When the door was knocked, the three people in the room were a little surprised.
Dong Zheng and Linhai had just arrived at the Pure White Realm. Except for Wang Ailun, whom Hamelenli knew, they didn't have a single acquaintance, so who would come
Dong Zheng got up: "I'll open the door."
They now live in the most common bungalow. The house is not big, with one bedroom and one living room. The room key is given to them by the clown after passing through the novice box. The furniture is fairly complete. The two brothers take turns sleeping on the sofa, which is quite safe.
Dong Zheng has been observing the neighbors for the past three days, and they all seem to be new residents just like them. There are many people who never came back after going out. Apart from changing houses, it is more likely that they died somewhere.
He opened the door, and the aisle was empty, except for a courier box at the door.
Dong Zheng squatted down to look at the courier note posted on it. The recipient had his name written on it, and the sender's place was blank.
A lot of things in this place can't be explained by real-world common sense. Dong Zheng no longer embarrassed himself, and carried the box into the house.
Quite heavy.
And... there seems to be something moving inside
Linhai came over curiously: "What?"
"I don't know." Dong Zheng put the box on the table, and Cui Zuojing, who was lying on the windowsill in memory, turned his head, saw the box's eyes lit up, and immediately came over, "It's for me."
"Aren't you a prisoner? Why would someone send you something, and my brother's name is clearly written on it." Dong Linhai complained.
Cui Zuojing ignored him and took the pen that Dong Zheng put on the table, and the tip of the pen easily cut the tape along the cover of the box. With the sound of the courier box being torn open, the contents inside made a restless noise, and he couldn't wait to show his head.
Is that a... a cat? !
The white cat jumped out of the box lightly, the triangular pink pointed ears trembled, the amber eyes were as clear and transparent as two glass beads in the sunlight, and the tail swept across Cui Zuojing's wrist.
It squatted gracefully on the table and looked at the surprised two brothers in front of him, with a strong Russian accent in the bass: "Hello."
… wait, the cat talked
What the fuck is a Maozi accent? !
Lin Hai was stunned.
What a fantastic world this is!
Rao is as calm as Dong Zheng and can't help but be surprised. In his cognitive world, he has never thought of a cat with a Russian accent - well, I just saw a mouse that can speak and wear a vest in Hameln. After that, what is impossible
Cui Zuojing reached out and scratched Victor's chin, and finally felt relieved: "He even uses a courier box, and he is not afraid of boring you."
"He brought me here, I just stayed in the box for a while, it doesn't matter." Victor rubbed the palm of the young man affectionately, and smiled at the frightened two, "Don't be surprised, I'm A Zuo My friend Viktor Vladimir Morozov, you can call me Victor or, like Azo, my uncle."
The string of Russian names with snapping tongues directly blinded Linhai. He looked at Cui Zuojing and Bai Mao, and then at Dong Zheng, and wisely chose not to speak for the time being.
"You're not an ordinary prisoner, are you." Dong Zheng asked suddenly after being silent for a moment.
Cui Zuojing raised his eyebrows: "How do you say?"
"Although I haven't been here for a long time, it is clearly written in the Handbook for Newcomers that once I become a prisoner, even if I keep my memories of my life, I will not be allowed to privately and previously known people without the owner's permission. There are more contacts."
Dong Zheng looked at Cui Zuojing calmly, and said, "When you were fighting against the Pied Piper, you suddenly ran out of the prison space privately, and now an old friend came to the door... In fact, you are not completely under my control. ,Right?"
"That's right." Cui Zuojing admitted frankly, "I'm not a real prisoner, and I do have other purposes for coming here with Victor, but you have to believe that with the existence of a blood pact, I can't harm you. of."
"I know, but the feeling of being concealed is not very comfortable." Dong Zheng is not used to any uncontrollable things, but now, he can only get used to it slowly, "I will wait until you are willing to tell me. ."
"Don't worry, if we are sure that you are really the people who can help me and A Zuo, we will confess everything." Victor stretched out a pink front paw and touched Dong Zheng's finger, he knew very well that Cui Cui Zuo Jing's character is very likely to not speak well when facing unfamiliar people, so he will take the lead.
Social work or something, leave it to him.
The little white cat in front of him looked really harmless. Dong Zheng hesitated for a while, but didn't dodge. He gently held Victor's front paws with two fingers: "Okay."
Fluffy and fluffy, is it really a cat? Is it really a cat!
Lin Hai resisted the urge to go up and touch it, and asked: "That... take the liberty to ask, have you always been a cat? I mean, did you learn to speak human words, or were you a person before? ?"
"I'm a human being," Victor replied patiently, "It's just that I'm trapped in the cat's body now. One of Azuo's goals now is to help me change back to the way I was."
"Oh well, it's easier to understand." After all, he was a young man full of fantastic fantasies. Linhai quickly accepted the fact and asked, "Then what do you eat? Do you need to buy cat food? Or something else? Or eat with us."
"It's best to have cat food. If conditions don't allow it, I can also eat."
