mythical visionary

Chapter 1 Norse Mythology, The Giant Shadow of Childhood
Xia Mingwei fell asleep in the cinema.

Close your eyes, accompanied by the long music of the movie, the momentary roar of the big scene, fragmented laughter and discussion, the consciousness slowly sinks into sleep.

The world in the dream seems to be close at hand, but it has nothing to do with him at all, as if there is an exquisite stage play in some ancient and distant village, and he is just an audience sitting far away.

He didn't sleep deeply.

These noisy voices are like a hand, pulling and pulling his consciousness back and forth between dream and reality.

He was in a fragile balance point, but somehow his mind was very clear, as if he was overlooking his subconscious self from the surface of the sea, watching this dream work.

Relying on these trivial voices, his subconscious mind weaves scenes that match it in the dream.

Although the eyes are closed, the faint light seeping into the eyelids is still colorful, but hazy and gray, like a beam of dim sunlight shining into the dead deep sea.

The changing colors are like winding yarns, which gradually converge into a ball in the sea. As the lines become more and more messy, the knitted wool ball becomes bigger and bigger.

Furthermore, it collapsed in an instant, completely scattered, like thousands of feet of light falling down to the deepest part of the sea, engulfing this vast and boundless ocean.

Suddenly there was a burning sensation in his neck, and he slowly raised his heavy eyelids.

Xia Mingwei woke up.

Looking forward, the screen continued to slide out the list of producers, the movie ended, and it was time to end, the LED lights in the projection hall were turned on, and the incandescent light that hit his face pierced his eyelids, making him unable to bear it. Squint your eyes.

"Dad, did you see it just now?" A girl whispered beside him, "When this big brother fell asleep, the part of his neck suddenly glowed..."

"Hey, my good daughter, don't make trouble. You don't want the popcorn until you finish eating it. Your mother will cook later."

Xia Mingwei supported his swollen forehead with his hands, and turned his head in a daze.

What came into view was a girl in a school uniform, her eyes were looking this way, and she was whispering something to the middle-aged man next to her.

After seeing Xia Mingwei wake up, the girl covered her face in shock, her eyes widened, and she stared at him through the gap between her fingers:
"Ah... Dad, his neck suddenly stopped glowing."

"I'm sorry, the little girl is not sensible." The middle-aged man smiled at Xia Mingwei, then picked up the briefcase, took the girl's immature hand, and the two quickly left the screening room.

...what's wrong with my neck?
After watching the two leave in puzzlement, Xia Mingwei stretched out his right hand and stroked his neck. There was still a trace of the burning sensation just now, and his skin was ridiculously hot.

"Ding."

The phone vibrated and a notification sound came.

Xia Mingwei took out his mobile phone from his bag. It was five o'clock in the afternoon, and a text message popped up from the top of the interface.

——[Boss: I have something to do today, come and help me look at the store. ]
He picked up his schoolbag and left, quickly typed out the text with his knuckle fingers, and clicked send.

——[Xia Mingwei: I'll be right back. ]
After Xia Mingwei sent the message, he walked out of the empty auditorium slowly. The hallway of the theater was lit with orange lights and filled with the smell of disinfectant, as if it had just been cleaned.

Walking out of the dull theater, the fresh air hit his nose, he looked up at the sky, the setting sun was about to dip below the horizon, and was slowly taking away the light that sprinkled on the earth, and the distant airplane clouds pierced through the red sunset glow.

People come and go on the pale yellow streets, and the traffic flow is like a dragon. During the rush hour of get off work and school, even the overhead corridor above the highway is full of people.

This city is around Beijing, which is the capital of China, so the flow of people is naturally incomparable to other places.

The person who sent the message just now was the owner of a coffee shop.

Xia Mingwei is 17 years old this year.

When he was 14 years old, his boss adopted him who had no father or mother, and let him live in the attic of the coffee shop. The residence was a bit rough, but the boss treated him well, and his life in the past few years was not bad.

After a short walk, passing through the hustle and bustle of people, he came to a coffee shop located in a remote corner of the city.

Stopping outside the store, I heard soothing piano music - the boss likes Bach very much, and the "Aria on the G String" that has not changed for thousands of years is still playing in the store today, Xia Mingwei's ears are almost callused.

Pushing open the wooden door with the "Business" sign, the afterglow of the setting sun falls into the store, illuminating the oil paintings framed in mahogany frames and the empty old wooden tables and chairs.

The boss is very particular about style, the shop door, the chairs and tables in the shop are all made by himself.

Fortunately, there were no customers yet, Xia Mingwei breathed a sigh of relief.

