Li Wen Standing under the clock tower, Amber City the dim skylight stretched her shadow into a long and thin one. Giant Bell's words echoed in my ears, with a lingering sound like some ancient bell.
"Short Hand?" She repeated the weird title, "Do you have any characteristics?"
The giant's dry fingers traced the stone wall of the bell tower, making a dull buzzing sound. "He always wears Brass Mask, and there is a pointer embedded in the right eye of the mask."
At this point, Wan Zhong's voice suddenly lowered, "When you find him, just say this is Wan Zhong's request, and he will understand."
If only it were that simple.
Li Wen was indifferent. She did not have too many expectations for this operation. Outer City was a dangerous area clearly marked by Strategy Group, where countless malice and dangers accumulated since Golden Age were hidden. It would be best if she could find that person, but if she was accidentally killed by those Exiles, she wouldn't be afraid. It would be considered a free return trip.
"The entrance to Outer City is on the other side of the spire." Giant Bell pointed to the tall black spire in the distance. It seemed to believe that Li Wen could find the person as it wished. "Go through the door at the bottom of the spire, and you will see a staircase extending downward. That is the only way to Land of Exile... This is the key that can help you open that door."
With that said, Giant Bell took out a rusty Copper Key from under the worn cloak. The tooth pattern of the key showed a strange spiral shape, as if it could lock time itself.
The key fell and gradually became a size that Li Wen could hold.
Li Wen took the key and the moment her fingertips touched the patina, a cold tingling sensation spread along her blood vessels, as if there were countless tiny insects crawling under her skin. She endured the discomfort and put the key into Fairy Pocket - although the magic power of the pocket was attenuated due to the divine influence of "Impurities", at least it could still be used.
"Then I'll leave first." She lowered her hood and said calmly, "I hope your promise is worth the risk."
"Remember..." Giant Bell finally said, "Don't believe any voices, don't touch any objects, and don't respond to any calls."
Li Wen nodded slightly, turned and walked in the direction of the spire. Her steps were light, but her speed was not slow. When she stepped onto the familiar stone bridge and was far away from Amber City's Inner City domain, Li Wen finally showed a bit of fatigue on her face.
The encounter with "Impurities" almost left her physically and mentally exhausted. She still doesn't want to recall the suffocation and despair of one wrong step and everything will be lost. As for the fate of "Impurities", she also has an overly optimistic view - since the sages can't kill it but just seal it in an egg, no matter what the reason is, it is enough to show that "Impurities" should not die at this time.
I hope that the next time I meet it, I will have the strength to fight it, and will not have to pray that "The Final Codex" can appear again.
After adjusting his mentality slightly, Li Wen moved forward again.
She came to the bottom of the spire, where she encountered and defeated the first transcendent person she saw in this world, the Fire Mage, and where everything began. However, Li Wen had no intention of missing him, she just felt sad. If she met that Fire Mage now, not to mention one, even ten Fire Mages would be able to deal with them all in an instant.
That way you won't be reduced to gambling on your life.
Thinking like this, Li Wen looked at the "battlefield" and was suddenly startled.
In that battle, Scorching Orb left huge scorched marks on the bridge. Those marks are still here today, such as blood stains, magic remnants, and tattered equipment of Take and other players.
But now, one crucial thing is missing...
"Where is Fire Mage's body?" Li Wen's face became solemn.
Amber City is an eternal world. Without the influence of external forces, nothing here—including buildings, decorations, dead objects, and even life—will change in any way. If Fire Mage's body suddenly disappeared outside, it might be explained by the fact that it turned into a living corpse and crawled away without being buried, but this situation would never happen in Amber City.
In other words, someone or something took away the body of Fire Mage during this period.
Is it the evening bell? Or is it another Elders? Or... other outsiders entered Amber City?
Li Wen recalled the day when she got "The Final Codex". Daughter of Amber Livia, who was waiting in the temple at that time, suddenly left the temple. According to Perfect Amber, she was going to destroy some annoying bugs. Now think about it, doesn't the "worm" Perfect Amber refers to outsiders?
Could it be those outsiders who took Fire Mage's body away?
Li Wen can't make up his mind. There are many mysteries about Fire Mage that have not yet been solved. Unfortunately, he died too quickly and did not leave many clues.
Forget it, worrying about this matter is a waste of energy. Li Wen has never been interested in things that have nothing to do with the original canon.
She turned around and walked into the steeple, seeing the tightly sealed door again. The bronze door is carved with complex patterns. If you look closely, you will find that they are human figures bound by chains. They look up at the tree pattern on the lintel, with painful and pious expressions.
Li Wen took out the spiral Copper Key and tried to insert it into the keyhole. When she first entered, she could feel obvious resistance, as if the door lock had rusted to death. So she increased her strength, but the key suddenly spun on its own, making a harsh metal friction sound.
After a while, the bronze door slowly opened inward, revealing a staircase extending downward.
The stairs are extremely narrow, allowing only one person to pass sideways. Li Wen Ignite The dim yellow firelight reflected the walls on both sides of the stairs - they were densely engraved with some kind of ancient Inscriptions, and dark red fingerprints remained in some places, as if someone had written here with blood-stained fingers.
The stairs seemed to extend downward without end. As they went deeper, the surrounding temperature gradually dropped, and fine ashes began to float in the air, like embers after burning. Li Wen's footsteps echoed in the narrow space, and occasionally rustling noises could be heard from deep, as if something was crawling against the wall.
When the temperature dropped to almost freezing point, the stairs suddenly came to an end and entered a new space.
This is a gray area. Looking around, the naked eye can only see the scene about two steps in front of you. Other than that, it is Gray Mist that is so thick that it is suffocating.
"Outer City..." Li Wen whispered to himself. This place is more daunting than she imagined. Strategy Group's information mentioned that Outer City was the earliest part of Amber City. It was later abandoned for some reason and became the prison of Exiles.
She walked forward cautiously, the soles of her boots making a crisp sound when stepping on the uneven ground. From time to time, huge shadows passed by her. They did not look like living creatures, but rather like tall, dilapidated buildings slowly squirming. But when Li Wen concentrated on observing them, they seemed like hallucinations.
"Alive..." A hoarse voice suddenly came from behind.
Li Wen was tense all over, but did not look back. The voice continued to float, as if coming from a far away place. "How long has it been... Ten thousand years? Twenty thousand years? Finally, another living creature has set foot in this forgotten land..."
There were ripples in Gray Mist, and some invisible existence was wandering around her. Li Wen could feel something looking at him, the sight was sticky and cold, like a snake licking the back of his neck.
"Turn around and look at me..." The voice suddenly came close to my ears, with a rotten sweetness, "Turn around..."
Li Wen's fingertips tightened the dagger. She remembered Giant Bell's warning, but did not react at all, turning a deaf ear to the sound. The existence seemed to be irritated, the temperature around her dropped sharply, and the White Mist she exhaled condensed into frost in front of her eyes. Something huge was stretching its body behind her, and the shadow it cast completely enveloped Li Wen.
At this moment, a crisp metal knocking sound suddenly came from the distance.
Dang——
The shadow suddenly shrank, and the invisible pressure receded like a tide.
Li Wen looked in the direction where the sound came from, and there was a faint light shining there.