Fairy’s Box

The Haiyan turned its sails and left the dock for about two nautical miles to the west. Nicole suddenly stood on tiptoe, leaned her stomach against the guardrail, pointed to a small black spot on the sea in the distance, and exclaimed:

"Look! There seems to be something in there!"

"Is it?"

Clark clasped his hands into a telescope-like shape, observed for a moment, and said suspiciously:

"Like... a ship?"

"Is it really a boat?"

Beverley was instantly refreshed, and while learning from Clark's long-distance observation, he yelled at the captain's room:

"Quick, quick! Get the boat over there!"

A few nautical miles away, in the gold-like sunlight that is indistinguishable from the sea and the sky, a small iron boat floats on the sea, surrounded by water vapor.

The bow of the Haiyan was raised high, breaking away from the blue waves, and swam gracefully towards the tin boat floating on the sea alone.

A few hundred meters away, Clark threw a rope over, tied the rudder of the tin boat, and pulled it far away. Nicole also made preparations to guard against possible traps hidden in the tin boat.

When the small tin boat floated in front of them, the three people's vigilance was slightly lowered, because there was a dying fisherman lying in the boathouse. He looked severely dehydrated, covered in filthy salt stains dried by sweat, and had a frightened expression on his face even in the drowsiness.

Clark gently jumped into the tin boat, picked up the unconscious fisherman, and jumped back to the deck:

"His body is very weak now, and he needs to hurry up for treatment."

"Ship doctor! Ship doctor!"

Beverley immediately shouted and jumped into the tin boat impatiently. Nicole followed quickly. The two searched the narrow boathouse for a while, and found a torch near the stern of the boat.

The red-haired boy leaned over to pick up the torch, poked the wrapping cloth at the end of the wooden stick with his finger, and took a light sniff:

"Just used it not long ago."

"So what?" Nicole followed behind him, pursing her shoulders for unknown reasons.

"It's nothing... Just a little curious, why did the fisherman use torches instead of oil lamps. After all, the wind at sea is strong, and this thing is easy to blow out."

"It may be that the oil lamp is out of oil, or it may be that it fell into the sea by accident... In short, if you have finished the inspection, go back with me as soon as possible." The female knight obviously felt that a torch was not a clue, and she didn't care about it. .

"Wait a mininute."

Beverly rubbed his stubble chin, raised his eyebrows and said, "Take this boat, maybe it will provide us with clues in the future."

"You have the final say."

Nicole bent over and got out of the houseboat, jumped onto the deck, grabbed the rope and pulled it hard, directly dragging the tin boat and Beverly into the air, and then took a few steps back to catch it firmly.

boom--!

The tin boat was gently placed on the deck by the female knight, and a pool of dust-like rust was sprinkled. Beverly climbed out of the boathouse while touching his reddened forehead, and gave her an angry look:

"Before doing this kind of thing in the future, please make me mentally prepare first."

"Hahaha, how boring that is."

Nicole put her hands on her waist and laughed, and answered heartlessly.

...

Haiyan, medical room.

"Deep in a coma, severely dehydrated, with a lot of cuts on his body, and some malnutrition... There is definitely no problem in saving his life, but I'm afraid he won't be able to wake up in a short time."

The ship doctor put down the stethoscope and explained patiently to the three waiting.

"Slashed? What slashed?" Beverly asked quickly.

"It is estimated to be a broad-edged sword, or a double-edged axe. The wound on his body is wide, but not deep... I can't tell the specifics, but it is definitely some kind of large weapon." The ship doctor replied hesitantly.

"Large weapon..."

Beverley first thought of the black goat messenger's axe, but felt that it was wrong, because the concentration of negative energy on this monster weapon is very high, and ordinary people can't survive for half an hour theoretically.

"What should I do, do you still want to go to the island?"

Clark observed the fisherman's expression, and then glanced at the red-haired boy who was lost in thought.

"Of course we're going, we can't come here in vain."

Beverley gritted his teeth, took a Polis machete from the wall, and held it in his hand: "We probe from the outside to the inside to see if we can find another survivor, and if we encounter danger, we will immediately withdraw. .

