The valley behind the pine forest had no name. In this desolate snowfield, the range of human activities was greatly limited. Even the most experienced hunter only dared to leave a hut in the pine forest. No adventurer would go through the forest ruled by wolves and brown bears and give a name to a dead valley. So, Hao Ren simply called the valley the Valley of Death.
At the border between the pine forest and the valley was a diseased forest. The withered and twisted plants seemed to be warning reckless adventurers not to approach this place. After crossing the diseased forest, one could see an open valley. The valley itself was not large. It was roughly triangular in shape, with two low and bare stone mountains standing on both sides of the valley. They gradually merged together in the distance, causing the valley to be surrounded by mountains on three sides. Therefore, passing through the pine forest was the only shortcut to reach the valley. The valley was lifeless, and there was no vegetation. The barren landscape extended from the rocky mountains on both sides to the valley below. There was only a vast expanse of snow, and the occasional black rocks poking out of the snow and the remains of the withered tree trunks. In this snowy environment, the withered trees were preserved longer than other places.
Hao Ren stood at the edge of the Diseased Forest and looked into the distance, trying to find something that he could identify in the barren valley. However, he saw nothing but a dead land.
Would Vivian sleep in this isolated place of death?
Based on the information obtained by the wolves and the abnormal ecological environment of this place, the possibility was indeed quite high.
"Hiss —" The husky maiden inhaled nervously beside Hao Ren. "I feel like I'm about to embark on a big adventure. I've never done anything like this in my life. Huff … I'm a little nervous, a little nervous …"
It seemed that the husky maiden's temperament of being strong when she was weak and cowardly when she was strong had been there since half a century ago.
"There should be an energy field in the valley that can continuously reduce vitality, or something like a curse. It doesn't matter if you don't understand, just relax." Hao Ren glanced at the husky, who was on guard. "That thing is deadly to ordinary animals, but it doesn't affect you and me, especially you … You have strong vitality."
"Really?" Lily looked at Hao Ren in amazement. "You're amazing! You know so much! "
"Of course, I know a lot of things." Hao Ren smiled and took the lead. "Follow me. Pay attention to the smell around you."
The snow under his feet made creaking sounds. Occasionally, the branches under the snow would snap, but other than the sound of his footsteps and his own breathing, there was almost no other sound in the huge valley. In this sunny and windless weather, there was not even a trace of wind blowing. Hao Ren walked in the valley, feeling as if he was walking in a still white world, and everything between heaven and earth had become vast and empty.
Lily, who was on such a big adventure for the first time, followed behind him nervously. The young "werewolf girl" pricked up her ears to listen to all the subtle movements around her, and at the same time, she kept sniffing, playing the role of a search dog.
Hao Ren stopped. In front of him lay a skeleton, which should belong to a large herbivore. Most of the skeleton was covered with snow, and the exposed parts were fragile and decayed bones. In this extremely cold place that lacked scavengers, it would take many years for a corpse to turn into such a "clean" set of bones. How long had this victim been lying here? Half a century?
Hao Ren bent down to check the condition of the skeleton, trying to restore the cause of death. Lily muttered, "Don't animals dare to enter this valley? How could there be a dead one here?"
"It's normal to be afraid to go in, but after so many years, there must be some accidents, right?" Hao Ren's mouth twitched. "Maybe they were chased by their enemies and came here in a panic. Or maybe they were starving and wanted to come here to look for food. Or maybe they were out of their minds. Anyway, as soon as they entered the valley, they would get lost and could never get out."
"How did this one die?" Lily watched curiously as Hao Ren examined the body. She felt that it was a very professional job. The girl had always identified big bones by whether they were tasty or not. She was completely at a loss when it came to anything more advanced than this.
Hao Ren stood up and said, "There are a lot of black traces of decay on the bones. It looks like poisoning. There are also some twisted and deformed signs of high temperature … I suspect it's blood boil. Here, wear this around your neck. It can protect you. "
As he spoke, he took out a life-support collar from his Dimensional Pocket and handed it to her. Although the official function of this thing was to help the user survive in extreme environments such as space, it also had a basic protection function. It was very useful for the old version of Lily who lacked combat experience.
Lily took the necklace and put it around her neck under Hao Ren's guidance. She felt that it was quite suitable. "You have so many strange gadgets … Say, what is the blood boil phenomenon?"
