Twilight War

05

"You are here." The man in the red military uniform of the Vana Empire sat on the chair belonging to the commander-in-chief in the middle of the room, and he wore all the honors he had won.Including the Expeditionary Cross of Honor that made him a colonel.

He looked at the uninvited boy, as if looking at someone he had known for a long time.

At this moment, his face no longer had the panic and disbelief when he first saw the boy from the window, but a deep calm, like those penitents who were baptized by the godfather.

Zichen didn't go to him and give him baptism.Instead, like the owner of this room, he went to the wine cabinet and poured himself a glass of red wine.

"Would you like a glass of wine?" Zichen turned to Aegeus and said.

"Help me get a bottle too, the unopened one at the top." Aegeus said, he was close to fifty, but his iron-gray eyebrows still had the majesty of a soldier, as if he was always ready to jump down at any time. vulture.But at this moment, he was talking as if he had really known Zichen for a long time.

Zichen was holding the wine glass, his hands were already trembling, and in the shadow with his back turned to Egos, he twitched the corners of his mouth and laughed.

He knew that this was Chi You's mad blood starting to backfire.

Just now he felt that the blood in his body seemed to be burning, but now it seemed that all the blood had dried up, and his throat was full of rusty sweetness.

He raised his head and took a sip of the wine, trying to cover the fishy and sweet taste in his throat.

Zichen sat on the chair in front of Aegeus, and then put the wine glass in front of Aegeus.

"I don't know who you are, but you should be related to that great man." Aegeus didn't look at Zichen, his eyes looked far, far away, as if recalling those heroic scenes.

"He led tens of thousands of people to line up on the coast belonging to the kingdom of Donghuang, which is still a weapon of the cold weapon era. But, as long as he is there, we can't even push any point."

"We fought on the coast for half a month. It is said that he wiped out hundreds of Vanner's best soldiers alone without any support."

Aegeus closed his eyes slowly, "If that man is not dead, we will never be able to enter the territory of the Kingdom of Donghuang. He is a real man."

"The first time I saw him, I was on the flanking ship, and I saw him standing at the front of the queue like a lone warrior, riding a red horse. His eyes were so cold, as cold as... The sharp blade..."

Zichen raised his glass and looked at the clear color of the red wine against the sun.

...like blood...

He looked at Aegeus and said, "I didn't come here to listen to your reminiscences. I want to know who... killed him."

The last sentence was not as frivolous as the boy had always been, but almost cold. Aegeus froze in place, as if he saw the man sitting in front of him again, with cold eyes, as cold as... a sharp blade...

But I don't know why the boy's cold eyes... seem to have the most fragile sadness... like a desperate little beast with nowhere to go.

But Aegeus recovered immediately, that man was dead, no matter what kind of hero he was, he was also dead. "I don't know. The expedition was hailed as the Expedition of Glory. The list of officers involved is public. Many were awarded the Cross, but even I don't know who killed the man."

"—but maybe those fellows in the Privy Council know."

Aegeus drank the last sip of wine in his glass, his eyes looked beyond Zichen to a place far, far away, "I have been waiting for today since I came back from the Kingdom of Donghuang. I know, this should be me It is my greatest regret not to be able to fight that man on the battlefield and die."

Aegeus looked at Zichen suddenly, "By the way, there is something I have to tell you. Did you see those wall lamps when you came here?"

"The entire Wellingburg uses a lot of wooden structures, all of which are flammable. And the building is full of flammable artworks, and each wall lamp is an mechanism. Once the mechanism is activated, the entire building will be ignited. And The top bottle of wine in the wine cabinet is the switch. Unfortunately, you have already picked it up." Aegeus looked at Zichen and said.

The curtain behind him was suddenly engulfed in flames, and the flames spread rapidly along the carpet on the ground.

"Do you believe in God?" asked Aegeus.

"I don't believe it." Zichen gritted his teeth and replied.

"Then I can only wish you luck..."

In the endless red, Aegeus chuckled, and raised the gun to his temple.

"bump!"

He seemed to see that man again, his eyes were as cold as sharp knives...

Zichen froze for a moment, then pushed the man's head, and the man's whole body fell to the ground.

After realizing what was going on, he quickly ran outside.All the windows were sealed, and the flames kept burning, like a flaming hell.

The Gothic architecture designed the corridors like a huge labyrinth, Zichen only knew to look at the stairs before descending.If he didn't get down before the flames engulfed the entire Commander-in-Chief Building, he would really turn from a bird to a roasted sparrow.

The flames seem to never end.

The redness at the end of Zichen's eyes gradually faded.

After Chi You's mad blood burned, a sense of fatigue swept over his body.

He stopped there, he couldn't run anymore, really couldn't run.The flames swept through everything, and the smoke filled his eyes. He quickly shook his head to try to regain consciousness, but it still didn't work.

He seemed to hear the song "Borntodie", the almost quiet prelude, everything became extremely slow, as if he could sleep peacefully like this.

