Ground Stars / 地上星 · Ch.54 第54章 代练契约-千年之望
第54章 代练契约–千年之望
Chapter 54: Contract of Proxy – The Millennial Hope
数年后的壹个小部落中。
In a small tribe, several years later.
壹位青年面色痛苦的跪倒在自己屋内，他浑身皮肤出现裂痕，宛若被火焰烧伤龟裂。
A young man knelt in agony inside his dwelling, his skin cracked all over as if scorched and fissured by fire.
「伟大的…不死之王…」
“Great… Undying King…”
他双手撑在地上，内心仿佛由团火焰炸开，轰地下意识晃动，随后壹股舒心的清凉感从火焰中心出现，快速荡向躯体各处。
He pressed his hands against the ground, as though a flame had burst within his heart—a jarring tremor wracking him instinctually—before a soothing coolness emerged from the core of that flame, swiftly spreading throughout his body.
……
十几年后，在大陆另壹处正在被抢劫的村庄内，壹名身负银白长剑的面目白皙女子从村口走入。
A decade or so later, in a village on another part of the continent that was being plundered, a woman with a fair complexion and a silver-white longsword at her back walked in from the village entrance.
「他们犯了什么罪？」
“What crime have they committed?”
村道上，被人痛殴后捆住的村民们倒在壹起哭泣。他们的房屋被正在被破坏烧毁。
On the village path, villagers who had been beaten and tied up lay crying together. Their houses were being ravaged and set ablaze.
「这些人没给不死之王交粮。」
“These people didn’t pay tribute to the Immortal King.”
壹个持刀看守这些人的男人憨憨的望来，这位女子宛若月光般美貌，他情不自禁的就回答了对方的问题。
A man holding a knife, guarding the captives, looked blankly at her. The woman possessed a beauty like moonlit radiance, and he couldn’t help but answer her question.
「啊，好美的无毛女人，快把她捆起来，献给王的追随者。」
“Ah, what a beautiful hairless woman! Tie her up and offer her to the King’s followers.”
穿著兽皮的人群壹拥而上。
The crowd, clad in animal skins, surged forward.
女人抽出身后的剑，上面快速结霜。
The woman drew the sword from behind her back, its blade quickly frosting over.
噗噗噗！
Thump, thump, thump!
仅壹个回合这些人全部呻吟著倒下。
In a single exchange, everyone fell groaning to the ground.
那下命令之人神色恐惧的想要控制自己的双手双脚，却未能如愿，它们都被剑划断了经脉。
The one who had given the order, his face twisted with terror, tried to control his own hands and feet, but failed—his meridians had been severed by the swords.
眼看长剑悬在自己喉咙上，这群趟地之人的队长呜咽大哭起来，拼命求饶。
The captain of the fallen men, seeing the longsword hanging over his throat, burst into tears and begged desperately for mercy.
「这些罪名，我不曾听王与侍者大人说过。」
“I never heard the king or the attendants mention these charges.”
「妳肯定听不见，只有追随者…」
“Of course you wouldn’t have. Only the followers…”
女人收回剑，转身往外走去。
The woman withdrew her sword and turned to walk away.
「放了他们，下次我来若见此村子消失。妳们，以及妳们的那位所谓的追随者，全都得死。」
“Release them. If I return next time and find this village gone—you, and your so-called followers, will all die.”
淡淡的声音若风雪般飘荡在雾气渐浓的村庄中。
Her faint voice drifted like wind and snow through the village, thickening with mist.
……
杨子藏来到海沟深处。
Yang Zicang descended to the depths of the trench.
他的皮肤被海水挤压得变形散开，但躯体总算没有被压坏，还保持著人形。随著修炼的不断进步，自己已经能强大到抵抗数百米深的海水压强了。
His skin was crushed and distorted by the seawater’s pressure, but his body managed to hold together, maintaining its human form. With each advancement in his cultivation, he had grown strong enough to withstand the crushing pressure of hundreds of meters of seawater.
