Together, Layton and his wife carried a sleepy "sacrifice" up the stairs, followed by their children.

"Remember to address that Excellency as your Excellency. When you see an adult, don't make a loud noise or look directly at you, as this will be seen as a provocation. ”

"Respect it as you did your grandfather, and behave humbly and respectfully."

"The orders it proposes, must be obeyed."

Dean lifted his feet and looked at each other with the three excited brothers and sisters, all of whom saw the apprehension in each other's eyes.

"Then it wants us to die on the spot, and we will kill ourselves?" Perron jokingly complained,

Layton and Shannon paused and glared at Perron sternly, "It's an ancestor, and it won't hurt the descendants, as long as you don't act so stupid and frivolous." ”

"I remember." Perron smiled stiffly and pressed his upper and lower lips, "I swear, if I talk nonsense, I'll sew this stinky mouth up." ”

"What does that adult look like?"

Christine slowed down, nervousness and anticipation on her beautiful face, "I'm afraid I'll be too surprised and rude." ”

"It maintains its basic human form." Layton's gaze swept over his four children, and he turned around, carrying the back of the "sacrifice" and retreating down the staircase that sloped up to the left, "But it's a natural hunter, and its size is both strength and agility, and explosiveness and intimidation, so it is not so beautiful. ”

That is, a monster?

Dean watched the progress of the survey in the system rising to ten percent and asked,

"Can we talk to the adults and ask a few small questions? Like where it came from? ”

Layton muttered,

"Don't ask questions, look at my face."

……

A group of six people went up to the second floor, through a dark hallway, and into a luxurious master bedroom.

Violet wood velvet bed, bedside table, wardrobe... The furniture of various colors presents a noble and lustrous purple color, engraved with intricate and delicate patterns, like a precious antique.

But Dean noticed a phenomenon again, and along the way, there was not a single window in the hallway that was ventilated and lighted.

The bedroom of Leighton and Shannon had glass windows, but they were nailed with planks and thick curtains to keep out the bright midday sun outside the house.

Only the ceiling, a dim electric light barely illuminates the bedroom.

Could this strange arrangement be due to the adult's special preferences, or weaknesses?

Dean remembered this detail.

The Laytons laid down their "offerings" and together lifted the large velvet bed, moved it outward, and then parted the lattice wall cloth behind the bed, revealing a swarthy stone door with two huge locks hanging from top to bottom.

"Click"

"Click"

The husband and wife each took out a key from their chests and unlocked it.

With a buzzing sound, the stone door was pushed open to the right.

A pitch-black corridor was exposed to everyone's eyes, as deep and dark as ink, the size of two people side by side, and a disgusting rancid stench gushed outward.

Like the open jaws of a Komodo dragon.

Dean and the three siblings couldn't help but frown and cover their noses.

They eat meat, but not carrion.

……

"Calm down, kids." Shannon somehow took out a candlestick with three white candles in it and lit them one by one, "It's just the rancid smell of 'food' and a little 'filth'." ”

"Filth?" Dean looked at her,

"It's similar to the smell of lions, tigers and other beasts used to mark their territory, and adults like to mark their bedrooms in this way."

"After crossing this threshold, don't talk, don't touch things, adults don't like daredevils... Now, come along. Shannon raised the candlestick and walked into the dark corridor, followed by Layton dragging the "sacrifice".

Then there was Hydson, Perron, looking around with a look of novelty.

Christine affectionately took one of Dean's arms in her arms, allowing him to fully feel the softness in her arms, and the wild and beautiful face rippled with soft light.

But Dean will never forget the scene where she drank blood.

Not my race.

……

Dean walked in at the end of the line.

The dim candlelight in front illuminated the old brick walls on both sides, and the walls were not empty.

A large number of frescoes were engraved with some kind of pale and bright red dye—

At the entrance is a rusty iron door that separates to the sides.

Behind the iron gate sits a cemetery.

Among the green grass stood a pile of graves, buried with white bones and decaying corpses, such as the gravestones carved with intricately illegible epitaphs.

Not far away, the sunset has just fallen into the horizon, weaving an eerie gray sunset in mid-air, covering the cemetery with a pale mist.

Gloomy and lonely.

It grew stronger and stronger, like a curse.

……

The light is getting brighter and brighter.

The mother used the candlesticks to light the torches on both sides of the corridor in turn.

Bright candlelight.

The landscape of the sunset cemetery on the mural progresses over time.

