Chapter 41 Chapter Forty-One

On the border between Fuxing Province and Liuyang Province, they all passed the search smoothly.A border officer who seemed to have worked as an accountant or lawyer in that just-gone world, glanced only at the pass issued by the Bieni, nodded and waved when he saw the bold signature 'Bieni 25' at the bottom Let them go. Things were not so simple two days later, when they crossed the province of Liuyang and entered the province of Godnan.The border patrol here is like a gang of murderers who will throw Theremon and Sifna off the elevated highway while looking at the pass.so big For a while, Theremon stood there uneasily, hanging the pass in his hand like a magic wand, and it really worked, the magic power more or less produced an effect.

"Is this a security pass?" asked the chief murderer. "Yes, a pass. Exemption from search." "Who sent it?" "It's the General Checkpoint Executive of the Restoration Province, Benny 25. At the other end of the road, two provinces are separated in the middle. "I know where the Fuxing Province is. Read it to me." "To those concerned: The bearers of this certificate, Serimon 762 and Sifna 89, are appointed emissaries of the Salo City Fire Patrol, and they are entitled to..." "Fire Patrol? What's that?" "Arzanor's gang," muttered the other murderer.

"Well," the boss nodded at the pocket guns hanging from Selimon and Sifna's hips, "So, Arzanor wants you to go into other lands with weapons that can set the whole region on fire ?” "We're heading to Amgando National Park on an urgent mission. It's critical that we get there safely," Sifna said, touching her green scarf. "Do you know what this means? Our job is to prevent fires, not to start them. If we don't get to Amgando on time, the Pyromen will come down this road and destroy everything you are trying to create." It doesn't make much sense, Theremon thought to himself.They rushed to Amgando far in the south, but they could not save these small republics at the northern end of the road from the looting of the believers.But to make it all seem very important, Sifna threw certain ideas and hints into her words.

The momentary response was silence as the border patrolman struggled to make out what she was talking about, followed by an exasperated frown and bewildered glare.Then suddenly, almost hastily, "Okay. Let it go. Hell, get out of here, and don't let me see you again anywhere in Lieu Duong, or you'll regret it. What fucking cultists! Amgum many!" "Thank you very much," Theremon said, with a modesty that bordered on sarcasm.Sifna grabbed his arm and quickly pushed him past the search point before he got into real trouble. They walk very fast on this section of the road, and sometimes they have to walk more than ten miles a day, sometimes even more.In the provinces that call themselves Six Suns, Godnan, and Nikko, citizens are hard at work clearing up the car wrecks and glass shards that have blocked the Great Southern Highway since sundown... A long time, Thelimon thought. , and may still be driving the Great Southern Highway for a long time... but now it's no problem to walk at a steady, quick pace between each search point, without having to crawl over piles of horrible wreckage.

The dead on the road were carried away and buried.All civilizations are gradually being restored, but it is not yet normal, and it is far from normal. Although it is now rare to see fires burning in the backcountry on both sides of the road, some burned towns are still faintly visible along the way.Refugee camps were built every one or two miles. When walking along the elevated road, Serimon and Sifna looked down and could see the refugees moving slowly and aimlessly in the barracks.They looked sad and bewildered, as if they had aged 350 years in just one terrible night. The new province, Theremon realized, was simply a chain of such camps linked along the Great Southern Highway, with strongmen emerging in each area.As long as they have the ability, they will occupy the road for about eighty or ninety miles, and then extend about one mile to both sides of the road, thus establishing their own territory.Beyond the east-west border of the new province, nowhere did radio or television communications appear to exist.

"Is there some kind of emergency plan?" Theremon asked, more to himself than to Sifna. It was Sifna who answered his question: "Arthur's prophecy seemed too preposterous to the government, and they didn't take it seriously. In the hands of Mondial, they would admit that, during a short period of the dark process, In time, something like the collapse of civilization can happen, especially during times when darkness can be clearly predicted." "But a solar eclipse..." "Yes, there may be some high-ranking people who can read the charts and really believe there's going to be an eclipse followed by a period of darkness. But how do they predict the stars? The stars are just a Pyromanian fantasy, remember? Even if the government knows that the phenomenon of the stars will happen, no one can predict the impact of the stars."