虽然这仅仅只是得益于这具念力身躯的效果而已，但还记得第壹次下海之时，自己只下潜百多米就开始严重变形。
Though this was merely a benefit of his psionic body, he still remembered his first plunge into the sea—just over a hundred meters down, and he had begun to deform severely.
前方壹片红光，那是不断渗出的岩浆，在那其中有壹枚特殊的，散发著微光的石头。
Ahead glowed a red light—the molten lava seeping out ceaselessly. Within it, there was a peculiar stone, faintly emanating a soft sheen.
石头内是换换旋转的火蜈蚣形象。数十年来，这颗石头不断吸收著岩浆涌出的无形能量。
Inside the stone was the image of a fire centipede spiraling continuously. For decades, this stone had been steadily absorbing the intangible energy that surged from the magma.
几块变成灵物战器的恶魇躯骇被杨子藏注入时序丢了过去。
Several nightmare demon’s remains, which had been transformed into spirit weapons, were infused with Chronos by Yang Zicang and tossed over.
虽然火蜈蚣早已死去，但这块石头内蕴含的恶魇精魄依旧会本能的吞噬这些物品，就像它们吞噬生物补充能量壹样，只是时间比较长。
Though the fire centipede had long been dead, the nightmare demon’s soul essence contained within the stone instinctively devoured these items, much like it preyed on living beings for energy—only the process took far longer.
杨子藏能感觉得到，随著自己的时序不断被它吞噬，已经能偶尔感知到这东西的存在了，虽然这感知非常的微弱。
Yang Zicang could sense that, as his Chronos was constantly devoured by it, he was occasionally able to perceive this thing’s presence, however faintly.
……
黑夜，高山顶峰，壹名身披黑熊皮所作披风的威武青年来到杨子藏身后，壹起看向天际出现的那枚彗星。
On a dark night, atop a lofty mountain peak, a majestic young man draped in a cloak made from black bear hide arrived behind Yang Zicang, and together they looked toward the comet that had appeared in the sky.
「侍者大人，被首席册封的领主又为他上供了新的妻子，献供者是北方白野部落的首领，那女人的村子已经不存在了。」
“Esteemed Attendant, the lord appointed by His Highness the Chief has offered him another new wife. The tribute bearer is the chief of the Northern White Wild Tribe; the woman’s village no longer exists.”
夜风荡漾，寒气萦绕林间，杨子藏身穿单薄的衣服却恍若不觉这逼人寒气。
The night wind swayed, and a chilling air coiled through the forest. Yang Zicang, dressed in thin clothes, seemed oblivious to the biting cold.
「下壹本书在这个位置，妳去寻找它的拥有者，然后在那里等不死之王的到来。」
“The next book is at this location. Go find its owner, and then wait there for the arrival of the Undying King.”
杨子藏递给他壹份兽皮，以及壹枚作为信物与奖励的金币。
Yang Zicang handed him an animal hide and a gold coin, serving as both a token and a reward.
「是。」武正接过金币与画著路线图的兽皮后，安静的站在这人身后。
“Understood.” Wu Zheng took the coin and the hide marked with a route map, then stood silently behind this man.
自己的汇报，这位男人从来就不会正面回复，但也不会阻止自己的讲述。
His reports were never directly answered by this man, but the man never stopped him from speaking either.
「妳姐姐的病好了吗。」
“Is your sister’s illness better?”
听到这位大人主动开口，这冷酷青年露出些许发自内心的笑容，嗯了声点点头。
Hearing the man address him, the cold-faced young man revealed a faint, heartfelt smile, hummed an acknowledgment, and nodded.
「真好。」
“That’s good.”
「我想给她壹枚金币。」
“I want to give her a gold coin.”
「当然可以。」杨子藏身影消失在原地。
“Of course, you may.” Yang Zicang’s figure vanished from where he stood.
对此这位青年已经见怪不怪了，他擡头看向苍穹与星空，握紧右拳。
The youth was already used to this. He looked up at the sky and stars, clenching his right fist.
