Judgment Day [Unlimited]

When the stone people meet, the heavenly steps leading to the garden of the gods will appear.

After hearing this sentence, everyone was at a loss, with astonished expressions.

"The steps leading to the garden of the gods... what does that mean?"

"What does this have to do with the Land of Sunset?"

"That's right, it's inexplicable..."

The clues on the stone statue are so hidden, everyone expectantly thought they had found the key, but they were dumbfounded before they could be happy.

The riddle given by the stone statue is confusing.

"Is the translation correct?" Someone couldn't help asking.

Xie Xingyin said: "No."

The literal meaning of the words is very clear, and the abstract is the riddle itself.

Boss Hou was an old and cunning businessman, and he always felt that Xie Xingyin would not tell them the truth so easily.

So, while the others were walking away, Boss Hou came over with a smile and handed him a cigarette case.

"Brother Xie, do you have any ideas?"

Xie Xingyin didn't smoke, so he waved his hand and didn't pick it up. Boss Hou handed it to Lu Fen beside him, who took it.

This riddle is too strange, since Xie Xingyin can't figure it out by himself, there is no need to hide it, let everyone think about it together.

"Actually, whether it's the so-called 'Garden of the Gods', the Land of Sunset, or the Garden of Eden, these names undoubtedly refer to the same place—that is, the bottom of the canyon we are going to." Xie Xingyin said .

"...and the steps leading to the 'Garden of the Gods' must refer to the road leading to the bottom of the valley."

"The riddle is like saying, at a certain point, the path we're looking for will show up."

Boss Hou nodded and said yes: "Brother Xiaoxie said that well, so what we are eager to know now is when the 'When the Stone Men Meet' is."

This riddle is closely related to their current situation, and the "stone man" is easy to understand, obviously referring to these stone statues.

But under what circumstances would these disjointed stone statues meet?

"Look quickly, is there any mechanism hidden on the stone statue?" Boss Hou said.

His bodyguards immediately started to push the stone statues.Each of these tall stone statues weighs at least several tons, and the base and the ground are firmly fixed together, as if they grew here naturally.No matter what method is used, the stone statue remains motionless.

There is no way to put it together except by violence.

"It won't move at all unless you smash it."

Xie Xingyin shook his head.

Violent dismantling is definitely not acceptable. This "when the stone men met" must have some specific meaning. It is obviously wrong to tear down the stone statues and forcefully place them together.

The others were all looking for organs in the hall, lying on the ground with their buttocks pouted, groping around.Everyone touched every stone statue up and down, and Lao Liang tried to poke two fingers at the holes in the stone statue's eyes, but nothing was found.

Xie Xingyin didn't move, he stood there and raised his head to look at the stone statues.Just go up and fumble around without thinking, maybe the answer is right in front of you and you can't see it.

"Think again, when will the stone men meet?"

Xie Xingyin originally wanted everyone to come up with ideas together, but after much deliberation, everyone couldn't find any reliable ideas.

In the dense night, under the light of the stars and the moon, the stone statues laughed even more sinisterly.

Boss Hou swallowed his saliva: "These stone statues look so evil, don't they need some living sacrifices to activate them?"

When everyone heard it, they were a little scared, and unconsciously moved away from those things.

Inspired by Boss Hou, everyone else began to speculate wildly.The position of the stone man corresponds to the astrology in the sky, and the stone man will move secretly when no one is seeing... There are various theories, mysterious and mysterious.

Some people even began to formulate equations to calculate the relationship between these stone figures and the inclination of the ground.

"These people are more superstitious than me." Old Liang murmured after being robbed of his business.

After the discussion, everyone was still confused, and went outside the temple to search for a while.

The stone statues outside the temple stand upright, taller than those inside, and harder to climb.But after finally climbing to the top, they found that there was no reminder on the stone statue outside.

"Forget it, come down."

Li Tiefeng glanced at the dark sky: "Two people come with me to pick up some bushes to make a fire. Let's make do in this temple tonight."

—

Below the rocky hills lies a large wasteland, overgrown with shrubs.Soon, Li Tiefeng and the others came back with a lot of dead branches.

The dead branches were neatly piled up under the stone steps outside the temple. Li Tiefeng used a flint to strike sparks to ignite. The bonfire immediately blazed up, and the fire suddenly illuminated the temple that had stood here for thousands of years.

"Leave one person to watch the night, and the rest go to rest."

A few days ago, everyone was camping in the desert and could only rely on tents for camping.Now that there is a temple to shelter from the wind and rain, they spread the windshield cloth on the ground as a mattress to sleep on.

The stone statues in the main hall were hidden in the dark, with strange expressions, which made it uncomfortable to watch.

Lao Liang hesitated for a moment, holding his luggage and wanted to sleep outside, but he stepped out of the temple gate and realized that there were more stone statues outside, so he turned back and chose a corner outside the main hall to sleep.

The dry food they brought was almost finished, and everyone endured hunger and went to sleep, praying that they would be able to go to the sunset tomorrow and find food.

Xie Xingyin didn't know whether it was because of hunger or something on his mind, he tossed and turned and couldn't sleep, he opened his eyes and stared at the top of the temple.

Outside the temple gate, the flames blown by the breeze flickered and danced, and the light and shadow hit the stone statues, as if their expressions were changing slightly.

Xie Xingyin turned his head and saw Lu Fen lying beside him with his eyes closed, as quiet as if he was asleep.

So Xie Xingyin quietly lifted the cloth covering his body, bypassed the people sleeping all over the floor, and walked out of the temple.

