"I haven't slept for seven days. Once I close my eyes, I see the same dreams. I watch them over and over again, as if I have entered a reincarnation that I cannot escape from.
I saw the city, a black and white city. Every wall, street, and pedestrian was like a painting on paper, black and white, yet lifelike.
A passage appeared in front of me, with white bricks forming a path. Walking up the stairs, I soon came to the center of a wide theater. The dome here was comparable to the Queens Island Palace Theater in Stockholm. Even though what I saw The scenery is all black and white, and it is difficult to hide the luxury.
Then, a pair of pale arms appeared in front of me, a frightened face flashed across my face, and I heard screams in this silent world. A few seconds later, I suddenly returned to the street.
Two people came running quickly and passed me. One of them was an old woman wearing a headscarf, and the other was a man wearing a black cloak. The woman's face was covered, wrapped in black shadow, and the man only had his skull, a pale skeleton.
I don't know who they are, I don't know where this is, is that man trying to save her? Or do you want to catch her running away? I didn't understand any of this and all I could think was, why am I here? why me
Who can I tell these things to? No one is worthy of trust, no one is worthy of my trust, not even the daughter who is related to me by blood. Those whispers in the dark, the crazy silhouettes...the incompetent subordinates, the incompetent mortals...who can share my worries? Only by myself can I wake up from the nightmare. At that time, I will ascend to the throne of God and overlook all living beings. "
Cesare Balmond put down the quill in his hand and threw the parchment full of words into a brazier. He glanced at the Sky Codex on the table and finally made up his mind.
… …
January 6, 2102, seventy hours before Blood Owl woke up.
"Finally, I'm here." The blood owl opened his eyes and saw a world surrounded by black and white. The feeling under him was soft grass, and not far away, there was a winding river.
"Is this hell?" the blood owl said to himself. He used this to remind himself that he still had consciousness. He walked forward and came to the river: "And this is the River Styx?"
"Of course this is not hell." A voice exactly like that of the Blood Owl sounded.
For a moment, Xue Xiao suspected that this was the voice in his head. Or is it an echo? Maybe he said something without realizing it.
"This is just an atheist's imagination about where to go after death." The man walked out of the shadow of the tree behind the blood owl. Sure enough, he looked exactly like the blood owl.
The blood owl said: "Are you Dark Water? Or someone else?" He looked at the surrounding scenery again: "This place was created by n Tianyi, right? What tricks are you trying to play?"
"You made this judgment because you couldn't feel any sin in me." Another blood owl said: "But your inference is wrong. I am just your imagination. I am a part of you. I I appear to help you escape from this place."
"Really? Hmm... I'm sorry I didn't see where the door is. Or... there will be something like a boat coming to pick me up?" the blood owl said casually.
did not expect. At this moment, a white door appeared beside him for no apparent reason. And from that river, a small boat also floated.
"I am your deep consciousness, and what I know, you should also know." Another blood owl said at this time: "Since you subconsciously said these two things, then you have the right to choose." He paused for a moment: "Do you still remember? We were killed, killed by the lord. But at the last moment, someone protected some of our important organs and hid them in a space that even the lord could not find. .
Now, we have been given the blood of evil spirits and the skin of devils, so the question becomes, how do you want to wake up? "
"I don't understand a word of the nonsense you're talking about." Xue Xiao said, his hand already reaching for the door handle next to him.
"That would be really easy." Another blood owl immediately said: "But the person who wakes up may be a blood owl who will never regain his humanity."
"You really know a lot." The blood owl put his hand on the doorknob, but did not turn it.
"We both know that there is another way, a way that is not so simple and direct. It may be tortuous and painful, but that is the meaning of my life as a human being. On that road, maybe I can Get back our humanity." Another blood owl's tone was very firm: "What is worthless to many people is a priceless treasure that you can't get. Isn't it ironic?"
The blood owl let go of his hand, and the door beside him disappeared: "Where is this place?"
The person who looked exactly like him disappeared, as if he had never appeared, and the answer naturally disappeared with him.
"Tch... If these nonsense are part of hell, the designer here is a drunkard or a novelist." The blood owl shook his head and walked to the river with an impatient look on his face.
The wooden boat looked very familiar, as if he had seen it somewhere. It didn't take the Blood Owl long to remember that he had been on this kind of boat when he was in Venice. This was the kind of boat the nagging boatman used to delay time. Boat… No! This is basically the same ship! The carved patterns on the sides are all consistent.
At the moment of seeing it, a sense of déjà vu emerged, and past memories were awakened—Xiao was very sure that this ship was the same ship as the one in his memory.
"Is everything that makes up this world just memory fragments in my mind?" The blood owl picked up the long pole of the boat and reached the bottom of the river with one stroke. It seems that the river is not as deep as it looks. As we paddled down the river, the scenery on both sides of the river was originally a black and white forest. But not long after, at a very abrupt dividing point, the river in front of us changed from black to white, and the color tone of the entire world also changed. After a sudden change, roads appeared in the surrounding area.
Looking back, you can still see the forest more than ten meters away, but this side is already an arid desert landscape. Not far from the right bank, you can see the existence of roads and telephone poles, and the river in front of you is also Getting narrower and narrower.
The water flow gradually became slower until there was no obvious pushing effect anymore, and the river gradually became a creek. The Blood Owl easily jumped to the shore next to it.
He felt inexplicably unhappy and wanted to smoke a cigarette, but when he touched his pocket, he found a cigar in it. He picked up the cigar and looked for a lighter again, so he found a lighter in the back pocket of his pants.
"Is this a dream?" the blood owl snorted coldly, raised his head and walked to the road. When he looked back, he could no longer see the river and forest. The surrounding area was desert. The only landmark that could guide him forward was There was only the road under his feet and the telegraph poles extending forward to the horizon. "It looks like it will be a very long dream..." Taking a deep puff of his cigar, he randomly picked a direction and walked forward. (To be continued...