The foggy day didn't keep us waiting long; clumps of cotton-like white mist appeared out of nowhere, like white lotus flowers blooming in the void.
People trudged through the cracked earth toward the heart of the lake, where the fog was thickest. There wasn't a drop of water there, and it could no longer be called a lake. The Swordfish stood askew on the ground, like an ancient castle abandoned for a thousand years. Its mottled red rust looked like dried blood in the mist. It was the blood of a giant. It had fought for thousands of years, fulfilling some kind of destiny with its life, and finally fell on this parched land.
Before the white mist completely obscured it, people glanced back. This was probably the last time they would see it; they could no longer steer it through the mist once more. Even if they returned in the future, everything would have changed, and the Swordfish would be nothing more than a pile of scrap metal.
Time will erase all traces.
Except for that ancient altar.
But as the Swordfish disappeared from their sight, a new problem arose: without the Swordfish, without that hangar, how would they evade the Spacetime Deep Well when they reactivated the altar?
In the thick fog, Qingmu, holding the Soul of Wood, clearly felt the guidance of some kind of power. He finally understood why the Itza People were able to return home smoothly after each disaster when the fog rose again—because the scepter in their hands could guide them home.
He offered his suggestion. "We now have four Sacred Staff, only lacking the Soul of Ice. The Altar of Fire Altar of Wind are already activated, so Situ and I can follow the Situ ' guidance to find the Altar of Wood and Altar of Stone. The others can go find the Altar of Ice to avoid falling into the Spacetime Deep Well at the same time."
Su Huilan said, "Isn't there any other way? Once we separate, we may never be able to get back together."
Situ nodded and said, "This is already the best solution."
Silence fell over them. As they approached the center of the thick fog and their vision became increasingly blurred, they had to hold hands to keep from separating.
Situ said, half-suggesting and half-commanding, " Qingmu and I will go to the Manti Stone Tribe and the Sangqi Tribe respectively. Duwa will go to find the Altar of Ice. Petru and his wife will first go to the Altar of Fire to check if it's activated, and then they'll also go to find the Altar of Ice. The rest of you..." He glanced at Su Huilan, Ivan, and Alice, "You can go with Duwa or Petru. Finally, if all goes well, we'll meet at the Altar of Ice."
Can they really reunite? Qingmu felt that Situ's last sentence sounded a little unsure, not like it came from him at all. Judging from the current situation, activating the altar would most likely lead to falling into the Spacetime Stasis Zone. Before figuring out why that time-space bubble was in the Swordfish's hangar, they probably wouldn't have a way to escape the Spacetime Stasis Zone. And as the Swordfish becomes a pile of scrap metal, this secret may become a secret forever.
Alice chose to follow Petru and Mrs. Larry, as she was Mrs. Larry's assistant. Ivan originally wanted to follow Situ, stubbornly believing it was his unfinished mission, for which his other brothers had perished. But Situ rejected his request, as each additional person searching for the Altar of Ice meant one more chance.
Hearing Situ say this, Su Huilan swallowed the words she was about to say. She had come out with Qingmu and naturally didn't want to be separated from him. Moreover, this parting might be forever. She looked at Qingmu, but because of the thick fog, she could only see a blurry face and a vaguely discernible figure.
"Take care of yourself!"
She and Qingmu spoke at the same time, then, holding Hanran, they followed Duwa. The sound of their footsteps echoed in the mist behind them, then suddenly fell silent as icy water rushed in from all directions, engulfing their bodies.
Qingmu poked his head out of the water and saw the distant mountains layered like dark eyebrows, and the lake surface shimmering with light, as if he were in a landscape painting.
This place gave him a sense of familiarity, from the shape of the ridgeline, the smell of the air above the water, and most importantly, the Mental Power here. Through the perception of the Soul of Wood, the Mental Power here resonated with him even more, as if he had entered his own lungs.
The Crow shook off the water droplets, flew into the air and circled once, confirming his judgment—this was the place where they had first entered Ramla —the location of the Sangqi Tribe.
He swam to the shore, climbed onto a rock, and rested. Only then did he notice that there were five Sun in the sky.
Qingmu squinted, making sure this wasn't a hallucination.
The first change in the number of Sun occurred after the night they met with Situ. At that time, two Sun appeared in the sky, one large and one small, moving at different speeds. Later, the two Sun became three Sun, and soon after, the Swordfish appeared in Huracan. Then they activated the Altar of Wind, and the sky became four Sun.
Qingmu recalled carefully that the first two Sun were normal, and their appearance and disappearance patterns and visual contrasts were consistent with the motion of a binary star system. What was truly abnormal was when three Sun appeared; they were all the same size and brightness, and were neatly arranged in a triangle in the sky.
This occurred almost simultaneously with the appearance of the Swordfish, specifically after Ronald Cohen activated the Altar of Fire. The fourth Sun appeared after they activated the Altar of Wind.
In other words, the number of Sun is likely related to the activation of the altar. However, the exact numerical correspondence and the underlying principles are unknown.
Qingmu suddenly felt that activating the altar might have been a mistake.
With the inevitable emergence of the Spacetime Stasis Zone, their hope of returning to Earth has become extremely slim. If they cannot return home, what is the point of activating the altar? Is it merely to welcome back Gaia Consciousness, granting all Earthlings Mental Power and transforming them into spiritually strong individuals like him and Situ?
But humanity has already lived peacefully for centuries, developing its own path. Why change it? What would be the point?
When Mental Power from deep space floods into Earth, and people live in a spiritually vibrant world, it remains to be seen whether that radical change will be good or bad.
He recalled Professor Mei when she was formulating the rules of the Dream Guide game: the greatest characteristic of the pure consciousness world is freedom, without lies or deception. But because of this, all of humanity's flaws and desires are exposed: greed, selfishness, belligerence, bloodlust, revenge... A spiritual world without the disguise of civilization is bound to be filled with killing, returning humanity to the barbaric era of the survival of the fittest.
Why are Space Box so popular? It's because they can satisfy desires that are impossible to fulfill in the real world.
Therefore, Professor Mei established a basic rule for the Dream Guide: no interconnection. As long as you cannot connect with others, it doesn't matter what you do in your own little world; it won't cause any harm.
If Gaia's spirit and consciousness were to surge toward Earth, causing a global spiritual revival, unless all of humanity's memories were erased, the civilization and social system that human society had painstakingly built would be destroyed. Even if it were just a facade, its destruction would be enough to cause humanity to regress to a primitive era.
Of course, Parasitic Consciousness is invading. Compared to infighting, the invading foreign invaders need to be eliminated first. This is probably the only motivation for opening the Mental Power Field. And perhaps because of this shared motivation to confront external threats, humanity will establish a new order.
Qingmu, accompanied by Crow, traversed the jungle and arrived at the altar of the Sangqi Tribe. The traces of the savages' life had long since vanished, leaving only the majestic altar standing tall and unchanging through the ages.