Chapter 332: Tang Mo Advances
After listening to Gu Zheng's words, the machine spirit did not refute, but he also did not say anything. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info
"Besides, who knows if it has the magic power to kill us? Gu Zheng said again.
"But you still lost the bet after all! If there is a temporary peace talk, things may not be as bad as guessed, how can this be good!" The machine spirit sobbed quietly: "It's all me, it's all my fault! The crypt puts you in danger, this time it's like this, it's all related to the mission I gave you." β
"What's wrong with you? Don't blame yourself so much, right? That time in the crypt, you wanted me to get a reward from the super realm, this time the task was offered by me, and you also wanted me to experience the feeling of divine thoughts in advance, there is nothing wrong with this!"
Seeing that the machine spirit was still sobbing, Gu Zheng smiled bitterly again: "This time is different from the one in the crypt, the one in the crypt, it is the first time I have experienced a life-and-death crisis with no way, I have been impulsive, helpless, and unwilling! However, this time, I feel a lot calmer in my heart, since I have made this choice, no matter what the outcome is, I will accept it!" Gu Zheng's voice paused, and then sighed: "It's you, because I was implicated in my decision, and I want to be buried in this fairy realm." β
"Tut-tut, I look like I'm parting from life and death, it's really touching and I want to cry!"
The voice of the evil machine spirit laughed loudly, as loud as the roar of the wind.
"What do you mean?" Gu Zheng said coldly.
"Don't you understand what I mean? Didn't the female machine spirit already tell you that this is the Immortal Realm, and I am the supreme being in the Immortal Realm?"
The voice of the evil spirit became extremely small again, like an earthworm burrowing in the dirt, but to the ears of Gu Zheng, it was as big as thunder.
"Machine Spirit, can it really hear the conversation between the two of us?" Gu Zheng thought it was incredible.
"It's not strange what happens in the fairy realm, this is a magical space with rules, but no rules! However, you don't have to be frightened by its words, this fairy realm is a low-level fairy domain after all, some things it can do, but some things it may not be able to do!" The machine spirit smiled coldly, and said to the evil machine spirit: "Just by being able to know the conversation between our thoughts, do you dare to pretend to be the existence of Zhigao? Don't you feel ashamed? You just made a move and let us explode and die?" If you can't do that, what are you pretending to be supreme?"
The arrogance of the evil machine spirit made the machine spirit rebellious, mocking and rejuvenating at the same time.
"I don't know if I'm alive or dead, I'll let you know later!"
Without the rebuttal of the negation of the machine spirit, the annoyed and angry evil machine spirit snorted coldly, and the sun in the sky suddenly exploded, and the red flames condensed in an instant, forming a majestic fire dragon that was a hundred zhang long.
The fire dragon blinked at Gu Zheng, and Gu Zheng suddenly felt that the entire space was tight, and it became difficult for Shen Zheng to move.
"It's really disgusting! It's not a dragon, but it turns into a dragon, but it itself has been seriously injured by activating its natal supernatural powers, so that everything that appears in the transformation is weak in color! Why do you say you are turning into such a form? Is it to show your vulgarity? Or are you scaring us?"
The machine spirit mocks the fire dragon in the air, and the fire dragon is indeed as the machine spirit said, the exterior color is bright red, but the inner color is relatively light, giving people a feeling of 'strong on the outside and dry in the middle'.
"Bastard, I like dragons, can you handle that?"
The fire dragon roared, and blood-red dragon breath fell from the sky like a waterfall, rushing towards the white points of light.
In the vast momentum, Gu Zheng used the means at his disposal, and only then could he avoid the waterfall of the dragon's breath.
"Just one of my dragon breaths can make you so busy, what do you say is so good about your door? Don't worry, anyway, there is still some time for the existence of the fairy realm, and I will let you feel the fear of death later!" The fire dragon paused, squinting his eyes and looking at the white point of light: "Didn't you say that my fairy domain is a low-level fairy realm? Then you can try to see if you can break it, but don't say that I didn't give you a chance to get bored!" Little mice, it's time for the game, you can toss as much as you want, run as far as you want, and see if I can catch you!"
"Rampant!"
Gu Zheng roared, and the white point of light instantly approached the fire dragon in the air, turning into a ball of light and crashing towards it.
"Boom!"
