It's a rainy day in Gotham again, but this time it's a little different, when the road that has just been sun-drenched is soaked in rain again, and it still has the temperature of noon, even through the soles of your shoes, which makes people feel different from the usual cold and muddy.

Zatana, who was standing on the side of the road packing up the magic box, looked up at the dark clouds that were gradually closing, and sighed with some concern, only to find that someone patted her behind her.

The owner of the newsstand next to her handed her an umbrella and said with a smile: "Times have really changed, there are people who go out in Gotham without an umbrella?" ”

Zatanna didn't answer, but said with a smile: "I live in the apartment building next door, and I just take advantage of the two hours of sunny weather to come out and perform street magic, and I only need to run two steps and go back." ”

After speaking, Miss Magician quickly packed up her magic props and ran into the corridor next to her with a heavy big suitcase.

Running up to the 6th floor in one breath, Zatanna let out a sigh, but recalling the smiling face of the newsstand owner, she still sighed a little and said: "Sunshine will bring people superfluous kindness, no one would have thought that someone would lend an umbrella to strangers here, this is Sin City, not bad, right?" ”

As soon as Zatana took out the key to open the door, she heard a strange noise in the room, and she immediately took two steps back with some vigilance, and just when she thought she was about to overturn what she had just known, there was a somewhat familiar cry of pain from inside the room.

Zatana immediately opened the door and rushed in, exclaiming, "Thomas Constantine?!" Why are you in my house?! ”

"I'm not Thomas...... The man who was lying on the floor of the living room with his waist covered his face slowly got up, looked at Zatana and said, "I'm John Constantine, don't you know me?" ”

Zatanna's eyes widened and she shouted in surprise, "John! You're back?! ”

Konstantin's face was full of pain, his facial features were already wrinkled together, he covered his waist with one hand, and his neck with the other, and said in an angry voice: "Yes, I'm back, you won't want to know what I went through......"

Zatanna could see that her old friend was on the verge of collapse, so she quickly helped Konstantin to sit down on the sofa and asked him, "What's wrong with you?" Aren't you staying in the realm of dreams? ”

"It used to be like this." Konstantin let out a long sigh and said in a somewhat trembling voice: "Until yesterday, Schiller found me...... That's right, this terrible doctor has come to treat me again. ”

With Konstantin's narration, Zatanna gradually understood what Konstantin had experienced.

Previously, in order to repay Schiller for paying off his debts, Konstantin tore his soul in half, half of which became Thomas, using his body in the real world.

The other half took over from Morpheus, the god of dreams, and oversaw the dream country for the retired Oneiroi, but just yesterday, Constantine, who was roaming the dream world, heard several dog barks.

Then, a white dog, fast and powerful, threw him to the ground and sniffed him vigorously with his nose.

Then Konstantin saw Schiller's face.

"Schiller?!" Konstantin exclaimed.

"That's right, it's me." Schiller crossed his arms and nodded, and then he continued: "That's right, I think it's time to settle the problem between us, and it's not good for anyone that you make yourself like this." ”

"I think I'm fine." Konstantin quickly stepped back a little, and then said, "I've had a much better time than before. ”

"You know it in your own heart." Schiller glanced up and down at Konstantin, who was only half left, and said, "I think you should have discovered that tearing your soul apart is not only pain, but also has many sequelae. ”

"Because I've been through all of this, I know how terrible these after-effects are, but at the same time, I know how to fix it."

Konstantin showed a hesitant expression, because during this time, he had paid the price for his previous reckless actions, and tearing the soul apart was not so simple.

Of course, Konstantin knew that it would hurt, but he was not afraid of pain at all, but after doing all this, he realized that the pain was only the beginning, and the most terrible thing was that he could not control his soul anymore.

From the moment he tore his soul apart, Konstantin often felt that he was looking at himself from the perspective of another person, as if he was no longer himself.

What followed was a loss of control from this perspective, he could only look at his soul, but he could not control it and could do nothing, and the longer this continued, the more Konstantin felt that he could lose himself.

Konstantin is not afraid of pain, but any creature in this world will be afraid that it does not exist, that is not death, but everything is out of control, and it is clear that there is nothing to be done about it.

Konstantin knew that his previous actions had been too reckless and reckless, that his research in soul science had not reached the level of being able to cut his own soul, and that he had been worried and fearful lately.

But at the same time, he also understood that Schiller, who was now staring at him, must have known this, so he deliberately delayed it for so long before coming to him, this professor knows too well how to use fear to make people obedient.

Konstantin was afraid, so he had no choice.

"Don't worry, I'm just passing on some experience to you in dealing with broken souls." Schiller shook his head, his tone was calm, and there was a power to make people feel confident.

Konstantin swore ten thousand times in his heart that he would never deal with Schiller again, but every time he heard Schiller's whispers, the willpower that resisted the temptations of countless demons began to waver again.

Eventually, the fear of losing himself completely overcame his willpower, and Constantine followed Schiller to a room in his psychic hall.

