Chapter 34.2 The Promised Land
“Li Su, Sergey, wake up quickly!!” After realizing that something was wrong, Lin Banxia shouted loudly. Li Su woke up immediately. Although Sergey didn’t know what Lin Banxia was shouting about, he could hear the anxious tone in his voice. After getting up from the ground, he asked several times what was wrong.
“There are so many bugs.” Lin Banxia said anxiously, “I don’t know what they are. Get up!”
Li Su also heard the dense buzzing sound. He raised his head and saw the swarm of insects covering the sky and the sun. These insects were like a sandstorm, spreading towards them at an extremely fast speed.
“Damn it, where did it come from? How the hell do we escape!?” The experienced Li Su quickly judged the situation and knew that if they were to race against the swarm of insects, they would definitely not be able to outrun them. He shouted loudly: “Hurry up! Put your backpack and all your clothes around your head, get down on the ground and just keep breathing!!!”
Lin Banxia hurriedly followed the instructions. Although Sergey didn’t know what happened, he understood most of it when he saw the surrounding environment and Lin Banxia’s actions. He also followed Li Su’s example and covered his mouth and nose with clothes.
In an instant, the black swarm of insects arrived in front of him. Lin Banxia just felt a strong wind blowing by, and his body seemed to be hit hard by something. Then, his exposed skin felt a dense itching sensation, which was obviously because of the insect swarm that landed on him.
Li Su knew that their own self-preservation measures were of no avail, so he could only pray that these bugs were not interested in meat. Fortunately, after the swarm of insects arrived, although he felt something landing on him, he did not feel the pain of being bitten. At least it showed that these insects did not eat humans.
The three of them were lying on the ground, their bodies covered with insects. At this time, Lin Banxia could see the appearance of these insects clearly at close range. They turned out to be black moths with dark brown color and strange markings on their backs. Lin Banxia thought it was just an ordinary moth at first, until a certain moth flew in front of Lin Banxia. Although the light was very dim, Lin Banxia suddenly recognized the patterns on the back of the moth. These patterns looked like a woman’s face. Lin Banxia looked carefully and felt that this face was very similar to Irina, whom he had met once before, but the facial features were distorted. At first glance, it looked like she was opening her mouth and screaming.
After an unknown amount of time, the buzzing in his ears gradually became smaller. Lin Banxia felt that the resistance pressing against his body was also lessening, so he reluctantly stood up and saw that the swarm of insects had gone away. He shook his body and shook off all the moths attached to his clothes. He looked around, trying to find Li Su and Sergey.
“Cough! Cough! Cough!” Li Su climbed up from the ground with difficulty, covered his mouth and nose with his hand, and said, “It’s disgusting! It’s disgusting!”
Lin Banxia said: “Are you afraid of insects?”
“I’m not afraid of bugs, I’m afraid of moths.” He kept shaking his body, “Hurry up and take a picture of it for me, it disgusts me to death. Where is Sergey?”
Lin Banxia said: “Over there.”
He pointed his finger, but found that Sergey, who should have already stood up, was still lying on the ground shivering. Lin Banxia looked at him strangely: “What’s wrong with him?”
“I don’t know, I’ll ask.” Li Su shook the bugs off his body and walked towards Sergey. He walked up to Sergey and asked him in a low voice if he felt uncomfortable. Sergey didn’t answer.
“Sergey? Are you okay?” Li Su bent down and patted his shoulder gently.
Sergey’s body shook violently, and he slowly raised his face. His face was covered with dense moths, which clearly had no intention of dispersing.
Li Su was originally afraid of moths, so he was startled by Sergey’s appearance. Goosebumps instantly covered his entire body. He shouted to Lin Banxia: “Quick, quick, quick! Come and help him!”
Lin Banxia strode over, stretched out his hand and batted away the motionless moths on Sergey’s face. When he patted them, he realized that these moths seemed to treat him and Sergey a little differently. To be precise, when the moths were on them, they just seemed to be passing by, but when they arrived at Sergey, they seemed to be heading towards him. Some moths even tried to get into Sergey’s ears. Fortunately, they were too big and couldn’t get in, but they were still creepy enough.
It took Lin Banxia a while to swat all the moths away. Looking at Sergey again, he stood stiffly on the spot, motionless, like a stone sculpture, without even moving his eyes.
“Brother, are you okay?” Lin Banxia asked him worriedly.
Li Su also asked a question, and his eyelids twitched suddenly, as if he was waking up from a dream, and he was mumbling words that Lin Banxia couldn’t understand. Li Su said some words, which seemed to be comforting Sergey. It was unknown if it was useful, but at least Sergey’s mumbling stopped.
Although the insect swarm had passed, there were still moths crawling and squirming all over the desolate sand and gravel. Lin Banxia lit a bonfire and tried to drive the insect swarm away, leaving a place where he could rest. During the whole process, Sergey stood motionless. He suddenly opened his mouth and spoke to Li Su, seemingly asking a question.
