Shadow of the Beautiful World

It takes courage to walk in the dark.

After just encountering a crisis, everyone in the dark was filled with panic, sensitivity and fear.

In the tunnel that is completely sealed off at both ends, the warmth of the sun cannot reach this place, where darkness controls everything.

But Merlin walked in the darkness, and the shadow that covered his body flowed on his body, which even brought him a kind of peace of mind more than sunlight, as if he had returned to his own home.

There is no obstacle in front of him, even in the absence of lighting, he can still clearly see the scene in the dark.

Probably because the vision was suppressed in the dark, Merlin felt that his hearing and perception had become a little sharper.

He could hear the whispers of the women in the crowd, the muffled cries of the children, the breathing of the men busily trying to find their way out in the dim darkness, and even when his fingers touched the cold tunnel surface, those things happened on the rocks. Microfissures of the interior, rocky structures that have been destabilized by impacts.

He moved forward like a shadow in the crowd, without touching anyone, and he was careful not to expose his abnormality.

But in reality, he's adapting to the darkness with astonishing speed.

He mixed in the crowd, and when no one was paying attention, Merlin grabbed the edge of the overturned carriage and jumped into the thicker darkness. He moved forward along the railroad tracks full of debris, and soon, he Out of the crowd gathering position.

Bang, bang, bang.

And just as he was going deep into the darkness, he heard a sound from the squeezed and deformed carriage in front.

It was a rhythmic tapping sound, but very faint.

It should be the passengers trapped in the carriage, helplessly calling for help.

Merlin looked left and right, and pulled down the brim of the cowboy hat on his head again, just like the Phantom Stranger back then, with the brim of the hat covering most of his face, plus the shade of the sunglasses.

In this darkness, almost no one could see him, let alone recognize him.

With his keen senses, Merlin quickly determined the location where the knocking sound came from. He lowered his body and climbed into the corner of the backlog on the stone wall along the gap between the collision of the two carriages. He put his hands on the car, curled up his fingers, and gently pried on the car wall, as if responding to the knocking sound.

The knock was muffled, but to the stranded passengers it was a call from heaven.

In the next second, the knocking sound became hasty, and a very immature, sharp, childish voice sounded in the darkness.

Even though he tried his best to suppress it, Merlin could still hear a trace of unconcealable panic and helplessness in that voice.

Is anyone there? Is anyone out there? Help us! My mom is passed out and I'm trapped, please, help us!

I'm here, don't be afraid.

Merlin purposely replied in a thick voice, moving his hands and feet, allowing himself to move a few steps forward in the gap, then raised his head, and saw a man with messy hair and some black spots on his face through the broken window. gray little girl.

She was sitting at the bottom of the car, looking around.

Her arm was caught in the collapsed box, but judging from her expression, she should not be injured. At the little girl's feet, there was a fainted lady. That should be her mother.

Compared with her lucky daughter, this lady's luck is not so good. She may have been hit by a falling box and fell into a coma, but there was not much blood on the ground.

This also made Merlin feel a little relieved.

child.

Merlin continued to shout in a rough voice:

Just stay there, don't move, I'll go find the tools.

Merlin's voice made the little girl suddenly raise her head. But she didn't have Merlin's dark vision, she could only see the darkness in front of her, as if she was talking to a ghost, which really made the little girl feel scared.

Sir? Where are you? I can't see you.

She said that on purpose, and then shrank her body back.

This action caused the suitcases piled up beside her to shake, causing the little girl to let out an exclamation, and also startled Merlin. If those heavy boxes were toppled over, the little girl would surely be injured.

do not move!

Merlin's tone became softer:

I can see you, so keep this action, don't move, I will come back to save you and your mother soon. Little girl, trust me, okay?

After finishing speaking, Merlin took a few steps back, lowered his body again, and climbed out of the twisted sunken passage of the carriage.

Merlin deliberately made some noises to reassure the sensitive little girl.

But after Merlin left, the little girl who was trapped in the corner shrank her head in fear. She looked down at the unconscious mother. Say to yourself:

Don't be afraid, Mom, someone is coming to save us.

Sounds like a big brother, he's definitely coming back, right?

We will be saved for sure.

But the comatose mother failed to respond to her, which made the little girl couldn't help but shed tears in her eyes, but she tried her best to hold back.

She kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down.

In the dark, the 7-year-old girl maintained a position where her arms were restrained by a box. She was very tired, but she knew that she couldn't move around.

The danger is not over yet.

After seeing hope, the time to continue to wait is very difficult. The little girl raised her head once every 10 seconds on average, and pricked up her ears like a bunny. She tried to hear even the slightest sound in the darkness, but Merlin seemed to have completely disappeared.

1 minute, 2 minutes, soon, 5 minutes passed.

The expectant little girl's heart sank little by little, and all kinds of nonsensical conjectures began to reverberate in her mind.

Like most of the other people trapped in the dark, she began to make up her own brain and start scaring herself.

The fear in the little girl's heart became more and more intense, but just before she was overwhelmed by her fantasy, the sound of steel colliding suddenly woke her up from her fantasy.

The little girl was startled. When she raised her head, she saw a twisted steel rod inserted into the place where the two carriages collided and twisted. Merlin held the stick in one hand and exerted the strength of feeding.

He couldn't shake the two crowded carriages at all, nor could he separate them easily like the heroes in the comics, but he could use the simplest lever principle to pry open the completely sealed door bit by bit.

boom

The pried open car door slammed into the darkness with a loud noise. Merlin walked into the car shortly, and walked quickly to the side of the little girl and her mother. Push away one by one.

In the darkness, he said gently to the little girl who seemed to be frightened:

Don't be afraid, I'm right here.

Merlin reached out and wiped the sweat from his forehead, he moved the last box away, freeing the trapped little girl, and the next moment, the silent little girl opened her arms and hugged Merlin's chest violently. leg.

Merlin froze for a moment.

He could feel the little girl's body trembling, she must have been frightened.

She shouldn't have experienced all this, and the source of all this is him.

Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. He tried his best to expel these negative emotions. He stretched out his hand and stroked the little girl's messy hair. He said to the little girl:

Let go of me first, I'm going to take your mother out, follow me, be careful, okay?

The little girl obediently let go of her hand. She watched Merlin lean down and hug her unconscious mother. She stretched out her hand, grabbed the corner of Merlin's clothes, and walked in this twisted, dark place.

After being rescued, the girl finally felt a sense of peace of mind.

She doesn't need to be afraid anymore.

When Merlin stepped out of the carriage, in the darkness behind the tunnel, a light shone in the darkness. Apparently, it was the sound caused by Merlin prying the car door just now that alarmed the others.

Merlin heard clear footsteps, there should be at least 7 people rushing over, including men and women.

Merlin put the unconscious lady on the ground, he knelt down, touched the sensible little girl's head, and said to the little girl:

You stay here, and uncles and aunts will come to help you soon. Also, don't tell others, you have seen me, okay?

The little girl's eyes blinked in the darkness, and Merlin could see that they were a pair of beautiful brown eyes, and she had long fluffy golden hair, just like a cute doll.

Facing Merlin's request, the little girl tilted her head, as if thinking, and asked:

why?

Just like I saved you just now, I'm going to help other people now. But I don't like working with other people, I prefer to do things by myself.

Anyway, it's time to say goodbye, brave little girl.

Merlin stood up, waved goodbye to the little girl, turned and walked towards the darkness ahead, the little girl shouted behind him:

What's your name?

Merlin.

A deep voice came from afar, which meant that Merlin was going away quickly.

Okay! I promise you, Merlin.

There was no echo from the darkness, no answer.

Merlin had gone deep into the darkness, and he was gone.

After advancing in the dark for nearly 15 minutes, Merlin arrived at the rear end of the train. Several carriages loaded with goods rolled over here. The carriages themselves, together with the heavy cargo, blocked the exit of the tunnel, and some falling rocks were mixed in. It also becomes extremely difficult to climb the obstacles in front of you.

In the other direction, Merlin could hear some men discussing ways to open the barrier.

But as the old man said, those methods take time, and in the current situation, if people can't see hope, under the darkness, people can easily do things that hurt themselves and others.

Merlin knew that he had the ability to open the heavy barriers in front of him, just like he did in the psychic shop in Chicago.

But the problem is, he has no idea how to use that dark and dangerous power.

However, he already had some guesses in his heart.