首席追随者已经失去了追随的初心，自己以及与自己壹同修行的这些兄弟姐妹们，决定不能落于这种人之后。
The Chief Follower had lost the original purpose of following. He and his fellow brothers and sisters, who trained together, decided no longer to fall behind such a person.
他深吸口气，往前走去，看向下方的千米悬崖。
He took a deep breath, stepped forward, and looked down at the thousand-meter cliff below.
「这次的挑战是，三分钟之内到达地面，否则就猎杀壹千头齿龙兽。」
“This time, the challenge is: reach the ground within three minutes, or slay a thousand Swordtooth Striders.”
他壹个纵身从悬崖落下，几米后双脚稳稳踏在块突出的岩石上，身子壹窜射向另壹边。
With a leap, he launched himself off the cliff. Mere meters down, he firmly landed on a protruding rock, then shot sideways like an arrow.
……
圣殿团的首席率领威武大军开始出动。
The Chief of the Sanctum, leading the mighty army, began their march.
他们古老的圣典上已经记载过无数次的应对经验，六十壹年前自己也成功将之运用过。
Their ancient scriptures had already recorded countless experiences of dealing with this, and sixty-one years ago, they themselves had successfully applied it.
可每壹次都会遇到更大的挑战，因为这几十年会制造出许多许多新东西。
But each time, greater challenges would arise, as these decades would give birth to many, many new things.
房屋、器具、衣物，乃至于废弃的不知丢到哪里的垃圾，它们都能孕育出恶魔，除非城市完全不发展，壹直住在那些古老的坚硬暗红房屋中。
Houses, tools, clothing, and even discarded trash thrown away to unknown places—all of these could breed demons, unless the city completely halted development and people lived forever in those ancient, hard, dark-red houses.
这壹座首领亲征的小镇内，暗影开始诞生，周围的勇士们目光炯炯的擡头。
Within this town, where the chieftain led the personal expedition, shadows began to emerge, and the surrounding warriors looked up with blazing eyes.
「孩子们，做好准备。」
“Children, be prepared.”
头发开始花白的扎古达朗声道，身旁是几位年纪看上去四五十岁的子嗣。
“Children, be prepared,” announced Zarguda, his hair beginning to gray, flanked by several offspring who looked to be in their forties or fifties.
「不死之王这次会来吗？」
“Will the Undead King come this time?”
这是所有人想知道的。
That was what everyone wanted to know.
圣殿内的新勇士们，已经只能从圣像与典籍上才能见到那个人的相貌。
The new warriors within the sanctuary could only see that person’s likeness on sacred icons and in ancient texts.
要不是身边的骏马上就坐著活生生的圣赐者，他们都快要怀疑是不是真的存在这个人了。
Were it not for the living Holy Bestowed one mounted on the steed beside them, they might have doubted whether such a person truly existed.
在好些年前，有人传过不死之王是壹群人的代号。
Many years ago, some spread rumors that the Undead King was the codename for a group of people.
也有人说，那是壹个拥有神秘血脉的古老家族，他们内部通婚，因此长相相近，每壹代来的看似壹样，实则不同。
Others claimed it was an ancient family with a mysterious bloodline, practicing internal marriage, so each generation looked alike yet was fundamentally different.
还有传言道，不死之王已经放弃了圣殿，但马上这些声音的制造者就会被剥皮抽筋，挂在木架上烤。
There were also rumors that the Undying King had forsaken the temple, but soon the fabricators of these voices would be flayed, their tendons pulled, and hung over a wooden rack to roast.
但越是这样，这种传言就越来越多，每当干旱或洪涝的时候，尤其巨盛。这些圣殿的战士们期待著这壹年的到来，他们想知道，王到底是在这里，还是已经离开。
Yet the more this happened, the more such rumors proliferated, especially during droughts or floods, when the whispers swelled to a peak. Templars yearned for the arrival of this year, longing to know if the King still dwelled within or had already departed.
轰隆！
Rumble!
壹间新房屋破碎，却不是向外爆破，而是向内坍缩，形成个暗红黑影。
A new house shattered, not bursting outward but collapsing inward, coalescing into a dark crimson shadow.
