The night came deep and slowly!

I sat on the edge of the bed.

Dizzy and still buzzing in my ears. Mom just finished scolding, and she scolded for two hours. If it weren't for the persuasion of Dad and Grandma Teng, it is estimated that a meal of "stir-fried meat with bamboo shoots" (as the saying goes, referring to being beaten) would not have been able to escape!

However, none of this is my concern.

The neck was empty, and I handed over the spirit stone to Chen Qiu and them before school. At this moment, my heart has already flown to them.

What method will Chen Qiu use to find out who made the contract?

Who is that person?

My guess is that it will be ...... Fact?

There was a pain in the palm of his hand, and there was no bleeding, but the color of the mark became more and more red. This red, through layers of gauze, seems to be really a cluster of blazing flames, burning straight into people's hearts.

The heart is on fire, and panic, helplessness, restlessness, and fear are mixed with pain, rising up like a tidal wave, and then receding......

I know that I can't escape it in the end, but I really don't want to face it. I looked at the dark night, thinking over and over again, always hesitating.

Slowly, a faint light appeared in front of me. Looking around, I found myself standing in an alley. The mottled walls and narrow gravel paths give me a familiar feeling.

Where is this? How did I get here? Inexplicable fear affected my intuition, and I walked forward in a trance, like sleepwalking.

The answer was not long in coming, though.

A figure as confused as I ran from the other end of the alley. Closer, by the faint light, you can distinguish the outline.

Be...... Qi Zhen!

I looked at him in amazement, his face became clearer and clearer, with such a confused and desperate face, it was really Qi Zhen!

"Why are you here?"

"Why are you back again?"

We both spoke at the same time, and the same eager voices echoed through the dead silence of the night.

"You...... What about Chen Qiu and Changqing? Why aren't they with you? I looked behind him and didn't feel any breath.

He also looked at me in amazement: "What Chen Qiu, Changqing?" I've always been stuck here alone. I haven't seen anyone but you! ”

He and I looked at each other for a long time, unable to say a word.

"You...... When did you say 'all the time'? "I still had the hard time speaking.

"When? I can't remember! He smiled wryly.

“…… What's at the end of this trail? I asked again.

"The end? It doesn't seem to be ...... Oh, there seems to be a door. He replied uncertainly.

I lowered my head and bit my lip vigorously, "What's in the door?" ”

"I don't know. I can't get in! He sighed under his breath.

……

"And what did you eat for so long?"

He was stunned: "Hmm...... This one...... Didn't eat anything! I don't seem to feel hungry. ”

Although this answer was expected, my face still became very ugly.

I looked up and looked at the end of the path, distracted.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? How do we get out? He cautiously touched my hand.

I woke up with a shock, no matter what, I had to do my best.

I took his hand with my left hand.

His palms were burning and damp, presumably due to nervousness and panic. But these feelings aren't necessarily real, either.

"Qi Zhen, you hold my hand, don't let go! Let's go find our way now. My tone returned to steady. Now that the dead horse is a live horse doctor, there may be a miracle.

"Hmm." He stared at me, his expression calming down.

The two of us joined hands and sank into the alley.

It wasn't the first time we've trekked in the dark, our steps slowly harmonized from chaotic, and the steady rhythm was accompanied by the sound of footsteps, one by one, imprinted on the gravel road.

The night is thick.

The stone walls on both sides are black and cold, standing silently, and the narrow alleys are long and winding, seeming to ...... There is no end!

"Are you scared?" He asked me suddenly.

"Don't be afraid." I looked straight ahead.

"Can we get out?" He asked again.

“…… Maybe. "I'm still looking ahead.

"Is your face very bad and uncomfortable?" He continued.

"Nope." My voice trembled a little.

"You're scared!" He sighed deeply, "You...... Afraid I won't be able to get out? ”

I stopped suddenly.

No surprises, he also stopped.

"Don't be fooled, we'...... I'm sure I'll be able to get out! "My voice was firm, but it sounded inexplicably sad.

He nodded vigorously "um", not sure whether to comfort me or himself.

We are ready to go further. At this moment, a gust of wind blew in the alley, not loud, but unusually cold, like a sharp knife cutting in the face.

I shrunk my shoulders, but I felt a strong sense of unease, my right hand, which was wrapped in gauze, had been aching all the time, and now it seemed to be numb and unconscious.

"Look, that door!" He raised his left hand and pointed forward, shouting excitedly.

I looked up, and there seemed to be a door in front of me, but it was too shadowy to see.

As soon as my heart is relieved, there is hope when there is a door.

"Quick, let's go!" As I ran, I didn't forget to hold his hand tightly.

