The whole empire is watching my live broadcast of Tomb Raiding [Interstellar]

The small town, which was originally like a ghost town, suddenly became alive with people's voices.The people who came out of that building returned home, lit up thousands of lights, the streets were full of laughter, and children in exaggerated costumes ran around.

All this happened in just a few seconds, which caught people off guard.Du Leding was surprised: "I'm not dreaming, am I?"

Faced with these two unfamiliar faces, passers-by looked at them curiously.A young man came over and asked, "Hello, are you a tourist in the desert?"

The man was about the same age as Du Leding, with a handsome face, patterns painted with oil paint on his face, and a friendly smile.

Du Le Ding: "Is there any festival in your town? When I first came in, I thought there was no one there."

The young man showed his white teeth: "You came at the right time. Today is the annual Soul Hunting Night. Every night on this night, we will gather in the church to pray and sing, and then we will start the carnival."

No wonder there was no one there before.Du Leding smiled at him and said, "Where is the hotel in the town, we want to stay for one night."

"Is it just the two of you?" the young man said, "There is no hotel in our town. People who travel usually pass by and stay overnight in private houses."

Du Leding turned around and pointed to the car parked in the distance: "There are eight of us."

The young man was a little surprised. He didn't expect this to be a large team.He was a little embarrassed: "If it's just the two of you, you can just live in my house. If there are so many people, you may have to live separately."

"That's okay." Du Leding stretched out his hand and introduced himself, "If it's convenient, can you arrange it for us?"

"No problem." The young man held his hand very enthusiastically, "My name is Huo Qi, please wait a moment, I will go and ask for you."

After the young man left, the two returned to the car. As expected, the others were also very curious about the sudden appearance of the residents, and were chattering away.

Shi Qianjin was not concerned about this question: "Who was that person who was flirting with you on the street just now?"

At that time, there were no street lights near them, and the people in the car could not see clearly what happened under the faint light of a few burning candles on the ground.

Su Teng tightened his hand holding the steering wheel, started the car and said, "A weird person."

Shi Qianjin snorted and teased very annoyingly: "I thought it was a love triangle."

He smiled to himself, accidentally saw Su Teng's eyes soaked in ice water from the central rearview mirror, and his expression collapsed.

Du Leding was too lazy to respond to Shi Qianjin's cynicism, and said to Su Teng: "Did that weirdo want to tell us something just now, did you hear clearly?"

Su Teng recalled it for a while, and thought: "I didn't understand it at the time. I didn't realize it until I heard Hodge say 'Soul Hunting Night'. The strange man seemed to say these three words."

Du Leding laughed: "Did he tell us that the town is having a holiday today? That's not going to hold me back."

While the few people were talking, Hodge ran over and knocked on the car window: "It's been arranged, but the two families still need to clean up. Go to my house and wait for a while."

As he spoke, he pointed to a house on the next street.

Su Teng drove the car over and parked in front of the young man's door. Several people got out of the car and picked up their belongings and entered the house. The space suddenly became compact.This is an old house for some years, the patterns on the wallpaper are black and bulging, and some places are still stained with dried watermarks.

The paint on the handrails of the stairs is a little peeling, and the photos on the walls are full of age.The wooden floor under my feet would squeak and protest from time to time, as if it could not bear the sudden increase of the load.

Although the house is not very presentable, it is cleaned very clean.There was only one double sofa in the living room, and Du Leding and the others simply sat on the floor.

Hodge heated up a pot of milky drink, poured them a cup for each of them, and sat down cross-legged on the ground, and briefly talked about his own affairs. His grandparents lived in this small town for generations, and his parents passed away. After that, he lived alone.

Like the spokesperson of the team, Mu You hurriedly expressed his thanks to the young men, saying that they are really lucky today, they can meet good people wherever they go, first they got a ride, and then they were able to stay overnight in such a warm and lovely house , and there are such delicious hot drinks to drink.

"This is the most exciting part of the journey," Mu You is very eloquent, with a sense of literature and art, "you can always find surprises in other people."

His boyfriend looked at her affectionately: "Yuyou, you are so good at discovering beauty."

"..." Du Le Ding swallowed an egg out of nothing, choked for a long time, and then said to Hodge, "What is the Soul Hunting Night you just mentioned? Is it a tradition in your town?"

Hodge nodded and explained: "It's not considered a long-standing tradition. There is no special history. It only started more than ten years ago."

The origin of this festival also starts with the widely circulated wandering soul in the desert - the soul hunter.It is said that there is a holy temple in this desert, which is the place where the gods lived a long time ago. Because the evil spirits ravaged the world and polluted every soul on the land, the gods were angry and sent quicksand, turning this place into a barren place.

Those wandering soul hunters were originally the guardians of the temple. Since then, they have been looking for evil or lost souls in the world. As long as they are targeted by them, they will be taken away by them.

