Song of Time – Dusk Awakening Verse

The night sky was gloomy and there was no light.

In the mountainous area about 50 kilometers east of the capital, there is a deserted village in the forest on the west bank of the Yongguangzhichuan. The village is full of broken walls, long vines all over the eaves, trembling in the night breeze. On the side of the village entrance, a stone stele with a lot of weird claw marks was erected on the side of the road, and the word "moon" was faintly visible.

By the creek at the foot of the mountain, two dark shadows rushed upwards, and quickly broke into this gloomy no man's land.

Shun stopped at the intersection and glanced at the village, staring at the stone monument in a daze. He put on a gray travel cloak, his hood covered his eyebrows, and his divine eyes grew sharper in the darkness. A week ago, he had visited this mountain village because of the beast disaster. At that time, the miserable scene was vivid, but now it is even more desolate to look at the ruined place here.

"...It should be here." The same gray cloak stood as far away as possible and looked around at his side, sending out a probe light wave sweeping across the village without receiving any unusual reactions.

He would really find a place... The prince nodded silently. He remembered that after the investigation, the surrounding area was sealed off. The mountains and forests were already sparsely populated. After such a tragedy, no one dared to approach it. No wonder the assassin chose to stay here.

They traveled a long distance to chase the assassin, and they were already close in front of them, but unfortunately the duration of the spiritual imprint finally ended. After reporting the final coordinates, the frail monk withered Rong collapsed to the ground because of the excessive exhaustion of the spell. The two had to send him to a passing farm to take care of them, and then hurried to this place. It took a lot of time to come and go, but now I am afraid that...

"Shun..." He was evoked from the memory by whispering as far as possible. The gun guard flashed white light all over his body and held the magic spear, making a gesture towards the prince. He turned his head and saw that the mountain village covered by withered vines was all broken and broken houses, with only a relatively intact large tiled house on the westernmost side. Shun and him looked at each other, waved to disguise the illusion, and the two disappeared and jumped to the side of the tiled house wall.

He peered as far as he could through the hole in the brick wall, and then sent a light wave across the room, but he still found nothing. He simply flashed into the room, the sharp white light from the gun tip, and the shadow in the room disappeared. There was no one in the house. There were rags of cotton wool in the corners, piles of straw all around, and a small stone stove in the middle of the house, and there were still a few extinguished charcoal inside.

The prince followed in, his eyes swept across hidden corners, and finally landed on the bed of cotton wool. As far as I can see, there is still a lot of wood piled beside the door, and he took a few pieces and put them in the stove, and put some flammable straws. He took out flint from his waist and wiped it. After a while, a golden bonfire was lit.

The flames in the ruined house were full of shadows, and the prince walked to the corner and opened the cotton wool to take a look. There were many new blood stains on it. It seems that the other party has indeed stayed here, and the mortal's injury is still quite serious...He turned the cotton wool upside down calmly, and shook out a red wild fruit that had been bitten in half. He picked up the red fruit and put it on his nose to sniff, bitter lingguo... he raised his eyebrows. Although he was desperate all the way, he wouldn't be reduced to eating such bitter things... and carefully inspected the corners of the wall and found nothing else. clue.

"Shun, look here." He knelt down beside the stone stove as far as possible and beckoned him. The prince threw the red fruit and moved forward and saw some fine tobacco leaves falling on the ground.

"Red silk smoke..." Reached out as far as possible, twisted a pinch and sprinkled it on the bonfire, sparks flashed, and a faintly choked smoke came with a hint of spicy flavor. "Specially produced on the coast of South Island... Spicy and salty, for sure."

Nan Dao...The prince frowned, pointed to the door as far as he could, and said: "There are many shoe prints near the door, flat-bottomed round shoes, and the footprints are very deep. It should be many adult men... I also found it in the straw. That's it." He held a small wooden mermaid statue in his hand, which should be regarded as a safety charm carried by the crew of the southern country, almost everyone has.

