221B Baker Street, Cemetery.
In the gloomy night, heavy fog filled the air.
This is the lowest level of Avalon. After summer is about to end, the sea breeze and ocean currents have also left, and the place is covered with fog. Even in the daytime it is extremely hazy.
After tonight's heavy rain penetrated the fog, it seemed to become weaker, and the sound of pattering and falling on the ground was thin.
When the soil is soaked with rainwater, it becomes muddy, like a bubbling mire.
The carriage stopped at the entrance of the cemetery, and the ghost hand opened the door for him:
"He's waiting for you inside."
Guishou said: "Don't let him wait too long."
"The road is only a short distance away. How long do you think it will take me to walk?"
Ye Qingxuan glanced at him, put on his deerstalker hat, and walked into the cemetery swaggeringly.
In the empty cemetery, there is silence and lonely figures.
Those faint shadows occupied the surrounding high points and entrances, sealing off the cemetery.
Ye Qingxuan withdrew his gaze and walked forward on the fragments of white flowers under his feet.
It seemed like a funeral was being held here, but there were no priests or guests. There was only a master of ceremonies in black clothes standing next to the tomb, presiding over the ceremony.
Next to him, the open coffin was covered with white petals and white brocade, but it was empty.
The master of ceremonies stood beside the coffin, looking at the tombstone and thinking blankly. His men retreated far away, not daring to disturb his trance.
But he doesn't look mysterious or scary, just an ordinary old man.
It was the shaman.
"Whose funeral is this?"
Ye Qingxuan glanced at the empty coffin and interrupted his meditation.
"Well... I haven't thought about it yet."
The shaman shook his head slowly: "A funeral is a serious matter, and the identity of the protagonist is always the biggest mystery."
As he spoke, he turned back and his eyes fell on this young and strange black musician.
"There are many small gangs that have been incited to oppose my rule. They are some troublesome little fish. I sent six assassins to clean them up, but I am looking forward to it. Whose head will be brought back first... Who does it belong to? "
His cloudy eyes stared at the young man's face:
"-What do you think?"
"You might as well take your time and guess, there's no fun in spoilers."
Ye Qingxuan responded coldly: "The famous shaman asked me to come here. What does he want to do? Could it be that he wants me to lie in there too?"
The shaman was silent for a moment, laughed softly, and changed the topic: "It's always not good to talk about unpleasant things when we first meet. Let's talk about something else. Mr. Holmes, what do you think of this city?"
Ye Qingxuan was stunned, thought for a moment and then shook his head: "I don't know, I always feel like she is a sinister old widow, moody and vicious."
"Yeah, almost."
The shaman nodded approvingly, but his expression turned sad: "Even though she was an old widow, she was once a radiant beauty. At that time, she was in her prime, exuding tenderness and beauty from her bones. . Heroes presented swords to it, and musicians praised its holiness and kindness. At that time, the King of Destiny still ruled his powerful kingdom, the world was at peace, and Angelo stood in the westernmost part of the world. But with the death of that man, everything Everything has changed.”
He sighed, took out a cigar from his pocket and waved it to the boy. Ye Qingxuan waved his hand, and he cut off one end himself, lit it and started enjoying it.
In the rising smoke, his eyes became blurry: "Mr. Holmes, let's talk about the past of this city. I want to tell you the past of this city and this country, its greatness and brilliance.”
Ye Qingxuan leaned on his cane and listened attentively.
…
…
"Did you know? At that time, it was just after the Dark Ages, and the golden age of human rejuvenation came. King Arthur built this place in memory of his beloved Fairy of the Lake, and built the most dazzling pearl in the entire West, the fairyland on earth - Ava. Long! He has collected the most treasures in the world, countless poets, powerful knights, mighty legions, the most gorgeous brocade and the most fragrant incense... But even if the beauty of the whole world is piled up here, it cannot express his feelings for the fairy in the lake. of love.—for everything he had came from the gift of the Fairy of the Lake.”
In the darkness, he spoke of the history hidden behind history, the past buried in the past.
That is the secret covered behind layers of curtains.
"Before meeting the Lady of the Lake, the great King Arthur was just a fisherman's son and a commoner. But he accidentally entered the Kingdom of Shadows and met the Lady of the Lake. What happened in the middle is not known, but the result is: Arthur got her favor. That is the most praiseworthy thing in the whole world, the so-called 'love' thing."
The shaman laughed softly, as if mocking, but also admiring:
"The Fairy of the Lake gave her love and power to Arthur, and he became invincible and expanded his territory. With the help of the Fairy of the Lake, he forged the Sword in the Stone and became an invincible strongman. Angelou became the true King of Destiny! That was his era, when the Knights of the Round Table were galloping in the sky, demons retreated from the King of Knights, and even natural disasters were expelled one by one. The western frontier of the human world was unprecedented. Peace and health. Flowers are blooming, and fire is cooking oil. It is such a beautiful era, glorious and great, worthy of all the good words to praise it, just like a fairy tale within a fairy tale."
