Mermaid Reef

Human beings cannot step into the realm of evil gods.

But there are always exceptions.

***

Cindy was fuzzy and could only feel that she was standing at the foot of a huge hill.

The fog was so thick that she couldn't see the whole of the hill, only some raised reddish-brown stones.

There was a slight sound of sand rubbing against the ground.

The surrounding area was terribly empty, like a huge square.

Cindy wasn't overly alarmed, she had a similar dream.

——When lying on the bed in a daze, I often feel that the whole bed is constantly sinking, and then the room becomes infinitely large, as if falling into a bizarre world.

Sometimes the walls are blank, other times geometric patterns appear on the walls.White will slowly turn into complex colors, and those squares and circles will become bigger and bigger, from orderly to chaotic, but consciousness cannot escape these strange illusions. The bedroom door that was originally a few steps away is far away. It seems that running for three days and three nights can't reach it.

No matter how anxious I was, I couldn't wake up.

"I'm dreaming."

Cindy repeated it, and she suddenly realized that she was holding something in her hand.

A small section of bread.

The Elizabeth hit the rocks and fell into quicksand, giant birds, lighthouses...

A series of memories returned to Cindy's mind, and then she thought of the strange supplies in the lighthouse, which seemed to be waiting for her to find and use.

Among them is this loaf of bread.

This baguette gets firm and the aroma fades away after an hour out of the oven.

The bread in the lighthouse is so fresh, as fresh as when it was put in a paper bag by the baker and handed to the customer. It doesn't look right, unless there is an oven for baking bread in the tower.

After the battle and the wilderness trek, Cindy was tired and hungry.

There are two choices before her and her grandmother, one is not to touch the bread vigilantly, watching the food gradually spoil, and finally driven by hunger to take risks; the other is to skip the hesitation stage and eat first before talking , even if there is a devil waiting behind, there is no need to be afraid, anyway, the situation is already very bad.

result--

"Is this really the devil's contract?" Cindy stared at the bread in a daze.

So the devil understands the weakness of human beings and knows that human beings can do anything in order to survive?

Cindy pinched the bread in her hand, it felt very real, but her intuition told her that all the feelings were imagined, because she seemed to have finished eating this piece of bread, and then appeared here inexplicably... Did she fall asleep? up?

"grandmother?"

Cindy walked forward.

She was worried about Mrs. Fearnier, who remembered her grandmother falling asleep after eating the bread.

The white mist filled the empty square like countless wandering ghosts.

The sound of sand grains rubbing against the soles was so real that it made people shudder.

Suddenly, the bread in Cindy's hand flew out and turned into a small glowing sphere.

Cindy couldn't help but chased after it.

The ball of light flew smaller and smaller, and finally disappeared.

Cindy stopped in her tracks, and she saw two indistinct figures appearing in the depths of the thick fog.

They are like the silhouettes cast by the lights on the curtains of a theater, wearing top hats from the last century and knee-length overcoats. The man on the left has an extra cane to show his identity.

This gave Cindy the absurd illusion that as soon as the band started playing, the two still figures would immediately start talking, while the invisible curtain pulled back to reveal the exquisitely perfect set, and more pedestrians were walking around. Walking around there, the viewer is brought into the streets of nineteenth-century England at once.

But Cindy didn't get the music, and she didn't see the other actors.

Cindy turned her head and walked in the other direction.

She also wanted Mrs. Fenier.

Jason: "..."

What does it mean?Seeing something strange and pretending not to see it?This habit is very good!

Gemil thought he could try this investigator, and he immediately appeared in front of Cindy.

Cindy stopped and continued to change directions.

Gemil changed again, and dragged Jason to join him.

The square in the thick fog was empty and flat, without any markers.

Anyway, no matter how Cindy walks, she will meet these two silhouettes. They stand far away, and they can't see their faces no matter what. Even if they walk straight towards them, the silhouettes always remain static. But it can never get closer, and it has always been in a misty shadow state.

If you turn your back and try to stay away from the silhouette, a mysterious silent silhouette will appear in front of you soon.

People with a little weak willpower may fall into strong self-doubt when encountering such a situation, collapse and shout in fear of being unable to distinguish the direction, and even brandish weapons indiscriminately.

Cindy is empty-handed, she has no weapons, but she would love to have them,

Because she suspected that the devil was threatening herself.

Cindy admitted defeat, and decided to break the eerie silence by speaking out first:

"Gentlemen, I am looking for an old woman. She is my grandmother."

"You are the only human here." Silhouette replied.

Cindy couldn't believe it. She and her grandmother both ate bread, but the devil only chose her?

"I think this is good news, but my grandmother may not be happy about it." Cindy tried to calm herself down. She thought Mrs. Finier might be extremely disappointed. After all, negotiating with the devil is such an important matter, Mrs. Finer I absolutely don't want to leave it to my granddaughter.

"Do not."

Cindy heard the silhouette holding a cane continue, "We refuse to connect with a human being who will doze off at any time. Although this is part of a dream, the physical strength and endurance of human beings will not be affected by the body, but the vitality of the brain will. Master your actions and wills, I don't want to see adventurers suddenly lose consciousness while walking in the ruins."

