When the motorcycle was about to reach its destination, Zhou Yu finally remembered a question.
"Hongye, are there lords like Osler on Crescent Road?"
Because of the roar of the motorcycle, Hongye's reply sounded a little blurry: "Well...not every place has a lord. The Crescent Road area is a lordless land."
“Are there many unowned places?”
"No, the situation at Crescent Road is one of the few."
Speaking of which, Zhou Yu and Xinyue Lu are also quite destined. Going southwest from that road, there are Jishuo Road, Jiuye Road, Jiwang Road, Bedai Road, Huiyue Road... In short, they are all streets named after the phases of the moon.
The incident where he almost killed Zhang Mumu happened somewhere between Jiwang Road and Bedai Road. That happened last year. Although it was only a few months ago, it feels like a lifetime ago when I think about it now.
After turning the intersection, the road conditions changed from a spacious and flat asphalt road to a bumpy gravel road, and the originally smooth motorcycle started to bump. At the end of the dark and narrow road, there is a sign of "Crescent Road" crookedly erected.
The light on the street was very dark and the road was cramped and bumpy. Hongye simply stopped the motorcycle on the side of the street and let the two of them walk forward.
"It's still the same."
Seeing the shabby, dead, ghost-like houses around him, Zhou Yu commented to himself. After hearing this, Hongye asked in surprise: "Zhou Yu, have you been here before?"
"I've been here several times before."
After Zhou Yu said this, he immediately turned his head to the side, pretending to observe the environment. Hongye did not ask further questions, but looked around and said, "This area is dying."
"It's just more desolate."
Hongye shook his head: "I'm not talking about the economy or business. I'm talking about the fact that this land is dying. Zhou Yu, come here."
Zhou Yu approached as she asked, and Hongye stretched out a finger to point between his eyebrows. That feeling of being out of the body came back. However, this time it only lasted less than three seconds before Hongye immediately withdrew his finger and asked, "How?"
"There doesn't seem to be anything black like that here."
"Well, that's what I mean. This place is like a reef in the ocean. Sea creatures of sufficient size cannot board it, otherwise they will suffocate to death. Although people will be fine in the short term, they will be fine if they stay in the long term. Is it being subtly influenced? The mind and body will become worse and worse. So either move away as soon as possible, or I am afraid that I will slowly suffer to death. This method of death is called 'soul ecstasy', and the cause of death cannot be found using technological means. of."
"...Indeed, I haven't seen any residents during the several times I've been here."
When he first came here, Zhou Yu simply regarded this place as a slum abandoned by society. If you think about it carefully now, you have to admit that this idea is not very comprehensive. From Xinyue Road to Bedai Road, they are all along the subway. Even if it is a relatively remote terminal station, there is no reason for it to be so desolate. If we talk about remoteness, Nanpu, a suburban area where wealthy people live, is actually even further away from the city center.
"These houses should be leftover from when the land was still in good condition. There won't be too many people staying in them anymore - Zhou Yu, not to mention people with special physiques like you, most people will be confused when they walk around here. Uncomfortable and subconsciously avoided.”
Noticing that Zhou Yu fell into a strange silence, Hongye asked strangely: "What's wrong?"
"No, it's nothing. I just thought of a certain dwarf who followed a stranger here casually."
"Dwarf?"
"Don't worry, it's a supernatural creature."
During the conversation, the two walked towards the more deserted southwest direction. After turning the intersection, Hongye suddenly stopped. Following her gaze, Zhou Yu also discovered something unusual.
The house to the right of the two people had half its roof collapsed due to aging, and even the wooden door frame had deformed and fallen off. From the open door, you can see the interior of the house illuminated by moonlight.
The furniture has disappeared, and most of the bare walls are peeling off. It seems that there is a risk of falling down at any time. In the center of that shabby room, which would never have been inhabited, there was about two sacks of soil piled up.
The two looked at each other and went back and forth into the house to check.
The mound is like a carefully crafted miniature mountain landscape, standing tall and straight. That kind of compacted and firm state is obviously not just dumped casually, but deliberately shaped into this shape. There are many traces of defects in the area around the "top of the mountain".
