Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 289 Have you found any clues?

"Are you looking for something in this village, young man?" Seeing Lingge's surprised expression, the old man laughed twice and said, "Don't be so surprised. I just happened to notice that there are strangers in the village these days, but they don't look like tourists, so I asked."

Coincidentally? If someone else said this, the cautious Linger would never believe it, but the vigorous old man in front of him didn't seem to have any need to lie. Moreover, he was guided by the premonition of the Enjuan magic. So, magic shouldn't hurt its master, right?

Linger asked, "Are you a staff member here, old man?"

"No." The old man shook his head gently. "I just happen to have the leisure time and energy to stroll here every day. You know, young man, the elderly always have to have some hobbies of their own to relieve the loneliness of not having their children and relatives around. Some people like to read newspapers, some like to chat with people, and some bad guys who have been fighting fiercely since they were young like to go to the streets to instigate strong guys to beat each other up to have fun. In comparison, my hobby is very ordinary, so ordinary that I dare not say it out loud when I attend those old guys' gatherings. I can only share my feelings with young people of your age. I hope you won't be bored by it."

It turned out to be the case.

Linger carefully recalled the past few days and indeed found the figure of the old man in every scene. Sometimes he was standing under the branches of the summer cherry tree, gazing at the fallen snow, and sometimes he was standing in front of the statue of the sinner David, muttering something. The closest time, he even passed by Linger and his group. However, at that time, the young man did not notice anything unusual and ignored him as an ordinary passerby.

If I had discovered it earlier, maybe I wouldn't have to wait in vain for the premonition I have today?

As soon as a similar thought emerged in the young man's mind, he threw it away, because using what happened today to blame the memories of the past is the most unreasonable and meaningless thing in the world, and it is nothing but a waste of time.

He withdrew his thoughts, focused his attention back on the real conversation, and said to the old man seriously: "In fact, from my personal point of view, this is a very good habit, old man. According to the authoritative survey results of the Botanical Garden, people who like to exercise and exercise diligently always live longer than their contemporaries."

"Uh, yeah." Lingge was a little embarrassed, but still admitted it.

After laughing, he looked at Lingge again, his eyes revealing undisguised admiration: "In our current era, there are too few young people who are willing to offer kindness and patiently accompany a stranger to chat. I am sure that you have a kind of politeness and self-control, so I don't want to lose our short but sincere friendship. So, regarding my question just now, if you are willing to satisfy the curiosity of an elderly person, you can confide your worries to me, and perhaps I can help you with my experience; if you don't want to, you can pretend that you didn't hear it, and let's talk about other topics. For example, do you want to know what the average elderly people over 60 talk about when they get together?"

"Really?" Hearing this, the old man laughed and said, "Then it seems that I can wait until those old guys are buried, and then go to their tombstones to laugh at their weird hobbies."

Linger was really interested, but there were more important things to ask, so he shook his head: "I don't feel offended, old man. In fact, we are indeed looking for something in the village of Avignon. Unfortunately, we haven't found anything yet."

"us?"

"Hahaha, it seems that you and your companions are interesting people." The old man laughed happily, as if he hadn't encountered such an interesting thing for a long time, so he was in a good mood. After laughing, he said to the young man with a slightly regretful tone: "Although I don't know what you want to find in this village, maybe it's something very important, so you came here specially, but I don't think you will find it."

The old man looked up at the windmill tower on the top of the hill not far away. A golden-haired maid was circling around the outside of the tower, muttering something mysteriously. His serious and neat gray beard moved, showing a half-smile: "So, that lively girl is also your companion?"

Ling Ge subconsciously asked: "Why?"

"Because this isn't really the village of Avignon."

Lingge was surprised by the old man's answer. He quickly asked, "Where is the real Avignon Village?" "Not far from here, near the Great Rift Valley."

Great Rift Valley? Ling Ge was stunned for a moment, then realized that the old man was referring to the Ronin Rift Valley, a deep rift valley about 200 meters long and nearly 30 meters across at its widest point. It is said that the bottom is connected to the "source of the wind", but unfortunately no one has ever been able to go down to the bottom of the valley to find out.

