Shanhai Folklore Research Institute

Lao Liao is a fisherman. As the saying goes, he depends on the sea to eat the sea. Not only him, nearly half of the people on Wuming Island make a living from fishing, but there are only a few good outlets around, so the competition is still fierce. Yes, in order to seize the territory, Lao Liao would get up very early every day, and row his small fishing boat out to sea when the sky was bright.

Today, as usual, Lao Liao untied the boat rope and was about to set off. From a distance, he seemed to see something floating on the sea.

Because of the hurricane, some outside things can always be seen in the waters near Unnamed Island from time to time, such as daily necessities dropped from a shipwrecked cruise ship, or food and medicine in waterproof packaging. These materials are very scarce on the island. Dr. He will be very happy if he is lucky enough to salvage one or two pieces.

Thinking of this, Lao Liao excitedly rowed a boat. The waves slowly fluctuated and got closer and closer. Gradually, he stopped. After seeing the shape of the thing clearly, the oar in his hand slipped into the water...

Last night, I chatted with Wu Ting until the early hours of the morning. After Lin Mian took a shower, she just lay down and felt a little drowsy when she was awakened by the sound of knocking on the door downstairs.

Wu Ting didn't sleep either, the two looked at each other, walked out of the guest room, and happened to meet Jing Xing who was next door also coming out of his room.

"What happened?" Jing Xing asked in a low voice.

Lin Mian shook her head, indicating that they didn't know either.

The three of them went downstairs quickly. Before they left, Lin Mian glanced at the master bedroom at the other end of the corridor. The white oak door was opened with a gap. Behind the door, Su Liman was wearing a white nightgown and staring at the back of them leaving. His face was hidden in the shadows and his expression could not be seen clearly.

Standing in the living room was an honest middle-aged man, almost completely wet from head to toe, as if he had just been fished out of the water. His face was frighteningly pale, his lips were trembling, and he didn't know whether it was cold or frightened.

Besides the middle-aged man, He Minghan was also there. Lin Mian was a little surprised: "Dr. He is back? Did you find Xiaoyu?"

He Minghan shook his head, with a helpless expression on his face: "That kid has always been sensitive, and he ran out in the middle of the night not once or twice. He wanted to hide from me, but I couldn't find him. Fortunately, there is no hurricane tonight, and the island is still safe. .”

After He Minghan finished speaking, he ordered the servant who had just come out of the bedroom to hand the middle-aged man a glass of warm water, and then calmly asked him what happened.

Lao Liao took the glass, drank the water in one gulp, calmed down a little, and said in a hoarse voice trembling: "Dead, dead!"

Lin Mian was startled, Wu Ting frowned slightly, Jing Xing's eyes were filled with surprise, and He Minghan's face suddenly sank: "What's going on?"

Lao Liao's psychological quality was really poor, he stammered for a long time, and couldn't explain clearly, so Lin Mian could only ask, "Where's the corpse?"

Lao Liao slapped his thigh and led everyone out of He Minghan's house to run to the beach.

Jing Xing glanced at the direction of the consultation room, hesitated for a moment, and followed.

At this time, the east has already turned pale, and there are more and more islanders who got up early to go to sea like Lao Liao, crowded together on the beach, and at this time, seeing He Minghan, they all consciously gave way .

Because He Yu didn't return all night, and Lao Liao said that someone died, Lin Mian's first reaction just now was that the child must have been the one who had the accident. However, he could see the dead person in the middle of the crowd clearly, and he couldn't help being even more astonished. , because the other party is not He Yu, nor anyone else, but the groom who just married his daughter-in-law yesterday and should have been proud of himself.

He was still wearing a bright red wedding dress, but his face, neck, wrists and other exposed skin looked more than one degree whiter than Lao Liao's, and there was a hint of gray. It didn't look like a new funeral at all, just like dead For several days.

At this moment, Lao Liao finally recovered his breath, and told the story of how he found the body early in the morning, and then looked at He Minghan hesitantly: "Doctor He, do you think the pony can be saved?"

The little horse is the groom Ma Xiao, who is 23 years old this year and has been on Wuming Island for seven or eight years. He can be regarded as Lao Liao growing up with him, so when he saw Ma Xiao's body floating on the sea, he almost lost his soul. Frightened away.

He Minghan shook his head: "The blood in his whole body has been drained, forgive me for being powerless."

"Dried up the blood? How could it be drained? I didn't see any big wounds..." Not only Lao Liao, but everyone present were extremely surprised.

