Lord of Mysteries: Yao Guang

Esther sat on the public carriage and slowly headed towards the dock area through the East District. She was not in a hurry. She just found a busier street and jumped off the carriage and went into a cafe and bought a cup as usual. Newspaper, flipping through it casually.

This time she planned to go to the window to ask about the prices of ferry tickets in various places and compare them side by side. Although if she just asked if she didn't buy, she would definitely get looked down upon, but Esther wouldn't take it to heart.

It was getting late, and the atmosphere of the New Year holiday made Esther feel a little lazy, so she didn't have much motivation to play and make money. She did consider changing to another instrument, but because the harmonica was easy to carry and it would take a lot of time to learn a new instrument, Esther gave up the plan to expand her business.

But when I go to other places, maybe I can learn something else. The accordion feels good too...

Ordering hot cocoa and toasted waffles, Esther whiled away her lunch reading the newspapers for news that might have something to do with the war. Disi Bay is not a dangerous national border. As a winter resort, she even saw two related travel advertisements that strongly recommended several local hotels.

The Kingdom of Feneport is also very peaceful. At least there seems to be no sign of war in the past few years. After all, Loen's strong national power is on the table. In order to develop themselves, most countries choose superficial peace and place their disputes on the sea or in the colonial areas of the southern continent, far away from their own lands.

Esther is not proficient in politics, but at least she can understand the general situation. If this situation does not undergo huge changes, no one will break it in a short time.

"Have a happy birthday. This is good, but where would it be better to go..."

Esther was thinking about this issue and was looking forward to her trip away from Backlund. Of course, she was even more looking forward to spending the New Year with Klein. She planned to go to a cheap grocery store this afternoon, buy some red paper and a quill pen, and write the word "福" herself to see the effect.

But if you really can't do it, just make two peace knots honestly, she is pretty good at that.

Thinking of this, Esther couldn't help but smile again. She glanced out the window and happened to see the black crow on the lamppost. Its black eyes met hers through the glass showcase.

Xiaoqi turned his head and stared at Esther, as if he was no different from other corvids observing human behavior, except that there was always a humanized joke in his eyes.

Should I buy a bigger backpack then? So Xiao Qi can be stuffed directly inside, so that it is always conspicuous even if it is hidden under the cloak. During the New Year, he could get to know Klein, and he could finally confess some of his secrets to his fellow villagers.

I don’t know if Klein will be taken aback, it’s so exciting.

Esther's smile deepened, and she cut off another piece of pancake and put it in her mouth.

If it weren't for the strange behavior that would arouse others, she would probably hum a song leisurely. The gloomy sky would not affect Esther's good mood full of expectations for the future at all.

She was still thinking about whether to wait until the New Year to bring some potatoes and go to Klein's house to make dumplings stuffed with mashed potatoes as a substitute for taro stuffing.

The process will definitely be interesting, and whether it tastes good or not is not that important.

——

Esther's "spiritual intuition" was suddenly touched, and she looked up at the sky.

There were several red fireballs that were rapidly enlarging in the distance. Although the impact point was not here according to the visual distance, they would still hit near Backlund.

Meteorite falling from the sky? Is this reasonable?

Esther's eyes gradually widened, and she subconsciously ran two steps in the direction of the falling meteorite. After realizing that the landing point was quite far away, she immediately stopped this stupid move, but the restlessness in her heart almost reached To the extreme.

Xiao Qi flew down from the top of the house and landed on Esther's shoulders: "Something's wrong, we'd better leave the East District quickly."

Esther quickened her pace. She did not waste time looking for a public carriage or a rental carriage. Instead, she ran towards the steam subway station three streets away. The shock caused by the meteorite made her back shiver. Even this The chill did not dissipate as the meteorite left sight.

Being on the ground did not give Esther any sense of security, and her heartbeat gradually accelerated due to nervousness and running.

Xiao Qi was very trouble-free. His claws were firmly clasped on Esther's shoulders, and he even lowered his body to reduce air resistance and prevent himself from falling: "Do you really have to stay in Backlund?"

"I know, I know the feeling of danger is getting more and more obvious, but I have made an appointment to spend the New Year with someone!"

Esther cursed in her heart unwillingly. No matter who made trouble during the New Year, she would curse them!

If it weren't for Esther running all the time, Xiao Qibao wouldn't have whispered in her ears: "I really don't understand what you are still obsessed with at this time."

"I also hate this kind of unexpected situation! I can't let people spend the New Year with peace of mind——"

Esther's forward steps suddenly stopped, her body suddenly leaned forward, and the inertia shook Xiao Qi off her shoulder. The crow fluttered its wings and flew up, finally not falling directly to the ground.

"What's wrong!?"

Xiao Qi looked around the street alertly, but except for two homeless people hiding in boxes to take shelter from the wind and a few ordinary passers-by walking in a hurry, there was nothing unusual.