The hundred-foot-long fire dragon disappeared into the air in an instant, leaving only a strange smile echoing.
"Little mouse, you only have three minutes, and in three minutes I will fulfill my promise!"
The voice of the evil machine spirit sounded again, and in the distance, a dim sun appeared in the sky, as if it was about to sink to the horizon.
A strong wind blew in the space, and there was a huge amount of energy in it, forming a storm that rushed towards the setting sun and was absorbed by the setting sun.
The color of the originally dim sunset began to change towards the rising sun, but its trajectory was sinking little by little, giving people an indescribable weirdness.
"Fairy Land is a magical space with rules, but no rules. According to the rules naturally derived from the generation of the fairy realm, the evil weapon spirit mobilizes the energy it can mobilize and activate the supernatural powers it can use, and under this general framework, in some details, it can use its imagination and control almost irregularly! This is the fairy realm, even the lowest level of the fairy realm, it will still let us die here. β
The machine spirit muttered, although Gu Zheng couldn't see her appearance, he could imagine that she must be frowning now.
"Machine spirit, it's absorbing the so-called 'heaven and earth energy' in space, right?" asked Gu Zheng as he looked at the sun sinking in the west.
"Yes, this natal supernatural power that can't be easily activated has been activated by it, and its current state in the fairy realm should not be strong, so it must absorb the energy in the fairy realm and make itself normal, so that it can better control the fairy realm. "Instrument Spirit Dao.
"In this case, what it said about three minutes should be true! If that's the case, you quickly tell me the way to break through the immortal realm, and let's see if there will be a miracle. Gu Zheng's voice was solemn.
"Damn!"
The machine suddenly let out an angry sound.
"What's wrong with you?" Gu Zheng hurriedly asked.
"Rules, rules! Everywhere there are rules, can't we break the so-called rules?"
"What the hell is wrong with you?"
"If you want to break through the fairy domain, I also want to break through the fairy domain, although I know that it is almost impossible, but your fighting spirit is not extinguished, and I am also willing to cooperate with you to do the last fight! 'Force breaking' is naturally broken by force, which we don't have, and 'Qiao Po' is to find the weakest point in the space, and break the fairy realm in a more labor-saving way. Both methods may sound simple, but they are actually extremely difficult!"
The voice of the machine spirit paused, and when he spoke again, he brought out a bit of anger again: "If we want to break through the immortal realm, we can only find the weakest point in the space, your control of the divine thought is not as good as mine, if I am the leader, we will be more likely to break through the immortal realm!
"Instrument, instrument spirit, this rule was formulated by Lord Gluttonous Immortal!"
Gu Zheng stammered when he spoke, he didn't expect that the machine spirit would question the sacrosanct and inviolable Immortal Lord in her heart in a hurry.
"IβI didn't say what happened to Lord Glutton, I just think this rule is too dead!"
was reminded by Gu Zhengyi, and found the machine spirit that spoke inappropriately, and hurriedly explained.
"No matter whether the rules are dead or not, and no matter how likely it is to find the weakness of the space, let's give it a try, maybe we can really be lucky enough to find it?"
As Gu Zheng spoke, white points of light flew up.
The white point of light is a divine body, which can fly thousands of miles in an instant, and can also probe thousands of miles in an instant.
The so-called spatial weakness is like a flaw on a vessel, although this flaw will be very small, but as long as it is found by a strong enough divine thought, it can also destroy the entire immortal realm with a point. It's just that this matter is easy to say, but in fact, it is really difficult to do, and usually the people who cast the fairy realm will not give the trapped people a chance to break their faces.
Time is lost little by little in the exploration, the fairy realm is almost endless, and the white points of light keep flying and probing, but they still can't find the weak point.
"Machine spirit, do you say that the weakness of the space is fixed, or does it constantly change its position?"
"The weakness of the low-level space, the position will not change, but the weakness of the middle and high-level immortal realm will change, one is a natural change, and the other is that the immortal realm caster can change as soon as he moves. β
As soon as the Hearing Instrument Spirit said this, Gu Zheng's heart moved, and he looked at the west again. At this time, half of the sun transformed by the evil machine spirit had already sunk below the horizon.
"Perhaps, the spatial weakness is where the evil machine spirit is!"
"You mean, the real is the virtual, and the virtual is the real?"
"Yes, that's what it means!"
