Chapter 8

Chapter 8 MAYBE BENDING THE RULES IS LESS MESSY THAN BREAKING THEM. Jodi was outnumbered. Her only hope was to make it back to the portal she'd come through. She looked down at her feet. Uh-oh. "Um…," she said. "Any of you notice some seeds lying around here anywhere?" The figures bleated and grumbled in reply. They shuffled closer, raising their axes. "I guess it's a fight, then." Jodi drew her bow. "But would you mind standing very still? You know, to even the odds a little?"

也许违反规则比歪曲规则更麻烦。 乔迪寡不敌众。她唯一的希望就是回到她穿过的传送门。 她低头看着自己的脚。 哦。“嗯……”她说。“你们有没有注意到这里到处都有种子？”人影咩咩地嘟囔着作为回答。 他们拖着脚步走近，举起斧头。 “那么，我想这是一场战斗。” 乔迪拉弓。“但是你介意站着不动吗？” 你知道，为了平衡一下差距？”

An arrow whizzed by her head. It came from behind her. She was sure that meant she was surrounded. But the arrow struck one of her enemies, and Po's voice rang out: "SHE'S OVER HERE!" Jodi's heart soared as her friends came leaping out from behind the trees. Now it was a fair fight! Swords clashed against axes, axes clashed against shields, and arrows flew from both sides of the battle. Jodi kept moving and focused on her aim. "These illagers are no match for us," Ash said as her foe fell back, defeated.

一支箭从她头上呼啸而过。 声音从她身后传来。她确信这意味着她被包围了。 但箭射中了她的一个敌人，阿宝的声音响起：“她在这里！”当朋友们从树后跳出来时，乔迪的心怦怦直跳。 现在这是一场公平的战斗！剑与斧头碰撞，斧头与盾牌碰撞，箭从战斗双方飞来。 乔迪继续移动，专注于她的目标。 “这些村民不是我们的对手，”阿什说，她的敌人被击败了。

Illagers. That was a new one to Jodi. But Ash was right. Working together, the team made short work of their enemies. As the last illager vanished in a puff of smoke, Jodi beamed at her brother. "I'm sure glad to see you!" Morgan did not return her smile. "What were you thinking?" he said. "You could have gotten hurt. You could have gotten lost!" Jodi waved his words away. "I'm fine. I left that trail of seeds for you." She'd been overjoyed to see her friends in her moment of need. But now that they were here—and now that Morgan was lecturing her—she started to feel something else. "Besides, you're the ones who canceled," Jodi said. "I'm the one who stuck to the plan."

Illagers。这对乔迪来说是第一次。 但阿什是对的。这支队伍通力合作，很快就消灭了敌人。 当最后一个村民在一股烟雾中消失时，乔迪微笑着看着她的哥哥。 “见到你我真高兴！”摩根没有对她报以微笑。 “你在想什么？”他说。 “你可能会受伤的。 你可能会迷路的！”乔迪挥了挥他的话。 “我很好。我为你留下了那串种子。” 在她需要的时候看到她的朋友，她非常高兴。 但现在他们来了——现在摩根在给她讲课——她开始有了别的感觉。 “再说，是你们取消的，”乔迪说。 “是我坚持了计划。”

"We couldn't help it," Morgan said. "THINGS JUST…CAME UP." "Then how are you all here now?" Jodi said. "Did you all finish your plans at the exact same moment?" "IT'S LUCKY FOR YOU WE GOT HERE WHEN WE DID," Morgan argued. Ash, Harper, and Po were all silent. They'd clearly decided not to get between the siblings this time. "I was worried sick," Morgan said.

“我们没办法，”摩根说。 “事情……就这么发生了。”“那你们现在怎么都在这儿？”乔迪说。 “你们都是在同一时刻完成计划的吗？”“你真幸运，我们能及时赶到这里，”摩根争辩道。 阿什、哈珀和阿宝都沉默了。 他们显然决定这次不挑拨这对兄妹。 “我担心死了，”摩根说。

"Well, I'm sorry I worried you," Jodi said. "I didn't mean to." In the silence that followed, Jodi felt a rush of

“嗯，很抱歉让你担心了，”乔迪说。 “我不是故意的。”在随后的沉默中，乔迪感到一阵冲动

guilt. She really hadn't meant to worry him. But part of her didn't believe his story about having detention. Or that he'd had a make-up quiz the other day. Part of her felt like the old Morgan was back. The Morgan who didn't want to spend time with his baby sister. "We're all here now," Ash said. "WE MIGHT AS WELL EXPLORE A LITTLE BIT MORE. Right?" Jodi felt relieved to have something else to talk about. Morgan seemed relieved, too. "Right," he said. "We didn't have time for sightseeing while we were rushing after you, Jodi," said Po. "Did you notice anything interesting?" "ANY CLUES ABOUT WHAT'S GOING ON?" Harper added. "Nothing that made sense to me," said Jodi. "I'm sure you noticed that the portals go back and forth between the Nether and the Overworld. Almost like the Evoker King is using the Nether as a shortcut to access different areas."

内疚。她真的不想让他担心。 但她不相信他说的被关禁闭的事。 或者那天他参加了一次补考。 她心里有一种摩根又回来了的感觉。 不想和小妹妹待在一起的摩根。 “我们现在都在这里，”阿什说。 “我们不妨再深入探索一下。 对吗?”乔迪因为有了别的话题而感到宽慰。 摩根似乎也松了口气。 “对，”他说。“我们赶着追你，没有时间观光，乔迪，”阿宝说。 “你注意到什么有趣的事情了吗？”“有什么线索吗？”哈珀说。 “对我来说没什么意义，”乔迪说。 “我相信你注意到了，传送门在阴间和上面世界之间来回穿梭。 就像Evoker King使用虚空作为进入不同区域的捷径一样。”