The heart beating in his chest was like Mondstadt and his father knocking wheat husks in the barn with a flail when he was seven years old.

It's just that it hurt his arms and shoulders at the beginning, but now it's his chest, stuffy and swollen, and there is a kind of cold and faint lingering, like a cold poisonous snake wrapped around his heart, ready to bite at the beating source of life at any time.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that his body had been strengthened by the methods taught by his master, and if the white-clothed man had done something to him to block some of the pain, Mondstadt might have died here, let alone remained conscious.

It's just that the environment we are facing now seems to be no different from death.

Locked to the side of the coffin, the black stone platform beneath him was cold.

Not far away, the people from the church were bowing their heads and talking to each other, trying to discuss what to do with him.

Mondstadt dismissed this, as he was ready to die.

He was not afraid of death.

His parents were killed, and he has no nostalgia for his life, and he is even more disgusted with this world full of bad people.

The only thing that couldn't be let go was the task assigned by the master, and he couldn't continue to complete it.

But that's okay, because initially the owner had already said that there was a very high chance that he would die halfway through.

So the host must have been prepared.

Therefore, as long as he does not expose everything that his master has told him now, it is equivalent to helping his master complete that matter......

Mondstadt comforted himself and was determined not to say anything.

If he didn't have a master, he would never have been able to take revenge, and if it weren't for his master, he would have been nothing more than a tiny swineherd, dirty, despised and despised.

Those people over there, why do they want to use themselves to understand the master's affairs?

"I know what you're thinking."

In a trance, the most conspicuous brown-haired young man of the group walked up to him and crouched down to look at him.

Others are gone.

"I'm going to die anyway, so why cooperate with you church lackeys, right?"

Mondstadt didn't speak, though he was a little amused by the fact that he understood his attitude and thoughts, as if he were letting his enemies know why they had sought revenge on him.

But with the attitude of not opening his mouth to death, he still stared at the other party with his eyes closed tightly.

Mondstadt is very self-aware, he always thinks that he is stupid, and that he can easily be deceived by smart people if he is not careful.

So the best response is not to talk to smart people and, if possible, avoid them.

There's no way to avoid it now, so you can only keep your mouth open.

But......

"I know what you're worried about," said the brown-haired young man, who was already sitting across from him with his legs bent.

"You're wary of me using some weird ways to get you to speak, aren't you? As we all know, the church has many unique supernatural abilities. ”

He smiled at Mondstadt as he spoke, causing Mondstadt's heart to tighten.

This was indeed something he was worried about.

He could choose not to cooperate, but how could he resist if these church people forced him to cooperate with that supernatural force?

"I can tell you right now that my goal is indeed to get you to speak, with this."

The brown-haired youth's words confirmed Mondstadt's concerns, and what made him especially nervous was that he pulled a silver necklace from his bosom as he spoke.

It was a necklace in the shape of angel wings, exquisitely made, and shimmering in the shimmer of the golden gems above the head, very mysterious.

"But before I let you speak......" The other man muttered for a moment, and then, under Mondstadt's intense gaze, suddenly set the necklace aside,

"Well done, I gotta say, I appreciate your style."

The tension dissipated, but Mondstadt was at a loss, for he was caught off guard.

But then he pursed his lips, suppressed the doubts and doubts in his heart, and resolved to ignore what the other party said.

Anyway, it's right not to open your mouth!

At the same time, his eyes were scanning back and forth at the palm on the left side of the young man in front of him, and the necklace that was very close to the palm.

He was ready, as soon as the other party picked up the necklace, he would find a way to make himself die faster.

Although he hadn't thought about how he could speed up the process when he was tightly bound to the surface and the side of the sarcophagus, unable to even move his head, he had already made up his mind, and he could always think of a way.

However, the person in front of him did not seem to be in a hurry to interrogate him, and not only put the necklace aside and did not touch it again, but also began to dispose of his own right hand.

It was then that Mondstadt saw a tattered piece of linen wrapped around the other's hand, a dark red that had been soaked with blood.

With the man's movements, the rags that were sticking to the flesh and blood were slowly removed, revealing a blurred and cracked palm, which looked like it hurt.

