Krafft's Notes on Anomalies

As the road narrows, the traveler feels as if he or she is traveling not only deeper into the mountains, but also deeper into the drought.

At the beginning of the journey, near the Tobid River Basin, which was the only turbid yellow river, they could still see scattered dwarf trees dotting the mountains. However, a week ago they could no longer see any trees higher than their heads. trees.

By the end of the journey, at least what Kraft and William thought was the end, the vegetation had grown so slow that it was no longer able to encroach on a rarely traveled road, and the pavement could be seen clearly in the setting sun.

William eagerly chose to set off early in the morning, but they were still delayed until sunset.

Frequent rocks on the road repeatedly blocked the road, and after almost breaking the wheel axle, Peter no longer dared to challenge the driving skills of sharp turns on mountain roads. He stopped the car honestly every time and asked the male passengers to work together to push the roadblock away.

It can be seen that they are not artificial obstacles. The same stones are scattered on the slopes on both sides, probably rolling down from high places.

Kraft initially thought that the stones were loose due to the lack of soil-fixing function of plant roots, but later he discovered something was wrong during the trip. The distribution of these stones on the mountain is very uneven. Some sections of the road are very dense, and they are piled up in the valley. After walking a certain distance, you can't see a few stones.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but if you look up and the angle is right, you can usually spot a circular black dark area hidden among the vegetation on the high slope, corresponding to the messy gravel area.

During this journey, which alternated between car rides and hard work, they encountered difficulties that they could not solve in the evening. Several boulders were stuck on the road, which did not completely block the road, but cut off the possibility of carriages passing through.

It seems that the residents of the village have no need for animal power transportation, or have not thought about contacting the outside world. They just let them lie there, ignoring the only way in and out.

Seeing that the sun had almost reached the ridge on the opposite side, it was definitely too late to turn back. We didn’t know how far we were going, and we got stuck on a narrow road halfway up the mountain.

"We can't go on like this, Peter, untie the horse, get off the car and walk around." The captain couldn't be an indecisive person. William took the lead in carrying the package and jumped out of the carriage, deciding to walk the rest of the distance, "Leave the carriage here." , even if I bought it.”

The budget is more than sufficient, but the biggest cost is actually the time cost. The time that should be used to transport goods is diverted to other uses. The sailors must also be paid as usual, and this broken carriage cannot add a fraction.

Rather than losing some money, he didn't want to walk at night or even spend the night in the wild.

"Sit tight. If you can't, just hug the horse's neck. I will hold the horse in front." Considering that Yvonne might not be able to keep up, she received special treatment. Kraft helped her to the horse and was held by Coop.

The horse had been quite docile all the way, but the steep slope on one side made him feel uneasy. "If you are really thrown off, just hold your head and call for help, do you understand?"

Yvonne nodded obediently.

The team passed through the gap between the boulders, holding the rock face with their palms. The grainy texture scraped against the palm prints. Most of the fractures were straight, and they passed a steep angle and came to the other side.

There are several shrubs lying on the ground that have been uprooted. It seems that they have been uprooted for some time. From the leaves to the dry roots with soil, they have been drained of moisture by continuous exposure to the sun.

Craft looked around, but couldn't find where they came from, and couldn't think of any reason for people or animals to pull out the bushes and abandon them here. "William, have you ever encountered a similar situation before?"

"What? That's for sure. If necessary, I can throw away most of the cargo on the ship, just to ensure that we can port before the storm catches up." William replied while taking out a torch. In order to reduce the burden, they only brought a small torch, and only one or two were distributed to each person. If you really have to walk at night, you have to take turns using them.

"No, I'm not talking about this, I'm talking about this kind of terrain, holes, falling rocks, etc." Kraft twisted the dusty leaves in his hands, which still retained a little toughness, and were not so smoothly crushed into pieces. "And these plants, are there any animals here that like to pull up the plants?"

In order for shrubs to absorb water in arid climates, their root systems cannot be underdeveloped. To pull them out directly from the soil requires a force that most humans cannot do.

"No? Maybe it was brought out when the stone fell?" William looked at Peter. The guide was leading the horse to the middle of the team's mountain road responsibly. He looked back after hearing this.

"Does a gerbil count? About the size of a fist."

"Impossible. So it was really brought down by a loose stone?" Craft lifted the whole plant and found that its root system was still intact, with only a few broken roots except for the thin tendrils. It didn't look like it had been forcibly pulled out of the ground.

A sailor picked up the roots and examined them, but saw nothing. Unknowingly, the sun has set a lot further. People who suffer from night blindness of varying degrees generally have difficulty seeing clearly in low-light environments as night approaches without a torch.

"Don't worry, let's light our torches while there's still light, two at a time. If we don't reach it after walking a while, we can only try to find a place to spend the night."

There were only eight people in the team, and a torch at each end was enough to meet the lighting needs. William and Peter led the way, the sailors looked after the rear of the team, and Kraft and his party, who were unfamiliar with the wild environment, were placed in the middle.

They walked for the last few minutes in the setting sun. The shadows rose from the valley bottom, surged through the jagged rocks, climbed up the steep slope, covered the road and submerged their heels, driving away the ray of light on the top of the mountain at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The sun went down and the team fell into the dark night surrounded by hills.

Everyone consciously kept their mouths shut and concentrated on walking along the side of the mountain. The reach of the torch was not far away. If you took a few steps off track during the chat, you might lose your footing and roll down the steep slope on the outside of the road.

The edges and corners of those stones have been seen during the day. They are the sharp teeth of the valley, which can easily cut and pierce the person who stumbles, making him pay the eternal price for his negligence.

William's eyesight was not much better. When he took the second torch from the crew, Craft could see beads of sweat dripping from his forehead while standing in the middle of the team. He insisted on moving his legs because he didn't want to spend the night in the wild. , slow down and move forward.

Slightly rhythmic footsteps became the theme of the environment, and even the horses caught up with William's pace. Occasionally, someone tripped on the gravel, which briefly disrupted the rhythm.

I'm sorry to say it, but souls from other worlds are quite sensitive to footsteps and have enough experience in distinguishing them so that they can perform some small movements in bed at night.

After having a supernormal memory, it is even easier to remember the steps of the entire team. Unfortunately, no one comes to catch him every day anymore, and what he stays up late reading has become tomes and teaching notes.

But his skills did not deteriorate when he came here, but improved because of his more sensitive hearing.

During the orderly pace, Kupp, who was leading the horse, realized that Kraft in front suddenly broke out of the same pace. He shortened the step distance and increased the frequency, deliberately breaking the rhythm.

The sudden change in pace caused his rhythm to break up, and he almost tripped over his own feet.

"What's wrong?"

"Quiet." Kraft gave a brief command instead of explanation. He glanced at the path outside the light circle of the torch behind the team, and abruptly changed his pace for the second time.