"What if it's black?"
Hitzfeld was stunned for a moment, then nodded: "Indeed... this factor should also be considered."
The test tube in Xia Yibing's hand was snatched away by her before it could even warm up.
The woman came over and watched her put the potion back into the furnace and add something to it.
"What are you doing?"
She doesn't understand.
"To prevent the possibility you mentioned."
"Maybe? You mean black?"
"Correct."
While operating, Hitzfeld said things that could scare people to death.
"I will add a new reactant that can demonstrate a spiritual power that exceeds the standard."
"If you really see any black fog, we're probably doomed."
"Because that means... there is an evil god in the jar."
Chapter 58 Retrospective Ceremony 2
My name is Alessia, Alessia-Belen Kurud.
I don't know who my parents are. My adoptive father told me that I was carried in a cradle, floating along a long river of blood and flesh. At that time, countless blood-bone trees spoke to him in the forest, shouting, "Berenkurud! Berenkurud! Come home! The blood river has sent you a child!"
Old Belen is just an ordinary person - he is a woodcutter and a twig picker who makes a living by collecting bones shed by blood-bone trees. This kind of bones is hard and can be processed into various products on the market, including but not limited to hair accessories, tableware, armor and weapons. Because he does not master the processing skills of this material, Old Belen can only earn a little money at the bottom of this channel, which means that he will have a hard time finding a wife in his life, so you can imagine how much he cares about this matter.
He took off his hat to the blood-bone trees, bowed to them, and kept saying words of thanks. The trees were also very polite and continued, "Go back quickly, Berenkulud! Your children will become the masters of the Blood River in the future!"
Is this a dream? Perhaps it is... I, Alessia-Berenkulud, was taken out of the cradle by a woodcutter on that day. He named me "Alessia" after the Blood River and swore to make me the king of the Blood River.
When I was very young and didn't remember much, I didn't understand how difficult it was to do this. I knew the Blood River... There weren't many things to entertain myself in the village. I didn't want to bully the old blood-bone trees that couldn't walk like those naughty kids, nor did I want to study with the adults how to follow the direction of the blood-bone forest. I would sit by the river in a daze, looking at the blood river in front of me, and imagining what I could do to control this scarlet thing.
The Blood River is naturally red, and it is a winding river. No one in the village knows where it comes from, but they know it is very wide and long. Someone followed the bend of the Blood River and walked north for seven days without finding the end. On the seventh day, it got dark, and they all thought it was a punishment from God. From then on, they established a rule - all treks away from the village can only be limited to six days, otherwise they will be out of the protection of the Blood River and become the prey of those blood beasts.
I did - when I was at that stage, I didn't know that what I was experiencing was not normal. I thought everything had a soul, like trees could talk, animals could talk, blood beasts could talk, even the wind, water, rain, and clouds that were supposed to be lifeless could talk.
Because of this, I was not surprised when a wave suddenly rose up in the blood-red river in front of me, revealing a blurry face, because I had not only heard of it but also seen it from afar.
That was when the village chief was offering sacrifices to the blood river, and only then would this face appear.
"What are you worried about, Alessia?" the face asked me, making a gurgling sound from its mouth.
"You are so weird, Alessia." I asked it back, "This is clearly your name. The supreme blood river actually tolerates the lowly blood food to have the same name as itself... and now you even want to comfort me!"
"Alessia is not my name. To be honest, my name is just Blood River."
The bloody human face was wriggling and shaking... I kept staring at its deep eye sockets, and there was nothing in them. It was a genuine demon, a monster.
"You are the bearer of an ancient legend, Alessia." It continued, "Someone has predicted that if a baby is thrown into my body and can float to this village and be rescued without my interference, then he will be qualified to inherit this name and lead me to conquer the entire kingdom of God in the future."
"So what should I do?"
"The wind will tell you." The human face moved, "The rain will tell you, the clouds will tell you. Don't let yourself be like a mediocre person. You are destined to become an extraordinary person."
Extraordinary - I keenly noticed a new word.
Does this refer to people with special powers? I don't know... My adoptive father, Old Beren, would go to a nearby town called "Flail" when he went to the market to sell his goods. It was exactly six days away from the village, no more, no less. He once mentioned to me that there were many extraordinary people in the Flail town, "much more powerful than the strongest picker in the village."