"Eh—I wonder if there's any cravings here, but I've heard that's the best cat food."
Here, Dong Linhai and Victor chatted happily, while Cui Zuojing picked up the "Instruction Manual for Newcomers of Pure White Land" on the table and flipped through it. The one he took should have belonged to Dong Zheng, and there were many markings on it, including how to behave in the box to get more points, the rules for clearing the night, etc., which can reflect the seriousness and prudence of the man.
"I still don't understand a lot about this place." Dong Zheng leaned against the wall, looking at the boy who was looking down at the manual, and suddenly said.
Cui Zuojing looked up at him: "For example?"
"The clown said that if you want to go out from here, you must participate in the pilgrimage, arrive at the queen's palace, and make a request to the queen. The manual also says that." Dong Zheng's voice was calm, and this question has been bothering him since he came, " But has anyone really gone back successfully? Everyone came here after they died in the real world. The bodies of Linhai and I are probably no longer in shape. If we go back, what form will we exist in?"
"..." Cui Zuojing was silent for a moment, "I can't tell you that right now."
Dong Zheng asked keenly: "Is it impossible or you don't know?"
"I know, but there may be no reference value."
After all, since the pure white world existed, he was the only one who successfully went out.
On the night of his sixteenth birthday, the whole family prepared a sumptuous dinner and waited for their son to come home from school, but there was no news until seven o'clock in the evening. The news of the prisoner's escape was repeated on the television.
The mother was at home with her younger sister, and the anxious father came out to search. In a remote alley, he found his son's body, which had been stabbed more than a dozen times, lying in a pool of dried blood, already cold and stiff.
Before the man who was about to faint had time to let out his first cry, he saw the blood-stained eyelashes of the boy tremble slightly, and slowly opened his eyes—
Cui Zuojing struggled in the pure white world for three years and four months, but in reality, only two hours and thirty-seven minutes have passed.
Everything eight years ago was still vivid in his mind. Cui Zuojing closed his eyes, thinking of the tears of his parents and sister before he left, there was no waves in his heart, only dull pain remained.
"Well, let me change the question." Dong Zheng asked instead, "Can you tell me about the pilgrimage?"
This question is easy to answer, Cui Zuojing said: "The geographical layout of the pure white boundary can be understood as a circular target. We are now on the outermost floor, and the queen's palace is at the bull's-eye position. The spaces are filled with twisted spaces that only endless trains can pass through.
"Countless people who wanted to go out took the risk and crossed most of the pure white land to petition the Queen. Over time, people called the journey to the central area a pilgrimage.
"As for the process... it's to enter the box, get points, props, clues, improve yourself, get a ticket to the next area, and repeat this process until you reach your destination."
Then meet lies and death.
When Cui Zuojing explained, Victor and Dong Linhai also stopped talking and listened to him quietly. The boy's unique voice sounded in the living room. Victor's tail, which had been swaying gently in the air, hung down on the coffee table, and his white eyelashes drooped down to hide the sadness in his amber eyes.
- He can't remember how many times he has witnessed death.
"That must be difficult." Lin Hai murmured.
Cui Zuojing snorted: "It's very difficult, so some people choose to live here forever, instead of going on a pilgrimage, they just regularly enter some low-level boxes to earn points that can live for a period of time, but it's still very easy because of lack of strength, etc. All kinds of accidental deaths in boxes."
"There are also a very small number of people whose certain characteristics are recognized by the pure white world, and they act as weapon manufacturers, ticket inspectors or guides here, and they rely on work to obtain qualifications for life."
Cui Zuojing's voice fell, and everyone was silent.
"That's probably the case." In the end, he broke the heavy weight: "So what do you choose?"
Is it to count the points at hand and struggle to survive, resign to the fate and wait to be selected for eternity and work for the pure white world, or to embark on a pilgrimage journey with the risk of ten deaths and no life, to chase the ethereal opportunity to go back
It's hard to choose, right
But for Dong Zheng, there is no choice.
He has always believed that fate is only in his own hands, and any method of resignation was directly rejected by him at the very beginning.
Stay here all your life? impossible.
"Let's go on a pilgrimage." The man said neatly. He didn't notice the wave in Cui Zuojing's eyes the moment he heard his answer, and looked at Linhai, "Want to come with me?"
"Of course!" The boy replied loudly immediately, "I don't want to stay here forever, it's better to fight, at least there is hope."
"Then it's settled." Cui Zuojing snapped his fingers, the boy leaned against the wall, and the corners of his lips showed a little smile without even noticing himself, "I will help you on the pilgrimage, I hope the two Live long enough for me to share secrets with Victor."
"It will definitely be." Victor corrected him, the man in the cat's body was as gentle and firm as always, "It will definitely succeed."
The tiny seeds are planted at this moment, quietly brewing, waiting to set off a thunderstorm that will subvert the world.
Cui Zuojing looked at the horizon again, and he knew that in another dimension beyond sight, his family was waiting for him to go back again.
The fetters of the prisoner card made Dong Zheng choose him at the most critical moment, and he also chose Dong Zheng at this moment.