"You may be surprised why I can say such a thing,"

As he spoke, the young man tore off the rags and threw them aside, tore a new piece from his shirt and wrapped it around his hand.

"Because I don't have to keep my thoughts in the face of a person who is going to die, I can say anything, and they can't hear it anyway. You can tell me anything, because you're going to die, and if you don't say it, you'll never be able to say it. ”

The rest of the men were nowhere to be seen, and Mondstadt thought they might be watching him from the dark.

But if those people are really still there, how dare this person in front of him say such a thing......

His vigilance had subtly weakened somewhat.

Facing a group of people and being in front of a person is completely different.

Too many people always make him instinctively nervous, especially in such a grim situation.

And now, although there is still this person in front of him, the other party's appearance that looks a little embarrassed makes him feel less terrible, especially since the other party doesn't seem to be in a hurry to interrogate him.

It's just that...... Why does he think I'm doing a good job?

After slacking off a bit, Mondstadt was in the mood to think about this kind of thing.

However, it seems that he doesn't need to think about it himself, because the other party's words are not over.

"He gave me half an hour to interrogate you, so we still have plenty of time to talk. To tell you the truth, my hometown is on the other side of the sea, and I arrived in Neham, which I arrived only five days ago, and there are few people I know here, let alone any sense of whether the monks are dead or not. ”

As he spoke, he had wrapped his hands around him, and then raised his eyes and nodded at him,

"So I agree with some of your practices, no matter what the solution is, you always avenged your parents, and you didn't hide and endure it yourself."

These words seemed to have a magical power, and they inexplicably made Mondstadt feel a sense of pride and excitement, an emotion that was understood.

Compared with the situation of hiding in Tibet during this period, this understanding is even more precious.

But then he was wary again.

Some life experiences in the past told him that smart people are always used to saying a few nice words to deceive his trust before deceiving people, and this one in front of him is no exception.

It's just that...... He's not from here?

Across the ocean?

Mondstadt didn't know much about what was on the other side of the sea, and when he was a child, he asked his parents curiously, but he didn't get much response, but he knew that the people living on the other side were a group of godless infidels.

It is unlikely that the person in front of him is a heretic, but it seems that the other party does not look like a Pharos, and his accent is a little different......

Subjectively, Mondstadt was still vigilant, but subconsciously he had already distinguished the person in front of him from the rest of the church, and even from everyone he had known before.

However, he did not realize that his current vigilance was completely different from his previous vigilance.

As the other man's words continued, some of the dark aura in him quietly rose and fell, sometimes high, sometimes low, which indirectly affected Mondstadt's mood......

Because the person in front of him never touched the necklace, he was even more relaxed because of this.

But what the other party said next made him a little angry.

"But what are you left with your revenge? Grief, dazed, lonely, happy with my family in my sleep, only to wake up and find that it was actually just a dream......"

The man said, looking at him with pity, "You can only cry silently, be sad, and comfort yourself with the fact that you have avenged them, but can that really make up for the emptiness you have lost your loved ones?" ”

Eyes, expressions, movements, frequency of ups and downs of sentences, words themselves...... All kinds of invisible influences were exerted on him, and Mondstadt could not calm down.

"Of course, Mondstadt wakes up laughing even when he dreams! Hey, hey, hey! ”

He couldn't help but say in annoyance, forgetting the principle of not opening his mouth at once, and ignoring the current environment and occasion for the time being.

The other party just watched him quietly.

There seemed to be countless meanings in those pure black eyes, each of which seemed to mock his hard mouth, but it also seemed to contain all kinds of emotions, each of which could stimulate his mind to be calm.

After staring at each other for a moment, Mondstadt unconsciously looked away, but still muttered, "You don't understand, you don't understand what Mondstadt is thinking." ”

Before he knew it, he had begun to cooperate with the other party's words.

"How could I not understand, everyone is actually the same." The young man smiled when he heard this,

"There are four of us, and the dinners of our children are usually monotonous, and the house is very narrow, the cutlery is old, and there are some rat holes in the walls, and at a certain time in a certain year, month, and so on, my father or mother plugged them with rags, so that those annoying little things would always run out of it, but we will find that it is useless......"

