading.

"Hey! This is what I want to see!" She suddenly shouted excitedly, "The author was a gentleman at that time. He felt that a great disaster was coming, so he engraved various situations of the town on a stone tablet and hid it in a dry well. Let me see..."

Yukina interrupted her excitement again: "Is there any record of any special items here similar to LAYER's sword?"

Shizi's fingers swept across the words and found what she was looking for: "Yes, it is enshrined in the ancestral temple, located in the center of the town."

"Then go now." Youxina left immediately. Shizi wailed behind him: "Wait, wait, wait, let me copy all these words first..."

As Shizi walked, he was still flipping through the words he had just copied. He was so engrossed in the text that he almost tripped over a piece of bone and fell into the pit.

"It's better to look at the road carefully." Youxina frowned and once again stopped Shizi who was about to run into the ditch.

"Sorry, sorry." Shizi reluctantly put away the booklet. The cover of this booklet was written with "Qingyu Town" and it was placed together with another book "Suizhi".

"What did you do with the stone tablet?" Kita asked. The two of them came out earlier.

"I can't move it either, so I can only move it a bit and lean it against the well platform." In the yard, the cleaned stone tablet was leaning against the well platform, and the weeds around it were cleared. Offerings were placed in front of the tablet, and there were three half-burned incense sticks and a pile of burnt paper money, "and by the way, I offered a stick of incense."

The three of them chatted while looking for the ancestral hall.

After turning a corner, the view in front of them suddenly opened up. In front of them was a pond, which had long been dry, leaving only the cracked bottom of the pond. Ponds and ancestral halls are usually in the center of the town. Since we are at the pond, the ancestral hall is not far away. The three of them walked around nearby and soon heard voices. It seemed that someone had already found this place.

"Hi~ Are you here first?" Kita was the first to run towards the voice, and before she saw anyone, she couldn't wait to greet them. However, when she turned around a thick shade, she immediately stopped, with a strange look on her face.

Shiko and Yukina followed slowly from behind. They turned their heads and looked—

Three LAYERs were standing at the gate of the ancestral hall, staring at each other.

ps: Happy birthday to ksm. Although it is already written in the chapter title, I am a ksm fan, so I have to say it again, happy birthday to ksm!

Chapter 43: The Past That Was Already Destined

On the boat, the three LAYERS sat opposite each other, not speaking.

The speedboat is leaving the ancient town.

After meeting the third LAYER in Qingyu Town, she did not receive much questioning and followed the others on board. The reason was simple: when meeting the second LAYER, everyone would be suspicious, but when the third LAYER appeared, not many people would care.

Like No. 2, No. 3 was also wearing the clothes that No. 1 LAYER was wearing before he met the others. He claimed that he had been wandering for not long when he came to this town and settled down.

However, unlike No. 2, the world in No. 3's eyes is the same as that of others. Her specialness lies in luck. There is a tripod in the ancestral hall, which is square with four legs and empty inside. But No. 3 said that when she came here, the tripod was full of milky white mist. She tried to touch it, and the mist poured into her seven orifices. From then on, she became very lucky inexplicably. Not only did she accidentally find natural flint, but she also discovered a cellar full of edible mushrooms. When No. 3 described this experience, No. 2 could only smile bitterly. Before meeting the others, she could only survive by digging grass roots and wild vegetables, but she was not malnourished.

"I haven't been here long. I haven't had time to do a thorough investigation of the entire town, and I haven't tried to leave yet." When asked about the specific situation of the town, No. 3 said this. However, she still led the others to find the room where the documents were stored in the ancestral hall. A large number of paper files were stored on the bookshelf, covered with dust and crumbled at the touch. Finally, they found a stone tablet with similar content to Shizi's, but more detailed.

"Sure enough." Shizi compared the beginnings of the two stone tablets. "The great catastrophe is coming. This is not something they said casually. At that time, many people must have had a premonition of the impending disaster."

She read the records on the stone tablet in detail and found out what No. 3 had sucked in and why the residents here could sense that a "great catastrophe was coming."

In the worldview of the ancestors here, their ancestors originally lived in the Nirudu Hell, being haunted by ghosts every day and suffering unspeakably. One of them saw the suffering of all living beings, made a great vow, exerted great magical powers, transformed himself into a wonderful bodhi tree, established the Eastern Lapis Lazuli Pure Land, protected all people, and was revered as Medicine Master Lapis Lazuli Light Tathagata. After the death of Medicine Master Buddha, immortals, bodhisattvas, and saints exerted their magical powers to set up Zhoutian formations in various places in the Pure Land, and ordered mortals to guard it from generation to generation to ensure the eternal prosperity of the Pure Land.

Qingyu Town was built by Xingdou Immortal Venerable, who controls the fortunes of the human world and left Siming Ding for mortals. Since then, mortals born in Qingyu Town can often predict good and bad fortunes, and a few even have the ability to see fate and are selected into the Tianming Pavilion to serve Qingyu Town and the entire Pure Land. Siming Ding can also accumulate luck to prepare for a catastrophe.

I think what Layer 3 swallowed was the luck accumulated in the Siming Cauldron. I don't know if it was because the back-up plan of Xingdou Xianzun during the catastrophe did not work, so the luck was retained until now, or if the luck accumulated at that time was still not enough to deal with the catastrophe, and after everything was over, the Siming Cauldron accumulated luck again. In short, these things finally benefited Layer 3.

"Such an important thing was swallowed by me alone..." After Shizi finished interpreting the contents of the stone tablet, No. 3 felt only regret and felt that he had insulted the efforts of his predecessors.

Obviously, the Pure Land refers to this Garden of Eden. Those Buddhas, immortals, and gods are the lost people of the previous generation who have evolved their power to the extreme and have powers close to those of ghosts and gods. It seems that the Garden of Eden was indeed established by the predecessors, similar to the backup of [Xing Tian], but I don't know how these mortals who seem to have no special abilities came from.

Kita tried to contact the Siming Ding, but encountered no obstacles and his mental state did not change.

"The backup plans left by our ancestors are ultimately used to help future generations. Whether it is used in this city or to assist you, it is the same." Shizi comforted No. 3, "If you want compensation, then come back to reality with us."

"Is this an invitation?" Number Three raised the corner of his mouth.