In the empty hall, Lily lay quietly in Charles' arms, choking with sobs. "Mr. Charles, did you know that I wouldn't live long?"
Charles held Lily's fair little hand in his palm and turned it over and over again, his heart aching as if it were being cut by a knife.
"Actually... I was the one who asked Linda to check that day. Bandage said that kind of ritual never has good results. I was afraid that the one who came back was not the real you. Fortunately, it was you who came back, but unfortunately it was also you who came back."
Lily bit her lips tightly, tears streaming down her face again. "I'm sorry, I just wanted to stay with you a little longer."
"It's okay, it's okay." Charles leaned Lily's little head against his neck.
"I will stay with you for as many days as you have left." Charles said and slowly closed his eyes.
"Sister Linda said I only have two days left, which is when we are going to go out to sea."
Lily kept arching in Charles' arms, just like when she was a mouse, she kept arching against his fingers.
"Two days... two days..." Charles muttered to himself.
Finding a way to rescue Lily within two days is undoubtedly a pipe dream. We have been searching for more than three months but still have not found a way, let alone two days.
Lily, with red eyes, stood up and smoothed Charles's wrinkled eyebrows with her soft fingers.
"Mr. Charles, don't think about it anymore. It's okay. I will feel bad if you do this. I am not afraid of death. Really, I am really happy. These few days are my happiest days. I am really happy."
Charles opened his eyes and looked at the girl in front of him, the girl who had always stayed by his side as a mouse.
Lily smiled sweetly. She rushed over, put her arms around his neck, and rubbed Charles' face gently with her white cheek.
The two of them just hugged each other quietly, no one spoke, the candles on the table slowly burned out, and the hall fell into darkness.
At eight o'clock the next morning, the butler of the Governor's Mansion prepared to direct the chefs, servants and maids to go to the Governor's Mansion to start a new day's work as usual.
But just as he walked into the spacious door, he was startled by Charles who suddenly pounced on him.
His upper body was naked, his eyes were bloodshot and his expression looked extremely ferocious.
"Your Excellency the Governor?"
Charles rushed over and spoke quickly into his ear.
The butler seemed to be frightened by something, "Governor, do you really want to—"
“Go now!!”
"Yes! As you command!"
Soon, the guards carried things wrapped in black cloth to Charles' bedroom.
"Governor, some of them were purchased from the islanders at high prices, and some were confiscated from the three places but have not been destroyed in time." The butler introduced to Charles.
Looking at the large and small objects covered with black cloth in front of him, Charles waved his hands randomly.
The butler and the guards who were carrying the goods quickly left the room, and finally considerately closed the door from the outside.
"Swish~!" A black cloth was lifted, and a strange goddess statue with a mouth full of sharp teeth and dark eye sockets appeared in front of him.
"Swish, swish, swish~!" When all the black cloth was lifted, seventy or eighty sculptures of different shapes appeared in front of Charles.
These statues include almost all the cults, big and small, in Earthsea, including various gods in the seabed and various belief totems embodied by the people of Earthsea.
No matter whether these things are true or false, they are all here. Charles looked at these things in front of him and his breathing became heavier.
He opened and clenched his hands, feeling very conflicted, but when Lily's face appeared in his mind, he made up his mind.
"Bang!" Charles knelt down before these things.
"Please, save Lily, I really can't..."
The grief and despair that Charles had suppressed in his heart with his tenacious character for several months were like the sudden collapse of the dam of the Yellow River, quickly swallowing him whole.
"Bang!" A crisp explosion sounded, and it continued, and wood chips flew in the room in an instant.
Charles looked up in astonishment and found that some of the statues had exploded without any warning.
The remaining totems and idols were like dead objects in the face of Charles' plea.
“Bang!” Charles slammed the hammer into the ground, and with veins popping out, he roared at the thing in front of him: “What kind of shitty gods are you guys!! You can’t even save a person! You don’t deserve to be called gods!! You are just a bunch of stinky shit!!”
The statue remained indifferent and showed no reaction.
"Creaky~" The door behind Charles was opened. It was Lily.
