Chapter 5 3

Six adults and one baby are in the middle of nowhere.The fire they had kindled seemed feeble under the darkness of night.Above and around them the hills surrounding the valley rose like high walls, and in the shadows of the nearer valley the gigantic forms of the Tombs stalked like ghosts of antediluvian lizards. Brown.Lamia was tired, sore, and very irritable.Sol.Wen Chaobo's baby cried so hard that she gritted her teeth.She knew everyone else was tired too; no one had gotten three or four hours of sleep the past three nights, and the day was ending with tension and unresolved fears.She put the last log in the fire.

There's no more firewood in that place, Martin.Selenos yelled.The firelight illuminates the satyr-like face of the poet from below. ③ Satyr: Half human, half animal, with sheep ears and tails, sexually fond of wine and sex. I know, Brown.Lamia said she was too tired to add anger or other emotions into her voice, and the firewood had been brought by the pilgrimage group years ago and kept in a storage room.Their three small tents stand where pilgrims traditionally camp the day before meeting the thorn demon.Their camp was near the Tomb of Time known as the Sphinx, a huge black mass that looked like wings that partially obscured the sky.

After the fire goes out, we use lanterns.said the consul.The diplomat looked more tired than the others.The flickering flames stained his sad face red.He had donned the finery of a diplomat especially for this day, but now the cloak and cocked hat looked as filthy and worn out as the consul himself. Colonel Kassad returned to the fire and pushed the night vision goggles up on top of his helmet.Kassad, in full combat gear, with the activated color-changing polymer skin allowing only his face to be seen, was floating two meters above the ground.Nothing, he said: no movement, no heat, no sound except the wind.Kassad leaned the Overlord's multipurpose lance against a rock and, sitting next to the others, he turned the fibers of his body armor back to dark black, but remained invisible as before.

Do you think Jing Demon God will come tonight?asked Father Hoyt.Wrapped in a black cloak, the priest seemed as much a part of the night as Colonel Kassad.The thin man's voice was tense. Kassad leaned forward and poked the fire with his staff.Nobody knows, I'll stand guard just in case. All of a sudden, all six of them looked at the starry sky, sparkling with color, and the orange and red flowers spread silently, obscuring the starry sky. Not so much in the last few hours, Saul.Wen Chaobo said while shaking his baby.Rachel had stopped crying and was now trying to grab her father's short beard.Wen Chaobo kissed her little hand.

They are testing the defensive strength of the Overlord League again.Kassad said.Sparks rose from the poking fire, and the red flames floated into the sky, as if to join the bright fireworks in the sky. Who's winning?Lamia asked, referring to the silent space war that filled the skies with violence the night before and most of today. Who the hell cares?Martin.Cylenos said.He searched the pockets of his fur coat to see if he could still find a full bottle of wine, but found none.Who the hell cares?He grunted again. I care, the Consul said wearily.If the Ousters can break through, they could destroy Hyperion before we can find the Bramble.

Cylenus laughed mockingly: Oh, that would be terrible, wouldn't it?To die before we find it, to be killed before the time we expect to be killed, to go away that quickly and without pain, instead of suffering forever on the thorn of the thorn demon?Oh, that's a horrible thought. Shut up, Brown.Ramia said.Her voice was equally emotionless, but this time not necessarily without threat, and she glanced at the Consul.Where is the Thorn Demon God?Why can't we find it? The diplomat stared into the fire.I don't know, why should I know? Maybe Jing Demon God has left, Father Hoyt said: Maybe Jing Demon God was freed because of the disintegration of the anti-entropy force field.Maybe it has taken its scourge elsewhere.

The Consul shook his head and said nothing. No, Saul.Wen Chaobo said that the baby is now asleep on his shoulder.It's coming, I feel it. Brown.Ramia nodded.I can feel it too.It is waiting.She took several rations out of her backpack, and now she opened the heating pad to distribute the rations. I know the foundation of the world is anti-climax.Cylennus said: But this is too ridiculous, everyone is dressed up but there is no death. Brown.Lamia glared, but said nothing. For a while, everyone just ate their rations in silence. The red light in the sky disappeared, and dense stars reappeared.But Mars is still rising, as if seeking escape.