The night watchman was lying in a corner, snoring lightly.Xie Xingyin took a look and sat down on the lowest stone step without waking him up.

The bonfire in front of him was "crackling" burning, Xie Xingyin sat on the cold stone steps, resting his chin on one hand, absent-mindedly writing and drawing on the mud floor with branches.

What did it mean when the stone men met.If he can't figure it out tonight, he probably won't be able to sleep.

The night sky above the vast desert is as blue as a wash, with dots of silver and white stars outlined.This is a bright starry sky more than 5000 years ago. It is difficult to see such a night scene in modern cities.

Xie Xingyin sat alone by the campfire for a while, when he suddenly heard light footsteps coming from behind.Someone came out.

He originally thought it was the night watchman who had come to change shifts, but when he turned around, he saw a pair of straight and slender legs.

Xie Xingyin raised his head, looked up, and saw Lu Fen.He was wearing a coat over his shoulders, and was standing on the third step looking down at Xie Xingyin.

"Brother can't sleep?"

Lu Fen walked down the stone steps unsteadily, and sat down beside Xie Xingyin.

The flickering flames covered his profile, and Lu Fen casually took out a cigarette from his pocket, as if it was given by Boss Hou just now.

With the bonfire in front of him, Lu Fen lit the cigarette, held it to his mouth.

Seeing the light of the fire that he held in his mouth, Xie Xingyin suddenly felt itchy.

When a man was irritable, he wanted to smoke. Xie Xingyin was struggling with resentment, so he reached out and snatched the cigarette from Lu Fen's mouth, and quickly lowered his head to take a puff.

Boss Hou is addicted to cigarettes, so the cigarettes he gives are naturally strong ones, most people can't get used to them, let alone Xie Xingyin who has never smoked before.He put the cigarette to his mouth and took a sharp puff, only to feel that the lung ducts were numb, and he almost choked.

This thing doesn't work at all.

Lu Fenrao looked at him with interest, brushed the back of his hand and joints with his fingertips, took the cigarette in his hand again, carefully as if he was afraid that he would be burned, and then pressed the cigarette end on the The stone steps are twisted out.

Xie Xingyin panicked, turned his face away from Lu Fen, covered his mouth and coughed a few times.

The light of the bonfire shone obliquely, he was sitting side by side with Lu Fen, but the shadows behind them were leaning against each other.

Looking at the two shadows on the ground, Xie Xingyin's eyes suddenly lit up, and he turned his head and ran into the temple with happiness in his heart.

When Lu Fen got up and followed, he saw Xie Xing standing at the entrance of the temple, looking at the stone statues solemnly.

In the temple, the stone statues had smiles on their faces, and they swayed to and fro as if they were drunk, but they did not touch each other and never met each other.

"Is it possible that the encounter of the stone people is not a physical encounter?" Xie Xingyin said.

—

After dawn the next day, sunlight came in from the round hole on the top of the temple, illuminating the entire hall.

Xie Xingyin watched the sunlight above his head shine on those stone statues, leaving black shadows on the wall and the ground.

"I thought yesterday that the round hole in the roof was used for lighting the hall, but it may have other uses." Xie Xingyin said to Lu Fen.

This land of sunset, just from the name, we can know that it has an inseparable connection with the sun.

A round hole is left on the top of the temple to let sunlight in.

And what is inseparable from light is shadow.

"The stone statues in the hall cannot be moved, but their shadows can." Xie Xingyin said, "...As the position of the sun changes throughout the day, their shadows are constantly changing and moving."

"Perhaps at a certain moment, when sunlight shines in through the round hole on the top of the temple, the shadows of the stone people will overlap."

"At that point, they meet."

It was already night when they entered the temple yesterday, and the shadow of the stone statue was long gone.If it wasn't for the accidental discovery, Xie Xingyin would have almost ignored this matter.

"My mother, Lao Xie, that's right! The stone man can't move his shadow but can move! You are such a genius!"

Lao Liang didn't know when he woke up, and after hearing his speculation, he almost kissed Xie Xingyin on the cheek happily, but he avoided him.

Lu Fenzheng was leaning on the side with his arms folded, watching this scene, there was an uncontrollable look of disgust in his eyes, and he turned his face away.

With the initial direction, the next thing to do is to wait for verification.

Everyone rested and waited in the temple.

With the passage of time, from early morning to noon, the position of the sun above their heads shifted constantly, and the angle of light constantly changed, and the shadows of the stone people also changed and danced accordingly, sometimes touching and sometimes separating, and each was not unified.

Finally, around two or three o'clock in the afternoon, the sun was high in the sky, and the sunlight shone in from the round hole in the roof.

At this time, the shadows of all the stone figures in the hall appeared in a fan shape, and their heads were neatly overlapped together.

"We need to move faster."

The position of the sun is still changing, and soon the shadows of the stone people will move and return to the state of not touching each other, and the passage will disappear at that time.

If you can't find it before it's gone, just wait another day.

Xie Xingyin immediately turned his head and ran out of the temple, everyone followed behind him.

They ran all the way to the edge of the canyon, and then saw Xie Xingyin in front of him suddenly stop.

Old Liang was taken aback. "No way?"

But Xie Xingyin shook his head and motioned him to look down, and everyone followed, standing on the edge of the cliff and looking down curiously——

The afternoon was the hottest time of the day. After a morning of scorching sun, most of the clouds and mists in the upper valley had dispersed, and the visibility was much clearer.

Just below their feet, a white stone platform was exposed two or three meters below the cliff.

A row of steep stone steps is faintly connected to the side of the stone platform, leading directly to the unfathomable clouds below.