The gentlemen in the rain continued to move forward, and a woman appeared in front of the path between the tombstones.
She was holding a red umbrella in her right hand and a bunch of flowers in her left hand, squatting in front of a newly erected tombstone. The woman had faded, grayish brown hair, and was wearing thick autumn clothes. The red scarf around her neck looked very warm. She had a regular braided pigtail and looked about 25 or 26 years old, but if you looked closely, she looked strangely old.
The woman was not on the path that Shade and the doctor had to take, and there was a lawn between them. But Shade still stopped, and the doctor looked at the woman who was placing flowers in front of the tombstone:
"Friends?"
"Not really, just someone I know... Doctor, wait a minute."
"no problem."
So a black umbrella stopped on the path and watched the autumn rain, while the other umbrella walked towards Marilyn Handel.
The soul of Joe Yin Barton stood beside the woman and looked at the tombstone, and soon noticed Shade's arrival. He did not speak, but turned around and nodded slightly to Shade. Shade walked over and saw the name on the tombstone:
Joeyne Desmond Barton
Died in late autumn 1853
For love
It was not until Shade came closer that Ms. Marilyn Handel realized that someone was walking in the rain. She put down the bouquet and hurriedly wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes:
"Mr. Hamilton."
There are some barely perceptible grey lines on the face, which are the symbol of the death curse.
"Haven't you left Tobesk yet?"
"The train is in two hours, and we plan to go to Carson Creek for the winter."
Xia De nodded and looked at the simple tombstone. It only had the name and year of death written on it. The cursive letters for the beloved were probably an epitaph:
"I didn't expect you would put up a tombstone here."
He said softly.
"Although he is with me forever, I still need to remember him... to show that he was here..."
Ms. Handel was wearing thick clothes and looked a little weak, with her pale lips being the most obvious sign.
"It's not bad to have a tombstone. At least it leaves a trace."
Xia De nodded, took out his business card from his pocket and handed it to Ms. Handel:
"If you encounter difficulties that you really cannot solve, you can write to me."
He did not agree with Joeyne Barton's actions, but Ms. Handel had no grudge against him:
“Have a safe trip.”
“I wish you a happy life too.”
Ms. Handel bowed slightly to Shade, then left with an umbrella. Shade stood in front of Joeyne Barton's tombstone and looked at her back, then saw Mr. Barton's spirit turn around and wave goodbye to him.
From beginning to end, Xia De did not communicate with Qiao Yin Barton. After all, there was nothing worth talking about.
Miss Carina got some information about the chosen one from Barton on Wednesday night, and in return gave a bearer bill to the newly resurrected penniless Marilyn Handel. Where will this woman with a sinful soul and a death curse go next? Shade has no idea, but they will definitely embark on the path of redeeming their souls.
For those souls, and for themselves.
She has become a ring wizard.
The voice beside him murmured in the rain, and Ms. Handel's figure gradually faded in the rain. Shade reached out and touched Barton's tombstone. His frown relaxed, and he suddenly smiled, then turned around and returned to the path to meet the doctor.
The doctor did not ask about the identity of the man just now. After meeting up with Xia De, he continued to walk forward and talked about their topic:
"The detective in your house just now also said that everyone will die. No one can escape it."
Xia De nodded slightly:
“But some people left, came back, and didn’t want to leave.”
This refers to the Earl of Darach.
“But some people leave and don’t want to look back.”
This refers to Detective Sparrow Hamilton, who seems to have let go of all his burdens.
"But some people would rather come back just to redeem another soul."
This refers to Marilyn Handel, who just left.
The doctor shook his head and did not comment:
"Isn't this the story of life? Other people's lives, other people's stories, other people's choices. You are a passer-by in their lives, witnessing other people's stories and writing your own story."
Xia De sighed, and the doctor continued in a brisk tone:
"Not only will all mortals die, but all living things will also face an end one day. This is the rule of this world. Although it is ruthless and cruel, it is fair."
The doctor gave an example:
"Like, I don't want my boots to last forever so I don't have an excuse to buy new ones."