"Blood boil. My friend is an expert at manipulating blood. When she is asleep, she may subconsciously release her power, so the creatures around her may inexplicably die of blood boil. But don't be afraid, the collar I gave you can resist blood boil. "
Lily broke out in a cold sweat when she heard the first half of Hao Ren's sentence. But when she heard the second half, she calmed down a little. Suddenly, she sniffled and turned her face in a certain direction.
Hao Ren immediately noticed it. "What's wrong?"
"Smell … I think I smell it." Lily pointed to the depths of the valley. "It's coming from that place."
"Let's go and have a look! Maybe it's it! "
Lily's good nose did not disappoint. She found the clue so smoothly. Following her guidance, Hao Ren soon found a sunken entrance in the valley wall: the smell was coming from this place.
Hao Ren looked around and confirmed that the sunken entrance in front of him was a naturally formed cave. It was actually quite well hidden. Not only was it surrounded by huge rocks, but the angle was just right to hide in the shadow of the mountain wall. If it were not for Lily, he would probably have to go around the whole mountain to find this cave.
Hao Ren stood at the entrance and looked inside. There was only darkness in the cave. A faint air current blew out from the cave. The temperature seemed to be a little lower than the snow outside. He could not help but shiver.
"Your friend sleeps in this place?" Lily looked inside and muttered. "Wow … the conditions are really tough. She can't even choose a good place to sleep. Even the kennel in my village is better than here."
"Her conditions have always been tough." It was also the first time that Hao Ren saw Vivian's sleeping place. His curiosity was no less than the husky maiden's. He walked into the cave after saying that. Lily hesitated for two or three seconds. Finally, her curiosity won over her nervousness and she followed.
The first part of the cave was extremely narrow. Hao Ren had to lean sideways to barely get in. But after a few meters, the cave quickly widened into a cave of more than ten meters wide. And then … and then there was no way out.
Hao Ren blinked and quickly adapted to the dark environment. He saw that the cave was wide and flat, but there were no signs of human work. There were icicles hanging on the walls, and the snowflakes blowing in from the entrance formed a very slippery ice surface in the first half of the cave. Other than that, there were no forks or entrances. The entire cave was clear at a glance.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
While Hao Ren was carefully observing the environment, Lily suddenly yelled loudly. The husky looked around and shouted, "Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Don't sleep! Your friend is here to wake you up! Don't sleep … By the way, Hao Ren, what's your friend's name? "
Hao Ren was startled by the husky's sudden movement. He quickly waved his hand and said, "Her name is Vivian. Don't call her that! The 'sleep' I'm talking about is different from the 'sleep' you understand! She won't wake up if you call her like that! "
"Oh, then how did she sleep?" Lily said as she sniffed. "Where is she sleeping? I can smell her scent, but I can't see her. "
"Maybe this is her way of preventing herself from being disturbed …" Hao Ren frowned as he observed carefully. At the same time, he quickly deduced in his mind:
It seemed that Vivian had not woken up yet, but Lily could already smell the leaking scent, which meant that the seal in this place had begun to loosen. Perhaps Vivian's hibernation was coming to an end. Hao Ren had two choices. He could either find her and wake her up, or he could simply wait for Vivian to wake up naturally. The latter was a simple solution, but not a good one. He had no idea how long Vivian was going to sleep. She had slept for at least half a century. What if she was going to sleep for another three to five years? Was he going to wait here?
Just as Hao Ren thought of this, his eyes were suddenly attracted by something strange in the corner of the cave.
It was a small dark red mark.
"What's this?" Lily also noticed the mark along with Hao Ren.
"Letta runes, a kind of symbol with magic power." This time, Hao Ren was completely convinced that this was indeed the place where Vivian was sealed. He even recognized her handwriting from the Letta runes. He could not help but feel excited. "She left it behind … She left it behind!"
"Magic power? That sounds awesome, "Lily exclaimed." What are these symbols for? "
"If I'm not mistaken … this should be something that Vivian used to protect herself during her hibernation … Tsk tsk, for others, probably no one can break the seal of the Countess of the Crimson Moon, but it's too easy for me."
His magic immunity was perfect for breaking Vivian's blood magic!
Thinking of this, he directly placed his hand on the blood runes that contained great power.
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