After coming out of Jace's place, Austin was in a daze, and he ignored the constant greetings from acquaintances along the way, and his head kept haunting Jace's words: fear lingers because of avoidance, and follows like a shadow because of cowardice. It was so similar to what he had dreamed of, no matter how he ran, the monster could easily catch up with him, and then capture him and torture him in all sorts of cruel ways.
What if he didn't run, but rushed up and fought it? Will he really be able to defeat it? Thinking of this possibility, Austen's anxiety was diluted. But he knew very well that nightmares would never stop so easily, and he remembered the words of the mage in the sewers very well: if he was still sane in three days, he would go to the Navia Manor in the south of the city to find him.
Since even the mage had said so, it was likely that the nightmare that haunted him would really last for three days. Will she really survive the next two days? Austin was skeptical. He never thinks that he is a strong-willed person, on the contrary, it is true that he bullies the soft and fears the hard, otherwise he would not choose to be a gangster.
"Well, if only I could stay with Jace! There's a little beauty to take care of me. Austin couldn't help but sigh at the sky.
"Bah, Austin, what are you talking about!" At this time, there was a sudden voice from behind Austin, and the other party obviously heard his feelings, not only did he blush, so he tried to change the topic, "Kelin, what are you doing so early." "
"Is this still early?" I said, Austin, you think everyone sleeps all day until noon like you, and besides, you're blind, and I carry a basket and don't go grocery shopping and hang out!" replied as she lifted her basket and rolled her eyes speechlessly.
Kelin's cute behavior suddenly made Austen's face even hotter, and he naturally imagined in his mind that a few years later, Kelin's chest would bulge, and the whole person would look like a plump and mature person, and he must be a seductive little goblin!
"Hey, you stinky rascal, what are you looking at!" Chrynee glared at Austin with the basket to her chest, and the thirteen-year-old knew what dirty things men had in their heads.
Austin, who was scolded as a hooligan, just laughed dryly twice, and did not answer, his eyes were still burning on Kelin's still developing body, there are not many opportunities to appreciate beautiful women so closely, he should cherish it.
On the other hand, Klin, no matter how precocious her mind was, was still a chick after all, and she was soon defeated by Austen's gaze, and ran away with a basket with a red face.
"Hahaha...," Austin laughed heartily until Klin's petite back disappeared around the corner of the street.
"Oops, damn it, it hurts. I don't know if I laughed too much just now, and I pulled the wound, and there was a sharp pain in Austin's chest. Only then did he remember that he was still an injured person, and that he was seriously injured, and he had to hurry back and lie down to rest.
Hamm Street and Broken Neck Street are not far apart, just cross two intersections, and when you turn onto Broken Neck Street, you will arrive at Austin's house. The journey, which would normally take two minutes, took a quarter of an hour today, and consumed most of Austin's physical strength, and his stomach began to rumble after drinking the broth in the morning.
The thought of going to a tavern for a good meal lingered in his mind all his life, honey-glazed chicken thighs, garlic sausages, crisp beer, and of course, scantily clad hostesses, and Austin, who had money in his pocket, was eager to fly over immediately. But even if you have to walk through three streets to the nearest tavern, can you still walk through it?
In desperation, Austin knocked on the door of Hough, a mason who lived next door, and asked the loyal and honest neighbor to help him run an errand, but Hough should have gone out to look for work, and he knocked for a long time without anyone answering. Could it be that he begged Merck the drunkard? The thought of not knowing how much copper he would withhold made Austin feel distressed.
As he crouched in front of his house and hesitated, he heard his name called not far away. "Hey, Austin, long time no see. "
It was Kelly!Austin immediately recognized the girl who was approaching him, dressed in a long dress with washed white hair and patches all over it. His eyes couldn't help but light up, Kelly is a well-known and capable good girl on this street, and she is extremely kind, never greedy for other people's cheapness, there is no more suitable person than her!
"yes, Kelly, long time no see, how are you doing?
"Well, it's okay, thank you for your concern, Nana's illness has been cured, but you, you look weak, are you injured in a fight with someone again?"
Austen's pale face could be seen by anyone that he was unwell, and Kelly also noticed that he was in a poor state, so without Austin's request, she took the initiative to ask, "Is there anything you need my help with?"
"Uh... How embarrassing is this, I—" Austin deliberately feigned embarrassment.
"It's okay, I've finished my morning's work, and I just have some time, so don't be embarrassed. "
"Thank you so much, could you please help me go to the tavern on Granton Street and buy some food, well, a roast chicken, two pounds of bacon, two sausages, yes, a bottle of mead. "
"Austen!!!" Kelly said in a long voice, "how can you still drink when you're hurt!"
"Ahem, okay then, don't want the mead, replace it with two lemons, lemon is always okay, right? "
After seeing Kelly walk away, Austin couldn't help but exclaim: "Oh, Kelly, you are so good, you are really my angel!" It's a pity that Kelly looks too ordinary, and her breasts are flat like a washboard, otherwise marrying her as a wife will definitely earn it.
It wasn't long before Kelly returned, and she could smell the aroma of roast chicken wrapped in palm leaves, and Austin had almost snatched it from her.
