Trafford’s Trading Club

The place where No. 9 was found was in a wooden house in the forest. No. 9 could no longer maintain his human form and was just a gray mist that seemed to dissipate at any time.

The soil in the forest was soaked, as if it had come after a heavy rain. If you stepped on it easily, you would be covered in mud.

Many trees fell, some uprooted.

It's still raining, moderately heavy.

It's like a ruined tomb here.

Youye opened a black umbrella to protect Luo Qiu from the moderate rain.

He and her then walked into the wooden house. He looked at the fog in front of him, which seemed to be trying hard to gather, but it was like the sand that had dispersed in the water and had lost its stickiness.

"His strength, even his physical strength, is almost exhausted. What is he doing."

She knew that the black soul messenger's state was like a lamp that had run out of oil - of course, even if the black soul messenger died, he could still come back through the life lamp.

Luo Qiu built a map from the ground. It's just below this fog. The opened map also has a red mark.

This mark can move, and every time it moves, it is Luo Qiu's instruction.

In the blink of an eye, the mist that was difficult to gather condensed little by little... The boss's thoughts were supposed to disperse inadvertently, leaving only the life lamp and the dark soul messenger sealed in the Ark of the Covenant, and got the chance to reunite. Chance.

The rain is falling from the broken roof, and the chill is strong. Just looking at it can make people long for a stove or a pile of firewood.

In fact, it didn't take much time for No. 9 to return to its original state.

He slowly opened his eyes... There was not much difference from Luo Qiu's memory, No. 9 seemed quite calm. Each Black Soul Messenger has a different personality.

Taiyinzi is good at flattery, while Number 18 is the type that observes words and emotions. Dazhe is the type who can act recklessly to the end but has rough and fine points. Nero is actually a bit like a demon king, but he cherishes his own survival issues more than anyone else.

No. 9 is one of the first black souls Luo Qiu came into contact with. He, like You Ye, can be regarded as the legacy left by his predecessor.

A bit dull, but obviously a pragmatic type... Luo Qiu has not been in contact with No. 9 for a long time. At first, he just thought that he would quietly complete his duties.

By carefully studying the past ledgers, you will find that No. 9 has been an emissary for a short period of time. Compared with the existing black souls who have been active for hundreds or even more than a thousand years, but are still on vacation or sleeping, or on long-term missions. , obviously too 'young'.

But he has many achievements... But as a black soul messenger, he not only does not appear to be strong, but can also be described as weak, because since he became a black soul messenger, every performance he has achieved has been used in somewhere else - according to a certain wish he had before becoming the Dark Soul Messenger.

…

"Let's make a fire."

In the dilapidated wooden house, after waking up again, No. 9 maintained a silent posture... Luo Qiu could hardly see anything like fear or panic in his eyes.

It was still raining outside the house, and the rain fell like a curtain of water on the roof above the center of the house. The fire place is in a corner of the house, which is still a complete place.

By the light of the fire, Luo Qiu looked at the red cursor on the map - obviously, if he checked the location of the red cursor on the map, he would find that the place he was at at this time was still some distance away.

Apparently he just stopped here and failed to complete the 'task' that Luo Qiu had previously ordered - to follow the red cursor and pass through these places on the map.

In fact, he looks younger, probably around thirty years old... It seems that this is what he looked like before he became the Dark Soul Messenger.

Wearing an old black tunic suit, he is the type who looks like his hair has been washed white.

"No. 9, why did you consume so much power?" The maid finally asked as she was in charge of the Black Soul Messenger.

Looking at the firewood, No. 9 raised his head and said quietly: "The river in front has swollen. It has been raining heavily these days, and some of the dams on it have burst. I blocked the flood."

The maid said calmly: "But I have not received any reports of similar transactions... Is this your private behavior?"

"Yes." No. 9 nodded calmly.

The maid subconsciously looked at her master, then frowned slightly and said: "No. 9, you should know that although the master will not interfere with the messenger's actions, he also gives you a lot of freedom... but you are also obliged to maintain your own safety. . Your power is almost exhausted. You may have to return to the Ark to reshape your body, which will consume the master's power... As a black soul messenger, you have not created value for the master, and even harmed the master. You know What are you doing?"

The tone was a little harsh. This was the first time Luo Qiu saw You Ye looking a little angry... I think No. 9's behavior had really hit the bottom line of her management - for the sake of personal gain without the purpose of trading. The power is almost exhausted due to the purpose, and then needs to consume the master's power to replenish it.

Luo Qiu waved his hand, telling the maid to stop what she was going to say... He knew very well that most of the time, Youye valued the consumption and increase of his own lifespan more than he did.

"Owner……"

Luo Qiu shook his head slightly, then broke off a branch and threw it into the firewood. The branches were wet, but the fire was raging, and moisture soon came out, making a squeaking sound at the cut.