"Besides, who would kill a pony for no reason?"

"Yeah, and even if you want to kill, there's no need to drain the blood, right? It's not like slaughtering livestock..."

The islanders whispered and were very puzzled by Ma Xiao's death. Lin Mian also felt that it was very strange. At this time, someone whispered, "Do you think it was a sea monster?"

"Kraken?!"

"But wasn't the sea monster harmless before? It stayed in the sea all the time, and at most it pulled our ankles to play a prank."

"You also said it was before..."

The islanders fell silent, and He Minghan clapped his hands when he saw this and said: "Before the matter is clarified, please don't speculate too much, otherwise it will only make people panic. Now let's send Xiaoma'er's body home first. "

He Minghan's words immediately calmed everyone's emotions, and soon someone responded: "Yes, we should listen to Dr. He and not let the pony lie here!"

After a while, two strong islanders walked out of the crowd, lifted Ma Xiao's body and walked to his house, and the rest followed behind.

"When Xiao Ma'er came to the island, it was only him and his mother. It was not easy for Mrs. Ma to raise the child by herself. Fortunately, Xiao Ma'er has a conscience and is very filial to his mother. Now he is married to a daughter-in-law. , originally thought that Sister-in-law Ma's good life was coming, but this kind of thing happened... Hey, Sister-in-law Ma is going to cry to death this time!"

"That's right, the white-haired man gave away the black-haired man, and Xiao Ma'er's new daughter-in-law lost her husband on the second day of marriage. She is also a miserable person..."

Lin Mian, Wu Ting and Jing Xing fell at the end of the crowd, listening to the islanders' comments. Lin Mian thought for a while, and asked Wu Ting again: "Principal, do you feel the evil spirit?"

Wu Ting still shook his head: "There is no evil spirit near this sea area."

Jing Xing also said: "There is a smell of humans everywhere here. If there are other monster races appearing, it will be as obvious as a lighthouse on the sea, but such things as killing people and bleeding..."

He clicked his tongue: "It really looks like what we monsters do."

Ma Xiao's mother was still wearing the dark red half-sleeved cheongsam, and she was having breakfast, happily chatting with the neighbor next door. Except for the excessive worship of He Minghan, the people living on Wuming Island have nothing to do with the outside world. Different, the same parents have short stories, the same trivialities.

"Sister Ma..." Lao Liao scratched his head and shouted bravely.

Ma Xiao's mother turned her head when she heard the sound, the familiar red wedding dress on the corpse froze her smile instantly, and the white porcelain bowl fell to the ground and broke into pieces.

"Sister Ma, little Ma..." Seeing the other party's pale face, Old Liao could not speak.

Mrs. Ma shook her head again and again, eyes full of disbelief: "This is not my son, this is not my son!"

She murmured and ran towards the back room, shouting Ma Xiao's name, Lin Mian saw an almost crazy look in the mother's eyes.

Although the others couldn't bear it, it's not easy to follow them in at home. After waiting outside for a while, Mrs. Ma came out with Ma Xiao's daughter-in-law. The latter looked sleepy and confused, but when she saw Ma Xiao's body Suddenly he woke up, covered his mouth and cried out, and after a while we cried with Mrs. Ma.

The nearby islanders felt sorry for Ma Xiao's death, and the rumor that the sea monster harmed people gradually spread.

"Doctor He, what do you think should be done about this?" Lao Liao's dark face wrinkled into a chrysanthemum.

"Yeah, we can't beat monsters..." The people around echoed.

He Minghan was very calm. He thought for a while and said, "You are not allowed to go to the reef beach in the future. If you want to go fishing, try not to go too early. It is not yet sure whether it is a sea monster. Don't panic, everyone. I'll think about it when I get back."

The islanders respect He Minghan. Even though he cannot bring Ma Xiao back to life this time, in their minds Dr. He is still a god-like existence, and they have confidence in his decision.

After comforting Mrs. Ma and Mrs. Ma Xiao, everyone gradually dispersed. Although people died on the island, life must continue.

He Minghan didn't stay too long, he seemed to be very busy all the time, everyone here trusted him and relied on him, and regarded him as the savior, while Jing Xing was concerned about his brother's injury, and also left quickly.

In the crowd, only the crying Sister-in-law Ma's family was left. Lin Mian frowned slightly as she looked at Ma Xiao's corpse, which looked like a steamed bun. Everyone focused on the sea monster, but it seemed overlooked one thing...