马儿受惊高高扬起前腿。
The horse reared, lifting its forelegs high in fright.
轰轰！狂风呼啸，越来越多的恶魇诞生。
Boom! Boom! The gale howled, and more eldritch nightmares were born.
「冲啊！」
“Charge!”
无数人举起手中圣器，大吼著，舍生忘死地冲向这些魔物身前。
Countless people raised their holy relics, bellowing wildly, charging fearlessly toward these demonic fiends—even at the cost of their lives.
大战在疏散的城镇里持续整日整夜。
The battle raged through the sparse town for entire days and nights.
扎古达梦想著能在此战中再度收获不死之王的赏赐，因此格外卖力。拥有两度生命的他哪怕已经迟暮，但筋骨强健，壹人独战数十人不在话下。
Zaguda dreamed of reaping the Undying King’s reward once again in this conflict, and so he fought with extraordinary zeal. Having lived two lives, even old and graying, his sinews and bones remained sturdy—he could single-handedly battle dozens without flinching.
几个月来，他已经如传说中的不死之王般驰骋无数区域，他想尽力效仿王横穿大陆，拯救每壹个地方，立下更多功劳，第三次年轻。
Over the past months, he had galloped across countless regions like the legendary Undying King, striving to emulate his sovereign in traversing the continent, saving every place, amassing more glory, chasing the dream of a third youth.
可随著大军的前进，越来越多的消息出现在他耳畔——有另壹支队伍在做著跟圣殿壹样的事！
Yet as the army advanced, more and more news reached his ears—there was another force doing exactly what the Temple was doing!
而且那些人武技高强，无人可挡。
Moreover, those people were highly skilled in martial arts and unstoppable.
越听他越是心惊。
The more he heard, the more alarmed he became.
终于在冬季到来前，圣殿军队来到大陆东边另壹座大城。
Finally, before winter arrived, the Temple’s army reached another great city on the eastern side of the continent.
城外有著如海般被放置出来的物品。
Outside the city lay countless items spread out like a sea.
各种罐子与染缸，织布用的梭机，木架，桌椅板凳以及成千上万的箭苗，黑压压的恶魔窜梭在气浪中。
There were jars and dyeing vats, looms for weaving, wooden frames, tables, chairs, benches, and thousands upon thousands of arrow shafts—ghastly demons shuttling blackly through the turbulent air.
征战的双方都在用生命推进著他们的阵线。
Both sides in the battle pushed their lines forward with their very lives.
天空上如同衣物，却能自如行动，发出咿呀幻声的恶魔成千上万，灰雾每壹次喷涌都有人惨叫著变成扭曲的血肉藤蔓般散开。
In the sky, tens of thousands of demons, dangling like garments yet moving freely and uttering eerie wails, erupted with each burst of gray mist; people screamed as they twisted apart like gnarled vines of flesh and blood.
万军丛中，白马上的老人壹刀劈开冲来的诞生自木头的恶魔，忽然他若有所感，转头看向远方。
Amidst the vast army, the old man on his white horse cleaved through a charging demon born from wood, then suddenly he sensed something, turning his gaze into the distance.
战场的另壹端，有群人正快速分割著恶魔的领地。
On the other side of the battlefield, a group was rapidly carving through the demon’s territory.
无数圣殿团的勇士们也发现了。
Countless heroes of the Temple also noticed.
他们震撼的看著那边十几人就能斩杀成片划破长空蜂拥而至的如雨魔影。
They watched in awe as that handful of people—barely a dozen—slaughtered whole swaths of densely swarming shadows that poured like rain from the sky.
面对那金色气浪，这些仿若蝗虫般的恶魔成片掉落在地，成为被封印的圣物。
Faced with that golden surge, countless demons resembling locusts fell from the sky, turning into sealed holy relics below.
这只队伍中，竟然有这些年来忤逆圣殿之徒！
Within this group, there were actually rebels who had defied the Sanctum over the years!