Day and night alternate.

The sun sets, night falls, and the tombstones on the ground disappear in the night.

And under the night, that is, the scene below the cemetery "surfaced"-

A tunnel that winds its way deep underground.

On both sides of the tunnel, every few steps, a fork is carved out, and in the fork there are pocket-sized rooms that are connected from end to end.

Looking from afar,

There are countless forks in the road,

Countless rooms.

It is like the infinitely branching branches of a large and luxuriant tree, and clusters of green leaves grow on the branches, forming a large-scale and complex underground kingdom.

Compared to the lonely and dead night on the ground, this underground kingdom is everywhere with a faint yellow light, which does not depict a single resident, but it makes people feel lively, vibrant, warm, and full of hope.

Dean was fascinated by this, and as the ascent progressed, a strange intuition rose in his heart that the cemetery in the mural and the vast underground kingdom were related to the origin of the adult.

……

There was a sound of footsteps ahead.

Dean looked up.

At the end of the corridor appeared a dark secret room, where the pungent stench in the air reached its climax, and he was in tears.

Shannon, carrying the candlestick, walked in and lit the oil lamps and torches around him, and the light came on, illuminating a circular room the size of an ordinary parlor, with no windows and closed walls and an oval dome.

……

Dean swept forward, his face stunned, his eyes shocked.

What kind of cave is this?

Splashes of blood and black-smelling excrement like asphalt stained the blue brick floor, round walls, and dome a dark red.

On the dark red floor, there was a dense 'carpet' of white bones, and Dean could recognize the bones of goats, pigs, cows, and even humans.

The environment here is simple, rough and primitive, like a nest of a terrifying beast built in a cave.

A stark contrast to the previous exquisite and luxurious bedrooms.

Deeper.

At the end of the carpet against the wall, piles of bones gathered into a "throne".

A humanoid creature was sitting upright, hands on its knees, eyes closed, and pretending to sleep.

The beating flames illuminated its human limbs, head, chest and abdomen.

It had only a rag covering key parts of its body, and large swaths of exposed skin were fiery red, like magma spilling out of the earth, freshly baked molten steel.

Its size is not too exaggerated compared to normal humans, it is more than two meters old, has a long arm span, thick thighs, broad shoulders and broad back, reminiscent of professional wrestlers.

But it's much more lethal than a wrestler –

Wrists, ankles, elbows, knees, shoulders and other joints all have sharp bone spurs sticking outward, slowly trembling with its regular breathing, flashing with a dark red light.

Its face, just looking at its rough features, is a rough man smeared with red paint.

just grew a strange red hair-

From the tips of the eyebrows, cheekbones, and side of the face, to the top of the head and the back of the head, it is covered with a red "braid" the thickness of a little finger and like a snake.

The braids hung back over their necks, slowly probing through the air like living creatures.

Reminiscent of the legendary Gorgon.

But it's clearly a male.

……

After Dean saw this monster, the progress of the investigation had increased to thirty percent.

Because of the uncanny valley effect, this human-like medusa is more terrifying and grotesque than the candle-melting Eater of the Dead.

And among the folklore stories that Tribeca told to Dean, there is no record of this guy.

Neither Wendigo nor Werewolf...

What kind of species is the ancestor of the hunters, the so-called gods?

Beside Dean, the three siblings standing side by side gasped as they watched the creatures on the throne also fall into a state of shock.

The secret room was frighteningly quiet.

……

Layton made a quiet gesture to his children, then carefully walked over the skeleton and excrement beneath his feet, dragging the "sacrifice" under the skull throne.

"My lord, I brought you food."

Leighton placed his right hand in front of his chest, his left hand drooping, and he bent over and bowed.

"These four young men are my unsuccessful sons and daughters, your juniors, Hydson, Perron, Christine, and Gru."

"They have always admired your lineage and great power, and want to ask you some questions."

Hmmm-

Two streaks of scarlet lightning flashed through the chamber, and the monster opened its eyes.

Predator-like almond-shaped vertical pupils swept across the four young faces, oppressive and penetrating, as if a glance had penetrated their hearts and souls.

"Don't be afraid, young man, I won't eat you."

The hoarse sound of a file echoed through the chamber.

It kept twitching its nose.

"We all have the talent of hunters, so we're companions."

Woohaha!

It burst into a maniac-like laugh that shook the snake-haired, rounded ceiling, and the pile of bones on the ground shook at the same time.