"It cost a total of three silver coins and twenty copper coins, and this is the rest of the money, you put it away. Kelly smiled and returned the rest of the money to Austin, not even a single copper deduction. (Note: 1 gold coin = 10 silver coins and 1 silver coin = 100 copper coins are common in the mainland, but the exchange ratio of gold coins in special areas is not consistent with that of silver coins due to differences in fineness and weight.) ）
"Wooh. Good.. Thank you so much, you can take these two lemons back, I remember Nana liked them very much. After finally swallowing a piece of sausage in her mouth, Austin pushed Kelly's suggestion and shoved the two fresh lemons into her hand as a thank you. Kelly, who couldn't push it, had to accept the lemon, originally with her personality, she would never accept it, but Austin kept emphasizing that it was given to Nana, so she reluctantly took this thank you gift. "Then I'll take it, but I still have to talk about you, Austin, you have to save some money, otherwise just your way of eating, I'll see how you save money to beg your wife in the future!"
"Yes, yes, I know, I'll remember. Austen sent the kind girl away with a smile, and then pushed open the door of her house, dragging her tired and weak body back to her bedroom.
It was a very simple bedroom, except for a creaking little bed, and only a wooden box at the end of the bed to store clothes. At this time, this wooden box was used as a dining table by Austen, he sat cross-legged on the bed, skillfully took out the roast chicken and dismantled it into pieces of minced meat, and then divided it into two parts, and the bacon was also cut in half by him with a blade hidden under the bed.
After swallowing the calorie-rich meat, the satisfied Austin patted his belly, burping and looking very comfortable, and gradually he began to feel sleepy, although he understood that if he fell asleep, he had to face the monster in the nightmare, but his two eyelids were like hanging stones, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't open them....
On the scorched earth, Austin walked slowly and aimlessly, with no monsters chasing him, and nothing around him. This time he fell into this strange dream and did not notice the three-headed monster that only came out of his reflection, which made him happy at first, but it was not long before this land, which was barren and barren than the desert, made him experience a different kind of fear of loneliness.
There were no birds flying, no animals running, not even a sound, which made him feel very depressed, and he wanted to shout loudly, but he found that his voice could not make a single movement, as if he had been caught in a silent spell.
He didn't know how long he had been in this dead land, a year, or 10,000 years, and it was hard to feel the flow of time.
His footsteps had stepped over mute volcanoes, over rivers that had rushed without the sound of water, and as he stopped in despair, lying powerlessly on the hot earth, closing his eyes to survive this never-ending nightmare, there was some strange intonation in his ears that he could not understand.
After the ordeal of silence, these sounds like the chirping of rabbit's three-petaled lips are so pleasant, crisper than the sound of church bells, and more charming than the beautiful moans of a beautiful woman in bed.
Austin opened his eyes, and he saw several strange humanoids no more than his thigh-high height, their heads were large, larger than their own, and their ears were long, like legendary elves, but their bodies were thin and black, like children of two or three years old, and the discordant proportions made them look ridiculous.
Austin reached out and tried to touch the head of one of the little monsters, like a naughty little boy on the street with a broken neck, but he failed, and the little monster nimbly dodged.
The effects of Austen's casual actions were not over, as the little monsters began to spread out in a circle around him, and took out short spears from their backs and held them up at him, sharpened from the bones of unknown beasts, which looked like they could easily pierce flesh.
"I think you're mistaken. Austin forgot that there was supposed to be a language gap between him and them, and tried to explain. He wasn't afraid of these little monsters, even though they were holding weapons, he was still confident that he could bring them down with three punches and two kicks.
After a brief look of confusion appeared on the faces of the little monsters, several of them began to talk again, and the last little monster that seemed to be the leader took out a whistle-like object from under the animal skin skirt around his waist.
Austin said no, but it was too late to stop it, and the little monster blew the whistle loudly as he tried to take it! The shrill whistle echoed across the vast scorched earth with a long sound.
Austin naturally wouldn't be stupid enough to stay here, and was about to run, but before he had run a few steps, he was dumbfounded, and suddenly, hundreds of the same little monsters appeared on the scorched earth in front of him, and a dozen of them gathered together in a queue, like a well-trained army.
How did they come about? Austin couldn't guess, but it was clear he couldn't run away. He thought he could beat a few little monsters, but hundreds... Forget it. He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender that is common to the human world.
The little monster who had just blown the whistle seemed to understand the meaning of Austin's actions, and it summoned a group of men and horses from the legion, and ordered them to surround Austin in front of him, and then escorted him slowly forward, not knowing where he was going.
When he crossed a huge hillside and saw a large crater, Austin wondered how there were so many of them in all directions at once, and they had come up from the ground!
As he expected, there was a dark and deep passage hidden in the pit, but it was not high enough, and he had to crawl on the ground to advance.
Moyo crawled for ten minutes, and Austin felt that he had reached a depth of at least a few hundred meters before his eyes suddenly opened up and entered a huge empty cavern underneath.
