Throne of Radiance

War is not just a cold word. Behind it, it often symbolizes the loss of countless lives, and a war that has swept the world, even 50 years later, still leaves many countries on this planet Lingering scars, such as the Green Autonomous Region in the northern part of the Morningstar Empire.

This used to be the land of the Green Kingdom, but that land was only a tiny piece of land the size of two districts of the Morningstar Empire, and it had been reduced to cannon fodder as early as the war began.

Adjacent to the Morningstar Empire means that whether it is the former trying to expand outwards or other countries trying to occupy the territory of the Morningstar Empire, it is inevitable that this small country must be resolved first.

The too weak Green Kingdom disappeared in that war as a matter of course. The once-rich land became a war zone for other countries to see.This area was thus incorporated into the Morningstar Empire.

——But the war that year left too much trouble for this land.Whether it is those subjugated people who have refused to accept the rule of the Morning Star Empire, or the homeless people who were displaced and degraded to this land during the war, or the many unidentified black households active here who have seen blood , have made the rule of the Morningstar Empire here encounter great resistance, and it is difficult to establish the same order as other regions in the country, so it can only be temporarily designated as an autonomous region.

With the mighty strength of the Morning Star Empire, it wouldn't be too difficult to deal with a tiny place, the key is that it wasn't worth it.

The conclusion of the investigation told them that this land has been devastated by war, and its economy, culture, and ecological environment have been severely damaged and destroyed. It will take a lot of resources to rebuild and it will take a long time to win over the local people. Yayu opened up an oasis in the desert.The high-level empire who weighed the gains and losses judged that it was not worth it, so letting go and leaving the problem to the latecomers is also a solution.

——Anyway, by then, the person sitting in this position will no longer be the person in power now, and the troubles will naturally be theirs.

This is the origin of today's Green Autonomous Region.

And the place chosen by the "Revealing the Truth" program group is the most desolate corner of the Green Autonomous Region. It has been plowed by the fire of hot weapons, and there are still no traces of the green battlefield.

Standing in this ruins, despite the serious damage on the outside, the old castle that still maintains its complete shape is already one of the few intact buildings here.

Because of historical reasons, there are too many legends here.

The recording site of this episode of the program was selected in the Green Autonomous Region. The program team has worked hard, and the handwriting behind it is not small.

Under the aerial photography of the drone, the sky at dusk is burning with the embers of the sun, and the crimson glow falls on the dry and desolate land. There are dilapidated broken walls and ruins everywhere. They are crooked, like paving The stumps and broken arms of ancient battlefields.

Among the ruins, there are flat dirt roads that have been trampled out. The car of the program group went straight along one of the roads, and finally stopped in front of an old castle standing in the ruins, like a piece of broken limbs. out of the hollow body.

The light of dusk shone on this twisted body. When the afterglow of the sun dissipated, deep dark clouds rolled over the sky, and the show host just finished the last narration.

"Our challenge this time is to abandon the castle for three days and three nights, and explore the secret of the cursed painting."

"——The rumors of the curse, are they true or false?"

Under the camera, he turned around, and the guests who were challengers followed behind him and stepped into the gate of the castle.

The evening light receded from the horizon, and the deep shadows in the castle enveloped everyone who stepped into it. The host lit up the retro oil lamp in his hand, and a flame shot up from the transparent glass cover, and the flickering fire illuminated everyone's face.

His voice echoed in the empty castle.

"There is another story about this castle."

"Its former owner, Sir Worthy, was the last owner of that cursed painting..."

It seemed that there was a cool wind blowing gently, and some people couldn't help shivering. The chilly voice of the host echoed in the dark and steep castle, which was inexplicably a bit gloomy.

"The cursed painting back then suddenly disappeared one day after the death of many painters. According to legend, it was taken away by a passing powerful transcendent and sealed."

——A plot like this, in the past, was simply a third-rate script that no one would believe.But now, everyone knows that the distant past was the era when extraordinary beings were active.It is completely reasonable for the evil spirit to be haunted and sealed by the extraordinary.