I was entangled in Brown.In the confusion of Lamia's mind that had shifted twice like a dream, I tried to reconstruct the events that had occurred since the last time I dreamed of their lives. The pilgrims descended the valley before dawn, singing, their shadows cast before them by the light of war thousands of miles above, surveying the Time Tombs all day, dying every second, After a few hours, as the sun rose and the desert cold turned to scorching heat, their fear and joy faded. The long day was silent, save for the grinding of sand, the occasional cry, and the ever-present, almost subconscious groan of the wind passing between the rocks and the time tombs.Kassad and the Consul each carried a device capable of measuring the strength of the anti-entropic force field.But Lamia was the first to discover that those instruments were unnecessary, and that the ebb of the tide would make people feel slightly sick, and there was also a sense of déjà vu that would not diminish.

Closest to the entrance of the valley is the Sphinx, then the Jade Tomb, whose walls are only transparent at dawn and twilight; then, less than a hundred meters further in, stands the Time Tomb called the Obelisk ; then the pilgrimage goes up through widening valleys to the largest of them all, the Crystal Monolith at the center.There are no patterns or openings on the surface, and the flat top reflects the upper end of the rock wall, and then there are the three cave mounds. The entrances to these places are only visible because the paths leading there have been trampled; Finally, almost a kilometer deep from the mouth of the gorge is the so-called Temple of the Thorns. The sharp edges and protruding spires are exactly like the spikes on the legendary monster that haunted the valley.

All day long they went from time tome to time tomb, not a single one dared to go away alone, and the little group hesitated before entering the accessible time tombs.Sol.Wen Chaobo was very emotional when he saw and entered the Sphinx. Twenty-six years ago, his daughter contracted Merlin's disease in this time tomb.The instruments placed by her university team back then are still on the tripod outside Shizuoka, but no one in this group knows whether those instruments still work, and whether they are still performing their monitoring duties.The passage in the Sphinx is as narrow and maze-like as Rachel's communication recorder said.The strings of light spheres and electric lights left by various previous research teams are now completely black and out of energy.They probed the place with flashlights and Kassad's night-vision goggles, but they couldn't find the room where the walls closed when Rachel was there and her illness started.There are only remnants of a once powerful tide of time.There was no trace of Jing Demon God either.

