【Sremiku】The Gate of Light

Chapter 11 [Outside Story] Lava Volcano, Clear Water and Ice Field

FIRE

The temperature leading to the top of the volcano is frighteningly high, especially in the afternoon, not to mention the dry and hot air, and the scorching air makes people unable to lift up their spirits, as if trying to drain every drop of water in the body.Obviously, nature does not treat the animals and plants here as favorably as they do in the plains. After walking for a long time, there are no other bright colors except vermilion and earthy yellow.The ground was too silent, not even the sound of a lizard climbing.Micurio, located in this burning land, looked like a gem embedded in the charcoal fire. His silver-blue hair, which shone softly, healed Sorey's eyes. It is even more precious in the smell of sunshine and dust.

Solei gently wiped off the sweat constantly oozing from his forehead with his fingers, his face, clothes and shoes were covered with dust after running all the way, and there were also two clear lines on his forehead which he just wiped with his fingers. Ground ash.The night before yesterday, when he and Micurio were in a panic, a piece of the most common white sticky note fell out from the torn and nearly rotten Oblivion Book, with two marks drawn on it.The content is extremely simple, it just says, the ruins must be visited.

So Shi Lei immediately packed his bags.

Regardless of wiping off the stains on his face, Sorey quietly moved closer to Micurio, and the natural coolness gushing from the Water Sky Clan made him laugh.

"Why, it's unbearably hot?" Micurio turned around and stared at Sorey who was sticking to his back with a smirk.

Shi Lei pursed his lips in disbelief, he absolutely refused to admit defeat. "I can still hold on, how far is it..."

"Probably have to go for a long time." Taking out the map, Micurio looked at it carefully and said, "If you can't stand the heat, I can get you another piece of ice for you to hug."

"Forget it, forget it, the one just now melted away in less than 2 minutes, and it's useless to cool down at all."

"Then there is no other way, bear with it, or you can go back alone." Micurio, who was tightly wrapped in a cloak, had his hands on his hips, his cheeks were as white and transparent as a porcelain doll.The extreme heat was nothing to Micurio, not to mention sweating, he didn't even get thirsty once.He was cool and fresh all over, as if he was specially sent to fight against the desert volcano.

"No, how can I give up such a rare relic." Shi Lei slowly caught up, chanting what he had just memorized from the historical records a few days ago.

"It is rumored that there is an undiscovered relic in the crater in the center of the desert. The relics are not all stones, and the earliest human ancestors and gods have built a magnificent palace with priceless treasures. The literature says that it is huge The ground in the hall is paved with gold, each room is connected, and finally leads to the huge prayer temple. The mirror surface polished by gemstones can see the lava of the mountain, and when praying, the deep inside the volcano The resulting flames could turn the entire palace red, and the earth rumbled, as if thunder came from the distant sky..."

Micurio smiled and looked towards the sky, as if the palace had been reflected in his eyes. "Indeed, just imagining it makes me feel amazing."

"Right, right!" Jumping and cheering, Shi Lei accidentally inhaled a few grains of sand in his mouth, and the newborn Celestial Clan coughed violently, even the tail of his slightly faded hair trembled along with him. "It's not just a mountain, Micurio." After recovering, he continued: "The book says that there are things that are more valuable than all the gold that humans have now, jewels, antiques, gems, and The most beautiful and magnificent scene you can imagine. Coupled with the special historical meaning and age of the ruins, oh, that is the real priceless treasure!"

"Say it as if you've seen it before." Micurio snorted, fiddling with his fingers, and a stream of clear water entered Sorey's mouth.

"I saw it the night I finished the book, although it was only in a dream."

His forest-like deep green eyes had just woken up from delusion, and immediately fell asleep in a dream of memories, and Micurio could clearly see the invisible excitement and joy still imprinted on them.Although Micurio was also looking forward to the real body of the legendary ruins, but seeing Sorey's glowing cheeks, he suddenly felt uncomfortable.

"Beyond me?" Just after he finished speaking, Micurio realized that he had said something wrong, but it was too late to take it back, so he had no choice but to turn his head away and stop talking.