"Actually, I haven't had a good chat with you all this time." Luo Qiu smiled and said, "I think a boss like me will probably fail."

No. 9 was startled, a little surprised... He shook his head, "No, in my opinion, you are better than your predecessor... But I don't know how long you can last."

"No. 9, pay attention to your tone." The maid's eyes were slightly cold, but Luo Qiu cast a calm look.

Boss Luo said: "No matter how long it lasts, I will try my best to keep it going... Can you tell me why you have to stop the flood at all costs?"

No. 9 said calmly: "If the flood is not blocked, the fields downstream will be flooded. There are more than a dozen villages nearby, and their livelihoods are here."

Luo Qiu nodded and immediately asked: "If that's the case, it must be a large-volume transaction order... According to your past performance, you should be able to take action, right?"

"I...I don't know." No. 9 was silent for a moment... his eyes looked somewhat blank.

Luo Qiu saw some old stainless steel cups in the wooden house and some pine trees outside the house, so he took some pine leaves, put them in stainless steel cups, and boiled water.

While it was cooking, No. 9 suddenly said, "I seem to have cooked pine leaf tea like this before."

Luo Qiu smiled slightly and said softly: "During this journey, what did I see and what did I hear."

No. 9 pondered. He had just started over, and his thoughts were still in chaos, but now he began to pick them up bit by bit... thinking about this journey.

He said slowly: "I have been walking and passed many places. They seem familiar to me...I gradually realized that this journey may be related to my past memories. I know clearly that the boss What is this route you gave me...yes, I know it.”

No. 9 used a tone as if freedom was not his own, "He should know, but he has never felt much about all this. It can even be said that he has no feeling at all. Until this time, he was Under the instruction of the master, he came to the starting point of this road, and he seemed to start to feel something different."

"Did he remember anything?" Luo Qiu peeled off some pine leaves with his own hands and threw them into the cup.

No. 9 shook his head: "He couldn't think of anything, he just felt uneasy like never before. He kept walking like this, and then he came to a museum. He stayed in this museum for three days. .”

Luo Qiu asked: "What did he see?"

No. 9 said: "Strong and unyielding, full of passion... He can stare at the things inside, whether it is a painting, a kettle, or even a cracked belt, for a long time, but at the same time, he I also saw loneliness.”

"lonely?"

"Yes, lonely." No. 9 slowly closed his eyes, as if all this was happening before his eyes, "He doesn't know what kind of feeling it is. There are too many things recorded there, but besides himself, he , there was almost no one in sight. He went to the director's office and saw that the director was a young man in his thirties. The young director was writing a plan to renovate the museum. Maybe it can attract more tourists... He suddenly felt angry."

"Why the anger."

No. 9 said: "At that time, the bank outside was selling commemorative coins, and he saw a queue of people inside and outside the bank... He saw the enthusiasm of these people, but he couldn't hear these people discussing the story behind the commemorative coins. "

"What a story."

Number 9 said: "The story of war."

"A commemorative coin that may increase in value attracts people to queue up to buy it, but a museum that carries this history is ignored... So you are angry, right?"

No. 9 did not answer. He looked out the window dreamily, and his memory became clearer. "He left that place and still walked according to the established route. He saw many things like this...such a place that no one cares about." .Then he met another person.”

"who."

"An old man." No. 9 whispered: "A retired veteran. Many people are looking for this old man."

"Wouldn't it be nice to finally have someone paying attention to him?"

No. 9 shook his head: "He couldn't tell... He saw with his own eyes this old man sitting in front of his home, at a loss as he faced the reporters, government people, and people who came out of nowhere. The old man's daughter-in-law supported him, put on clothes with many medals on them, and took photos with those who came one by one. He saw the old man's smile, but he did not see the old man's happy smile. He just looked at this The old man, under repeated requests, told the story of those years again and again."

"You feel bad?"

"At first, the old man was very happy to tell these stories, but gradually he found it boring, because the old man found that within a few days, others forgot about them again. They started to discuss other things."

"What kind of thing?"

"Scandals, especially scandals involving celebrities, are something that everyone enjoys."

"You don't think they're paying attention to this veteran anymore, do you?"

"When he saw this veteran in front of his house, he quickly became indifferent. Later, someone else became popular on the Internet. She was a pretty good-looking girl. She just said a word, and then it became popular all over the north and south. But she soon disappeared again, and people's enthusiasm began to turn to others."

"Then?"

No. 9 said: "He planned to leave this place again, because there was still a long road ahead of him. Before leaving, he quietly went to the veteran's home. The old man's daughter-in-law and son were not there again, but The old man was left sitting in front of his house, with an old dog accompanying him. He just smoked his pipe silently, looked at the front of his house, and dozed off. "

"Does he think the old man has been forgotten?"

