eurekapd Chapter 1: Part 1
Chapter 1: Part 1
The traveler was walking on the road, the sun was scorching, and there were only barren rocks and low weeds around him. He looked at the map, and the markers showed that there seemed to be an abandoned town ahead.Then go and find a place to rest. It would be great if you can find a source of water.
He walked past signposts covered with withered vines, past fallen statues, and squares where the ground was crumbling.
The desolate wind blew, and the grass balls and fallen leaves were rolled up, and the crows could not be heard.
What a lonely place.
The traveler thought so.
In the dilapidated well, you can see the broken wooden barrels and long ropes falling in the mud. This well has probably been dry for a long time.Even if they stay here, they probably won't gain anything. Disappointed travelers can only continue along the road in the town.
However, when he was about to leave the town, he saw an extremely conspicuous house on the other side of the town.
The smooth tiles glistened under the sunlight, and they could be seen clearly even from a distance. It was so out of proportion to the entire decayed and deserted town that the traveler suddenly became curious.
It was nothing important anyway.
Then go and have a look.
The old iron fence surrounds the house. Although the beautiful shape can vaguely tell the majestic posture when it was first erected, but now the paint is decayed, and the rusty appearance may not scare away the naughty little ghosts next door.
The only thing that can stop outsiders is the dense black thorns growing on the fence, layer upon layer, surrounding the entire house.
A cold light flickered on the sharp thorns of the plants, coldly and silently despising any creature that tried to peek into the mansion.
The traveler who was still trying to step in through the broken part of the fence could only touch his nose, and began to look for the main entrance seriously.
What made him smile bitterly was that the huge iron gate at the entrance was completely entwined with thorns, not to mention opening it, even a rabbit would not be able to run in through these dense thorns.
At last, the helpless traveler could only pick up the stones on the ground angrily, and knock on the still intact glass windows of the house as a pastime. After all, he originally thought that it would be great if he could spend the night here, but the fate of sleeping in the wilderness seems to be I made up my mind not to leave him.
Travelers guess that there are no residents in the house, so they will use this kind of children's pranks to pass the boredom—after all, long-distance travel is actually quite boring and boring, especially when you have no travel companions—the mansion The gate has already changed into what it is today, so how can anyone live in it?
But to his surprise, not long after, the closed door of the big house opened with a creak.
"Who is outside? ’ the gentle voice asked.
Standing at the door was a young man with dark hair and blue eyes. The surprised traveler stared at him blankly, speechless for a while.
"Are you a passerby? 』The young man was not angry at the traveler's rudeness, but greeted him with a smile. "This place is already very deserted, and it must be quite hard to go hiking. 』
"...It's not particularly hard work, and the beautiful scenery can somewhat erase some of the fatigue. 』The traveler stammered to answer the other party.
The young man was handsome, and his clothes were neat and clean. He didn't look like an ordinary civilian, and he just knocked on the other's window and stared at him rudely for a long time. The somewhat ashamed traveler couldn't help but lowered his head. head.
"I'm really sorry, I should have invited rare guests in, but..." The black-haired young man looked at the gate that was densely entwined with thorns in embarrassment, "Now it's impossible to even open the gate. 』
"Ah, but it is still possible to give you some food and water, please wait a moment. As if remembering something, the young man clapped his hands happily, turned around hastily, and disappeared into the shadow behind the door, but the traveler could still hear the sound of the other party rummaging inside, accompanied by "Oh, I hit the head " and the like whispered.
Seems like a bit of a rash person.
After enjoying a rich and delicious dinner with the owner on the grass, across a thorny fence, the traveler's view of youth has an additional note.
is a good man.
After dinner, there was nothing to do, so the two started chatting.
By the way, the curious traveler asked about the thorns.
"Ah, you mean this kid?Maybe it was when I went out when I was a child, and one day the seeds got on my clothes, and then I took it home directly?Because this kind of plant has never been grown before.But it didn't do anything bad. On the contrary, it protected me when the wild beasts attacked the town a few years ago. It was night, and I slept soundly. I didn't know this happened until I woke up in the morning. The young man smiled and replied, "Because the growth is too dense, no beast can enter the house through the wall of thorns." 』
Therefore, this is the reason why the mansion can survive to this day.
"It's great to be rescued, but you won't be able to get out like this, right?Be it food or water, there is always a limit to how much you can store, so what should you do if you run out of everything? ’ said the traveler worriedly. "And you don't need to completely remove it, as long as you open the door, the remaining part can still grow well, right? 』
"well?Nope. The young man laughed heartily, "You misunderstood, I am not trapped?"Even if it's me, I can't bear it if I really don't go out all the time. If I really want to come out... just do it this way. 』
As he spoke, he reached out and grasped the black iron-colored thorn in front of him.