Each time tomb offers its own moments of terror, hope, and horrific anticipation, only to end up with an hour or so of disappointment because there are only dirty, empty rooms, like tourists and thorn gods through the centuries. The same as what the pilgrims saw. The day ended in disappointment and exhaustion, as the shadow of the eastern valley wall covered the time mounds and valleys like a curtain falling after an unsuccessful play.The heat of the day faded away, and the desert cold was quickly blown back by a gust of wind, bringing with it the smell of snow and the heights of the Horseshoe Mountains twenty kilometers to the southwest.Kassad suggested that they set up camp.The Consul led the way to the traditional camp where pilgrims to the Thorns spent their last night before meeting the monster they were looking for.The flat area is close to the Sphinx, and some traces of research teams or pilgrims can be seen.Sol.Wen Chaobo was very happy, he thought his daughter had camped here.No one else objected either. Now, in total darkness, with only the last log burning, I feel the six of them huddling closer not just for warmth, but closer to each other as they float along the Benaris. The shared experience of going up the river and coming to Time Fort is like a fragile but solid rope that pulls them together.In addition, I also felt a more obvious unity than emotional bonding; although it took a while, I quickly understood that this group of people uses shared data and microdata circles of perceptual webs. connected.In a world where regional source data shatters at the first sign of combat, this group connects comloggers and biomonitors to share information and to look after each other as much as possible. Although the barriers to entry were obvious and solid, I slipped in without any difficulty. Under those barriers, I got a lot of clues, pulse, skin temperature, cortical activity, intake requirements, and data retrieval. Gave me some insight into the thoughts, feelings, and actions of each pilgrim.Kassad, Hoyt, and Lamia are all implanted, and their thoughts are most accessible.At this moment, Brown.Lamia was wondering if it was a mistake to find Jing Demon God. She was a little uneasy, and a certain feeling was faintly emerging, but it was not clear enough.She felt that she had overlooked some extremely important clues, what could be solved? Brown.Lamia has always hated mysteries and unsolvable mysteries, which is one of the reasons why she left her comfortable life behind to become a private investigator.But what is the unsolved mystery?She had solved the murder of her mock client and lover, and had come to Hyperion to fulfill his last wish.But she still felt that this vague question had nothing to do with Jing Demon God, what was it? Lamia shook her head, and picked the dying fire.She has a strong body and has been trained since she was a child to be able to block the gravity of 1.3 times Luthers, and to have greater strength, but she has not slept for several days, and she is very, very tired.She vaguely felt someone talking. Just want a shower and something to eat, Martin.Cylenus said: Maybe use your communicator and FTL link to figure out who won the battle. The consul shook his head, no, that boat is for emergencies. Cylenus gestured towards the night, the Sphinx, and the wind that was blowing stronger. Don't you think this is an emergency? Brown.Lamia understood that they were talking about calling the Consul's spaceship here from Keats City.She asked: Are you sure you didn't run out of alcohol in your so-called emergency? Selenus glared at her.Can a little wine kill you? No, said the Consul.He rubbed his eyes, and Lamia remembered that he was also a drinker.But he was talking about not calling his spaceship.We have to wait until we have to. What about the FTL communicator?Kassad said. The Consul nodded, and took his antique comm recorder out of his backpack.The thing had originally belonged to his grandmother Celie, who in turn had been passed down by her grandparents.The Consul touched the transmitter, I can use it to transmit, but not to receive. Sol.Wen Chaobo put his sleeping baby at the door of the nearest tent, and turned to face the fire.And the last time you sent a message was when we arrived at Time Fort? Yes. Martin.Cylenus said sarcastically: And should we believe a man who confesses to be a traitor? Yes.The Consul's tone was utterly weary. Kassad's gaunt face floated in the darkness, his body, legs, and arms a mere shadow against an already black background.But if we need it, we can still use this to summon the ship, right? Yes. Father Hoyt wrapped the cloak around him tighter to keep it from flapping in the growing wind.The sand scraped against the fleece and the tent.Aren't you afraid that the Overlord's port officials will move that ship or tamper with it?he asked the consul. No, the consul's head moved only slightly, as if he was too tired to shake his head.Our passes were issued by Graystone himself, and, besides, the governor was a friend of mine and a former friend. Others met the recently promoted governor of the Overlord Alliance shortly after they landed: in Brown.From Lamia's