There was such a fuss last night, what happened? Early the next morning, Wu Ming and his party walked downstairs after washing up, and found a table on the first floor and sat down. The proprietress who opened the shop very early brought bread and hot soup that had been prepared early and put them on the table. He came up curiously: When I came up in the morning, I heard people in the town saying that Old John seemed to be dead. Didn't the mayor take you to a vigil yesterday? what's up?
Ah, something did happen last night, but it's hard to explain. Otto looked sleep deprived with thick dark circles under his eyes, and answered absentmindedly that in fact he did not sleep for long last night. After returning to the hotel in the middle of the night, they were still reviewing the game in Wu Ming's room. After an hour or two, after confirming today's itinerary and goals, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
Unexpectedly, he was woken up by Alex's heavy knock on the door not long after he slept. The latter had already asked him to get up for breakfast on the grounds of healthy living, almost tearing down the door.
The result was this. Otto became the one among the four whose mental state seemed closest to sudden death from exhaustion. The other three were either as energetic as the old hunter, or as calm and relaxed as Siegfried. It's hard to tell that they were in such a state of mind that they stayed up most of the night last night.
Wu Ming doesn't have the problem of lack of sleep. Even if he practiced cultivation for most of the night yesterday and didn't sleep for a few hours, it wouldn't be a big problem. With his current physical fitness, as long as he is willing, even going without sleep for several days will not affect him too much. In terms of his mental state, he was a little surprised that the boss lady was so well-informed: Did someone from the town specially come to tell you what happened last night this morning?
Yes, he came here at dawn! That’s right! If you didn’t ask me, I almost forgot about the business! The landlady suddenly slapped her forehead, as if she suddenly remembered something very important. In fact, she came to see you.
Alex took a bite of the dry bread soaked in soup and asked with some confusion: Are you here to find us?
The mayor seems to have something to talk to you about, so he sent someone over to deliver a message. He said that he hopes you will go to him during the meeting at noon. The lady boss shrugged, but she didn’t say anything specifically about what business he wanted to see you for. It was then that I chatted with him and found out what happened last night.
Wu Ming understood immediately. He knew in his heart what the mayor wanted to find them for, so he didn't ask any more questions. The old hunter also nodded and said, "I understand. We will go to the church to find them at noon." his
Hey, I hope things in the town can end soon. The landlady let out a slightly regretful sigh: Although Old John is not a very good person at ordinary times, he will not end up like this. I don’t know when the flute player will be caught, otherwise The people in the town were panicking about when it would end.
After last night's incident, maybe the mayor and Pastor Ilson will implement some measures. Wu Ming casually comforted the proprietress, and then an idea flashed in his mind, and he asked on the spur of the moment: Proprietor, you should stay in this town. Has it been many years?
The landlady was stunned when asked: I grew up in this town and have lived here for decades. What's wrong? Is there anything wrong?
Wu Ming's question not only confused the boss's wife, but also Otto and Alex gave him somewhat puzzled looks, as if they didn't understand why he suddenly asked such a question.
He ignored the inquiring glances from the two people and asked slowly: Boss lady, do you know about the witch's pet? Yesterday we seemed to have encountered two creatures that cannot be explained by science.
As he spoke, he briefly recounted their experience of encountering the gargoyles last night under the increasingly weird gazes of the landlady, but skipped the more horrifying battle process in the middle: Later, some brave townspeople ran out and saw the gargoyles. After the stone statue fragments were piled up, someone shouted that they were the witch's pets. I saw that the townspeople seemed to know the origins of these stone statues, but they refused to tell us what happened to these despicable foreigners, so I wanted to ask Do you know what's going on?
After hearing this, the landlady gradually showed an incredible expression on her face: She is really the witch's pet. Rumors about this are not a secret in the town. There is no problem in telling you, but it has been a bit difficult to operate the store recently.
She deliberately did not continue speaking, rubbed her hands and made a gesture
The money gesture and the cunning look in his eyes made it very clear: If you want to know clues, just pay.
When Otto saw him like this, his sleepiness suddenly disappeared and his eyes widened: Can you ask for this money? After all, we are helping you solve your problem.
