CH 73

Chapter 73: Neverland (Stranger)

The aircraft descended slowly over a field of ice and snow, and finally landed in a hidden valley. The steam turbine turned off, and a large amount of hot water vapor formed a wave-like white billow in the environment of minus 30 degrees, spreading around.

Wrapped in fur from head to toe, the guard with only a pair of eyes showing saluted the aircraft. He couldn’t see the insignia in the steam, but he could still recognize that it was an aircraft of the Holy See, and it should have flown from another stronghold.

This was one Holy See strongholds closest to Neverland. Most of the Holy See’s hierophants would choose to land here, and then walk through the triple barrier to enter the scope of Neverland. This was a necessary precaution to prevent hell from attacking again after the captured Holy City was evacuated. Nothing could fly through the gravity barrier to enter the polar Neverland.

When the door opened, the hot air in the cabin burst out, colliding with the cold in the snow and ice, and forming a fog. A tall figure walked out of the cabin with a big black bird parked on his shoulder. He walked steadily down the steps and returned the guard’s salute.

It really was boring to stand guard here. Usually, the guard would talk to hierophants passing by here, but when he saw the handsome face before him, he gave up the idea of talking. It was more definitely more difficult to pry even one word out of the knight Ning Zhou than to make an ice sculpture spit out human speech. Even under the crown of the Pope who raised him from the age of thirteen, it was rare to hear him speak a long passage.

The guard watched him walk into the underground checkpoint of the stronghold alone. Although he was still expressionless, today the knight seemed to be colder and more silent than before. Even his noisy black eagle was silent.

Although it was noon, this city laid within the extreme unending night of the north. The stars were shrouded in the vast snow, as if a sea area of fluorescent plankton was floating over their heads. All you could see was endless white land and boundless snow, and the universe that was vast and unending.

If a poet walked through this wasteland of ice and snow, the beautiful scenery in front of him would certainly inspire him. Unfortunately, for those who lived in Neverland, this long night was not only a pressure on survival, but also a mental torture, especially for those who trudged in the snow.

Ning Zhou wore a white fur cloak and walked through the gravity barrier. The gravity and chaotic magnetic field up here made all electronic devices useless. Every step was like carrying a mountain. Although the Vatican’s traffic order could slightly reduce the gravity of the barrier, it still made people sweaty and tired to pass through it.

After passing through the gravity barrier, there was a sacred barrier set against the power of demons. All demons disguised as human beings couldn’t pass through this barrier. Unless it had suffered a general catastrophe like that of more than 20 years ago, even if the Lord came again, he would not be able to break the barrier.

It took half a day to walk through the double enchantments. On the vast ice sheet, compasses no longer worked, and the direction could only be determined by stars. The last enchantment was the spiritual enchantment ahead. Walking in this enchantment, people would see countless pictures of their memories, all their desires amplified here, and all the distractions you were looking for and longing for that were contrary to your beliefs would be presented here one by one. Either wash away the filth in your heart here, or lose yourself in your desire.

For the firm hierophant, this barrier was almost non-existent, and so it was for Ning Zhou.

Every time he passed here, he would only see a thin phantom, and the trivial desire would be easily washed by faith, leaving no trace in his mind. But this time, he stood in front of the enchantment, letting the rustling wind and snow fall on his face, leaving traces of frost on his eyelashes, but he did not walk into the enchantment.

The eagle pushed out of the pet bag and pecked Ning Zhou’s ear tip, which seemed to urge him. Ning Zhou took a deep breath and the hot air condensed into a white mist. He stepped forward and headed for his own soul.

In the vast ice sheet and the boundless sea of stars, the wild wind roared and asked him to retreat, but the traveler trekking in the polar wilderness walked forward step by step with the wind that could tear people’s skin. The eagle on his shoulder was already unsuited to the cold, and it hid in its pet bag, leaving him alone on the ice sheet.

At some point, the roaring wind had become far away, as if it were the singing of a giant whale in the deep sea, so vigorous and ethereal… The night sky overhead was lit by the hands of the gods, and layers of blue-green auroras emerged in this vast wasteland, dancing in the shape of waves.

“Ning Zhou…”

A sweet voice called out his name, just behind him.

Ning Zhou didn’t look back, but he was still moving forward, and every step used the whole of his body’s strength to continue walking step by step.

The voice that was calling went away and died in the wind.

In the barren land under the aurora, a figure suddenly appeared ahead. Dressed in a thin sacrificial costume, she came up to him with timidity and curiosity. The corners of her brown eyes drooped slightly. She looked up at him with childlike innocence, but when she became serious, she was so patient and brave.

Close your eyes, don’t look, don’t think, just keep walking, Ning Zhou told himself.