point of view, Theo.Lian seems to be a man with a lot of talent. It's windy, Sol.Wen Chaobo said that he turned around to block the flying sand for the baby.The scholar stared at the storm and said, "I don't know Heite.Is Mastine over there? We searched all over the place.Father Hoyt said.His voice was muffled as he bowed his head in his cloak. Martin.Cylenos laughed, sorry, Father.He said: But you are full of nonsense.The poet got up and walked to the firelight, and the wind blew the fur of his coat and his words into the night.There are a thousand hiding places in the cliffs here.The Crystal Monolith keeps us from finding the entrance, but what about the Templars?Besides, you also saw the stairs leading to the labyrinth in the deepest room of Tamatsuka. Hoyt raised his head, squinting his eyes in the wind and sand.Do you think he will be there?In that maze? Cylenos smiled and raised his hands high.The loose silk smock billowed in the wind.How the hell do I know, Father?I only know Hate.Mastine is probably over there now, watching us, waiting to come back for his luggage.The poet pointed to the Moebius cube in the middle of their little pile, and he might as well be dead, or worse. Worse case?Hoyt said.The priest's face had aged considerably over the past few hours.His eyes were like two pained, sunken mirrors, and his smile was like a grin. Martin.Cylenus walked back to the dying fire.Worse case.He said: He may be writhing in pain on the iron tree of the Jing Demon God.which is what will happen to us soon Brown.Lamia stood up suddenly and grabbed the poet's shirt front.She lifted him off the ground, shook him, and lowered him until his face was level with hers.Say it again, she said softly: I'll make you miserable.I will not kill you, but you will wish that I had better kill you. The poet smiled like a satyr god.Lamia dropped him and turned her back.Kassad said: We are all tired.Go to sleep, everyone, I'll stand guard. I dreamed that Lamia's dream was mixed with the dream of Lamia herself.It is not unpleasant to share a woman's dreams, a woman's thoughts, even if there is a time gap between that woman and me, and a cultural gap much larger than the gender gap.She dreamed of her dead love, Johnny, with his nose too small and jaw too stubborn, his hair too long curling around his collar, and his Eyes too expressive and frank, but for eyes too mobile, that face might have belonged to any one of a thousand farmers born in a single day in London. The face she dreamed was my face.The voice she heard in the dream was my voice.But the sex she dreamed about, I remember now, is not what I once shared.I want to escape her dreams, if only I can find my own.If I were a voyeur, maybe I might as well stay in these messy memories I've created and think of it as my own dream. But I am not allowed to have my own dreams.Not yet.I suspect that my rebirth from my death was only for these dreams of my dead double. I gave up and stopped struggling to wake up and fell asleep. Brown.Lamia woke up quickly because some sound or movement woke her from a sweet dream, and she didn't know why for a moment; The noises were much louder; she was exhausted but woke up knowing she hadn't had much sleep; she was alone in a small enclosure, in what looked like an oversized body bag. Although she grew up in a world where an enclosed space meant safety from noxious air, winds, and wild animals, in a world where many people developed agoraphobia when exposed to rare open spaces, few Know what claustrophobia is, but Brown.Lamia still had the reaction of a claustrophobic patient: clasping her hands and gasping for air, pushing open the bedding and tent door, fleeing in panic from that plastic fiber cocoon, crawling and rolling to pull herself up with her hands, forearms and elbows. until the sand is under the palm and the sky is above the head. She realized that it wasn't really the sky, and suddenly saw and remembered where she was.sand.There was a wild, whirling sandstorm, and the sand stung her face like needles.The campfires had been extinguished and covered with sand, which had piled up on the windward sides of the three tents, whose sides flapped and sounded like gunshots in the wind, and new dunes had formed around the camp.Leave trails downwind of tents and gear.There was no movement in the other tents, and the one she shared with Father Hoyt was half-collapsed, buried under the rising dunes. Hoyt. He woke her up because he wasn't there.Even in her dream, part of her consciousness had been aware of the soft breathing of the sleeping priest, and his barely audible moans of pain.At some point in the past half hour, he left.Probably just a few minutes ago; Brown.Lamia knew that even when she dreamed of Johnny, she vaguely sensed a rustling sound besides the scratching of the sand and the howling of the wind. Lamia stood up, covering her eyes in the sandstorm.It was dark outside and the stars were obscured by clouds and dust.But there was a faint, electric light that filled the air, reflected off the rocky and sandy surfaces, and Lamia knew it was electricity, and the air was filled with static, making her hair curl and fly like a Gorgon .Static currents climbed up the sleeves of her gown and flickered across the surface of the tent like St. Elmo's fire.After her eyes got used to it, Lamia found white flames burning on the moving sand dunes.Forty meters to the east, the time mound called the Sphinx showed a cracked and undulating silhouette in the night.Waves of electricity flow on the outwardly extending appendages, commonly called wings. ④ St. Elmo's Fire: Also known as St. Elmo's Light, the electric light that appears on the masthead or spire during a storm, also known as the sky's electric light ball. St. Elmo's is an Italian bishop, martyred Or, the Mediterranean sailors regarded as the patron saint, and believed that the lightning was sent by him. Brown.Lamia looked around, but there was no sign of Father Hoyt. She considered calling for help, but knew that in the howling wind, no one would hear her.She also thought that the priest might have just gone to another tent, or to the simple toilet twenty meters to the west, but she felt that was not the case.She looked at the sphinx, and seemed to see a figure for a moment, the black cloak fluttering like wings, shoulders arched in the wind, and the static light emitted by the time tomb reflected the outline. A hand on her shoulder. Brown.Lamia turned away and squatted halfway to prepare for the fight, with her left fist outstretched and her right palm upright.Then she saw Kassad standing there.The colonel was half taller than Lamia, fatter and thinner but only half as thin as her. There were many small light spots flashing on his body.He leaned over and yelled in her ear: He's going over there!The long, black, scarecrow-like arm reached out to the sphinx. Lamia nodded, and answered loudly. In the wind, her voice could hardly be heard by herself: Do you want to wake up other people?She forgot that Kassad had been standing guard.Does this man never sleep? Feldman.Kassad shook his head, his visor pulled up, and his helmet disintegrated to form a hood behind his battle-plated coverall, and Kassad's face was seen in the light of his suit. Comes very pale.He pointed towards the Sphinx, and the multi-purpose Overlord Spear rested diagonally in the crook of his left arm.Grenades, binocular cases, and other more mysterious gear dangle from the hooks and web straps of his battle armor.He pointed again at the Sphinx. Lamia leaned forward and shouted: Did the Thorn Demon God catch him? Kassad shook his head. can you see himShe pointed to his night vision goggles and binoculars. Can't see, Kassad said: this storm, messing up the thermal image. Brown.With her back to the wind, Lamia felt the grains of sand prick her neck like needles from a fletcher.She checked her logger, and all she knew was that Hoyt was alive; walking; no other data on the public network.She moved beside Kassad, their backs forming a wall against the storm.Shall we follow him?she cried. ⑤Flechette Gun: A weapon used in World War I. Kassad shook his head.We can't leave this place unguarded, I set up the siren, but he gestured to the storm. Brown.Ramia slipped back into the tent, pulled on her boots and all-weather poncho, and emerged with her father's automatic.There's also a more traditional weapon, a stun prod, in the breast pocket of her cloak, so here I go.she says. At first she thought the Colonel hadn't heard her, but then she saw the look in his pale eyes and knew he had.He patted the military communication recorder hanging on his waist. Lamia nodded, making sure that the chip and communication recorder she had implanted herself were set to the maximum range, and I will be back.With that she toiled up the shining sand dunes.Her legs in trousers shone with static electricity, and the sand seemed to be alive with silvery currents flashing across the mottled surface. After walking 20 meters away from the camp, the camp was no longer visible. After walking another 10 meters, the Sphinx stood tall in front of her. There was no sign of Father Hoyt anywhere. Less than ten seconds left in the storm. The wide entrance of the Sphinx was wide open, as it had been since man had known the place.Now it was like a black rectangle embedded in a shimmering wall.Logically, Hoyt should have gone there even if it was just to escape the storm, but there were reasons beyond logic that made her feel that this was not the priest's destination. Brown.Lamia staggered past the Sphinx, resting on the leeward side to clear the sand from her face and allow herself to breathe freely again.Then she went on, until she was on a barely discernible path between the dunes.Ahead of her, the jade mound glowed a soft green in the night, and its smooth curves and protrusions seemed to have an ominous glow. Lamia narrowed her eyes and looked carefully for a while, and saw the outline of someone or something appearing in front of the light in an instant.Then the shadow disappeared. I don't know if it entered the Time Tomb, or it was invisible because it was lined in front of the black semi-circular entrance. Lamia lowered her head and continued to walk forward, the strong wind pushed her behind, as if urging her to move towards something important as soon as possible.