Shadow of the Beautiful World

Outside Merlin's tavern, the night had begun to cover the city of Kandahar.

News of the gunfire outside the city by militants and jihadists has come back, and everyone who has been to the site is reporting the horrific scene, with scores of dead and bloodshed.

A kind of panic about the coming of war spreads wantonly in the crowd, and the worst thing is that no one in the city can step forward to stop this terrible panic.

Like an unstoppable spiritual plague, it will eventually break out.

Will kill the last hope of all life in the city before the real war destroys the city.

In many cases, fear is a more destructive force than swords and bullets.

But in this quiet tavern, everything seems to be isolated.

On the table next to him, the breathing of the lying soldier had become steady. Although it was still very weak, his rhythmic breathing represented that he had passed the most dangerous period.

A life was saved just like that.

This was supposed to be something full of glory, but the two people in the tavern didn't pay much attention to it.

Facing Merlin's inquiry, Lincoln Campbell, a young man from Ohio, seemed a little silent. He drank the wine in the glass, slightly drunk, and said to Merlin:

You said you can modify memory?

It's not modification, it's forgetting.

Merlin explained:

Of course it can be modified. But it is more troublesome. To modify a memory, it needs to be matched with other magic. I generally don't like to do meaningless things.

Then after I tell you my secret, can you modify my memory for me?

The young man looked at Merlin and said:

Modify me into a person who hates alcohol deeply, wants to be a good doctor, and hopes to spend his life peacefully. Oh, by the way, make me extremely loathe violence and make my personality gentle, can you do it?

Yeah, young man, you have so many demands.

Merlin was stroking his wand, and Lola was beating in his palm, as if responding to his master.

He looked at Lincoln, and he said:

I can do it, but I'm curious if the secret you revealed is worth it. And, why do you want to be such a person? You say you want yourself to hate alcohol, but what I see is A young man intoxicated with alcohol, you're hiding from something with your intoxication, right?

If you can escape pain by being drunk, then how perfect the world would be.

Lincoln chuckled, and said:

I do use alcohol to numb myself, but that's really not what I want. Every time I wake up, the suppressed pain is doubled. A year ago, I had a crush For several years, I love my girlfriend, I still have ideals, I still have a future. But now, I have nothing.

I let her down again and again, drinking, domestic violence, I'm a scum.

There was pain in the young man's smile, and he said:

But Mr. Merlin, have you ever encountered that kind of situation? That kind of situation where you are sober, but you can't control your irritable emotions, that kind of situation where you love her, but you still can't help venting your anxiety Despair in her

Oh Nope.

Merlin shook his head, and he said bluntly:

Men who beat women are scum. Fortunately, it's you, not me.

Yes, I'm a scumbag.

Lincoln said seriously:

So I hope you can change my memory, change my personality, and give me a second chance to start over.

Compared to this, what I'm more curious about is how did you become like this?

Merlin pointed to the wine glass in Lincoln's hand, and he said:

A lot of people drink heavily, using alcohol to numb their fears, but in reality, this kind of behavior can only backfire. What are you afraid of? What are you running from? Those things, and you were taken by a mysterious person in Afghanistan , does it matter?

have!

Lincoln gritted his teeth, pointed to his heart, and said:

I have a demon in my heart. After the night of my 18th birthday, it woke up, roaring and trying to get out of the cage. It was an instinct, an instinct that craved violence and destruction.

I once thought I was cursed, but then I discovered that it was not a curse. It was talking to me, and in every silent night, it was urging me to find the key to release it.

Since then, I have been afraid of the night.

Lincoln poured himself another glass of wine, he raised his neck, and drank the strong wine in a way that surprised Merlin.

He said:

Only when I'm drunk can I be quiet and truly calm. I didn't mean to hurt her, but I just couldn't help it. That voice was ringing in my soul, and it was longing to wake up.

No, you don't have any demons in you.

Merlin looked at the young man in front of him who seemed to be talking nonsense, and he said with certainty:

As far as I know about demons, if you're a demon believer or a parasite, you won't live to get in my car. Well, charade time is over, Lincoln, and I can help you re- Plastic arts, tell me now, what is your secret?

inhumans.

Lincoln uttered an unfamiliar word.

Merlin was stunned for a moment, he had never heard of this term before, and after a while, he asked:

Strange person? What does this mean?

I'm not too sure either.

Lincoln said frankly:

This word was given to me by the mysterious man who showed up in the bar and took me from Cincinnati to Afghanistan. He didn't say much to me, he just told me that the call in my heart was not a curse, It was the revival of the instinctive longing for the great inheritance flowing in my blood. He told me that he would take me to my real 'home'.

He told me that I don't need to be afraid anymore.

A mocking smile flashed across Lincoln's face, and he said:

Shet! Does he think I'm a child? Just a few words and let me follow him and let me abandon everything I have in this world, just because of some bloody inheritance! But you know what? Mr. Merlin, I do not have any choice

He didn't give me a choice at all, he just grabbed my arm, I saw the blue light beating, I saw the light spinning, and in the blink of an eye, I appeared in the corner of the city of Kandahar .”

The young man was pulling his hair. He was drunk.

He gritted his teeth and said:

He didn't even give me a chance to say goodbye to her. Damn! Damn!! Who wants to come to this damn place? Who wants to become relatives with that monster! He doesn't even have eyes!

Um?

Merlin became interested. He looked at Lincoln and said:

Describe to me the mysterious man who took you away. You said he has no eyes?

Yes.

