Walit woke up from his dream, gasping for air.

His breathing finally calmed when he saw the familiar ceiling of the attic, and he reached out his left hand to rub his temple, feeling the sweat on his hand. He sat up and found that the front of his vest was soaked with sweat.

The sky outside the window was already blue, and it was not long before dawn came, and Valitriso got up from his bed, took off his vest and threw it aside, his back was full of scars, among which a round scar near his left shoulder stood out, he took a piece of clothing from the closet and put it on, and went downstairs.

This is a remote town outside the Iron Curtain Mountains, located in an inconspicuous small valley in the Iron Curtain Mountains, the nearest city from here is Jiangcheng, eighty miles to the east, the name of the town is Khiva, there are a total of 300 households in the town, more than 4,000 people, most of the townspeople have no surnames, more than two-thirds of them are humans, the rest are mostly Moro people, and some orcs have no demon spirits.

It can be said that this is an out-and-out three-way zone, without any public facilities, not even a magic network, and the Empire only thinks of such a place when it collects taxes every year.

Walit had come to the town twenty years ago, and twenty years could have turned the outside world upside down, but to this place, the town looked almost the same as it had been twenty years ago.

It took a long time for Walit to get used to the uneventful life of the town, he opened a tavern in the town called "Walnut", and lived a regular and magic-free life, twenty years of gray Walitt's hair, adding fine wrinkles to his forehead, and making him an honest and honest old man in the hearts of the townspeople, who would invite him whenever there was something important in the town. Twenty years later, if it weren't for that nightmare that constantly reminded him of the past, he would almost have thought he was a native of this town.

Walit washed up with cold water, and while shaving, he accidentally cut his cheek, but Walit didn't care, and hurriedly opened the door of the store and started today's business.

About three-fifths of the town's families make a living from farming, and most of the town's men like to have a glass of ale before work starts in the morning. Not long after Walit opened the door, a group of men came in groups with hoes on their shoulders, fetched pots of ale and went to work.

Many early townsfolk greeted Walit warmly as they passed by Walitt's tavern, and Walit responded one by one, the only thing that surprised him was that the wound left by his shaving did not heal immediately, for the first time in many years.

Today's weather is not very good, there have been thick dark clouds overhead since the morning, but there has been no rain for a long time, and it is very hot. Walitt stood at the entrance of the store for a while and then went back to the store, looking at the weather, I am afraid that there is no business today, and he has been feeling that something is not quite right today, but he can't say what is wrong. Probably because of the damn weather, he thought, went back to the counter, and poured himself a glass of ale.

"Uncle Walit?" a human boy knocked on the door and walked in, carrying a large bag.

"It's Shigego. Walit trotted over and took the bag from the boy's hand, which was a little bigger for him, "You're here to ship this weather?"

The boy pouted, "My parents said that we just stopped by to go home to have a look, and besides, the weather was fine when we were on the way, and it changed when we entered the mountains." ”

It was fifteen years ago, not long after Walitt's tavern opened, when he met a pair of young men, the woman's family thought the man was too poor to agree to their marriage, and the desperate couple approached Walitt, hoping to find a job in his outsider's tavern, Walit relented for a moment and took them in, but it didn't take long for the woman's family to come to the door and make trouble in the tavern. Angered by this, Walit lent the couple a sum of money from the savings he had brought from the capital, and then personally sent them out of town.

The young couple was also competitive, relying on the money borrowed by Walitt to open a spice shop in Jiangcheng, and the life was also mixed, so the woman's family finally had no opinion, and the young couple was especially grateful to Walitt and treated him as a big brother.

Time has passed, more than ten years have passed, and the young couple has also entered middle age, with a nine-year-old child, that is, the boy in front of them.

After Walit took the bag, Shigego gasped a few times, shook his arm, and then pulled a list out of the pocket of his jacket and handed it to Walit. Walit opened the cloth bag and glanced at it twice, then looked at the list again, and then went back to the counter and began to count the money, "I'll see, it's a total of 500 Dan, by the way, what about your parents?"

