They entered a house built underground.
The house is built very deep, with only the roof exposed above the ground. The special colored stones provide excellent insulation.
The ground was a scorching hell, but it felt a little chilly underground.
The underground house that Lin Yuan and his group entered was the family that Green Ant mentioned was preparing for the wedding.
The building is richly decorated, with long corridors and downward stairs, thick carpets on the floor and portraits of successive matrons of the family hanging on the walls.
The current wife of the head of the household looked through the clothes brought by Lin Yuan and his party, expressed her satisfaction, selected many pieces, and exchanged them for a kind of energy stone unique to the local area.
She picked out a gorgeous gown studded with rubies and sapphires and claimed she could wear it at her wedding.
Although the servants who came and went all called it a happy event, a wedding.
But there was no joy on the lady's face.
There were many candles lit in the large room, and the light shone on her elegant face, making her look pale and slightly sad.
"My child, Payne, is very interested in your human world. If possible, I hope you can stay for the wedding. Before the wedding banquet, talk to the child."
She invited Lin Yuan and others to attend the wedding.
Lin Yuan agreed readily.
One of the purposes of their trip was to chat with local residents and obtain further information.
Servants carrying candlesticks led the way for them to the room where the bridegroom was—the living room of the youngest master in the house.
One of the protagonists of the wedding, the groom Payne, was standing in front of a row of heavy and antique sandalwood bookshelves, walking on the stairs attached to the bookshelves and flipping through a book.
Seeing the guests coming, he smiled happily, spread a pair of thin wings on his back, and flew lightly down the stairs of the bookshelf.
Payne has short black curly hair, light green eyes like clear emeralds, a thin figure, and a somewhat feminine beauty.
He held a book in his hand and calmly invited everyone to take a seat. His manners were very elegant. He did not look like a monster in the polluted area, but rather like a prince in a fairy tale.
"I'm really happy that my mother actually invited humans for me."
The voice is also very pleasant, just like those emerald eyes, reminiscent of the gentle surface of the water with waves.
"I have always loved your human world, but unfortunately I have never had the chance to see it. It is really a happy thing to meet a few human friends before the wedding."
He placed the heavy book in his hand on the table.
It was an ancient book left over from the old days, with a thick cover and ancient characters embossed in gold. It was a chronological history book about human history.
The book was curled up, with notes of various colors stuck between the pages.
No one in Lin Yuan's team, including nobles like Yun Luo and Nicole, had ever read this kind of book - the White Tower did not encourage people to read history, and there was not even a decent national library in the empire.
The ancient books that the sentinels found in the contaminated areas were confiscated as contraband. Occasionally, some of them were kept secret by a few people, and they could only be quietly circulated on the black market.
As a human being, if you want to read a book about ancient history, you can only hide in a dark room, read it nervously under the light of an oil lamp, keep your ears open to listen to any noise outside the house at any time, and risk being thrown into jail.
You can't even put this thick history book on the table like this mutant does.
"You haven't read it?" Payne's green eyes revealed a look of disappointment. "I thought that in that world where humans are kept in captivity, I could see some of the styles recorded in the book more directly."
A world of captive humans
Lin Yuan noticed this word.
Payne chatted with them about the history of ancient mankind.
It mentions the brilliance and prosperity of human civilization in that era.
At that time, the human world covered almost the entire surface of the planet, with numerous ethnic groups, different cultures and beliefs, and different styles of clothing and food.
He talked about these things like he knew them all by heart and told them in great detail.
"I like reading books about humans. I often imagine what that world is like. Unfortunately, although there are many things that can be imagined through words, there are also some things that are difficult to understand through words alone."
Payne stood up and enthusiastically led Lin Yuan and others to see his collection.
In that row of glass cabinets, there are actually a collection of various musical instruments from different periods.
Payne opened the cabinet with anticipation in his eyes. "I've always wanted to hear what these instruments sound like. How fascinating they are. I wonder if anyone of you can show me?"
"I'll pay you. If there's anything you want or anything you want to know, you can," he added.
Among the few people, Nicole hesitated for a moment and said, "I can play the violin a little. My family asked me to learn it when I was a child. But I haven't practiced for many years. I'm afraid I can't play it well."
She picked out a violin from the cabinet. The wooden body of the violin looked very old.
When you pluck the strings, they can actually produce moving sounds.
Nicole spent a long time tuning and rosining the violin. Payne was not impatient at all and sat aside to watch with great interest.
During this process, many servants came to him with wedding items, but he coldly drove them away.
The groom, with his hair loose and wearing simple clothes, just wanted to hear the piano being played.
