The days of being a spiritual mentor in Meiman

On a windless cold night in Gotham, the air around the cathedral seemed to be condensed into a piece of transparent ice. The cold moonlight projected onto the statue of Jesus from the top window, dragging out a long cross shape on the cold-colored floor tiles.

In the middle of the cross is a huge crack in the floor of the old church. The crack is like an abyss, splitting the shadow of the crucified Jesus.

There was a faint light coming from the crack, as if something was floating faintly underneath, and in the two directions where the cross pointed on the ground, there were two different figures.

Batman on the left has a serious face and tense muscles. Although he still stands upright, he can see that he is ready to go.

Standing opposite him was Evans. He was half-kneeling on the ground, his head lowered. Under the dim moonlight, his expression could not be seen clearly.

In mid-air, gauze-like clouds drifted across the moon, and the moonlight projected from the window became brighter and darker like plucked piano strings.

A shadow covered Batman's body, and in the eyes exposed between his mask, the blue pupil patterns turned into hands of different lengths. As the moonlight dimmed again, the hour hand went back half a circle, and everything returned to ten. hours ago.

Cobot stood in front of the cabinet in the old house, watching his mother dig out a lot of dusty old things. Cobot walked up to his mother, trying to grab her arm and help her stand up.

Mrs. Cobot waved her arm and pushed her son away. Cobot was helpless and asked, Mom, what are you looking for? We have already rummaged through all the cabinets at home.

Behind Cobot was debris on the floor. Not only the center of the living room, but also the door of the bedroom was piled with all kinds of rags.

I'm looking for an umbrella, looking for an umbrella! It's raining, I need an umbrella...

Cobot took the umbrella from the chair next to him and handed it to her mother, but Mrs. Cobot seemed not to notice and continued to go to the bottom cabinet to rummage through things.

From dusk to dawn, from dawn to dusk, it was not until Mrs. Cobot was exhausted and went back to rest that Cobot had time to pack up these old things.

In recent days, Mrs. Copot's condition has improved and she is no longer so aggressive. However, she has begun to become more and more weird. She has to dig out the debris in the house every day. Copot cannot stop it. She could only clean up after her.

He half-knelt on the ground, supporting his body with one knee, and then picked up the sundries around him and put them back in the cabinet.

This cabinet under the bookshelf contains mostly old Copot's collection, such as picture frames and candlesticks. These items are not valuable, but when Mrs. Copot is awake, she will take them out and wipe them in memory of Copot. Potter's father.

Cobot wanted to put the last picture frame back on the upper level of the cabinet, but when he put it in, he found that something was blocking it, preventing the picture frame from being completely put in, and the cabinet door could not be closed.

Cocopot thought that the things he put in before were misaligned, so he reached in and tried to straighten the things, but he found that there was something like an envelope deep in the cabinet.

Cobot took out the envelope and found that there was a lot of dust on the back of it. With the faint light of the living room, he used his fingers to spread the dust on it and found a line of beautiful cursive text: Cobot Sincerely...

Cobot frowned. He was sure that he had never received such a letter, and no one would send such a solemn letter to a poor and down-to-earth boy.

This envelope is made of very fine Dowling paper. The English writing on it is clear and there is no trace of ink smearing.

Cobot turned the letter to the front and found that the wax seal on it had been opened. The seal on the wax seal looked familiar to Cobot.

When he opened the envelope and took out the letter inside, he saw a familiar signature: Carmine Falcone.

This is an invitation letter from the old godfather.

The text above was very brief, it was an invitation to Copot to attend a funeral. The person who wrote the letter was Carmine Falcone, and the funeral was held at Gotham Cathedral.

Cobot glanced at the invitation letter up and down. He found that it was indeed the handwriting of the old godfather, but something special was that under the text of the funeral invitation letter, there was a line of small words: Please be there, otherwise I will personally Say hello to you.

Cobot's eyes were fascinated. He had not forgotten that his father died attending the funeral of his godfather's eldest son in the rain.

But this invitation made him feel very strange.

It is rare for someone to write such a formal invitation letter for a funeral, let alone if the person writing the letter is the biological father of the deceased.

Cobot had seen the old godfather's handwriting, and he could tell that on this invitation, Falcone's handwriting was very steady and smooth, not like an old man who had just lost his eldest son.

And that line of small print makes people even more confused. It is a complete threat. How can anyone force others to attend a funeral?

