In this part of the UK, signage leading to the cliff stone houses is everywhere, roundabout and vague. Coventry, Birmingham, and Darlington all have such signs, and Ashur estimates that they are even as far away as Northern Ireland. They tell you that there is a place called the Cliff Stone House. Ah Xiu looked at the sign, feeling very curious. Was the house really crumbling on a cliff? What was so interesting about that cliff? And the house? He had thought about it before, but he had forgotten about it right away. He had never been interested in visiting these so-called roadside attractions.

They leave Madison's interstate and drive past the domed state building, another realistic world of snowball toys. Then they pulled off the interstate and onto the town road. After driving for about an hour, I passed several small towns with names like "Black Earth" and then turned onto a narrow road, passing several large, snow-covered flower beds with lizard-like dragons coiled around them. The parking lot next to the woods was almost empty.

"They closed their doors very quickly. Drinkward said.

"What the hell is this place?" Ashu asked. They walked through the parking lot to a low, nondescript wooden building.

"It's a roadside, inviting place to visit," Drinward said, "one of the best in the whole of America." That is, it is a place of power. ”

"Say it again?"

"It's simple," says Drinkward, "in other countries, after so many years, people can tell at a glance where they have magical powers." Sometimes it may be a natural place, sometimes it may be a special place. People know that something important must have happened there, and they are the focal point, the passageway, or the window that leads to the omnipresent God. So, they built temples, or churches, or erected stone circles, or ...... Hey, you get the idea, right?"

"It's the same in England, there are churches all over the country. Ah Xiu said.

"Yes, not only in every village and town, but sometimes even on every street. But when it comes to standing out and being eye-catching, they're on the same level as a dentist's office. Still, there are people in Britain who feel inspired and feel that there is a voice calling them in the otherworldly void. In response to this call, they would build a quirky structure that looked like a beer bottle from a place they'd never been before, or erect a huge bathouse that the bats were unlikely to live in. That's what to see on the side of the road. Visitors just feel some kind of power to draw themselves to this place, to visit this place. In any other country in the world, people will immediately know that a transcendent power has touched them. And in the UK, visitors just buy a hot dog and walk around to see the excitement. In one way, they experience a kind of satisfaction that they cannot describe themselves, but in another way they feel a great disappointment and dissatisfaction at the same time. ”

"You've got some weird theories out of the or. Ah Xiu said.

"It's not some outlandish theory, young man. "It won't be long before you'll figure it out." ”

Only one ticket window is still open. "We'll stop selling tickets in half an hour," said the girl who sold the tickets, "and you see, it takes at least two hours to walk around inside." ”

Drinkward bought tickets for both of them with cash.

"Where's the cliff?" Ashu asked.

"Down in the house. Drinkward replied.

"And where is the house?"

Drinkward put his finger to his lips and the two walked forward. After a few steps inside, I saw a player piano playing a tune, a little out of tune, presumably a light Spanish polly. The place looks like a bachelor dormitory from the 60s, but with a huge change in geometry. Inside there are stone crafts, piles of blankets, huge and unsightly mushroom-shaped faded glass lampshades. There is another room crammed with knick-knacks above the spiral staircase.

"It is said that this was built by Mr. Wrong, and this man is the evil twin brother of Mr. Right. Drinkward giggled at his own joke.

"I've seen this place on a t-shirt. Ah Xiu said.

After walking up and down many steps, they came to a long, glass-made room, which protruded outwards like a pointed needle, and a few hundred yards below was a black and white wilderness. Ah Xiu stood there, watching the snow fly outside.

"Is this the cliff house?" he asked, confused.

"Sort of. This is the 'Extreme House', which is part of the cliff stone house, but it was added later. My young friend, this stone house, we haven't even touched each other. ”

"I'm reminded of the theory you just said. Ah Xiu said, "According to you, Disney World is the holiest place in this country?"

Drinkward frowned and scratched his beard. "Walt Disney bought an orange grove in Central Florida and built a playground on it. There's no magic there. There is probably some real thing in the original Disney world, and some power may have been retained, but it has been greatly distorted and difficult to access. At the end of the day, there are many places in the United States that have real magic that can be seen just by opening your eyes. Ah, there's a mermaid there...... Come with me, this way. ”

There was music everywhere: harsh, ugly music, very light percussion and old-fashioned music. Drinkward pulled out a five-dollar bill and slipped it into the money changer to swap out a handful of brass-colored metal coins. He gave one to Asho. Ah Xiu took it, and saw a little boy watching him, so he put the metal coin between his thumb and forefinger, and it disappeared at once. The little boy ran to his mother and tugged at the hem of her coat. But his mom was looking at a statue of Santa Claus that could be seen everywhere and that read: There are more than 6,000 on display here.

Ah Xiu followed Drinkward out and walked along the sign towards "Yesterday's Street".

"Forty years ago, a certain man, whose name you can't remember—but his portrait is printed on the metal coin in your right hand, Ashur—began to build a house on a high protruding cliff. This place does not belong to him. Even he himself can't tell you why he did it. People came to see him build the house—curious, bewildered, and the other kind: neither curious nor perplexed, and who could never tell you the reason why they came to watch. So he did what any sensible Englishman of his time should do: he began to charge visitors. Of course, it's not very expensive, maybe only five cents, or a dime. He continued to expand, and more and more people came to visit.

