Volume 9: The Soil of the Homeland

Chapter 1

We returned to the ruined manor and found Melissa hiding from the sun. I sadd www.biquge.info led the dead Frank on my shoulders and silently said to his corpse, "Good brother, we're ready to go home."

To keep Melissa safe, I put her in a coffin with Frank's body, and then loaded the coffin into a pickup van and drove to the port. We found an intact yacht in the harbor, loaded the coffin onto the boat and headed for Poppy Island.

Along the way, I kept repenting that Frank's death was entirely due to my selfishness and curiosity, and that I had harmed him. That time in New Transylvania is bound to be the most regrettable and darkest time of my life, and this terrible memory will become my nightmare.

As the dark clouds in the sky grew more and more dark, and the sea fog grew thicker, we lost our way again, and if I guessed correctly, we were already in the area of Poppy Island.

After a long time, the ship finally came to shore. When one foot stepped ashore, I felt unfamiliar with the place in front of me, not like the poppy island in my memory, but more like another island. I looked around, hoping to find the landmarks I remembered. I found a stone monument crawling with dead vines on it near the beach, which was inscribed with the words "Tox Island", and I blamed myself for being absent-minded when I was driving the boat, so I came to this island by mistake, but it doesn't matter, this is also one of the affiliated islands of Poppy Island. This is supposed to be François's territory, and François is also a member of the Underworld after all, but unfortunately he is dead.

Isabel and I carried the coffin ashore, then went to the surrounding forest to cut down two large trees, and together we got an axe, a saw, and some iron nails and rope from the cabin, and spent nearly five hours making a dragon head boat to celebrate Frank's funeral in the traditional way of ancient Norse.

Frank's body was carried onto the ship, which, although not large, was more than enough to carry him alone. I pushed the ship out to sea and said goodbye to him. There are countless reluctances in my heart, but I can only face the reality and endure the sadness. He is a ruthless warrior who will not hurt any innocent, but he will not spare any enemy.

Before the ship was far away, I lit a torch and threw it into the cabin with all my might, and Frank's body soon burned with it.

The boat drifts into the distance under the sea breeze, and although there are always clouds around Poppy Island, there is occasionally sunlight shining through some thin clouds.

At this time, Melissa was gone.

"Alex, look. Isabel said, pointing to the dragon head boat burning in the distance.

I fixed my eyes on Melissa, who was also on the boat, and she leaned on top of Frank and kissed him softly on the lips. The flames quickly spread to her. A golden light pierced through the gaps in the vast black clouds and fell straight down to the sea, like opening the gates of heaven against the background of the surrounding dark environment. And the boat was slowly drifting there.

"What does Melissa want to do?" I exclaimed.

"She wants to be with Frank forever. Isabel said.

"She's so infatuated, I really admire her. ”

The boat drifted slowly towards the sunlit area, and the fire on the boat grew even bigger, quickly enveloping Melissa's body and burning all the fibers she wore on her body. She turned her back to the sky to an angel who was sunbathing, and then opened her arms, as if looking up at the road to heaven, and as if listening to the angel's call. The sun soon covered her body, her body began to burn, and her charred skin turned into sparks in the breeze and floated to the surface of the sea. She closed her eyes, a slight smile on her lips. Suddenly, a sea breeze blew, and she was completely reduced to a piece of ashes that shimmered with fire. The dragon head boat faded away, becoming a burning point on the open sea, and disappeared from my vision for a long time.

Isabel and I stood by the sea in a daze, looking at the place where the boat had disappeared for a long time before leaving.

The island seems eerily quiet, as if it were just the two of us, and hopefully there won't be some unexpected tragedy in the meantime. We hiked inland and began to look for survivors.

It's March, and the island is in full bloom and the vegetation that has survived for thousands of years in this sunless land is emerging.

We crossed a stone bridge and came to a dilapidated castle with stone pillars and statues covered with a layer of dry vines. It didn't seem to be inhabited at all, so we left here and continued our way into the interior.

When passing a small river, you can occasionally hear a subtle crackling sound from the ice in the river, which is filled with the smell of spring.

This was the former residence of François, so some houses should be left behind. As we walked, we found a small, old, vine-clad castle that seemed to blend in with the surrounding woodland, with windows and doors completely absent. We boldly walked inside, and it was empty, with the occasional rat popping out. Some weapons were piled up in the corners, and a set of worn armor lying under the stone pillars had long since grown rusty stains. It seems that there is nothing worth searching for here. We went upstairs and continued to try to find survivors.

A large number of vine-like plants have also grown in the flowerpots in the corridor on the second floor, and they are spreading everywhere, returning everything here to nature, and it seems that there is nothing to be found.

"I wish there were only two of us left on the island. I said.

"Why?" asked Isabel.