Mondstadt didn't speak, he regretted that he had talked too much, and though it didn't have any consequences, he decided he couldn't talk to the other man again.

It's just that he obviously resists listening to the words in the other party's mouth, but for some reason, listening to those ordinary words, he can't help but recall all kinds of related pictures in his mind.

"My mother was very hardworking and loved us, and every time there was a market nearby, she would take us to see the excitement, and occasionally buy small items at my begging, but most of the time she would knock on my head and ignore it."

……

"The farm work is heavy, we are too young to do much, but fortunately we have a father who is a bit of a nagger, but can teach us a lot of things. We thought he was really good, and then when we grew up, we realized that he didn't know anything, but he taught us everything he knew, pig farming, farming, repairing farm tools...... Yes, that's what he's going to do, but he's told us all that's all he needs to live in the world......"

……

It's just that when he found that there was a better opportunity for us, he instead thought that everything he had taught was useless, and that his son could live a more decent life, even though the price of such a life was most of the family's fortune, he gritted his teeth and was ready to do so. We didn't realize how difficult it was to make such a decision, and what a shame it was......"

……

The young man's words made Mondstadt feel a little dazed, because it all seemed so familiar.

He thought of his father, of his mother, of the joys and anguish of his childhood.

I even thought of the mouse that I couldn't catch when I was a kid running around the house......

Everything was very simple, nothing compared to the life of the monastery, but full of warmth and joy.

Vaguely, Mondstadt even mistakenly thinks that the other party is talking about himself.

"It's just a pity that it all came to an abrupt end at some point."

When the other party said this, he slowly restrained the smile on his face, and his tone became heavy, "There are always all kinds of sudden disasters in the world that make us unprepared. ”

Mondstadt, who listened to all this, felt inexplicably empathetic to this, and even faintly felt a sense of despair when he heard about his parents' death again.

"If it were a human being, I could have tried to find a way to get revenge like you, but the disease ......"

The brown-haired young man said, shaking his head at him, "So there is no venting, only despair, no anger, only sadness." ”

Mondstadt didn't speak, but quietly, he looked into the other's gaze with a hint of pity and sympathy.

"So I can understand your feelings."

The young man's words even overlapped with Mondstadt's mood at the moment, like everything they had done in the past.

"But what I can't understand is, why would you be reluctant to say anything? Why? Obviously you've succeeded in getting revenge, what are you still holding onto? ”

If the other party had asked about this at the beginning, Mondstadt would have said nothing.

But now, his mind has changed a little, because he feels that the other party is different from everyone else, and he is very similar to himself.

And if it's very similar to yourself, then you shouldn't be a bad person.

He hesitated and said, "Because Mondstadt doesn't want to betray his master, even though he is a devil." ”

When he said this, he was ready to be disagreed with by the other party.

Just because in the perception of normal people, the devil is more evil than the most evil sinners in the world.

Because before they became devils, they were the most evil people in the world who fell into hell and twisted them, and being loyal to the devil is a ridiculous thing.

But he didn't want the brown-haired young man in front of him to just nod after hearing this,

"Well, you don't want to betray a devil who is good to you, understandable."

The reaction was muted, but this attitude made Mondstadt feel a kind of heartfelt joy in his heart.

He originally thought that he was a monster who thought this way, and was rejected by everyone.

But now he suddenly realized that it was not, in fact, there was someone who could understand him, and this person was so similar to himself!

It's just that the other party's words made him a little annoyed.

"But whether it is more right to be true to one's own perseverance, or to save countless families?"

"I think you've read some of the relevant texts before, and although they don't necessarily represent the facts, you should be able to understand that most of those records are not fabricated out of thin air." Millions of civilians were slaughtered by a demon who descended on you...... Think about how many people like us will suffer? And how many of us will cry silently at night? ”

"My master wouldn't do that!" Mondstadt said with a snort.

"Really, are you sure?" The young man asked rhetorically as he raised his injured right hand,

"I just touched a devil's arm, yes, I just touched it, it didn't attack me actively, it didn't release its power, I just touched it, and I was injured like this. What do you think this represents? ”

Mondstadt was a little speechless, but he didn't expect him to answer.