比如那已经胡须略有斑白的健硕男人，五年前，他竟然斩杀了壹位册封的领主。
Take that burly man with speckled white beard, for instance—five years ago, he slew a fully accredited lord.
还有另壹个手持木杖的家伙，他曾经壹个人就屠了三十多人的巡视队，劫走了岁粮与奴仆！
And another fellow, wielding a wooden staff, single-handedly massacred a patrol of over thirty men, looting the year’s grain and slaves!
此刻对面那长发花白的健硕忤逆之徒舞动长剑，宛若万魔丛中的剑神。
Now, across the battlefield, the gray-haired, burly rebel danced his longsword, like a god of the blade among myriad demons.
金浪散去，白马上的首席追随者瞧见远方出现的那道年轻身影。
As the golden wave subsided, the chief follower on the white horse spotted the youthful silhouette appearing far ahead.
嗡的下，扎古达感觉天都塌了。
A thunderous buzz echoed as Zaguda felt the sky collapse before him.
远方的年轻人平静擡头，目光跨过千米与之相对。
In the distance, the young man calmly lifted his head, locking eyes with him across a thousand-meter span.
仿佛惊雷炸现。
It was as if a thunderclap had burst forth.
扎古达震撼的看著那人，那位至高存在。
Zaguda stared in shock at that man—that supreme being.
从远古就壹次次行走在大地上之人…他正带领著新的队伍…！
One who had tread the earth time and again since antiquity… now leading a new company!
充满朝气的勇武之人围绕在王的左右。
Vigorous, fearless warriors surrounded their king.
扎古达仿佛透过数千年时光，看到了曾经传说中的，自野蛮时代便壹次次横跨大陆的「清理队」。
Zaguda seemed to peer through millennia of mist, glimpsing the legendary “Cleansing Squads,” who had crossed continents again and again since the savage age long told.
铛！
Clang!
化为魔鬼的箭矢黑影自脑后射来，老人手中华贵利剑落于马下，他感觉自己的眼睛瞬间模糊，头颅内似有什么在爆开。
The shadow of an arrow, transformed into a demon, shot from behind his head. The old man’s precious sword fell from his horse, and he felt his eyes blur instantly, as if something was bursting inside his skull.
「首席！」
“Chief!”
周围人慌神跑来，圈圈围在他身边。
The people around panicked and rushed over, forming a circle around him.
可他们的首席再也听不见了。
But their chief could no longer hear them.
扎古达从马上坠下，喉节微动，脑后鲜血儒润著潮湿的草地。壹道白色的圆形光环浮现，飘荡在他胸前，里面有著模糊无法看清的数字。
Zaguda fell from his horse, his Adam’s apple twitching slightly, as the back of his head stained the damp grass with blood. A white, circular halo emerged and drifted before his chest, containing blurred, illegible numbers.
[22N]
[22N]
草原另壹边，青春似乎凝固的冷漠女孩望向身侧杨子藏，转而露出笑容：
On the other side of the grassland, a cold girl, as if frozen in youth, turned to look at Yang Zicang beside her, then revealed a smile:
「大哥，那边似乎出现变故了。」
“Brother, it seems there’s trouble over there.”
「做好我们自己。」
“Let’s focus on ourselves.”
杨子藏挥动金辉弥漫的狂风之拳，壹拳自黑压压的群魔中打出近十米远的通道。
Yang Zicang swung the fist of the raging wind, gleaming with golden radiance, blasting a passage nearly ten meters long through the swarming demons before him.
他身旁，同时爆起了寒冰与烈焰剑气，以及震动的大地，与飘渺的吟诵。
Beside him, the aura of bitter cold and the Blaze Blade erupted simultaneously, along with the trembling earth and the ethereal incantation.
彗星的身影再次孤寂地消失于苍穹另壹端。
The silhouette of the comet once again vanished alone into the other end of the sky.
它路过的大地上，反抗的号角已然吹响，战斗弥漫大陆…
On the lands it passed, the horn of resistance had already been sounded, and battle raged across the continent…