Chapter 13 Chapter 12

When they came out of the hut, the demons were gone.Dylan looked around, his eyes widened in fear, and it took a while for him to let out a breath of relief.Still, there was still that valley to cross, she thought. It was a gloomy morning, and although the sun was bright, it could not penetrate the thick fog that hovered over the mountains and covered the fields.Tristan looked around deliberately, then at Dylan, and smiled sympathetically. "You're nervous." He didn't ask her, but directly concluded. Staring at the mist, Dylan slowly realized something, "Did I cause this?"

He nodded.He walked up to her and took her hand in his own, "Look at me," he said commandingly, "you don't have to be afraid, I'll protect you, I promise." He bent his legs slightly To look Dylan straight in the eyes. She tried her best to catch his gaze, feeling a little hot on her cheeks. "You're cute when you blush," he said.The words made her blush even more, and made him laugh again. "Come on," he said, turning and letting go of one of her hands, but still holding the other, leading tenderly. Follow her forward. Dylan stumbled behind him, feeling vaguely that the mist was thinning and the sun's rays were struggling to break through.She felt that she knew why, so the blush on her face would not fade for a while.

Two minutes later, she was convinced that his words were nothing more than a ploy - to ease her mind, let the sun evaporate the fog, reduce the risk from the devil.However, when he led her forward, his hands were still tightly clasped with hers. At the summit of the first mountain, Tristan stopped and scouted the terrain.His eyes focused on the left side, and he pointed there. "See those two mountains over there?" Dylan nodded. "The valley we're going to cross is sandwiched between those two mountains." "There is still a long way to go." Dylan said doubtfully.It was already halfway through the morning, and the two mountains still looked quite far away.It must have been dusk before they arrived?She certainly didn't want to be caught in the dark.

"It's just a visual illusion. It's much closer than it looks. We can get there in an hour. As long as you can maintain your good mood, we will be safe." He looked down at her with a smile, and squeezed her hand.Dylan felt that the sun seemed to brighten up a little bit at once, and the feelings in her heart were betrayed by the surrounding weather. It's too embarrassing, she thought. There is only one winding path winding down the mountainside, which is so narrow that only one person can pass through it at a time.Tristan led the way, picking his way among stones and grass, and finally let go of her hand.Dylan followed behind him slowly and carefully. She leaned back slightly as she descended the steep slope, taking small steps along the ground, looking for a safe landing spot.She stretched out her arms, not only to maintain her balance, but also to protect herself when she fell.

After trekking hard for about half an hour, they finally reached the foot of the mountain.The ground flattened under her feet, and Dylan let out a long breath, and now she could take long strides and leap forward.Looking from here, the two peaks guarding the valley towered majestically.Tristan was right, they seemed much closer now.Only a flat swamp separated them from the mountain. From time to time, there was a glimmer of light in the big puddle, and the reed-covered river beach was dotted all over the place. Dylan groaned secretly at the thought of the cold, dirty water that would soon be poured down her socks, and she glanced at Tristan.

"Crossing the swamp with people on your back isn't part of your leading the way?" she asked hopefully. He glared at her, and she could only sigh, put her hands in her pockets, and wobbled back on her tiptoes, unwilling to take the first step. "Why don't we just rest here for a while?" she suggested, hoping to delay getting into the muck for a while. "What a good idea." He frowned disapprovingly at her. "We can wait here until the afternoon, and then explore the deep valley at night. It's the heartbeat, why not?" "Well, I'm just making a suggestion." Dylan muttered softly and walked into the swamp.Her running shoes made a squeaky sound, giving people a sense of foreboding.She frowned, but her feet were still dry and warm.As she continued to trek, she thought to herself, it won't be long.

It was only a dozen or so miles across the entire swamp, but it involved groping through puddles and reeds, and wading through the mud, which would suck at her ankles from time to time, immobilizing her, so she It was very hard and slow.Tristan seemed to be much more comfortable with the mud than Dylan, and he had no trouble finding hard ground to set his feet on.Even when they stepped on the same ground, Dylan felt that he was a little deeper than he was.It still stinks, and it is a stench she has never smelled before, and every step they take will waft a smell of decay. Halfway through the journey, the road under their feet was more muddy than before.Dylan's feet were sunk in the mud, almost up to his knees.She tried hard to pull her foot out, but to no avail.She leaned back first and then forward, but it still didn't work.She tried two more times, and finally, gasping for air, she had to admit defeat.

"Tristan!" she yelled, even though he was only a few meters away from her. He turned and looked at her, "What's the matter?" She raised her arms and made a powerless gesture, "I can't move." There was a bad expression on his face, "What do you want me to help you with?" "Stop being silly, get me out!" She put her hands on her hips, with an angry look on her face.He laughed and shook his head.Dylan decided to change tack.She lowered her arms, bowed her head, pursed her lips, and looked at him with wide-open eyes. "Please," she whimpered.

