Mr. and Mrs. Layton worked together to carry the sleeping "sacrifice" up the stairs, with their children following behind.
"Remember to call your Excellency your Excellency. After meeting your Excellency, do not make loud noises or look directly into your eyes. This will be regarded as provocation."
"You must respect it like you respected your grandfather, and behave humbly and respectfully."
"The orders it gives must be obeyed."
Dean raised his feet and paused. He looked at each other with his three excited brothers and sisters, and they could see the anxiety in each other's eyes.
"Then it wants us to die where we are, and we will commit suicide?" Perron complained jokingly,
Layton and Shannon paused and gave Perun a stern look, "It is an ancestor and will not harm its descendants, as long as you don't act so stupid and frivolous."
"I remember." Perun's smile froze and he pressed his upper and lower lips, "I swear, if you talk nonsense again, I will sew this stinky mouth shut."
"What does that adult look like?"
Kristine slowed down, her pretty face mixed with nervousness and anticipation, "I'm afraid I'll be too surprised and lose etiquette."
"It maintains a basic human shape." Layton glanced at the four children, turned around, carried the back of the "sacrifice" and retreated along the stairs sloping upward on the left, "But it is a natural hunter. , the body shape combines strength, flexibility, explosiveness and deterrence, so it is not so beautiful.”
A monster?
Dean noticed that the investigation progress in the system had increased to 10% and asked,
"Can we talk to the adults later and ask a few small questions? For example, its origin?"
Layton muttered,
"Don't ask questions without authorization. Act based on my expression."
…
A group of six people went up to the second floor, walked through the dark corridor, and entered a luxurious master bedroom.
The large velvet bed, bedside tables, and wardrobes made of violet wood are all in a noble and lustrous purple color, and are engraved with complex and exquisite patterns, like precious antiques.
But Dean once again noticed a phenomenon. Along the way, there was no window in the corridor that let in light or ventilation.
Layton and Shannon's bedroom did have glass windows, but they were boarded up and thick curtains hung to block out the bright midday sun outside the house.
There was only the ceiling, and a dim electric lamp barely provided illumination for the bedroom.
Could this strange arrangement be due to that adult's special preference or weakness?
Dean remembered this detail.
The Laytons put down the "sacrifice" and worked together to lift the velvet bed, move it out, and then parted the checkered wall covering behind the bed, revealing a dark stone door with two huge locks hanging from the top and bottom.
"Click"
"Click"
The couple each took out a key from their chests and opened the lock.
With a buzzing sound, the stone door was pushed open to the right.
A dark corridor was exposed in front of everyone's eyes, as deep and dark as ink. It was big enough to accommodate two people side by side, and a disgusting rotten odor spewed out.
Like the giant mouth of a Komodo dragon.
Dean and his three siblings couldn't help frowning and covering their noses.
They eat meat, but not carrion.
…
"Calm down, kids." Shannon took out a candlestick with three white candles from somewhere and lit them one by one. "This is just the rancid smell of 'food', plus a little 'foul smell'."
"Dirty?" Dean looked at her,
"It's similar to the scent used by lions, tigers and other predators to mark their territory. Adults like to mark their bedrooms this way."
"After you cross this threshold, don't talk or touch things. You don't like daredevils...Now, follow me." Shannon held up the candlestick and walked into the dark corridor at the lead. Layton dragged the "sacrifice" tightly. Followed by.
Then came Hudson, Perron, looking around with wonder.
Kristine put one of Dean's arms in her arms affectionately, letting him fully feel the softness in her arms, and her wild and beautiful face was filled with soft light.
But Dean will never forget the scene of her drinking blood.
Not my kind.
…
Dean walked in at the end of the line.
The dim candlelight in front illuminated the old brick walls on both sides. The walls were not empty.
A large number of murals are engraved with some kind of pale and bright red dye——
The entrance is a rusty iron door that splits on both sides.
Behind the iron gate lies a cemetery.
A pile of graves stands among the green grass, filled with bones and decaying corpses. The forest of tombstones are carved with detailed and illegible epitaphs.
The setting sun just fell into the horizon not far away, weaving a strange gray sunset in the sky, covering the cemetery with a layer of pale mist.
Desolate and lonely.
It became stronger and stronger, like a curse.
…
The light is getting brighter and brighter.
Mother used candlesticks to light the torches on both sides of the corridor in turn.
Under bright candlelight.
The mural's sunset cemetery scene progresses through time.