The mood that had been somewhat depressed rose to the top, and after a few moments, the white light finally approached the sun that was about to set.
"Sure enough, it's here!"
Gu Zheng was overjoyed, and after approaching a certain distance, a weak feeling was discovered during the divine exploration.
"Attack with the strongest divine intent, hit the weak point! Once the weak point is broken, the immortal realm will be broken, and the life and death situation will be solved!"
The voice of the machine spirit was also very excited, and Gu Zheng controlled the divine thought body and slammed into the weak point.
"Bang!"
A loud bang came out, and the white light point seemed to hit a big drum, and it was bounced away in an instant.
At the same time, the sky was completely dark, and a bright moon also rose Ali.
"I'm sorry, the time has come, and although you have found the weakness of the space, it will not help. β
The bright moon in the sky flickered, and it turned into a silver dragon a hundred feet long. It's just that, unlike the previous fire dragon, the silver dragon doesn't have the feeling of 'strong on the outside and dry in the middle', and its whole body is shining silver, looking mighty and domineering.
"It's really shameless!When we hit the weak point of space, the time was obviously not yet enough, and it was you who stopped it, so we couldn't break the weak point!"
"You're naΓ―ve, you've seen cats and mice, when did you really let the mouse go, and you said it made you experience despair, but now you've experienced it?" the evil machine spirit laughed maniacally.
"You disgusting fellow!" the machine spirit scolded fiercely.
Although what happened now is not an accident, it is really frustrating to be prevented when you struggle to find the weak point of the space.
"Disgusting? Disgusting! In order to deal with you two little mice, I will fall into an endless slumber, you are the most disgusting guys! Okay, the game is over, you have experienced despair, now is the time to experience fear! Rest assured, I will not let you die easily, every wisp of divine thought you will lose will become my food, and I will eat you slowly and fiercely!"
The evil spirit roared, and the silver dragon in the air exploded, and the strong wind generated by the huge shock directly blew the white ball of light like a fallen leaf in the wind.
After the silver dragon exploded, the silver-white points of light that turned into them instantly converged into the previous moon, and then began to sink rapidly towards the west. And in this process, in the divine thought body condensed by Gu Zheng and the machine spirit, uncontrollably began to drift away, as if an invisible straw had been inserted.
The speed at which the divine thoughts were extracted was not fast, but it made Gu Zheng and the machine spirit helpless, and what made them even more depressed was that the location of the original spatial weakness had actually changed!
"Machine Spirit, what's going on?Didn't you say that the spatial weakness of the low-level immortal realm is unchanging?"
"That's what I said, but this evil artifact can't be reasoned with normal, and I can't tell why such a thing happened!"
The conversation between Gu Zheng and the machine spirit was naturally heard by the evil machine spirit, and its maniacing voice sounded again: "Do you want to find the spatial weakness? You don't remind me like this, I have forgotten that this is actually more fun! You see, the spatial weakness is right in front of you!"
The voice of the evil machine spirit landed, and the weakness of the space that had disappeared reappeared.
"Bang!"
Gu Zheng didn't hesitate to bump into the spatial weakness, but this time it didn't seem like he hit a drum, but it seemed like he hit a stone.
"Bang!"
The undead Gu Zheng bumped into it again, and this time the sound that happened really smashed something!
However, what was shattered by the ancient controversy was not a spatial weakening point, but just an invisible barrier. And, as he still had his momentum, he crashed into the next barrier.
"Gu Zheng don't struggle, I broke this one, and there will be the next one, let's talk about it!"
The machine spirit spoke, and his voice was relieved by despair.
"Bang!"
Gu Zheng hit hard again, this is also his last bump, in this collision, there are a lot of emotions, some unwilling, some relieved.
"What do you want to say?" asked Gu Zheng.
"What do I want to say?" muttered the machine spirit, as if asking Gu Zheng and as if asking himself.
"I don't know what to say, maybe because in the fairy realm, our communication will be known by the evil machine spirit, and what I want to say becomes unspeakable. The voice of the machine spirit stopped, and it was silent for a long time before saying the next sentence: "I have known you for a long time, we have managed a lot together, and it feels very interesting." β
"Me too. β
Gu Zheng's voice was like a murmur, and his attention was on the sky, where the sun rose and the moon set, and the moon set and the sun rose quickly, and the light was always alternating between light and dark. And with the change of the sun rising and the moon setting, the divine thoughts of Gu Zheng and the machine spirit were much weaker than when they hit the space just now, and the original white light ball was full of brightness, but now the brightness has dimmed, and the core with different colors inside can be faintly seen.
