The mist, like the surge of a vortex, shrouds this twisted land, making it difficult to glimpse the outside world.
Lu Li and Katerina gaze at the spiral Long Houses at the foot of the mountain, which resemble the patterns on a conch shell, sprawling into a town-like expanse.
The situation is more troubleso than they imagined.
The Land of Vortex seems independent of the Ruins of Belfast, shielded from the outside by mist, and within the mist, not a trace of the forr forest and city can be found, as if it were another world.
For instance, after entering the Land of Vortex from the district, they find themselves on the mountainside.
The internal Land of Vortex is much more vast than the outside, occupying only half a forest and a few districts; the spiral town at the foot of the mountain is far larger and more complex than a few districts.
The countdown on the pendant is far shorter than they imagined.
"Hold onto the world."
Lu Li walks toward the spiral Long Houses at the foot of the mountain, followed by Katerina and the rchant.
After learning from the twisted shadow that "Barry" targets Lu Li and cannot be dispelled, the rchant only needs to follow Lu Li.
The rchant doesn’t have a pendant, but its race has the ability to ignore pollution, and the distortions of the Land of Vortex won’t affect it.
The vortices on the tree trunks resemble densely packed strange eyeballs, and the withered shrubs at their feet show twisted inward spirals, with even the stones covered in fossil-like spiral patterns.
A breeze carries a cyclone that sways the hair, dropping ash that forms a spiral outline.
The vortex is everywhere.
"These things make dizzy..."
Katerina murmurs under her breath.
At this mont, Lu Li raises his dark eyes and looks at Katerina.
Katerina turns her face to et the gaze and finds Lu Li’s eyes passing over her, looking deep into the woods.
"What’s wrong?"
Lu Li hears a faint yet incessant sound of chopping wood from deep within.
"There might be inhabitants over there."
Although the twisted shadow says there’s no conflict in the Land of Vortex, probing the local inhabitants for hostility is safer than barging directly into the spiral town at the foot of the mountain.
Following the direction of the wood-chopping sound, Lu Li crosses a stretch of forest and glimpses a hair-raising scene.
Twisted, overlapping figures resemble snail shells, with elongated noodle-like bodies twisting inward, like the annual rings in a tree cross-section, divided into a dozen rings.
It grasps a scythe-like curved axe, packing the chopped branches into a spiral-woven basket.
No human organ can be discerned from it, like a muddle of chaos, a puddle of dye, and encountering it would significantly decrease an ordinary person’s Sanity Value.
Katerina lowers her gaze, letting the outline appear only in her peripheral vision.
"Have you seen others like us?"
Lu Li stops five or six ters away and inquires of the "resident" whose movents cannot be discerned.
"...Sticky..."
The seventh circle of the woodcutter’s body cracks open at the upper left, with jumbled words that are obscure and indecipherable.
Katerina frowns, clutching her head as she feels the resident’s voice twisting her mind into a spiral.
Even the language is vortex-like?
"I can’t understand."
"...Hiss...Wriggle..."
Disorderly, inexplicable syllables emanate from where the woodcutter’s mouth should be, and in the anti, Lu Li finds the woodcutter’s eyeball squeezed and deford at the outermost ring, but there’s only one; the other one hasn’t been found yet.
After several fruitless attempts at communication, Lu Li and his group turn to leave.
Regardless, the residents’ attitude in the Land of Vortex has been tested.
"It bears no hostility toward us..."
Katerina frequently looks back at the outline of the woodcutter in the distance who resus chopping trees with the strange axe.
Not only is there no hostility, but Katerina can even sense friendliness in the incomprehensible voice.
"Because they think we will soon beco new residents," Lu Li answers.
Katerina rubs her arms, goosebumps rising with a look of disgust, "I’d rather die than beco like that."
They resu their journey. When half the distance to the foot of the mountain remains, they encounter a young human like them, untainted by pollution.
Thin and younger than Katerina, the shabbily dressed boy keeps a distance, watching Lu Li and the others with caution.
The loss of humanity ans Lu Li no longer exudes an approachable aura, but his pleasing appearance makes it hard to instill aversion. Coupled with their wealthy attire, the boy relaxes his guard a little.
"Did you also sneak in?" he asks, his gaze wandering subtly between Lu Li and the rchant’s large backpacks.
"We accepted a commission to co in and find soone," Lu Li replies.
"A hunter, right? I’ve heard about you."
The boy thus restrains his coveting.
The naked directness and wildness in his eyes remind Katerina of her past hunter life. It seems like a long ti ago, but it’s actually been less than a month.
This gaze is common among many hunters, including her—people who prioritize profit, are unscrupulous, and disregard life.
However, she has changed because of Lu Li, while the boy has no one to influence him.
"Where did you co from?" Lu Li asks calmly.
"From the Ruins of Himfast, just behind the mountain."
The boy, who calls himself Pav, replies.
Born in the tenth year of the Weird Tis, Himfast had long turned to ruins. Pav was lucky to have a responsible father, who tied him up and fed him with his own flesh to survive the Weird Tis as he was about to beco an Alien.
Unfortunately, the Ailen Peninsula was too far from the Vena Ice-Free Port and too close to danger. He mingled in settlents, fled before their destruction, and survived a while in the Weird Lair as backup food before escaping.
He couldn’t hold on much longer, so upon hearing of a paradise called the Land of Vortex at the Ruins of Belfast, he crossed the Sugard Mountain to get here.
"Do you have any food? I haven’t eaten in days..." Pav pleads with wild eyes, falling on the rchant carrying the backpack.
But he guessed wrong; there was nothing in the backpack.
Lu Li offers a can, and Pav grabs it with delight, expecting it to be Strange at or fish, but these self-proclaid hunters are wealthier than he imagined.
Katerina doesn’t stop him; they have enough food, and the rchant can always fetch more, though that risks Barry appearing.
After a slurp of eating and swallowing, Pav licks the can clean, then puts it away to polish into a knife, grabbing a water bottle with a strange scent and drinking from it.
"Do you know the situation here?" Pav asks, swiveling his eyes.
"We know as much as you do," Lu Li replies.
"Is this really a paradise?"
"Probably."
When all who enter are assimilated by the vortex, conflict naturally ceases to exist.
But upon leaving the forest and stepping onto the outermost ring of the spiral Long House, the boy collapses.
"What are these things..."
He stares in a daze at the distorted contours like layers of piled-up flesh.
"Residents of the Land of Vortex."
Pav’s hopes and desires turn into fear.
"I don’t want to turn into this freakish form!" he screams, pushing Katerina aside and fleeing toward the mountain top.
The boy’s crying and shouting draw the attention of nearby residents, who soon look away. They don’t mind the boy’s resistance and disgust.
Because it won’t be long before he becos one of them.
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