He thought of the night he'd slept in the back of Wichpel's car, in Wischpel's clothes, as if they could drive on that highway forever and ever.

just let him sleep...

Don't think about revenge anymore, don't think about hatred anymore, don't think about anything, just sleep peacefully.

The flames around him were getting hotter and hotter, as if they were going to burn him into ashes.

In the hallucination, he suddenly saw a person at the end of the corridor, and the person stretched out his hand and said to him - do you want to follow me?

——Do you want to follow me?

That man had eyes like the cold sky of Asgard.

He can't stop, there is someone waiting for him, there is someone waiting for him at the end of the corridor.

Yes, he did not believe in God.But one person is both his faith.In other words, that person is his god.

Zichen forcefully pushed open the door in front of him.

Outside the gate were more than a dozen Vana soldiers holding guns, forming a semicircle around the gate.

Zichen closed his eyes, waiting for the gunshot.

More than a dozen gunshots sounded together, like the most heroic ensemble.But Zichen didn't feel the pain at all, and he slowly opened his eyes.

More than a dozen soldiers of the Vana Empire fell to the ground and died after being shot.

Wischpel threw away the gun in his hand, and then dragged Zichen onto the white horse. Zichen was hugged by the man before he could react at all.

Vana soldiers in red military uniforms are like a red river, rushing here tirelessly. Wihipel protects the nearly unconscious boy in his arms with one hand. His silver armor is cold and hard, and the unconscious boy in his arms The young man was as fragile as fine porcelain.

Wisipel holds a silver spear in his hand, like a god of war born for war in mythology.

The huge castle behind him burned in flames, turning his silver armor red like blood.White horse and silver spear, the emperor conquers.

The white horse in heavy armor broke through the siege of thousands of people, like a silver blade cutting a river.

Everywhere you go is death.

06

Instead of taking him back to the Hall of Valor, Vihipel took him to the ship.

The man directly threw Zichen into the room, grabbed Zichen by the collar, "Do you want to die?"

Zichen fell to the ground in pain, looked up at Vehipel fiercely, with blood dripping from the corner of his mouth, and his eyes were like an enraged little beast.

Wisipel looked at Zichen's fierce eyes coldly, "...are you not convinced?"

"...No." Zichen shook his head, his whole body softened suddenly, and his fierce eyes disappeared. The irritated expression seemed to be just an illusion of Wisipel, as if he had led the door in from the beginning to the end. They're all just a pathetic loser.

The sound of pattering rain began to sound outside the window, and it was raining.

Wihipel looked at Zichen and said, "I'm going to deal with some things, you should stay by yourself for a while."

Zichen didn't answer, and still stayed where he was.Listening to the sound of rain outside the window.

The door was closed, and Zichen stayed where he was, watching the raindrops outside the window hit the window, forming crooked water marks.

Is it for him to reflect on it?But he didn't seem to have anything to reflect on, he didn't regret anything, and he didn't feel that he had done anything wrong.

Not convinced?Probably not, Zichen looked up at the rain pattering on the window outside.

He just felt tired, tired.Yes, there are too many things to do today, he should have a good sleep, but he seems to have lost all his energy to climb into bed.

I feel very empty in my heart, as if I don't even have the strength to think about things...

The door was opened suddenly, it was Vichypel.

He had steak, bread, a glass of milk, medicine and bandages.

"Why are you still on the ground?" Wihipel said while throwing Zichen on the bed.

Zichen hissed in pain as he leaned his back against the bed.

"Take off your clothes first." Wihipel said after taking the wound medicine.

"I'm not hurt," Zichen said.

Wihipel looked at Zichen, and then lightly poked Zichen under the ribs, and Zichen immediately cried out in pain.

"He said he wasn't injured." Regardless of Zichen's struggle, Wisipel directly pulled off Zichen's clothes.

"Turn around," said Wichpel.

"Can I eat first?" Zichen looked at Wisipel a little aggrieved.

"Wait until the medicine is finished."

There were quite a few bruises on Zichen's body, which looked a bit shocking.

Wihipel took some wound medicine and smeared it on Zichen's ribs.

"Let's have some food." After taking the medicine, Wispel put the dinner plate on the table beside the bed.

Zichen held the knife and fork and looked at the whole steak in front of him a little at a loss.

"Have you learned to use a knife and fork yet?"

Zichen nodded.Wihippel handed him the milk, and then brought over the steak, cutting it gracefully with a knife and fork, as gracefully as an artist carving out his masterpiece. "Drink some milk to warm your stomach first."

Zichen lowered his head and drank the warm milk.

"It's been a long time since you learned how to use a knife and fork. How do you eat?" Wisipel looked up at Zichen as if he thought it was a little funny.

"Use chopsticks." Zichen said while sipping milk, "I ground two of them myself."

Vehipel: "..."

After slicing the steak, Wihipel put the plate in front of Zichen.

"Why do you want to kill Colonel Egos, the ghost?" Wihipel asked.