The Ronin Rift Valley is also a famous tourist attraction in the Avion area, but it is not in the city. You need to leave the windmill village ruins first and then walk for 20 minutes to reach it. However, Linger has never heard of any ruins left there.

He expressed his doubts, and the old man laughed and said, "It's normal for young people not to know this. Even in Avion, many people have forgotten this story. Perhaps, only old people like me can't forget it. Have you heard of the story of the sinner David?"

He suddenly asked, and Ling Ge naturally nodded. He not only had heard of it, but he also knew it very well.

"In the past, the great wind blew away the mountains for the people of Avignon, bringing fertile land and warm rain, but it also aroused human greed. The shepherd David wanted to obtain this power, so he secretly planned a shameful conspiracy. However, his ambition did not succeed, but was exposed. The great wind was enraged and called for a terrible storm to sweep through, instantly destroying the entire Avignon village, breaking all the towering windmills, leaving only a broken ruin. He was completely disappointed with the world because of human betrayal, so he tore the earth apart and sank himself into the crack in the ground, vowing never to return to the ground. Later, that crack was called the Great Rift Valley by us, which is what you outsiders call..."

"The Rhonin Rift?" Linger blurted out. The old man smiled and nodded, and then said, "After the original Avignon village was destroyed, the blessing bestowed on mankind by the great wind also disappeared, so that this place no longer enjoyed any favor from the wind. The villagers decided to stay away from the rift and come to another piece of land not far away to survive and rebuild the village. Later, the royal family sent people to this place to confer the title and build the city of Avion, and the rebuilt village was also preserved. As for the ruins on the other side of the Great Rift Valley, because tourists often fall when visiting, the new government decided to block that area and prohibit entry. Only the ruins of the new windmill village in the city of Avion are open to tourists."

"So today, few people know that what we see and touch is not the real Avignon Village. The place you should search for is farther away, near the Great Rift Valley. If you just search in vain, the final result is likely to be nothing."

The old man paused and continued, "Of course, I told you all this just to let you know the history of the past and give you some advice. I don't recommend you to look for it in the real Windmill Village ruins. First, it is very dangerous there. Many people have fallen and died there in the past, including a lot of agile treasure hunters and explorers. Second, Mr. David, who is in charge of guarding that area, is an iron-faced and selfless man with an aristocratic background. He will never show mercy to outsiders who trespass into the blockade area. He will always put them in jail for half a month or ten days to let them sober up. For young people of your age, going to jail is not a glorious thing. Remember not to be like those 'Mertosh bastards' who regard breaking the law as their own honor. If you do that, you will regret it for the rest of your life when you are old."

The old man advised him earnestly.

"The bastards of Metsosh" is a term found in the dictionary, used to describe those scum and villains who are guilty of the most heinous crimes. As the old man said, they regard breaking the law as their honor. Metsosh is criticized by many people as a violent and criminal country, and at least 80% of the reasons can be attributed to these bastards.

Mr. David… Linger felt that the name was quite familiar, but he did not think about it. He said to the old man: "I will not do such a thing, please rest assured."

"That's good."

The old man nodded with satisfaction, and then started chatting with Lingge about other topics, such as...what people over the age of sixty would talk about when they get together.

Linger listened to his story very carefully, sometimes speaking and cautiously expressing his opinions or views, but never mentioned that he was looking for something. During the conversation, he also learned one thing, that is, the reason why the old man knew so much history that the people of Avion had forgotten was because of his origin - or his family, who had served as the village chief in Avignon for a long time, and was later abolished because of the establishment of Avignon. Despite this, the old man still had a title in the city government and was considered an idle official.

The old man and the young man chatted until dusk, when the scenic spot was about to close. The old man probably hadn't met such a serious listener for a long time, and he invited Lingge to come here to chat again tomorrow, but the young man politely declined, saying that he had important things to do tomorrow.

Although the old man was regretful, he did not force it and left with his cane. After watching his back disappear at the end of his sight, Linger withdrew his gaze, turned around to find other companions, and told them: "I found a clue."

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)