He suddenly asked: "Little Ma, did you go fishing so early today?"

Just got married yesterday, and Lin Mian felt that it was unreasonable to go out to sea before dawn today.

Sure enough, Mrs. Ma said in a hoarse voice while wiping her tears: "No, the fishing net is still in the utility room. I always thought he was sleeping in the room..."

Lin Mian frowned even more when he heard this, and turned his gaze to Ma Xiao's wife. The old mother didn't know when her son left home, so his wife wouldn't know too, right?

Ma Xiao's daughter-in-law understood what he meant, sobbed, "He drank a little too much last night, woke up in the middle of the night and said he was thirsty, and there happened to be no water in the house, so he went to the main room to get it..."

"And then?" Probably because she knew that her son would not come back to life, Ma's sister-in-law visibly collapsed, and Ma Xiao's daughter-in-law's words did not attract her attention, Lin Mian sighed in her heart.

"The houses on the island are all built by everyone, and the sound insulation is not good. At that time, I vaguely heard the sound of the gate of the courtyard being opened. I wanted to see what was going on. I heard Brother Xiao said that he would come back soon after going out. Let me sleep first."

Ma Xiao's daughter-in-law cried even more when she said this, with deep regret in her tone: "I was so sleepy at the time that I didn't think much about it, and I fell asleep after a while, who knew..."

Lin Mian couldn't help raising her eyebrows when she heard the words: "Doctor He said that these days are the period of high incidence of hurricanes, so we should try not to go out at night. Ma Xiao should also know this, so what is he going out in the middle of the night?"

Ma Xiao's daughter-in-law shook her head while crying, and Ma's sister-in-law hugged her son's body with a look of despair.

Happy events turned into mourning events. After living for 19 years, Lin Mian truly felt the impermanence of the world for the first time, and a sense of melancholy rose in his heart.

The two stopped disturbing Ma Xiao's family and left quietly. Lin Mian was very silent along the way. Wu Ting noticed his abnormality and asked softly, "What's wrong?"

Lin Mian looked up at him, her bright deer eyes seemed to be looking into the depths of Wu Ting's consciousness. Although the relationship had been confirmed, but being looked at by the person he liked like this, the dean's heart still couldn't help beating.

"What's wrong?" He raised the corner of his lips slightly and asked again.

Lin Mian pulled up the hand hanging by his side and placed it on her palm.

Wu Ting's hands were slender and powerful, while Lin Mian's was one size smaller than his, fair and delicate, with well-proportioned flesh and bones.

"Dean."

"Ok?"

Lin Mian lowered her head and asked in a very low voice, "If one day I die, will you be so sad?"

Wu Ting's hand trembled imperceptibly. He has lived for tens of thousands of years. He never thought that one day he would be moved by the word "death". Instead, he held Lin Mian's palm and said seriously: "No, You won't die."

Lin Mian was startled.

From discovering that he had a good impression on Wu Ting, to falling in love with each other, and then the two became closer and closer, Lin Mian never forgot that he was just an ordinary human being, and Wu Ting was the number one monster in the world. They work together like the most ordinary boss and subordinate, and live together like the most ordinary couple, but some things are different after all.

In a hundred years of life, he only has a lifespan of at most a hundred years. During these hundred years, he will slowly grow old, grow white hair, wrinkle his face, gradually become rickety, and eventually die, but Wu Ting will not, he will still be young and strong, All monsters admire him, he has participated in his life, and he is just a short memory in his long life.

Lin Mian had never thought about this issue before, or he deliberately ignored it. Maybe it was because he fell in love with him, or maybe it was because the dean was so kind that he didn't want to face these issues. He just wanted to love first, and then Calculate.

But today Ma Xiao's death suddenly pulled out the thread that he had been buried in his heart. Some people say that the one who leaves first is usually luckier, because the one who lives has to endure endless sadness and loneliness. Lin Mian also thought so before, but Now seeing Ma's wife and Ma Xiao's daughter-in-law, he really realized how cruel it would be to Wu Ting if he died.

Moreover, he didn't want to become a memory.

"You will not die." Wu Ting repeated softly, with a firm tone.

Lin Mian slowly opened her eyes.

Seeing this, Wu Ting laughed, and lightly pecked his smooth forehead. Lin Mian reflexively looked around and was relieved to find that no one was there. The little assistant glanced at her boyfriend complainingly. It's too courageous!