The lover's embarrassed and shy side face made Sorey laugh, he stretched out his hand and patted Micurio's shoulder, and put his hand on it without removing it.Sorey's palms were large and strong, and the palms were covered with calluses from tightly gripping the handle of the knife. "There is nothing in this world that can compare with the ruins and historical records. You know that, only by knowing the history can we predict the future. Those things in our world must not be priced."

Hearing this, Micurio's eyes dimmed obviously.He didn't say anything, just sighed tiredly and rubbed his forehead vigorously.And Sorey grabbed the icy hand blocking his eyes as if he didn't see anything, and pulled it and its owner into his arms.

"Of course, but for me personally, there are still some things that are priceless. Like our love." He let go of the arms around Micurio's waist and pointed to his left breast, where the Directly below, a heart was beating regularly and steadily. "In my eyes, you are also priceless." Under his sudden romantic words, those deep purple eyes blinked twice quickly, and the depths of the eyes were full of water. "In today's society, people call this kind of talk glib."

Sorey blinked, as if he couldn't understand Micurio's description at all. "Well, uh... what does this mean?"

"Where is the modern language I told you to learn?" He raised his head and pretended to be angry and glared at Sorey, but Micurio pushed him away unceremoniously. "Walking on the street with an old man like you is really nerve-wracking. Even old-fashioned grandparents don't have anyone to speak in your tone!"

"But, Micurio, aren't you still using it?" Sorey pouted and asked back.

"I, I..." After hesitating and thinking for a long time, he couldn't find a suitable reason to fill it in. Micurio decided to avoid this unfavorable question, adjusted his rhythm, left Sorey and started walking again.

"Huh? Micurio? Wait for me! Don't go so fast, I'll die of lack of water!"

The high-spirited travelers stepped on the hot and thirsty stones all the way.The dark and dense barren mountains are covered with sunlight, and even a piece of shade cannot sneak into it.The faint oasis and springs can be seen behind the half-person-high shadow swaying in the hot air. Of course, it is the fatal confusion that light and air bring to travelers.A slanted gravel scratched Solei's skin, and before the blood flowed out, the wound was covered with a cool and comfortable touch.

"Be careful, don't suffer from heat stroke." Micurio stopped the bleeding with a simple healing spell, and even gave Shi Lei another saliva.

"That's great, aren't the water celestials afraid of the heat? I'm going to be dried..." Because of the thin fog, his breathing became difficult, and the dryness and dusty smell could be smelled in the overly bright air .

"It's almost here, just hold on."

With Micurio's support, they walked until dark, and after pushing away a few stones that blocked their sight, they suddenly came to the top of the hill.The night sky is as clear as the sea, and above it is the bright galaxy shining like diamonds.Because of this unspeakable majestic beauty, Sorey and Micurio forgot to breathe for an instant.

After a short rest, they did not forget the business of the trip.After searching for an unknown amount of time according to the map, the two of them still couldn't find the boiling crater and the secret door blocked by the boulder.Solei wiped the sweat off his forehead, nearly two days of sun exposure had dyed his skin a dark red like clay.They sat side by side on a relatively flat stone, watching the light gray clouds and silver moonlight ups and downs in the night sky, the starry sky seemed to be an epic written by the gods on the sky with diamonds.

"This is a normal thing. We must know that the surface of the earth will undergo appropriate changes within a few hundred years." Micurio said suddenly when he looked up at the sky full of stars. "Maybe the entrance has been covered up, and it's even more likely that the crater has become an extinct volcano and stopped boiling forever."

"I know." Sorey touched Micurio's hand in the dark, and the orange-yellow feather fell on Micurio's slender white wrist. The bright feather and the rose-colored beads on it were like drops of blood. "This is the wonder of time." He smiled, yawned and rested his head on Micurio's collarbone.

"Yes, but with the lifespan of ordinary human beings, there is no chance to see the scene of mountains moving and intertwining stars." Micurio raised his finger and pointed to a certain star at the end of the night and said, "Look there, hundreds of years ago The stars over there have not yet been born, and they were discovered in the past 100 years. There is also that dark blank space over there. I remember that there were a few bright stars there hundreds of years ago, but I can’t find them now. their tracks."