The four young men were startled, and their faces turned even paler.

And the gorgoned man stretched out his hand to lift the "sacrifice" upside down in front of him, his eyes and posture were like a butcher carrying a domestic animal upside down.

"It's just a bunch of meat."

Click.

It grinned and showed a jagged mouthful of yellow teeth, with some bright red strands of flesh remaining between the teeth.

It opened its mouth and bit it, tore off a piece of meat, and without chewing it, it swallowed greedily, and a satisfied smile appeared on its hideous face.

"The meat is tender and juicy, you have a heart. Would you like to have something together? ”

"This is a sacrifice for you." Shannon stepped forward and stepped out of the crowd, his face flushed, his eyes shining, and his adoration overflowing, "We've eaten before. ”

"So, young people, before I finish this meal, do not hesitate to ask any questions while I am still in a good mood."

As he spoke, the monster ate in front of everyone, stabbing and cutting with bone spurs at the joints, quickly and forcefully, without a trace of superfluous movements.

It has a good understanding of the body structure of animals, and expresses its cruelty as if it were an art of cutting, tearing at a roast chicken, and easily dismantling the sacrifice into countless pieces.

Fountain of blood slid down its reddened skin, soaked into the skull beneath it, and emerged from its black hole in its sockets and nostrils.

Although I had seen a terrible luncheon before.

This time Dean still felt intense discomfort and nausea, as well as anger.

But he could only remain calm.

The time has not yet come.

……

The opportunity is rare, Perron asked first under the encouraging eyes of his parents,

"My lord, how long have you been living in this secret room?"

"Two years. For the past two years, he has been living on the help of Leighton and Shannon. The gorgoned man looked at the two couples with a hint of gratitude, "Without them, I would have been crazy with hunger." ”

The Layton couples, who were named, blushed slightly, and had expressions of great honor.

"Did you leave the secret room and go outside?"

"I've always lived in it." It looked around with a satisfied expression, "This is my second home, I'm not going anywhere." ”

"But aren't you bored? The place was dark and smelly, not to mention televisions, not even radios, completely isolated from the outside world. Perron looked incredulous, "I can't stay for three days." ”

"Bored? The nature of life is boring, especially if it is too long. The gorgonk greedily licked the scraps off one of his leg bones, "Sleeping, eating, dreaming, flying and changing in dreams are all the pleasures of my life now." ”

"That's enough."

……

Dean put himself in his shoes and imagined that if he had allowed himself to live in such a place for two years, he would probably have committed suicide once.

The monster's idea is really different.

But it was lucky, it hadn't triggered the law of supernatural convergence for so long—Dean thought, hesitating.

Isn't it the effect of the supernatural convergence law that I came here?!

A wave of pride swelled up in my heart.

I'm the monster's curse!

……

"Leighton and Shannon say you are a god, are you omnipotent like a god?" Edson asked the second question, his falcon-like eyes sparkling, and his voice sincere and sincere, "Can you grant any wish?" ”

"No, that's." It randomly snapped a fleshy bone, stuck out its barbed tongue, licked the flesh, and sucked the marrow from the crack, "I don't know magic, not even the simplest magic tricks." I'm just faster and stronger than the average person. ”

"But that's normal."

It said in a condescending tone,

"We are hunters, we are lions, and all other animals are prey."

"It is the way of nature that lions are stronger than their prey."

Dean glanced at the system, and the progress of the investigation had reached forty percent, and it was still climbing rapidly.

"So how many years have you lived? Are you really our ancestor? Christine suppressed her fear and put on a look of adoration, "You and our grandparents were united to give birth to our parents?" ”

"How long have you lived?" The snake-haired man's dagger-like thick nails scratched his smooth chin, and his tone inadvertently revealed a hint of vicissitudes, "More than a hundred years." ”

More than 100 years?

Dean took a closer look at its beautiful tendons and flesh and its peculiar countenance, without a trace of wrinkles.

It's not an exaggeration to say that he's in his thirties.

What kind of power can keep this monster young and energetic at the age of 100?

Complete this event.

Is it possible to inherit the longevity of this pervert?

The gorgonk had no idea that there was a young man who was playing with his own ideas.

"I have not had any reproduction with your ancestors, and you are not my direct blood descendants."

"Leighton and Shannon call me ancestors simply because I come from the same homeland as you and the source of your bloodline."

A bone was thrown into the pile, and a trace of sadness and melancholy shot out of its cruel almond eyes.