With such an interruption, Lin Mian's gloomy mood suddenly cleared up a lot, but he still found it incredible that even though his boyfriend is a big monster, he wouldn't be able to snatch someone from the king of hell at that time...

Hades?

Lin Mian was stunned.

Wu Ting understood that he had thought of it, and the corners of his mouth twitched slightly: "If there is one Xushan, naturally there will be a second one."

"Is this considered favoritism? Can Director Bian agree?" Lin Mian was a little worried.

"He has to agree even if he doesn't agree." The dean's voice was not loud, and his momentum was not small.

However, Assistant Lin felt that force alone could not completely solve the problem. After going out, he still had to find an opportunity to establish a relationship with King Biancheng. Although there was no rush, it was necessary to plan ahead for this kind of thing. After all, the happiness of myself and my boyfriend depended on it for the rest of my life him.

After solving the troubles between the young lovers, Lin Mian returned her attention to the unnamed island in front of her.

The hurricane didn't appear, and they couldn't find an opportunity to leave this small world. Instead, someone died inexplicably, and the cause of this person's death was also very strange.

"Why did Ma Xiao go out last night?" Lin Mian murmured, "If it wasn't a monster, who would have killed him and drained his blood? Why did that person do that?"

Wu Ting shook his head: "Actually, it cannot be completely ruled out that it was caused by monsters. Jing Xing and I can't feel any monster aura on the island. It is likely that the other party restrained himself deliberately, and that guy's strength is definitely not low."

"Is it better than the dean?" Lin Mian blinked.

Wu Ting smiled lightly: "A monster stronger than me should not have been born yet."

A simple sentence reveals unparalleled self-confidence. Lin Mian saw four words in it—contemptuous of all living beings, so he said, "Principal."

"Ok?"

"Are you really a black turtle?"

Dean Wu: ...

What is the price of pretense?

The dean said in his heart: This is it!

Wu Ting coughed lightly, Lin Mian stared at him with burning eyes, her flaxen deer eyes didn't blink, as if saying don't lie to me!

Wu Ting looked away unnaturally, but he could still feel Lin Mian looking at him. After a while, he turned his head and said helplessly, "No."

Lin Mian breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the words, and her expression was as expected: "So what exactly is your original body, Dean?"

Wu Ting froze, intending to pretend he didn't hear it, and trying to change the topic to fool the past, so he heard the little assistant say quietly: "President, you have been lying to me before..."

Love cannot tolerate deception!

Dean Wu, a young love expert who has gathered the experience of thousands of enthusiastic netizens, suddenly sounded alarm bells in his heart, and immediately said: "I will never lie to you again in the future."

"Really?" The little assistant was suspicious.

"En." The dean nodded solemnly.

"So what is your original body?" Assistant Lin persisted.

Dean Wu was doomed, he took a deep breath, in order not to scare the little assistant, after thinking about it, he decided to take his time and reveal a little bit first.

With all his fingers, he pulled out the ring and necklace that Lin Mian hid under his clothes, and spread it on his palm: "I said before, this ring is transformed from a part of my body."

Lin Mian nodded. At that time, he felt that this sounded crazy, so he didn't dare to think about which part it was.

Wu Ting closed his eyes, and continued: "It is the crown feather of my life."

The crown feather is the hair on the bird's head, and the natal crown feather is the very important hair on the bird's head.

Knowing that Wu Ting is not Xuan Gui, and knowing that he is deliberately concealing himself, Lin Mian has some guesses about her boyfriend's true identity.

Lin Mian has sharp-mouthed phobia, afraid of all sharp-mouthed living things, but he is actually very courageous in other aspects, and even dared to tear up the big monster with his bare hands. If Wu Ting's original body is not sharp-mouthed, there is no need for him to lie , and worked with colleagues from the institute to help him overcome this symptom...

Even though he understood this, when Wu Ting said that the ring was made from his feathers, Lin Mian's body still trembled involuntarily.

When Wu Ting noticed this detail, he regretted it for a while, and he would not have said it if he knew it earlier. A guess is always just a guess until it is confirmed.

Lin Mian took the ring off his palm, stuffed it back into her clothes, and patted it lightly twice habitually.

Wu Ting couldn't help asking him: "Aren't you afraid?"

Lin Mian thought for a while and said, "It's okay."

