Falling into the Abyss

The day after Ethan and other non-humans arrived, they were notified to transfer the camp.There are 29 hours and [-] minutes a day on the Faun. They were woken up around [-]:[-] in the morning, and then they hurriedly put away the tents, and under the command of several soldiers, they helped to transport some boxes of unknown contents into the military aircraft.However, unlike Ethan's imagined transfer by aircraft, non-people watched large aircraft carrying groups of soldiers fly away one after another, leaving only a small group of soldiers to lead them to search for rebel guerrillas on foot in the forest. Team.

Of course, some weapons were left for them.

It's just that those weapons are all strangely shaped cold weapons, not even guns that can shoot bullets.

Samuel picked up a machete-like blue weapon made of unknown metal and weighed it in his hand. He stared at the red-haired Sergeant Wilson and asked, "What is this?"

Sergeant Wilson held a toothpick in his mouth and said, "Knife."

"If you really meet the horned people, you expect us to use this kind of unearthed cultural relics to kill them? Are you kidding?"

Sergeant Wilson stood in front of Samuel, and the two men of about the same height glared at each other viciously.

"It's good for you scumbags to have weapons." Wilson said through gritted teeth.

Another female leader Alpha who seemed to be on the same level as the red-haired sergeant next to her glared at Wilson and explained, "These weapons were seized from some of their temples, and they seem to think that being cursed by these weapons Yes, the souls of those killed by them will be wiped out, so they are afraid of these weapons. Believe me, these things may be better than guns."

Non-people lined up to receive weapons.What Ethan got was a short knife, which seemed to be polished with some kind of crystal, and it glowed purple in the twilight.Looking carefully, there are many fine and dense runes on the blade, all of which are incomprehensible in the language of the horned people.

According to some religious traditions, knives with such inscriptions and deliberately made of weak crystals or other materials with special meanings are usually used in some sacrificial ceremonies.It was used to slit the throats of livestock or people, or to pierce the heart to dedicate the soul of the victim to the gods.

But why are they afraid of these "sacred tools" used for sacrifice?

The non-human soldiers are divided into ten groups, and each route is led by three soldiers, entering the forest from different angles and directions.Their destination is the city of Anas, which is about 100 kilometers away from here and has just been controlled by the human army.The city was occupied by rebels not long ago, and those horned rebels who survived the bombing fled into the vast night forest in front of them and disappeared.The non-people's task this time is to search and drive them out, and then the regular army will catch them all.

The forest was very humid, and the water vapor condensed into hoarfrost covering the tree body and branches and leaves, and the whole tree suddenly looked like it was made of silver.Many luminous flying insects like fireflies were disturbed by them, and they flew out from among the perched leaves, suspended and fluttering in the night wind that came quietly from nowhere.This scenery is too illusory and blurred, so beautiful that Ethan couldn't help but want to imprint it deeply in his mind and pass it to Tanithel for a look.

Then he actually sensed the message from Tanithel.

The message was just a sudden emotion, warm and warm, like the temperature of a smile.Ethan clearly knew that this emotion was not his, but passed on to him by Tanithel.

Even though they are [-] light-years away, they can still see the same beautiful scenery.Ethan felt a touch of happiness.

It was probably some kind of bird's cry that echoed around, and it seemed a little hollow and mysterious in the dim light, and it sounded like a cry after listening for a long time.The vegetation on the ground is dense, and there are unknown creatures lurking. The soldiers walking in front of and behind them all turned on the sonar devices installed on their waists. Adjust the frequency of the device too high, because the hearing of human beings is much more sensitive than that of human beings, and they can hear sounds in the bands that human beings cannot hear.

Stumbling, the speed is not fast.The oxygen content of the air here is not as high as that of the earth, so it is necessary to take out an oxygen bag from the backpack to take a few mouthfuls of oxygen.In this situation, if there is a fierce fight with people, it is estimated that they will be killed soon...

Ethan has seen horned people on TV. They have a layer of translucent hair that sticks tightly to the skin, which looks like a layer of skin that can reflect the surrounding environment from a distance.On their heads are a pair of hard horns that curve downward like a ram, and their eyes are slender, and the whites of the eyes cannot be seen, only a deep purple iris and cat-like vertical pupils can be seen.They can see things in the dark, but they can't stand too much light, so in many cases, if you want to make them lose their fighting power, you only need to give them super light to temporarily blind them, but with the invention of goggles, this trick can also be used. It doesn't work every time.