Moving his eyes, the glass of the coffee grinder reflected his cheek. It was a delicate and beautiful face, but the indifference between the eyebrows and eyes added a sense of distance to him.

At this moment, the boss was wearing an apron, wiping the cup with a towel behind the counter, as if he could recognize Xia Mingwei by the sound of his footsteps, he asked without raising his head:

"Are you still used to the new school?"

"It's quite used to it." Xia Mingwei looked at the innermost table. The boss had already prepared dinner for him - curry rice sprinkled with seasonings and a cup of steaming coffee.

He put down his schoolbag, sat on a chair, and took a sip of coffee.

"It's good if you can get used to it. Your grades have been good since you were a child. Don't relax when you arrive at a new school."

"Well, I will."

The boss suddenly raised his head, saw Xia Mingwei's bandaged right hand, and asked angrily:

"What's wrong with your kid's right hand?"

"It's nothing, it's just scratched when cutting fruit."

"Just scratched the back of the hand and wrapped it with a bandage?"

"Uh...to be conservative."

"It's more reliable if you say you didn't get a Band-Aid." The boss sighed: "Anyway, don't fight over those at school in the future, and don't fight with others. You don't want to change schools again, kid?"

As he spoke, he put the cleaned cup into the basket and scratched his black hair helplessly.

Originally, the boss's hair was almost gray. Xia Mingwei had a part-time job after school some time ago. After earning some money, he took him to the barber shop to have his hair dyed black.

Xia Mingwei took a sip of his coffee and said softly, "It's not a big deal if you don't transfer schools. You worry too much."

"What happened before, you can't calm down when your classmates talk about that matter."

"I just discussed it with them."

"Then got into a fight and put yourself in the hospital?"

Xia Mingwei didn't speak, just lowered his eyes and ate his meal quietly.

"Your child is good everywhere, but this is what you can't think about." The boss pushed his reading glasses and murmured:

"I've said it all, it was an earthquake, and I've grown so big..."

"Just an earthquake?" Xia Mingwei interrupted him, "Then everyone in the town died, leaving me alone?"

"Man-made disasters and natural disasters, this is something that can't be helped."

"I don't think so. That kind of talk can only be used to deceive children."

Xia Mingwei put down his cup, losing his appetite.

In the winter of eight years ago, a small village near Huanjing was hit by a natural disaster, and all the buildings were razed to the ground.

The official statement is that a local earthquake caused a mudslide, and a nearby mountain just caught fire, and the mud, rocks and fire spread to villages and towns.

And Xia Mingwei happened to be the only survivor of this disaster.

He was young then, only nine years old.

To this day, he still deeply remembers the early morning of that day, when the mountains and the earth showed a dull blue, as if intertwined with the pale snow to form an ethereal and transparent scroll, the morning sun rose slowly, and the snow was cool under the sun The earth burned, the world faded from the dead dark blue, and the background color of the sky gradually turned white.

In that village surrounded by mountains and snow and fog, Xia Mingwei went to the market with his parents.

But all of a sudden, every stall and every face in the market was shrouded in shadows that blocked the sky and the sun.

At that moment, all the sunlight falling on the town was swallowed up, just because the town encountered something higher than the mountain.

The young Xia Mingwei raised his head, his eyes widened, and he stared blankly at the other side of the mountain.

It was a giant with raging flames all over its body, it stood behind a mountain, its huge body was covered by mountain fog, only showing its head and broad shoulders.

The giant was condescending, its scarlet eyes overlooking the town.

Its face with its back to the sun is shrouded in gloomy shadows, and its huge erect pupils shine brightly in the darkness. Its face is as hideous as the king of evil spirits on the [-]th floor of hell, and as lonely as the king who dominates the world, just like In Chinese mythology, Pangu created the world, in Greek mythology, Zeus, the supreme god who ruled all things in the world, and in Nordic mythology, Odin, who created the earth and human beings.

Its slightly raised shoulders are like a vast and endless curtain, almost completely covering the sky of the town, the whole world is covered by sudden deep shadows, and even a ray of light cannot penetrate, as if day and night Suddenly change.

It just moved its legs slightly, which was enough to set off a deafening sound of cracking the air, followed by the white mist and falling snow in the mountains, causing even the sky to tremble and the mountains to crack.

The scorching wind roared, sweeping across the ground.

The earth trembled violently, and the king standing at the top of the biological chain lifted the billowing thick fog, revealing its magnificent figure like the tower of ancient Babylon.

Under the shadow of such giants, the whole town lost its original color, as if God forcibly took away the paint that was spilled on the world, and everything had to be seen with the most humble and fearful attitude. A king whose whole body is burning with flames.