They use skinning knives to peel off the human skin and release the souls that should not exist in the world to sacrifice to the gods and appease their anger.In order not to be targeted by the spirit hunters, the residents of Terry Town tricked them with evil-looking dummies and melon heads so that they would not take anyone.

Mu You huddled in Simo's arms: "How can there be such a bloody and terrifying legend, we haven't heard of it in other towns."

Simo hugged her tightly, and whispered in her ear: "Don't be afraid, no matter what happens, I will protect you, even if I sacrifice myself, I won't let you get hurt!"

Shi Qianjin was sitting next to Du Leding, he rolled his eyes and made a nauseous expression.

Huo Qile said: "It's just everyone's legend, it's not true. For festivals, it just needs to have some atmosphere. The scarier the story, the more interesting it is."

Babyface Cook said: "But almost every town in the desert has legends about soul hunters. Do they really exist?"

Hodge frowned, shook his head and said, "It's hard to say, I haven't seen it so far."

He paused for a moment and then showed a bright smile again: "In the final analysis, it's just that everyone wants to add fun to the festival. Don't believe it, scare yourself."

The tall and thin Hidehiko: "But we heard in other towns that there is a person in your town who has seen the soul hunter and the temple."

Hodge waved his hand: "It's all just a legend. Where did the temple come from? The only god worshiped in the desert is in charge of agriculture and animal husbandry. Even if you really want to harvest souls, the target should be livestock rather than people."

The fabricated legend was blown to thousands of households by the wind, making everyone believe it to be true.Several people were originally full of interest in the temple, but after hearing what Hodge said, they all showed disappointed smiles.

Du Leding asked casually: "Is there a disfigured weirdo in your town?"

Hodge was taken aback: "Have you met Valentine?"

"I don't know his name, his face... is scary," Du Leding took a sip of the hot drink, "Did he get hurt?"

"There are a lot of stories about him," Hodge shrugged, "I don't know if it's true or not."

Valentine's horrible face terrified everyone in the town. The residents said he was a monster, and the rumors among the children were even more terrifying.Valentine lives alone in the house on the hill, which is called a haunted house by the children, and they dare not approach it easily.They said that there was a bottomless abyss under his house, and he was a ghost crawling out of it. As long as he was caught, he would be dragged into the abyss and never come out again.

It is also said that he can eat people. Many parents regard him as an excellent material to scare crying children.Once he appeared in the town, the bear children threw stones at him in groups and humiliated him with various curses.

Du Leding touched his mouth, and a sentence popped out of his mind, "The children in Nancun deceived me to be old and weak".

"He walks alone, never talks to anyone, goes to the supermarket once a month, buys food and daily necessities for a month, and then hides in the house." Hodge pouted, "Some people say that Lenting used to be very handsome, but I have never seen it before, so I don’t know if it’s true or not. Anyway, the reason why he became like this has been rumored to be demonized, but no one can tell the truth.”

Du Leding silently drank the hot drink in the cup in one gulp.When he recalled that face, he still felt shuddering, and no matter what, he couldn't imagine how "handsome" he used to be.

Su Teng changed the hot drink he hadn't drunk with the empty cup in front of Duledin, and said to Hodge, "So so far, no one in the town has disappeared for no reason?"

"Are you referring to whether anyone was taken away by the soul hunter?" Hodge got up and said, "It's just a legend, how could someone be caught and skinned. Besides——"

He paused, and pointed to the brightly lit street outside the window: "There are so many "evil souls" outside, enough for the soul hunters to work all night."

Charlie looked out along his fingers, and directly across the street, the Melon Head with an evil smile was watching them.

"By the way," Hodge ran upstairs, and quickly ran down again, holding a bunch of colored strings in his hand, "There is another way to prevent being taken away by the soul hunter."

He raised the thin rope in his hand and said with a smile: "This is a channel to connect the soul. As long as you tie the same thin rope with someone close to you, even if you are targeted by a soul hunter, your soul will not be taken away."

This custom has only become popular in the past two years, and the style is similar to that of the knot rope, but there is a leather rope in the middle of the string.This is just symbolic, just like wearing colorful thread on the Dragon Boat Festival.Except for Mu You and Simo, the others didn't care about the color, they just went to the countryside to join in the fun and took one casually.

"I'll put it on for you," Simo said softly to Mu You, "I can't wait to put the ring on you, let's have fun with this first."

Mu You smiled sweetly, stretched out his hand and said, "If the soul hunter comes, then let him take the two of us away together."

Shi Qianjin made a nauseous grimace, pinching the same red string as the one in Duleding's hand, and when she was about to put it on, the string in her hand was suddenly pulled away, and then replaced with a purple one. .

He looked up and saw that Su Teng was tying the red string around his wrist, and then helped Duledin fasten it.