Mrs. Fenier, who dozed off at any time, escaped the bad luck of being named by the devil by virtue of aging and forgetting things.

Cindy didn't know what to say, she dryly issued a tone word, and then asked as calmly as possible: "So I am the adventurer that the two gentlemen need?"

"Yes."

This sound is very beautiful, coming from the silhouette on the right.

He was taller and looked more arrogant and indifferent.

When Cindy heard him speak, the hairs all over her body stood up and she trembled uncontrollably. She had heard countless voices, some beautiful and some terrifying, but the most terrifying and beautiful voice appeared today, and these two The perfect integration of the former completely shattered Cindy's understanding of the world.

Like a strawberry with jagged teeth and a symphony of demons, Eden is buried deep in the lava of hell.

Cindy took a step back, trying to control herself not to be overwhelmed by the terrifying sound.

She straightened up again, sweating coldly.

"...I thought it was a dream." Cindy said hoarsely.

Why is this dream so real?She would sweat, experience heart palpitations, and have numb hands and feet from fear.

***

Gemil didn't expect Cindy's reaction to the voice to be so great.

Jason squinted his eyes and looked carefully, and found that Cindy's head with the thickest luminosity was actually layered. The ears on both sides protruded a little, which was obviously brighter than the surrounding area. He didn't know how to evaluate this. A luminous talent.

Jason even thought of some kind of animal in the desert, with a big head and big ears, vigilant and dexterous.

They look weak, without sharp enough claws and teeth, nor thick carapace, but they can survive in the barren desert.

"She's used to it."

Gemil was surprised.

When Jason came back to his senses, he suddenly found that Cindy's head was brighter, while the brightness covering his body became dimmer.

Although the evil god always likes to use pearls to describe the glowing one inside the ant, it can't really become round!

The body is fragile, how to escape when encountering mysterious and evil forces?

Forget it, anyway, this is just a dream, as long as you have a brain.

***

Cindy slowly woke up. She clutched her forehead and listened to the silhouette saying that this is not a normal dream realm.

If you get hurt here, you really get hurt.

If you die here, you will wake up with the same fatal injuries. If you are lucky, you will go crazy and die, leaving a relatively complete corpse. She thought about the scene when the ghost ship appeared today).

Some human beings will come in by mistake even if they fall asleep normally, and then it depends on their luck, sometimes they will leave in an instant after wandering around the periphery, sometimes they will fall into the abyss, see things they shouldn't see, and take this This kind of madness brings out the dream.

"You can stay sane and sober, which means that your luck has been very good."

Hearing this, Cindy's expression was stiff and her whole body was cold.

The beginning of this dream is indeed very familiar.

But in those dreams, she has always been a floating cloud, or a small speck of dust, after being swallowed up by a huge chaotic world, she quickly loses consciousness and wanders around without remembering anything.

So what about this time?

"So this is where fear takes hold, the realm of the devil?" Cindy asked hesitantly.

"you can say it this way."

"So, am I talking to a god, or a devil?"

There was a second of silence in the depths of the dense fog, and then the silhouette said slowly: "You can combine the two into one, we have no essential difference."

Before Cindy could answer, the voice came out again.

"You can think of what is about to happen as a commission from the devil, a temporary job with the evil god as the employer, and the job content is to enter a ruin. This used to be the palace of the god of wisdom Thoth, and now it has lost its owner , only some residual power exists, so the degree of danger is not too high. I believe you are qualified for this job."

"..."

Cindy swore that if Grandmother was here, it would be time to enter the haggling session, but she was young and her skin was not that thick.

In other words, she only has courage and no experience in business negotiations.

Cindy said cautiously: "The bread and supplies in the lighthouse, what price will I have to pay after taking it? I want to hear it."

"The price? No, no, that's a little bit of help. I hope that the humans who work for me won't starve to death. If you really want to say it, you can use it as a deposit."

The shadow deep in the fog answered.

The deposit cannot be refunded, and the bread cannot be spit out. It seems that I can only do illegal work.

Cindy tried hard to imitate Mrs. Fenier's appearance, and asked rudely: "What's the full amount?"

Cindy swears that if the devil says anything about incredible wealth, forever young beauty, or a tender and caring lover, she'll turn around and walk away!Do everything you can to wake up!Even if you lay down on the ground and hit the ground with your head!

"I'm thinking... maybe a hat, the style that covers the ears, it can restore your normal hearing."

Cindy: "..."

This was an answer she didn't expect at all. In fact, before today, she didn't feel that this ability was a burden. It also helped Cindy escape the tracking of the giant bird and escape all the way into the lighthouse.

Come to think of it, if she had had such a hat, she would not have fainted in agony from hearing the chorus of death when the Elizabeth steamer approached Sable Island.

You can quickly put on a hat to block out these sounds after you notice something abnormal, you won't have a high fever, you won't go into a coma, and you can take care of your grandmother!

But a hat that completely covers the ears, a knitted beanie?

Need to pull all the curling down when using it?Wouldn't this be a little ugly?

Cindy hesitated and asked, "Can the hat be replaced by headphones?"

"...What are earphones?"

Jason was very puzzled.