"Actually, the boots aren't broken, so I could just go buy a new pair... Never mind, it's not important."
After saying goodbye to Ms. Handel, Shade felt better for some reason:
"But everything has a beginning and an end, which is indeed a good thing. The world is not solidified, some come and some go. This is a dynamic balance, which is really fair."
The doctor agreed:
"It's like you and Sparrow Hamilton. That detective left, and you came. Maybe our city really needs Detective Hamilton!"
The blue-eyed doctor joked, and Xia De also smiled at Qiu Yu:
"Although you all call me a detective, I haven't completed many serious commissions this fall. I plan to take a good rest in Tobesk during the winter and expand my career plan so that I won't be so busy."
Although a ringmaster earns much more than an ordinary detective, the identity of a detective is a necessity for a foreigner to live in a civilized world. Not to mention that he earns little, he can't give it up even if he loses gold pounds.
"Winter is coming again. This is the end of the year. Spring, summer, autumn and winter, it's always like this."
The doctor nodded.
"Winter has come, can spring be far behind?"
Shade said, and then realized that this was a poem from his hometown. Unfortunately, he only remembered this sentence, otherwise when Ajelina invited him to the salon, he could write it down to prove that he was not illiterate.
So, are you
"Her" voice chuckled in the rain, and Xia De thought for a moment:
"Of course. Even if he had an intimate relationship with a famous female writer, the cultural level of this body is still at the level of 'Spyro Hamilton tutor'."
He slowed down his pace, for they had finally reached the resting place of Mr. Sparrow Sparrow Hamilton, and the doctor stopped first to let Shad go forward and clear the wet leaves from the tombstone.
The stranger squatted slightly and brushed his left hand across the cold and wet surface of the stone tombstone. He thought of many things in an instant. Half a year had passed since he came to this world in the midsummer of 1853 in the Universal Calendar. The stranger had changed a lot, but the detective was still sleeping here.
Raindrops hit the umbrella, the rain slid down the tombstone, and finally fell into the late autumn soil. In this atmosphere, Xia De wanted to say something appropriate, but he couldn't say it when he came to his lips.
But fortunately, strangers still have friends in this world:
"Here lies the faithful Sparrow Hamilton."
Dr. Bill Schneider stood behind Shade and said:
"Eternal loyalty, and persistence in duty until the last moment."
Shad stood up, took a step back, and looked at the tombstone in the rain with the doctor.
"At this moment, he rests here forever. Even though he cannot return to his hometown, his soul has rested in peace."
Although it was only a few short sentences, it still expressed Xia De's feelings very well:
"Doctor, you can also try to submit your article to the newspaper."
He said with a smile.
"Oh, detective, don't make fun of me. I don't have the literary talent of Louisa... But when I was young, I did consider my career between being a writer and a civil servant."
So Bill Schneider became a very successful psychiatrist.
After joking, Xia De put one hand in his pocket and held the umbrella with the other hand, and suddenly asked softly:
"Doctor, since all mortals will die, and everything in the world will end one day, then will this world also come to an end one day? It is not destroyed by some conspiracy, nor is it destroyed by a force that we cannot imagine. It is really just coming to an end naturally."
The reason for raising this question is because of Sister Defulin's statement that "the fire is gradually dying out", and because Mr. Edmund of the Guiding Light Convent often mentioned things like the end of the world to Shade. He was not sure whether the end of the world would come, and when it would come, which became his new secret that he wanted to know.
The doctor was silent for a moment, listening to the sound of rain and thinking carefully:
"I think so, but I can't imagine that kind of scene. The destruction of the old world will lead to the birth of a new world, I am sure of that."
Xia De nodded and wanted to ask what they would do if the world ended next year. But when he thought of this question, he felt ridiculous and shook his head:
"What you said just now is very right. All mortals will die one day. Although the end is predetermined, we can find ways to prolong the life and make life more meaningful. If the world will come to an end one day, I think there will be many people who will pay the price to prolong the life of the world and make our world more meaningful, right?"
