The canyon deepened.
峡谷在脚下延伸.
The air was colder now,
空气变得更冷,
and the light dimmer with every step.
光线随每一步而暗淡.
Lin Jin walked ahead,
林烬走在前方,
twin blades low,
双刀低垂,
sand crunching under his boots.
脚下的沙发出细碎的声响.
Lai followed behind,
莱伊在他身后,
shield lifted,
举着盾,
eyes scanning the shadows.
目光扫视阴影.
---
They didn't speak.
他们没有说话.
Talking wasted breath.
说话会浪费呼吸.
The passage opened wider.
通道逐渐变宽.
Walls carved by wind and time.
岩壁被风与时间雕刻.
Marks of old claws scarred the stone.
石上留着旧爪痕.
Something had lived here long before.
这里,曾经有东西栖息.
---
Lai paused.
莱伊停下脚步.
> "Listen."
"听."
The air trembled.
空气在颤.
A soft hum,
低沉的嗡鸣,
steady, rhythmic — like breath under rock.
稳定,有节奏——像岩石下的呼吸.
Lin Jin raised his hand.
林烬抬起手.
They froze.
他们同时停下.
---
From above,
在上方,
dust rained down.
尘土落下.
A shape slid along the ceiling —
一个形体在天花板上滑行——
long, thin, pale.
细长,苍白.
Then it dropped.
然后坠下.
---
Lin Jin moved first.
林烬第一个动.
He spun,
他旋转,
blades flashing through the half-dark.
双刀在半暗中闪光.
The creature shrieked,
那生物发出尖啸,
its body shattering halfway through the motion.
在他动作的一半时就碎裂.
Dust and light burst outward.
尘与光向外喷散.
It didn't bleed — it dissolved.
没有流血——而是崩散.
---
> "Scouts," Lai muttered.
"侦察体."莱伊低声道.
He kicked one fragment aside.
他踢开一块残片.
It hissed once and vanished into sand.
那碎片嘶鸣一声,化入沙中.
> "Means we're close."
"说明我们快到了."
---
They pressed forward.
他们继续前进.
The corridor sloped downward,
通道向下倾斜,
curving in slow spirals.
蜿蜒成缓慢的螺旋.
Every few minutes,
每隔几分钟,
a cluster of creatures appeared —
便会有一群生物出现——
thin, insect-like,
细长,像虫,
fast but fragile.
快,却脆.
---
Lai blocked.
莱伊格挡.
Lin Jin cut.
林烬出刀.
No words.
无言.
Each motion precise.
每一个动作都精准.
When one creature lunged from the wall,
当一只生物从岩壁扑出时,
Lin Jin met it midair,
林烬迎击于半空,
blades crossing in a silent flash.
双刀交错出无声的闪光.
The impact made the ground ring.
那一击震得地面嗡鸣.
---
> "Watch the side," Lai warned.
"注意侧面."莱伊提醒.
He turned with his shield just as another leapt from the dark.
他转身举盾,挡下另一只从黑暗扑出的生物.
It struck the metal with a crack,
那生物撞在金属上发出爆裂声,
light bursting from its body before it broke apart.
身体炸出光屑,然后崩解.
The glow faded slowly,
光渐渐消散,
leaving silence.
只剩静默.
---
Hours passed.
时间一点点过去.
They'd cleared three levels —
他们已清理了三层——
no maps, no direction,
没有地图,没有方向,
just instinct and marks cut into stone.
只有本能与刻在石上的痕迹.
When they finally reached a wide hollow,
当他们终于来到一个宽阔洞厅时,
the air shimmered faintly gold.
空气中浮着淡金色的光.
---
Broken machinery lay half-buried in the sand —
破碎的金属结构埋在沙中——
massive, ancient,
巨大,古老,
half swallowed by time.
半被时间吞噬.
Lai knelt beside a fragment,
莱伊跪在一片残骸前,
brushing dust away.
拂去尘土.
Underneath, a faint symbol —
在下面,露出一个微弱的符号——
a spiral of light.
一道螺旋光纹.
---
> "This is it," he said.
"就是这里."他说.
Lin Jin nodded.
林烬点头.
They could feel the hum beneath their feet now —
他们脚下的嗡鸣变得明显——
not loud,
不响,
but constant.
却持续.
The heart of the domain.
这是领域的心脉.
---
A creature moved at the edge of the light.
光影的边缘,有东西在动.
Not big.
不大.
Fast.
却极快.
Before either could react,
两人还未反应过来,
it struck Lai from behind,
那生物从后方袭向莱伊,
claws scraping across his armor with a shriek.
利爪划过他的铠甲,发出刺耳的尖啸.
He staggered,
他踉跄,
shield slamming into the ground.
盾重重砸地.
Lin Jin pivoted,
林烬转身,
cutting upward.
刀光上挑.
The creature split —
那生物被劈成两半——
light raining down.
光屑洒落.
---
> "You alright?"
"你没事?"
> "Fine."
"没事."
He brushed the dust from his shoulder,
他拍掉肩上的尘,
and smiled faintly.
淡淡一笑.
> "Guess we're not the only hunters here."
"看来,我们不是唯一的猎人."
---
They didn't stay.
他们没有停.
The deeper they went,
越往深处走,
the stronger the pulse became.
脉动越强.
The walls began to glow from within,
岩壁从内部泛光,
faint veins of gold weaving through black stone.
金色细纹在黑石间蔓延.
Something below was alive.
下方,有什么东西还活着.
And waiting.
在等待.