"Maybe." No. 9 shook his head again: "But he actually knows that soon another similar old man will come into the public eye... It's like a reincarnation. Because people like to find these things from time to time. Come."

"Does he know why?"

"He knew why." No. 9 nodded: "But he found it boring, so he continued on the road."

"He is the Dark Soul Messenger. He has actually seen a lot of these things." After the tea was boiled, Luo Qiu separated the tea.

No. 9 took it naturally and held it, like a person who wanted to keep warm. "Yes, he has seen a lot, but he has always looked on with a cold eye."

Luo Qiu smiled and said, "Where did he go next?"

"I went to a forest and met a mountain guard." No. 9 looked at the pine leaves floating in the stainless steel cup. "He suddenly wanted to get in touch with this mountain guard. So he became a travel companion and walked into the mountain guard. Inside the house. This mountain guard is called Zhang Jinquan."

"He must be very hospitable. There are guests coming from the barren mountains and mountains." Luo Qiu thought of that scene. .

No. 9 had a smile on his face. It turns out that a dull person can look so good-looking when he smiles. "Zhang Jinquan raised chickens outside the forest ranger station. Zhang Jinquan killed a chicken that night and used it to greet people. He was very hospitable."

"I want to eat too." Luo Qiu said yearningly.

No. 9 smiled, "I don't think you will like that kind of environment too much. It's too simple. There's not even enough electricity there, and there's no signal at all. The only way to understand the outside world is to watch TV and listen to the radio. And there are only a few It can be used during this period... When watching Xinwen Network, Zhang Jinquan is reluctant to use electricity at other times."

Luo Qiu smiled and said nothing.

No. 9 took a sip of the pine leaf tea that was already at the right temperature. "The taste is still a bit bad. It will taste better if it is boiled with snow water."

After Luo Qiu took a bite, he turned over and took a few pieces of snow from the snow peaks thousands of miles away, stuffed them into the cup again, and put some pine leaves in. It looked extremely ugly and not very clean. .

"How long has he been at the ranger station?" Luo Qiu asked.

No. 9 said: "There are ten days. Within those ten days, he and Zhang Jinquan spent four or five days on a mountain patrol."

"He seems to like this time very much." Luo Qiu smiled.

No. 9 nodded: "It's a very quiet place. During those ten days, all the unhappiness he had before seemed to have disappeared. Just treat it as a vacation, that's what he thought... He still has to leave, because his master Your orders must be carried out."

Luo Qiu thought for a moment and said, "His master sometimes doesn't do well enough."

No. 9 shook his head and just said quietly: "When leaving, Zhang Jinquan slaughtered another chicken to practice it for him. That night he saw the old man guarding the mountain drunk and shed two tears. . Only then did he feel the reluctance of the old man guarding the mountain... This old man has stayed in the mountain for forty years."

"What will happen to this forest ranger station in the future?" Luo Qiu asked.

No. 9 thought for a while, "He doesn't know either. Zhang Jinquan said that no one was willing to take his place, so he had already retired and could only stay temporarily... The old man guarding the mountain still hopes that someone can take his place. Very soon. A strong desire. So before he left, he made a white card with Zhang Jinquan’s information, intending to hand it to his master after the journey was over.”

Luo Qiu nodded, "I will go and take a look if I have the chance."

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

…

The rain outside the house gradually stopped. It was night when Luo Qiu went out. When he got here, after staying in the house for a while, it was almost dawn.

After telling Zhang Jinquan's story, No. 9 suddenly sang a song, saying that Zhang Jinquan taught him the tune of the old Huayin tune.

——The battle bell rang high on the mountain.

——The bells ring, people rejoice, and the mountains and rivers listen to the movement

——The canal of happiness was opened, diverting water from the mountains, showing a bright future.

——A riot of purple and red...

He really enjoyed his ten days at the ranger station.

…

"I remembered?"

After listening to No. 9's old talk, Luo Qiu suddenly asked.

No. 9 shook his head, "I don't have any impression at all, but I can vaguely guess... I may have been from that era."

"You don't seem to be as eager to restore your memory as you were last time you came to see me."

No. 9 thought for a while and said quietly: "Maybe it's because I'm afraid."

"What are you afraid of."

No. 9 looked at Luo Qiu and said, "May I know where all my achievements have been spent?"

Luo Qiu shook his head: "According to the agreement you signed, you cannot have the direction of using your performance after each transaction is completed."

No. 9 nodded. The boss cannot violate the terms of the agreement... No matter whether it is the previous term or the current term: unless the boss is willing to pay the price to break up the terms of the agreement.