The spiritual power of the instrument spirit is condensed with the spiritual power of Gu Zheng, and what Gu Zheng pays attention to, she can't help but pay attention to. I felt that Gu Zheng's attention was in the air, but there was nothing beautiful in the air except for the sunset and moonrise. However, the feeling that Gu Zheng gave to the machine spirit was that he was very attentive, so that he seemed a little obsessed.
The machine spirit's heart moved, and Gu Zheng's abnormality made her think of something, but she didn't dare to communicate with Gu Zheng, so she could only keep quiet. At the same time, the machine spirit felt that her heartbeat was beating very fast, to the point that she wanted to gasp for air, how similar Gu Zheng's current state was to the so-called perception!
He didn't know why he was focused, and he didn't know what attracted him, and he didn't know anything about the obsession he was in, his mind was chaotic, but he clearly watched the alternation of light and darkness, the changes of yin and yang, and his heart was neither angry nor angry, happy or sad.
The sun and moon in the sky alternate rapidly, and in the feeling of ancient contention, the speed of the rotation of the sun and the moon is even faster! They are so fast that people can't see clearly, so fast that people can only see the afterimage, and the fast afterimage has become a chaos!
"Hum. β
Gu Zheng felt that something in his brain moved, and the chaos in front of him seemed to be different again! He felt that the sun was the white self in the Mystic Realm, and the moon was the black self in the Mystic Realm! The chaos in front of him also coincided with the chaos in the Mystic Realm last time, and he seemed to see the two black and white who were stuck in the chaos again.
At the same time, there was a shock in the fairy realm, and the red ground turned into dust, gradually rising upward, and the clear sky color became dim and slowly sank.
The machine spirit's heart was full of excitement, she knew what this vision represented, it meant that the space was about to collapse!
"What the hell is going on?"
The evil artifact screamed, in the fairy realm it cast, its control over the fairy realm was gradually fading, it didn't understand why, but it felt that it had something to do with the white ball of light that had been quiet all along!
"Die!"
The evil artifact spirit roared, and the dust that was originally all over the sky shot towards the white ball of light from all directions, and the momentum it brought was as great as ten thousand arrows in unison! However, the dust that should have scattered the white ball of light in an instant, once it approached the vicinity of the white ball of light, it immediately fell lightly, and was no longer controlled by the evil artifact spirit.
Unprecedented fear appeared in the heart of the evil machine spirit, and it roared again: "Sure enough, it's you!"
The evil machine spirit is really afraid, if the immortal realm of the natal supernatural power is broken, what awaits it can only be a death.
"Click......"
Thunder and lightning fell from the sky.
"Whirring ......"
Ground injuries gave birth to hurricanes.
"Whew......"
The scattered dust condensed into a dragon, and all of these visions rushed out towards the white ball of light.
Gu Zheng is still immersed in the mysterious realm, but this mystery is not the other mysterious, he can see everything that happens around him, but he is still immersed in his own world and can't extricate himself, he feels that he is a man with hands and feet, he waved his sleeves in the face of the chaotic attacks.
In the fairy realm, all the attacks towards the white ball of light were all shattered by a mysterious energy!
"No!"
The evil artifact spirit screamed, Gu Zheng actually used the power belonging to its immortal domain in its immortal domain to destroy the attack it launched. Moreover, according to Gu Zheng's current use of the energy in its immortal domain, let alone breaking its immortal domain, even if it is destroyed in an instant, it is just a matter of gesture!
"The way of heaven and earth creates all things with yin and yang. β
"Heaven and earth, the sun and the moon, thunder and lightning, wind and rain, the four o'clock, the day before and after the child, male and female, rigid and soft, dynamic and static, conspicuous, everything and everything, there is no distinction between yin and yang. The principle of life is to nourish hundreds of bones with the two qi of yin and yang, meridians, flesh and bones, abdomen, five organs, six internal organs, and even seven losses and eight benefits, within one body, it is not in line with the principle of yin and yang. β
"The way of yin and yang, the way of heaven and earth, the way of creation!"
