Time is like a ribbon, casting itself into a sharp bow.
After dealing with the hell monk who suddenly appeared, Dean realized that the law of convergence had begun to take effect and he could no longer stay with the snake demons, otherwise it would most likely trigger a more dangerous disaster.
After instructing the queen and her entourage to pay attention to safety and stay in contact, he set out on his way home. In fact, before leaving, he also considered using the snake of power to mark it so that the snake monsters could truly become his own, but he gave up in the end. He doesn't want to control anyone unless necessary, especially those with whom he has a good relationship.
Next, with the certificate customized by the Goko brothers, Dean took Lena on the plane from Texas to the Indianapolis Airport without any hindrance.
On the plane.
Dean entered the bathroom and grinned at the mirror.
After killing a few monsters yesterday, his spirit level rose to 23.5, which exceeded his will level of 23.1. He finally returned to normal, his mood was lively and joyful, and he was no longer as smooth as a popsicle.
He quickly transformed into Seth, took out a small bottle of the strange twins' blood from the space, poured it into his mouth, and activated the snake demon's exclusive ability - licking memories.
Amid the severe pain of his throat being corroded and burning, the space in front of his eyes slowly twisted, and a mist appeared on the frame of the mirror. The mist revealed a strange and bizarre scene.
moment.
Dean's pupils relaxed and he regained consciousness. He rubbed his temples to digest the trivial information in his mind, and his eyes became extremely exciting.
“There are more and more weird existences and spaces in this world.”
According to memory, the twins who led the ascetic group to raid them last night are called "the match twins", and their origins are very magical.
They were originally twin sisters who lived in the ancient Assyrian Empire a thousand years ago. They were born as slaves and were sold to the altar of the Sun God for the pleasure of the high priests. Later, they were tortured to death by the high priests. After their death, their souls did not enter Di. An was familiar with Limbo, but instead entered a strange alien space.
The name of the space owner is Leviathan, which is ancient, powerful, and secretive.
Leviathan performed a series of horrendous transformations on the two sisters, turning them into leather clothes, metal wires, no noses, and a look that was neither human nor ghost.
Unfortunately, the blood Dean drew was dead blood and contained no soul, so he was unable to get a glimpse of Leviathan.
All I know is that He loves torture and pain.
His alien space is filled with human beings’ desperate screams, mountains of corpses and seas of blood, gallows filled with sharp blades, coffins filled with scalpels and forceps and other bloody and horrific instruments of torture. Vitan Hell.
In addition, Leviathan, the creator of the Hell Monk, seemed to have a hostile relationship with Baphomet, the god of Midian's night race, so when they met, they were so excited that they shouted at Dean. After all, Dean had been targeted by Baphomet for a long time.
"Find a time to call Professor Aiden and ask him to help look up the legends about Leviathan and Baphomet."
Next, because Dean was worried about attracting Leviathan's attention, he did not copy the blood sample of the Hell Monk. He took out the golden Rubik's Cube from the space and observed it. Each side was engraved with different graphics: circle, square, cross... it was exquisite. Like a work of art, Dean failed to sense any supernatural element in it.
But according to the memory of the matchmaker twins, this thing is called a puzzle box, a mourning box, or a Lemachand device. It is scattered around the world in an unknown number, each with its own unique shape and pattern.
People with a certain talent can open it through special cracking methods, open the passage between the human world and Leviathan's hell, and summon hell monks like the matchmaker twins who serve Leviathan.
The monks will use the incredible power given by Leviathan to take the initiate into hell, where they will enjoy endless torture and transformation.
"So the puzzle box is a space opening device, a key."
"Well, I'm probably a talented person. I might be able to open it if I try hard, but it's not necessary now. It will work wonders if I open it again at some point in the future to summon the hell monks."
After making a decision, Dean returned his attention to reality and re-examined his collection of strange objects, including the puzzle box, the copper wheat pennies, and the snake of power swallowed by the simulation... They all contain magical and undiscovered secrets. and function.
Every rare object is precious, so he considered entrusting a trustworthy partner to help him continue searching for rare objects.
…
Finished.
Dean returned to the cabin and sat next to Lena. The woman was looking at the blue sky and white clouds passing by outside the window, with an expression of apprehension and expectation. After being nourished by the blood during this period, she completely showed the inhuman health and lifespan of the snake demon, and her face changed. She is rosy and fair, and her body is in perfect shape, no less than a twenty-year-old young lady.