Lincoln said:

Normal face, short gray hair, nose, mouth, ears, but the face is flat between the nose and the forehead. There is no eye structure at all, as if the eyes never existed.

He looked normal except for his eyes. He was wearing a gray trench coat and a tie.

The young man shook his dizzy head and said:

I was terrified, really. I had never seen a man like that, and I thought he was a mutant, but he told me he had nothing to do with mutants. The successor of the blood of the gods, he told me that there are many people like me in his family.

anything else?

Merlin asked:

Did he tell you anything else? For example, where is his home? His organization, the situation of aliens, abilities, or other secrets?

He didn't say where exactly.

Lincoln leaned back in his chair and said:

He only told me that the name of 'home' is 'Afterlife'. It is a paradise in the Himalayas, where aliens live. I stayed with him for less than 20 minutes, and he hurried Left as if something important happened. He asked me to wait for him in Kandahar and he will come back as soon as possible.

He told me that what happened to me on the night of my 18th birthday was a sign of the awakening of the alien bloodline. I need to be in contact with a weird thing that seems to be called a mist to complete the transformation from human to alien , and the kind of things that are crucial to the aliens are on their side.

Um

Merlin nodded.

It doesn't look like Lincoln's revelations were false.

But the existence of aliens, this organization, or race, was something Merlin had never known before. Even in the documents left by Ms. Carter, there is no clue.

The existence of mutants is no secret, but what are these aliens who look similar to mutants?

If things are true as Lincoln said, if the inheritance of aliens can be traced back thousands of years ago, then how did they achieve generation after generation of concealment?

Also, why do aliens live in the Himalayas? And from Lincoln's point of view, it seems that becoming an alien means completely cutting off contact with the outside world?

Are they going to form a small civilization by themselves?

Or do they simply not recognize themselves as part of human civilization?

The more Merlin thought about it, the more weird it felt.

He looked at Lincoln, and he asked:

What's the name of the alien who took you away?

Gordon.

Drunk Lincoln said:

He told me his name was Gordon.

Well, I haven't heard of it.

Merlin shook his head in disappointment.

A few minutes later, Lincoln stood up unsteadily, opened his arms in front of Merlin, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said:

I told you my secret, all the secrets, there is nothing left, I told you. Mr. Merlin, now fulfill your promise.

Modify my memory, let me be free

I beg you.

Merlin looked at the loveless expression on the face of the young man in front of him, he shook his head, and said to Lincoln:

I want to tell you in advance, if your anxiety really comes from your instinct, then even if you modify your memory, it won't last long. I can't modify your soul, and I can't modify your instinct, even if it is temporarily suppressed , when it erupts again, you will only suffer more.

bring it on.

Lincoln said quietly:

Do whatever you want, let me change back to my original self. Even if it's just for one day

then

Merlin waved the wand in his hand, and the light of the Oblivion Curse danced on the top of the wand, but at the moment when Merlin's wand was about to touch Lincoln, a strange blue light suddenly appeared in the closed tavern.

A figure emerged from the light, reaching out to grab Lincoln.

But Merlin's reaction was faster.

His body suddenly shattered into billowing black smoke, covering Lincoln's whole body in it, completely blocking the outstretched hand.

The blue light and Merlin's black mist collided in this narrow room, and Lincoln shrouded in it let out a painful howl.

The scorching red firelight and blue light intertwined and collided in the black mist.

After just a few seconds, between a deep cry of pain, the blue light disappeared as strangely as it appeared. Merlin's figure reunited before Lincoln's eyes a moment later.

The drunk young man was covered in cold sweat at this moment. He could see that at the most terrible moment just now, the outstretched hand of the alien Gordon who appeared in the blue light was less than 5 inches away from him. distance.

But the mysterious Mr. Merlin fights him off.

No, not just knockback.

Lincoln saw the black combat knife in Merlin's hand, and a smear of blood on the blade.

He's bleeding.

Merlin picked up the handkerchief and wiped the blood on the blade of the fighting knife. He said to Lincoln behind him:

But his ability is quite tricky, if he must take you away, it will be a real big trouble

Then what should we do?

Lincoln, who woke up from his drunkenness, looked at Merlin who was wiping his blade, and couldn't help but ask:

What should I do if he comes again?

Us? No no no.

Merlin shook his head, turned around, and said to Lincoln seriously:

It's you, you should think about what to do.

What I can tell you is that I have had a similar experience with you. In fact, your real trouble is not the calling in your heart. Lincoln, you have not yet realized the real core of the problem.

Merlin put away the fighting knife, and he said to the dazed young man:

Bad things have happened, your life has been ruined. Whether you like it or not, you can't go back to the past. What if I modify your memory? You can forget these things, the girl who was hurt by you Can you forget? Can the people around you forget?

Son, listen to me.

Merlin stretched out his hand and patted Lincoln on the shoulder. He said in a sincere tone:

I have faced the same choice as you. As a person who has experienced it, what I want to say is

Think about it carefully.

Is it to continue to miss the past, indulge in pale pain and cannot extricate myself, until it makes a mess of my life?

It's better to wave goodbye to the past, let go of the burden, move forward lightly, and face the story that fate has prepared for you with courage.

What you need is not repentance, not redemption, but acceptance of reality.

Merlin put away his wand, and said to Lincoln who was standing still:

I mean, if you're destined to be an Inhuman. Then don't let that Gordon push you to make decisions. You're an adult, you should understand that in everything you do, you have to make decisions

Hold it firmly in your own hands!

ps: My friend's book The Godfather of Steam is on the shelves today. This is a very interesting book. Brothers who like steampunk and Victorian stories, don't miss it.

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