Doomsday Bandits and Tramps

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"Tick tock...tick tock..."

Seth opened his eyes and looked at the taupe ceiling.

He had a dream.

A long and arduous dream.

He dreamed that Purin passed the immigration exam,

I dreamed that their mighty group of people saw Pulin off, drinking and eating meat in the city of Tinis,

Dreaming that Avalon's airship landed at the airport of Tinis City,

Dreamed that the city of Tinis was invaded by alien beasts,

Dreaming of collapsed walls and damaged protective nets,

Dreaming of death worms and Nemo, and many strange beasts like waves,

Dreaming of Diana with flowing hair and wounds all over her body,

Dreaming of Goliath and Rodin,

I also dreamed that white snowflakes fell on Xiu's face...

How he wished these were just dreams.

However, these are all true.

Drops of water fall into calm water, ripples spread and disappear slowly.

The echo came to Seth's mind, pulling his consciousness back to reality little by little.

"I, where am I..."

Seth moved his body, his limbs were weak, and his joints, big and small, were aching. He was as heavy as lead, and his heart was weighed down by the memory.

I don't want to move, and I don't have the strength to move.

So he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

The air is warm and the humidity is moderate, with the unique smell of plant ash when firewood is burning, mixed with a stream of cold wind from time to time, it is a bit cool, but it makes people sober.

Seth opened his eyes again, looked at the taupe ceiling again, and looked around again.

He was in a cave, lying on a stone bed, with a rattan mat and a thin layer of cashmere under his body, covered with a thick cashmere quilt, and it was a little hot.

The light came from the upper left of the head and the direction of the feet. The light was cold, a little whitish, and had no temperature, but it was enough to judge the time.

Set moved, trying to get up.

Suddenly, he noticed that there was another person lying beside him.

Turning his head, he saw a young man with cold complexion lying beside him with his eyes closed.

"Repair? Repair!"

Seth turned over, a seemingly insignificant little movement, but he was so painful that he almost fell apart. Sweat seeped out of his forehead and back. After curling up his body for a while, the pain faded away like a thread. .

He covered his aching chest, pressed his face against the stone bed, pushed his elbow hard, and barely opened a gap between his body and the stone bed, then took a deep breath, held it, and pressed the hand covering his chest on the stone bed. Pushing hard on the bed, I finally lifted my upper body, then supported it with my elbows, and sat up little by little.

From lying down to sitting up, it used to take less than a second, but now it made him sweat profusely and exhausted.

Seth had no time to take care of it, he patted Xiu's face lightly, and anxiously called his name.

However, Xiu did not respond.

Quiet like a puppet.

Seth felt his heart skip a beat for an instant, and he hurried to explore Xiu's breath, touching his forehead to feel his body temperature.

Xiu's breathing was a little weak, but generally stabilized, and his body temperature was also a little low, but Xiu's body temperature was always lower than that of ordinary people, and every time I hugged him, I had to cover him for a while to warm up.

Fortunately, nothing serious.

Seth heaved a sigh of relief, his body's weakness and startledness quickly made him feel exhausted, his head was groggy, his heart felt weak, and his stomach was empty.

"woke up?"

A voice came from behind him and overhead.

Seth turned his head, and there was a cane hanging from a corner of the cave ceiling. A figure in a long robe was hanging leisurely on the cane, holding a small carving knife in his hand, carving something.

"It's you?"

As soon as Seth exerted force, the pain made him almost swear.

"I, how long have I been in a coma?"

"Five days, I can really sleep, if I don't wake up again, I'm going to bury you, the pit has been dug, it's a pity."

The masked man looked down at Seth, turned over and got off the cane, put away the small carving knife, grabbed the strange cane leaning against the wall, and walked into the cave.

"Hey, stop!"

Seth threw off the quilt, put on the straw sandals beside the stone bed, and chased after him enduring the pain of scolding every step he took.

"Hey! Where are you going? Where is this place? Why are we here? How is Tinis City? Are you the beast that attacked the fortress city..."

Seth wanted to ask too many questions, and he never lost a step after chasing the masked man.

But the masked man stopped suddenly, turned his cane in the palm of his hand, and pointed the sharp tip of the cane against Seth's throat: "Just one more word, and the well dug will be fully utilized."

Seth swallowed, leaned back, and distanced himself from the penetrating stick tip.

The masked man didn't seem to have any intention of taking his life either. Seeing Seth shut up obediently, the masked man withdrew his staff and walked into the cave again.

Seth followed without hesitation, but not too closely.

The cave is not too big, but the more you go in, the brighter it becomes.

After rounding a corner, there was a faint smell of rotten eggs in the air.

After walking a few more steps, Seth saw a tiankeng in front of him. The wall of the pit was steep and vertical, about five meters high. The mouth of the pit was covered by green forests. At the bottom of the pit was a pool of hot springs. Falling from the potholes, shining on the water surface and blowing the white mist, it is quiet and quiet, with a unique cave.