After this incident, I went home quickly and told my father what Blood River Alessia had told me. He looked very happy, lifted me up and put me in the sky, and said with a happy smile: "This is the blessing of the Blood River! The prophecy has destined you to become the Lord of the Blood River!"
"What is the Lord of the Blood River?" I asked, "How do I become the Lord of the Blood River? What are the benefits of becoming the Lord of the Blood River? Can you pick more branches for my father?"
"Oh... If you insist on me telling you something, I can't do it either." He held me and sat down at the door, looking at the red tumor hanging in the sky. "We in Yifan Village rely on the Blood River for survival, because the Blood Bone Forest will only migrate back and forth along the direction of the Blood River. We follow behind and pick up the bones shed by the saints. This is the Lord God's gift to us."
"However, there are many villages like ours that rely on the Blood River for their livelihood along the winding river... Some of them can only do some work like us, picking up branches, while others are stronger and can organize themselves to hunt the blood beasts roaming around."
"Are you talking about those things in the fog?" I was surprised because I had indeed heard strange howling coming from the fog. So I asked, "Is it because we are close to the blood river... that those monsters dare not come?"
"Yes~" He hugged me close and kissed me again, "Alessia is so smart~"
"I noticed that there was no fog only near the Blood River. Is that why we followed the Blood River?"
"Yes..." At this point, Abba sighed, "Because we are too weak. If we leave the river bank, we will surely die. Only if we gather together like we are now, a group of weak people gathered into a village, can we have some hope of survival."
"Then why isn't Flail Town afraid?"
"Oh? The adults in Chain Flail Town can hunt blood beasts with their bare hands. In the eyes of some powerful blood killers, those monsters are nothing more than materials for their advancement, so of course they are not afraid and dare to live in the gray fog."
"How about the Lord of the Blood River versus the most powerful Blood Slayer?"
"I don't know. But I think the Lord of the Blood River is more powerful."
After this conversation, I no longer had any hope of getting any useful information from him. Apparently, my father himself only had a vague idea of what was going on. The little kindness that Yifancun showed to me and my father was nothing more than a prophecy.
I continued to live, repeating the boring process of growing up. But I was really fed up. I always felt that my mind - my soul did not match my current body. I longed to grow up, but I had no way to control time.
One night the wind blew.
When the wind started, no one dared to stay in the village. People had to hide in their houses and tunnels, waiting for the gray fog blown by the wind to dissipate before they would come out. My father naturally took me into the house and told me not to answer any noise I heard.
"Boom boom boom!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door rang.
The knock on the door was light and urgent. It sounded like an extremely thin and frail old woman, who spoke with difficulty: "Is anyone there... Please be kind and give me some food..."
I was about to answer when my father covered my mouth. I looked up at him and found that his face was pale, his lips were trembling, and his bloodshot eyes were fixed on the door, and he just kept shaking his head at me.
I guessed that the thing outside was not a human. It is true that some blood beasts would trick villagers into opening the door in this way, and once someone really did so, everyone in the house would be eaten.
Blood beasts are intelligent after all... being able to speak means being intelligent, so they can certainly do this. This is also one of the few times they dare to directly break into the village.
My father held me in his arms all night, and something outside the door kept knocking on it.
I don't understand why it doesn't harass others. It seems to have set its sights on our house and won't give up even if it shouts its voice hoarse.
"Open the door~~~"
As daybreak approached, it gradually lost its patience, revealing its original shrill voice.
"I won't do anything to you...Open the door...Open the door~~~~"
"Boom boom boom!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
The knocking on the door became louder and louder. My father woke up and picked up a bone knife and held it in his hand.
The door panel was shaking more and more violently, and many pieces of flesh and bones fell out of the gaps. One could vaguely see something moving outside.
"Go! Go!"
Just when we all thought that the door would be violently smashed and we would be eaten by the monster, there was a new noise outside.
Whistling and shrieking.
"go with!"
The voice was circling outside, seemingly accompanied by the sound of a manic wind.
"leave here!"
"Go somewhere else!"
I could have sworn I heard a shrill scream.
The thing that originally knocked on the door ran away screaming, as if it had encountered an even more terrifying monster and couldn't muster up the slightest will to resist.
"God bless you!"
The father wept and knelt down to pray.
But I know it’s not the Lord God.
"It's the wind..."
It dawned on me.
"Only the north wind has such power..."
Ignoring my father's dissuasion behind me, I ran to the door and opened the lock. Sure enough, I saw a storm giant standing outside.