Day and night alternate.
The sun sets, night falls, and the tombstones on the ground disappear into the darkness.
And under the night, the scene below the cemetery "surfaced"——
A tunnel that winds deep underground.
On both sides of the tunnel, every few steps, a branch road is dug out, and pocket rooms connected end to end are built in the branch road.
Looking from a distance,
There are countless side roads,
There are countless rooms.
It is like the endlessly branching branches of a lush tree, with clusters of green leaves growing on the branches, forming a large-scale and complex underground kingdom.
Compared with the lonely and silent night on the ground, this underground kingdom is filled with a faint yellow light everywhere. Although there is not a single resident drawn, it makes people feel lively, vibrant, warm, and full of hope.
Dean was fascinated by what he saw. As the climb progressed, a strange intuition arose in his heart. The cemetery in the mural and this huge underground kingdom were all related to the origin of that adult.
…
There was a sound of footsteps ahead.
Dean looked up.
A dark secret room appeared at the end of the corridor, where the pungent stench in the air reached its peak, making him shed tears.
Shannon walked in, carrying a candlestick, and lit the oil lamps and torches around him. The light then brightened, illuminating a circular room the size of an ordinary living room. It had no windows, and the walls and oval dome were completely enclosed.
…
Dean glanced forward, his face was startled, and his eyes were horrified.
What kind of magical cave is this?
Splattered blood and asphalt-like black and stinky excrement dyed the blue brick floor, round walls, and dome dark red.
The dark red floor was covered with a dense 'carpet' of white bones. Dean could recognize the bones of goats, pigs, cows, and even human bones.
The environment here is simple, rough, and primitive, like a lair built by a terrifying beast in a cave.
It is in sharp contrast to the previous exquisite and luxurious bedroom.
deeper.
At the end of the carpet, against the wall, piles of bones formed a "throne."
A humanoid creature was sitting upright on it, holding his knees with both hands, closing his eyes and falling asleep.
The beating flames illuminated its human limbs, head, chest and abdomen.
There was only a rag covering the key parts of its body, and the large areas of exposed skin were fiery red, like magma overflowing from the surface, or newly-baked molten steel.
Its body shape is not too exaggerated compared to normal humans. It is over two meters tall, has a long armspan, thick thighs, and broad shoulders, making it reminiscent of a professional wrestler.
But it's far more deadly than a wrestler -
The wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, shoulders and other joints all have sharp bone spurs extending out, trembling slowly with its regular breathing, shining with a dark red light.
Its face, just looking at the rough facial features, looks like a rough man smeared with red paint.
It happened that a strange red hair grew——
From the ends of the eyebrows, cheekbones, side face, to the top of the head and back of the head, there is a layer of red "braids" as thick as a little finger and as thick as a snake.
The bunches of braids hang back over the neck, slowly probing in the air like a living thing.
Reminiscent of the legendary Gorgon.
But it was clearly a male.
…
After Dean saw this monster, the investigation progress had increased to 30%.
Because of the uncanny valley effect, this human-like snake-haired man is more terrifying and grotesque than the melting candle-like Death Eater.
And among the folklore stories Tribeca told Dean, there was no record of this guy.
Neither a wendigo nor a werewolf...
What species is the ancestor of the hunter, the so-called god?
Next to Dean, the three brothers and sisters standing side by side gasped as they watched the creature on the throne also fall into a state of shock.
The secret room was eerily quiet.
…
Layton made a quiet gesture towards his children, then carefully crossed the skeletons and excrement at his feet and dragged the "sacrifice" under the skull throne.
"My lord, I brought you food."
Layton put his right hand on his chest, lowered his left hand, and bowed.
"These four young people are my useless children, your descendants, Hudson, Perun, Christine, and Gru."
"They have always admired your bloodline and great strength, and want to ask you some questions."
Swish——
Two flashes of scarlet lightning flashed across the secret room, and the monster opened its eyes.
The predator-like almond-shaped vertical pupils swept across the four young faces, oppressive and penetrating, as if they could see through their hearts and souls at a glance.
"Don't be afraid, young man, I won't eat you."
A hoarse voice like a file echoed in the secret room.
It kept twitching its nose.
"We both have the gift of a hunter, so we are companions."
Woohaha!
It suddenly laughed wildly, and the laughter seemed to contain magic power, shaking the snake-like hair on its head, the round ceiling, and the pile of bones on the ground shaking at the same time.
