In the blink of an eye, 1981 came to Christmas at the end of December.
A long time has passed since the murder that caused panic in Hawkins. The whole town has returned to a peaceful scene, with lights and colorful lights everywhere, filled with festive joy.
Villa No. 36 is located on a snowy hillside on Maple Street. There are several chubby snowmen standing in the yard.
The window behind the snowman shines bright and warm yellow light. If someone lies by the window and looks inside, they can see the Christmas tree in the living room filled with golden red bows, red silk balls, white owls, and little elk wearing red hats. Jane was circling the Christmas tree, stuffing gingerbread men into her mouth, Lena and Betsy were chatting with Terri in the wheelchair in front of the TV, Paquie was wearing an apron while steaming pudding and roasting turkey, using a bottle to Kelly making bottles of eggnog.
And in the corner where no one noticed, above the crystal chandelier in the living room, Qian Nan sneakily poked his head out to absorb the happy emotions of a group of people.
Dean waved his hand, sucked it into the palm of his hand, and said harsh words to the fool who was pretending to be dead, "It's okay if you suck their sad emotions, but you are not allowed to touch their positive emotions, understand? If you do this again, I'll lock you in a safe and shut it for a hundred years."
"No, Master... I am still a child. I have never experienced Christmas in the past hundred years. Is it wrong to want to experience a little bit of the joy of childhood?" Qiantan sniffed his non-existent nose and made a It looks like I'm going to cry, but it doesn't have any tears.
"A child over a hundred years old? I'll help you." Dean flicked it with his fingers, put it in a red sock and put it in his pocket.
The next second.
Dean's head moved and he quickly walked to the door and opened it.
Catherine at the door was raising her hand to knock on the door, and suddenly she knocked on the man's chest. Her face, which was blown red by the cold wind, was stunned for a moment, and then she was picked up and spun around.
"Merry Christmas!" Dean put her down and took a few breaths of warm air while holding a pair of cold hands. "You must be freezing. Come in quickly. Lena and the others have always wanted to get to know you."
Catherine suddenly showed an excited expression. Meeting her parents on such a formal occasion meant that the relationship had taken another step forward.
"What a good boy, you hid so well, and brought back your girlfriend as beautiful as a fairy in the forest without a word." Paqui came to the door without anyone noticing, wiped his big hands with his apron, and said with a warm smile, " Hello, I am his uncle Paque!"
"Catherine de' Medici."
"The name sounds familiar..." Paqui rubbed his head and expressed confusion.
"Don't you read the newspaper every day? Can't you remember the reporter from Hawkins Daily?" Lena walked over quietly and glanced at the woman. At first glance, she felt that she was much older than her son, but as a snake demon , who didn’t mind her age that much, took one of Catherine’s hands with a friendly smile, and said, “Welcome.”
"Dean mentioned you to me. I didn't expect you to be so young, just like his sister." Catherine's eyes were filled with sparkles.
"My mouth is so sweet, but I am old. Now is the time for you young people. Come in and drink some hot tea."
"Yeah," Catherine nodded obediently, "By the way, there are guests behind us!"
"You guys go in first, I'll wait for a while." Dean stood at the door. Soon he saw Hope, who was dressed in snow and snow. The usually slovenly director had cut off the sloppy stubble on his chin for the first time, and his hair was combed. She was neatly put on gel to set her shape, and she looked five or six years younger.
"Merry Christmas, who is this lady?" Dean took the gift in his hand and glanced meaningfully at the dark-blond haired and thin lady behind Hope.
"This is my ex-wife Maureen," the police chief took off his hat, showing a rare hint of shyness. "I thought Christmas was coming, so I invited her to come over from New York... I'm sorry for not informing you in advance."
Dean thought thoughtfully, "Is it about your daughter Sarah?"
"Yes, Christmas is a day for family reunions, so we want to see her. Is that convenient, Dean?" The police chief rubbed his hands in embarrassment, and the woman behind her also held her breath, showing an anxious and pleading look in her eyes. ,
"I promised it would be okay, but not until after Christmas dinner."
"Thank you." Hope and the red-eyed Maureen hugged Dean tightly and walked to the living room.
Paquet's shouting started again, "Old man, are you going to remarry Maureen?"
"What's wrong? Isn't it okay? Are you jealous that I'm back to being the school beauty of Hawkins Noon?"
"Go away, I got a teacher! I'm so jealous!"
Next, in this villa, members of several families shared delicious food and chatted about the past under the bright yellow and warm flames of the fireplace, but Catherine, Lena and Paque... most of them were graduates of Hawkins Middle School, and some This common topic is not too embarrassing.