No. 9 sighed, "I don't know what I'm afraid of, I just feel uncomfortable... Sometimes, I even suddenly regret making the request you made before... Maybe if I don't mention it, I won't be afraid. This journey , I don’t feel like me, but more like him.”

"Then why are you trying to stop this flash flood?"

No. 9 was silent for a while, "You haven't seen the time of disaster relief."

Luo Qiu shook his head: "I haven't seen it with my own eyes."

No. 9 said: "He saw... saw the blushing faces with clenched teeth, saw them building a human wall to block the breach. Many people couldn't hold on any longer and fainted. , and then someone came to make up for it immediately. Some people jumped into the water to save people, and some people were soaked and carried sandbags continuously from day to night. When you are really tired, you will see them one after another, The past scene of falling asleep directly on the street. He looked at them like corpses lying on the battlefield, covered with mud. He couldn't even see anyone's face clearly, but he knew that as soon as he acted as a whistle, When the sound was blown, they would all stand up... He suddenly realized that nothing seemed important anymore."

No. 9 said in a deep voice: "He suddenly felt an extremely strong feeling of heartache... When this pain came, instead of feeling afraid, he felt something was calling him. His actions had already preceded him. It blocked his thinking, so he didn't think. He knew that this flood fight would eventually fail. He knew that these young soldiers would be drowned in the endless flood... But he didn't want to, he didn't want these young soldiers to be like this. Silently sinking to the bottom of the water... Along the way, he saw too many people who had "forgotten". He felt that he was not qualified to blame these people, because they had never experienced that era, had no experience, and naturally had no feelings. Everything was separated. No experience will last long. So even if he saw someone who was disdainful, someone who felt that the times had changed and no longer needed, or even someone who was ridiculed by young people without any limit in order to become famous, he would just watch with cold eyes... But At least, but at least, the lives of these young soldiers, he wants to stay. They are like this pile of firewood."

"He suddenly became less afraid... Although he hadn't thought of it yet, he knew that some things were always being passed on from hand to hand, just like fire, there would always be someone to pick it up, someone to pass it on, and then someone else. Go and pick him up... and you can't let him lose his inheritance. So he forgot his identity and stood in front of the power of nature. He thought, even if he was shattered to pieces, it would be good... He suddenly felt better than he had in the past few decades. Be happy every day.”

"So, it doesn't matter whether you think about it or not."

…

…

The sky is getting brighter again, but it is still overcast, and it will still rain here the next day.

No new branches have been added to the fire for a long time, leaving only layers of white ashes, but there is still warmth, and the sparks under the ashes have not been completely extinguished.

Luo Qiu stood up. Staying awake all night would not hurt him.

He looked at No. 9 and raised the map in his hand, "Are you still planning to continue this journey? There are still two or three places left before its end."

No. 9 shook his head, stood up as well, looked at Luo Qiu and said, "No... I haven't been at my job for a long time. It's time to go back to work."

Luo Qiu nodded, "The cost of remodeling this time will be deducted from your future performance in installments... OK?"

No. 9 was silent for a long time, and finally bowed suddenly and whispered: "I hope you... can treat this country well, master."

After saying that, No. 9 left, turned into a cloud of mist, merged into the forest that was not completely lit up, and disappeared.

"Somehow, I still remembered something..."

…

When she returned to the club, the maid hurriedly prepared breakfast.

When she delivered breakfast to the study, Luo Qiu was looking at the account book, looking thoughtful.

"Master, are you looking at No. 9's performance book?" The maid walked to Luo Qiu's side and began to lay out breakfast.

"I'm wondering if his commission points can be increased." Luo Qiu said casually: "Otherwise, with the performance he can retain according to the agreement, no matter how hard he thinks, he may not be able to stop a flash flood next time... Black The Soul Envoy is too weak. He can't even block a flash flood without surviving, and the store doesn't look good, right? But I really can't find anything that can be adjusted... This agreement was too rigid when I took office... Well, I think Prodigal again.”

The maid didn't say anything. After carefully setting up the breakfast, she took the performance book from Luo Qiu's hand and said softly: "Master, let me adjust it."

Luo Qiu laughed at himself: "Then I will continue to be my useless person."

Just kidding of course.

The maid smiled sweetly, flipped up her hair beside her ears, and opened the performance book to look for feasible adjustment plans.

——In 2015, 10,000 yuan of performance was consumed to improve the energy of ten academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

…

——In 2008, 200,000 yuan was consumed to increase the earthquake survival rate by 1.5%.

…

——In 1969, three thousand achievements were consumed to extend the life of the scientist named Qian for forty years.

…

——In 1962, all performance was lost and rainfall resumed in large areas in the new country.

…

Many years ago, a man named Zhang Ziru walked into the club and made such a wish.

The mountains and rivers remain unchanged, the country is peaceful and the people are safe.