The prince took the wooden statue and inspected it carefully. It seems that it is a few years old. The outer coating is thick and smooth. Although the carving is ordinary, its owner should have worn it so long that it was extremely cherished. Why does it fall here? What is the relationship between its owner and the two assassins? What happened in the room? A series of questions made him frown and lost his thoughts.

Judging from the traces of the scene, there was no fighting in the room, and the men who were suspected of being the sailors of the southern country were probably most of the respondent guarding here. If this is the case, looking at the state of the charcoal fire, it is obvious that a considerable amount of time has passed, and the other party has probably already sailed down the river from the river of Yongguang on the side of the mountain. At this time, if you want to chase...I am afraid...

There was a gloom in Shun's heart. Even though he was mentally prepared, he was still unwilling to see such a result. However, since the matter is over, he can only think of another way. Since the opponent is very likely to go by boat, then strictly check all the port passages, and delay their speed as much as possible. It is simply too small to look at it to escape so easily. Country...

There was a roar of thunder outside the house, and the raindrops drifted down, more and more, and gradually became countless thin lines sweeping across this barren mountain. The drizzle fell on the dilapidated tiled house and then dripped into the house along the cracks, splashing wet marks.

It's raining... Shun was interrupted by the sudden thunder. He walked to the crack in the wall, reached out to catch the rain, stroked his fingers with a biting coldness, and deepened his palm. He thought about the scene when he first came to this deserted village a week ago: scorch marks, cracked walls, cold rain, blood that cannot be washed away, and the crying crowd. Beast plague... When did the surrounding capital become a hunting ground for those monsters!

A light shield was erected in front of the prince to block the raindrops splashing on him. Shun turned his head slightly, seeing that Jin Jin was already standing beside him, his eyes were concerned. He realized that he was a little too low, converged his confusion, and smiled apologetically at the Gun Guard.

Looking at him worriedly as far as possible, he made a gesture: "It's cold and the night is cold, sit down and cook..."

Shun nodded without saying a word, turned around and sat down side by side with the farthest. He lowered his head, and a golden flame was reflected in his eyes, igniting a stream of light.

The Gunguard knew the reason for the prince's unhealthy mood. It was not the first time that the tragedy of the beast disaster happened in Taki Country...just so close... He pursed his mouth and didn't say much, untied the leather bag tied around his waist, stretched out his hand to float a thin wall of light on the bonfire, and poured the contents of the bag carefully on it: three-color biscuits, vegetable balls, dry roast Dough, and a small bag of ground pears, are common food in the country.

I was running around this evening, and I didn't have time to settle the dinner, so I had to take advantage of it to pad my stomach. As far as possible, he took off the kettle on the strap and put it on the side of the stove to heat up, and took out a pair of short silver chopsticks to spread the food on the light wall. The flames were raging, and the dinner quickly turned hot. He raised his chopsticks and took a ball to test the temperature, waved his hand to spread a light wall in front of the two as a dining table, quickly put the food in a neat row, and took a pair of silver chopsticks and handed it to the prince. Advised: "Let’s eat something first."

Shun took the chopsticks and grinned reluctantly. He absently picked up the fried noodles, sighed as far as he could, picked up the water bottle, shook it and handed it to him, leading the conversation away: "The other party seems to have been away for a long time. 'S footprints are also blurred, I'm afraid it's not easy to find..."

"...First go back to Xinlan City and see the results of the reward." The prince took a sip from the water bottle and handed it back as far as possible. Xinlan City is a satellite city of the capital and also the headquarters of the Tara Kingdom Mercenary Guild.

"Seccor's investigation is offering a reward?"

"There is another named Virut... It is very likely that the wounded mortal..."

Virut...I quickly recalled as far as he could. He didn't find any relevant memories. He covered the kettle and suggested, "First send a message to the palace?"