"Wake up, Mondstadt, we are not the same kind as the devil. Although they can speak our language, they are always thinking about how to invade the human world. They cannot be killed, but our lives are fragile.

"Like a flock of lambs facing a shepherd, the shepherd may be harmless for a while, but when you are no longer useful, his idea is always to eat your flesh, drink your blood, and then make your skin into clothes or parchment. Like now, if he's really nice to you, why didn't he come to save you? ”

Mondstadt remained silent, but his already dim eyes had dimmed again, apparently knowing this.

"You are a kind man, Mondstadt, and I can see that even though hatred has made you do something impulsive, it doesn't hide your true nature."

The man in front of him had already come to Mondstadt and sat down next to him, then patted him on the shoulder.

"You feel guilty because you feel that you may have been too excited about it. You've even thought about doing something good to make up for that guilt if you can survive, am I right? ”

After a long silence, Mondstadt shook his head, "I won't survive. ”

His voice was full of bitterness.

"The master had long said that Mondstadt would die after this was over, and he also said that Mondstadt was not evil enough to go to Hell, and he said that Mondstadt had killed too many people and would not be able to go to Heaven. When he dies, Mondstadt will dissipate directly, forever, and no one will remember Mondstadt. ”

"But before it dissipates, you have a choice. Do you want to save more people than you have killed, or do you want to let these people die by the machinations of a devil, or are you powerless to face those pains like us? ”

Mondstadt shuddered as if he was struggling, but he eventually shook his head guiltily.

The young man smiled when he saw this, and then changed his words,

"Well, I don't ask about your master,"

He said: "We are investigating the disappearance of the abbot of Amos, if you have any clues, can you tell me?" ”

"Is it Uncle Boswell?" Mondstadt perked up at this.

"Yes, his name is Boswell."

"Mondstadt didn't know much, and he left it to Mondstadt that day...... Leave a letter to Mondstadt, and then he disappears, before Mondstadt summoned his master. And then...... Then ......"

He frowned and thought about it, and suddenly remembered what a monk had said that day when he overheard the truth, so he couldn't wait to grab the sleeve of the young man next to him,

"Bazel, he went to find a man named Bazel, I only know the name, and ...... And his father was a bishop called ...... It's called Jerome! ”

At the end, Mondstadt pleaded, "If you could find Uncle Boswell, would you protect him?" I mean, if he's still alive? ”

"Of course,"

The person in front of him nodded, "I don't know if others will or not, but I will." ”

He replied and patted Mondstadt on the shoulder, then stood up.

"Even if he is no longer there, I will find out the truth, and I will write it into a letter and put it on your tombstone. I think I need to do it because we're really connected. ”

He was sincere, but Mondstadt felt a sense of shame.

Because he couldn't repay the other party's kindness at all, the only thing he said was just to be able to make his uncle's matter be investigated smoothly......

People are born with a kind of reciprocity mentality, which can affect a wide range from countries to countries and friends to people.

Most people have an emotional tendency in their hearts that they are unwilling to owe others, and if they cause indebtedness, it will bring certain psychological pressure to people.

This kind of pressure is usually nothing, but now, pushed by various factors, it has finally become the last straw that overwhelms Mondstadt's inner insistence.

So after hesitating for a moment, he suddenly raised his eyes and asked, "Is it true that the devil will never be killed?" ”

"The devil is good at running away, and it is very difficult for humans to catch them."

Bernie, who had already stood up, said with certainty: "Even if you are caught, you can only be sealed, and it is basically impossible to kill the devil." ”

Mondstadt was silent for a while, and finally said in a quiet voice under Bernie's quiet gaze, "She, her name is Enid Scott Darkfire......"

"Who?"

"Master of Mondstadt......" Mondstadt said with a look of shame, but his words were much smoother.

"Alright, Enid Scott Darkfire."

Bernie nodded, his tone soft, as if he was still making small talk, "What did she make you do?" ”

"She promised to avenge Mondstadt, provided that Mondstadt would open the sarcophagus and ...... afterwards"

"And then what?"

"Then she asked Mondstadt to go to Mulberry City to find a man named Gna Bertie, with black hair and black eyes, about fourteen years old."

Mondstadt replied in a low voice, "She said that the man was important to her, very important......"