"Hometown?"

The four young men looked blank.

Layton and Shannon smiled with a smile of longing.

"Where exactly is your hometown?" Dean finally spoke, and it was clearly a heavyweight question that left the gorgonel in a long state of thought.

After a while, it patted its slightly bulging belly, tilted its head, and said, "Have you heard of Midian? ”

Midian?

Dean frowned and pondered, making sure he had never heard the term anywhere.

The medusa turned his gaze back to the other young men, but all of them grimaced.

It shook its head regretfully, and said in a tone with a distinctive rhythm,

"I come from Midian, where all kinds of monsters live, which take away pain, take away greedy appetites, and bring us true freedom. It is the resting place of our souls. ”

Multiple monsters live in one place?

Di's head jumped wildly——

Doesn't this trigger the law of supernatural convergence?

The progress of the survey jumped to 50 percent.

Dean thought of the murals he had seen along the way, and spoke tentatively,

"Is the Midianite you mentioned a necropolis with a vast underground kingdom?"

"The young man is so quick-witted and observant," the gorgoned man exclaimed, "you saw what I did when I was bored?" ”

"Hmm. Are these murals created when you miss your hometown? ”

"That's right."

Beside him, the Leighton family could no longer interject, and could only obediently listen to Dean and the exchange with their ancestors.

"If you can paint it so vividly, it means that you still remember the location of your hometown. Why not go back? Dean looked at the gorgon, "Instead, they've been living in this dark secret room. ”

"Go back, haha, go back?" The huge figure sitting on the throne of bones suddenly closed its eyes,

"You think I don't want to go back?"

"I am a street boy who has violated the iron laws of Midian, and has been exiled. Unless it calls me, I will never return. ”

"What iron law?" Layton suddenly interjected curiously, he had been with this ancestor for two years, but because of respect and fear that went deep into the bone marrow, he never dared to take the initiative to ask,

The gorgonk smiled at him, but didn't answer.

"Can you tell me the exact location of Midian?" Dean stepped over a puddle of black excrement on the ground, boldly took a step closer to it, and looked at it earnestly, "Maybe I can visit that place and ask for forgiveness for you." ”

In an instant, the three young people in Christine behind them all held their breath, they didn't expect this youngest brother to be so bold, not only looking directly into the eyes of the ancestors, but also making outrageous requests!

……

"I can't." The gorgonk stood up from the pile of bones, the light enveloping his massive body, casting a black shadow like a hill in front of him, and the unfathomable words rang out, "If you are worthy, you are a chosen 'monster', and Midian's will call you in her dreams." ”

"Otherwise, you'll only sleep forever when you get to that place."

……

"Alright, everyone, that's the end of the question session, let's all leave, I'm going to take a nap." The gorgonk yawned as he kicked a newborn skeleton to pieces.

With their right hands on their chests and their left hands drooping, Leighton and Shannon bowed to it, stepped back, and winked at their sons and daughters for them to step back together.

"Dear sir, I have one last question." Dean interrupted their plans, "We, including the Great Excellency, a whole bunch of titles, gourmets, hunters... According to me, these titles are not dignified and representative. ”

Dean asked eagerly,

"There is no universal name?"

"In my hometown, in Midian, what do we call ourselves monsters?"

The snake-haired man's originally lazy demeanor changed abruptly, like a predator awakened from sleep, and in the blink of his eyes, a fierce aura rushed to his face.

Dean shuddered.

The surrounding family members were worried about the break, but they didn't dare to speak up.

Five seconds of stalemate passed.

The gorgony suddenly smiled meaningfully at him, and the tense atmosphere relaxed,

"Gru, not only are you the strongest member of the Stone family, but you also ask the most profound and to the point. If you can be summoned into Midian, you may be able to make a name for yourself. ”

"Now I'll tell you the answer, remember—"

Suddenly it turned its back to the people,

"In Midian, we are monsters from the day we are born, both in our skin and in our souls."

"This society has always rejected us, so we can't appear in our true form to human beings, in the sun, in a bustling metropolis or on the streets of a city."

"Secret rooms, in the countryside, in the countryside, in cemeteries... The dark and remote corners are where we are. ”

"We are rejuvenated when darkness falls and humanity begins to rest."

Its eyes lit up with a breathtaking light, and it proudly proclaimed, like a king,

"So we, all the monsters that are not tolerated by the world, are nocturnal!"

(End of chapter)