He rushed to the scene. Disheveled figures galloped to and fro, a few were trying to pull frightened horses out of their stables, others were blasting cattle out of their yards and huts, and still others were carrying things out of burning stakes and pillars in the face of flying sparks and the danger of red-hot beams rolling down.

An hour ago, the place where there had been doors and windows opened and spewed out fires, and the walls staggered and collapsed in the burning well. Lead and iron melted, and a white-hot liquid poured onto the ground.

Women and children screamed, and men emboldened each other with loud shouts and cheers. The fire pump clattered, and the water slammed, splashing on the hot plank, sizzling, and merging into a terrible noise. He shouted and shouted until he was hoarse.

He got rid of his memories and himself, and plunged headlong into the densest crowd.

This night, he rushed from place to place, sometimes fighting fires, sometimes rushing through thick smoke and fire, never allowing himself to be separated from the sound and the densest place of the crowd.

He ran up and down, climbed ladders, climbed roofs, walked through floors, ignored the trembling floors under his weight, braved the falling masonry, and was present everywhere the fire spread. However, he was born with the protection of the spirits, and there was not a single scrape on his body, nor did he touch it, he did not feel tired, and his mind was empty, until another dawn came, and all that was left of the fire was wisps of smoke and black ruins.

The frenzied euphoria passed, and that terrible consciousness returned with tenfold power, and he realized that he had committed a great sin.

He looked around suspiciously, as people were talking in groups, and he feared that he would be the subject of conversation. He made a meaningful gesture with his fingers, and the dog understood.

They snuck away. A couple of people were sitting there, beckoning him to have something to eat. He ate some steamed buns and meat indiscriminately, and as soon as he drank a sip of wine, he heard several firefighters from Conch City talking about the murder. "I heard that he had fled to the country," said one of them, "and they would have caught him, and the detectives had already set off." ”

He hurried away until he nearly fell to the ground. Then he lay down on a path and slept for a long time, but intermittently and unsteadily. Once again he got up and wandered, hesitating, not knowing where to go, fearing that he would have to endure another lonely night.

Suddenly, he made a desperate decision: go back to Conch City.

"Anyway, there's always someone to talk to," he thought, "and another quarping hideout." I've left so many traces in the countryside that they would never think of going back to Conch City to arrest me. Why can't I hide for a week and then ask for a sum of money from the old camel? , I'm out of the way. ”

Driven by this thought, he set out without delay, choosing the path with the least pedestrians and walking back, making up his mind to hide in the suburbs first, and then make a detour into the city when it was dark, and go straight to his chosen destination.

However, dogs are a problem. If his physical characteristics have been sent to various places, there will definitely be one missing, that is, the dog is also missing, and it is likely that he is with him.

This could lead to his arrest while walking through the streets. He decided to drown the dog. He walked forward, looking around for the pond. He picked up a large stone and tied it to a handkerchief as he went.

While these preparations were in progress, the beast raised his head and looked at his master's face.

I don't know if it was because it instinctively realized that something was wrong, or because the robber squinted at it with a fiercer gaze than usual, and it dodged behind it, pulling farther away than usual, and the dog cowered as soon as he slowed down.

The owner stopped at the edge of a pool and called it back, but it simply didn't leave.

"Did you hear me call you? Come up here! Zhang Fatzi shouted.

The beast stepped forward, driven by habit. However, when the fat man leaned down and put the handkerchief around its neck, it whined and jumped away.

"Come back!" The robber said.

The dog wagged its tail, but did not move. Zhang Fatzi played a looper and called it over again.

The dog took a few steps forward, then retreated, hesitated for a moment, then turned and fled as fast as he could.

The man whistled again and again, sat down and waited, expecting it to return, but the dog never showed up again, and he had to go on the journey again.

Here, Mr. Luo, who looks weak, is organizing an in-depth conversation with a person who claims to be Lao Meng.

Meng and Mr. Luo finally met and recounted their conversation and the news that interrupted it.

As twilight began to fall, Mr. Luo took a taxi carriage and got off at his doorstep.

He knocked softly. The door opened. A man with a tiger came out of the carriage and stood on the side of the pedals, while another man in the driver's seat also stepped down and stood on the other side. Mr. Brownlow made a gesture, and they helped a man out of the carriage, and hurried into the house with him between him and left and right. This person is Lao Meng.

They ascended the stairs in the same way without saying a word, and Mr. Law walked in front and led them to a back room. At the door of this room, when I went upstairs, it was obvious that the boss was not happy with Lao Meng stopped. The two men looked at Mr. Chao Luo and listened to the instructions.

"He knows what is wrong," said Mr. Rowe, "and if he hesitates, or does not follow your orders, drag him out into the streets, get the help of the police, and denounce him in my name as a criminal." ’”

"How dare you say that about me?" Lao Meng asked.