What's more, this is not a plot made up by the program group.Instead, they inquired about the local folklore they learned from many sources.

And they just tweaked a thing or two in it.

"But I don't know why, maybe the seal was broken due to the restriction of extraordinary power by the end of Dharma. About 60 years ago, this cursed painting reappeared in the world!"

"The arrival of the doomsday also limited the power of the evil spirit, and it fell into the hands of Sir Worthy, who loves to paint."

——He has no relatives and no friends, and lives alone, and only takes paintings as friends.After obtaining this handed down work, he couldn't put it down and was overjoyed. He hung it in his bedroom and watched it every day. The little girl is like her own.

"...he even named the people in the painting after his own name, calling them Mrs. Worthy, Miss Worthy."

"...In his empty castle, it seems that there is such a mother and daughter living here. Sir Worthy has unknowingly assumed the role of husband and father. Every day, he said good morning and good night to them, Sharing his daily life...he maintained such a weird and tender life until the end of his life."

During the host's introduction, in the depths of the dark castle, I vaguely remembered the sound of light footsteps. Listen carefully, it is a big and small sound, one light and one heavy.

And the extremely indistinguishable, whispering female voice.

The voice passed through the corridor, as if a mother and daughter were chatting and walking by...

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

The light in the host's hand suddenly flickered on and off.

"Ah—" A girl seemed to let out a small exclamation in the darkness, followed by a man's gentle comforting voice.

——This is the only couple among the four guests.

The other two guests also followed suit: "Are you all right?"

"You, did you hear any sound?" The girl who exclaimed earlier was quickly appeased by others, and she said tremblingly, "No, there can't be evil spirits, right?"

"It must be that you are under too much mental stress and misheard?" Another male guest calmly retorted, "There is no sound."

"No, there is really a sound, I really heard it." The girl's voice sounded like she was about to cry, "It's the sound of footsteps, and..." Before she could finish speaking, she was directly embraced by her boyfriend Li, said in a decisive tone, "Don't be afraid, I have already cultivated my inner energy well, even if there are really some evil spirits that dare to come out to scare people, I will just punch one!"

"Yes, yes, we are not ordinary people without the power to protect ourselves." Another female guest also smiled and said, "Isn't the purpose of everyone here to complete the challenge and reveal the truth? I am looking forward to it I can meet the legendary evil spirit. I wonder if it is possible to have a friendly exchange?"

Saying so, the female guest directly borrowed the oil lamp from the host: "Host, can I borrow your oil lamp?"

She walked towards the source of the sound that her companion had mentioned, and the light from the oil lamp illuminated the dark corridor, but there was nothing there.There are only a few old gray stones scattered on the ground.

Another girl's small exhalation sounded in the darkness.

"Maybe, maybe I was too stressed and heard it wrong? Maybe it's the sound of the wind, the sound of the wind blowing things to the ground?" She said uncertainly, her voice was much better than before.

A timid and cute girl, and a boyfriend with a powerful boyfriend, formed a group responsible for spreading dog food.The other two guests, one is a wise and calm observer, and the other is an activist who is full of curiosity and yearns for adventure and revealing secrets... Everyone has firmly established their own personality and made a suitable performance.

——Those who have already passed through part of the script in the advance drama, of course know that there are no evil spirits and curses at all. The popularity is just to increase his popularity.

Even the faint sound of footsteps and conversations were intentionally made by the program crew.They are just acting together.

In this era when there are quite a lot of entertainment programs, this is a routine that the program crew, audience, and guests all know well.

Perhaps the only difference is that after the revival of the aura and the advent of the extraordinary era, the popularity of such originally tepid mystery programs has risen steadily, and the content that was originally determined to be false by everyone has also begun to attract many people. Take it for granted.

After all, times have changed!

In today's world, the place where folklore is spread has become the most ardent target of explorers.

There are always people who fantasize about obtaining adventures like the protagonists in novels, especially after someone actually obtains a strange item by accident, more people are keen on it.