They don't like to see foreigners, insist on wearing the heavy and dull clothing of their own people, and eat uncooked food, sprinkled with salt and condiments at most.They also have their own cities and culture, and use modern computers and machines to cultivate their fields, but they still retain a bloodthirsty temperament. Every year, every city holds a hunting competition, and the No. 1 Hornman would be considered a heroic figure.

People on Earth always think that they are uncivilized and barbaric peoples, and even think that their intelligence is not as high as other more open planetary races, but Ethan always feels that it's just that people don't understand them well enough.Every time he sees their unique indifferent and sluggish expressions on TV, he feels uncomfortable. Can't see the sneer.

Ethan didn't want to mess with them at all.

For two days in a row, no one was seen.On the third day, Derek found some strange-shaped balls tied with wooden sticks and strings hanging from the trees. Some people said they were bird nests, but there were obvious man-made knots in them.The further they walked, the more spherical braids hung on the tree, and Ethan became more and more disturbed, suspecting that these things were similar to the wooden figures that witches hung on trees in ancient times to cast curses.

Now they go deep into the mountains and forests, away from the settlements of the horned people.Could it be that so many things were made by those fleeing horned rebels?

Do they really have the time to do so many things that seem to be very intricately crafted?

Of course he didn't believe in such things as witchcraft, but he had an inexplicable intuition that something was wrong.Recently, I don't know if it's a coincidence. He seems to have a lot more intuition than before, as if he is more sensitive to the surrounding environment, but because of this, he can experience more fear than ordinary people.

But what he needs to control most is fear.

He whispered to Samuel, "We shouldn't go any further..."

Samuel glanced at him. "Do we have a choice?"

Taifeng patted his shoulder, as if to comfort him.Ethan just shook his head with a wry smile, and secretly clenched the knife in his hand.

They set up camp as usual around 26:[-] that night.One day on the Faun planet is too long, and the difference between day and night is too small. One day is like two days of night walking.After dinner, Ethan lay exhausted in his sleeping bag, and when he was about to fall asleep, he suddenly heard a strange sound from somewhere deep in the forest, whether it was singing or hissing.

He sat up and listened, trying to tell if it was a bird call or not.After a while, however, he was sure it was a human voice, whether it was pain or a howl of joy, he couldn't tell.He couldn't determine the direction of the source of the sound. It seemed that no matter how he turned his head, the sound was coming from every corner, and it was particularly ghostly in the faint stream of grass leaves and flying insects.

Several other soldiers and non-humans also sat up vigilantly, obviously the sound was not his hallucination alone.

Wilson raised his gun, quickly pointed at the non-humans and another soldier beside him, and ordered in a low voice, "You guys follow me to have a look, don't make a sound."

Ethan wasn't among those chosen, but Samuel followed.Taifeng moved towards him, and whispered, "Could it be the horned people... I heard that their beliefs are very weird, they often scream and dance like crazy, and tie up live animals Cut open the belly and smear the blood on the body."

Ethan didn't know how to comment, so he could only reply, "Anyway, it's unlikely that our people are calling."

"They're planning something." Derek, who was leaning against another tree, said while chewing some chewing gum he didn't know where he got it, "I helped those big shots intercept the intelligence of the Ophiuchus Alliance, and they and those The horned rebels have contacted and said they will help them prepare."

"Preparation? What preparation?" Ethan asked.

Derek shrugged, "It's beyond my ability to ask. Anyway, it's definitely not a good thing to have something to do with the Ophiuchus Alliance."

About an hour later, Wilson and the others came back, but their faces were a little perplexed, as if they were preoccupied.Other soldiers asked how the situation was, but Wilson just waved his hand casually, "It seems like a bird chirping, a false alarm."

birdsong?

Ethan was sure it wasn't a bird call.He looked at Samuel, who just shrugged, "We searched for the sound, and vaguely saw a fire in the woods. But when we sneaked in, the fire went out in just a moment, and the sound disappeared. Where there should be a fire, we can't even find a burnt branch, and there is no one. It stands to reason that we are so close, if someone runs away, we will definitely see it. But there is no one, and the fire is like It’s as if it never existed.” Samuel said and shook his head, “It’s not like all of us collectively have the same visual and auditory hallucinations, right?”