The four young people were startled and their faces became even paler.
The snake-haired man stretched out his hand and lifted the "sacrifice" in front of him, his eyes and posture were like that of a butcher carrying a domestic animal.
"It's just a pile of meat."
Click.
It grinned, revealing a set of jagged yellow teeth, with some bright red flesh remaining between the teeth.
It opened its mouth and took a bite, tearing off a piece of meat. Without chewing, it greedily swallowed it, with a satisfied smile on its ferocious face.
"The meat is tender and juicy. You guys are interested. Do you want to eat some together?"
"This is a sacrifice specially prepared for you." Shannon took a step forward and walked out of the crowd, her face flushed, her eyes bright, and her admiration was beyond words, "We have already eaten before."
"Well, young men, before I finish this meal, while I'm still in a good mood, feel free to ask the police if you have any questions."
As he spoke, the monster was eating on its hands and knees in front of everyone, and the bone spurs at its joints were slashing and cutting, quickly and forcefully, without any unnecessary movements.
It has a very good understanding of the animal's body structure, and performs cruelty like a cutting art, tearing apart a roasted chicken, easily dismantling the sacrifice into countless pieces.
Fountain-like blood slid down its red skin, soaked into the skull beneath it, and emerged from the dark eye sockets and nostrils.
Even though I had already witnessed a horrific luncheon before.
This time Dean still felt intense discomfort and nausea, as well as anger.
But he could only keep calm.
The time has not come yet.
…
It was a rare opportunity. Under the encouraging eyes of his parents, Perun asked first.
"Sir, how long have you lived in this secret room?"
"Two years. I have been living on the support of Layton and Shannon these past two years." The snake-haired man looked at the two couples and showed a trace of gratitude. "Without them, I would have gone crazy with hunger."
The faces of Mr. and Mrs. Layton turned slightly red after being named, with expressions of great honor.
"Did you ever leave the secret room and go outside during this period?"
"I've been living in it." It looked around with a contented expression, "This is my second home, and I'm not going anywhere."
"But don't you find it boring? This place is dark and smelly. It doesn't even have a radio, let alone a TV. It's completely isolated from the outside world." Perun looked incredulous, "I wouldn't be able to stay here for three days."
"Boring? The essence of life is boring, especially a life that is too long." The snake-haired man greedily licked the meat residue off a leg bone, "Sleeping, eating, dreaming, flying and changing in dreams, that's me All the joys of life now.”
"That's enough."
…
Dean put himself in his shoes and imagined it. If he had lived in such a place for two years, he would probably have committed suicide.
The monster's idea is indeed different.
But it's also lucky that it hasn't triggered the Law of Supernatural Convergence for such a long time - Dean thought and hesitated.
Isn't it because of the supernatural convergence law that I came here? !
A surge of pride suddenly surged in my heart.
I am the calamity of this monster!
…
"Layton and Shannon said you are a god, are you omnipotent like a god?" Hudson asked the second question, his falcon-like eyes sparkling, his voice sincere and sincere, "Can you fulfill any wish?"
"No, this is nonsense." It casually broke a fleshy bone, stretched out its barbed tongue, licked the flesh, and sucked the marrow from the crack. "I don't know magic, not even the simplest magic tricks. Neither. I'm just faster and stronger than ordinary people."
"But that's normal."
It said in a condescending tone,
"We are the hunters, the lions, and all other animals are prey."
“It is natural for a lion to be stronger than its prey.”
Dean looked at the system and saw that the investigation progress had reached 40% and was still rising rapidly.
"So how many years have you lived? Are you really our ancestor?" Christine suppressed her fear and pretended to have an expression of admiration, "You combined with our ancestors to give birth to our parents?"
"How long have you lived?" The snake-haired man scratched his bare chin with thick, dagger-sharp nails, and his tone inadvertently showed a trace of vicissitudes of life, "More than a hundred years."
More than a hundred years?
Dean took a closer look at its beautiful tendons and its peculiar face without a trace of wrinkles.
It is not an exaggeration to say that he is in his thirties.
What kind of power can keep this monster still young and energetic at the age of one hundred years?
Complete this event.
Is it possible for me to inherit this abnormal longevity?
The snake-haired man had no idea that a young man was planning on him.
"I have never had any reproduction behavior with your ancestors. You are not my direct blood descendants."
"Leyton and Shannon call me their ancestor just because I come from the same hometown as your bloodline."