He took the five-cent, one-dime ticket money and set out to build a bigger, stranger building. He built warehouses in the foundations under the houses, which were filled with things for people to visit, and people actually came. Millions of people visit here every year. ”

"Why?"

Drinkward just smiled and didn't answer. They walked into the dimly lit "Street of Yesterday" lined with trees. Victorian ceramic dolls with red lips sit in rows in dusty shop windows, looking out like props from horror movies. They had cobblestones under their feet, dark roofs above them, and the cacophony of music in their ears. They passed a glass box filled with tattered puppets and walked past a golden music box that was too shiny in a glass case. They walked past dentists' offices and pharmacies.

At the end of the street is a huge glass case containing a female doll dressed like a gypsy fortune-telling witch.

"Alright. Drinkward said loudly, his voice drowning out the music, "The most important thing to do before doing something big is to ask Norn, the goddess of fate. How about we assume that this witch is our goddess of fate?" he shoved a brass-colored metal coin with a cliff house on it into the slot. The machine jolted and got up and running. The gypsy woman raised her arm and lowered it again. A small note popped out of the coin slot.

Drinkward picked it up and looked at it, muttered, folded it and put it in his pocket.

"Don't you give me the prophecy, and I'll show you. Ah Xiu said.

"A man's future is his own private matter. Drinkward said stiffly, "I won't ask to see your share." ”

Ah Xiu shoved the metal coin into the slot, and then got his note. It reads:

Every end is a new beginning.

Your lucky number is none

Your lucky color is death

Apothegm:

A lesson from the past, a teacher for the future.

Ah Xiu grimaced. He folded the prophecy note and put it in his pocket.

They continued inside, down a red passageway, passing through a number of rooms filled with empty chairs with musical instruments on them. All instruments are playing automatically, or look like they are automatically. As soon as you throw in a coin, the keys are depressed, the cymbals hit, and the compressed air goes into the clarinet and oboe. Ah Xiu took a closer look, and with ill-intentioned happiness, he noticed that when the robot was playing the stringed instrument, the bowstring did not really touch the instrument, either some distance away, or the position was out of place. It is not known if the music he heard was actually played by these instruments or by the tapes played.

After walking a few kilometers, they came to a room called "The Emperor of Japan". An entire wall is filled with 19th-century oriental dummies that can only appear in nightmares, including cyborg drummers in beetle-brown and black armor, beating cymbals and drums, standing in their positions decorated with dragon motifs, staring out. The dummies are playing the tune "Dance of Death," which tortures the senses.

Norberg sits on a bench and faces the Emperor Robot. His fingers tapped lightly on the beat of the music. The flute is noisy, and the bell cymbals are piercing.

Drinkward sat down beside him, and Ah Xiu decided that it was better for him to continue standing. Norberg stretched out his left hand and shook hands with Drinkward and then with Asho. "It's a pleasure to meet you. With that, he sat back and listened, apparently appreciating the music.

"Dance of Death" reaches a stormy climax, coming to an end amid a chord of discordant notes. All instruments are heavily out of tune, adding to the underworldly feel. After that, a new tune begins.

"How's your bank robbery?" asked Norberg, "did it go well?" he stood up, and left the room of the "Emperor of Japan" with the terrible music that roared inside, somewhat reluctantly.

"It's as smooth as a snake in a butter bucket. Drinkward said.

"I have a pension in the slaughterhouse," Mr. Norberg said, "and I don't ask too much. ”

"Pensions don't last long," Drynward said, "and nothing lasts forever." ”

They walked through more corridors, past more automatic music machines. Ah Xiu began to realize that they were not following the prescribed tourist route, but seemed to have followed another route according to Drinkward's own plan. They walked down a slope, and Ashu began to be confused, for the path seemed to have been walked before.

Norberg suddenly grabbed Ah Xiu's arm. "Hurry up, come here. As he spoke, he dragged him to a large glass cabinet by the wall. Inside is a set of dioramas of a homeless man lying in the church cemetery in front of the church door. "A Drunkard's Nightmare", the label reads a description, explaining that it was a 19th-century coin-operated viewing machine that was originally placed in a train station in England. The slot has been modified to fit brass coins with images of cliff stone houses.

"Put the money in. Norberg urged.

"Why?" Ah Xiu was puzzled.

"Listen to me, you have to look at this. ”

Ashu stuffed the coin. The drunk, lying in the cemetery, began to raise the bottle and take a sip. A tombstone bounces up, revealing a zombie with outstretched hands. Another tombstone was flipped open, and the flowers in front of the tombstone turned into smiling skulls. A ghost appeared on the right side of the church, and on the left side of the church appeared something with sharp horns and an unsettling bird face, which disappeared in a blink of an eye. A gray Ashu, a ghost that only appears in nightmares, quietly moves from the tombstone stone into the shadows and then disappears. Just then, the door of the church suddenly opened, and the priest walked out. Ghosts, ghosts, and zombies all vanished in an instant, leaving only priests and drunkards in the cemetery. The priest glanced down at the drunkard contemptuously, then returned to the room, the door behind him shut. Now only the drunkard is left.

The story of this clockwork movement is extremely uncomfortable. It's so uncomfortable, Ah Xiu thought, and the story of Clockwork Initiation doesn't have the power to make people so uncomfortable.