Crown of Silence

In the complicated alley, Ye Qingxuan staggered and ran wildly.

His body was almost healed, but every time he stepped he felt a dull pain spreading from his bones. And...breathing gradually became difficult, and the invisible restraint appeared again. When the wind blew, it became more concrete.

When he lowered his head, what he saw made him feel cold all over.

In the reflection of the water, there was a vague and fuzzy shadow lying on his body. It was entangled in his throat and limbs, making it difficult for him to move. If you don't look carefully, you won't notice their existence at all.

He wanted to pull it off, but those things were intangible and hard to touch...

"It's useless, this is an invisible ghost. The descendant of the Dark Earth Mother, a parasite that feeds on fear and flesh. Once it catches its prey, it will not give up."

On his back, Bai Xi made a weak voice: "That person... is here to catch me..."

Ye Qingxuan's face turned pale: "It's my fault."

"It was your fault from the beginning."

Bai Xi trembled in pain, and his voice became hoarse: "Between people... there is no reason to help each other. You trust those people, but those people will harm you."

Ye Qingxuan could feel her pain, because the blood gushes out from under the broken skin and seeps into his clothes, bringing sticky heat.

She was suppressing the pain, but her fingers were clenched and turned white, as if an angry blade was whirling in her body, crushing her heart and cracking her bones. So I'm about to cry.

"Bai Xi, what's wrong with you?"

Ye Qingxuan was stunned. Her body temperature was abnormally high.

"It hurts, can't you see?"

Bai Xi's fingers twitched and his voice trembled: "It's all your fault... If you didn't save me, there wouldn't be so many things. Also, do you know how to chat with people? Put me down. , I don’t want to talk to you anymore.”

She paused and her voice became thinner with sobs:

"Let me go, I want to go home..."

Ye Qingxuan was silent, panting and running.

For some reason, he suddenly remembered Bai Xi's eyes that night - how much fear was hidden in that expression of confusion and hesitation?

"Bai Xi.

Ye Qingxuan asked softly: "Actually, you have nowhere to go back, right?"

The girl was silent and didn't speak.

"Then don't say such sad words again." The young man lowered his head and said softly: "Didn't you start a new life? Don't go back to the past."

He seemed to be talking to Bai Xi, but also seemed to be whispering to himself.

"Is it really possible?" Bai Xi asked softly.

"Yes. Definitely!"

Ye Qingxuan gritted his teeth and finally saw what was around the corner in front of him... He had already thought of a way to get rid of the footsteps that followed him behind him.

"We just need to..."

puff!

A low crash sounded,

A short shadow crashed into his body.

The man rushed out from around the corner and stabbed something cold into his chest.

Ye Qingxuan was stunned,

He lowered his head and stared at the dwarf with the strange smile. The dwarf held the dagger in his hand, but the tip of the dagger was buried in his chest, and blood flowed out.

Strength seeped out along with the blood, and he fell to his knees.

Immediately afterwards, the dwarf lifted Bai Xi's hair, reached out and took out a stack of things from his arms and covered Bai Xi's face. It was a stack of gauze with a pungent potion smell. The girl struggled hard, but was unable to get up. In the end, there was no more sound.

"Hey! These two little bastards are so difficult to deal with. I almost missed..." The dwarf grabbed the limp Bai Xi in his hand, shook it and looked at the fainting little girl, just like a naughty child looking at a doll eager to destroy.

"Zizi, please be gentle!"

The old woman came out from the end of the alley and looked at Bai Xi's face with sinister eyes: "Someone paid a lot of money for this little girl. You can't afford to pay for any damage."

The dwarf known as 'Zi Zi' was stunned for a moment, stretched out his hand to pinch Bai Xi's face, his eyes full of lust: "Don't scare me, Emma, ​​such a good skin, only damage it a little, they You won’t find out, right?”

"Those Orientals don't look easy to deal with. If you're not afraid of death, feel free to play your perverted games with her.

"I don't care. After she tastes it once, she might not be willing to leave."

Although he said that, Jiuzi did not continue to be lewd. He just swallowed and handed the little girl to Emma: "Where is the other one? What should I do with that man?"

"he?"

Emma glanced down at the young man in a pool of blood and sneered: "He's about to die anyway, use the waste and take it back as feed."

"I don't think it's a big insurance policy. How about I get another refill?"

"It's okay, they like to live..."

In the pool of blood, the young man's will sank into darkness.

-

-

In a painful sleep, Ye Qingxuan felt that he had fallen into an abyss.

It seemed that for a brief moment, he fell asleep and experienced long and short dreams about the past.

This sudden scene was like a memory or a dream, but it was far clearer than before.

It was snowing very dirtyly at that time, and he was as embarrassed as he is now. Huddled in the garbage in the alley, exhaling the last of the heat, watching it disappear in the cold wind.

Where is the snow here? He forgot.

