The light of dusk shone on his face. At this moment, Armand Bernhardt on the trestle could no longer distinguish between reality and illusion, nor between life and death. I suddenly realized that “dusk” itself has the meaning of dividing life and death, and then I immediately understood that maybe what happened at this moment was the brief intersection of life and death that became blurred here due to man-made reasons.
Although the originally dazzling and brilliant sun was still half-sinking far away on the sea, its light had an extremely ambiguous and dim feeling. The sea surface, which was originally one wave after another, suddenly calmed down after it overlapped with the black water. The ships on the sea disappeared at some point. Standing on the pier and looking at the calm water surface, I found that the water surface was now dazzlingly bright. .
Some illusory figures walked past Mr. Bernhardt, stepped into the sea illuminated by the dim sunlight, and walked further away. Although the black cat on the edge of the pier was tired, he still found a cat with the same coat color as himself among the retreating figures.
The cat was bigger, and the cat was more beautiful. The cat was standing on the sea behind Shade, looking back at him, and then called out “meow~”, waiting for it to come over.
So the black cat jumped off the trestle, clearly not using any force, but still standing on the water.
Facing the dim sun, the black cat seemed to have a physical form again. The beautiful hair was very shiny in the sunlight. The cat raised its head and looked at the person who helped it on the water between the Zhanqiao and Shade:
“Meow, are you the **** of cats?”
The stranger lowered his head and smiled and replied:
“Of course not.”
“Then why do you help me? I have nothing to repay you with.”
“Because this is my justice.”
The cat didn’t understand all this, so it wagged its tail and said:
“Meow~ Goodbye then.”
It ran past Shade, and under the watchful eye of Mr. Bernhardt, it joined the female cat who was waiting for it. The female cat licked the cat’s fur affectionately, and the cat rubbed her body. Then the two cats looked at Shade, who had turned to look at them, and then walked together towards the dim yellow sun that was half setting. went.
Obviously “darkness” has been an image associated with “death” since ancient times, but looking at everything ambiguous under the setting sun in front of him, Armand Bernhard still felt that he was the one who truly understood it in this scene. death.
The cat has gone away, and for a moment the light of the half-dark sun made the vampire on the trestle unable to open his eyes. When the dazzling light disappeared and he looked around again, all the abnormalities had disappeared. And when he saw Shade stepping back onto the trestle from the water, the sea in front of him was covered with ships. The disappearing sun did not have that strange “yellow” color, and there were no cats leaving along the sea. .
Shad looked back at the sea, sighed and then signaled to Mr. Bernhardt that he could leave:
“Sent away another one. Let’s go, it’s already so late.”
He was actually not very clear about how the scene just happened. But obviously apart from Mr. Bernhardt, very few people on the dock also saw the “phantom” at that moment. Although this would not have any impact, Shade still felt that it would be better to leave as soon as possible.
After regaining consciousness, Mr. Bernhardt followed him and hurriedly returned to the ground along the trestle. After entering the alley and confirming that no one was following him, he suddenly asked in a low voice:
“Mr. Watson, if one day, I mean if, I accidentally die tragically and turn into a ghost or something, please help me leave.”
“Okay. Wait, what do you think I am?”
Xia De looked at him unexpectedly, only to find that the vampire seed lord was looking at him with awe:
“Of course I consider you my friend.”
“Well, I feel like you have misunderstood something. Forget it, it’s not important. Although the cat’s story is very plain, it touched me very much, probably because I also have a cat.”
“I don’t have a cat, I don’t have any pets, but I am still very touched by ‘because this is my justice’. Why can’t there be more people like you in this world?”
He seemed to be complaining, or just sighing.
It is getting late. Now that we have obtained important clues from the cat, the second exploration of the underground laboratory and prison can be postponed until tomorrow.
After a busy day, the two parted at the end of the alley. Shade still remembered that he promised Miss Belindel to go to her place for dinner tonight, so he did not throw away the glass slipper and go home, but went to the witch’s manor again.
But after all, he went to the sewer in the afternoon, so he was worried that the smell on his body would disturb the beautiful countess and maids. Fortunately, Miss Belindel also knew that he was busy in the sewer today, so she thoughtfully asked the maids to prepare the bathroom in advance for Shade to wash up.