After Li Su listened, he didn’t answer.
Lin Banxia didn’t understand, so he asked Li Su what Sergey had asked. Li Su glanced at Lin Banxia and said, “What do you desire most? What are you most afraid of?”
Lin Banxia thought for a moment and was about to answer when Li Su made a gesture to shut up, took out a dollar bill from his pocket, patted it on Lin Banxia’s chest, and said: “Forget it, I know what you are afraid of. Be good and go light the bonfire.”
“Okay, Brother Li!” Lin Banxia was not afraid of anything anymore and started lighting the fire happily.
After a while, the fire was lit, but the three of them couldn’t sleep. Sergey and Li Su squatted beside the fire and chatted, while Lin Banxia studied the banknotes in his hands carefully by the light of the fire. Although the moths on Sergey’s body were wiped away, his mind was severely traumatized. He stared dimly at the fire in front of him and told some stories about himself and Irina.
Irina was the partner he had been with the longest. The two got along very well and even had contact in private. He thought he knew her very well. However, when he learned that Irina died, he realized that he had known nothing about this girl. Well, he didn’t even know she was pregnant. If he knew, he would definitely not have let her take this mission. When he went out, he would definitely find Irina’s irresponsible boyfriend and beat him up. Beat him up… He said this sentence many times, and his regret and pain could be seen just from his expression.
Li Su was listening nearby and did not try to give any advice from experience. He had been doing this for a long time and was used to this kind of thing. Not only the recorders, but also the talented monitors suffered countless casualties. When it came to heretics, no one could predict the danger. The only ones who could resist it were the ones with a strong spirit and keen judgment.
However, how many people have a strong spirit? Li Su thought. Most people are just ordinary people who have barely withstood some tests.
Irina was an ordinary person, and Alexei was an ordinary person, so they both died, and no one even figured out how they died.
The sorrow in Sergey’s voice became more and more intense, and he said, “Do you think Irina blamed me before she died?”
Li Su said: “If she is really how you described, I don’t think she would blame you.”
“But I always feel as if she is behind me.” Sergey lowered his voice, with a hint of panic in his tone, “Always…following me.”
Li Su frowned. He had just completed a mental test on Sergey yesterday and confirmed that Sergey was not crazy. Why would a person who was not crazy say such a thing?
Dawn that day was coming very slowly.
The morning sun rose slowly from the horizon, and its gushing light did not make people feel warm. The wind in the wilderness became stronger, and beside the campfire, there were the burned corpses of moths. They had tried to rush towards the light, but they did not realize that the fire was an illusion. When the real light came, they were already gone.
The three of them set out on the road again.
There was desolation as far as the eye could see, with no end in sight.
Lin Banxia didn’t know how long they would continue walking like this. This endless journey made people feel more and more desperate and tormented. Since the moths came, Sergey’s mental state was getting worse and worse. His body gradually became shaky, and he often looked back. However, there was only a wasteland behind them, and no one knew what Sergey was looking for.
After walking like this for five or six days, one evening, a strong wind suddenly blew through the wilderness, carrying wind and sand, blocking their view. The three were forced to stop and camp on the spot.
In the past few days, Lin Banxia kept trying to ask Li Su where their destination was, but Li Su refused to answer. He just told Lin Banxia that he would know when they got there. Lin Banxia had no choice but to give up.
The dust flew all night, so the three of them could not sleep well. It was not until dawn that the dust gradually faded away. Lin Banxia, who was watching the night, suddenly saw a black building on the other side of the sand. He thought he had seen it wrong at first, but when the sand stopped completely, he was convinced that he was not hallucinating. Not far from them, a small city had actually appeared.
“Li Su! Li Su!” Lin Banxia pushed Li Su awake and shouted, “Wake up quickly.” ”
Li Su woke up in a daze and said, “What’s wrong?”
Lin Banxia said: “Look, look!”
Li Su looked towards where Lin Banxia was pointing, and his eyes lit up. Lin Banxia said, “Is this the place we are looking for? Is that thing inside?”
“Shh.” Li Su made a silent gesture, as if he was afraid of disturbing something. He glanced at Sergey, who was still sleeping next to him, and said, “We have to get there.”
Seeing his serious expression, Lin Banxia felt a little strange. The small town seemed not far from them. Why was Li Su’s tone so heavy? It seemed that reaching the small town was not an easy task. Just when Lin Banxia was thinking this, Li Su gently woke up Sergey.
“Sergey.” Li Su said, “Are you okay?”
Sergey opened his eyes, and the confusion in his eyes quickly faded away. Hearing Li Su’s question, he nodded.
“Do you want to come with us? It doesn’t matter if you don’t want to.” Li Su said, “We will leave some more food for you, and you can wait for us here…”
Sergey said: “I want to join you.”
Li Su said, “Are you sure?”