He only remembered the colors of Christmas fireworks rising in the distance, lighting up the stars. Countless people cheered in the distance to welcome the new year.

The fireworks are so good, they are fiery red, and my whole body seems to warm up when I look at them. Maybe it wouldn't be a pity if he died like this.

He watched blankly as snowflakes fell from the sky and melted into the mud. If he feels those cold eyes sweeping over him, he will use his last strength to stare back viciously.

Until finally, those people were gone.

"How pitiful."

Those harsh words finally dissipated in the endless snow. In the silent night, he was left alone again.

Faintly, he heard the sound of tiny footsteps in the distance. The light footsteps crushed the snow powder, making a faint sound. As if aware of the noise in the alley, the dirty dog ​​stepped on the mud and stood at the entrance of the alley looking at him.

Its long hair was covered with stains, and the original color and texture were almost unclear. But among the layers of caked dirt, the brown eyes were clear, reflecting the astonished expression of the little beggar.

As if it had seen something noteworthy, it stood at the entrance of the alley, staring at his face intently. Until a long time later, it silently approached, raised its dirty front paws, and pressed it on his shoulders. .

The dog was really ugly, with scars on its face from being bitten by other things. There was drool at the corner of its mouth, and its breath smelled sour.

It got so close so that it could see the little beggar's face clearly. His clear eyes were filled with something, not like pity or sympathy. But for some reason, being looked at like this made him feel sad for no reason.

"What are you looking at? Get away!"

Ye Qingxuan roared at it: "Don't look at me!"

But the tears flowed out unsatisfactorily and could not be stopped.

The dog opened its mouth as if smiling.

"Don't be afraid."

It barked softly, as if to say so. Licking the snow water on his face, sharing her warmth with him. As if it had finally found its kind, it leaned against the beggar who was in the same embarrassment as itself, closed its eyes in contentment, and fell asleep quietly at some point.

Ye Qingxuan looked at the sleeping dog in his arms in silence, and after a long time, he hugged it gently.

They are all the same.

-

Like a moment of trance, he opened his eyes from his drowsiness and choked violently.

The confined space was filled with stench.

Like a basement somewhere.

Iron cuffs tied his left hand to an iron chain. Hanging above a deep well, the sound of rushing water came from the depths of the well, and the stench filled the narrow space.

The fluorescent strains and dim oil lamps brought a little light, allowing him to see clearly the moss on the damp walls around him, as well as the bronze medals embedded in the corners. The bronze medal is already stained with rust, but the simple number is still vaguely legible.

D-168-C.

Then he understood what this place was.

-

This is the only river on the Isle of Avalon.

Its body is the nest spider web hidden under the city of Avalon, a labyrinth formed by continuous construction, renovation and abandonment over three hundred years - the Avalon sewer system.

Sea water surged into it from the other side, and then reached directly under the palace under the operation of water pumps and machinery, and then poured out in all directions from the intricate pipes.

It was clear when you arrived, but it was already turbid when you left, full of sewage, garbage and rotting corpses.

Some people named it the "Thames River" because it is said that the Prince of Thames, whose cause of death was mysterious a hundred years ago, drowned in it.

This underground river runs almost through the entire Avalon and is loved by gangsters and killers because it is a river that will take away all troubles and traces, no matter how horrific the corpse or criminal evidence is, as long as it is thrown into Among them, it will leave with those things forever.

No one can ever get it back.

When the dagger pierced his chest, Ye Qingxuan thought he was going to die. But maybe it's like what he said, some people's lives are so humble that even God doesn't want to take them back.

The dim light illuminated the hole in his chest. There was a money bag, but the thick and tough old cowhide blocked Ye Qingxuan's fatal knife blow.

After the dagger passed through the cowhide, ww. nscom only left a half-inch deep wound on his chest. The wound that was soaked in water and turned white was twitching, and there was no pain. But there is still a cold pain spreading in my heart that cannot be stopped.

"Oh shit."

Ye Qingxuan lowered his head and murmured softly.

He couldn't remember the last time he said these words, and it had been a long time since he had cursed someone. He always felt that swearing was just a sign of powerlessness. Anyone who insulted him would be repaid with fists in front of him. Those who had malicious intentions towards him would have to pay the price for their malice.

But now he really wants to curse because there is nothing he can do.

The girl he rescued was hurt in front of him, but he had no choice but to run away.

"Oh shit!"

Dust fell into his eyes, and there was a burst of heat and pain.

It was your fault from the beginning.

Bai Xi's voice sounded again, as if he was sighing with wounds again and again in his heart: Between people... is there any reason to help each other?

You trust those people, but those people will harm you.

"sorry."

Ye Qingxuan whispered softly, saying to himself: "It turns out that I was naive from the beginning to the end."

He couldn't help but want to laugh, to laugh at himself.

In the silence, there was a sound of the iron door being pushed open. The rusty bolt rubbed, and the sound was sharp.

Someone is coming.