"It's really interesting. If possible, I really want Luo Ze and Alisha to see the starry sky a thousand years later." His voice was obviously quieter, and the head resting on Micurio's shoulders became heavier and heavier.

"Sleepy?"

Shi Lei nodded slightly.

Micurio sighed dotingly: "Then go to sleep, although it may not be comfortable to sleep on the top of the mountain." After speaking, Micurio stood up, just about to find a suitable place to rest on the rocky mountain. The place was caught by Shi Lei, and in the next second he was already hugged tightly by a pair of strong and generous arms.He didn't refuse, and let Shi Lei hug him tightly, and the two of them blended tightly and softly under the bright starry sky.

"Don't leave me behind," he said, his voice deep and timeless.

"Well, I won't leave you..."

"Never leave me behind."

"Well, I will never leave you..."

ICE

"In the deep dark room, the young boy turned his head and found that the place where the other party was standing was empty. At this moment, the boy suddenly heard a creak coming from behind, like a mouse gnawing on a piece of wood The sound. His neck was tightly strangled, and even if he wanted to make a sound, he couldn't make it. The cold hand scratched along his skin and moved towards his heart. At this moment when……"

"Wait a minute, I don't have a problem with you, Micurio. But have you heard the sound of a mouse chewing wood? Are you sure it's a creaking sound? How can I remember that it was creaking? I lived in a dormitory before. Didn’t you hear it when you were a child? And if you haven’t seen a mouse, you should have heard the mouse running, how could such a small animal make such a loud noise. It’s too fake, and you still want to scare me like this, Xiao Tian Clan, you are still too naive, tsk tsk."

"Master Sorey." Micurio raised his eyes and looked at Sorey who was following him eight feet away with frowning eyebrows: "You have interrupted me four times since just now, if you are not satisfied, tell me ah."

"It's not dissatisfaction, I just considered it from an academic point of view."

Micurio stomped the snow beside his feet with some grief, and yelled at Shi Lei: "What can I do with this attitude! At the beginning, I proposed to tell ghost stories because you rapped and sang, and you did too." I promised! In the end, you didn’t tell half of the story and you just kept picking on me. You can’t be so shameless!”

Shi Lei chuckled and pricked up his ears. "What? What did you just say? I couldn't hear you because of the wind."

"You have the ability to continue pretending." Micurio took advantage of Shi Lei's distraction and walked quickly to his side, took off his gloves and stuffed his hands into his clothes without any explanation.Under the white light of the snow, his fingers were almost translucent, but they looked cold.Sorei, who was terribly frozen, screamed and shook off Micurio's hand, and ran with all his strength to widen the distance between him and Micurio.

"Don't come here!" Solei said loudly, rubbing his body with his palms desperately, "It's too cold! It's like an iceman! Mikulio, you are not a water celestial clan, but an ice celestial clan." Right?"

"Stop talking nonsense and hurry up!"

Micurio's words were like a stone falling into a pond, making Sorey immediately quiet, and walked obediently as instructed.Micurio took the opportunity to glared at him several times, trying to draw the distance between them closer, but he dodged Shire several times in a timely manner and politely.Sorey opened his mouth to say something, but Micurio turned his head away and quickened his pace, never trying to walk side by side with him again.At this moment, the two were walking along the rugged detour in the snowy field, one behind the other, next to the ice wall in the wind and snow.Under the snow and fog, the road and the mountain scenery were blurred, and the dim lights in the hands of the two were better than nothing, faintly visible in the thick gray snow.The tall tree trunks are covered with snow, lying heavily on the rock wall, like a huge beast lurking, as if it will rush out of the darkness in the next second.

At this time, no one spoke, and the two held their breath, focusing all their attention on the soft snow under their feet, and even forgot the unhappiness just now.Suddenly, Shi Lei muttered, "Are there really any ruins in this place?"

"Yes, someone discovered it not long ago." The words in a mosquito-like whisper floated accurately into Micurio's ears.

The plan to explore the snow mountain ruins was proposed by Micurio.Before leaving, he kept telling him that he must set off before the snowstorm approached, otherwise even the Celestial Clan's life would be in danger if the mountain was blocked by heavy snow.When Suya proposed this idea, Shi Lei looked very excited, but after a few steps on the ice field, he was frozen by the cold wind and his face was full of disappointment.