Closer, closer!

The appearance of the door gradually became clear, it was an iron door, there was no lock, because it was rusty, no matter how closely you looked, you could not distinguish the original color.

We stopped in front of the door, and I stared at the rust on the door, a desolate wry smile on my lips.

It's finally back to square one!

"Do you want to push the door?"

"Hmm."

I finally grabbed his left hand tightly and pushed the door with my right hand wrapped in gauze.

The door opened as soon as it was pushed, without the slightest hindrance or sound. As soon as I was concentrating on the situation inside the door, I saw a large black mass with a howling wind, rushing towards me.

I couldn't avoid it, so I had to watch as the black enveloped me.

It seems that the world is spinning, thunder and lightning are intermingling, it is difficult to accurately describe the feeling at this time, there is only one word left: "dizzy"!

Although I lost my mind, the only remaining bit of consciousness was that I still clutched the hands of the people around me, no matter where I went, the most important thing was to save him from that alley!

I don't know how long it took, but my body moved, and a familiar sight reappeared in front of me. windows, wooden tables, plank beds, and people sitting on the edge of the bed. The man had the exact same face as me, like a reflection in a mirror. It's just that the completely empty eyes tell the strange state of the soulless, and the look like the walking dead makes me feel creepy. As if sensing my arrival, the "I" on the edge of the bed stood up sharply and pounced on me. I was shaken and immediately broke free from my state of unconsciousness.

This is my house, there are no alleys, no iron gates, and no Qi Zhen!

I was still sitting on the edge of the bed.

I slowly spread out my clenched left hand, and his warmth still seemed to remain in the white palm.

I raised my right hand again, and the gauze fell off at some point, and the flame scarred, bright red as blood, showed the heat of fire wantonly.

I looked at it quietly, carefully, looking at my left hand and then at my right, with a solemn expression, as if I wanted to see some earth-shattering secret in my two hands, or a mind that could not be decided.

There was a black glow on his wrist.

The cool beads gently press against the skin. They trembled slightly, like coquettish children, pulling me to go somewhere—someone or something they liked that had nothing to do with happiness.

I still didn't want to move, and the sadness in my heart slowly overflowed, overwhelmingly filling the space I was.

The beads were not happy, they writhed around in anger, and bursts of cold air snaked up from their wrists, and after a while, spread to their whole bodies, and the cold penetrated into their bone marrow. I felt like I was frozen.

The window snapped open!

A small yellow paper figure flew in, with bright red outlines of facial features and limbs, and the brushwork was clumsy and sloppy, all showing that it was done in a hurry by the owner.

It flew in front of me. On a round face, a big grinning mouth, and a strange expression, I don't know whether to cry or laugh.

This is painted by Evergreen on rune paper. I am very familiar with his brushwork, and he has always lacked the talent to draw.

I looked at the paper figure and guessed what Evergreen was trying to convey. At the same time, I secretly complained in my heart: Instead of spending time drawing these four different paper figures, it is better to write down what I want to say so that I can see it at a glance, isn't it better?

The paper figure also stared at me with comically wide eyes.

I stared at it and stared at each other silently for a long time.

"Do you speak? What does Evergreen want me to do? I asked helplessly.

The paper man's head fluttered left and right in mid-air.

But I don't know what it means.

It shook a few times, then moved towards the window again. I didn't move, it stopped, tilted its head to look at me, and made a summoning gesture with its straight arm. I had to slowly stand up and walk to the window. It flew out of the open window, shook its head in the air, and motioned for me to follow.

I sighed, resigned myself to dressing up, and silently climbed down the stairs.

As soon as I walked out of the gate, I saw that the paper figure was already waiting outside. In the cold wind, I followed it to the end of my fate.

The paper figure was fast, and I ran as hard as I could, barely keeping up with it, so I didn't have time to care where it was leading me.

In the dark, I don't know how much time has passed. As if it was just a moment, a red glimmer appeared in front of me. In the red light, there were three clear figures standing facing each other.

The paper figure flew over, disappeared without entering the red light.

"You're here." Leaning towards me was Chang Qing, and there was excitement in his voice that couldn't be hidden.

"Hmm. You've ...... Find out who made the contract? I asked Chen Qiu, who was facing me.

She smiled confidently: "I have already cast a spell on the spirit stone, and in another moment, the image of the person who concluded the contract will appear on the spirit stone!" ”

"Oh." I bowed my head.

"There's something wrong with you!" Chang Qing suddenly said, "You are not happy at all with such good news, strange." ”

"Are you uncomfortable? The face is very bad, isn't it your hand...... Hey, you've got ...... What's going on? Chen Qiu looked at the flame mark on my hand and asked in surprise.