Seth was so fascinated by the sight in front of him, but he heard two crisp bells, and a branch fell from above the pit, carrying the masked man slowly away from the sinkhole.

When Seth caught up, the masked man was only one step away from the mouth of the pit.

"Hey, hey, where are you going!"

"None of your business." The masked man replied coldly.

"..."

Seth stood at the bottom of the pit, feeling like he had eaten a fly, speechless and disgusted.

"I will collect the body in three days, if you want to leave, please feel free."

The masked man crouched by the pothole, looking down at Seth: "By the way, I'm better at burying people than saving them."

After speaking, the masked man waved his hand at Seth, turned and left.

Seth stood at the bottom of the pit and sorted out his thoughts a little.

This masked man is a complete freak, but it is a fact that he saved himself and Xiu, and it is also a fact that he led them to meet Kafka and his party who traveled far and wide. But so far, apart from killing a few bandits, he doesn't seem to have done anything too outrageous.

Should I take Xiu away immediately, or stay here and wait for Xiu to wake up...

Seth returned to the cave, and after confirming that Xiu had no signs of waking up for the time being, he began to observe the cave.

This is a natural tiankeng cave, but it has obviously been polished artificially.

The cave as a whole presents a trend of high outer and inner bottom. The central cave is clean and empty, and the surrounding stone walls are polished very smooth. A small stone window is opened in the direction of the hot spring. The angle is very good and does not affect the lighting. The two corridors have corners and radians, which are designed to keep warm and shelter from the wind. There are traces of bonfire embers in the pits, which are often inhabited.

Seth walked up the passage, and the entrance of the cave was dark and damp. Compared with the width of the interior, the entrance of the cave seemed very small. The densely-packed vines almost covered the entrance of the cave. It was difficult to find a cave here from the outside.

Seth tried to push the vine away, and when he approached, he found that the vine was covered with thorns, and there were also dark purple traces similar to dried and condensed juice.

Experience told him that the cane was poisonous.

It is not fatal, but it will hurt for several days if it touches the skin at least.

This is to guard against alien beasts, not against people.

It seems that this is where the masked man ends up.

"Cuckoo...cuckoo..."

Seth walked back, and suddenly heard a strange movement in the cave.

It sounded like some kind of bird of prey.

"Not good, Xiu!"

Seth hurried back to the cave, only to see a chubby snowy owl nestling on the stone bed, where Seth was lying and combing its feathers.

Seth didn't dare to take a breath, and slowly approached the stone bed, for fear that the sudden appearance of the snowy owl would hurt Xiu.

Sensing someone approaching, the snowy owl immediately raised its head, stared at Seth with two round eyes, uttered two 'coo's', and flapped its wings to fly away from the stone window.

After Snowy Owl left, there was a cloth bag on the stone bed.

After opening it, there are cashmere woven clothes and rabbit fur socks inside, all new and soft.

"Is this from that snowy owl?"

Seth was a little confused.

Looking back at the stone window, the snowy owl flew back again, stood on the stone window and stared at him with something in its mouth.

"Did the masked man ask you to send it?"

Seth didn't know whether he was thinking of the past where the Albion people lived with alien beasts, or simply had a brain twitch, and he began to try to communicate with the snowy owl.

"That masked man is your master?"

That was the snowy owl ignored Seth at all, spat out the contents of its mouth on the ground, flapped its wings and flew away.And what it vomited on the ground, after Seth checked, it was found to be two rabbits and a mouse...

In the following time, Seth rested in the cave while taking care of the unconscious Xiu.

The snowy owl would appear in the cave from time to time. In addition to delivering food and dead mice, sometimes it would also bring some herbal bandages or odds and ends of daily necessities. It was not allowed to be touched or approached. He vomited on the ground, and walked away after vomiting twice, making Seth feel like the bird was teasing him.

If it weren't for its hard work, Seth would have plucked its feathers and roasted it on the fire.

Two days later, Xiu still showed no signs of waking up.

With water in his mouth, Seth moistened Xiu's lips little by little, and then helped Xiu wipe his body, change his dressing, and massage.

After finishing everything, he leaned against the bed, holding Xiu's hand while humming the song singing in the Rain.

Until he was tired from humming, he moistened Xiu's lips again with water in his mouth.

Then, kiss it lightly.

"Xiu, wake up, I miss you..."

Suddenly, Xiu's eyebrows moved.

Seth was afraid that he might be mistaken, so he tried calling Xiu Xiu's name again.

"Xiu, Xiu?"

This time, Xiu's eyelids moved.

Seth was overjoyed, and hurriedly shouted: "Xiu, Xiu, it's me, I'm Seth, you can hear me, right?"

Amid Seth's shout, Xiu slowly opened his eyes: "Seth..."