And those who yearn for adventures and adventures, but dare not go there because they are afraid of the dangers, can only choose to stay in a safe home, watch other people's adventures, scream for the other party's distress, and stand up for successfully overcoming difficulties. Cheers, this has become a new form of entertainment in an extraordinary age.

This kind of "cloud exploration" and "cloud exploration" people are the most determined audience of all kinds of mystery exploration programs that are popular today.

After the episode, the host continued to introduce the background: "Because he had no relatives or friends, after his death, Sir Worthy's property was inherited by his distant cousin, but this young man was an unscrupulous prodigal son. After losing all their property and owed a large debt, only this old castle is left."

"...It's not that the prodigal young man doesn't want to sell the remaining inheritance to pay off the debt, it's just that he can't do it."

He suddenly lowered his voice, as if worried about alarming something.

"On the very night he was about to do this, he died."

"—He stood on the highest roof of the castle and jumped down. His head hit the gray stone steps and he was killed on the spot. Passers-by saw a figure of a woman in a black veil floating behind him. "

"—They all said that the evil spirit in the painting had awakened."

"Perhaps, Sir Worthy is not self-indulgent. When he used his surname to name the evil spirits, he also gained their recognition. After a husband and father died, his wife and daughter inherited his estate, Isn't this a matter of course?"

"Maybe Mrs. and Miss Worthy think so."

"However, the war that followed left everyone no time to care about what happened in this ancient castle. And the evil spirits never appeared again. People guessed that the age of doomsday restricted them, and they were only forced to wake up once before. Miracle."

"Until now, 50 years later, the Dharma-ending era has passed, the spiritual energy has been revived, and the sleeping evil spirits have also awakened again."

"...Explorers who passed by and stayed overnight saw their ghosts wandering in the castle."

"...There are speculators who came here for the legend of the cursed painting, and disappeared in this land where countless people were buried."

"It is said that their souls have been devoured by evil spirits."

"The theme of this issue is to reveal the truth and verify the truth of the rumors. Now, everyone can start your exploration."

The four guests responded immediately in coordination.

"This mission is not easy. I heard that explorers disappeared here a few days ago." Of course it was made up.

"Hiss, could it be that the evil spirit really woke up?"

"It should be just a rumor. The Green Autonomous Region is already in chaos. I think it's probably a man-made black hand who deliberately pushed the blame on the evil spirit..."

"Then let's make a bet and see who is right in the end."

Several people gathered around the oil lamp and spoke one after another.

"So the props for the mission, is this lamp the only one?"

"What should we do now? Should we explore the castle first, or discuss where to rest at night? Should we each choose a room, or should we all make do together?"

"...I think it's better to explore during the day?" The girl who seemed to be the least timid raised her hand.

"So, go to rest now?"

The light from the oil lamp spread from the hall to the long corridor, and they walked through the long corridor to the stairs leading to the room on the second floor.

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

At the moment when he stepped on the last step, there were faint footsteps in the corridor behind him.

Accompanying it was the sound of Xisuo's clothes rubbing against each other.It seemed that someone dragged a long skirt and walked all the way through the promenade.

"The atmosphere of the program group is really in place..."

At this moment, several people sighed in their hearts almost at the same time, but they pretended that they didn't hear anything.

Their performance is also an important part of creating the atmosphere, which will make the audience watching the live broadcast feel horrified, and their emotions will be affected accordingly.

——This is exactly the effect that the program group wants to achieve, to create an atmosphere that there is a real problem with this castle, and let the audience take the role of guests, sweating for the ignorant of them, and at the same time looking forward to the next development.

As they expected, the audience who were watching the live broadcast had already exploded at this moment, and the barrage almost exploded at this moment——

[Run! ] [Evil spirit haunts! ] [It shouldn't be true, is it a special effect of the program group? ] [Barrage body protection! ]

Behind them who knew nothing, in the depths of the dark corridor, two figures, one large and one small, slowly appeared.

They silently watched the backs of the people who entered the second floor.

Under their feet, the flowing blood stained the entire corridor red, and it was still spreading, heading towards the stairs on the second floor.

In an instant, the entire castle was covered with scarlet.