Cobot still vaguely remembered that the day after his father came back from the funeral, he developed a high fever. He was so hot all over and so groggy that he lay in bed and couldn't even speak a complete sentence.

The doctor said it was pneumonia, but he died before he could be sent to the hospital. Cobot did not get any last words from his father, so he naturally did not know the circumstances of the funeral he attended.

But this invitation made Copot full of doubts.

He recalled his communication with Evans. Cobot was a person who was very good at using words to impress people and then obtain information. During the communication with Evans, he also asked about the mysterious eldest son of the godfather, but he didn't. Get any useful information from Evans.

Cobot squatted in front of the cabinet and began to make calculations. Based on the existing information, Evans should have been born before Albertos died. Although the age difference between the two of them was not clear, Alberto He and Evans should have lived together for a while.

But what puzzles Copot is that Evans's description of his brother is always very abstract, and there are many contradictions. For example, he once mentioned that Alberto was a very hard-working and motivated person, and also had a very good character. A genius with extraordinary talents, he was simply a natural successor, but he always said that Alberto was frustrated because he could not complete the mission of the godfather. In Evans' description, the most mentioned thing was the relationship between Alberto and the godfather. quarrel.

The invitation accidentally discovered at home made Coppert suspicious of his father's death. With this doubt, when he returned to the ward of Arkham Psychiatric Hospital, he began to deal with his daily life. During the chat, Evans was guided to recall more information.

Last time you said you wanted to join the college basketball team. You must have been playing basketball since you were a child, right? Seriously...

Cobot lay on the hospital bed, changed his posture, and said in a longing tone: I envy your family with many children. Brothers are natural playmates. The pair of brothers who live on the corner of my street are like this. I can often I saw them playing football in the alley, your brother must have played basketball with you, right?

He... Evans subconsciously wanted to answer, but as if the words were on his lips, he stopped again. Evans sat on the edge of the bed, stunned, and Cobot asked him: What's wrong with you?

No, it's nothing... Evans shook his head and said, It's just that I can't remember clearly. I clearly remember that my brother and I have a very good relationship. We should have played together, but when I think about it carefully, I think Nothing to do.

I'm sorry, I was a little presumptuous. Yesterday I found an invitation letter at home. It was my godfather inviting my father to attend your brother's funeral. You should have attended your brother's funeral too, right?

Funeral? Evans muttered the word, then sat on the edge of the bed in a daze, without answering. After a long while, he said: I seem... sorry, but my childhood memory is not clear. I don’t remember what happened at that time.”

Evans sighed and said: I have been in a bad mood recently and often have dreams. Maybe this has also affected my memory.

The church in Gotham is temporarily inaccessible, and I can't go to pray. This makes me feel irritable. I haven't seen the old priest for a long time. I usually like to talk to him.

Evans looked sad, and Cobblet said to him, Would you like to try writing to him?

Evans shook his head and said: The cathedral in Gotham is very badly damaged. There is a big hole in the ground. It will take a long time to repair, and the construction is a bit dangerous. The old priest moved away from there. I don't know what he is now. residence.”

But you are the godfather's son. If someone asks someone to find out, they should be able to find out, right?

Evans thought for a while and said: Actually, I don't really want to disturb the priest. After all, he has a rare holiday.

But on such an important holiday as Easter, he can't preach to the believers in the church, so he should feel lonely, right? If you two had a good relationship before, you might as well go and accompany him.

Evans thought for a while and said, What you said makes sense. I'll let someone look for him. If he can be found, I can also invite him to Falcone Manor for Easter.

Your relationship with your godfather...

Actually, it's not as bad as you think. Evans sighed slightly and said, The godfather is not worried about my ambition, he is more worried about my lack of ambition.

But I don't know why, when I face him, especially when I have a serious discussion with him, I always feel impatient. I seem to desperately want to say something to him, but I can't. .”

When facing him, I always act very extreme. Obviously I am not like this when I get along with classmates and teachers.

Before I was admitted to the hospital, the situation became more and more serious. Several times, we almost quarreled. I suspected that I might have a psychological problem, so I went to see Professor Schiller.

So, you came here?

Evans nodded, and then said: Now it seems that I may not be sick, I just think too much and have poor emotional control.

If medical methods can't resolve your emotions, you can also try to turn to faith. Cobot said to Evans: Although I don't believe in God, but if you are a devout believer, then maybe everything will work out. How about getting better on Easter?

hope so.

As the moonlight outside the window became darker, Cobot heard Evans praying in a low voice. The sound echoed in the empty ward, making people drowsy.