Chapter 22 Chapter 21 Only Lovesickness Like Spring

The deserted city has been shrouded in night, and the extremely exhausted residents have fallen asleep—even though their faces are still stained with tears. But the underground city is still shrouded in the dim light of sunset. Acacia lay quietly among a pile of haggard vines, these vines were extremely long and thin, covered with dust, showing a silver-gray color in the setting sun, intertwined vertically and horizontally, like a giant net made of hair, Wrap Acacia tightly. Xiangsi frowned, as if she could still feel great pain in a coma.Her thin clothes were cut very thinly, and traces appeared on her skin.

She lies at the core of an abandoned palace. The palace is located in the center of the huge circular pit.Just looking down from the top, I couldn't get a glimpse of the whole picture. Only when I came into it, did I realize that it is so tall and magnificent, far surpassing any buildings in this underground city, and also beyond ordinary people's imagination. Perhaps, only the gods can create such a great miracle. Countless huge stone pillars seem to go straight into the sky, no matter how you look up, it is difficult to see the dome.Layers of corridors, huge carved beams, animal heads carved out of rocks, and exquisite attics... are all within sight, laid out in a patchwork order, and fully displayed to everyone under them. Its majesty and luxury.

However, this incomparably magnificent palace has been torn apart. A huge void pierces through the dome, reaching the center of the earth.The dome that was originally carved with pictures of the stars in the sky was torn apart, just like the legendary sky that was shattered during the war. Countless huge fissures spread from the hollow to the dome of the aftermath, unfolding a terrifying giant net.Under the giant net, half of the stone pillars have been cracked, and most of the remaining half is tilted. The gorgeous and complicated palace has become a huge ruin, hovering above the head, and may collapse at any time!

Hair-thin vines grew out from the center of every crack, spreading vertically and horizontally in this crumbling palace, spreading out pale cobwebs in this vast ruins. Acacia is sleeping under layers of cobwebs. Chong Jie sat quietly not far from her, with a crack in the ground beneath him. This crack tore through the white stone floor several feet thick in the palace, and went straight into the rock.It is not wide, only a few feet, even ordinary people can cross it with a little force, but it is extremely deep, there is a faint red light coming from the bottom of the crack, like a sharp knife, which has penetrated deeply into the heart of the earth, bright red The blood oozes from the wound, which has not healed for thousands of years.

He was sitting on the edge of the ground fissure, his slender legs hanging randomly in the fissure, as if he had also become a part of the dilapidated palace, ready to fall down at any time. The pale mask on Chong Jie's face was slightly marked by the red light from the ground.He looked at Acacia with empty and sad eyes, as if he was caught in endless memories. The scorching breath gushed out from the crack, lifted up the extremely loose white robe on his body, and threw it away fiercely.Chong Jie didn't seem to care about the scorching heat, he just hugged his white robe tightly and meditated for a long time.

His snow-like long hair fluttered in the hot wind, almost blending with the surrounding silver vine nets, making his figure even more slender and thin, like a desolate moon mark in the endless ruins. Acacia is sleeping on the opposite side of the crack.He watched her silently through the gap not far away, like a fairy weaving a net, sizing up the prey that fell into the bottom of the net for a long time. Not far behind him stood a statue of a god that had already collapsed. The statue has disappeared, leaving only a lotus base.Judging from the base, the statue does not seem to be tall, probably only life-size, which is in stark contrast to the endless grandeur of the palace.

——This is the only dharma image of Brahma, the god of creation, in the Asura Palace. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, who would have believed that this magnificent and miraculous palace enshrined only a life-sized statue of a god? The lotus platform is only a few feet long, and there are no exaggerated carvings. It looks really close to people, like a lotus flower just picked from the Hengtang, still carrying the morning dew. At the center of the lotus stamen is an extremely clear and complete arrow mark, from the head to the tail of the arrow, completely submerged in the stone.Judging from the traces of the arrow marks, it doesn't grow up particularly, not reaching three feet.It is hard to imagine that the terrifying hollow in the dome of the palace was caused by it, let alone the huge pit on the ground and the endless ruins of the city.

The body of the arrow has disappeared, leaving only the scorched traces, like an invisible long snake, still sleeping in the rosette. The lotus platform carved out of white stone was split into eight pieces along the arrow mark, but they were carefully pieced together again. The only thing that can't be put together is the statue on the lotus platform. The god statues have been reduced to scattered fragments, the most complete ones are no more than the size of a fist, and they are divided into dozens of piles around the rosette, piled up in a certain order.From the surviving parts, it can be vaguely seen that these rubbles are the arms, heads, magical instruments, and mounts of god statues... It is obvious that they have been carefully sorted out, but they cannot be reconstructed and restored in the end, and they can only be piled together in different categories.

