In the cabin,

Lu Shi is working hard to write.

A group of French people gathered at the door of the room, standing on tiptoe to observe the situation.

The atmosphere of the crowd was a little anxious,

"Is Professor Lu writing? With his writing habits, he shouldn't stop suddenly, right? If that's the case, there's no need to look at it. ”

"Do you see if you're talking about people? Professor Lu is not fast in writing, is he? ”

"It's almost time to arrive at Calais, so we can't wait!"

"What about when you arrive? It's a big deal to get under Lisbon and then take a boat back! ”

"Yes, the boat can miss the station, but the good book can't be missed."

……

Buzz Buzz –

The sound of argumentation is like an annoying fly.

Roland quietly approached Poincaré and said in a low voice, "Academician, what did Professor Lu write?" Do you have any impressions? Recite a paragraph to us! ”

Poincaré: "......"

As a mathematician, tell him to dictate his own proof process, that's fine,

But if it's an endorsement, he can't even compare to a high school student.

Seeing that he didn't say anything, Roland sighed deeply,

"Alas......"

Verne, who was next to him, also approached and asked curiously: "Henry, can you tell us about the style that Lu adopted when writing?" Or, tell me what techniques he used. ”

Poincaré spreads his hands,

"Didn't you just see it?"

"Ah......h

Verne said helplessly: "I have seen it, but I haven't reached the really terrifying part yet~ The previous paragraph has some documentary literature like an investigation report, and I really can't see anything." ”

Poincaré muttered,

"Professor Lu uses a lot of repetition rhetoric."

When he said this, the rest of the people were still confused.

For, although the history of repetition of rhetoric dates back to the Iliad, it seems unprecedented to devote a large amount of time to the creation of horror literature.

Repetition of rhetoric seems to be inherently in opposition to this subject matter.

Poincaré can't help it,

"Why don't I give you an example?"

As he spoke, he winked at Verne and continued: "You can point to a random thing, and I will describe it. ”

Verne was surprised,

"Whatever?"

Poincaré just nodded, but didn't speak.

After thinking for a moment, Verne asked Roland, "Roman, what did you eat in the morning?" ”

Roland spreads his hands,

"Baguette, soaked in French miscellaneous fish soup to soften it."

Poincaré subconsciously asked, "Early in the morning, did you eat so richly?" ”

Roland said proudly: "I'm French, and I don't have any ...... when I eat mixed fish soup Ahem...... Academician, didn't you just say that you can do anything? Could it be that after listening to the French mixed fish soup, I think it is too difficult and ready to regret it? ”

Poincaré waved his hand again and again,

"Of course I don't regret it. It can even be said that the French mixed fish soup actually reduces the difficulty. ”

For no other reason,

Lu Shi's "Call of Cthulhu" uses a lot of descriptions of squid tentacles when describing the statue.

Poincaré can be used directly.

He quickly thought about it, and said, "In the bowl is a mass of alien things, they are like entangled, cross-tailed snakes, but there are no scales, and the flesh that blooms is the color of a carrion. ”

Rowland:???

Jules verne:???

What's this meow?

The two shuddered in unison.

"Goo......

Roland swallowed and saliva,

"What are you talking about?"

Poincaré replied: "The baguette is soaked in the soup and soft." ”

"Hiss ......" ×2

The other two gasped at the same time.

This description is too chilling!

Poincaré continued: "It's not over yet~ The snake meat festered at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the dense holes the size of pinholes gradually expanded, turning into full cavities. ”

Roland and Verne looked at each other,

The two have figured out the pattern,

What Poincaré just said is clearly the process of soaking the loose gaps of the baguette in the soup.

suddenly

"Gross!"

Roland ran to the side retching.

Verne muttered, "Henry, you're such a pervert!" I'm such a Frenchman, and you've made me never want to eat baguettes for the rest of my life. ”

Poincaré said proudly: "It's not over yet~ In the liquid next to the snake meat, more corpses, internal organs, bones, and the wrists and feet of some kind of mollusk creature are tumbling......"

The voice did not fall,

"Gross!"

Verne also ran to retch.

His recipe has added a new taboo:

French mixed fish soup.

The reaction to vomiting is too great, and the attention of the rest of the people is also attracted,

They surrounded Poincaré and asked what was going on.

Poincaré repeated,

thereupon

"Gross!" ×N

A large group of people were retching in a row facing the wall, and they almost picked their throats and eyes with their fingers.

It took a while for the scene to fall silent.

Roland said: "It's worthy of Professor Lu, what is it really like to write......