The doctor shrugged and said nothing, but mentioned something else:
"Come to think of it, we forgot to buy flowers and came here empty-handed. Let's go to the little church over there and ask. I think there should be fresh flowers there."
"My house is actually filled with flowers, filling up the entire living room..."
Then the scenes from last night popped up again, and Xia De hurriedly pushed those scenes out of his mind. Now was not the right time to think about this:
"Wait, I have a flower."
He said, reaching into his pocket, pausing, and taking out a somewhat wilted white flower.
This was the last flower I bought from a little girl on the street in Midhill Castle, but it was not a rose, but a rare white Lyon orchid, a subspecies of orchid that blooms in autumn when planted in spring and is famous for its full petals.
"Look, the last flower has also found its owner."
Xia De said to "her" in his heart, and bent down to put the orchid on the ground in front of the tombstone. But before the flowers touched the ground, he straightened up again and looked at the white flowers in his hand hesitantly:
"Breath of Time."
As he inhaled slightly, gray air flowed out from the flowers and entered his nose. Under Dr. Schneider's gaze, the flowers slowly turned from mature flowers into seeds.
"We can't change the final outcome, but we can at least prolong the process and make life more meaningful... This flower will soon wither if placed here, but..."
Shade summoned the Moonlight Greatsword, dug a small hole in the moist soil next to the tombstone, and placed the seed in it. He then used his fingers to leave the elven rune that promoted growth in the soil, and then buried the fingerprint and the seed together:
“Hopefully, next spring, there will be a flower growing here.”
The doctor nodded:
"Yes, I will come and see it with you next spring."
After doing all this, Xia De stood up and stood in front of the tombstone with the doctor, holding umbrellas and looking at the letters on the tombstone.
The raindrops fell on the ground, splashing small water. The rain in late autumn played a light but sad music between heaven and earth, just like the people sleeping here, leaving lightly, leaving thoughts and blessings.
The cemetery in the rain was like an old oil painting with a cold tone, and the backs of Shad and the doctor were frozen in the center of the painting. Shad didn't know what the doctor was thinking about, but he thought about his actions in Midhill Castle throughout the fall, and the various people, souls, and things.
Finally, I thought of the seeds that I had buried in the soil. It was like he had saved Grace and Helen, and like Joeyne Barton had found Marilyn Handel. They could not make anyone immortal, but they made life longer, more meaningful, and have the opportunity to face the next spring.
Of course, what Shad did would not lead to disaster.
Listening to the sound of rain, the chilly wind brought the chill of late autumn. The wet air was so real that it seemed as if one could reach out and touch the autumn that was about to leave Tobesk.
All mortals must die, and he cannot change anything, but the dying flower has indeed degenerated into a seed, waiting for the next spring.
"Say something."
Amid the sound of rain, her voice rang out on time:
The Sixth Era, Universal Calendar Year 1853, Autumn, the month of dead leaves. When the late autumn rain falls at your feet, the slightly cold wind cannot take away your thoughts at this moment. The living are obsessed with their loved ones, but they do not know that all mortals will eventually die; the dead are willing to sacrifice themselves, but they do not think that all things will eventually die. The sinful and noble souls carry the curse and walk away, while the original flame ignites new power. On the stage of unknown fate, the red butterflies fly with you. The third act ends, but you who have stepped into death - stranger, do you really understand what is final death
"Isn't that description of the red butterfly a bit strange?"
Shade asked, but received no answer.
"But all things... eventually die..."
He pondered these words in the rain, and felt as if he had touched a deeper power. The Founding Death in his pocket glowed slightly, and Dr. Schneider suddenly turned his head and seemed to see a huge golden sickle flashing behind Shade, but when he looked closely, there was nothing:
"Another hallucination... Why do I say again?"
This rain will probably last for a long time, the autumn will end and winter will begin. Whether Shad likes it or not, death and time are equally fair.
Only she smiled softly in the slightly cold rain:
You have gained new powers, stranger.
(End of this volume)