Beside the stone pile is a glazed jar, filled with dark green juice, which looks viscous and transparent, probably some kind of colloid. Tens of thousands of broken pieces lie quietly in the green light shining from the glazed vat, as if they are still telling how trivial and heavy work the owner of this palace has done before this pile of debris. . I don't know how many generations of Asura kings have worked day and night trying to piece together this statue. Yet these labors are in vain. A deadly silence spread from the dancing red light between the two, and the entire palace seemed to be in endless despair. Day after day, year after year, nothing would change.

After a long time, Chong Jie sighed and stood up from the edge of the deep crack. He walked slowly in front of the statue, and picked out a few larger pieces of debris from the largest pile of debris.He gently brushed the dust off the gravel and dipped them deeply into the glazed jar.The green juice soaked the stones before carefully putting them together. His movements are gentle and skillful, as if he has repeated them thousands of times, even with his eyes closed, he can clearly know the original position of every piece of debris. He leaned over to piece together the broken stones, his long pale hair hanging down, blocking his sight again and again, but he seemed to be unconscious, only focusing on the stone chips in his hand.

He seems to be a child immersed in his own world, hiding in some unknown corner, building his own palace with sand and soil again and again.Perhaps in the eyes of others, this is a meaningless game, but to him, this is the most perfect work in the world. Under his pale fingers, the pile of broken stones quickly took on the shape of an arm. That is the right arm of the Brahma statue.Slender, smooth, revealing a perfect divine brilliance - according to legend, it was this hand that created the world and all things. There was no joy on Chong Jie's face, he looked at this arm silently, like a child, on the beach at sunset, watching the sand palace that was about to be washed away by the waves, and reluctant to leave for a long time. There was a crackling sound, and in the silent palace, it was as if a thunder had exploded. That arm fell apart in his arms! Chong Jie closed his eyes in pain, letting the crumbs fall from his fingers. He slowly raised his head from the hair, his eyes full of mockery to himself. He was not surprised, as if he had expected the result, and it seemed that this result had happened countless times. Again in vain. There was a stabbing pain in his heart, and he couldn't help laughing out of the pain. Suddenly, he flicked his sleeves and dumped the gravel in his arms on the ground in a mess! Then, while hissing and laughing, he frantically waved his long sleeves, stirring up the dozens of piles of carefully sorted pieces! Dust flew up, revealing a choking breath.Like a demon under a spell, he coughed violently in the dust. His thin figure trembled slightly under the white robe, as if he had been tormented by the cough and couldn't stand still. However, he didn't stop, his white robe fluttered around, making the piles of stones even more chaotic, making it difficult to distinguish them. He seemed to have forgotten how long it took him to separate these stone chips piece by piece. In the sky full of dust, his hoarse laughter was like sobbing. The setting sun shines on the dust-covered earth through the huge hole in the dome.That infinitely pale figure danced wildly on the crumbs of God, trampling on the dignity of God, as well as his own belief and the efforts he had made. Suddenly, a bell rang from the unknown sky. Chong Jie's figure immediately stopped.The madness in his eyes dissipated at that moment, like boiling lava, it suddenly cooled down amidst the cold bell, and solidified into deep pain and boredom. After a long time, he hugged his white robe and walked towards a tall stone gate behind the statue without looking at the debris under his feet. The stone gate opened slowly, and closed again slowly, a faint light of fire came from the door, and then disappeared without a trace. The deserted city on the third day. The sun is scorching, and the smoke from cooking is cut off. All the residents looked at their stoves in horror.All the meals, no matter if they were deliberately saved yesterday or carefully preserved corn, all turned into rotten soil and could no longer be eaten. This city is like a corpse abandoned on the wasteland, gradually decaying under the sun. Of the five declines of the city, three have fallen. Only a small half of the people who followed Yang Yizhi's search remained.Hunger robbed them of their spirits, and in a whole day they cleared only one street.Everyone's eyes are empty, without the slightest hope. Where is the pupil of Brahma? Then, all the houses collapsed. The fourth decline is that the family is decayed, making it impossible to live. People fell in the dilapidated ruins. Although it was messy and dirty, this was their home and they still refused to leave.When Yang Yizhi called them again, no one responded to him. They no longer believed in the existence of Brahma's pupil, nor did they believe that this city could still be saved.They lost all hope. Yang Yizhi gritted his teeth, looked at the still bright sunlight, and looked at the empty city. The sun was high, but there was no one on the street, not even a shadow of a person. They didn't even have the confidence to rebuild their homes. They only had one thought: death. The five evils will befall them one by one. The meaning of their existence is to dedicate themselves to the curse of the gods, and it is useless to escape no matter what. The fifth day will come, they have been abandoned by the gods, and they are destined to be imprisoned in this city of death forever. Chong Jie stood among the vines all over the sky, holding a glass of clear water in his right hand, which he took out of the well before the well water in the deserted city was polluted. He stood leaning against a huge stone pillar, slightly turned his glass cup, but did not drink. His