"The dark circles under your eyes have faded."
This was the first thing Chen Wei said after walking into the library. Although it doesn't sound very nice, it's not the most annoying either. Because after seeing what Zhou Yu drew on the paper, he immediately asked: "Are you drawing toothpicks?"
"...This is the ram's horn."
"Your painting style is too fluctuating."
Hearing this euphemistic form of "You draw so ugly", Zhou Yu frowned and tore off the paper, crumpled it into a ball and threw it into the trash can. Perhaps finally realizing that he was unhappy, Chen Wei changed the topic as if nothing had happened.
"Yesterday during the day, you were out of contact for more than ten hours. Did you encounter any difficulties?"
"Do you look like me?"
"Aren't you so angry that you even changed your painting style? By the way, you painted goat horns, right? Does it have any special meaning? Did you meet a cult yesterday?"
"Your reasoning is too jumpy. Does this have something to do with the ram's horns?"
"It's culturally symbolic. Goat horns symbolize the devil in Christianity. It was originally an image absorbed from paganism."
"Is that a deliberate attempt to demonize?"
"Well, you can put it that way. For believers, pagans are enemies, so it's normal to promote them like this... What about you? If you don't plan to join Satanism, why did you draw this?"
In fact, there is no special reason, it is just a random doodle. Because he had nothing to do while waiting for someone, he unconsciously scribbled on the paper. When asked by Chen Wei, Zhou Yu thought for a moment and said, "I heard two strange stories yesterday."
"About the ram's horn?"
"One is."
Chen Wei acted like he was all ears.
"...There used to be a villain who collected debts for the casino. His name was...Os. One day he inadvertently attracted the devil. The devil gave him a horn that could shed gold and made a bet with him. As long as he If he can find another horn of the same sheep and return it to the devil as compensation, then he can enjoy a lifetime of glory and wealth. Otherwise, he must serve the devil forever after death."
"Well, it's very Faust-style. What next?"
"After accepting the bet, Aos used the horn to become one of the richest men in the city. He bought a large number of mansions and properties, and married the most beautiful woman in the city. However, he was also afraid of being controlled by the devil after his death. So he offered a huge reward to find another goat horn - it is said that when he finds the right horn, the devil will take the initiative to visit him. Many people brought him horns, but none met the conditions. Fearing the afterlife, he kept raising the stakes, and finally he even promised that anyone who provided him with the correct horn could share half of his wealth."
"It's really no expense spared."
"Half wealth is nothing compared to the days after death, right?"
"That's true...but is it so bad to serve the devil? If the soul is immortal after death, I think it will be painful no matter what. It will be no different even in heaven."
"...What kind of theory is this? 'Human beings don't want nothingness after death, so they like ghost stories.' Is this what you said before?"
Facing Zhou Yu's rebuttal, Chen Wei smiled and said indifferently: "The two are not contradictory, right? The longer you keep the things you get, the less valuable they are - this currency is probably an exception, because it itself is Equivalents can be converted into other things... let’s not discuss this kind of thing for now, and then what? Has the gambler found the horn? "
"No. They haven't found it for ten years. Realizing that the situation was serious, Aos began to take the second method, which was to avoid death. He visited a famous prophet in the world and learned that he would 'die of a broken heart.' . The prophet warned him that if he wanted to avoid such an outcome, he should live in seclusion and not have too much contact with anyone. So since then, he no longer has contact with his old friends, nor does he have much contact with his wife. Say a word. His son couldn't understand his change, and went to another city in anger, married and settled there. Os thought it was safer for his son, so he didn't stop him. He lived alone like this. But in the third year, he finally felt that he couldn't bear it anymore. So he walked outside the city gate, casually invited three travelers to his home, and entertained them with great enthusiasm. From then on, he became addicted to this kind of banquet. I keep inviting strangers to my home every day.”
When he heard this, Chen Wei finally showed an interested expression. He said: "Isn't this kind of behavior very dangerous for him? Being in contact with so many people is likely to create a particularly close relationship."
"Yes, Os has also thought of this possibility. When entertaining guests, he is extremely warm and generous - but this kind of invitation is only for one night. When the guests leave, he will ask the painter to record the appearance and name of the guests. After coming down, he would never contact the other party again. Originally, the guests he invited were all travelers from other places and would not stay in the city for a long time. Even if they met by chance on the street in the future, he would just pretend to have disappeared. He would never Come up and say hello again."
"That's not bad."
"Do you think this is a good thing?"
Chen Wei shrugged, still smiling and said: "Isn't this the same as before? Whether it's lifespan or love, if you have it for too long, it will lose value. If it's lifespan, it's simple and clear to die directly. Love is It’s not that you cancel just because you cancel. There are many examples of people turning against each other, right? So it’s the best choice not to have too good friends in the first place - although that said, this is just a hypothesis. There are many reasons for making friends in reality Well. It would be difficult to really do this for a long time, right?"
"Indeed. By the fifth year, the whole city knew about his strange habits. Rumors said that he used witchcraft to suck the lifespan of his guests, and in order to prevent the victims from dying in his house, he would evict them as quickly as possible. Let's go. After this rumor spread to surrounding areas, it became difficult to invite strangers as guests. We had to invite people who lived very far away.
"One winter of that year, a wanderer came to the city. Although he had heard rumors, he still accepted Os's invitation. Os was very happy, so he made an exception and kept the man one more night. They stayed all night He stayed up all night to have fun. Perhaps because he had lived alone for too long, he found that he liked this wanderer very much, and the two of them could be said to have hit it off. After the second night, he still couldn't bear to say goodbye to him, so the wanderer stayed at his house again. On the third night.
"...On the sixth night like this, he felt a strong reluctance to leave this person, and the other person happily invited him to travel together. He finally began to feel fear, fearing that this wanderer would be the predicted death.
"So, in order to ensure his own safety, he decided to kill the wanderer on the seventh night."
Chen Wei raised his eyebrows slightly.
Seeing his expression, Zhou Yu stopped talking and asked, "Are you surprised?"
"Not really. This can be considered a situation where friends turn against each other, right? However, if you have to kill a friend you admire because of this risk, you can only say that you are worthy of making a deal with the devil."
"It is said that it was an era when bandits were rampant, and murder was commonplace for people at that time."
"The European Middle Ages? That's not right. Your story is more like the Middle East."
"Is there any difference?" Zhou Yu, who has little research on foreign literature, asked.
"Ah...folk stories are not so clearly defined. After all, writers like to talk about foreign countries. I remember that in the original story of "Arabian Nights", Aladdin was a native Chinese. There are many other legends that have something in common. Yes, stories about fairies bathing by the lake, having their feathered clothes stolen by mortals and being forced to marry, are found in several civilizations... I can only say that ancient people were very interested in the daughters of gods, but it’s not necessary. I mind too much. Let’s get back to the subject, what will happen to that wanderer? Since he is the God of Death in the prophecy, it shouldn’t be that easy to deal with, right?”
However, Zhou Yu shook his head.
"-No, the wanderer was easily killed."