Seeing Shi Qianjin glaring at each other, Su Teng said lightly, "Gay Zi, it suits you."

Shi Qianjin kicked Su Teng's calf: "It's as if you're not gay."

"I'm not. Men and women don't matter to me." Su Teng turned his gaze to Du Leding, his eyes seemed to say, "As long as it's you."

Du Le Ding pretended not to see, looked around exaggeratedly, his heart fluttered, sometimes sour and sometimes hot.

Shi Qianjin's hands holding the purple string tightened, and angrily tied the rope around her ankle.

Several people had a simple dinner at Hodge's house, and Hodge felt a little sorry for that.He was the only one in the family, and he didn't prepare some rich dishes for the festival. If they were not full, they could go to other residents' homes to celebrate the festival together.

Du Leding and the others all said that it was not necessary. Although it was just a few simple dishes, Huo Qi's skills honed by living alone for many years were good, and with the unique flavor of the desert, they all ate very well.

In addition, the two families who agreed to stay overnight had already packed up their guest rooms, so Hodge asked Duledin how they would arrange accommodation.

Shi Qianjin said first: "I am very sensitive to the sleeping environment, can I have a look at the room first?"

Du Leding couldn't help but said: "How dare you, this is not a hotel, it's good to live in some places."

Shi Qianjin took out a note with a large denomination: "If I give the money, it will be a hotel."

He shopped around and looked at the three houses. Hodge's room was too small, and the other house had good conditions but had children too noisy. Finally, he reluctantly chose the house across the street.

Du Leding, Su Teng and Charlie lived at Hodge's house. When Shi Qianjin was taking the luggage from the car, she suddenly whispered to Su Teng, "Do you want to live with Ding Ding?"

Su Teng said lightly: "Hodge's room is enough for us to sleep in one room."

Although there is only one guest room, Hodge has offered to let Duledin and Charlie stay in his room, and he sleeps tonight in the master bedroom where his parents used to live.

Su Teng was used to Shi Qianjin's bitterness, so he thought he was about to throw out some lukewarm sarcasm.

But Shi Qianjin said: "You all be careful, this place is not right."

Su Teng glanced at him and realized that he was not joking. When he was about to ask in detail, Hodge came over.

He smiled and told them: "The carnival ends at midnight, after that, don't wander around, and be careful not to run into soul hunters."

"If we really encounter soul hunters, we'll catch a few to see what they are." Du Leding leaned on the car door and joked, "However, how can we judge whether it's a soul hunter? what to do?"

Hodge laughed loudly: "It's easy to identify, the Soul Hunter has no head."

Not only is the festive atmosphere like Halloween, but even the protagonist is the same headless horseman.Du Leding began to lose interest in this fake and shoddy Soul Hunting Festival.

Back in his room, Charlie took a shower, rubbed himself into a lint ball with a bath towel, and rolled on the bed.

"Ding Ding, I didn't have enough to eat tonight." Charlie called into the bathroom.

Du Leding's voice pierced through the sound of rushing water and came out from the crack of the door: "I saw that you didn't seem to have much appetite when you were eating."

Charlie stuck out his tongue: "The food here tastes weird."

"Don't be picky when you're out of the house. It's important to eat enough. Ask Hodge later if he has anything to eat." Du Le Ding raised his head and squinted his eyes against the water.

Then he shook his head and stretched out the wrist tied with the red string to his eyes.The scratches left by Valentine have faded somewhat, but the fingerprints are still distinct.If you just want to tell them that there is a festival in town today, is it necessary to use so much effort?

How did he get his horrible face and miserable green skin?Du Leding couldn't think of any kind of injury that would make a person like that.

Staring at his wrist for a while, his eyes slid down inadvertently, and landed on the place on his arm that was bitten by the black shadow in the ancient tomb of Wushan, and then miraculously healed. The mole left there was like an ink spot It seemed to be smudged under the washing of the water, but it spread.Originally, it was only the size of a rice grain, but now it is almost as big as a soybean grain.

He rubbed it subconsciously, his heart tightened suddenly, and the appearance of the snow mouse in Pepe's laboratory suddenly appeared in his mind.Is he going to be like that snow mouse, turning his whole body black and turning into a monster, biting off the heads of the people around him?

Judging from the clues they have found so far, it does not seem to be much closer to the truth.Can he wait until the day he finds out where the shadow is?

"Ding Ding!" The bathroom door was swiped open, and Su Teng rushed in nervously, pulling open the shower curtain.

Du Leding was staring at a black blemish on the white porcelain wall in a daze, and was taken aback suddenly: "What's wrong, what happened?"

Su Teng was stunned: "I yelled several times outside, but you didn't respond. I was afraid you were in trouble, so I came in to have a look..."