His laughter got louder, but he waded through the muddy water. "It's pathetic," he joked.He grabbed her arms, kept his knees still, his muscles tensed, and then he leaned back and pulled her up hard.Dylan heard what sounded like sucking, but his feet didn't budge. "Damn it," he gasped, "how did you do that?" "I just stepped on it." She said bitterly, a little irritated by his mocking expression. Tristan let go of her arm and took a step forward.He put his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly, and the two of them pressed their bodies together.Such close contact made Dylan's body tense slightly, and his pulse beat wildly.She hoped he hadn't heard anything.After he hugged her tightly, he pulled back hard.Dylan felt the mud loosen her legs, and with a disgusting click, the mud finally let her go.Without the swamp's attraction, Tristan's pull made her body lean forward.She staggered back a few steps, trying to keep her balance, and a strange sound came out of her throat, which seemed to be both a scream and a giggle.Sewage splashed, and their faces and hair were covered with mud spots.

Tristan wrapped his arms around her tightly, struggling to keep them from falling into the mud together.After staggering back a dozen steps, they finally stood still.As soon as Tristan looked down, he saw Dylan, whose face was covered in mud, was looking up at him.He saw her smile, and he saw himself in those bewitching blue eyes. Dylan wobbled unsteadily in Tristan's arms, slightly dazzled.She smiled brightly at him, dropping all her shyness at that moment.His eyes were on her too.Time seemed to freeze at this moment, and Dylan's laughter stopped abruptly in his throat.Suddenly she felt it was difficult to breathe, she took a few breaths and parted her lips slightly.

The next moment, he let her go.He stepped aside and turned his eyes to the mountains.Dylan looked at him bewilderedly.What does that mean?She thought he would kiss her, but now he didn't even want to look at her.It was so confusing and embarrassing.Was she too embarrassing just now?She didn't know it.Her gaze was focused on the only reliable place—the ground. "We've got to hurry," he said, sounding terribly rude. "Okay." Dylan responded in a low voice, feeling a little lost in his heart.He turned and continued wading through the mud, while she dragged behind with weary steps. Tristan waded through the swamp first, trying to put a little distance between them, to give himself time to think.He was confused.For decades, perhaps centuries—it is difficult to count the passage of time in this wasteland—he has protected and led countless souls through this journey.At first, he played the role of comforter, which turned out to be impossible to maintain.He used to care about every soul, listen to what happened to them, and try to comfort them.Because they have lost their lives, have no future, and of course endure the pain of leaving behind loved ones.Every soul that waved to him at the end of the journey took a part of him, broke a piece of his heart.After a while he became numb and unfeeling.He no longer comforts them, so they no longer enter his heart.Leading souls has been a daily chore for him for the past few years.He said as little as possible, keeping the truth as long as he could.He became an indifferent machine, a sat-nav for the dead. This girl has brought back a part of who she once was.She had already discovered the truth of the matter very early, and then accepted it calmly, much more mature than many people who died of old age.She treated him like a human being, which is very rare in this wasteland.Souls are so lost in the grief of their own demise that they don't even think that their guides are human.She is a soul worthy of his protection and his care.He is willing to give a part of his body for this soul. But this feeling is far more than that, and he can't tell what this feeling is.After taking her into his arms, there was a wave in his heart. A strange feeling, the kind that would make him think only of her, and take no notice of the slow and dangerous setting of the sun in the sky.He almost felt a...human surge, of course that wouldn't be accurate, but Tristan couldn't find another word for it.Yes, it is human nature. But he is not human.He forced himself to wake up, reminding himself that such a relationship was dangerous, would only distract him and put Dylan at risk.He had to suppress such emotions. "Tristan." Dylan's voice broke his contemplation. "Tristan, it's getting dark. How about we wait until tomorrow to cross that canyon?" He shook his head and walked on. "No," he replied, "there's no safe house this side of the canyon. We'll have to go through it tonight, as fast as we can." Dylan felt a knot in his heart when he heard the uncontrollable fear in his voice.She knew it wasn't going to help if she was afraid—and, besides, that fear would only make things worse, but she just couldn't help it. After another ten minutes of hard trekking, the ground under my feet began to harden, and even the wild grass was no longer soft to step on.Her feet brushed against the tough grass stalks, trying to use them to scrape a layer of grime off her sneakers and jeans.She didn't dare to stop to clean up the mud, and she could feel Tristan hurrying up his pace impatiently.Finally the puddle was barely visible, and Dylan looked up to his surprise to see that they were already in the shadow of the two peaks. Ahead of her was the valley that Tristan seemed to have been worrying about. It doesn't look like anything out of the ordinary.A wide road winds through it, with slopes on both sides sloping slightly upwards.Dylan had thought the road was just a gap, too narrow and claustrophobic.She just felt relieved, but Tristan's posture of facing a big enemy couldn't help but make her heart churn again.She reminded herself that he was far better at seeing where danger lurked than she was.Dylan, frowning, quickly quickened his pace and tried his best to shorten the distance between the two. Dylan tried to get out as fast as he could, but Tristan stopped at the entrance of the valley.He seems to be getting ready for a tough fight to come.Dylan looked at him suspiciously. Did he remember the soul he brought here back then?How many souls have gone down this path with Tristan and not gotten out?The more Dylan thought about it, the more nervous he became, he couldn't help but spread his fingers and hooked his left hand.She smiled timidly at him. Clenched his hand tightly.Tristan gave her a stiff smile, then turned his eyes back to the valley, fearless in his eyes. "Almost there," he mutters, so softly that Dylan suspects it's coming from inside him.