"Shelling can," Theremon said. "Not even Schelling. He didn't know anything. His specialty was the study of darkness and its effects...not the sudden filling of the sky with blinding light." "And yet," said Therimon, "look at all the devastation around you, all this chaos . "But it wasn't avoided." "It's better to avoid it next time." Sifna laughed. "There are 2,049 years until the next time. Let us leave to future generations some kind of warning that is more believable than the Book of Revelation." She glanced back anxiously at the long stretch of road they had trudged through for days.

Theremon said, "Would you be afraid to see the cultists storming towards us from behind us?" "Aren't you afraid? Even at the speed we're going, we're still hundreds of miles away from Amgando. What if they overtake us, Therimon?" "They won't catch up. An entire army can't walk as fast as two healthy, confident men. Their means of transport are no better than ours. . . . Each soldier walks on one pair of feet, Nothing else. Logically, they must slow down." "I think so." "Beyond that, the note says that the Cultists intend to stop at every new province along the way and establish their regime. It will take them a long time to wipe out all those small kingdoms of the Troll. If we don't meet If there are any unexpected disputes, we will be in Amgando a few weeks before them."

"What do you think of Beanie and Resta?" Sifna asked after a while. "This kid Beanie is extremely smart, and he may find a way to make himself useful to Mondale." "And what if he can't?" "Sifna, do we really have to expend our energy thinking about such powerless and terrible things?" "I'm sorry," she said sharply, "I didn't realize you could be so petty." "Sifna..." "Don't take it personally," she said, "Maybe, I'm too sensitive." "The boat will go straight to the bridge," said Therimon. "Benny and Lesta will be safe. We'll have enough time to get to Amgundo and call the police. The Firemen won't conquer the world. "

"And all the dead come back from the dead. Oh, Theremon, Theremon..." Her voice changed. "I know." "What will we do?" "What we're going to do is walk fast and not look back. Looking back doesn't do any good." "Yes, it's useless." Sifna said, smiled and held his hand, then walked quickly without saying a word.Amazing, thought Theremon, how fast they were striding now.In the first few days after coming out of Salo City, I chose my way on the road full of wreckage, at a very slow speed, and my body was under great pressure.But now, they moved as fast as two machines, perfectly coordinated with their tasks.Sifna's legs were nearly as long as his own, and they walked side by side, every muscle in their bodies perfectly coordinated, the heart beating steadily, the lungs expanding and contracting rhythmically.stride.stride.Strides...