Nicole placed the violin on her shoulder with her left hand, raised the bow with her right hand, and smiled at everyone, "The song is called "Devil King"."
"Ah, is this the piece composed by the ancient human musician named Schubert?" Payne immediately replied, "Great, this is the piece I've always wanted to hear. No one here knows how to play this complex piece of music."
The bow touched the strings.
A tight and varied melody flows from the bow and strings.
In the dark night of a storm, in the black forest, the devil is singing softly. The overtones are charming and the melody is full of changes.
Nicole has a non-mainstream afro and is usually cheerful and bold. However, unexpectedly, the sound of the piano flowing from her hands is delicate and rich.
In this depressing world, the devil is whispering and the sound of horse hooves is like beating drums.
The dying boy made his last groan through the strings.
This is a fairy-tale song, telling the story between a dead boy and the devil who lures people into hell.
When the song ended, there was silence everywhere.
There was a gleam of light in Payne's green gemstone-like eyes.
After a long while, he slowly exhaled, "It's really touching. It turns out that the world recorded in the book is not a lie."
He thanked Nicole and asked her, "You played so well, why did you give up? I was very moved."
“When I was a kid, I really liked it,” Nicole said.
"But my father repeatedly told me that the purpose of my hard work in practicing the instrument was only to please my future partner."
"He didn't allow me to perform at will. He didn't allow me to play for my friends, classmates, or even the servants at home."
"I won't learn if I get angry." She lowered her head and wiped the violin in her hands with a violin cloth, her fluffy hair shaking.
"My father beat me up for this and put me in solitary confinement for three days without any food, but it didn't change my mind."
She packed up the piano, handed it back to Payne, and said with a smile,
"I heard that today is your wedding, so I made an exception and played a song that I am best at, as a gift to you."
Payne's light green wings stretched out from his back and fluttered behind him.
At this moment, the simple and pure music briefly connected two lives of different races that could not understand each other.
Let them experience the same sorrows, joys and heartbeats.
It's written in human books that music can communicate the soul, and it seems to be true, Payne thought.
His fingers traced the pages of the book in his hands.
The green eyes were gentle yet hinted at reluctance, the color was charming, like a secret lake with sadness hidden deep beneath the water.
"I have loved reading books about human beings since I was a child. It's a pity that I can't read them anymore."
He said this in a calm voice with a slight smile on his lips.
"Why don't you read anymore?" Nicole read the change in his mood and asked, "This is the first time I've met a deformed life that likes humans like you."
Lin Yuan's tentacles suddenly came out and poked her lower back gently. Nicole's voice stopped abruptly.
She and Lin Yuan are very familiar with each other, and their spiritual consciousness can be communicated very quickly. They can transmit each other's thoughts with just a slight touch.
There was no expression on Lin Yuan's face, but Nicole heard what Lin Yuan said.
Of the bloody customs of this race.
Nicole's face turned pale instantly. She opened her mouth, but couldn't say what she wanted to say.
"Anything else?" Payne looked excited, clasping his hands together in front of his chest. "I really like it, and hope to hear as much as possible."
Finally, perhaps because she couldn't bear to see the groom look disappointed, Ni Ji took out a small harmonica from her backpack.
The harmonica is only the size of a palm and looks very simple, with many scratches on the body.
Nicole’s “The Devil” is magnificent.
Ni Ji played a very soft song.
It was like being at a seaside with gentle waves, or like being in a wilderness filled with ashes after a war.
There is a lonely warrior who is singing a love song from his heart to his lover far away.
The melody drifts away slowly, without any fancy showmanship, but with a burning feeling buried deep in the heart. The restrained undercurrent burns the soul and shakes the hearts of the audience.
Rachel thought of the girls at the distant sentry post, who were passionate, had clear feelings about love and hate, and ran to put their love letters into the hands of their favorite sentries.
Du Yuanyuan recalled a young sentry who had poured out his heart to her with a blushing face but soon died in the contaminated area.
Payne lowered his eyelashes, his eyes sparkling.
At that moment, Lin Yuan suddenly realized that he had freed himself from complete dependence on the tentacles.
For the first time, she discovered that she could hear emotions using her body's ears.
The song was like the waves that were reddened by the sunset, rising and falling, whispering someone's thoughts. It turns out that without relying on tentacles, using one's own eyes and ears, touch and smell, one can actually hear, see, and touch many emotions.
Although it was not as convenient and clear as tentacles, the feeling was very novel and made her very interested.
Grope slowly, explore bit by bit, and clear the fog in the hazy confusion to get to know that person.
