Ed couldn't make a sound for a while. He had never been so scared, the thick darkness made him unable to even breathe, countless horrific legends were frantically stirred up in his mind, and he began to sincerely regret that he had not obediently stayed in his room and read a book today. He couldn't imagine his mother's expression when she saw his shriveled corpse, and he swore he even saw a pair of red eyes floating in the air......

A faint light flickered, then lit up, and Iss took the torch off the shelf and nodded to him casually: "Your mother just walked over, you can speak." ”

Ed blinked.

"Where are we?" he asked in a gruff voice, hoping that his frightened expression hadn't been seen by his new friend.

"A secret passage, I guess. Ise said calmly—a secret passage he had explored with Nia years ago.

"How do you know there's a ...... here? Secret passage?" Ed asked, stunned.

"I don't know what I touched, and then there was a crack in the wall. Isis looked at him with an innocent and innocent expression: "You don't know that there is a secret passage here?"

"Of course I do!" said Ed dissatisfied, "I said, of course I know that there are secret passages in the castle, and there are many secret passages in any castle, but I don't know this one. ”

He sneezed and frowned, "What smell?"

"Musty. ”

"Will we get sick?"

“...... No. ”

Ed took the torch from Is's hand and looked around. The passage was narrow, and he didn't know where it led, and it was still dark, cold, and quiet ahead, but Ed was no longer afraid, he only had more than a little excitement.

"Let's see where this leads. "This must be a new adventure arranged by fate.

Iss hesitated.

"Nalia and I have to go home before dark. He said.

"Come on!" Ed encouraged, "it won't take long. ”

It really won't take long, and it's not far ahead that it's a dead end.

Eth silently followed Ed.

The stone staircase sloped straight downward, smooth and firm, and when you reached the halfway point, you turned to the right, and after passing a small platform, the passage that had been only for one person became wider, enough for two or three people to walk side by side.

It's still down.

The thick stone walls cut out all sounds, and Ed had no idea what part of the castle they were in now, he could only tell from the dust on the ground, it had been a place where no one had been in it for a long time.

He sneezed incessantly, at first fearing that someone would hear him, but then he sneezed louder and louder with impunity. A dull echo echoed between the stone walls.

"If someone hears it, they think there's a ghost going through the wall. He said cheerfully, then lowered the torch to illuminate his feet: "Be careful, the stone here is broken." ”

It took a moment for Islen to realize that the sentence was addressed to him. Even without torches, he could see every crevice in the wall. Of course, he wasn't going to let Ed know about that.

They walked down for a while and then stopped.

"There's a door!" said Ed, as if Iss couldn't see it.

It was an iron door, mottled with rust. Ed tried to push, but the door didn't move, not even the slightest sound.

Ed leaned the torch closer to the door and looked closely.

"There's not even a keyhole here!" he said in amazement, thinking seriously for a moment, then concluding, "It's a door sealed by magic." ”

This conclusion was so correct that Iss was a little surprised. The last time they stopped here, Nia decided not to provoke anything magical.

"That's not a good thing. Nia shook his finger at little Is, "Magic, it's bad!" and his vivid expression seemed to be right in front of him.

Iss leaned against the wall, feeling a little out of breath, which was not a good sign.

"There are two more mudras here!" Ed continued to exclaim in amazement, "one about the size of my hand, and the other ...... Is this a child's handprint?" he tapped with his finger and rubbed the white ash off his clothes.

"Is, would you like to come and have a look?"

Iss walked over a little hesitantly, and like Ed, touched the larger handprint with his finger.

Countless images roared into his mind. He saw what looked like the ruins of a temple, burning black flames, and a black shadow in the form of a human being born in the flames, screaming silently and rushing towards him. He saw Laugen Türk, the old dwarf sitting on the ground, leaning against the broken stone pillar, his eyes staring angrily lifeless, and he heard someone screaming in terror, "Lydia!"

It was his own voice -- it was Niya's voice too.

He slammed his head against the iron door and fainted.

Ed Singal always felt that life was too boring, but that didn't include today.

Today is definitely a day so colorful that he never wants to come back again.

