Half-breed Xi. Jurchen Underground City. Scales of

In the morning the guys got together and moved in the direction of the catacombs. However, they had to look for detours for a long time, all roads were blocked. It was deadly dangerous to live in this city. The barrage of soldiers, this living cordon, was useless. However, no one let the soldiers go home. The survivors no longer fit on the streets of Millionka, there were more and more of them. The guys quickly descended into the dungeon, passed by the lake and reached the red gate. The gates were closed, however, when the guys tried to open the doors, they swung open with a creak. Near the gate, travelers saw a sign. She lay on the ground. Apparently the plate was attached to the transverse arc above the gate. Now only two chains hung on the arc. Toli held up the tablet and read: “Traveler, you are entering the gates of the glorious city of Zhen.”

And finally, friends entered the city.

This was not the way they had entered the city two years earlier. Now they entered the city through the central gate. It soon became clear how the city was located. The city had temples, houses of citizens, parks, squares. It was the emperor's palace. There were palaces close to the emperor. As soon as the friends entered the city, fountains began to work, shutters opened overhead and daylight flooded the city. Trees that stood without foliage began to overgrow with leaves in a matter of hours. Runaways were everywhere. Anastasia and her friends, not without difficulty, found those houses where they went two years ago. But, like last time, no one except Xi and Tolya could open their books. After resting, friends went to explore the city.There was no wind, no draft, but the scales swayed stronger and stronger. And suddenly Nastya remembered one illustration from the book. In this illustration, the scales were swinging, they were not at rest. One cup of the scales was higher, the other lower. Nastya returned to the scales, and raised her palms over the cups. The scales were no longer cold, they were warm. However, the guys were not ready to take the plunge. They left the palace and went out into one of the imperial parks. The park was great. There were pavilions of various shapes and sizes. Having seen enough of the magnificent statues, colorful fountains, Butramousse trees that instantly blossomed, gave new shoots, and then fruits, the guys decided to sit and talk. They entered one of the pavilions. In this gazebo, as in all others, there was a book on the table. Friends sat around the table, and the book suddenly opened. As you remember, before this case, only Toli and Si could read the book.

Now any of the guys could leaf through the pages of the book. The time has come. The children looked and could not believe their eyes. They understood what was written in the book. After Victor appeared in the underground city, something happened. Probably, the arrows of eternity converged. And time began to flow faster. However, the text in the book was the same as in those books that were revealed to Xi in the secret city in the Baoan depression. The guys read what was written and silence hung in the arbor. Everyone was silent, shocked by what they had read. A book from the park of the secret city of Zhen revealed the secret of the scales of time. She spoke about the fact that each of those who put their hands on the scales will be able to return to the past and make the past the way they want. Zhen City was not a city for ordinary life. The Jurchen Emperor built this city in case of trouble. The city was full of water, but there was no food at all. It was dangerous to store food here. The book promised that the scales of time would transfer a person to the moment when everything went wrong, to the moment when an event occurred that caused misfortune in a person’s family. Now each of the guys could return to the moment that he considered the starting point for himself and his family. For Tolya, Eneko and Kenryu, this was the moment when the order came to return to Japan. As for Anastasia, for her it was the moment when her mother was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Mom tried to save the wounded bandit, and she herself was in danger. Elena was not at home when a wounded friend of her father knocked on the apartment, but, nevertheless, this moment turned the whole future life of the girl upside down. For Grisha, this was the moment when his parents did not return home. They were killed by robbers. Victor would return to the moment when he was a boy. Then he and his friends entered Uncle Mo's fanza without permission. Now everything could be changed. But there was no guarantee that, having returned to a happy past, the guys would then be able to remember everything that happened to them before descending into the secret city. The book revealed another secret to friends. She talked about how long ago, in the immemorial past, the children were already here. However, ancestral memory is a strange thing. As soon as the guys read the last lines, memories flooded in like a river, and it really began to seem to them that they had already been in this city once. Then four of them were related. And Victor, a friend of Anastasia, was ... a slave. Another book said that most likely, if friends use the scales of time, they will never meet again. And if they meet, they will not recognize each other.

Friends walked around the city. Everything surprised and delighted them. They didn't have a city plan, but they had nowhere to hurry. They went from house to house. The houses were different, but they were all triangular in shape. Each house had a garden in front of it. There were trees, pavilions, bridges in the garden, fountains were beating, which were working right now. The children were afraid to go far from their homes, but their fear was in vain. When the guys decided to return, they saw that in those places where their foot had stepped, golden threads appeared. It was impossible to get lost in this wonderful city. The teenagers spent the whole day in the outlandish city. Xiai-lin offered to stay in the city for the night, and everyone agreed. The houses had everything for life. Each house had many rooms. There were rooms for drinking water. There were bedrooms. There was a central room, a hall in which the only piece of furniture was a table. The table belonged to the book. The book was the same color as the table, and seemed to be an extension of this very table. There was nothing else in the hall. There were no pillows or blankets in the bedroom. There was a huge pool in which a person could cool off. The foam rinsed the person, the artificial wind listened to the body from moisture. The person didn't have to get up from the pool. Within minutes, the pool filled with a strange mixture that was softer than a feather bed. After washing, steamed and clean, the person fell asleep right on this feather bed. However, there was no food in any of the houses. The city did not want to feed its guests. But after drinking water, in a room designed specifically for this, the children stopped feeling hungry. In the morning the children went to the imperial palace. The palace consisted of a huge number of rooms. The towers of the palace were connected by streets and courtyards. There was a moat around the palace, which was filling up with water very quickly. It was possible to enter the imperial palace through the gate. These gates stood on four sides. Probably, earlier this palace was not so easy to get into. Now, however, the gates stood wide open. The palace was huge. Probably many hundreds of people lived here. There were no portraits, no decorations in the palace. The palace was empty and clean, as if swept under a whisk. After wandering around the palace, the children went out through the gate to the square. Here they saw what Anastasia was talking about. They saw the scales of time. The scales were covered with a crust of ice. Anastasia timidly approached the scales and, looking back at her friends, wanted to put her palms on the scales. The scales pulled their hands together and immediately engulfed their palms in icy fire. His hands were instantly numb from the cold. Nastya had tears in her eyes from the pain. She jerked her hands and ran away from the scales. The guys chattered. No one else dared to approach the scales. They were about to leave when they heard a voice:

- Hey, are you there? I hear voices! Nastya, are you there?

It was Victor, he came after the guys, went through another gate, wandered around the city and only now found the guys.

"Vitya, come here, we're here!" Si screamed.

- Pavel said that you let him down here yesterday, and still haven't returned! Where are you there? Nastya, are you with them?

Anastasia was very glad to see Victor. She introduced Victor to the guys. Victor said he had a hard time getting to the catacombs. The streets became even more restless. Friends briefly told Victor about what they were doing in the underground palace. Nastya showed Victor her cold hands. Having decided that there was nothing more to do here today, the friends turned around and wanted to leave. Suddenly a creak was heard. The scales of time were swinging. Not b
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