Verne wiped his mouth clean with his hand and said, "It's hard to tell. I haven't seen the original text, so I can't make a conclusion. ”

Despite this, the thoughts in his heart are actually similar to those of Roland,

Professor Lu shouldn't miss a shot.

At this time, Lu Shi in the cabin suddenly got up.

In an instant, everyone outside the house picked up the door frame,

Poincaré asked, "Finished writing?" ”

Lu Shi nodded,

"Hmm."

Frankly speaking, even if the original text is a short story, it will not be done so quickly.

He made some cuts,

And changed the protagonist to the mathematician Cantor.

Poincaré subconsciously stepped his right leg into the door, and then, as if thinking of something, he pulled it back and said, "Professor Lu, you know me." I ......"

Interrupted by land,

"Gotcha~gotcha~ You can ...... Wait a minute! Don't let so many people in! ”

A group of Frenchmen braked the car,

Then, he looked at Lu Shi with a pitiful gaze.

Lu Shi didn't want to make the cabin a miasma, so he handed the manuscript out and said, "If you can accept it, just watch it outside." ”

Poincaré took it and began to read:

“

It is conceivable that there may still be remnants of such a powerful force or being...... It is a relic that has survived from an extremely distant era...... Perhaps, the ideas expressed in form and appearance disappeared long before the rise of higher humans......

”

Suddenly, someone said, "Henry, don't read it!" ”

The rest chimed in:

"Yes, yes, yes! Don't read it! ”

Horror, you have to see and feel it yourself,

Unless you're a professional announcer, you can create a truly terrifying atmosphere.

Of course, at the beginning of the 20th century, there was no radio, and naturally there were no announcers.

Poincaré didn't care much either,

"Okay, then we'll circulate it."

The efficiency of circulation is very low,

But other than that, there's not much to do.

Poincaré took the manuscript, thought about it, and put it on the ground.

Roland was stunned for a moment, and then said: "Good way!" ”

They formed a circle,

The manuscript is in the middle, surrounded by people, looking down from top to bottom, like a "⊙".

subsequently

The man in the middle sits on the ground;

The people on the outer floor bent over;

The outermost man stood.

From a distance, it seems that a temporary, small worship ceremony has been built with the back.

At the center of the ritual is the manuscript of The Call of Cthulhu, the altar.

Lu Shi almost laughed out loud when he saw it,

If Picasso had been here, maybe he would have improvised again.

The name of the painting is "The Rise of Cthulhu", and it must be very charming.

He waved his hand,

"Look."

After saying that, he closed the door.

And the French outside began to read.

In an instant, a deep silence enveloped every corner,

Sunlight shines through the narrow window on one side of the cloister and onto the fluffy red carpet, leaving dappled light and shadow.

There was an indescribable and inexplicable atmosphere around him.

There are three parts in total,

I. Terror in the Clay,

It tells the story of the protagonist who discovers a clay statue and is deeply fascinated by it, and then investigates;

II. The Story of Inspector Legras,

narrates the investigation of the marsh priests, and leads to the root of all evil: "In the mansion of L'Alaye, the sleeping Cthulhu awaits dreams";

"III. Madness from the Ocean",

After seeing the news of the mysterious abandonment of the ship, the protagonist goes to investigate, and eventually obtains the memoirs of a sailor, from which he finds clues that Cthulhu is still alive.

The story is not difficult to understand,

It's just that, because of its complex rhetoric, it takes a lot of attention to read it.

But the people present are all famous and surnamed figures in the literary world, so naturally there is no problem.

After reading it, they looked at each other,

Discussion abounded,

"Is this a horror story?"

"Of course!"

But the protagonist didn't see Cthulhu until the end, but only found some inexplicable circumstantial evidence. It seems to me that this is almost like a diary written by a madman. ”

"I'm just asking you one question, and after reading it, do you shudder?"

……

truly

Shudder.

Everyone present realized that this was a new form of horror literature, which was the first of its kind in history.

But how exactly it created a terrifying atmosphere is still unclear.

At this time, the door was opened,

Lu Shi stood there,

"Guys, what do you think?"

There was a silence at first in answer,

“……”

“……”

“……”

At this moment, a roaring whistle came from the window,

Dirt Dirt –

Obviously, the port of Calais has already appeared in the captain's field of vision,

The cruise ship is about to dock.