Jugo followed to the front of the counter, tiptoeing his head to the counter, "They're going to deliver somewhere else, let me tell you to invite you to our house for dinner in the evening." ”

"Hehe, really, what are you doing to make it so complicated. Walit handed the money to Shigego, "Be careful, don't lose it." ”

Shigego took the money, counted it, and stuffed it into the pocket on the inside of his clothes, "Uncle, then I'll go first." ”

"Won't you play with me for a while?" Walit looked at the boy lovingly, and at the same time reached out to touch the boy's head, the boy tried to dodge, but could not dodge Walitt's rough big hand, and could only let Walit rub his brown hair like a bird's nest.

The boy's pale blue eyes were misted and he ran out of the shop in a huff, causing Walit to laugh.

"Be careful!" Shigego nearly bumped into a woman as he rushed out of the store, but he didn't look back and ran away.

"This kid!" Wallitt smiled helplessly, ran out, and asked with concern, "Didn't hit you?" ”

"Senior brother, long time no see. The woman smiled.

"Huh!" the woman's black hair, pale green pupils, and familiar smile gradually overlapped with someone Valitt remembered, "Twilight?" he asked, somewhat uncertain.

Hearing the name "Twilight", the woman's smile froze significantly, but quickly returned to normal, "Really, I'm Twilight, senior brother." ”

"Twilight Rain!" Walit was stunned, looked at her, and stretched out his hand to compare, "I remember when I left the capital, you were only that tall." ”

Twilight puffed out her mouth, "Senior brother, it's been twenty years since you left the capital, okay, I'm not that little bit anymore." ”

Walit smiled awkwardly and tried to divert the topic, "Yes, it's been so many years, you must have graduated from Tiangong." ”

"Senior brother, you are really, I am a graduate of the class of 95, and in two years my children will be old enough to enter school. Twilight glanced at Walit with some reproach, a smile on her lips.

It was only then that Walit noticed the other three people in the Twilight group, a boy who looked sullen and kept his head down, a little girl of six or seven who looked around with wide eyes and a curious expression, and a man with a worried brow walking at the back, carrying the luggage of the four. When Walit looked at him, he smiled at Walit, but the sadness lingered in his eyes.

"This, look at me, come into the house. Walit slapped his head, took the luggage from the man's back, and welcomed the four into the room, to his surprise, the bag was so heavy that he didn't lift it with one hand.

"This is my husband, Hedong. Ye Duyu introduced to Walit, "The eldest is called Xinghe, ten years old, and the youngest is called Lanyue, seven years old." ”

"Ten years old?" Walit glanced at Hedong and Twilight in some surprise, "You're pregnant before you graduated." ”

"Uh......" Twilight Yu was speechless for a while, and looked at the boy who was still sullen, and seemed to be a little embarrassed.

At this time, Hedong spoke, "Xinghe is the child of me and my ex-wife, and his mother passed away very young. ”

"I'm sorry. Valitt felt a little remorseful for his carelessness.

"It doesn't matter. Hodon smiled, but Walit noticed the wistfulness between his brows.

"What's going on?" said Walitt, looking at them with concern.

Twilight took Hedong's hand and cheered him on, "Something happened. There was some bitterness in her voice.

"Rest for a while, I'll pour you a glass of water. Walit went to the counter and took out some candy and handed it to the two children, the boy refused to take it, but the girl insisted on stuffing some for him, and the boy could not help it, so he had to take it from his sister. Walitt looked at the two children with a smile on her face, then took out two glasses from the counter and casually asked, "By the way, Twilight, how are the teacher and your sister?" ”

The smile on Twilight's face froze, and her expression darkened, "My father passed away in '94, sister...... Later that year, because of dystocia..."Speaking of this, Twilight was already a little choked.

Pen! Walit felt something slip out of his hand, oh, it was the cup he was filling with water, and looking at the glass shards on the ground, Walit felt like something in his heart was shattered into pieces.