"...Let Mr. Ku Rong take a message. If you find the result, you will leave immediately. Maybe...you have to go to the South Island..." Shun subconsciously turned the mermaid woodcut in his hand and stared at the trembling bonfire with a trance. .

South Island...Frown as far away as possible. The two of them have secretly visited many places for mercenary missions over the years, but South Island has never been. I heard that a general election is being held there, and there are tourists everywhere rushing to join in the fun. If you really want to go, you have to do some preparatory work... He put a piece of roasted ground pear in front of the prince and reminded softly: "Your Highness Let’s go with a phantom body? All major newspapers and radio stations in the South Island have their own branch offices in Beijing. It would be troublesome if they were recognized."

"This is natural..." Shun put the pears in his mouth and chewed. This kind of sweet fruits and vegetables will bring a different kind of sticky fragrance after roasting. Even in the wilderness, you can always eat this kind of delicate heat. The food is so considerate. He listened to the light rhythm of rain ticking outside, and his mind gradually calmed down. He didn’t need to intervene in this assassination. He had his own police department and guard battalion to investigate and conduct investigations, but since the other party was involved in the incident eight years ago, he would never give up easily. He must personally investigate and find out. She confessed...

He suddenly became bored again when he thought of this. After taking a few bites, he put down his chopsticks and continued to sit cross-legged, considering the next action plan. I also got the farm to take Kurong back to the city, and then ask him to bring a message... The prince didn’t really have time to go back, but he still couldn’t let go of what his father did back then, and he didn’t want to go back to Beijing at this moment. He's nothing.

Collect the rest of the food as far as possible, wave his hand away from the light wall, he walked to the door and borrowed the rain to wash the silver chopsticks and put them back. Looking at the rain line connecting the sky and the earth, he sighed: "It's not raining. Time, I don’t know when I can stop..."

"Autumn rain will continue, probably all night..."

"Do you want to rest for a while?"

"...Can't sleep."

He took a few pieces of firewood as far as he could and put it into the stove, and sat cross-legged next to Shun, seeing that he was still worried. The prince has always been strong, and he will only show a little helpless when he is alone with him. Thinking like this as far as he can, he can only continue to softly and comfort him: "Don't think too much, wait for the results to come out and decide."

The prince sighed, showing some helplessness, "...If you didn't let you take her out of the palace at that time, maybe such an accident would not happen..."

"The world is changing, who can predict...Even if you stayed at that time, it's hard to tell what will happen afterwards." He set aside the bonfire as far as he could, recalling what happened eight years ago, and his thoughts were mixed. After the apocalypse ceremony, people were panicked, and the situation at that time was extremely urgent. The majesty who was first established as the prince took advantage of the opportunity of his majesty to go out of the palace to make sacrifices and let himself take her out of the palace. At that time, it was his teacher who was responsible for guarding the apse. Looking back afterwards, your majesty and the teacher must have known everything a long time ago, let her go out with your own hands...

Shun understood what he meant, but the sorrow in his heart was unresolved. Jin Yuan didn’t know what really happened during the apocalypse ceremony, and he couldn’t tell others about the royal secrets, even if that person was his best partner... He was silent for a moment and could only whisper softly, "I'm always sorry for her. ......", he said nothing more with his head down and eyes closed.

Turning his head as far as he could to look at his side face shining with the red fire, Shun seemed very self-blame every time he talked about this in the past eight years, but he still couldn't figure out why his Highness was so entangled. After all, she is now safe and sound, and she can meet them often. If compared with the boring life in the former palace, she should also choose the freedom and stability like this, although...

Thinking of this, he sighed secretly, put some firewood into the stove, his heart was ups and downs, he sat leaning on Shun's shoulder, closed his eyes and concentrated, listening to the sound of rain outside the house, waiting for its demise.

The night is long, and the rain is constantly drifting, sifting out all the signs of the remaining people, and the red light in the broken house is shining, dispelling the extremely cold frost of the late autumn and long night.