"Dean, how should we explain to Paqui that I have been missing for nine years," Lenasson said worriedly, "tell him the truth, that I am a snake demon?"
Dean thought, "Let's make an excuse for the time being and tell him slowly when the opportunity is right... By the way, you have to buy some thick clothes. It's cold in Hawkins and it's snowing now."
"Well, we also have to buy a gift for Paqui's girlfriend, her name is Kelly Chen, right?"
…
After getting off the plane in Indianapolis, the two bought gifts, and Dean took Lena to telekinetic flight and continued on the road at a speed of 130 kilometers per hour.
We arrived in Hawkins Town at around 4pm.
When Dean left last time, the golden town had quietly been covered in winter silver. There was a light layer of snow on the neat and wide roads, the low houses, and the Christmas trees being decorated.
It was the weekend, but there were not many pedestrians on the street. A few were wrapped in coats, collars turned up, and walking in a hurry...
But Dean noticed that there were several unfamiliar-looking patrol officers patrolling the street. They looked around with serious expressions and vigilance. He didn't know if they were the new recruits of the Hawkins Town Police Department.
This made him feel a sense of foreboding, and he wondered what other accidents had happened in Hawkins Town during his absence?
Soon, the two entered the quiet and beautiful villa on the snow-covered hillside, No. 36 Maple Street. Lena, wearing a yellow knitted jacket, clenched her hands, glanced at Dean, took a deep breath, and knocked on the door.
Bang, bang.
The door opened, and an Asian lady wearing velvet pajamas walked out into the warm wind. She had fluffy black hair, big eyes, thick lips, and a plump figure. She glanced at the two of them and smiled in surprise.
"Dean, after more than three months, you are finally willing to come back and let Auntie take a good look at you. Well, you are much stronger and handsome again."
"Teacher Kelly, you are even more beautiful." Dean greeted the woman's open hands with a firm hug and nodded secretly. Paqui's movements were not slow, and he was already living with his girlfriend.
"By the way, who is this lady?" Kelly looked at Lena behind Dean. Even though her face was young and delicate, she still had the aura to tell that she was over thirty years old, a step older than Dean.
Lena behind her smiled and handed a wrapped scarf to Kelly.
"You're too polite. What kind of gift are you giving? It's cold outside. Come in and sit down first." Kelly led the two of them into the living room, sat on the sofa opposite the red fireplace, brought two cups of hot chocolate, and then walked towards the entrance to the basement, " Paques, Dean is back, stop practicing, come up!"
"The boy is back? Why didn't you call in advance to let him know!"
The sound of tapping footsteps came from the ground.
A big man wearing a vest and a towel, showing off his shiny muscles, strode out of the underground gym and walked quickly to the living room. As he walked, he shouted loudly,
"I will have to stay longer when I come back this time. You are not allowed to leave before Kelly and I get engaged, otherwise you will disown me as your uncle!"
"I just, I..." Paquet raised his right hand and strode towards Dean, ready to slap him on the shoulder, but when he glanced at the woman sitting on the sofa behind his nephew, his big rough face was cheerful. His smile froze, and he felt as if someone was holding his throat, and he made a hissing sound from his mouth.
He shook his head violently and rubbed his eyes vigorously, looking as stupid as possible.
The woman stood up and stared at the old face with a smile, "Paqui, we haven't seen you for nine years, and you don't even recognize your own sister?"
"Lena! I knew you were still alive!" Paqui stumbled over and rushed over. The black hair on his neck was flying in the wind and the sweat towel on his shoulders fell to the ground. He hugged the woman excitedly and raised her He turned her around and said, "Bless the spirits of our ancestors! After all these years, you haven't aged at all and you are still the same as you were in Las Vegas!"
"Wait, is she Lena?" Kelly covered her mouth in surprise, her eyes shining with disbelief, "Your sister who has been missing for a long time? She has a child as big as Dean, but she is still so young?"
"That's right, my sister is back, and my family has been found!" Paqui almost roared to vent his joy, his red eyes repeatedly looked at Lena's smooth face, and he pulled her to sit on the sofa, "So Where did Nian go? We couldn't find you."
"It's a long story. I can only come back thanks to Dean."