True, there are hundreds of miles to go.But at this pace, it won't take long, maybe a month.Maybe it will be shorter. Leaving the countryside at the very fringes of the city, the roads are almost unobstructed.There isn't nearly as much traffic here as there is in the north, and even when the stars appear, many drivers seem to be able to drive off the road safely, with little risk of being hit by a driver who loses control. There are also fewer search points.In these sparsely populated areas, the newly created provinces occupy much larger areas than those in the north, and people are less concerned with things like search parties.Over the next five days, Theremon and Sifna were only subjected to rigorous interrogation twice.At other border points, searchers waved them through without even showing their passports. Even the Lord of Heaven is beautiful.It was sunny and sunny almost every day, with occasional showers, but it didn't cause any inconvenience.They walk for 4 hours, stop for a light meal, walk for another 4 hours, eat again, then walk again, stop and sleep for 6 hours or so...take turns watching for a few hours...then get up and keep going, like a machine.Six suns rise and set, and they enter the sky in a cycle, one moment is Patru, Trey and Dovim, one moment is Onas, Sisar and Tano, one moment is Onas and Dovim, and one moment is Te Lei and Patrue; four suns appeared at the same time... The infinite cycle formed a great spectacle in the sky.Theremon did not know how many days had passed since they left the hideout.The whole date, the calendar, the day, the week, the month... seemed strange and old to him, something that belonged entirely to a previous life. After a period of depression and anxiety, Sifna's spirits rose again. Things will be easier and they will have no problem making their way to Amgando. They were passing through an area called Clear Springs Canyon...or perhaps Garden Orchards, and they had heard several different names mentioned by passers-by along the way.It's a farm area, empty, unbroken, and, moreover, almost devoid of the hellish ravages of urban areas.Worst of all, there is the occasional fire that burns down a barn, or a herd of farm animals roaming the hills, seemingly unattended.Here the air is fresh and fragrant, and the sun is clear and bright.Were it not for the odd absence of traffic on the road, one might think that nothing unusual happened here at all. "Are we halfway there?" Sifna asked. "Not yet. Haven't seen a sign for a while, but I guess it's...' He stopped abruptly. "What's the matter, Theremon?" "Look, look over there to the right. Look at the feeder road that leads here from the west." They looked toward the edge of the road, a few hundred yards below it, for a long line of trucks parked on the side of the feeder road.The feeder road joins the highway there.There was a big bustling campsite with tents and a big campfire and some men were chopping wood. Maybe two or three hundred or so, all in black robes with hoods. Theremon and Sifna looked at each other in surprise. "Church!" she whispered. "Yes. Squat down, crawl up, and hide yourself against the railing." "But how did they get so far south so fast? The front part of the highway is completely blocked!" Theremon shook his head. "They didn't take the freeway at all. Look there...they had trucks available. Now here's another one, oh my God, a real moving vehicle, how strange it seems! After all this time After a while, I heard the sound of the engine again." He felt himself start to tremble, 'They managed to keep a fleet of trucks intact, with fuel supplies.It was obvious that they had come here from Salo by the country road to the west.Now they are entering the highway, and I reckon the road from here to Amgando is clear and they will be able to get there tonight. " "Tonight! What shall we do, Theremon?" "I don't know. It's just a fluke, I guess... How about we manage to get a truck there? Then we drive ourselves to Amgando. Even if we get there only two hours before the cultists, There was also time for most of Amgando's men to escape. Are you right?" "Maybe, as crazy as it sounds. How are we going to steal a truck? When they see us, they know we're not religious, so we're going to get caught," Sifna said. "I know, I know, let me see," he said after a moment, "if we can catch two men who are far away from the others, take off the robes on them ... and shoot them dead with our pocket guns ...then we put on our robes, walked up to a truck like we had every right to do that, hopped in the car, drove off the road, and headed straight for the road...” "In two minutes, they'll be after us." "Maybe, but if we pretend it's nothing, they'll think it's a completely normal thing in their plans ... By the time they figure it out and know it's not the case, we've driven 50 miles. He looked at her eagerly. "What do you say, Sifna? Is there any other hope for us? Keep walking, it will take weeks to get to Amgando, and they can catch up in two hours' drive." And overtake us?" She stared at him like he was crazy. "Suppress two cultists... hijack one of their trucks... and leave quickly for Amgando... Oh, Therimon, that's not going to work. You know that." "Well," he said suddenly, "you stay here and I'll do it alone. It's the only