left hand was gently placed on Acacia's forehead. Acacia fell asleep in the heavy silver nets in front of him, as if everything in the world had nothing to do with her. Chong Jie's hand slowly stroked her face, his movements were full of love and tenderness, bit by bit he cleared away the tangled vines covering her face, and then slowly removed them, then the hair, the collar ... He carefully unwrapped the tough and silky vine strips, as if unpacking layers of packages on his favorite toy. Suddenly, his slender and pale fingers trembled.A few drops of bright red blood rolled from between his fingers. A growing vine inadvertently cut his finger. A burst of anger flashed in his eyes, and he grabbed the vine man and the surrounding filaments together, and tore it messily. Those vines that had been sorted out were once again a mess, extremely flexible, how could they be torn apart for a while? Chong Jie stopped suddenly, looking at Xiangsi who was still sleeping, the love and pity in his eyes had already turned into disgust. He suddenly waved his hand and poured the glass of clear water on her face. Xiangsi's body trembled, and with a very soft moan, she seemed to wake up. Chong Jie turned to face the stone statue and stopped looking at her.He suddenly knocked the empty cup in his hand on the stone pillar heavily, and the debris flew around and hit the surrounding white stones. In the empty palace, there was a shocking echo. Xiangsi just woke up from a coma, still in a trance, suddenly faced with this sudden crackling sound, couldn't help but exclaimed. Chong Jie didn't look back, just stuffed a sharp piece into her arms, and said coldly, "Cut off these rubbish and walk out by yourself." Xiangsi took the fragments, but didn't know how to start. Chong Jie held up his fluttering white robe, looked at the Brahma statue not far away, and sneered slightly: "Or, we should play a game. I counted to three, and you haven't walked out of those damn silk screens yet. Just stay there forever." He said softly: "One." Xiangsi knows what the consequences of offending him are. She doesn't want to die in his ridiculous and cruel games like the mother and son.She must get out of here alive. She didn't hesitate any longer, and slashed at the silk screen on her body with all her strength. The silk screen was soft and tough, bouncing the glass flakes high, causing her wrists to go numb. Chong Jie still didn't look at her, and said casually: "Two." His faint voice echoed in the empty hall like a warning to death.Xiangsi bit her lip tightly, slashed at the silk screen with one hand, and tore apart the broken filament with all her strength with the other hand. The fine wire mesh finally broke a small hole, and her body felt numb, but she didn't know how to get out of the small hole that was as big as a bowl. She couldn't pull up any strength. Chong Jie said impatiently: "Enough." Suddenly he grabbed her wrist with one hand and forcibly dragged her out of the narrow hole. Layers of silk nets were tightly wrapped around her body like a nightmare, and she felt her bones shatter, as if she was about to stop breathing.At that moment, her whole body was in severe pain like Meng Lingchi, as if she could see countless bloodstains trembling and cracking under her thin clothes. Suddenly, her body was empty, and before she could exclaim, she was thrown heavily into the debris of the stone statue. With his back turned to her, Chong Jie stood in front of the stone statue's rosette, and said calmly: "I said before, I will give you a choice." Xiangsi struggled to support her body from the dust, quietly waiting for him to speak. His pale long hair gleamed dimly in the setting sun, just like the sadness in his tone: "Thousands of years ago, Brahma's blessing allowed us to build this rich city. But in the end it was destroyed by Shiva. That An arrow not only pierced through the entire palace, but also shot deeply into the statue of Brahma. The statue was broken into debris. Later, we collected these debris from various places in the underground city, only to find that the pupil of Brahma mysteriously disappeared." "This is the wrath of Brahma." Under the mask, his smile revealed deep sadness: "From the day the city was destroyed, all the sculptures, portraits, and corpses that were instantly turned into stone statues in the underground city were gone. Pupils. Countless pairs of eyes that have never closed their eyes disappeared together with the pupils of Brahma, leaving only a deep black hole, looking up at the dim sky day and night." Xiangsi's heart trembled, she thought of those empty eye sockets in this abandoned city, they had never been closed for thousands of years, endless pain appeared in the deep darkness, as if they were still asking angry questions. Zhongjie smiled sadly: "I can see the anger, sadness and despair in the eyes of the subjects. As the king of Asura, we not only failed to protect our own city and race, but also let the wrath of the gods fall on this withered land, forever No rest. Therefore, the fathers believed that as long as they found the pupil of Brahma and spliced ​​and restored the statue, Brahma would take back the curse and come to this city again, let the flowers bloom again, let the spring flow again, and rebuild this great city in the The vast space between heaven and earth." He lightly stroked the dilapidated lotus platform, and his voice sank: "For this reason, we have been suffering for thousands of years in the abandoned city for generations." There was a burst of desolation in Acacia's heart. A hope, after waiting for thousands of years, has already turned into despair.She couldn't imagine their persistence. For a legend, they have been waiting in this deserted city from generation to generation. Chongjie's hand rested on the arrow mark on the lotus platform, as if he was lost in memory, his long hair reaching the ground dragged a huge white shadow behind him, and the breeze blew his hair in disorder, as if falling in the rolling yellow dust. There was a dismal snowfall. Under the cover of falling snow, his thin body trembled slightly.