"What's the name of this piece of music?"
After Ni Ji finished playing, Lin Yuan hummed a tune and asked him the name of the song.
"You may not have heard of this very old tune, 'Tamsui Beach.'" Ni Ji said it concisely, and did not even look at Lin Yuan when he put away the harmonica.
Lin Yuan found that his earlobes were slightly red.
Lin Yuan repeated the title of the song in his mind. He had indeed never heard of it before. It should be a very ancient song. Could there be some unspeakable secret in it
Payne's wedding was a grand affair.
There were many guests coming to congratulate, and everyone was wearing gorgeous dresses and had a big smile on their faces.
The bride was dressed in a gorgeous dress, had a beautiful face and a strong body, and she held Payne's hand with a loving look on her face.
Payne smiled gently, wearing a pure white dress, and stood side by side with the girl.
Almost everyone at the banquet was in high spirits and expressing congratulations.
"What a perfect match."
"It will definitely produce the best offspring."
"The family is becoming more and more prosperous. That's a good thing."
"Yes, it is gratifying."
The wedding lasted for a long time. After receiving blessings, the newlyweds were sent to the wedding room decorated with flowers and colorful silks.
Soon, singing could be heard faintly from the house.
It was Payne who was singing, singing the two tunes he had just heard for the first time that day.
First came the tragic "The Devil", and then the love song-like "Tamsui Beach".
The gentle singing voice came through the stained glass window.
The lively atmosphere at the banquet became more and more intense, and everyone was in high spirits.
Until Payne's mother, the lady who first received Lin Yuan and others, couldn't help crying.
Someone immediately stroked her bent back to comfort her.
"Reproduction is the greatest joy, you can't cry."
"Don't be sad, it's a happy thing. There will be more children in the family."
Nicole, who was sitting among the guests, turned pale. Thinking of what Lin Yuan had told her about the customs of this race, she felt so sad that she wanted to cry. She tightly grasped Lin Yuan's hand.
“Is… is that really the case?”
Lin Yuan was just sitting next to her, his little face seemed to be covered with a layer of glaze and expressionless as if he was wearing a mask.
The sentries at the same table couldn't bear to look away.
The singing continued, but they could already smell a cruel and bloody smell in the air.
The blood of the groom Penn.
"Are you volunteering?"
Lin Yuan clearly remembered that earlier, he had pulled Payne aside and asked him this question.
If he didn't want to, if he wanted to live, they were willing to find a way to take him away from here.
But Payne nodded, his gentle eyes revealing a kind of persistence.
"Yes, I fell in love with her. Of my own accord."
The voice is very light, but it carries the weight of a young and heavy life.
Lin Yuan couldn't understand, just like she couldn't understand why the little mutant in the Pupilless Land devoured its own mother to continue its power.
She sat in her seat, her eyelashes slightly lowered, and the tentacles detected an emotion filled with extreme pleasure and extreme pain.
The two conflicting emotions are intertwined, inseparable and difficult to separate.
Strong emotions washed over Lin Yuan's mind.
The most cruel and bloody thing happened at the most beautiful and lively wedding.
Nicole couldn't help herself and stood up. "I can't just stand there like this. I can't accept this."
"It's too late." Someone next to me said softly, "He's gone."
The smell of blood in the air became thicker, so thick that it was suffocating.
Payne's voice was still singing softly, but it was weak and almost inaudible.
With the last bit of strength in his life, he sang to his friend who had just played the song for him, and to himself.
The singing gradually faded away until it could no longer be heard.
The bloody wedding of this race ended in joy.
The creature with gem-like green eyes, who smiled and said he liked reading and music, died at his own wedding.
The day passed by unnoticed.
The last rays of the sun disappeared from the horizon.
The earth becomes cooler.
The vibrant little grass poked its head out of the soil, tested the temperature, and then began to grow desperately like crazy, seizing the opportunity.
In the blink of an eye, lush green grass covered the ground, beautiful flowers bloomed on the branches, the colorful lights in the amusement park lit up again, and huge sculptures of cartoon characters stood smiling in the sea of flowers.
Someone in the square was proposing to his sweetheart again.
Lin Yuan and his group came out of their underground house while the ground was still warm, and ran forward at the fastest speed.
They had to get somewhere before the sun rose.
The location of the pillar of Food Pong City.
"The location of the pillar is very far away. I can give you a map, but you must hurry. If it gets light and the sun catches up with you, no one will be able to save you."
Payne told them yesterday.
Payne, whom he just met, has died at his wedding. And Lin Yuan and his party are rushing towards their own death journey.
(End of this chapter)