hope, Sifna." Half-curled up, he began to sprint along the side of the road toward the exit ramp a few hundred yards ahead. "No... wait, Theremon..." He looked back at her, grinned and said, "Come?" "Yes. Oh, this is crazy!" "Yes," he said, "I know. But there's no choice, is there?" Of course she was right.The plan was crazy indeed, but he had no choice.It was clear that the message Beanie had received had been taken out of context: the cultists had no intention of going province by province through the Great Southern Highway, but were heading straight for Amgando with a large armed convoy.They choose trails, although these trails are not straight, but at least the vehicles can still flow unimpeded. Amgando's doom is imminent, and the world will fall into the hands of Mondial and his gang. unless...unless... He never imagined himself as a hero.Heroes are the characters he writes about in his columns . .And now, in this strange shape-shifting world, he talks blithely about subduing a hooded band of zealots with his pocket gun, hijacking an army truck, and speeding off to Amgando Park, Warn the people there to take shelter from the impending surprise attack... Crazy, utterly crazy. But perhaps it is because of such madness that there is hope for success.No one would have thought that there would be two people who fell from the sky, came to this quiet countryside, and escaped in a truck. They crawled sideways down the curving ramp of the road, Theremon a few paces ahead.A vegetated field lay between them and the camp. "If," he whispered, "if we go down and hide in the tall weeds, and for some reason a cultist or two wanders this way, then we'll jump up, When you don't understand what's going on, push them to the ground." He went down, curled up. Sifna immediately followed him, maintaining the same speed. Ten yards, twenty yards, head down, waist bent.Climb up a small mound and wait...wait...and suddenly a voice behind him said, "What's in here? Snakes, are you?" Theremon turned and looked, stunned. God!There are seven or eight believers!Where did they come from?Is it a picnic in the field privately?He and Sifna just crawled through there and didn't know it! "Run!" he yelled at her, "you go this way...I'll go that way..." He ran towards the bridge pier supporting the road on the left, maybe he could run across the pier...and disappear into the dense forest on the other side of the road. No, it's impossible.Although he is physically stronger and faster, they are stronger and faster.He saw them catch up to him, running alongside him. "Sifna!" he yelled, "Don't stop! Go on... run!" Maybe she was out of danger.He can't see her anymore.The believers surrounded him.He reached for the gun, but one of them grabbed him immediately by the arm, the other grabbed him by the throat, took the gun from his hand, clamped his legs around him, lassoed him, and tripped him on the ground.He fell heavily, rolled, and took a look.Five hooded faces, serious and unsmiling, were looking down at him, and one of the cultists pointed his own pocket gun at his chest. "Stand up," said the priest, "and slowly, raise your hands." Theremon rose awkwardly and wobbly. "Who are you? What are you doing here?" asked the believer. "I live nearby and my wife and I are taking a short cut home from the fields..." "The nearest farm is five miles away. This is a long and short cut." The believer waved towards the camp, "Come with us. Hu Limang has something to tell you." Holimand! So he didn't die during the eclipse, and he was leading the expedition against Amgundo! Theremon looked around, but there was no sign of Sifna at all.He hoped she was back on the road by now, hurrying to Amgando.It's a very slim hope, but it's the only hope left. The believers escorted him to the camp.There is something eerie about being among so many hooded figures.Yet hardly anyone paid him any attention as his captors wheeled him into the largest tent. Hu Limang was sitting on a stool at the back of the tent, flipping through a bundle of papers.He turned his cold blue eyes to Theremon, and a surprised smile flickered across his face, softening his thin, pointed face. "Theremon? You here? What are you doing... interviewing us for the Chronicle?" "I'm traveling in the south, Hulimans. Since things are not quiet in the city, I'll take this opportunity to take a short vacation. Will you please let your gang of thugs release me?" "Let you go," said Freemount, "where exactly are you going, eh?" "That doesn't matter to you." "Let me judge. To Amgando, is it, Theremon?" Theremon also stared at the fanatical believer with cold eyes. "Why should I tell you everything." "After you interview me and let me tell you everything?" "It's so ridiculous." "I want to know where you're going, Theremon." Delay, Theremon thought to himself, stalling his time as long as possible. "I refuse to answer that question, or any other question you might ask me. My intentions are with Mondial himself," he said firmly. Hulimans didn't answer for a moment, then he smiled again, a fleeting smile.Then, suddenly and unexpectedly, he burst out laughing.Theremon wondered if he had ever seen Hulimans smile. "Mondill?" said Houlimans, with a look of pleasure in his eyes. "There is no Mondir, my friend. There never will be."