"Wouldn't that be better, if there were only two of us left on the island, we would do whatever we wanted, with no competitors and no one to take care of us. ”

"Do you think that's interesting?"

"Of course it's not interesting. ”

"I'm telling you, there's no way we're just two on the island, and we're probably being targeted right now. ”

"You mean there are people peeking or stalking us all the time. ”

"That's right. ”

I also had a vague sense that there were people nearby, but instead of startling the snakes, I pretended not to know anything. I whispered to Isabel, "Let's look elsewhere, this uninvited guest will come to the door." ”

We came outside, and not long after, a ray of sunlight hit the ground. Isabel smiled faintly, "We don't have to leave, uninvited guests will show up soon." ”

The vast clouds in the sky began to be torn apart by the sun, and the sun gradually emerged through the cracks in the clouds, and the ground was covered by sunlight more and more, and thousands of sword-like rays of sunlight penetrated the canopy of the trees into the forest. Suddenly, an uninvited guest jumped out from behind the trunk of a dry tree lying on the ground, trying to enter the castle to avoid the sun, he held his head in his hands, and the rays of sunlight kept leaving white burns on his body, but he still insisted on jumping up and jumping into the stone gate of the castle, escaping the sun's pursuit.

We then entered the castle, where we saw the uninvited guest lying there, his face burned extensively, and in order to heal the wound as quickly as possible, he grabbed a large mouse, plunged his fangs into the mouse's body, and quickly drained its blood. Since there was no fresh human blood here, he caught a few more rats and drained them all in turn, so that his skin was restored.

I looked at the stranger, his hair was like dry grass, his nails were long, and his brown cowhide coat was not torn, but I could easily smell a pungent smell of him after at least a few years of continuous wear, what a filthy fellow. "What's your name?" I asked him.

He rolled his eyes quickly, not immediately replying, as if wondering whether to answer my question, then stood up, straightened his clothes, and looked at us.

"Do you live here?" asked Isabel.

He won't answer. I said.

The man looked like he was about to speak, probably afraid that we would harm him, so he didn't dare to answer any questions easily.

"Do you belong to the Underworld Society, or do you belong to the Evil Spirit Party?"

He looked like he was about to say again, this time almost speaking, and after a few moments, he finally spoke: "What are you doing?"

"It's not easy to get you to say something, what's your name?"

"Wicken? Biden. He stammered in reply.

François was against the Evil Spirits, and I reckon the vampires of the entire island of Tox were members of the Dark Realm, if not the Dark Realm, but at least they were compatriots against the Evil Spirits, so there was nothing to worry about. I dragged Wicken up from the ground, "We're friends with François, and I'm going to see him where your boss is." ”

"Okay, when it gets dark, I'll take you there. ”

"Okay. ”

So he got into a pit in the corner and began to fall asleep. Isabel and I waited patiently for the night to come.

One hour. Two hours. We waited patiently.

Night finally fell, and although Wickham hadn't been able to wake up naturally, I dragged him out of the dirt pit and forced him to wake up. He seemed reluctant, and at my compulsion, he agreed to take us to his leader. Eventually, he takes us to a well-preserved 19th-century district. He told me that there were nearly a thousand vampires living here, and that François had 200 guards and was the most powerful man on the island, so he would have become the supreme leader here, and if François and his guards were not there, the supreme leader here would be Judge Marco Blair. So I asked him to take us to the judge's house, and he reluctantly agreed.

We passed through a very narrow alley, which was crowded with women standing on the street, making the alley even narrower, and only one person could pass sideways. The perfume sprayed on the street girls also rubbed against my clothes, and I was so disgusted by the disgusting smell that I almost broke out at the time. Isabel showed her gun and frightened the filthy strangers, trying to keep her distance from them so that the strong smell of their bodies would rub against their clothes.

Walking through the alley, Wickcan smelled of perfume, which had become commonplace for him.

We finally came to the outside of Judge Blair's estate. Through the sturdy halberd gate, I saw a slender man wearing round sunglasses and a trench coat coming to the door. Wicken told me it was McCain Taylor, the chief of the judge's guard.

"Wicken, is there anything wrong with you?" asked the chief of the guard.

"Hello, McCain, I'm looking for Your Excellency. Wicken replied.

"Is there anything you need to do with your Excellency?"

"I wanted to talk to him in person. ”

The chief guard looked at Isabel and me, "Who are the two behind you?"

Wicken hesitated, "My friend, I'd like to ask the Judge for a favor. ”

"He went out. ”

"Where did you go?"

"I don't know, he hasn't been back in days, maybe he was in the same place you passed by when you came. ”

"What, where we passed?"

"Yes, that smell of you has told me where you have just passed. ”

"I see, thank you!"

"I don't send it. ”