The violent air current swept in the moment I opened the door, and everything in the house was blown away. My father could only stick the bone knife on the floor to hold on, and his whole body was a little shaky.
I knew I had to hurry up, so I immediately asked the giant loudly, "How can I become the Lord of the Blood River?"
"That is a very difficult thing." The North Wind answered me.
"Think about it after you have the power to protect yourself."
So the next day, I asked my father to take me to the woods.
I've had enough of being a child.
Starting today, I will learn to pick twigs.
Chapter 59: Retrospective Ceremony III
The branch pickers are those who follow the migration of the Blood and Bone Forest and pick up the scattered bones in the process.
"Are you sure?" The captain of the picking team was the village butcher. His name was Rika. When he bent down to talk to me, he always liked to press my shoulders with his big, meaty hands.
"You look only about 6 years old... If you are such a young kid and you are a stick picker, what will you do when the forest riots? Your legs are so short that you can't run away immediately with big strides..."
He spoke of his concerns, causing everyone to laugh. But I was not angry with him, because I knew he loved me and didn't want me to lose my life for no reason.
"It was the North Wind who told me to do this," I answered him truthfully, "He told me to prepare to gain the strength to protect myself first!"
When I said this, the laughter around me disappeared.
I could feel that the people were looking at me differently. They began to whisper, and while discussing this matter they turned their heads and glanced at me out of the corner of their eyes.
I have seen them behave like this before. Every time they hold a sacrifice to the Blood River, whoever the bloody face touches will receive the same treatment. But there are some differences - I also see fanaticism and fear in their eyes.
This was a magical feeling, "quantified emotions"... I didn't know this word at that time. I just felt that for a moment I could sense everything about them, their breathing, the flow of their blood, and the sparks of thoughts and wisdom, as brilliant as the nebula on the river bank.
"Even so, come on." Rika patted my shoulder and walked back to the team.
Soon, the village prepared some special equipment for me, including a short and sturdy bone knife, a cloak made of the dead skin of the blood bone tree, a pair of boots made of blood beast fur, and a sealed bag of blood beast meat wrapped in special spices.
The team set out, and I walked with my father. Such teams usually set out in the morning and return before dark. Sometimes they were delayed outside due to accidents and would not return until the next morning.
But it will not exceed tomorrow noon - that means the team encountered something terrible outside, and the village has been offering sacrifices to the Blood River in the hope that this will not happen. I have never seen it before, and I don't hope to encounter it when I go out.
The scenery outside the village is very mysterious.
This place is covered in gray fog all year round, and when the wind is strong, the fog will blow into the village. I thought of the monster I encountered last night, and curiously asked my father: "How does the gray fog distinguish the Blood River from other lands?"
It's almost like a living creature. Does it know not to come near the blood river?
"Maybe it has thoughts..." The father could only guess, "Look, Alessia... the wind has thoughts, the rain has thoughts, then the fog can certainly have thoughts too."
"Has anyone ever seen Gray Mist speak?"
"I haven't heard of such a thing."
I followed my father and asked him questions all the way, my eyes always looking at the surrounding scenery.
Unlike what I had imagined, we did not enter the thick fog. We just walked northwest along the bank of the Blood River - they said the Blood Bone Forest was not far ahead.
Because it is right by the river, the fog is very thin. Normally it would be almost non-existent, but the fog was blown in by the south wind last night.
"Alessia, don't you know? The south wind and the north wind don't get along."
A big hand suddenly lifted me up and put me on the bike frame. When I looked up, I met the big eyes of the butcher Rika.
This giant has big hands, a big body, and a big head. The organs on his face are nearly 10 times bigger than mine. I think he looks more like a monster than anything else.
He said hello to my father and said that he would take care of me for a while. After getting my father's consent, he stopped caring about me and started telling me about what he had seen and heard.
"Legend has it that South Wind and North Wind were brothers. They were originally very good friends, but they had a dispute over a fruit from the Blood Bone Tree King. From then on, the two brothers became enemies and opposed each other in everything."
"What is the Blood Bone Tree King?"
"It's the largest and strongest blood bone tree. Ordinary blood bone trees are usually 20 meters tall. As for the blood bone tree king, I think it should be at least 40 meters tall..."
Rica's tone was extremely uncertain, and his eyes moved around while he spoke, not daring to look at me. I immediately realized that he was probably just guessing like my father.