It is a somewhat dimly lit room, with only one chandelier hanging in the center of the room, a crimson carpet on the floor, traditional English cabinetry on one side, a glossy countertop on the island in the middle, and a wooden table and chairs with candlesticks and flowers on the other.

Konstantin walked over and sat down in his chair, and trembled when he heard the door slamming shut, but he didn't turn back when he opened his bow, and he could only pretend to joke calmly:

"Is this a candlelit dinner for the two of us?"

Konstantin turned his head to look at Schiller, who took a few dishes from the refrigerator and put them in the oven, and while putting on his gloves, he said, "I'm not very good at cooking, so I asked my friend to help me make a few dishes." ”

With a "ding", the oven door opened, and the rich fragrance came, Konstantin involuntarily shrugged his nose and said in a brisk tone: "It's really fragrant, I didn't expect you to have a side that can cook." ”

Schiller gently placed the plate on the table, withdrew his hand, looked into Konstantin's eyes with a focused nervous gaze, and said, "If you like it." ”

Konstantin looked at the main dish he placed in the center of the table, it looked a bit like a rib, the color was golden and the fire was just right, and more importantly, the fragrance from it made Konstantin feel extremely hungry.

Konstantin's Adam's apple was constantly moving, and reason was telling him that this abnormal hunger was not an appetite, but an unquenchable craving, a hunger that burst out from the depths of his soul.

Following his instinct, he picked up his knife and fork like a man who was about to starve to death, and with trembling hands he cut off the largest piece of meat, stuck it in his mouth, and then froze there.

With a shake of his hand, the fork fell down along with the pieces of meat, and the food fell onto the table, which touched the edge of the table and continued to spin and fall.

In an instant, the air rippled, and a pair of pale and emaciated hands pinched the handle of the fork.

The next second, Konstantin stood up with his hand and tried to escape, but was grabbed by the neck by the same pale hand, pressed back into the chair, and pressed against the throat by a sharp fork.

Konstantin leaned back desperately, glancing at Schiller, who was standing diagonally behind him, with the only remaining eye, and let out a scream that he had never uttered in his life:

"Schiller, you're crazy!!!!"

"Eat it before you leave."

Schiller turned the fork with two fingers, the cutlery shone with a dazzling sheen, and the shaking Konstantin closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened his eyes again, the alluring ribs appeared before his eyes again.

"This replenishes your soul energy and brings it back to its wholeness, so you don't have to face those terrible after-effects."

"But it's your ......"

In an instant, the hand that was holding Konstantin's neck tightened, and Konstantin could only let out a "uh...... hovering on the verge of suffocation

Konstantin's gaze unconsciously rested on the food in front of him, the color, the smell, and the most terrible delusion of all, the delicious fantasies that lingered in his brain derived from hunger and thirst.

Incomplete souls seek wholeness, and therefore are desperate for energy, Konstantin keeps making a sigh as if he is about to drown, and only one thought hovers in his mind—

He used to feel that Schiller didn't need a lifebuoy, just because the sea where Schiller was fluttering was not his area of expertise.

Konstantin, who was leaning on the sofa, gasped tremblingly, and retching came out of his throat, Zatanna didn't dare to ask him if he had eaten, he would appear here, and the answer was already obvious.

Zatanna was sure that no devil in this world would be crazy enough to force his friends to eat his own flesh, and this kind of treatment could no longer be called evil, it was simply madness.

Konstantin wiped his saliva, hurriedly threw himself off the sofa, stood in front of Zatana with his hands on his back, looked into her eyes and asked, "Is there a phone?" ”

"Yes, who do you want to call to?"

Konstantin straightened up, looked up at the ceiling, and said in a trance: "Schiller is a fucking madman...... We must unite to heal him! ”

"Jingle bells."

The phone rang, and Oliver picked up the receiver, then turned around and shouted, "Bruce, looking for you!" ”

Bruce walked over and picked up the phone and said to the other side, "Hello? ”

"Bruce, I'm Victor, we have to join forces and cure your crazy psychology professor!"

Bruce took the phone in one hand. He heard Victor on the other end of the phone sigh and say:

"I know very well how you have felt in the past four years, and we have to do something about Schiller...... But the problem is, I tried to control him and failed, do you have any good solutions? ”

Victor's voice was hopeless, so he was shocked to hear a very positive "yes" on the other end of the phone, so he asked, "Do you really have a way?" What is it? ”

Bruce, who was holding the handset, turned his head to look at the hot and glare Mexican sun and the giant tractor plowing the fields.

He withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyes, and looked into his fingertips, where a small piece of paper was spun in the fingertips of two fingers, like a fluttering butterfly.

But Bruce knew that it wasn't actually a piece of paper, but a common seed package, and the edge of the piece of paper was folded off to reveal a flower-body English word - "broccoli".

Looking up again, it was the young man's sharp jawline and the slightly raised corners of his thin lips.

Justice!

(End of chapter)