Lu Shi smiled and said, "Anyway, it seems that our discussion is going to end here." ”

As soon as the words fell,

"Nope! Please wait! ”

Verne interrupted: "Lu, is this one true or ...... I mean, does Cthulhu really exist in the world? Or is the protagonist already insane and all he writes is nonsense? ”

Lu Shi smiled dumbly,

"What's the difference between the two?"

"Ah......h

Verne depressed,

"How could I ask such a stupid question......"

Actually, the question is not stupid,

Because the original author, H· P. Lovecraft was frail and had night terrors since he was a child.

Moreover, the disease appears to be hereditary, as evidenced by his father's insane disorder when he was three years old, and his mother's perennial depression and hysteria.

So it's not wrong to think of a psychopath as a delusion.

Verne said: "Frankly, when I first read it, I did feel fear. But further on, that feeling became...... Not...... It's hard to describe, it's like a twisted, inexplicable incongruity. ”

Lu Shi opened his mouth, ready to explain.

Poincaré next to him was the first to speak,

"The reason is simple. In general, fear comes from the unknown; In Call of Cthulhu, the source of fear is the opposite. ”

The crowd nodded,

, the more the protagonist knows and digs, the more desperate he becomes.

It's like a writer who doesn't read book reviews at all and focuses on creating.

At this time, he did not hesitate.

But once he can't help but be curious and read the book review, he may become hesitant and be affected.

This logic is very different from previous horror works.

Poincaré spreads his hands,

"Of course, at the end of the day, it's still the fear of the unknown. If you know that you can kill Cthulhu with one shot, you are afraid of a hammer. ”

As soon as these words came out, everyone immediately burst into laughter.

Lu Shi saw that they were free to play, and he was also happy to be idle, so he didn't say more.

Verne continued: "In this way, the emotions that Lu transmits in this form of writing end not in fear, but in despair. ”

That's right,

Tentacles, eyes, maggots......

All of this is just a manifestation of Cthulhu.

The point is to express a kind of despair, and there is a fate that cannot be escaped.

This is also related to H· P. Lovecraft's disease.

Roland said: "Everyone, let's talk about how Professor Lu shapes fear, or rather, how he shapes despair. ”

Poincaré was the first to say: "First of all, there is cosmic fear. Cthulhu is one of the so-called 'Old Ones', who rule the universe. Human beings are nothing more than incidental creatures in the development of the universe, and in this system, human beings are weak and powerless, and can only be enslaved and destroyed. ”

Poincaré's gaze moved to the manuscript again,

He reads aloud:

“

'In my opinion, there is nothing more benevolent about this world than the inability of the human mind to comprehend its entirety......

”

Everyone else nodded their heads,

Someone chimed in: "Most people don't know anything about the fate of being dominated, and they don't know whether it's lucky or unlucky. ”

Roland chuckled,

"So, this book also has an anti-anthropocentric view of fate."

The scene was instantly silent.

Land Hours: ???

How is it that even anti-anthropocentrism has come out?

What does the master of love craftsmanship think?

Lu Shi coughed lightly,

"Mr. Roland, there's no need to overcomplicate it. That's it, it's not a textbook, what kind of big truth is it talking about......"

The words are not finished yet,

Dirt Dirt –

The whistle outside sounded again.

It turned out that before I knew it, the cruise ship had docked at Calais for twenty minutes.

If the French don't get off the ship, they will be sent to Portugal.

Lu Shi said: "Everyone, let's go!" ”

However, no one moved the nest.

They stubbornly clubbed there to finish the discussion.

Roland continues: "Isn't it anti-anthropocentrism that the protagonist as the narrator, from longing for the truth to panicking and fearing the truth, exposes the impact of the vastness of the universe on the insignificance of humanity? ”

Lu Shi: "......"

I'm not a master of craftsmanship, so don't explain it.

Perhaps, that's what people think~

Just because he doesn't speak doesn't mean the rest don't object.

Verne: "Humph! "With a bang,

"So according to you, Cthulhu needs to rely on the word of mouth of the swamp priests, 'In the mansion of Raleier, the sleeping Cthulhu waits for a dream' to be recognized, isn't that relying on humans?"

Roland shook his head,

"Don't you think your example proves my point?"

"Impossible!"

Verne did not admit that

"Absolutely impossible!"

The age difference between the two is huge, and they even had a dispute.

Lu Shi saw it in his eyes and felt that it was better not to participate in this inexplicable battle, so he retreated to the cabin and covered up the door again.

So, outside the door completely became the battlefield of those French people,

Because of the rise of Cthulhu, they didn't even hear the whistle of the ship leaving port.

(End of chapter)