When his new friend Iss suddenly faints in front of him, Ed is almost stunned. Convinced that there was no way to wake Is, he crouched on the ground and thought for a long time, finally gritting his teeth and starting to drag Iss up by himself.

He lit all the torches on the wall, dragged a little rest, muttered all the way about the bad luck of the day, and finally dragged Iss to the platform halfway through, and lay down beside his friend, although he felt that the ground was cold and hard and uncomfortable at all, but he did not want to move. His arms and waist were about to break.

It's too heavy. He didn't know why the skinny-looking Isis was so heavy, it looked like he was dragging a corpse......

He bounced up like a fish thrown onto the bank, shuddered and put his hand under Is's nose, felt his breath and quickly fell back to the ground.

He was worried that Iss had been struck by some magic, that he would fall asleep like this and never wake up again, that the door on the wall above would not be able to open from the inside, and that they would both end up dying here, and no one would know what had happened to them, and it wasn't until years later that their shriveled bodies were found......

He didn't like shriveled corpses at all, but he couldn't help but think of them, which he had seen in the catacombs of a temple. He must have been crazy to go to that kind of place, and he was half scared to death.

He lay there, feeling sorry for himself, until he couldn't stand the cold anymore and had to get up.

Even if Isis wakes up, he will definitely get sick.

He poked his friend in the face with a sad face, feeling that the whole world was working against him. Is's eyes opened at that moment, without warning.

A pair of golden eyes stared at him coldly.

Ed screamed and jumped. Isis blinked and asked in confusion, "Ed...... What's going on?"

Ed crouched down, and then moved away vigilantly.

Those eyes were now light blue again. He may have mistaken it, Is's blue eyes already had a little bit of gold in them.

Isis sat up and rubbed his neck: "Why am I in pain all over?"

"You fainted at the door below, and I dragged you up. It was impossible not to stumble all the way up the stone stairs without pain, and Ed gloated a little: "Don't you remember?"

Isis shook his head. He remembered, but wasn't sure exactly what had happened.

"Are you alright? You didn't look like you were okay just now, did you fall under magic?"

"No, I just ...... Occasionally, it happens. Iss rolled his eyes.

"What time is it?" he asked.

"It's past tea time. Mom must have noticed that I wasn't in the room. Ed replied dejectedly.

Isis immediately got up from the ground and reached out to pull Ed: "We have to leave quickly, Naria and I have to go back after afternoon tea!"

They made it back to the backyard without a hitch. Ed heard that his parents had a big fight (again), and luckily for him, his mother canceled the afternoon tea and locked himself in his room to get angry, completely unaware that he had slipped out of the room.

Nalya was packing up when they got into the kitchen.

"Is, I'm about to go to you, we can go back early. Naria said, "Also, why are you with this person?"

She didn't look very happy.

"We are friends. Ed said proudly, deliberately affectionately putting his hand on Is's shoulder: "Your brother likes me. ”

"Oh, don't mind, his eyes haven't been good. Naria picked up the basket full of gifts, of course, and took her brother away.

"Let's play again!" Ed yelled at the backs of the siblings, "I'll wait for you!"

Isis looked back and smiled at him, which was probably a yes.

Ed stretched out happily, felt the ache all over his body, and couldn't help but moan.

But at the end of the day, it's not too bad.

On that day, dinner time at the carpenter Delian's house was unusually quiet. Naria was clearly not very happy, and Iss had been wandering. Alan originally planned not to ask the children if they didn't take the initiative to show his trust in them, but in the end he couldn't help but speak:

"So, how was your day?"

"It's fantastic. I made the best biscuits, and then they canceled the afternoon tea!Do you know why, because the owner of the castle, Lord River Singer, secretly caught his wife at home with the young maid tryst!!" and Is," Nania pointed at her brother with a spoon, with a look of disdain, "He actually made friends with that nasty little ghost in the castle who was 'very much like his father'!"

"Nasty imps?"

"Ed," said Is, "his name is Ed Singh." ”

"Nasty imp!" repeated Nanya.

"So, this Ed," Alan looked at Is's ignoring her, "you became friends?"

Isis nodded: "He is also fifteen years old. ”

“...... is a good reason. ”

"He's fine, though a little too much. Is's mind wandered again: "He's a little bit like Nia ......"