Duledin stood under the shower, steaming water flowed down wantonly on his body, sometimes converging and sometimes separating in the undulating grooves of his muscles, the wet skin reflected a dizzying luster under the light of the bathroom.

Su Teng's eyes slipped accidentally in the rushing water, falling from Duleding's chest all the way down to between his legs.Until now, it seemed that the reflex arc was too long, and the thirst that he had never felt in the desert during the day had just begun to attack.

Du Leding turned off the faucet, grabbed the bath towel from the side, wiped it casually on his head a few times, and wrapped it loosely around his waist.He walked out of the bathroom and said, "What can I do if I take a shower? I can still drown in the shower?"

Su Teng's gaze melted into a drop of water on Duledin's back, slowly slid down his back, and rolled into the small depression on his back until it quietly got into the edge of the towel.

"Do you think there is anything strange about Terry Town?" Su Teng said dryly.

Du Leding put on his underwear, threw away the towel, changed into casual clothes, sat on the bed and said, "I don't feel anything for now, except for that weird guy. Why do you ask?"

Su Teng leaned against the wall and said, "Just now Shi Qianjin told us to be careful, he seemed to think something was wrong here."

Charlie jumped up and said, "It's really not right, the food doesn't taste good at all!"

"If you're very hungry, just drink some water," Duledin patted Charlie's head, "otherwise you can sleep."

Charlie flung himself on the pillow angrily, forcing himself to sleep.

Du Leding thought for a while: "Before we came, we suspected that the soul hunters and the temple might be related to the mausoleum, but after hearing what Hodge said, I felt that those legends were all made up, and there was no so-called fantasy from the beginning to the end. Township."

He dug out a bottle of water from his backpack, raised his head and drank half of it, and continued, "If that's the case, we have to go back to the security zone to look for it. What Shi Qianjin said is wrong, what is it referring to?"

Su Teng: "When I was about to ask him, Hodge came over and he stopped talking."

Du Leding thought it was funny at first, but suddenly remembered that when he met Shi Qianjin for the first time, he talked about the matter of the soul and the human body: "Is he always so neurotic, saying something magical? "

Su Teng walked up to Du Leding and sat down: "He claims to be able to see things that others cannot perceive. Although I don't know whether it is true or not, I think he has a keen intuition in certain aspects."

After Su Teng sat down, Du Leding was expressionless, but suddenly felt a little nervous.

Su Teng has a very unique smell, no smell, the temperature is very low, like the air after a rainy day.Surrounded by this breath, Du Leding obviously felt very good, but his heart twisted as if he drank fake wine.

After what Su Teng said, Du Leding was so absent-minded that Su Teng thought he was sleepy, so he got up and left.When he reached the door, Su Teng turned around and said, "If anything happens at night, call me."

Du Leding waved his hand: "Don't worry, nothing earth-shattering will happen in this poor place, sleep well."

Su Teng nodded, took another look at Du Leding, and then closed the door and left.

Du Leding leaned back, fell heavily on the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze.Charlie opened one eye and teased, "If you really want to run to Sutton's bed in the middle of the night, I don't mind."

"Really, why don't you mind?" Du Leding turned over, threw himself on Charlie and rubbed him all over, "Our partner loves it!"

After arguing for a while, the two felt sleepy, and finally lay down and fell asleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Du Leding woke up in a cold sweat, clutched his stomach and ran into the toilet.It appears that Charlie is right, the food here is not great.

He sat on the toilet doing nothing, then rolled up his sleeves to look at the black mark, thinking that this thing can cure all diseases, why don't he care about the acclimatization?

Ten minutes later, the colic finally stopped, and when Duleding stood up, his eyes were blurred.He walked out of the bathroom and was about to climb into bed when he heard creaking noises in the corridor.

The floorboards in this house are old and have been soaked in water, and several pieces have been replaced.The new floors are closely arranged, and the old floors are already osteoporotic. Some places will make noise when walking on them, and some places will not.

The creaking sound was intermittent, just listening to it, as if someone was jumping.Du Leding thought it was nothing at first, probably because Huo Qi got up at night and went downstairs.But after a while, something didn't feel right again, he seemed to hear the little girl's laughter.

I heard from Hodge before that the children would make a lot of noise on Soul Hunting Night.Most of the people in the town have lived here for generations, and they have close contacts with each other. Every festival, the bear children will go to other people's homes to mess around.

But there should be no one after midnight, because according to the legend of Soul Hunting Night, the Soul Hunter should appear at this time, and all the children should be taken home to sleep.

Du Le Ding went to the door and listened for a while, and then heard the little girl's delicate laughter again, so he quietly opened the door and looked out.A girl in a blue dress, about ten years old, was standing at the dimly lit staircase, staring at the door of the bedroom where Su Teng fell asleep.She seemed to feel Duleding's peeping, and suddenly turned her head, showing him a weird smile.