"Then everything changed."
The shaman paused and his voice became hoarse: "Arthur is crazy. He was swallowed up by excessive power and fell into madness.
However, at that time, no one knew that the man sitting on the emperor's throne had turned into a madman.
As he gets older, he hates his younger son more and more, feeling that this child is stealing his life.
He drowned his eldest son in boiling oil. When he woke up, he felt guilty and sad. He cried for three days and was so sad that he couldn't help himself.
He suspected that his wife was unfaithful to him, so he ordered his men to strip her naked, walk naked on the streets, and accept everyone's insults.
That street still retains its original appearance, but some people have forgotten why it was called 'Queen's Road'.
In order to ensure that no one could threaten his supreme authority, he executed most of the Knights of the Round Table who were loyal to him. His relatives divided those rights and rose to the top of the world in one step. This was the glorious blood of the empire.
In order to make himself the king of kings, he could not even allow the existence of the Holy City, and resorted to militarism to accumulate strength for the destruction of the Holy City.
Until the end, the fairy in the lake disappeared due to his madness. The huge Avalon, the glorious city, has turned into a ghost. "
The shaman's voice was hoarse and strange, exuding substantial darkness and madness:
"At that time, the entire city was covered by his distorted projection in the etheric world, forming the strange space of the Shadow of Avalon. In that world, gallows stood like a forest, the guillotine became a fountain, and blood flowed from The execution ground continued to wind and flow outside the city gate, turning into a road of blood. Until finally, Mad King Arthur betrayed everyone and destroyed himself in his own expansion of power. Only the cursed blood was left to be passed down from generation to generation. This is this In the past and present life of the city, she was once beautiful and radiant. But now, she has turned into a gloomy and fickle, dying mad woman, staring with cloudy eyes and cursing the living with her malicious eyes. All this time, what you have seen The root of the external poison, the real disaster and cancer, is the shadow hidden behind the city. The evil consequences that were planted hundreds of years ago have now spread endlessly... "
He sighed softly and put out the cigar in his hand, his cloudy eyes filled with emotion.
Ye Qingxuan was silent for a long time and asked softly:
"You tell me this, do you want me to give up on the bloody path?"
The shaman shook his head, "No, I'm just feeling sorry for this city. If I want you to give up the bloody path, I will say so."
Ye Qingxuan glanced at him and sighed: "I didn't expect the shaman to be a person who cares about the country and the people."
"Everyone wants to make their living environment better. Don't you do the same?"
The shaman said calmly: "Even if you have bad luck and misfortune, you have always worked hard, haven't you?"
Ye Qingxuan was silent, but the shaman laughed.
"I think you have vaguely guessed something, right? Mr. Holmes, or... should I call you another name?"
"I have thought about this possibility before, but now it is finally confirmed."
Ye Qingxuan raised his eyes and looked at the shaman in front of him, or the "old ghost" in his father's mouth: "I just didn't expect that the friend in my father's mouth turned out to be the former Dark Emperor."
"I never thought that the son of the evil hunter Yue Yin would be called a black musician."
The shaman patted him on the shoulder, full of regret: "Since you returned to Avalon, I have been letting my men pay attention to you. I didn't expect that it would bring you such trouble. When I heard about your melody , I knew it was you who came back. You are more..."
"More than this, I want to know... what on earth did my father do back then to bring me to this level."
"have no idea."
The shaman spread his hands and said, "When he committed the crime and ran away, I was still sheltering in the Southern Islands and had no time to take care of myself. When I came to my senses, I found that he had disappeared and you and your mother had been expelled. Wallon. Unexpectedly, even the famous Lan..."
"Don't say that name."
Ye Qingxuan interrupted him: "If we want to continue talking, don't say that name."
…
The shaman was stunned. He stared at the young man's face, as if he noticed the indifference and anger behind the gloomy eyes, and slowly shrugged:
"Okay, no chatting."
He sighed. He originally wanted to say that there are still people who care about you after all these years and want you to go back... But this child will probably not go back again.
After being betrayed once, who would trust the so-called family
He originally expected to see Ye Qingxuan and tell him something about the past between your father and me, and how my uncle has actually cared about you for so many years, which would soothe his grieving heart.
However, this is of no use.
It never seems to be of any use.
He sighed, took a deep breath of his cigar, and exhaled the remnants of the past: Ye Lanzhou, known as a peerless musician with unparalleled elegance and moon-like chanting, had a son who seemed to be made of iron.
Will he be happy or sad that he is dead