After taking a bath, the sun has completely disappeared, and night has finally arrived. But today, there were no old Mrs. Belindel and the witch’s sisters at the dining table of Belindel Manor. They seemed to have gone out to visit relatives.
“I just heard some interesting news.”
Shade sat down at the dining table. The light from the crystal chandelier above his head and the elegant gas lamps on the wall made the restaurant very bright. When the maids started serving the meal, the blond witch said with a smile:
“In the evening, many people saw strange phantoms on the sea near the pier, but they only lasted for half a minute and then disappeared. Because of what happened last Sunday, the church is still investigating at the pier. You have added a lot of work to the church. The sunset, the calm water, and the departing souls. It’s a pity that I didn’t see that scene, but I know it’s wonderful just from hearing about it.”
“Why do you think it must have been me?”
Xia De asked curiously, knowing what she meant by this:
“Divination?”
“Of course not. I found that any divination about you would cause various problems, so I didn’t use divination. I just felt that this matter might be related to you. In fact, since you appeared in Yuewan City, the local Most things are about you.”
This is true.
Shad smiled and was about to pick up the knife and fork, but the countess held his hand, then stood up halfway and reached out to help him bend the collar of his shirt.
Xia De blinked and continued:
“What happened in the evening was not a big deal. My friends and I went to investigate the sewers in the afternoon and met a resentful cat who knew the secret. We took it to visit its previous owner, and it consumed its soul power. , seeing that it was about to die, I thought of a way to give it a ride.”
Although the restaurant was very brightly lit by gas lamps, Miss Belindel still snapped her fingers to light the candles on the candlestick on the table:
“Can you tell me more about this story? I don’t believe it’s that simple.”
As he said that, he also picked up the knife and fork, so Shade described the story of “The Cat and Janet” in the first half of the dinner. Of course, the maids in the restaurant were also listening. When the story finally came, when the cat and the female cat walked together on the sea toward the sun, Shade heard a sob from an unknown sentimental girl.
He feels that he still has some talent for storytelling.
The great witch of fate was obviously touched by this story. She put down her knife and fork and looked up at the crystal chandelier. She took a deep breath and adjusted her mood before looking at Shade again:
“You just laughed, and you smiled very softly at the end of the story. I mean, although you are not the kind of person who never smiles all the time, you smiled really hard when you talked about this just now. Beautiful. ”
The maids also heard this quite “direct” statement. Shade didn’t know if they also commented on his expression in the same way. He just said hesitantly:
“It’s rare that someone comments on my smile. Do I want to say thank you?”
The countess also smiled and picked up her knife and fork again:
“Go on, I really like the story you shared.”
“Okay. As a ring warlock, I have seen too many sad stories, so of course I am very happy to occasionally experience this kind of story that can be called a ‘good ending’, even better than that. A cat is even more happy when he hears a clue.”
“So you helped the cat for the so-called good ending?”
Miss Belindel asked, Shade nodded seriously:
“Yes, just like I said to the cat at the time – this is my justice.”
The curve of the witch’s mouth became more and more charming, but she did not continue to look at Shade. She endured the throbbing in her heart. She wanted to give him a kiss.
After dinner, Shade stayed at the manor for a while, discussing the clues he got from the cat with Miss Belindle in the study.
“Combined with the strange noises that once appeared underground in the Marquis of Ankara Manor, the [Dragon Eater Order] used a certain piece of magical dragon scales to create dragon-blooded monsters, at least since the beginning of this year. And the dragon the cat was talking about Scale, I highly doubt it is something inherited from your seven major families.”
The study was equally bright. After dinner, Miss Belindel, who had to change clothes for some reason before coming to the study with Shade, also agreed with Shade’s conclusion:
“In other words, someone from the seven major families has been cooperating with the [Dragon Eater Order] from a long time ago? Could it be the Black family? After all, before that poor woman was parasitized, it was Georgia Black who led He led those people to the secret underground laboratory.”
“I can’t get involved in investigating those nobles, but tomorrow my friends and I will go to the sewers again. If there are no clues, tell the church about the news there. Although the church can find it soon, it needs to take the initiative Reporting can also allow vampires to distance themselves from the matter.”
“Your vampire friend.”
She knew what she wanted to ask before she finished asking Shade:
“He is a gentleman with a title, and as I said, he is very trustworthy.”
The witch was relieved.
PS: The author feels very good about this plot.