Alan noticed a flash of panic on his face.

"What's going on?" he asked sharply.

"It's nothing, he said he was born in Chryses Castle," Iss looked puzzled, "How is that possible? ”

"Oh, that's true. Alan said, "He was born on the same day as you." ”

He remembered the day Scott almost died, and the little baby they were looking at each other crying in the broken eggshell, as if it had happened yesterday.

He came back to his senses to find that both children were staring at him.

"What's wrong?"

"What's wrong, Alan, it's irresponsible to tell only half the story!" Narya knocked on the table impatiently, "Of course, I'm not interested in knowing anything about that nasty guy, but Iss wants to know." ”

Iss looked at him without blinking.

Alan sighed and pushed away the plate: "Have you seen the current mistress of the castle?"

"The hostess who asked me to make a snack and then canceled the afternoon tea and didn't eat anything?" Nalya seemed to be haunted by this: "No, I didn't see it. ”

"I heard her voice," said Is, "and Ed was afraid of her. ”

"Vala Christus, she's one of Scott's cousins. When she was a young girl, she fell in love with River Singer, but Master Singer was just a small businessman who didn't have much money. Undoubtedly, the Chrysers could not have agreed, so Vala ran away from home, married Singh, and moved to Visa with her husband. ”

Naria tilted her head thoughtfully, "Sounds familiar. ”

"The love story of a noble lady and a poor boy is a favorite of the bards, although in fact most of them do not end well. ”

"And then?" said Is, listening intently.

Then she became pregnant, and Singal got a good opportunity to make money, he didn't want to leave his wife, but Walla persuaded him to stay in Visa alone. She was unable to move and was in dire straits, but she was reluctant to turn to anyone for help, when Scott heard about it, approached her, and took her to Chrysers Castle without saying a word. On the day you were born, she gave birth to a boy, your friend, Ed Singh. It didn't take long for her to leave the castle with the child. Singhal was already quite wealthy at the time of the civil war, and he contributed money to finance the current king. After the war, Scott disappeared, his cousin, who had occupied the castle, was convicted and killed, and Valajan's husband petitioned the king to take over the castle and the surrounding territory. ”

And her husband's current date with another woman in the castle is still not a good ending. Naria gave a comment.

"So, when I was born......" Is's knuckles began to turn white as he clenched the spoon in his hand, as if he had mustered up the courage to ask the question in a whisper, "Is my mother in the castle too?"

Alan froze.

"No, she's not there," he replied incoherently after a while, "Look, you were born on that day, but not in the castle." ”

"Where is that?" asked Naria, confused.

In a hole that's cold to death. Alan thought desperately, born out of an egg. Would anyone believe it?

"I know I'm not really Scott's brother," Iss bowed his head, "I know his parents died years before I was born. They say I'm Scott's...... Bastard. The boy's ears began to redden: "Is that true?"

Alan was dumbfounded.

"Oh my God, of course not!" he shouted.

"In other words, I don't really have anything to do with Scott. Isis said, his eyes hollow, his tone calm but extremely depressed.

Alan struggled to calm himself down, "Did you ask Scott?"

"When I was very young. He didn't answer, and he looked ...... Didn't want to hear about it at all. Iss bit his lip hard.

Alan silently grabbed his beard. They once concocted a perfect lie for Is's birth: the child they picked up during their adventure, not knowing who the parents were, adopted him by Scott.

But Scott never acted according to the script, perhaps he felt that Iss was too young to tell him this, or perhaps he felt the need to give Iss a real relative instead of a pair of parents who abandoned him, so he simply acquiesced to the term "illegitimate child" - and he had just accidentally revealed that he knew exactly what day Iss was born.

Lies are never perfect.

Finally he had to say, "Listen, it's a bit complicated, and I think Scott would prefer to tell you himself - he'll tell you when we find him, you're old enough." What's more," he stretched out his arm and crossed the table to hold Is's eternally warm hand, "He does love you like a brother, isn't that enough?"

Iss was silent for a long time, so long that Alan thought he would never speak again, and then he finally raised his head and replied softly, "Enough." ”