And Hope quietly called Dean aside,
"Did you make those holes in the forest north of the town?"
The pit to the north?
Dean thought for two seconds and remembered that it was the scene of a fierce battle between him and ten superpowers, "What happened?"
"Someone came to the police station recently to inquire about those traces. They claimed to be the FBI, but I felt they were from the laboratory. After all, the laboratory is also in the northern suburbs. If you are related to those traces, be more careful."
Dean nodded, "I understand."
"But I also have good news," Hope changed his voice. "The thing you asked me to clean up the money last time has been settled."
"So soon? Don't we have to wait a few months?"
Hope asked, "You're in luck, remember Kit Harington?"
"Steve's father?"
"Well, he is the boss of a well-known construction company. He has branches not only in Hawkins, but also in big cities such as New York and Chicago. He has a strong relationship between black and white."
"After killing those 'murderers' last time, he didn't want to thank me, so I brought up the matter of laundering US dollars." Hope lit a camel, took a deep breath, and spit out the window, "He readily agreed. help."
"Next, you give me identity information, yours, or your mother's or uncle's... I will help you register a construction-related company."
"Jit Harrington will allocate some projects to your company. Of course, it's only in name, but it comes with super high profits... The money you have on hand can be quickly converted into legal profits."
Dean nodded, "If I open a construction company, do I still have to hire employees?"
"No need, I will do it for you. Four million is not too much. It can be cleaned within a month, but it will have to be reduced a part."
…
While the two were discussing, they suddenly heard a commotion.
Kelly Chen brought a basin of Christmas pudding that looked like a giant braised pork to the dining table, poured a spoonful of brandy into the pudding in front of everyone, and lit the wine. There was fire around the pudding and the aroma of wine. With the sweet aroma of various nuts filling the air,
"Okay, everyone, let's stir together and make a wish!" Kelly shouted,
Dean walked over, gathered around the dining table with everyone, put his hand on the pudding stick, stirred it clockwise, and muttered something.
Dean looked around, Lena, Paqui, Katherine, Jane, Hope...
I hope everyone will always be healthy and happy.
After saying this in his mind, he was given a piece of pudding, and at this time its appearance changed from braised pork to luncheon meat.
Dean took a bite. It was soft and delicious, and the taste was surprisingly good.
"Ah!" Jane suddenly cried out, and spit out a piece of tooth and a coin from her little mouth, "Why is there something in here? It broke my tooth!"
Dean raised his lips when he saw this scene. In the past, in China, when making dumplings during the Spring Festival, coins were put into the dumplings to symbolize good things.
"Haha, the baby teeth will be replaced sooner or later, it doesn't matter." Betsy took the baby teeth, bandaged them, put them away, and prepared to put them under Jane's pillow at night. Then she asked, "You got the good luck tonight, what are your wishes?"
Jane looked at Terry who was smiling in the wheelchair next to her, "I hope mom..."
"Don't say it." Kelly Chen immediately covered Jane's mouth, "It won't be effective if you say it."
Everyone laughed, and then it was the turn of the fixed items like the New Year's Eve dinner. The huge roast turkey occupied the center of the dining table. The golden skin shone with an attractive luster and exuded a tangy aroma.
From a distance, it looks like Santa Claus and diamonds, which is extremely desirable.
But the truth was cruel. After one bite, Jane rubbed her mouth and almost cried. This thing was dry and woody, and the skin was so hard that it could break her teeth. The condiments didn't taste very good, but had a fishy smell of meat.
It tastes awful.
Dean very understandingly served her a glass of non-alcoholic eggnog, and the rich milky aroma immediately turned her worries into joy.
"Okay, everyone..." Paqui raised a glass of wine, "Merry Christmas!"
Everyone raised their glasses in response, "Merry Christmas!"
The meal lasted until eight o'clock in the evening. Jane wanted to go to the house next door to see Dustin. After being stopped, she asked Betsy, Paquet and Kelly to go out and have a snowball fight.
Lena and Catherine exchanged private words that made the reporter's ears turn red.
Dean called Hope and Maureen to the bedroom on the second floor, and glanced at their eyes, "Are you ready?"
"Well, for so many years, my life has been worse than death," Maureen said, wiping the corners of her eyes. "I dreamed of seeing Sarah again day and night, and I was willing to give my life for this."
"It's not that serious. Just obey my request and nothing will happen to you." Dean shook his head, "But I won't go with you this time. Don't stay too long. After you leave the passage, try to call Sarah's name in your heart. If Sarah doesn’t respond, come back immediately, understand?”
"Don't worry, Dean," Hope nodded solemnly, "We just want to spend Christmas with Sarah as a final goodbye."