"I knew you always created miracles." Paquet gave Dean a big bear hug and solemnly said "thank you."
"Don't be so disgusting!"
"Where's Guangming, where's my brother-in-law? Didn't he come back with you, or is he in the toilet?"
Lena's face darkened, "He's not here."
"Then have a good talk during the meal and tell me what you have been through over the years. Don't miss a single day." Paqui looked at his girlfriend, "Are there any fresh ingredients in the refrigerator? I'm happy today, I want to cook it with my own hands. Let Lena have a taste of my cooking for a dinner!”
"Can you cook?" Lena's eyes were surprised and her mouth opened slightly. Is this still the slovenly and lazy brother in her memory?
"Everyone will improve. It is no exaggeration to say that my cooking skills are now enough to work as a chef at Bob's Burgers in the center of town. I guarantee you will put your tongue in your stomach!"
"You still like to brag so much."
"You guys sit down for a while, I'll drive to the supermarket to do some shopping..." Kelly tied her hair back with an elastic band and was about to go upstairs to change clothes.
"No, you guys should just reminisce about the past," Dean looked at the scene in front of him and shook his head, "I went to the supermarket to buy things and meet some old friends by the way. That's what I decided."
"Remember to buy chicory, lamb chops...two dozen beers, and come back early!"
"OK, give me the car keys."
"Drive it as you like, the boy who creates miracles, you can drive it until it is deformed or scrapped this time, it's up to you!"
…
Dean gave the reluctant "Shadow" a look, drove Paquet's DeLorean together, returned to the center of the town and entered a familiar supermarket.
"Hi Joyce..."
"Hi, you are... Dean, Paquet's nephew?" The woman in khaki clothes in front of the cashier's eyes froze for a moment, "I haven't seen you for a long time, I thought you went back to Las Vegas. .”
"Yes, but I'm back now." Dean looked at Joyce's eyes. The dark circles and crow's feet were getting worse. There was also a pungent smell of tobacco in his mouth. He seemed to have not slept during this time. Good Sleep, "How are Jonathan and Will?"
"Thank you for your concern. They are all well."
Dean picked up a shopping basket and walked to the shelf, grabbing a few bags of potato chips. "You look like you're not in a good mood?"
Joyce looked at the other person's back and thought for two seconds, then put a copy of Hawkins Daily on the counter, "You just came back and you don't know that a very bad thing happened in the town recently... someone died."
Dean put down the shopping basket and came over to take a look. There was a big headline in the center of the newspaper - Homicide in Hawkins:
"Last Friday night at 12:30, a couple was brutally murdered in a woods in the center of the town, suffering multiple stab wounds...The murderer is still unknown...Reporter Catherine Medici."
Dean's face quietly turned solemn,
Joyce put her hands on her chin and said worriedly, "It's been a long time since such a bad case happened to Hawking. In the past few days, I have been worried about whether the murderer will take action against my child."
Dean comforted him in a deep voice, "Don't worry, with Director Hope here, the murderer will be caught and brought to justice soon,"
"I hope so. By the way, Jonathan and Will will be very happy to know that you are back. When will you come to my house as guests?"
"It depends on the time. I will contact you proactively."
As he spoke, Dean bought some snacks, vegetables, fruits, and meat, then paid the bill, loaded a large basket of things into the car, and made a call at the roadside phone booth.
"Hope, it's Dean."
"You haven't called me for a long time, where are you now?"
"I'm in town. Are Jane and Terry okay? They haven't been discovered by the laboratory, right?"
Hope's voice sounded like she was having a headache on the phone, "No, it's just that Jane is becoming more and more lively and active, and it always feels like a big trick will suddenly appear. By the way, she talks about you every day, saying that she can't find you. ”
"Don't tell her my news yet. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay, you can come directly to Teacher Irving's house tomorrow morning and Jane will have classes there."
hang up the phone.
Dean drove back and opened the door to see Paquet and two women wearing aprons, cutting meat and steaming rice in the kitchen together...
"You're here just in time, come over and help me fry a poached egg and prepare a bird's nest salad."
…
That night, Dean enjoyed a unique Indian dinner... during which Lena half-truthfully described the experience of the past nine years as being kidnapped and working undercover in a bar in Mexico.
