Blade and Poetry

Since the number of people was reduced to just two of us, and there were still three remaining red sparks in the city of the earth, Coleman and I did not turn back and continued walking forward with the sparks.

Paths become more and more complicated and difficult to discern, and sometimes we are completely hit and miss.In the meantime, we broke into several dead ends, and we had to deflect in a certain direction to make sure we didn't go the old way.Fortunately, as we approached a dark cave, the next puzzle appeared on a piece of paper in our hands.

This time the riddle is surprisingly longer:

"I am blood on the tip of a weapon,

The last symbol of victory.

go ahead, soldier

Remember to watch your step,

There is no way back in human life,

The guns of war march only forward,

Your path only lights up for one turn. "

"Go." Coleman said firmly.

We stooped through the dripping grotto until the sight suddenly opened up.

The cave is connected to a lobby made of rock. A wide river flows in the middle of the lobby. The only thing connecting the two banks is a large square stone slab, which presents a very dark tone as a whole.On the other side of the river stood several rows of heavily armed soldiers, wearing faded helmets, armor and combat boots, and the only exposed face was also hidden in the shadows.

"Not a real person," Coleman said.

"A real person can't stay still for such a long time." I carefully looked through the overlapping shadows. "Have you noticed? There is a soldier with a different armor than the other sculptures. That may be the general."

Coleman also noticed the unusual statue: "The tip of the spear in his hand is dark red."

"The tinder is there," I said with certainty.

His movements were faster than my words, and before the echo disappeared, he supported himself on the bank with one hand and jumped onto the river.

I suddenly had a bad premonition in my heart, and before I could stop him, I saw his body paused slightly in mid-air, stilling into a strange posture, and was immediately bounced away by an invisible barrier, heading towards the raging waves. fell into the river.

In the flash of the moment, I couldn't recall any incantations from the textbook, but instead let the little tricks I was used to come in handy.I twirled a handful of soil on the spot, infiltrated the magic power in a ribbon shape, and threw it in the direction of Coleman—those soil particles twisted into a line, hooked Coleman's ankle, and held on dangerously. over him.He has a keen sense, and his machine changes quickly, so he used his strength to turn over to me.After the soil belts fell apart one after another, he finally fell back to the ground in some embarrassment.

"It seems that the setting of the mechanism here can't be tricked." I gave him a meaningful look, watched him pat his knees and stood up, and then said, "I'll go and see that stone slab first."

He stared at me blankly, with an uncertain expression on his face.

I put my toes on the edge of the river, and only then did I see the details of the stone slab connecting the two banks; it was divided into many squares, and the 26 letters of ancient characters were printed on the squares.

I informed Coleman of this discovery.

"There are no hints about letters in the puzzle," he said.

"But the reminder of 'one round' is very important. Maybe we can only go one round, and something will happen here."

We pondered for a moment without any further meaningful speculation.Coleman wiped the surface of the knife with his fingers, and walked towards the river: "We can only try to find out the answer."

But at this moment, a flash of inspiration flashed in my mind, and I subconsciously flew to block between him and the river.

"The key point is not only 'one round'," I said, blocking his knife, "but also 'light up'."

I said to Coleman that there was another tinder besides the red spear point.

"A hypothesis - if we can use the letters on these stone bricks to spell 'lamp', that is, 'turn down' the lamp, wouldn't the fire be exposed?"

"Are you sure it's 'Lamp' or 'Tinder'?"

"Looking at the arrangement and frequency of occurrence, the path going all the way forward can only spell out 'light'."

After asking me about my reasoning, Coleman didn't seem too opposed to my idea.He just told me that I needed to do my part and try it out for myself.

"But judging from the content of the puzzle, it is very likely that my experiment will use up my only chance." I stood by the river and turned to Coleman.

Coleman folded his arms and frowned, "There's no need to say more."

I thought to myself that this person really didn't know good from bad, and then I heard footsteps behind me.Coleman came to my side and stood beside me.He stopped me, but only looked at Bingjia on the other side of the river, and said in a low voice:

"Thank you."

"Because I pulled you back before?" I patted him on the shoulder, "It's just a matter of course. If thanking the people in the West Court requires such a painful inner struggle, then let's save some happiness and enjoy life."

"My thanks to you are sincere." Coleman seemed unhappy with my answer, "One size fits one size, and my opinion of the West Court has not changed."

"Don't judge me by the type of group. It's the same with 'West Courtyard' or not." I originally planned to leave this side immediately, but at this moment, an unknown fire rose in my heart, and I stopped the momentum of my feet and raised my head towards him. chin, "People are all different, but gossip always crams them into fixed columns. If he only uses magic, he is gentle and cowardly; if he carries a knife, he is rude and reckless. If he becomes ordinary, he If he is gifted, he is self-sufficient and ambitious. If he is born poor, he must be contemptible, because he has wild roots that cannot read; if he is born noble, he must be contemptible, because he was born How does your opinion differ from these?"

I saw him move his lips, but without any further explanation, I continued, "Coleman, if you still have this idea, I naturally have no right to interfere, but it really has no value of pride."

After saying this, I didn't wait for his response, and directly stepped on the first stone brick corresponding to the letter.

Almost the moment I touched it, the stone brick sank heavily, and the engraved letters shone brightly.I staggered while shaking, almost denying my judgment, but I didn't see the water overflowing my feet, but a dry depression that violated the law of water was formed.I stayed in that depression for a while, and only dared to step on the next stone brick after confirming that there would be no new incidents.I just moved forward step by step.Later, the handwriting on the stone bricks became more blurred, and it was only possible to judge whether it was the right choice based on the remaining shape.When I was about to step on the last letter, my mind was almost rigid, my eyes were sore, and the only thought that existed was: "Let's take a gamble!"

I focused on the last judgment.

With the last letter lit up, the whole square stone slab creaked, and each stone brick was rubbing against its neighbors fiercely; Bricks float up, exposed bricks sink.The sinking bricks disappeared in a blink of an eye, leaving only the river flowing through it; the floating bricks gathered together with great momentum, and then exploded into a high ball of fly ash in an instant.

I was thrown to the other side of the river full of armor by the blast, and my eyes were still rooted in the flying ash.I watched them agglomerate, from a fluffy mass to a small ball, from a dull, powdery color to a dazzling brilliance.They eventually twisted into a stream of sharp red sparks and rushed in my direction.

I subconsciously jumped up to grab it, but I heard Coleman's shout from the hazy smoke: "Watch out behind you!"

I grabbed the tinder with one hand and bent over to avoid the strong wind blowing behind my head.I felt that the attacker's movements were stiff and slow to respond, so I seized the opportunity to evade and shouted to Coleman, "I'll pull you over with a string!"

"Take care of yourself!" he roared from the other side.

I felt that his attitude was different, and he turned around to block the blow towards my lower body.I was still planning the next offensive, but the scene behind me made me pause.

Those sculpted soldiers in armor, lined up neatly, and silent across the river bank, have gotten extremely close to me at some point.They slowly raised their feet mechanically, waved the weapons in their hands, pushing one by one towards me.