Then, Dean took out the teardrop-shaped stilt from the space, pointed the tip at the space in front, and slowly drew a straight line from top to bottom.
Limbo shuttle, start!
With the blessing of his skills, Dean finally discovered the subtle changes in the space. With this stroke, the board deflected involuntarily for a certain distance, pierced a nearby unstable node, and drew a downward path vertical to the ground and high. A dark slit about two meters long.
Dean pulled it to both sides like a curtain, and the slit expanded into a triangular door that radiated faint green light. Behind the door, you could clearly see the tunnel supported by tree leaves and huge roots.
Hope took Maureen's hand and ducked into the tunnel, but as the two of them stepped in step by step.
The soul and body were immediately separated. The two empty shells lost control and fell limply outside the triangular door on the wooden floor of the bedroom, unconscious.
The souls of the two people kept running towards the end of the passage. After an unknown amount of time, the dusk-like light illuminated numerous vines and trees with twisted roots, creating a green forest.
Not far from the forest, a petite figure in a white dress and long brown hair shawl slowly walked out.
Maureen shrank her shoulders as if she had been stung by a bee, then cried out "Sarah" and rushed over to hug the girl.
And Hope slowly hugged the mother and daughter from behind and kissed their hair, "Sarah, I promised to bring my mother to see you, and I did. By the way, Merry Christmas."
The little girl looked at the two faces that were much more weathered than she remembered, and smiled like an angel.
"Merry Christmas, Dad, Mom! We are finally together and I have no regrets anymore."
…
"Wonderful!" Qiantan jumped out of his socks, his sixteen eyes staring at the door of Limbo with wonder, "Isn't this the power of skill, great master, have you mastered the power of space before?"
"No, this is weaker than skill," Dean shook his head regretfully, "it can only open the passage to Limbo."
"That's really strange. People who can establish such a stable channel under normal circumstances must have mastered the skill of manipulating space."
"Don't ask so many questions," Dean muttered as he inspected this extremely stable passage, "Why is there no void outside this space node, but it leads directly to Limbo?"
"This is the exception I didn't finish talking about last time. Not all roaming has to pass through the void." Qiantan looked at Dean and raised his head, "Our world is-"
"Bubble A."
"Yes, actually, when it was blown out, it was adsorbed with many other bubbles."
Dean imagined a scene in his mind of a master blowing bubble circles. Well, many bubbles would be connected in a series.
"Even inside bubble A, there are smaller bubbles close together."
"There are countless special space nodes where bubbles come into contact. Opening any one of them will form a two-way channel, and you can roam between the two worlds at will without going through the void. This is exactly the situation in front of you."
Dean nodded.
Therefore, if the two worlds do not intersect, they need a void link. If they are tangent, they can be linked directly through special nodes, but he captured another sensitive point.
"The bubbles outside A are easy to understand. They refer to other worlds. So what do the bubbles inside A mean?"
"The slave world of A." Qiantan stared at the passage covered with green leaves and branches in front of him and said, "For example, Limbo, the original land, and even the underworld you mentioned are slave worlds. Their births are related to the main world. A is inextricably linked, and there are many special nodes between them and A that can directly reach each other."
Dean nodded. No wonder the souls of many creatures in the real world can go straight to Limbo after death.
Qian Tan continued, "These barriers between the world and A cannot be broken by ordinary people in their entire lives, but people with space abilities can easily travel back and forth as long as they open special nodes," Qian Tan sighed, "So the distance between them can be said to be endless. Near yet far.”
Near yet far?
Dean thought he had heard this sentence somewhere, "Are there many people in the world who belong to A?"
"There are quite a few," Shoals joked. "Maybe there's one near Hawkins."
Well…
The two unconscious people on the ground let out a soft sigh. Hope sat up, rubbed his red eyes, and looked at the sky with a sense of loss. Maureen next to him hugged him and started crying.
Dean asked, "What's wrong, you two, you didn't see Sarah?"
"No, we met her...Thank you for fulfilling our long-cherished wish for many years." Hope patted his ex-wife on the back and sighed with a sore nose, "We have no regrets about being reunited with our family at Christmas, so we sent her away. Sarah, let her enter the cycle gate.”
"The right choice." Dean nodded, "Sarah has already started the next phase of her life. Hope, Maureen, look forward. You should also start a new life."
Sizzle...
While Dean was talking, he suddenly heard a series of harsh electric sounds. The light on the top of the bedroom flickered on and off, and even the lights in the living room were beating.
His eyelids twitched inexplicably, and an unpleasant premonition arose in his heart.
"What's going on? Is there still a power outage on Christmas night?"
(End of chapter)