The phantom held out her hand and tried to hold his sleeve, but her hand went straight through. She looked at her hand in consternation, as if suddenly aware of something, and fell into stupefied tears.

“Am I dead?” She asked sadly.

It was like a blow to the chest, and the cold air inhaled into the lungs hurt him. He could no longer turn a blind eye and walk away, so he stopped, even though he knew he shouldn’t.

At the moment when his footsteps stopped, the ice and snow seemed to be covered with a haze. He returned to the Undead Island in a trance. At that time, he held a bouquet of lilies and went up the stairs to look for the tomb of his old friend, but inadvertently found her tombstone.

So many tombstones.

Some had died in the task, and some had died in the Village of Dusk. The number of days she’d lived was not even as many as the number of times she had died.

The heartache and disbelief of that moment could no longer be described in words.

At the end of the Witchcraft Sacrifice, she left three successive tombstones, not at the hands of the enemy, but at his hands.

At that time, his soul seemed to be separated from his own body, floating in the air, looking at his “self”.

It was not him, it was just the desire buried in his heart. It finally broke free from the shackles of the reason it had been defeated. It seemed like a demon who broke free from the shackles of seals and came into the world.

He watched himself take out the ring in front of her tombstone, knelt down on one knee, and asked silently, Will you marry me?

The tombstone wouldn’t respond, but he had already seen her.

Walking lightly in the darkness deep in the underground palace was more irresistible than the temptation of the Devil. She gently took his hand, shyly lifted her face, closed her eyes, and slightly opened her lips and tilted her mouth, tempting him to send a kiss.

“He” leaned over…

Deep in his consciousness, a voice suddenly passed through, and if it was low, it would wake him up with thunder.

On the bridge made of steel, he looked back in a hurry and saw the young man standing behind him with the same brown eyes as “her” with the slightly drooping corners. He looked at him in astonishment: “You’re a man?”

When he realized this, the illusion began to fall apart. The girl waiting to be kissed opened her eyes and looked at him sadly. Her figure became weaker and weaker, but her appearance gradually changed. Her hair was shortened, her stature was raised, and she gradually recovered to the appearance of a man. However, she asked directly into his heart: “If you love my soul, why do you want to escape?”

At this moment, his love became a sin.

The aurora came to his eyes through the half-collapsed dreamland, and when he looked up, he could see the polar night sky.

But when he lowered his head, he was still in the dreamland, and he still hadn’t escaped it.

At the foot of an underground cave, which made the bone dragon the two people had been fleeing a pile of frosted bones while they were in the underground lake not far away, she tried to climb ashore when she fell into the water.

Gravel was everywhere on the shore, which was so sharp that it cut her hand and dragged several brown blood marks on the ground. Steam had enveloped her body, and her wet hair was covered with ice. She fell back to the lake again and again, and finally lost her strength.

Immersed in ice water, she looked at him on the shore with empty eyes. Even if his heart was twisted, he didn’t take another step, but said silently, “Go home, go where you are meant to.”

The girl who sank in the ice lake showed a reluctant smile to him, closed her eyes, and sank to the bottom of the lake silently. With her sinking, her appearance gradually overlapped with that of a man, and she could no longer be distinguished. At the moment when he sank to the bottom of the lake, the lake floating with crushed ice suddenly froze into ice - together with his heart.

The illusion disintegrated from top to bottom, and he finally returned to the ice sheet.

The mighty aurora winded out the beautiful shape, illuminating this dark ice sheet, and the world as far as he could see was frosty and cold, and all emotions, whether shaken, loved, or guilty, were buried deep under the ice, quietly dormant.

Ning Zhou recalled their farewell from the steel bridge. He watched him turn around and walk towards the other end of the bridge. He kept watching him, watching him go further and further until he walked out of his life… He didn’t look back, so he finally turned around and walked in the direction that would take him back to his own world. But when the cheers of the crowd sounded in the middle of the steel bridge, he looked back, and he looked back, and the two people separated by the boundless crowd saw each other again. For a moment, he thought he saw “her”, but he knew that there was never that “her”, only “he” - a person he could not love.

The happy couple embraced and kissed, surrounded by the blessings of the world.

And the distance between them is farther than that of the sky…

Ning Zhou walked on. It was only an hour or two away. He walked for a whole day and a night and finally walked out of the spiritual barrier. His longing, his yearning, was covered by the vast ice and snow, and sank into his soul.

He knew that he still hadn’t defeated it. Although it died down and went into the darkness, it would come back one day.

Merciful Lord, my father, I crawl at your feet and pray. May you forgive my sin. He knelt on one knee on the ice and prayed in the direction of the Holy See.

Under the glacier was a little spark, singing songs and music, and the magnificent Holy See was just around the corner.

The long night was about to pass, and the light would finally come.