"How dare you force me to do this, boy?" Mr. Luo was facing him with a fierce face and asked, "Are you crazy and still want to get out of this house?" Let him go. Alright, sir, you can go, and we'll follow. However, I warn you, as soon as you set foot on the street, I will arrest you. I've made up my mind, and I'm doing what I say. If you really want to do that, then you are to blame. ”

"These two dogs kidnapped me in the street and got here, did you instigate me?" Lao Meng looked at the two people standing beside him in turn and asked.

"I told them to do it." Mr. Luo replied, "I am responsible for these two people. When you reach the point where you can't end it, don't come to me to ask for mercy, when the time comes, the power is no longer in my hands, and someone else has to decide, don't jump into the abyss yourself, and say that I pushed you in. ”

Lao Meng was obviously in a dilemma and panicked. He hesitated.

"Decide quickly," said Mr. Rowe, very firmly, with a calm demeanor, "if you want me to bring charges publicly and bring you to justice—I repeat, you are not unclear on this path, though I do not have a hard time expecting what kind of punishment you will receive, and shudder at the thought of it—then there is nothing I can do." If not, you beg me to open the net and ask forgiveness from those whom you have hurt so deeply, and sit down in that chair, without saying a word, for it has been waiting for you for two whole days. ”

Old Meng muttered a few words, but no one could understand them. He was still hesitating.

"Hurry up," said Mr. Rowe, "I just have to say a word, and the opportunity to choose will be gone." ”

The man was still undecided.

"I don't like to bargain," Mr. Luo said.

"So-" Old Meng muttered, "so there is no compromise? ”

"Nope."

Lao Meng looked at the old gentleman with anxious eyes, and saw only sternness and determination in the other party's expression. He walked into the room, shrugged his shoulders, and sat down.

"Lock the door from the outside," Mr. Law said to the two attendants.

The two retreated, and Mr. Luo and Lao Meng stayed alone.

"Sir," said Lao Meng, throwing off his hat and cloak, "wonderful hospitality, this is still my father's deepest friend." ”

"Because I am your father's dear friend, young man," replied Mr. Law, "it is because the hopes and ambitions of my happy youth are bound to him, and to the lovely man with whom he is kindred by blood, who, at a young age, has gone to God, leaving me alone here. For on that morning he knelt with me beside the funeral bed of his only sister, who was a child at the time, and his sister was about to become*—but Heaven had another arrangement. For from that time on, my withered heart was bound to him until his death, in spite of all the trials he had endured and all the great mistakes he had made. Because my heart is full of old memories and friendships, and even when I see you, it reminds me of him. It is for this reason that until now—yes, until now—I have not been able to be so polite to you, and blush because you have insulted this surname. ”

"What does this have to do with last names?" The other party asked after a while, after which he had been silently staring at the excited old gentleman, and at the same time stubbornly said that he was inexplicable. "What does this last name have to do with me?"

"It doesn't matter," replied Mr. Law, "it has nothing to do with you, but it is also her surname, and in spite of the passage of time, I, an old man, will still have the same heartbeat as I did when I heard a stranger mention it." You've changed your name, and I'm very happy — very happy — very happy. ”

"All this is quite good," said Lao Meng after a long silence, his face tensed, his body shaking around nonchalantly, and Mr. Luo covered his face with his hands and sat there. "What the hell are you looking for me?"

"You have a younger brother," said Mr. Rowe, cheering up, "a younger brother, I walked behind you in the street and whispered his name, and almost with this trick alone you would have lost your breath and nervously come up here with me." ”

"I don't have a younger brother," replied Meng, "you know I'm an only son." Why are you telling me about my brother's coming? You and I know that. ”

"You'd better listen, there are things I know well that you may not know," said Mr. Law, "and I have my own way of getting you interested." I know that your hapless father, who was still a child, was forced into an unhappy marriage by the idea of a gatekeeper and the most filthy and narrow vanity, and that you were the only and most unnatural result of this family business. ”

"Your words are hard to hear, but I don't care," Old Meng smiled mockingly, and interjected, "You know the situation, and this is enough for me." ”

"But I also learned," continued the old gentleman, "that a combination of misfortune and misery brought disaster, chronic torment, and endless suffering. I know how tired the unfortunate couple is with their own heavy shackles, and how tired they are of living like a year, which is harmful to both of them. I know how cold superficial relations can turn into open insults, how coldness gives way to disgust, disgust turns into hatred, hatred turns into curses, until at last the chain of resounding chains is torn off, and they go their separate ways, each carrying with each other a chain of hate, which can only be severed by death, and both of them pretend to be very happy, thinking of changing the environment and not letting others see the chain. Your mother is done and soon forgets. But after many years, it still rusted and rotted in your father's heart. ”

"By the way, they are separated," said Meng Lao, "so what? ”

"They were separated for a while," Mr. Luo replied. "Your mother has been indulging in pleasures in Conch City and has completely forgotten about her young husband, while your father has been wandering and making a new group of friends with no prospect. At the very least, you know that. ”

"I don't know," said Meng Lao, turning his gaze to the side, clapping one foot on the ground and posing as if he didn't admit anything. "I don't know."