Gu Zheng's voice talking to himself sounded in the fairy realm like Hong Zhong Dalu, and he was still immersed in the mysterious realm with a wave of his hand, and the chaos in front of him disappeared, even with the black and white two selves stuck in it.
"Click......"
With another wave of Gu Zheng's hand in the Mysterious Realm, a lightning bolt that snaked into the dragon swept across the sky of the Immortal Realm, and the entire sky was shattered.
"Boom!"
There was another loud bang, and the light alternated between light and dark, and the fairy realm collapsed, and the white ball of light appeared in the nine-story blood tower again.
"Ah......h
The sound of screams resounded through the nine-story blood tower, and the evil weapon spirit whose natal divine power had been broken had lost the capital that had fallen into an endless sleep! The appearance of the blood-red ball of light began to crack, like a nut that had been smashed by someone, and after shattering the hard shell of the outside, only the attractive fruit inside remained.
"Hmm!"
Almost accompanied by the screams of the evil machine spirits, Gu Zheng and the machine spirits let out a muffled snort together, they were 'sucked' in the fairy realm before, and they were not comfortable with the damage of their divine thoughts. Fortunately, Gu Zheng had an understanding at the critical moment, and the 'sucking' did not touch the core of the divine thought body, otherwise even if the crisis was solved, the damage suffered by himself would be very serious.
"Gu Zheng, you're amazing!"
The machine spirit was so happy that it felt like it was about to jump.
"Master, what exactly did you just go through?"
Jiaojiao's anxious voice also sounded, and when they were trapped in the fairy realm, the connection between them was completely broken.
"Don't make a noise, let me take care of it. β
Gu Zheng calmed down and carefully recalled everything he had experienced in the Mysterious Realm.
For Gu Zheng, when he was immersed in the mystical realm, he was in a very ethereal state of not being sad or happy, and everything seemed to happen because of feelings, and it was so natural.
However, now that the fairy realm has been broken and the crisis has been resolved, Gu Zheng is very at a loss as to how he broke the fairy realm! He also feels a little obscure about the words he said in the fairy realm! Everything seems to be separated by a layer of window paper, and there is a feeling that it will not be broken.
After a few moments, Gu Zheng finished his meditation, and he told the machine spirit about the depressed feeling in his heart.
"Be content, you can break the immortal realm this time, you have benefited a lot! Although for the time being, you don't seem to have obtained anything substantial, and you still don't know anything about the comprehension in the mystical realm, but this is really a great opportunity! An immortal cultivator who is not at the level of refining and refining qi actually broke a low-level immortal realm in an epiphany, even if such a thing is placed in the desolation, it is enough to make people jaw-dropping!"
"What is the Immortal Realm? The Immortal Realm is the divine thought space of the powerful people, and it is the crystallization of their perception of the laws of space! You can break the Immortal Realm, which means that this branch of space has appeared in the way of yin and yang that you first comprehended, and what an enviable thing it is! You must know that among all the laws, the most powerful is the law of space and time!"
"You said that you have comprehended those things, it feels like it is separated by a layer of window paper, and there is a feeling that it will not be broken, do you know how many immortal cultivators above the Golden Immortal Realm have never seen this layer of window paper in their lives?"
"Let's use a simple analogy! If you can break the fairy realm this time, it is like a divine stroke that bursts out of inspiration, since this divine stroke has already appeared, then the possibility of it appearing again will be very large! You can't grasp it once, what about the next time? In other words, don't say it's the next time, even if it makes you feel next time, this is the blessing of burning eight lifetimes of high incense!"
"In addition, the time you killed the Blood Light Ancestor, your perception changed, and the black and white selves were stuck in the chaos, and in this perception, the black and white selves reappeared, which is even more affirmative of one thing, as long as you have a feeling, it is very likely that you will see the black and white selves! This is also a great opportunity, so that you can go all the way to the black, and it is not impossible to reach the top, at least I think so!"
The more she spoke, the more excited she became, and in the end, she gave Gu Zheng the feeling that she was almost jumping up and cheering.
"Well, since you've wasted so many tongues, I'm barely depressed!" Gu Zheng laughed.
"You're going to have to you!" said that, the machine spirit also smiled happily.