"It's nothing, it's a burn." I replied lightly.

Hearing my words, Qi Zhen's body, which was facing away from me, trembled slightly, as if he was cold.

Chen Qiu stared at me thoughtfully: "Why haven't you seen it before?" ”

"It was originally a very pale black, but today it was broken, and it became like this!" I said lightly, "It really doesn't matter." ”

She looked at the mark and didn't ask any further, but her expression was a little strange.

"This ...... The sigil is like a cluster of flames, which is interesting. Perhaps it was because of the solemnity of the atmosphere, Chang Qing quipped.

"Hmm." I nodded. In fact, no one would find this strange mark as bright red as blood interesting.

Chang Qing wanted to say something more, but I waved my hand: "Don't worry about this...... Is the spirit stone shown? ”

Chen Qiu and Chang Qing brushed their eyes on the place where the red light was at its peak—the spirit stone.

Wisps of blood-like red wandered in the spirit stone. As if it was dispelled by a gust of wind, in an instant, the spirit stone regained its smooth blackness, and an image slowly appeared in the flawless black.

Qi Zhen and I also stepped forward, and then we heard Chen Qiu and Chang Qing exclaim together: "Why not...... What is this place? ”

What emerged from the spirit stone was a deep alley, a glimmering gravel path that stretched to the end of the darkness, but there was no one, not one.

I glanced quickly at his indifferent face and was silent.

But the palm of my hand was suddenly extremely hot, and the burning scar writhed vividly from side to side, as if it was about to break free from my shackles and break out.

"Do you know what that place is?" She asked.

I just looked at my palms in a daze.

"Do you have a solution?" She turned to ask Changqing.

"Try it!" Chang Qing looked at me worriedly, stroked his palm lightly on the spirit stone, and then flipped his fingers, igniting a yellow talisman with a cinnabar symbol.

When the talisman burned out, it condensed into a small red snake, which raised its head and stuck out its tongue and shot towards a dark place.

The four of us followed it silently, coming from the darkness and going into the darkness. Behind us, first a ball rolled by, then a pair of green eyes flashed, and finally a distorted shadow slipped past the wall.

A small red snake hovered at the mouth of an alley, and the faintly glowing gravel path in the alley was exactly the same as what was shown on the spirit stone.

"It's here!" Chang Qing said in a deep voice, and with a wave of his hand, the little snake dissipated in the wind.

"Let's go in!" Chen Qiu did not hesitate to take the lead on the path.

Evergreen is a close second.

Qi Zhen stared at me, as if he had a thousand words.

I ignored him completely, and walked past him in a trance, more like a wandering spirit.

The path is long and winding, but there is always an end, just like the truth, although the clouds and mist obscure it, although it is full of thorns, it will still appear in front of you after all.

At the end of the alley was a door, a rusty iron gate, as dark as a dying old man, and a sense of desolation and misery came to the face.

"Which one is this?" Chang Qing asked in a low voice.

"Here...... It's not like someone lives! Chen Qiu looked at the iron gate, revealing a look of surprise.

"It's a ruined garden." I said bitterly, "The Sun family's abandoned garden." ”

They all looked at me with a look of surprise and pity on their faces.

No, it's not! You don't understand, I'm not hurting. My heart whispered to myself.

I pushed open the iron door, and the piercing rattle pierced the silence of the night, as if weeping blood scraped bones, and it became even more poignant.

Chen Qiu shook his hand, and a "lantern" fluttered in the wind.

The whole garden was covered with black grass, and a few trees in the middle of the garden had completely withered and fallen on the scattered stones. The wildflowers in the corners, wilting and drooping their heads, seem to mourn the passing prosperity.

"Could it be that the person who made the contract will be here?" Chang Qing asked suspiciously.

"My technique has not failed, and there will be no mistake with the spirit stone, the person who made the contract must be here!" Chen Qiu replied firmly.

"Then let's look here!" Evergreen nodded.

"No, there's no one here." I shook my head slightly, but my tone was as heavy as a rock, "It's just the four of us!" ”

All three of them looked up at me.

"I didn't make a contract." I said flatly.

"It's not you, and it won't be me. Then it's probably just the two of you! Chang Qing took a breath of cold air and moved his gaze to Chen Qiu and Qi Zhen.

"I said earlier, I don't have a heritage, and it's not me!" Chen Qiu's cold gaze shot sharply at the last person.

Qi Zhen was silent for a while, and suddenly smiled: "If you are not, then it will be even more impossible for me!" ”