[Count of Monte Cristo] Love and hatred

r109

They searched for the scattered talismans on the rock along the direction they came from, until those "footprints" led them to the round boulder.

"What are the next words?" Vampa asked.

"There is a round dragon egg that turned to stone in its deep sleep, it is not dead, it is just waiting," Mei Tess replied.

"Yes! This stone does look like the legendary dragon's egg," said Vampa excitedly, "but what is it waiting for?"

"Waiting to wake up," Plum Tess pondered for a while, "Only the last ray of sunlight on a midsummer night can wake it up."

Vampa lightly touched the lichen covering the stone, "Although it is midsummer now, it looks like it has gone through countless midsummers. Let's see what we can do."

He walked around the boulder for a week, and found that beside the round boulder, there was a smaller stone, which seemed to be placed there deliberately to prevent the round boulder from rolling down.

The smaller stone was surrounded by many flakes and pebbles to hide the gap between the two stones, and it was covered with more earth, from which weeds continued to emerge, and moss covered the stone surface. The seeds of the stone also took root there. If you don't look carefully, the two stones seem to be deeply rooted on the ground.

Vampa ordered two of his men to bring pickaxes from the boat, and they kept beating on the two stones, but they worked until evening, and the two stones still stood there, motionless.

"Looks like the dragon doesn't want to wake up," Vampa smiled self-mockingly.

"No, wait a little longer," Mei Tess's amber eyes flickered.

Vampa knew what Mei Tess was waiting for.

When the last embers fell on Monte Cristo Island, the sunlight from a special angle passed through the gap in the nearby stone wall, casting a circular light spot on the middle right of the boulder, as if indicating the position of the keyhole.

"Here it is," said Vampa, digging towards the spot with the pickaxe.It was indeed different from other places in that it was pasted with lime powder, so he easily scraped off the lime on the surface, and gradually revealed the pattern inside, which was a concave inverted cross.

But his work stopped there because he didn't know what to do next.

Mei Tess thought for a few seconds, "This cross is upside down, maybe we should straighten it?"

"You're right." This time, Vampa put his pickaxe into the groove. He found that the cross was not difficult to pry, because it was a mechanism. When the cross was straightened again, the boulder suddenly shook violently. .

They hurried to get out of the way, and then the round boulder suddenly rolled down the slope, turned somersaults, and finally fell into the sea like the setting sun.A large group of small reptiles escaped from the hole under the boulder, and a big snake that seemed to be protecting a treasure swam out and disappeared in the grass after a while.

Mei Tess stepped forward and found that where the boulder used to be, it was hidden in a square stone slab with an iron ring on it.

Vampa ordered his men to bring a crowbar, insert it into the iron ring, and pry it with all his might.The large stone slab was lifted, revealing an underground cave, and the stone steps under the cave continued to go down until it disappeared into the darkness.

Vampa asked Mei Se Tess with some hesitation, "What's next?"

Plum Tess recalled the last few lines of the lyrics, "That's a little dragon with golden scales, silver claws, and jewel eyes..."

Vampa took a deep breath, "Okay, let's all take a look at that magic dragon."

They lit a torch and descended the stone steps in the cave.

The cave is made of granite, and the walls glow under the light of the fire, as if inlaid with sparkling diamonds.But inside they saw a bluish dim light, which, like air, came not from the hole they had just dug, but from a cleft in the rock.

This place is indeed like a dragon's lair. Although you can't see anything from outside the cave, you can see the ivy branches and leaves growing in the cracks in the stone through the cracks in the cave, and even see the blue sky.Even the air inside seemed warm, like the breath of a dragon.

But they wandered around the cave, but found nothing.

"It does look like a hidden treasure," Vampa commented, "but someone has probably already been there, and there's nothing in it."

"No, that boulder weighs several tons. If someone finds the treasure, it's impossible to get it back." Mei Tess shook her head disapprovingly.

She tried hitting the walls with the butt of her gun. After trying three walls in a row, she found that the sound from one wall was different from the others, like a hollow and deep echo.

Vampa fired directly at the wall.

Only a "bang" sound was heard, and a few small pieces of paint like the one used for Arabic carvings fell down from the cave wall, and broke into pieces on the ground, revealing a large white stone.It turned out that the hole was sealed with granite, and only a layer of transparent paint was applied on it.

"I bet it's inside whether we're greeted by a man-eating dragon or something," Vampa said with a stern smile.

"Now that I'm here, no matter what it is, I want to see it," said Mei Tess.

So the four of them picked up their tools and started digging into that wall.

They found that the stones were not blocked, but piled up one by one, and a layer of paint was applied on the outside.Soon, the second mysterious cave was dug out.

Plum Tess stepped in first, and she saw an oak cash drawer dumped on the ground, covered with a layer of iron that had been dug out.

In the center of the lid she saw inlaid with a piece of silver, not tarnished, on which was carved the arms of the Spada family, an oval shield, similar in shape to those commonly used in Italy, with a spear sticking out of it. The sword, and above the sword and shield is a cardinal's hat.

As soon as she saw a pile of gold coins dumped out of the box, she was pushed away by Vampa.A bullet hit the spot where she was standing just now, and debris and dust bounced up in an instant.

It was the two robbers. When they saw this pile of treasures, they immediately had the evil intention of taking it all for themselves.Wampa protected Plum Tess and went behind a stone wall to confront the two robbers.

Mei Tess suddenly remembered the last line of the lyrics, "O ignorant people, don't be fooled by its appearance, what it can bring is only blood and fire, only a noble heart can tame it..."

It turns out that the magic dragon in the lyrics refers to the treasure!

She was careless, perhaps because she was too curious about the answer, which made her ignore the dangers of human nature.Wampa's bullets ran out quickly, but the opponent's firepower did not stop. They could all hear the two robbers approaching step by step.

Just when they were about to fight the two robbers desperately, the gunfire rang out again, and then the two robbers screamed and fell in front of them.

"Come out," said a magnetic voice.

Wampa clenched the dagger tightly, ready to rush out to win the last chance for Mei Tess.But Plum Tess stopped him.

She slowly walked out from the shadow behind the stone wall, and finally saw the person she was thinking of.

They stood facing each other like that, and time seemed to be frozen for a while.

Until Mei Tess finally couldn't restrain the turmoil in her heart, she walked slowly towards her captain.The moment she walked in front of him, he reached out and hugged her tightly.