Bright red blood trickled down slowly.
Those plants seemed to be chased by something, and they retreated instantly with a swipe, revealing enough space for one person to enter and exit.
The traveler was stunned again by the incredible sight.
"Well, I don't really like going out because it hurts a lot. The young man licked the wound on his palm, and the bright red blood dripped continuously from it, "Besides, the people in the town all left here because they were afraid of the wild beasts that would appear at night, and went to other places, even if they went out, There is nowhere else to go. 』
"Is this thorn afraid of blood?" 』
"It's not... because the thorns were dripping with blood during the night when the beast died, maybe it was because I was afraid of getting hurt?" The young man looked at the dark thorns with tender eyes, "so I like it very much. 』
Because of the gap that can be entered, the traveler was finally able to get a good sleep on the soft bed that night.
The next day, the traveler woke up.It was found that the gap that was closed at night was blocked again, but the young man's wound had not yet healed, and the bright red blood dripped down. The thorns obediently gave way out of the way like tamed wild beasts.
The black-haired owner probably hasn't seen anyone else for a long time, and his enthusiasm makes the tired traveler feel good.
"...Is there any special reason for you to stay here? 』
"No, it's just that there is nowhere to go. ”With a lonely smile, the young man answered like this.
"Then how about going on the road with me?" 』
"well?me? 』
"Since you haven't found the place you want to go, just travel with me. On the way, you can slowly think about where you want to go. 』
"Sounds really good. The young man nodded, "...But this is the place where I grew up after all... If you don't mind, let me reply to you tomorrow, okay?" 』
"Alright, I'm planning to go for a walk in the town today, but I couldn't take a good look at it when I passed by yesterday. 』The traveler expressed his concern.
The traveler was sure that the young man would agree, because his eyes were very lonely.
Then, for the precious travel companion, find a suitable gift for him. The traveler decided that he was going to have a little adventure in the decaying town.Naturally, there will be no wild beasts in the ruins now, and there may be items that people left behind.
There's occasionally something really funny in that.
For young people who grew up here, it must be a valuable gift, right?
From morning to evening, the traveler wandered among the ruins of the town, broken porcelain dolls, broken necklaces, rusty long swords, moss-covered statues, all kinds of leftover things passed by him .
It's not that it doesn't look precious enough, after all, they are just lost items from a long time ago, but there is always something that suits the traveler's heart.
Finally, in the town hall, he found a copper-clad book.
After blowing away the heavy dust, on the cover with exquisite patterns, you can see that it is an important book used to record the history of the town.But now that the townspeople have all abandoned the town and fled, the book, like the city it records, has been abandoned by the townspeople.
That's it.
There is no better gift than this book.
Thinking so, the traveler put the book into his knapsack.Because it was getting late, the sounds of wild beasts outside made him feel fearful.Just spend the night here temporarily. Although they are all ruins, there are walls that can resist it. If you walk on the open road now, it will be quite dangerous.
A long-night bored traveler, by the firelight, simply reads the book in his hand to pass the time.
There is nothing much to admire about this town, like many other towns, many people left their homes, built a city on a barren field, and made it flourish.
He turned to the last page.
There are only two sentences above.
"Black wild beasts walk on the land, attacking towns every night, we don't know where they come from, and we don't know where they are hiding. We have no choice but to abandon the city. 』
"The sun was rising, and when we were leaving, we saw that it was a beast entwined by thorns, what a terrifying monster. 』
The book fell from the traveler's hand, his whole body was cold, trembling, he looked in the direction of the big house surrounded by thorns.
In front of the returning traveler, thorns wrapped everything tightly.
It climbed from the fence to the wall of the house, and all the exits of the mansion were covered with thorns, but now, it doesn't matter anymore.
The traveler gazed mournfully at the gate.
The young man with the luggage on his back sleeps peacefully on a bed made of thorns. The bright red blood flowers are blooming on the thorns around his body. The posture of them tightly bound him is so urgent, as if he is relaxed, Youth will disappear.
Travelers can even hear the whispers of countless branches rubbing against each other.
"I won't let you go. 』
"You are, belong here, belong to me. 』
The black thorns are growing and spreading unscrupulously, and its will to monopolize the young people can be read from every branch.
Why didn't you find it yourself?
It would have been nice if he had been invited to leave sooner.
It would have been nice if the thorns had been burned then.
Before the eternal house of thorns, the traveler wept bitterly.