Sergey said: “Sure.” His eyes were stubborn and firm, and he answered Li Su’s question without hesitation.
“Okay.” Li Su said, “Then let’s set off.”
The three of them carried their luggage and continued forward. Everyone was quiet along the way. Li Su didn’t seem to want to talk. As the only translator, since he stopped talking it was naturally impossible for Lin Banxia and Sergey to chat.
As the distance to the small town got closer, Lin Banxia also saw the buildings in front of him clearly. It was a large stone building covered with green moss, with no traces of human activity. Judging from the architectural shape, this did not look like a residential area, but more like a temple. However, it seemed to be dilapidated due to its age. It is surrounded by many long circular columns, and the entrance was a tall arch. It had a shaped door with intricate and exquisite patterns painted on it. It could be seen that the craftsmen who made this arch have superb skills.
When he arrived at the door, Li Su, who had been nervous all the time, suddenly let out a heavy breath and said, “Finally, we’re in…”
Lin Banxia said: “Why are you so nervous?”
Li Su said: “Because our previous team also saw this small town.”
Lin Banxia asked curiously: “Then why didn’t you come in?”
Li Su said: “Because some people in the team don’t want to come in.”
Lin Banxia was stunned for a while, and suddenly understood what Li Su meant. After experiencing these things here, he also vaguely felt the weirdness of this place, as if Alexei was tempting him with gold. This place…it seemed that what people most wanted would appear. Nevertheless, people’s hearts are so complicated, and the things they desire most may change anytime and anywhere. Li Su’s team also tried to enter this building. However, before he got close, someone in the team changed their mind.
“I don’t want to go in, I don’t want to get close to here, I’m afraid, I want to go back.” The longing thoughts took shape. When Li Su and the others reacted, the building in front of them disappeared and they returned to the strange forest again. Everything they did was in vain.
No wonder Li Su refused to tell Lin Banxia the truth and he seemed so nervous when he saw this city.
Sergey couldn’t understand their conversation, and he didn’t care about it. After he made sure there was no danger ahead, he walked in first.
“This seems to be an altar.” Sergey observed the surroundings and said, “On the map, this…should be a small town, right?”
Li Su looked at the map and said, “It should be.”
He took a few steps inside, then suddenly stopped and said, “What is that?”
Lin Banxia followed Li Su’s gaze and saw a large blood stain on the ground. This was not the most important thing. The most important thing was that the blood stain was fresh. Someone had been here not long before them!
“Could it be your team? Or Song Qingluo and the others?” Lin Banxia became more energetic.
“Let’s go and take a look.” Li Su followed the blood stains and walked forward.
The blood stain continued forward until it suddenly broke off in front of a certain building. Lin Banxia bent down to check the ground and said in surprise: “The ground seems to be hollow.” He knocked hard. “There should be a secret passage underneath.”
“I’ll go look.” Li Su said.
Lin Banxia originally thought he was going to use some technique to open this mechanism. Unexpectedly, Li Su picked up Sergey’s shotgun, loaded it, and then fired two shots into the ground. He broke through the stone slab, revealing a dark tunnel behind it.
The strong smell of blood in the tunnel suddenly poured into their nostrils. Just as Lin Banxia was about to ask Li Su if he wanted to go down, he felt emptiness under his feet. The stone slabs under their feet also disappeared. Li Su shot down, which directly had a chain reaction, causing all of the stone slabs they stepped on to shatter.
“F*ck!” he exclaimed. Lin Banxia had no time to react and fell directly. He felt as if he had entered a long and narrow passage. His body kept hitting the wall and finally fell heavily. Once on the ground, he was glad that he had a backpack as a buffer, then a heavy object hit his stomach, and he almost vomited.
“Ah!!!” Sergey cried.
“Quick, get off me, you’re going to crush me to death.” Lin Banxia screamed.
Although Sergey didn’t know what Lin Banxia was shouting, he could understand from his miserable scream that he had been hit hard by him, so he hurriedly got up from him.
Lin Banxia held his stomach and waited for a long time before he recovered. He even suspected that his ribs were broken. There was darkness all around, and the air was filled with the smell of moisture and blood, which made people feel very uncomfortable. He held onto the wall, stood up and shouted: “Li Su, Li Su, where are you?”
Li Su didn’t respond.
Lin Banxia heard a ticking sound next to his ears, and something kept falling on his forehead and face. He stretched out his hand and smelled the strong smell of blood in his palm. Lin Banxia stiffened. He raised his head and looked at the darkness above his head.
The author has something to say:
Li Su: Did you gain a lot from coming to Russia?
Lin Banxia: Yes, I have been practicing English for a long time and still got one dollar of spending. It is really a profit. I must report it to Song Qingluo.
Li Su: …Can we not file a complaint?
Song Qingluo was on the way there with a knife in hand.
Hahahaha, the sunset was written wrong by the author, not foreshadowing!!
Translator’s comments:
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