"Congratulations to the master, I was able to get a space-related opportunity! Now that the evil machine spirit is dead, I will tell the master tomorrow about some follow-up to the nine-story blood tower. After all, the unity of the twin towers is only a faΓ§ade, and there are some things I need to know before I can give the owner a definite answer. Jiaojiao said loudly.
"Okay, you put the core of the evil machine spirit in the Chaos Tower, and then go about your business!"
Now that the evil machine spirit is dead, and the injured Gu Zheng and the machine spirit also need to be recovered, Jiaojiao has been busy with its business after placing the core of the evil machine spirit in the Chaos Tower.
Gu Zheng and the Instrument Spirit Divine Mind were damaged, but they did not hurt the core, except for being extremely tired, it was not a particularly serious injury, after all, the damage to the Divine Mind was not a physical damage, and it recovered very quickly.
The deity of Gu Zheng was in the Chaos Tower, and after the divine thought returned to the deity, he immediately stood up and approached the red ball of light suspended in the air.
The evil spirit was dead, and the ball of light suspended in the air was completely an energy body, it was pure and evil, causing Tang Mo to tremble strongly.
Gu Zheng stretched out his hand, and the core of the evil weapon spirit was grabbed by him.
"Twice, both times because of you, my life was in danger, and now I have finally solved your trouble, this is really happy!"
The ancient controversy that was sighed in his heart, with the core of the evil spirit, wiped the trembling Tang Mo.
The blood-red ball of light became smaller and smaller, the black light on Tang Mo became more and more abundant, and the evil aura became more and more intense, when the red ball of light was completely devoured, the black light that burst out on Tang Mo completely covered the original brightness of the Chaos Tower.
Tang Mo, whose repair degree had been completed by ninety-five percent, had finally completed the primary repair and restored to an intermediate-level immortal weapon! Moreover, the repair degree of the intermediate-level immortal weapon had also been completed by twenty percent due to the huge core energy of the evil artifact spirit!
"Cool!"
After Tang Mo was promoted, Gu Zheng couldn't help but scream! The medium-grade immortal weapon he has now has one more in addition to the Thunder Tooth Sword.
"Machine spirit, good things have to come in pairs, you say, right?"
Having just come out of the joy of Tang Mo's promotion, Gu Zheng immediately remembered his task reward.
"Don't worry, your reward is indispensable!" the machine spirit smiled slightly, and then said with a straight face: "Congratulations to the heir of the Immortal for completing the test of taking the initiative to take the task for the first time!"
"Reward: The second beast spirit food cultivation method. β
"Reward: Twenty Immortal Yuan Pills. β
"Reward: Dan Yuan Food Cultivation Method. β
"Reward Cooking: Luohan Zhai. β
Along with the award of the machine spirit, the physical reward appeared in the desolate space, and as for the method of food cultivation and cooking, it appeared directly in Gu Zheng's mind.
Gu Zheng, who received the reward, was naturally full of joy, and the equally happy machine spirit spoke with great emotion: "Since it is the first time to take the initiative to take the task, the reward is relatively rich. However, for the actual difficulty of this mission, these rewards are not very rich, after all, the variables that happened later made the difficulty of this mission the same as that of the first super realm battle! β
"It's already very good, after all, these rewards are more appropriate according to my situation. Gu Zheng's voice was full of gratitude.
"Hee-hee. The machine spirit smiled, and then said: "Regarding the active task, there is a little rule restriction I want to tell you, the active task, at most once in a month, Lord Gluttonous Immortal so stipulated, I have no way to change it." β
"It's okay, once a month is fine, let's combine work and rest!" Gu Zheng shrugged.
"Okay, let's all have a good rest, after you have enough spirits, there are still a lot of things in the Emei faction that you need to deal with!"
"yes! There's really a lot going on. β
Gu Zheng sighed with emotion, and directly closed his eyes in the Chaos Tower and breathed.
Three hours later, Hornhorn came out of the nine-story blood tower.
Although Jiaojiao didn't want to disturb Gu Zheng, Gu Zheng, who felt that he was back, still ended his pranayama ahead of schedule.
"How's it going?" asked Gu Zheng.
"Master, before I killed the evil spirit, I said that it would be more troublesome to repair the tower body, but now that I understand it thoroughly, I have to tell the master that if you want to repair the nine-story tower body, the difficulty is not ordinary!" Jiaojiao said helplessly.