...

Since their mission was only to collect intelligence and inspect various places, the Governor's Palace did not send many people to accompany them. In fact, there were two natural disaster knights as bodyguards. This lineup was quite luxurious.

Nicole, Clark and Beverly took only three oil lamps and a map, and set foot on the land of Keyes Island. The yellow-brown rock paved road was full of corpses. The three stopped and went. Almost arrived at the only settlement of the villagers on the island - an uninhabited village.

In the distance is a fence made of brown-yellow stones, near the dead corpses of the villagers, and a road dyed mottled brown with twists and turns. Pieces of cloth were scattered and fell on the pavement, on the roof, in the well, and on the faces of the three of them.

"Why are there so many broken steps?"

Nicole took a small step from her forehead, held it in her palm, and said helplessly.

"The murderer's bad taste."

Clark looked at the leaf-like rags and gave an uncertain answer.

"..."

Beverley didn't speak, he reached out to grab a piece of the broken step, and stretched out his hand to observe the surroundings vigilantly.

The sky is very blue, the lifeless village is unusually quiet, and the rags are scattered like snow flakes. The red-haired boy faintly feels that there is a danger approaching, just like the various signs on the eve of the earthquake.

"Can you feel the breath of the survivors?" he asked quietly.

"No."

"I didn't feel it."

The two closed their eyes and let go of their perception. After searching for a while, they came to a similar conclusion.

"wrong!"

Nicole closed her eyes, and suddenly tightened her brows. Her body turned to the northwest as she sensed, and she said cautiously, "Northwest, 600 paces ahead, there seems to be something hidden."

"Are you sure your perception is fine?" Beverley asked in surprise and joy.

"Nicole's perception range is wider and more accurate than mine, so there shouldn't be anything wrong." Clark opened his eyes and nodded at the red-haired boy.

As soon as the honest man spoke, his credibility immediately increased several times. Beverley turned his body to the northwest corner and found that six hundred steps away was a large sealed mansion.

It was a house of strong Celtic style, with huge courtyards, tight fences, plaster-like plaster facades, and high, pointed slate roofs that looked harmonious and dignified.

Different from the majestic styles of Roservia and Polis, the highland kingdoms are often simple and majestic because of the poor materials. The unique rectilinear style takes just a few lines to outline an extraordinary building that is eye-catching and easily refreshing to the tired of aesthetics.

The house in front of them seems to be such a work of art. Judging from the generally harsh living conditions in the village, this house is likely to be owned by the village chief or worshippers.

"Is that the house?" Beverly pointed to the house that stood out from the crowd.

"Um!"

Nicole nodded affirmatively and said seriously:

"There are weak power fluctuations in it, which are easy to be ignored if you are not careful. It is very unique. I have never seen this type of fluctuation."

"Then go and have a look... Be careful..." The red-haired boy said and hid behind the two of them honestly.

When they walked in, they found that this towering and indifferent building had doors and no windows, the nearby light was dim, and the courtyard full of dead leaves and rags was cold and gloomy.

The only exit from the fence was a rusted iron door with no lock.

As legitimate intruders, the three of them naturally pushed open the iron door and swaggered in directly from the front door.

After Beverley entered the door, he found two sunfish-shaped trash cans behind the fences on both sides of the iron gate. Between the trash can and the gate of the mansion was a flagstone road overgrown with weeds.

A group of carrion-eating crows jumped around in the grass, looking for food aimlessly. The red-haired boy stared at the figure of one of the crows, observed for a while, and suddenly found that there was no shadow under it.

Under the sun, Beverley looked down at his shadow, and found that the long and narrow shadow was fixed on the grass, with a sneaky feeling.

He tried to move a few steps forward, only to find that his shadow stayed where he was, as if bound by some invisible force, motionless with the ups and downs of the weeds.

"Wait a moment."

The red-haired boy hurriedly called the knight couple who were striding forward, a few drops of cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and said in a dry voice:

"You...you look at your own shadow."

"shadow?"