The teacher and Twilight are dead, and Walit can't believe his ears after fleeing the capital, but the tears on Twilight's face tell him that this is the truth.

For Arazuki, it might be difficult for her to understand why her mother was crying suddenly, so she ran to Twilight's side and helped her wipe away her tears, "Mom, what's wrong with you?"

Twilight wiped away her tears and hugged Lan Yue into her arms, squeezing out a smile on her face, "Mom is fine." ”

Walitt brought a broom like a walking corpse, swept up all the glass shards, and then sat down opposite Hedong and Twilight, looking at Twilight Rain holding Arazuki, Walit wanted to say something but didn't know where to start.

"Senior brother, you don't have to blame yourself, Dad was still thinking about you when he left, he said that he understood you when you left, and he didn't blame you. Twilight opened her mouth first.

"So how is the Ye family now, and what about the school?" Walitt asked.

"The head of the Ye family and the thirteen heads of the secret party are now served by my brother-in-law, his name is Zhiqiu, and he is also the principal of the school, and he is very good. Twilight touched her daughter's head, and Lan Yue was also very well-behaved in her arms.

"yes, that's good. Wallia nodded and touched Arazuki's face, "How did you find here, I remember I didn't tell anyone I was here." ”

"I found it, and I found it with your 'qi'. He Dong replied, and at the same time he beckoned the boy to his side, "Xinghe, take my sister to the side to play for a while, my parents have important things to discuss." ”

Walit was startled, and then he carefully observed the man with sorrow, his expression changed several times, and after a long time, he asked, "You brought the clouds in the sky?"

He Dong nodded.

Walit jumped up from her seat, rows of wrinkles on her forehead, "Are you crazy, this is going to kill you!" For the first time in years, Walit felt so angry.

He Dong had a wry smile on his face, "I don't have any desire for the 'throne' for a long time, but there are some things that I really can't help myself. ”

Walit went to the counter and came back with a bottle of spirits and two glasses, "So, what are you coming to me for?" ”

"We want to go to the Tower of Babel. Hodon replied, holding the glass Walit had given him, looking at the amber liquid inside, but not drinking.

"Isn't the Tower of Babel sinking to the bottom of the Little Star Sea? Walit replied casually.

He Dong put the wine glass back on the table and looked at Walit solemnly, "I mean the other Tower of Babel. ”

Walitt's drinking movement was sudden, he put the wine glass back on the table, and met Hodon's eyes, he looked very carefully, "You drank the shapeshifter." ”

He Dong didn't answer directly, he poured down the cup of liquor in his hand, and it didn't take long for his flaxen curls to start straightening and turning dark purple, and the white lens slowly darkened, and finally turned ink, and his pupils also turned dark gold, "Descendant of the King of Sword and Blood." He said.

"Demon Spirit!" Valit didn't care about his specific identity, but stared at the inky lens in those eyes, "So those two children are Inhumans?" he asked, pointing to Xinghe and Lan Yue in the distance.

"No, only Arazuki is. Twilight replied, her eyes dodging.

"Confused!" Walit rose from his seat excitedly, "even if you don't care about it, you should think about the child." ”

"Senior brother!" Twilight suddenly amplified her voice, her eyes a little stubborn, "I don't want to talk about this now." ”

"Hey!" Walit sighed helplessly and sat down, "that place is not a good place, how did you get there with your family like this?" ”

Twilight removed a pendant from her neck, it was a leaf sealed in amber, and placed it in front of Walit, "Brother, please, my sister will give it to me when she leaves, and tell me to bring it to you for help if I encounter any difficulties." ”

Walitt's eyes had long been drawn to the pendant, and he picked it up with trembling hands, as if it were a mountain and not a pendant. For some reason, the image of the battle in the wilderness and the faces of the two companions flashed in his mind for no reason.

Suddenly, he remembered Flammy's words.

Walit, one day you will meet someone who will come to you with this memory, remember, to help her, is to help all of us.