Combined with the experience in the psychic shop in Chicago, Merlin guessed that the dark power flowing in his body will only explode when he encounters a strong external threat, eliminating all threats around him.

Like that creepy demon bell that the old crook in Chicago pulled out.

And during the eruption last night, Merlin didn't completely lose his will when he turned into a storm of smoke. He can even clearly remember the perception of his consciousness blending into the black smoke-like storm, the light and fluttering gesture of turning into the wind.

He could feel that the power in his body was full of darkness and extremely dangerous, but it didn't have any instinctive malice. It is very likely that it was forcibly disconnected from the main body and stayed in Merlin's body for too short a time, so it failed to give birth to its own consciousness.

So in theory, Merlin can use it freely, as long as Merlin finds a way.

All right.

Merlin moved his shoulders and arms, as if he was warming up.

In the darkness, he took a deep breath, stretched out his left hand, and pressed it against the heavy obstacle in front of him. He tried hard to calm down his will. After a while, he said:

come out!

However, this call was useless at all except for some echoes.

Those dark forces stayed in his body without any change, as if he dismissed Merlin.

Damn it.

The young man cursed secretly, he changed his posture, and shouted again, but there was still no response. A few minutes later, because of the continuous shouting, it attracted the attention of the men on the other side, and Merlin could hear those noisy footsteps approaching.

There is not much time left.

Merlin gritted his teeth. He lowered his head and searched on the ground. After a few seconds, he picked up a broken bottle.

He stared at the sharp piece of glass in his hand, and he thought he must be crazy. It must be the old man just now who gave him some ecstasy soup to give him such a crazy idea.

But for now, act like a coward or get out of here and wait for something bad to happen.

either

Just use extreme methods and try again.

In the darkness, Merlin held the shattered glass with both hands behind his back. In the darkness, he whispered:

Either it works or you die as a human being.

Hear that? Whatever you are!

Merlin's tone became stubborn, as if he was talking to an invisible person. He gritted his teeth and said:

I won't let you turn me into a monster!

The next moment, Merlin's hands suddenly curled up, and the sharp glass shards pierced his heart like a dagger.

Without staying, it does not seem to be fake, exhausting all strength.

Just when the sharp broken glass pierced Merlin's skin, and the moment Merlin felt the pain, the silent power in his body revived again in the darkness.

hum

In less than a second, Merlin's whole body turned into a dark wind mixed with Mars. In the roar, the dark wind ruthlessly hit the mountain-like obstacle in front of him.

It was like a giant's fist, hammering hard on the pile of steel and goods.

Merlin twisted and blurred his consciousness, feeling like a flame that burns everything, igniting everything it touches.

This power was indeed full of aggressiveness. The moment it touched the pile of obstacles, a loud explosion-like sound resounded in the tunnel, startling everyone in the darkness.

Then there was a second bang, and a third.

Steel carriages, heavy sleepers, iron ingots for feeding into the factory forging, beautiful thick glass.

Whatever it was, it was impacted, melted, and ignited.

After three savage impacts, Merlin, who had returned to his human body, lay weakly on the ground of the tunnel. In front of his eyes, a glimpse of the dawning sun shone on him like a sharp sword piercing the darkness.

Behind him, there was an obstacle that was violently broken from the center. It was an obstacle more than 10 meters thick. It was as if a circular gap had been re-opened.

Hehe, I did it

Merlin felt pain all over his body, not only the soreness, but also the strange stinging pain caused by the sun shining on his face. He was very weak and had no strength in his whole body, as if all his energy had been drained.

But he let out a hard but contented laugh.

He caused disaster.

He ended the catastrophe, he atoned for sin.

Wow!

A voice sounded behind Merlin, and the frail young man turned his head, and saw the little girl he saved just now, looking at him dumbfounded, just like looking at a real monster and a real hero.

Judging from her staring eyes, this little girl must have witnessed the whole scene just now.

In the darkness behind her, Merlin heard the footsteps of many people. It was the sound of running, and it was the instinct of human beings to run towards the light.

The weak Merlin struggled to get up. He picked up his cowboy hat from his feet, and put it on his head. Silent action.

Before those he saved rushed into the light, Merlin limped out of the tunnel under the sunshine.

as if

He never appeared the same.