It staggered forward, burning up the flying snow all over the sky, and burning up the mountains and fields all over the place, as if declaring the sovereignty of this land.

In the end, just swaying the flame sword slightly, the village was razed to the ground...

A "click" interrupted Xia Mingwei's thoughts.

It was the boss who flicked the lighter, and a cluster of flames slowly rose.

Xia Mingwei raised his eyes and looked expressionlessly at the ray of flame floating above the lighter.

The boss lit a cigarette, picked up a book on the counter, and put it in front of Xia Mingwei: "The customer in the store asked me to bring it to you, saying it was your friend."

"my friend?"

Xia Mingwei raised his eyebrows in confusion, and looked at the cover of the book. There was an ancient door dotted against the dark background. The title of the book was "Norse Mythology", and there was a maple leaf-shaped bookmark inside.

He opened it casually, and came directly to the two pages with the bookmarks between them. The left page had a black and white pattern printed on it. Judging from the title of the book, it was probably a depiction of a certain mythical character.

As for the content of the right page, it is related to the text introduction.

Xia Mingwei lowered his eyelids, and looked up casually. According to his reading habits, he first looked at the text page.

—— Surtur, the flame giant in Norse mythology.

——Since ancient times, Surtur has been the guardian of Muspelheim.He has always held the sword of light, standing on the border of Muspelheim to guard the country.

——Until the twilight of the gods came, Surtur raised his fiery sword and led his sons across the sky, with the intention of destroying the world.He invaded Asgard to fight the gods, and destroyed the world at the end of Ragnarok.

After reading the text, Xia Mingwei suddenly felt an almost strange sense of familiarity.

He moved his eyes in surprise, and looked at the two illustrations on the left.

——The sky-reaching giant with flames all over his body, holding his flaming sword high, stands at the gray junction between the sky and the earth.

——It’s still the flame giant, holding the sky-high flaming sword, standing behind a mountain, overlooking a village with the eyes of evil spirits.

This is……

Looking at Surter's cold gaze looking down on the illustration, Xia Mingwei's pupils shrank, every inch of his skin felt a bone-chilling chill, and every pore gradually closed.

"Simply..." Xia Mingwei pinched the pages of the book with his fingers, trembling convulsively, "It's exactly the same as the monster I saw in the town a few years ago?"

Could it be that the giant is a monster that jumped out of Nordic mythology?

Fire Giant, Surtur...

Could it be that it destroyed my hometown with a single blow?

Xia Mingwei's forehead was swollen, and he felt a trance. The second picture in front of him strongly impacted his internal organs, and the feeling of panic that penetrated into the bone marrow swept through his heart.

The boss came over and took away the empty plates and cups, then glanced at him and asked, "Boy, are you okay?"

"fine."

Xia Mingwei tried his best to calm his breath, lowered his eyes again, and checked the publication date of the book intently.

— March 2026, 11.

It was just published a month ago.

Why did I receive this book?

The boss said it was left to me by a "friend", but I don't have any friends who are close enough to send books.

Besides...

The bookmark is just sandwiched between the two pages introducing "Flame Giant Surtur", as if the person who gave me this book is deliberately guiding me to see this picture.

"Your boy has been really nervous recently. Did you feel too much pressure when you just transferred to another school? If so, go out and take a walk to relax. It's not good to be bored in books all the time."

"Boss, who brought the book?" Xia Mingwei took a deep breath.

"I didn't see clearly. There were customers in the store at the time." The boss hissed a cigarette, "Isn't it your classmate at school? Don't talk about this, just take a shower after dinner."

"Okay, I'll come down to look at the store after I take a shower."

Xia Mingwei quickly picked up his schoolbag, the boss passed by him, and the two went to the attic one by one, and the other went back behind the counter.

Soon after, in the attic bathroom.

hiss--

Turning the switch, turning on the shower head, hot water slapped on the shoulders and back.

Xia Mingwei let out a long sigh of relief, his hair was soaked and gradually drooped down, covering his eyes.

The flame giant, Surtur... What is the connection between that mythical figure and the huge monster that attacked my village eight years ago?Xia Mingwei's thoughts were messed up.

The temperature in the bathroom gradually increased, and the white mist climbed up every mirror like a gecko.

He reached out and touched his neck, the burning sensation from the movie theater still remained.

This is not the first time this has happened. In my impression, one night when I was eight years old, my father suddenly woke him up and murmured:

"What happened to the boy's neck?"

　The newcomer author seeks collection and follow-up reading.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)