My words made the old lady thoughtful, she stared at me for a while, and suddenly said, "I have an impression of the book you said...... You come with me. ”

"Where are you going?"

She put the pastry down and responded, "I've always kept those things, and speaking of which, the curse of the family may have something to do with those things." ”

"What are you talking about?"

The old lady left the kitchen and began to show me the way, and as she went, she responded, "It's the book you mentioned, and they were all brought back together." ”

She took me to the cellar before, and there was a secret door around the broken white-haired eggs. The door was opened, and dust was blowing in it, and it seemed that no one had entered it for a long time. In the dim light, it could be seen that it was a storeroom-like place, with a large pile of miscellaneous items, and the old lady turned out a wooden box, which, when opened, contained some strange things and a few books.

"It's these things, supposedly, older than my age."

I took the box, blew away the dust, and took out the book inside, and found that the pages were also "words" that I couldn't read, and these "words" were very similar to the map of the maze in the center before.

As for the boxy oddities, with carved lines on them, I don't know what they are, but looking at them always reminds me of the map of the mechanism that Mina once gave me.

"You said they were brought back, where did they come back?" I asked.

"The desert is in the desert. But when it comes to this, I don't know the exact process, I've heard about it, and it was almost 200 years ago. ”

"Two hundred years?"

"Yes, almost 200 years ago, when our ancestors were still in business in this generation, and for some unknown reason, they entered the depths of that great desert. I've heard two versions since I was a kid, one is to lead the way for a group of mysterious people, but I haven't heard what that group of mysterious people does. There is also a saying that the ancestors offended someone and were hunted down to the desert. But it's all a legend that every time the Silent Night Ancestor is reborn, he loses his memories of the past, and he can't get an answer from her. However, one thing that has been passed down accurately is that the family has borne a curse since their ancestors left the desert. ”

"Can I take them away?" I asked.

"Take away? Of course, I've long seen them as unpleasant, but I don't dare to destroy them, who knows what they are. ”

I put them away in the cloth bag that the old lady had prepared, and in the process of packing them, I asked the old lady if she knew where she got them from in the desert, but she couldn't give me a specific answer, but she gave me a guess, her guess.

"Isn't the secret realm of the Sand Sea a famous legend here, this desert is worth the risk of losing your life. That legend is much older than this family curse, and it has been passed down for thousands of years, maybe even longer. I think the ancestors probably went there too? Show people the way, maybe they just want to go there. When you are hunted down and killed, it is also a hope. Perhaps, after all, they are all human beings, and they can't escape these thoughts......"

It also involves the secret realm of the sand sea, of course, it is only a possibility.

But to verify this possibility, maybe that person can help me. So, with these things, I found Forty-two, who was drinking on the top floor of the Old Yellow Building at that time, and I don't know where he got the wine.

I walked up to him, leaned against the guardrail on the top floor, and turned my gaze to him, "Have you been to the Sand Sea Secret Realm?" ”

"Aren't you talking nonsense, I've said it several times today." He handed me the bottle.

"What's wrong with you and Bai Wuji, just hand over the things you drank to others?"

"Cleanliness."

"I have something I want to ask you."

"Ask, let's fall in love, as long as I know, I know everything."

"How long ago did you go to the Sand Sea Secret Realm?"

"It's been a year, and I can't remember it clearly, two or three hundred years ago?"

"That's not bad, the timeline seems to be before that."

Forty-two looked at me curiously, "What do you want to ask?" ”

I took out one of the unidentified objects and placed it in front of Forty-Two, "I want to ask if you have ever seen this thing, in the desert." ”

When he saw it, Forty-Two was visibly stunned.

It was a very simple stunned.

How simple is it?

Like, when eating, I found myself holding chopsticks upside down.

Not particularly surprised, but also unconcerned.

"Sure enough, you've seen it." So, I was sure of that.

But he shook his head again, took the thing from my hand, fiddled with it for a while, and responded, "I haven't seen it." ”

"You can't fool me like this, the look in your eyes just now is already the best answer."

"Heh......" he smiled, looking me up and down, "are you so confident, man?" I've never seen anything like this, and I've never seen it in the Sand Sea Secret Realm. ”

"Really? Then you have to explain why you were stunned for half a second. You, an old king worm who has lived for hundreds of years, won't be so easily stimulated by one thing and stunned, right? ”

"Then you overestimate me, what about men, their mental age is on the young side, and living for a long time does not mean that they will be mature. It's just that he can pretend to be mature. But I'm lazy, and I don't even bother to pretend. Ay? Isn't it off-topic? ”

"It's okay, you go on, it's fun to talk to you."

"Haha...... Well, I'll be honest, I've never seen anything like this. Why was I stunned for a moment just now, it's that this thing is very similar to the Mi family's things, something related to mechanical arts. I thought of a Mi family who had also been chasing me for a long time, and it was a terrible experience to think about. ”

Having said that, I actually heard a hint of tenderness in his words.

It's fleeting, as if it never happened, as if it were just my delusion.