"Who would build ruins in such a ghostly place." He said with a big sneeze.

"I heard that this relic was built in a cave, and it is recorded that a spring that will never freeze is enshrined in it."

"Well... is it true or not?"

"What's the matter with you, Sorey." Micurio was a little impatient, and stared at the other person's eyes with his arms crossed in front of his chest: "Aren't you full of interest when you mention the ruins, adventures, etc.? What's wrong this time?" Find fault."

Sorey, who hadn't adapted to the body of the Celestial Clan, frowned and stared down at his toes. "The main reason is that the atmosphere always feels wrong..."

The wind blows, whirring as it blows across the snow.Solei jumped up abruptly, his face was cloudy under the dark sky, he stopped in the middle of speaking: "Do you feel...?" He didn't see or feel anything other than the endless snow-white ice field in front of him.

"Let's go back quickly. It's so cold that a blizzard looks like it's coming." Under the blizzard, Soley's expression was completely different from usual.He seemed to be caught in the heart by something, all the facial features were twisted together, with a pale and unnatural color, it looked like he was soaked in water, even his voice seemed to just come out of the water Same as fished out.

"What? Are you scared? Then I come to your side to accompany you?"

"No, no, it's too cold, you'd better not come here." He quickly waved his hand, rejecting Micurio's kindness. "I felt uncomfortable anyway, like someone was staring at us."

"Are you too sensitive? You didn't let me tell ghost stories just now, why are you so afraid now?"

"Can't you really feel it, Micurio?" Sorey looked around nervously, "Many, many eyes are watching us."

"Sorry, I really don't feel it."

Just as they were talking, a gust of wind blew up from the bottom of their feet, and the small lighting lamp in their hands went out with a snap.Just as Shi Lei was about to use the sky ringing technique to charge the little lamp, he felt some cold air sticking to his back.He was numb all over, and regardless of the cold, he tightly grasped Micurio's hand, even though he felt like he was holding a piece of terribly cold ice, he still refused to let go.

The place where Micurio was pinched by his fingers was almost black and blue, but he didn't show any expression on his face, he just looked worriedly at the abnormal Sorey opposite him.After the wind and snow subsided, the light fell gently from above their heads. Over there, Sorey still mechanically turned his head and looked around, repeating the sentence: "Someone, someone is watching us..."

"Why didn't you react so much just now? The closer you get to the center of the ice sheet, the more nervous you become."

"I don't know. The deeper I go, the stronger the sight becomes. Goosebumps all over my body are about to pop out."

This sentence is not finished yet.A sharp voice suddenly came from the depths of the deep ice field, cutting through the deadly silence.Micurio subconsciously raised his head to look at the place where the sound came from, but he didn't notice that Sorey's hand had dropped powerlessly.

"Silei, go and have a look." He frowned and wanted to go back to pull Solei's hand, but in vain.Micurio suddenly noticed that Sorey, who was standing in front of him just now, had knelt on the ice with his head in his arms, struggling in pain.Cold air rises from the soles of the feet.Micurio's palm was icy cold. "Sore!" He called out shortly, and his voice disappeared into the snow field like fireworks.

When he woke up, the headache had disappeared, Solei rubbed his eyes and sat up from the ground, and found that Micurio was sitting not far from him, reading a book.The faint light was attached to his eyelids, and the erratic silver-white eyelashes added an indescribable sense of mystery to the already dim light.The long braids were tied up at the back of his head casually, and the hair was a little wet from the snowflakes, and fell heavily on his shoulders.After noticing Sorey's gaze, Micurio raised his head, his purple pupils remained calm, as always.

"Awake?"

"Well, where is this?" Sorey found that he and Micurio were in the center of a circular cave. When he raised his head, he could see a hole. Through the small hole, he could see the gray-blue sky outside. and snowflakes.

"This is our destination." After closing the book, Micurio pointed to the spring water next to the two of them, and said, "Look, we have found a spring that won't freeze even if it's so cold."

"Really." Shi Lei stared at the pool of green spring water in silence for a few seconds. "Is it because of this water that my head doesn't hurt anymore? Then the sight that was staring at us just now was also dispelled?"

