Jon still looked dazed.
The colonel kept looking at his watch with a look of great impatience.
And in the next moment, a dull "creak" interrupted Punkville and attracted everyone's attention.
That was behind, the source of the shadow... the abandoned artillery tower, its locked heavy wooden door had actually slid inwards by itself just now.
What appeared before my eyes was a corridor covered with bright red carpet. There were candles lit every few meters in the corridor. The light was very weak and I could not see the scenery in the distance clearly.
The colonel was cheered up when he saw this, and without waiting for others, he stepped in first.
Then there was Baffou.
Next came Jon, who looked back anxiously from time to time.
"You stay here."
Hitzfeld gave orders to Daryl, who had remained silent, and followed the fat man who waved enthusiastically, becoming the last group to step through the gate.
--------
Hmm…there’s another chapter around dinner time.
Chapter 95: Art Exhibition (V) (Two in One)
There was no one pushing the door, and it closed again on its own. Hitzfeld felt his vision go dark for the first time, and it took about a second for it to return to normal.
Fortunately.
she thought to herself.
Because she was unwilling to over-transform her body, that is, to directly "grow" into Bena's appearance. If she used a mask, her disguise would still have flaws, which could be seen by those who were observant enough.
But the premise is that it is during the day, or in an environment with sufficient light. Fortunately, today is the seventh day of the week, and the night has not faded in the morning. Even if there is a mechanical sun providing lighting over Wayne, the light transmitted to the northern suburbs is very limited.
In addition, most of the people present had other things that they valued and cared about more, and no one paid too much attention to her appearance, which resulted in no one noticing anything unusual during the conversation outside just now.
But it is different in the exhibition hall, especially for this human-skin face, which only has a layer of translucent film with superimposed pigment on the left eye. This will cause her left and right eyes to be out of sync if you look closely, and there will be a risk of exposure if the light is too bright.
Hitzfeld had thought it through. If it really didn't work, she would find an opportunity to let down the left side of her hair.
But it's dark in there...even with the candles it's still dark.
Very good, it saves her from having to pay attention to controlling her facial expressions.
The footsteps echoed in the corridor, intermittently, and then began to fade at the first corner.
The person walking in front stopped?
Ah, is it because someone finally smelled it?
There's a faint fishy smell that's been there since I came in.
Hitzfeld turned her head to the side, because the damn fat man, Punkwell's body was a little too wide. The corridor of the earthen fort was more like a trench tunnel than a corridor. It was less than two meters high, narrower on both sides, and even bumpy underfoot. She could only see the scenery ahead through the gap by sticking her head out.
It was Flesius.
He was walking in the front and had stopped there. From here, he seemed to be in a daze, staring at something.
"Colonel?"
It was Baffou who spoke: "What are you doing?"
"It's such a strong smell of blood. Don't you realize that you are stepping on bones?" Flesius said, "The ghosts of Failan... The soldiers who guarded the earthen fort died here. Their flesh and blood are poured into the corridors and attics. They are integrated with the earthen fort. Legend has it that whenever the wind blows through the earthen fort from outside, bursts of sobbing will come from its cracks. Those are the dead souls wailing in it, lamenting their fate in life."
"Colonel...Oh! Colonel!" Bafo's smile froze a little. "This joke is not funny."
"Who told you I was joking?" Flesius didn't give him any face. "Don't believe it? You can pick up those candles and light up your own feet to see."
The others seemed to be stunned by these words, except Hitzfeld, who took full advantage of her subjective initiative, picked up a short white candle from the side, bent down and held it to the ground.
Her action undoubtedly caused the light and shadow to change. Punkville turned sideways, and the others also looked over here... and when they saw that the road under their feet was almost full of bloody bones, someone among them suddenly let out a hysterical scream of panic.
"This is not an art exhibition at all!" Jon held his head in his hands. "I want to get out... We should leave immediately!"
“In fact, this is the exhibition.”
Punkwell spoke to Jon in a calm tone, contrary to his mercenary attitude outside.
"Mr. Film, please recall whether your grandfather has talked to you recently about any topics that seem strange to you?"
"I don't know...!" Jon was obviously frightened. It was impossible for him to think about anything else at this time. "I don't know! I don't know!!"
He was undoubtedly the worst performer. Behind him, Bafo also picked up a candle to illuminate the ground and whispered, "These bones are still quite fresh."
It’s really fresh.
The skeletons of people who have died long ago are mostly pale, but many parts of the surface of these skeletons are covered with pink blood vessels, as if they had just been pulled out of the human body a few hours ago.
"What's going on?" Flesius frowned, and aimed his hawk-like eyes at Punkville. "Don't tell me this is also a so-called work of art."
"Not bad!"
Faced with his questioning, Punkville did not back down, but gave a positive response.
"Shocking? But this is the path of kingship."
"Everyone is repeating the cycle of destruction and rebirth, loyalty and betrayal on this road... everything is just for personal glory in the end. No one has ever really thought about the bottom, no one has ever thought about the people at the bottom!"
"So you think you are qualified, right?" Fresius smiled, "Or Dodge? Is he qualified?"
"Let's be clear here," he said in a deep voice, "I have to come here because of that secret, but that doesn't mean I support what you plan to do."
"You are well aware of this, right? If you do this now, what is the success rate? How many people will follow you? I think you are courting death."
[You seem to still be loyal to that fake monarchy, Colonel. But if I tell you that I did not lie in the letter, and the person sitting on the throne at this moment is not Xilu-Asfen-Sala, can you still continue to be loyal? ]
"Who?"