Zichen stuck the cut steak up with a fork and turned it in his hands instead of eating it. After a long time, he said, "You know about the expedition of glory."

"kindness."

"My father died in that glorious expedition. In Donghuang, this battle is called Day's War." Zichen said while biting his steak.

Wihipel looked at the black-haired boy, as if he wanted to comfort him, but didn't know what to do.

"Because the day Vana's army invaded Jinling happened to be a solar eclipse, that's why it's called Days of War." Zichen twitched the corners of his mouth and continued to eat steak without looking up, "You don't need to comfort me. Never cried."

Wisper looked at Zichen.

"Actually, I'm also a little strange, but really, I never cried once." Zichen said: "I ran to the rivers and lakes alone when I was 13 years old, and I never came back home. Entered Jinling, then rushed back overnight, but by the time I got back, that man was already dead."

"I didn't go to worship, I didn't even go to the ancestral hall, I just found a ship that Vana was escorting to transport the silver of the great abyss and sneaked on it, and kowtowed in the direction of the ancestral hall before leaving."

"Then I was seen by a group of men in black on the boat for some reason, and then I was taken as a sacrifice again." Zichen bit the bread, "You should also know what happened later." knew."

He raised his head and glanced at Vichypel, still chewing on the bread.

Vichypel was still just looking at him.

Zichen lowered his head and continued to eat the steak, which was very tender.

Half of his hair was tied up with a red rope. The red rope was a little loose, and his hair was a little messy. He looked a little like a young swordsman.

"Maybe it's because I really don't have any relationship with that man." Zichen said.

"I once crossed the Yellow River by boat with many dart runners. They said that there are two kinds of people who walk in the rivers and lakes. The first is because they like the rivers and lakes, and the second is because they are homeless."

"At the beginning, I thought I was the first type, but later, I found out that I was actually the second type." He smiled.

"I used to be very weak. My uncle said that I could only live to be ten years old if I was rounded up in the temple. So I spent half of my time in the temple before I was ten years old, and the other half at home." Zichen dipped the steak into the sauce juice.

"When I was in the temple, I lived in a very remote place. There was not much fire in winter, and it was very cold at night. But I actually prefer to stay in the temple than to go home."

He raised his head to look at Vichypel, and Vichypel's eyes were like the frozen lake in winter.

He didn't know why, but he would actually say this to Vichypel.

The boy lowered his head and smiled, "Did you know? My parents haven't spoken to each other for several years."

"I don't know why, it seems that since I was born, they seldom love each other like other children's parents, and I don't know which time they went home, and they never spoke to each other again."

"I only found out when I secretly went down the mountain to beg for alms with my uncle who is not upright. It turns out that the relationship between normal parents and children should be like that."

"When the grandma in that family served me rice, my grandpa would help me with the bowl. When my grandpa wanted to get a sauce plate, my grandma would pass it to her. And when his child came back from grazing cows, the two of them He even talks and jokes with his own children, and pushes the children to wash their hands and face."

"When I finished eating the bowl of rice at the foot of the mountain, I cried out for some reason." Zichen bit his fork and said, "Grandma asked me what happened, and I told her it was because the rice was so delicious."

"Really, I've never eaten rice like that." Zichen smiled with the corner of his mouth raised.

"Sometimes at home, I feel like an outsider who came here for alms," Zichen said. "Even at home, I rarely see my father, and even if I do, I dare not tell him anything."

"He never hugged me, and neither did my mother. When I was nine years old, I had a high fever for three days. He never came to see me. When I got better, I went to see him. He asked me why I If you don’t go to greet me, heh, he doesn’t even know that I’m sick.”

Wisper didn't know how to comfort Zichen. He knew many things, but not including how to comfort a child.

He rubbed Zichen's head, but because he wasn't sure if it was right to do so, his movements were a little ridiculous.

Zichen raised his head and looked at Wisipel, still with a smile on his lips, "Your Highness, you don't need to comfort me. I haven't even cried myself."

Wisipel looked at Zichen, and said after a long time, "I'm going to turn off the light, you should have a good sleep."

"kindness."

Wisipel went to the door and turned off the light, and the room was plunged into darkness, only the moonlight shining through the window hit the boy's weak-looking shoulders.

The rain outside the window fell into the sea.

The boy just sat there in the dark with his head down.

In the darkness, the boy's shoulders seemed to tremble slightly.

Vehipel walked up to the boy, and slowly hugged him into his arms as if he was afraid of disturbing the boy.

The black-haired boy was trembling in his arms, like a butterfly in a cocoon.

The juvenile's injured ribs were unbearably painful with every tremor.

Slightly hot tears scalded Vehipel's shoulders.

"Brother, I... have no father..."

In the future, the teenager will still often think of that day, like the Vana soldiers in the red river, the Gothic castle burning in the sun, the ghost colonel who committed suicide, everything seems to have faded, blurred and confused.But everything on that rainy night was extremely clear. He often had the illusion that the ribs under his chest were still broken and painful, and he even seemed to feel the defect under his chest with a light touch.