"Do you know the Mi family's tricks?" I asked.

"Yes, but is it strange to know this?"

"Not surprising." I didn't know what I was surprised by, maybe I had some subconscious feelings, but I hadn't completely captured them, so I had to ask him repeatedly, "Have you really never seen this?" ”

"What did I lie to you, I haven't seen it. Besides, even if I have seen this thing, it appeared in the secret realm of the Sand Sea, and it is not mine, I will tell you directly, it is already in your hands, what reason do I have to hide it from you? ”

Wrong.

It must not be so.

Forty-two, though he had always talked a lot, could not explain such a trivial matter so clearly, if he really hadn't seen it. And now it seems that he is just desperate to convince him of what he says. So why?

Now I don't care so much about whether or not this thing ever appeared in the desert, but what Forty-Two has to hide.

His words didn't seem to make me perceive the anomaly so easily, after all, such a small mistake should not be made by a fool. Unless something like this, at some point, really touched his heart. This reminded me of the abnormality that Forty-Two inadvertently revealed when he recalled the Mi family just now.

Is that the reason?

"Okay, I believe you, just ask. You don't have to worry too much about it. "I decided to put the topic aside for now, lest he get too concerned and be wary of me.

"No, no. How can you care about such a thing. Forty-two turned the wine bottle in his hand, and suddenly took the initiative to ask, "But what is this thing of yours?" Where did it come from? ”

This surprised me.

It seems that the mind he is still hiding is still no match for his curiosity.

That seems to show that this thing has a different meaning to him.

"Old lady, she said, was brought out of the desert by her ancestors. She didn't say where the desert was, I think the strangest thing about this desert should be the legend of the secret realm of the sand sea, so I'm going to ask you. ”

"...... like this"

"yes, that's it."

And so, we fell into an eerie silence.

I turned to leave the rooftop, but I had only taken a few steps when Forty-Two suddenly stopped me, "What else is there but this?" ”

"A few books."

"Hmmm......"

I looked back, "Is there anything you need my help with?" ”

Forty-two looked at me with a little curiosity in his eyes, "You seem to have suddenly changed the subject?" ”

"Let's chat, there is no fixed topic. It occurred to me that you said you were going to do me a favor, and although you haven't done anything yet, it seems to have been decided. Then it's better to tell me in advance, what can I help you, courtesy, no one owes anyone. ”

We looked at each other for a moment.

Forty-two suddenly chuckled, "Sure enough, you still want to trick me." Well, if you help me kill Mina, you'll do me a favor. ”

He walked up to me and patted me on the shoulder, "That's all for today." ”

It's different.

Although he left, although he still didn't say anything, he just mentioned the main quest that seemed to him for a long time, killing Mina. But this sentence to kill Mina is different from what I heard before.

Before, he said this like a joke clown.

Now, the clown peels off his mask, revealing true murderous intent.

At this moment, I seemed to understand one thing, Mina was indeed chasing him, and she was very persistent, but the reason for all this seemed to be more than the reason he mentioned for refusing to spread the insect poison. His murderous intent towards Mina was so pure that it almost directly told me that the hatred between the two of them was already bitter hatred.

Mina, the Mi family who hunted down Forty-Two, and this artifact related to the mechanism.

What do these three elements stand for together?

……

Although I am curious about this, I am still waiting for the quiet night to return, and seeing the orphanage silent night is still my primary goal now.

However, the silent night never appeared.

At first, she thought it was Mrs. Wang's arrangement, and she herself felt so. But a few messages were sent, there was no reply in the quiet night, and the phone could not be dialed, and the atmosphere gradually began to become tense.

"Where did the kid go, hid, and fell asleep? It shouldn't be ......," the old lady began to guess.

At the moment, we are all on the first floor of the old yellow building.

Bai Wuji comforted her: "It's the second half of the night, it's possible that I've already slept." ”

"Probably not, she's been out for two days, and she should be in a hurry to come back. That kid, you know, although you don't like your own fate, you also rely on this, on me. With my message, she should be ready to read my next instruction. It's not right, it's wrong. ”

Something is really wrong.

I noticed something and asked, "How long did you say she was gone?" ”

"Little two days, what's wrong?"

"So she's the orphanage we left the day before we came here?"

"yes, questions?"

I remembered the conversation between the Stadium Kid and Bai Wuji, who said that he had seen Silent Night near the bathroom in the morning.

At that time, we had just arrived here, and the kid had no reason to lie to Bai Wuji, what he saw must be true. But is it the silent night that came back early, or is that the silent night not the silent night of the orphanage?

"Oh no, it can't be an early return, we haven't come yet, and she has no reason to lie to the old lady. So there is only one answer, a silent night in the morning is not a silent night. ”

"What are you talking about, dude?" Mowgli is curious.

At this time, there was a ticking of footsteps at the entrance of the Yellow Building, and someone pushed open the leaky wooden door and walked in.

"Grandma Wang, I'm back."

It was the sound of the silent night.

……