The underground light comes from a kind of fluorescent moss, which is also a kind of food for the little monsters, and during the escort, Austin sees some of the little monsters pulling them along the way, stuffing them into their mouths and eating them. After traveling some distance, the cave began to become noisy, and more and more small monsters, men and women, gathered together, and it was like a human market. Austin had a hunch that she was about to reach the destination of her trip.
Sure enough, after escorting Austin to the only place in the cave that could be called a house, they stopped, and the leader respectfully crawled into the building, thinking that this was the residence of their leader.
Soon, an old wrinkled little monster walked out, followed by the monster leader who was still crawling, and as soon as it appeared, all the little monsters in the field of vision were lying on the ground, showing respect for the leader.
The leader walked up to Austin, looked at it with a scrutinizing gaze, and nodded as if satisfied. Then he said a word to the nearest little monster, and the little monster quickly got up and ran away, and soon took a plant full of small purple fruits.
"Eat it!" Austin could not help but look at the leader of the little monster in shock.
"Eat it!" the leader said again in a mysterious way.
With the mentality that it doesn't matter if it's in a dream anyway, Austin doesn't care whether it's poisonous or not, he obediently takes it over and swallows the whole plant, which is astringent and numb, and it tastes very bad.
But in addition to the bad taste, soon Austin had an even worse experience, his body instantly developed a sour and numb feeling of being struck by lightning, and then he fell into a state of paralysis.
Seeing that Austin had lost his ability to move, the monster leader happily commanded the little monsters around him to lift him up and transport him to a dark place in the depths of the cave where there was no glowing moss.
The green flames were lit, and with the help of the firelight, Austin rolled his eyes to see a large three-tiered altar, covered with bones, the remains of giant beasts several meters long, and the corpses of strange birds with wings on their backs, which were scattered across the altar, all of which were arranged in a lying position towards a stone statue.
"Three-headed monster!" Austin felt a storm in his heart, the stone sculpture was lifelike, wasn't it the same beast that tortured him in his last dream?
The statue in front of him was small, only four or five meters tall, and Austin was finally able to get a glimpse of the three-headed monster. Overall, it looks like a large dog with two more heads, but its limbs are thicker, and it has sharp bone spurs at the joints, and the hair on its body is as thick as steel armor, and there are three rows of barbs on its back, which extend from three heads all the way to the tail. Maybe because the statue is relatively small, Austin thinks it doesn't look so terrifying, and the three hideous heads are just a little fiercer than ordinary hounds, and the fangs are longer, nothing remarkable!
The little monsters didn't care what Austin was thinking, and after carrying Austin to the altar, they brought out a large drum made of a huge beast's head, and used the same bone stick taken from the beast to make a very powerful drum beat.
"Knock.. Knock knock... Knock knock!"
After the dense drumbeat, the leader of the monster walked up to the altar wearing a robe dyed red as blood, and Austin was not stupid, and immediately understood that he had become a ritual sacrifice.
What the hell is this dream for? If you just want to torture yourself and slap yourself flat like last time? If it's so complicated, won't you still want to kill me? Austin is very puzzled.
The leader of the monster who presided over the sacrifice had already begun to pay homage to the statue of the three-headed monster, and after three solemn bows, it got up and hummed a low ballad in its mouth, and under the altar, the little monsters crawling all over the ground also sang along, and for a time the whole cave echoed this dark and strange song.
The song was repeated three times before stopping, and Austin knew it was time to do it to herself. Sure enough, the monster leader took out a dagger and slowly walked towards him.
Wait, Austin suddenly felt that the dagger was very familiar, and tried to open his eyes wide to look at the sacrificial dagger held in the hand of the monster leader, its line was like a snake, the handle was longer than the palm, and there was an equally scarlet gem at the end, wasn't it the dagger used by the female thief in the sewer to stab herself!
Hey, I didn't expect to be stabbed by this ghost dagger who hurt me in my dream, it's really unlucky! Austin lamented in her heart.
The monster leader seems to have performed many rituals, and he is very skilled with the dagger, and his hands are also ruthless and accurate, easily cutting a straight cut from the top of Austin's chest and heart, but it did not hurt the heart in the slightest, not even a drop of blood spilled.
Then its hand reached into Austin's chest, its nails cutting through the blood vessels that connected her heart like sharp blades, and then carefully removed her still pounding heart as if it were holding the most precious treasure in the world.
The pain was so hard to forget, and Austin kept cold sweat on his forehead, why wasn't he dead yet?
The pain continued, and after missing the most important heart, Austin found that he was still alive and could still think, and he watched as the priest walked to the feet of the three-headed beast with his heart in his hand, and then shredded it little by little with his dagger, and finally smeared the blood on the statue. As a result, the statue began to shake, like a living creature, and it let out a satisfied beastly groan until the blood foam was sucked dry.
The little monsters began to cheer and jump, and Austin's chest was empty, and the great loss lingered, even overshadowing the pain in her body. However, before the ritual was played, a thick gray light slowly rose at the foot of the stone statue that had fallen silent again, and when the priest saw it, he immediately picked it up, and even walked back to Austin more carefully.
Austin knew right away: it wanted to put this strange thing in her chest!
Although she realized that this would have terrible consequences, Austin, who was still paralyzed, was powerless to resist, and watched as the strange gray light slowly melted into her chest....