"Let's go back to He Minghan's house to see how Jingrong is doing." The little assistant looked very natural, and Wu Ting observed secretly for a long time and found nothing unusual. Feeling at ease, the two walked towards the east of the residential area.

He Minghan was not there, and his wife Su Liman was sitting alone under the eaves just like yesterday, facing the rocky beach with empty eyes.

"What is she looking at?" Lin Mian wondered.

"Doctor He asked everyone to surround the entire reef beach with barbed wire." The servant took a woolen shawl and put it on Su Liman lightly, as if afraid of disturbing her.

Lin Mian squinted his eyes, and saw from a distance that there were many islanders busy on the east coast. The high barbed wire fence was like a long dam, isolating the reef beach area from the settlements.

Lao Liao was also among them, and when Lin Mian ran over, he was carrying a paint bucket and writing a small sign saying "Keep Danger away", the bright red handwriting was particularly eye-catching.

"I'm afraid this net can't stop the siren, right?" Some of the materials on Wuming Island are produced by the islanders themselves, while others are gifts from the wrecked cruise ships in the past ten years. The barbed wire and paint belong to the latter.

"I don't know. Anyway, I heard Dr. He's right. He said that it should be fenced up, and no one will be allowed to get close to the reef beach in the future, especially those children. Before, because the sea monster didn't hurt people, more often everyone would Just treat it as a rarity, not now."

Lao Liao hung the small sign he had written on the barbed wire, and muttered again: "There may be a hurricane tonight, and I don't know if this net can hold it..."

"There will be a hurricane tonight?" Lin Mian looked at him sharply.

"Yes." Lao Liao picked up the paint bucket, "We have lived on this island for almost ten years, and have seen hurricanes a hundred and eighty times, so we have a general understanding of the signs before it appears."

He said and pointed to the sky in the distance with a small brush: "Here, every time a hurricane is about to blow, the clouds will disappear, and everyone knows that you must not go out tonight. But experience is experience, it may not be completely correct, and there have been people who are full of people before. Tian Hongxia, it turned out that the wind was very strong at night, so Dr. He told everyone to stay at home at night and not go out easily."

Hearing this, Lin Mian narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at the distant sky. It was indeed as Lao Liao said, the sky was like a translucent light blue gemstone, extraordinarily clean.

Is this the precursor to the opening of the space crack exit?

Suddenly there was the sound of small stones rolling down in his ears, very soft, but Lin Mian caught it. He looked at Lao Liao, who was discussing with other islanders about strengthening the barbed wire, as if he hadn’t heard anything. Lin Mian stood Get up and walk towards the source of the sound.

A seven or eight-year-old child sat behind the jagged rocks, Lin Mian was taken aback by his silent gaze.

"Xiao Yu?" Lin Mian was surprised. The child didn't come back after running out last night, and he was unexpectedly here.

He Yu glanced at him, lowered his head and did not speak. Lin Mian noticed that the child was wet except for the head, and the thin old shirt was stuck to the back, as if it had been fished out of the water. She couldn't help feeling distressed: "Are they bullying you again?"

He Yu shook his head.

Lin Mian sighed, "Go back and change your clothes first."

He Yu let him hold his hand, Wu Ting took a step behind, looking thoughtfully at his thin back.

Children at this age hate dogs, Lin Mian thought He Yu, who was silent, would be an exception, but the speed of changing two sets of clothes a day made him want to educate the bear boy, and when he was about to speak, he listened to He Yu Yu said softly, "I saw Ma Xiao."

"What?" Lin Mian didn't react for a while.

He Yu raised his head and said word by word, "I saw Ma Xiao last night."

Lin Mian's pupils shrank suddenly, and Wu Ting raised his eyebrows.

Seeing that the two of them didn't talk to each other, He Yu thought they didn't believe it, and added, "It's on the rocky beach."

"What else?" Lin Mian recovered and asked.

He Yu lowered his head again: "No more, I fell asleep after being too sleepy."

Lin Mian couldn't help being disappointed, he muttered to himself: "Ma Xiao has been to Reef Beach, and the area around Reef Beach is where sea monsters haunt, so he was indeed killed by sea monsters?"

He Yu suddenly threw away Lin Mian's hand and said loudly, "There is no sea monster at all! No!"

After speaking, he stumbled and ran away alone.

"This child..." Lin Mian looked at her palm, which was still slightly wet, and couldn't help frowning, "Do you know something?"

The author has something to say:

The dean has lost his horse and entered the countdown!

Refill ~