Paquet took a hard bite of the grilled lamb chops that were charred on the outside and tender on the inside. "What kind of black bar dares to kidnap my family? I will immediately gather a group of old brothers to blow them up!"
"Are you desperate for your life? Are you going to blow up the bar?" Kelly immediately glanced at him nervously,
"Don't worry, the black bar has been taken away by the Mexican police," Lena said while chewing blue corn cake, "so I can escape smoothly."
"That's good luck for them, otherwise I will send them to hell with my own hands!" Paquet muttered angrily, and then asked, "Do you have any bright news?"
"There are some, and the current condition should be fine." Dean nodded, "When everything is settled here, I will set off to find him."
"What else do you need to settle in? From now on, you will stay here obediently. The room has been tidied up," Paqui looked at Dean and Lena, "This is your home."
"You are about to get engaged. The young couple has to live a sweet new life, so I won't disturb you." Lena shook her head gently, "I will stay for a few days and buy a new house in the next town, but I am most likely a gangster now. So I need your help.”
"Of course it's no problem." Kelly Chen looked curious when she heard this, "Have you been imprisoned for nine years? Where do you have the money to buy a house?"
Lena turned to look at the young man behind her and smiled proudly, "Dean has it, haha!"
…
The guests and hosts enjoy a meal together.
After dinner, Paquet and Kelly called Lena to warm themselves by the fire, chat, and recall the beautiful youth years of Hawkins. "Shadow" stood behind the sofa and listened quietly, smiling from the corner of his eyes. The picture was beautiful and harmonious.
Dean looked at it for a while and smiled with relief. The progress of "Bloodline" in the system quietly jumped to 80%.
He told everyone to go for a walk to eat, then entered the guest room alone and climbed out of the window. He climbed to the snowy roof as quickly and silently as a gecko, sat on the roof, and suddenly felt an urge to meditate in his heart.
His body slowly transformed into a snake demon, and he entered the red dragon meditation facing the full moon and twinkling morning stars in the sky.
The star named "Red Dragon" was pressing towards him, and the rolling craters above the stars were clearly visible, projecting an omnipresent majestic gravity that sucked away the faint sadness in his heart and returned it to the pure and incomparable will and spirit.
But it was my first time to meditate in a simulacra state.
A subtle change occurred quietly in Dean's body - the "Sea of Stars" skill in the temporary skill bar of the Snake Demon Body, which had been unresponsive since its appearance, suddenly began to flash.
In Dean's field of vision, next to the "Red Dragon", several dazzling stars suddenly appeared. When connected in series, they looked like a kite or a hunter. Among them were three medium-bright stars arranged in a row. It became a short, straight line, like a hunter's belt.
This is the constellation Orion, in which shines Alcyon, Alcyon, Alcyon, Betelgeuse, Rigel...
Dean inexplicably knew their names, as if it was an innate instinct, and at the same time, an urge to pry further arose in his heart.
As he thought, his vision automatically narrowed towards Orion——
A more majestic light lit up.
The hunter began to spin, then lay down on his side, showing his bow hand, and the original arrangement was completely chaotic.
What appeared in Dean's eyes was a large swath of stars, forming a strange, prismatic, arrow-shaped pattern with sharp barbs at the end. There were many subtle angles and fine points that made it difficult for people to see clearly.
Dean had a strong desire to see more, but the arrow shot out with a whoosh, penetrated the nebula and hit Dean, piercing his body and soul.
He groaned and broke away from his meditation.
breathe…
The cold night wind blew, and he stretched out his hand to touch it, but his forehead was covered with cold sweat.
"The arrow pattern seems to have some incredible power, waking me up from my meditation. Is this the so-called secret of the starry sky?"
"Why can I see it all of a sudden? Is the Sea of Stars taking effect?"
Dean thought for a moment and then realized something. Illusion snakes are a wandering race in the universe and hold many secrets of the stars. Now it seems that these secrets are hidden in the "Sea of Stars" skill that Dean created after fusing the snakes of power.
This time, the Red Dragon Meditation happened to have a wonderful chemical reaction with the "Sea of Stars", and it was only then that the latter's efficacy was truly discovered and one could gain insight into the starry sky.
"This pattern will definitely come in handy. I have to write it down. I didn't see it clearly just now. Continue!"
Dean sat on the roof again and fell into meditation.
(End of chapter)