Nicole and Clark lowered their heads at the same time, and found that there was no shadow under their feet, only the dense weeds that were knee-deep.

"Where is my shadow, where is my shadow?"

The female knight suddenly jumped onto Clark's shoulder, glanced around, and quickly stopped at a position not far from the iron gate-the shadows of the two of them were walking forward, fixed on the grass behind the door.

"Our shadows are frozen... how could this be?"

Nicole rubbed her eyes forcefully, and her mouth widened in surprise.

"You're right, there must be something wrong with this house."

Beverly raised his head and looked at the tall gray-white mansion in front of him, with a determined look on his face, and suddenly asked, "What would happen if people had no shadows?"

"No shadow... Of course it won't be." Clark answered honestly.

"I heard……"

The female knight showed a snarky expression, covered half of her pretty face under her bangs, and said faintly: "If the shadow of a person is lost... it means the end is coming..."

"Isn't it?"

The red-haired boy's expression that was still very firm a second ago instantly collapsed, he lowered his shoulders, and looked at Nicole with a sad face:

"Don't talk nonsense at the critical moment. People die without a shadow. How can there be such a thing. Let me state in advance that my shadow is still under my feet. It is you who are separated from your own shadow."

"Is that so..."

Nicole raised her head with a bright smile on her face. She shook her body and said, "Then there is no problem. Even if a person has no shadow, he may not necessarily die."

"I'm an idiot trying to reason with you."

Beverly took a deep breath, then stepped forward, leaving behind his shadow in the grass, and strode toward the tall, lifeless mansion.

"He's angry." The female knight stuck out her tongue while looking at his back.

"Not everyone can afford your humor." Clark followed with a blank expression.

...

Squeak-!

Clark and Nicole pushed open the front door of the mansion at the same time, and the golden sunlight immediately spread into the room. At the same time, an inexplicable smell came along with the airflow.

"It stinks!" The female knight immediately held her breath.

"It looks like the house has been closed for a long time."

Clark stirred the air with his hands, pushing gusts of breeze into the room, and stepped into the hall first.

Burnt furniture is everywhere in the space, and in places where the sun has not touched, in the faint light, you can see the simple three-dimensional figures on the ceiling.

This simple Celtic tone extends to the floor, echoing the same type of graphics, and the original soft color scheme can still be seen under the charred walls. Compared with the deep and hazy environment at the moment, it merges into a strange and mysterious atmosphere.

"It can be seen that the owner of this mansion has good taste."

Nicole followed behind Beverly, glanced at the fluorescent lamps that were still glowing slightly, and said in amazement.

"This person's identity is definitely not ordinary. As long as I go back and find his information, I believe that part of the mystery can be solved."

Beverly walked to the southeast corner of the hall, in front of a blackened vertical wine cabinet, and pulled open the cabinet door with force, and a dead body slid out of the wine cabinet along with the cabinet door.

This is the mummified corpse of a woman, dressed in a black and white maid outfit, covering her mouth with her hands, and you can vaguely see the terrified expression on her face before birth.

"Unlike the villagers in the outside world who apparently died due to sudden disasters and didn't even have time to escape, she seemed to know something in advance, so she hid in the wine cabinet..." Nicole frowned and reasoned carefully.

"It's nothing. If the demonic disaster starts from the outside, it will definitely take time for the monsters to enter the center of the village, so it is not surprising that she hid in the wine cabinet beforehand." Beverly glanced at her.

"wrong."

The female knight shook her head, glanced at the maid's corpse, and said with certainty: "If the demonic disaster started from the outside, the fisherman would not have survived. As you can see, although he was seriously injured, he was still alive. Not to die immediately."

"You mean... the evil disaster started from within?"

Clark showed a surprised expression, and then, the chills all over his body stood up, and a dull bang sounded in his mind, and a horrific feeling enveloped his body in an instant.

"Get down!"

Nicole and Clark put on natural disaster weapons at the same time, and fell to the ground and protected the red-haired boy.

boom--!

A powerful tearing force suddenly appeared, and the entire mansion fell apart instantly, being pulled into countless dense lines, and the mighty merged into a black void.