There was no sadness on her face, instead she stuck out her pink tongue in embarrassment. "Charles, are you free? I want to ask you for a favor."
Charles was very strong, and before long, a huge hole appeared on the ground.
He grabbed a white-painted coffin with one hand and put it in. Then he opened the coffin lid and put a rat specimen in it. It was Lily's rat body.
Next was another brightly colored little house, which was the home that Lily had placed under Charles' bed.
At the very end there is a painting, a painting of Charles and Lily hugging each other. The two people in the painting are looking at each other with eyes full of love.
Charles turned around and looked at Lily behind him, "Is this okay?"
"Hmm... I don't know. I want to give it a try."
Charles walked over, picked her up by the waist and walked towards the coffin.
Charles put her in the coffin and did not stand up. He lay down in it together, hugged Lily and looked at the brown shed above his head. "Does it feel a little dark?"
"Well, a little bit. It would be better if it were brighter."
"Bang bang bang!" As the bone bullet drew a circle on the greenhouse, the greenhouse leaked and warm sunlight shone down.
But because the sunlight was slanting, the light did not shine directly on the two people, but instead shone obliquely on the doctor's tombstone.
With a "puff", Lily sat up from the coffin and laughed.
Charles laughed too, not knowing what he was laughing at.
While laughing, Charles grabbed the edge of the coffin with his right hand and kept exerting force.
There was a sound of wood breaking, and he broke the wood off with force.
In an instant, everything around changed. Lily did not sit up. She lay in the coffin with a deathly pale face, motionless. The crew members with solemn expressions stood motionless around the coffin.
They were all wearing dark clothes and holding a white flower in their hands, just like at the doctor's funeral.
"Captain, are you okay?" Dipper asked with a very nervous expression.
Charles pulled his thoughts back from yesterday with difficulty. Just as he was about to climb out of the pit, his body suddenly went limp. Fortunately, James beside him held on to him and he did not fall.
"Captain, are you okay?" James, who was dressed in military uniform, asked worriedly.
Charles pushed away his support and shouted in a hoarse voice: "Bury!!"
"Bang~!" The coffin lid was closed, and black iron coffin nails were embedded along the edge of the coffin.
The sad-looking crew members threw the flowers in their hands into the coffin one by one.
This time, it was still Dipper and James who moved the shovels, spreading the dark soil layer by layer onto the coffin.
Charles walked to the doctor's tombstone, kicked his feet lightly, and sat directly on the tombstone.
As the iron fingers tapped the tombstone rhythmically, Charles' eyes began to gradually unfocus, and he recalled every detail of Lily in his mind.
"Hello, my name is Lily, what's your name?"
"Mr. Charles, can you go home with me? I'm afraid my mother won't recognize me."
"Thank you, Mr. Charles. You are a good man."
"Mr. Charles, I love you."
"Cough cough~" An old cough sounded behind Charles, interrupting his memories.
Charles didn't look back, his voice was full of tyranny. "Let's go out to sea today, don't rush me!!"
The pope in a white robe walked slowly to Charles and said, "Captain Charles, you are not suitable for exploration in this state. I have good news for you. The great God has issued an oracle. He is very touched by the relationship between you and Lily."
Charles pointed his left hand at Lily's grave next to him, his bloodshot eyes staring at him intently. "Touch? What's the point of just touching? Resurrect, resurrect her! Isn't your God omnipotent?!"
The Pope showed a hint of displeasure on his face. "How can we save the God of Light who is trapped? Can you let me finish my words?"
He cleared his throat and continued: The great God of Light has issued an oracle. In order to commend Charles for his efforts, as long as you find the exit on the surface and help Him out of the predicament, He will send this mouse back. "
Charles looked at the Pope in front of him with cold eyes. "Is there a single word of truth in your mouth?"
The Pope showed surprise on his face and clapped his hands to Charles. "I have always told the truth. Why? You don't believe it?"
"Haha, believe it, of course I believe it! Hahaha!" Charles jumped down from the tombstone with a laugh and walked towards the pier.
(End of this chapter)