A bone was thrown into the bone pile, and a trace of sadness and melancholy shot out of its cruel almond eyes.
"hometown?"
The four young people looked blank.
Layton and Shannon smiled with joy and longing.
"Where is the hometown you are referring to?" Dean finally spoke. This was obviously a heavyweight question, which made the snake-haired man think for a long time.
After a while, it patted its slightly bulging belly, tilted its head and said, "Have you heard of Midian?"
Midian?
Dean frowned and thought hard, making sure that he had never heard this term anywhere.
The snake-haired man turned his attention to the other young people, but they all had sad faces.
It shook its head regretfully and said in a unique rhythmic tone,
"I come from Midian, a place where all kinds of monsters live. It takes away the pain, takes away the greedy appetite, and brings us true freedom. It is the resting place of our souls."
Multiple monsters living in one place?
Dean's head was pounding——
Wouldn't this trigger the law of supernatural convergence?
The investigation progress suddenly jumped to 50%.
Dean thought of the murals he saw along the way and spoke tentatively,
"Is the Midian you mentioned a cemetery with a huge underground kingdom?"
"Young people are really smart and observant," the snake-haired man praised, "Have you seen my works when I was bored?"
"Yes. These murals were created when you missed your hometown?"
"That's right."
Next to them, the Layton family could no longer get in the conversation and could only listen to Dean communicating with his ancestors.
"The fact that you can draw it so vividly and vividly means that you still clearly remember the location of your hometown. Why don't you go back?" Dean looked at the snake-haired man, "Instead, you have been living in this dark secret room."
"Go back, haha, go back?" The huge figure sitting on the throne of bones suddenly closed his eyes,
"You think I don't want to go back?"
"I am a wanderer who violated Midian's iron law and was exiled. Unless it takes the initiative to call me, I will never be able to go back."
"What iron rule?" Leighton suddenly interjected curiously. He had been with this ancestor for two years, but because of respect and deep-seated fear, he never dared to take the initiative to ask.
The snake-haired man smiled at him but didn't answer.
"Can you tell me the specific location of Midian?" Dean stepped over a puddle of black excrement on the ground, bravely took a step closer to it, and looked at it sincerely, "Maybe I can visit that place and help you ask for forgiveness."
For a moment, the three young people behind Christine held their breath. They did not expect that the youngest brother would be so bold. Not only did he look directly into the eyes of his ancestor, he also made an outrageous request!
…
"No." The snake-haired man stood up from the pile of bones. The light shrouded his huge body, projecting a hill-like black shadow in front of him. Then the unpredictable words rang out, "If you are valuable, you are a Chosen ‘monster’, Midian will call you in your dreams.”
"Otherwise, you'll just sleep forever when you get to that place."
…
"Okay, everyone, this is the end of the question-and-answer period. Please leave. I want to take a nap." The snake-haired man kicked the newly born skeleton into pieces and yawned.
Layton and Shannon put their right hands on their chests and lowered their left hands, bowed to it, stepped back, and winked at their children, asking them to step back together.
"Dear Sir, I have one last question." Dean interrupted their plan, "We, including your great Excellency, have a lot of titles, gourmet, hunter... According to me, these titles are not decent and representative. sex."
Dean asked eagerly,
"Isn't there a unified name?"
"Back home, in Midian, what do monsters like us call ourselves?"
The snake-haired man's original lazy demeanor suddenly changed, like a predator waking up from sleep. In the blink of an eye, a fierce aura hit his face.
Dean shuddered.
The family members around me were worried that something was wrong, but they didn't dare to speak out.
After five seconds of stalemate.
The snake-haired man suddenly smiled meaningfully at him, and the tense atmosphere relaxed.
"Gru, you are not only the strongest member of the Stone family, but you also ask the most profound and to-the-point questions. If you can be called into Midian, you may be able to make a name for yourself."
"I'll tell you the answer now, remember-"
It suddenly turned around and turned its back to everyone,
“In Midian, we are monsters in body and soul from the day we are born.”
"This society has never accepted us, so we cannot appear in our true form in front of human beings, under the sun, in bustling metropolises or on city streets."
"Secret rooms, countryside, countryside, cemeteries... dark and remote corners are our places."
“When darkness falls and humanity begins to rest, we are rejuvenated.”
There was a breathtaking light in its eyes, and it declared loudly and proudly like a king,
"So we, all the monsters that are not tolerated by the world, are nocturnal species!"
(End of chapter)