Flesius looked up.
"You don't want to be a good person but to become a ghost... Who is it? Come out!"
The voice really sounded like a ghost.
It was very floating, and the ending sound of each word would tremble, and most importantly, it seemed to be "blowing" from the end of the corridor.
It was like a breeze blowing through the hall, blowing into the ears of all the guests.
Hitzfeld recognized that it was probably the voice of a very old man, and she wondered if the voice might be that of the insane Count Dodge.
She hoped that Earl Dodge wasn't the only one here.
If, as she guessed, the purpose of this exhibition was to thoroughly convince all the guests and induce them to join this plan, then the person she was thinking of would definitely show up.
Yes... just like old Film was assigned the task of recruiting people before he died. These guys are also very anxious. They urgently need to get more recognition from the upper-class dignitaries and urgently need to sweep all these people into this wave.
And because the current royal power is still relatively stable, it is definitely unrealistic to expect normal people... especially those nobles who are smarter than monkeys, to devote themselves to this revolutionary cause because of some great principles.
Revolution... whose life is usually changed?
Only the lowest level of society, when they are forced into a state of despair and feel that "if you do it, you will die, and if you don't do it, you will die too", will they create such a huge wave.
It has always been bottom-up, and rarely initiated from the middle or upper levels.
For the powerful ministers, it is now a safe and comfortable place to live in Port Wein. Even those who are out of power or demoted can still live a normal life by relying on their connections.
Do you want these people to risk their lives and put their heads on the other side of the scale to work for you?
impossible.
Either you do it yourself, and when you are really about to succeed and really have hope of success, this group of people will jump out and cheer for your plan.
Or you can give them an offer they can't refuse from the beginning and tell them - if they follow me, they will definitely win.
And this is exactly the purpose of Hitzfeld sneaking into the exhibition in disguise.
It's no longer a reason to "witness it with my own eyes".
She had checked almost everything that needed to be checked, and she was absolutely sure that the facts were the same as she had calculated.
She came because she was strong enough.
Only a strong enough Aisuen Hitzfeld is suitable to be the final bait.
【It doesn’t matter who I am. 】
The voice floated out again.
[What's important is whether the justice you insist on is real justice... Colonel, you don't think that the ancient heroes who died here were willing to stay here, right?]
The colonel still had a cold expression on his face: "...Do you know more about the truth?"
【Of course I know. 】
The voice said.
[I can understand their wailing. These Failan undead told me that it was because someone deceived them - someone promised them repeatedly that as long as they held out for three days, reinforcements would arrive. That’s why they were willing to fight to the death here.]
【But what is the reality? 】
[The third day arrived, and they deceived themselves, thinking that King Torredo must have been delayed by something. Perhaps something unexpected had happened, and as long as they held on, they would surely be rescued by the army.]
[On the fourth and fifth days, they were struggling to hold on, but no one suspected that this was a scam. Everyone felt that as long as they waited a little longer, hope would come.]
[On the sixth and seventh days, some people fell to the ground due to lack of water and food, and even in this state they did not dare to close their eyes, because they were afraid that the moment they closed their eyes they would fall into a nightmare and be directly assimilated into the monsters outside.]
[On the eighth day they finally realized the cruel reality that there would never be any reinforcements.]
[Faylan... Faylan... As warriors recruited from the Cursed Ice Lake, they are a little too dangerous. ]
[They can go without food, water or sleep for three days, and everyone can see in the dark. I think for Torredo and the country called Sara that is about to be born, they don't need such crazy servants.]
Is this actually the case…?
The voice was so infectious that even Jon stopped trembling unconsciously and began to be immersed in that dark history.
Cursed Ice Lake...
Hitzfeld began to recall the entry.
She had vaguely heard of it. She had heard Xia say when they were sleeping in the same bed together that in the far north, farther north than the northern parish of Amiren and the ice crystal city of Orwater, if you go beyond that record and continue northward, you will reach the end of the world. That is the coldest place humans have ever set foot on.
There, boiling water would freeze if poured out, and hot air would turn into ice chips if exhaled. Only the most tenacious warriors and hunters could survive in such an environment, and they were also called warriors from the ice lake.
Faylan.
In ancient Sarai language, it actually means "ice lake"...
[Of course, I know that this alone is not enough. ]
The voice began to whisper again.
【I can give you the real reason to follow me. 】
[That’s her…]
【She is the justice we should pursue. 】
With a whoosh, the wind stopped.
Everyone, including Hitzfeld, clearly heard footsteps coming from the front of the corridor.
It's getting closer and closer.
Gradually, a slender shadow emerged in the darkness.
……
In the main hall of the White Shadow Palace, Alwyn sat on a high platform in gorgeous clothes.
The entire palace looked empty because the court meeting was cancelled today. The places on both sides where the ministers should have been standing were empty, with only a few tables placed there.
"Ha~~~"
The young queen looked a little listless. She yawned while waiting and looked like she would fall asleep at any moment.
Ruth-Annual stood beside the throne, and whenever Elwen wanted to lower her head, she would gently touch her arm, reminding her to at least maintain a proper sitting posture.
Although it is not a court meeting, the person you are about to meet is the Pope.
You are so unmannerly, Senar will definitely blame me for not disciplining you well.
Just as I was complaining in my heart, someone came hurriedly outside.
The person who came was Daken Senar, the guy she had been talking about just now. Seeing how relaxed he looked, it seemed that the cult’s internal affairs had been resolved?