"I don't think this is the reason. While you were sleeping, I read some information about this ruin and learned some interesting things."

"what?"

"For example, this ice sheet is located at a very high altitude, or this is the closest place to the sky as far as we know."

"Uh... I don't quite understand, what does this have to do with my headache?"

"Yes, don't you know that the thunder-attribute Celestial Clan has the strongest signal perception ability?"

"what is that?"

Looking at Sorey who knew nothing, Micurio sighed heavily. "Just like I am not afraid of the cold or the heat, the Celestial Clan with different attributes will have some characteristics. Although they are all the ability to laugh without saying anything, it is sometimes quite convenient."

Shi Lei nodded with half understanding, obviously he still didn't know the direct connection between perception ability and his headache.

"Here, thousands of years ago, it was once known as the tomb of the stars." Micurio habitually walked towards Sorey, but stopped when he thought of his own body temperature. "Because it is closest to the sky, ancient people believed that this is the place where people's souls fly to the sky after death. Because of its special location, this cave has become a singularity of this ice sheet. Because it is covered by ice and snow, the internal temperature is very low. , the weak radio waves from other stars will also be deviated."

At this moment, through the round hole above his head, Sorey saw a flint thrown from the sky towards the earth, drawing an arc in the pale curtain, and falling to the ground without support.Sorey took a step back, trying to get the scene into his mind before the star disappeared.He lifted a finger, and the entire cavern was heard to be silent, as if everything that was moving had stopped.

Then, another star fell.The long, slender tails of the falling stars linger in the air for a long time, and all this is due to beauty, to silence, to utter annihilation.This time, Sorey stretched out his hand high into the sky, but he couldn't hold anything but air.

"I think, you will have a headache and feel that someone is staring at you. It may be related to these stars. After all, the place where we usually live is far away from the starry sky." Micurio retreated to the edge of the cave while talking, despite the temperature of the spring water It has improved, but the power of the snow and ice field should not be underestimated.

"That's not a ghost? It's not a ghost either?"

"Of course not, but what you say is a ghost. After all, if you explain it according to your favorite scientific method, the stars shining in the sky come from hundreds or even thousands of years ago. What we saw , maybe even just the corpses of those stars."

"Is this a very popular astronomical theory recently? To be honest, I quite like it."

"Why, are you interested in something other than archaeology?"

"Of course." He took a few steps forward, gradually closing the distance between him and Micurio. Every time he took a step, Sorey felt the temperature of his blood drop by one degree, but he didn't stop. "You know, compared to the endless deep blue universe in the sky, we are pitifully small. But how did we, who are so small and insignificant, have developed to this point in just a few hundred years? Just thinking about it makes people Excited to the point of restlessness!" Before he finished speaking, Sorey had already walked in front of Micurio, and he could kiss that water-blue transparent hair as long as he lowered his head a little.

"However, if you think about it in another way, studying astronomy can also be regarded as studying history. In the final analysis, you still haven't transferred out of the circle of ancient studies."

"As long as you have a lot of things to do, anyway, if you have enough time, it's fine if you can't learn everything!"

The snow on the top of the head has completely stopped, and the wind has also weakened.Stars are exploding in the eyes of the two people who are looking at each other, emitting various golden fireworks.Micurio closed his lips and nodded with a smile.

"You'll be with me, right?"

"Before that, we have to get out of this ice field first." As he spoke, he tiptoed slightly, and dropped a cold and short kiss on Sorey's forehead like snowflakes falling on his palm.

After returning to the town, the young Celestial Clan named Shi Lei soon fell asleep on the bed in the dormitory, with a smile on his lips.But this did not prevent him from falling asleep, and the small room seemed to be full of shining stars, and each star began to sing around him, a song in an ancient and dying language. The song I sang.In the dream, he came to a field where dark blue and gold merged together, the moon hung in the blue transparent sky, and the whole world was full of golden stars.

Someone waved to him at the end of the field.The man had long, fluffy silver hair with a beautiful aqua color at the end. He called his name, and his purple eyes blinked, hundreds or thousands of times brighter than the brightest stars.

That was the spiritual destination that belonged only to Sorey.

THE END