Zhou Yu took out his mobile phone, set it to flashlight mode and shined it on the mound. Under the strong light, the strange incomplete appearance of the mound was exposed.
"Hongye, what is this?"
It was impossible to mistake it. The neat marks on the mound of soil, as neat as comb teeth, were the teeth marks of a creature close to that of a primate.
Compared to Zhou Yu's surprise, Hongye seemed to have expected this situation. She looked at the mound and nodded and said, "This is made by Sang Lian."
"Sanglian?"
"Well, if nothing else, he is the person who was called the 'starving ghost' by Osler. I have heard of his name a long time ago, but I have never seen him in person."
"If he can even eat dirt, the nickname 'Starving Ghost' would suit him quite well."
After hearing Zhou Yu's thoughts, Hongye sighed again. She said with some hesitation: "Sang Lian may have a reason for doing this."
"You mean he ate the dirt, or did you mean he helped 'freeze' it?"
"Both. In fact, I still don't understand this matter. The Sang Lian I heard about is not someone who will help 'freeze'..."
Regarding Hongye's defense, Zhou Yu had no feeling of trust, and just said frankly: "You didn't think Ausier would betray you before, right?"
This sentence obviously shocked Hongye. She shook her head depressedly and said: "They are different. Auster is just a mortal who made wrong wishes, and Sang Lian's situation is completely different from him. If even he agrees with the idea of 'freezing', then The matter is very serious, and we must warn the old man from Wuyuanxing as soon as possible."
"elder?"
"Well...he's my friend's father."
Hongye said vaguely, as if he didn't want Zhou Yu to continue questioning. She said: "Let's go and look elsewhere." Then she walked out of the house first.
In the tomb-like quiet neighborhood, the two found more similar mounds. Strangely, each time the tooth marks only landed on the top of the mound.
And every time she saw a mound, Hongye's expression became worse.
After doing this four times in a row, Zhou Yu finally couldn't help but ask: "Is this some kind of ceremony?"
"No, with marks like this, I'm afraid he is eating the earth's fetus..."
When he reached the intersection, Hongye suddenly stopped talking and looked at the end of the side street. Zhou Yu followed and looked over, only to find that there seemed to be a figure sitting under the street tree a hundred meters away.
The rickety figure has gray hair on his ragged back, and he seems to be chewing something. Whether it was due to his hearing loss or because he was too focused on eating, he turned his head belatedly until the two of them were one meter away from him.
The face looked older than the back, and the white beard was long and messy, covered with rice grains. There was a linen bag beside his legs, which seemed to be filled with water bottles, cardboard and other items.
Seeing two young women appearing here at midnight, the old man acted very surprised and opened his mouth indifferently. Judging from his appearance and behavior, he is just a poor scavenger.
Just in case, Zhou Yu still asked: "Red leaves?"
Hongye closed her eyes helplessly: "It's not this old man... Sang Lian's age in appearance should be close to ours."
Then she knelt down and asked, "Old man, have you ever seen a young man with a red spot on his forehead here?"
The old man scavenging obviously had severe hearing loss. Hongye repeated it loudly several times and pointed his finger on his forehead to make gestures. Then he finally imitated Hongye's movements and pointed his forehead, stumbling and saying: "Are you looking for him?"
"Yes, have you met him?"
The old man scavenging seemed to suddenly have energy. He nodded repeatedly and said, "Hey young man, I don't want any food, just give it to me. Thank him for me."
He seemed to regard the two as friends of the "young man" and kept asking them to thank him on his behalf.
There is indeed a lunch box on the old man's lap. Although most of it has been eaten, judging from the remaining contents, the dishes include chicken legs, shredded potatoes, green vegetables, and mushrooms. It can be said to be a quite hearty meal.
Facing the old man's earnest attitude, Hongye's expression became more complicated. She raised her voice and asked, "Did that young man give you the meal?"
The old man also replied loudly: "It's him, it's him."
"Do you know where he went?"
"He came home."
"Where is his home?"
The old man laughed happily. He pointed at the dirt with his index finger and said loudly: "Down there!"