"Didn't you hear? There was a sound."

Esther's body trembled. The sound was familiar to her and panicked her. She tried to cover her ears to make the sound amplified and clear, but soon, she realized that it was in vain and moved her palms to her forehead. .

The sound did not come from hearing, but from the depths of my mind.

Someone is praying.

The child's voice has not yet reached the stage of changing its voice. It is a boy in his early teens. He is calling in a different tone than usual. He calls one after another. It is not as jumpy and energetic as usual, and it does not say "Hamel". Anger when angry.

The voice was full of despair. He was crying, praying for help from the "harmonica elf" in his mind, and seeking help from the "smooth-faced female thief" in the news.

Esther didn't expect that Rabbit's help would come so quickly, and it wasn't even something that could be solved casually by consuming the light spots contained in those few hairs. She didn't understand what kind of crisis Rabbit had encountered, but she could still sense the general situation of the other party. Location.

Because of this heartfelt prayer, an invisible connection pulled Esther's perception and guided her in the direction of the victim.

This is the place she wants to stay away from all the time.

"Xiao Qi, let's go."

Esther dropped these words and didn't care about Xiao Qi's reaction. She rushed towards the street she just walked through at a faster speed, which was in the direction of the center of the East District.

The crow's eyes were dark and uncertain. It circled and flew up into the sky, taking in the strange discoloration of the haze in the distance. The deep yellow was like quicksand, which was constantly swallowing up the breath of all living things. The mixed darkness was like a poisonous knife, cutting off The last breath of life.

"Such a large-scale plague...is it a witch?"

Xiao Qi narrowed her eyes and landed on the fence outside a window, staring at Esther's back. She ran resolutely toward the direction of the thick fog, not knowing what kind of muddy water she was about to step into.

"idiot."

——

Minutes ago, deep in the East End.

"Hey, rabbit, look over there." Another young boy with messy black hair nudged his companion with his elbow.

The rabbit raised his head and looked in the direction he pointed. He saw a gray-haired man holding a paper bag and hurrying to the next street.

"Old Kohler? That paper bag seems to be from the butcher's shop. He's been doing well recently." Rabbit sat on a pile of broken boards with his arms folded, playing with a few wires in his hands boredly, twisting them into the shape of branches. .

"Would you like to go..." The black-haired boy raised two fingers and made a "picking" motion. "He has money to buy meat. I guess he doesn't mind sharing some with us?"

"You have to go by yourself, I'm not interested." Rabbit said listlessly.

The black-haired boy punched the rabbit in annoyance: "What's happened to you in the past two days? You've been stinking all day long, as if someone has messed with you."

"I'm in a bad mood, do you want you to take care of me?"

"But we have to eat! The harmonica elf doesn't come every day. You should do some business with me, otherwise we won't even be able to eat in the New Year!"

The rabbit punched the black-haired boy on the head and shouted angrily: "She's not coming!"

The black-haired boy rubbed the back of his head vigorously: "Hey! Did you hit him too hard?"

The rabbit lowered his head and repeated again in a low voice: "She won't come."

The black-haired boy gradually put down his hand: "That's why you are like this... Bah, she won't come if she doesn't come. We haven't met her before, so we still live like this! There's no difference!"

Although he said this, the black-haired boy's expression was much gloomier. After shouting these two words, he coughed softly, and his throat seemed to be itchy due to dryness.

Rabbit kicked the empty wine bottle next to him: "'Hamel' has many secrets. I knew she wouldn't stay long, but I didn't expect she would leave so soon..."

The black-haired boy shook his head vigorously, cleared his throat again, and felt better before speaking: "We have told you several times, but you don't listen and always pester her."

"She is indeed very kind, and I really like the music she plays. It is like magic and can soothe people." Rabbit made a gesture of playing a harmonica with his hand.

The black-haired boy laughed disdainfully: "Hahaha... Ahem, do you still want her to take you away? This is really unlike you."

Rabbit raised his leg and kicked the black-haired boy lightly: "I'm not that stupid!"

But what Rabbit didn't expect was that the black-haired boy fell down directly under this kick. Rabbit was stunned, then jumped up from the broken board in panic, rushed to the black-haired boy and helped him up.

"Wait! What's wrong with you!? Jayne! Don't scare me!"

The black-haired boy coughed violently, his face turned red quickly, and the instinct of panting seemed to make him even more painful. He couldn't say a word at all, but weakly pushed the rabbit's arm, and the coughing became more and more violent.

Rabbit became even more anxious. He tried to help the black-haired boy up from the ground, but his friend suddenly let out a retching sound, and the spit was stained with blood.

Rabbit finally heard the faint words coming from his friend's mouth while he kept coughing:

"Run...cough cough cough! Run quickly..."

The rabbit looked up in horror.

Above them, the gloomy sky was filled with yellow and black, like a spreading spider web, preying on the lives of the residents here.