Even though I said that, the store is really in trouble. The landlady pointed her chin with her finger and showed a very distressed posture: Because foreigners live here, and because of the incident with the flute player, my tavern is You may not have any income for a while, but you still have to live after all.
Money matters are easy to discuss. Wu Ming didn't even take a breath before agreeing. The money would be reimbursed by the firm anyway.
Upon hearing this, the landlady's face immediately burst into laughter, and her money-loving smile added a little more charm to her already beautiful appearance: Hey, I'm so generous, aren't you afraid of my big mouth?
Wu Ming also smiled, with his always approachable and gentle smile on his face: I am very happy to be able to help such a beautiful lady, not to mention that you are willing to take us in, so I also want to help you as much as possible.
Brother, you are really good at talking. For the sake of your generosity, I won’t charge you for this information. The lady boss still smiled when she heard what he said, but there was a complicated look in her eyes, and then She gradually stopped smiling and returned to the topic: You want to know about the witch's pet, right?
If possible, tell the legend of the town witch as well. The old hunter added.
The landlady nodded: Well, I understand, but let me explain in advance that parents living in this town will always tell their children similar stories or sing similar nursery rhymes, so these things I am talking about are Everyone in the town knows it, at least they must have heard it, but I don’t really believe in these things myself, so I just have an understanding. Don’t rely on me to explain something unclear...
Wu Ming moved his position and moved a chair to make room for the proprietress. His expression became serious: Please speak.
Let’s start with the witch’s pet. The landlady sat down slowly, with a somewhat thoughtful look on her face. In fact, the monster you met yesterday was mentioned in a series of stories passed down from generation to generation in the town. It was a pet raised by a witch, and it was also mentioned in many stories. Very classic villains. They are all terrible monsters created by witches using vicious and terrible black magic. They have rough skin like stone, wings like bats, thick limbs and sharp claws.
These monsters are only active at night and turn into stone statues to disguise themselves during the day. At night, they will quietly kidnap other people's children, attack cattle and sheep in captivity, or serve as messengers of witches traveling under the night sky to communicate with the devils they believe in. Because of their immense strength, strong body, and ferocious hideousness, It seems that in every story, he will be killed by the protagonist in the story, in order to set off the bravery and strategy of the protagonist in the story.
Otto asked in confusion: Wait, why do they only appear at night?
I don't know either. Some stories say that the monster's black magic will lose its effectiveness when it sees the sun, and some stories say that the witch's power will fade during the day. There are also many stories where the reasons are somewhat contradictory. Anyway, for what reason? There is no conclusion as to why it can only appear at night. The landlady spread her arms, but judging from the description alone, the stone statue you met last night is not much different from the classic image described in the story, especially in terms of the stone statue. , so it’s not surprising that some people think so.
She lowered her voice and muttered the last sentence to herself, and her tone sounded a little disapproving. It was obvious that seeing was not believing, so she didn't believe what the other party said before.
Wu Ming nodded, as if he had completely understood: Got it, these are a group of pillar men who will turn into stone when exposed to the sun.
Otto:? ? ? ? ?
Boss lady, please continue. Wu Ming ignored Otto, who had question marks on his forehead next to him, and stretched out his hand to make a please gesture, indicating to the boss lady to continue.
Legend has it that these stone monsters cannot be separated from the witch's care for a long time. Every once in a while, the witch needs to perform a black magic transformation for them, otherwise they will slowly turn back into stone statues. However, even the witch's black magic has its limits. , although it can make stone statues come alive like living creatures, it cannot
Let them think like humans, so the intelligence of these stone statues created by magic is relatively low in the story. It is probably because the story writer was afraid that the stone statue monster was too strong and the protagonist in the story could not defeat it.
I only know so much about the witch's pet, the stone monster you encountered. The proprietress didn’t know much about witches’ pets. After telling what she knew, she changed the subject: Let’s talk about witches next.
The legend of the witch circulating in the town of Melas may be traced back hundreds of years.
After hearing what the landlady said, Wu Ming's expression suddenly changed.
Wait, what did you just say? !
