Boundary Convention - Chapter 4 The Holy City of the Undead

diary excerpt

“Every sunset is getting closer to the last, but those people are still getting up and going to bed with the sun and the moon.”

The work and rest time in the hospital is very regular. Even if you want to stay up late, you will suffer from power outages and lights and have nothing to do. Over time, it also made me develop the habit of waking up naturally very early.

When I awoke, it was already daylight, and through the window came in the dreary, tasteless light of daytime. Strange room, strange bed, strange clock on the wall, everything here is strange.

I sat up, and the heavy quilt was very uncomfortable to cover, and the big red flower embroidery all over it made me feel a little shy for no reason.

This was probably the first time in my memory that I was woken up by an alarm clock or something other than hearing calluses on the radio.

The sound that woke me up came from the quilt, snoring, snoring, it sounded like snoring. I lowered my head and found a ‘flower’ on this ‘Dazzling Hundred Flowers’ quilt was somewhat unnaturally twisted, as if it was hiding something.

I stretched out my hand out of curiosity, and felt something rough. Almost at the same time, I felt a sharp pain from my fingertips. I retracted my hand. In contrast, I felt something like a spring. Jumped off my quilt.

“hiss……”

Holding my bleeding finger, I followed the sound of that thing in a panic—it turned out to be the chameleon. It sat down firmly on a chair. I remember it was called Newton, so it didn’t go with Mo Xiao yesterday?

The pain from the wound was unbearable. After living so peacefully in the hospital for so long, I vaguely felt as if I hadn’t been hurt in a long time. Thinking about it this way, in such a chaotic and noisy environment the night before, it is a miracle that I only suffered a few scratches.

“You’re not poisonous, are you?”

I stared at the shiny green lizard, and inexplicably uttered a question. Before the words fell, I already felt a little stupid, actually asking an animal… Isn’t this playing the piano with a cow? But Newton seemed to understand what I said, tilted his head and looked at me, then blinked at me, and nodded.

“Huh? You mean you are poisonous?”

It nodded again.

“Can you understand me?”

It’s still nodding… Could it just be nodding? Animals respond to sound, but that response doesn’t make sense…it has to be like this.

“You are ugly.”

In order to verify my idea, I spoke without thinking. It stared at me for a moment with those two huge eyes, and neither shook its head nor nodded. Instead, it popped its long tongue out of its mouth and tapped me on the forehead. The sudden blow knocked me off balance. , All of a sudden fell off the bed. The slightly restrained wound on the finger was shocked by the landing, and the blood couldn’t stop.

“Ah, it hurts…”

This little bastard seems to be gentle, but he didn’t expect his tongue to be so soft. Coupled with the sticky touch on his forehead, after thinking about it carefully, from the point of view that he is Mo Xiao’s pet, he seems to understand human language as well. Not surprising.

Why didn’t I think of this sooner? Haven’t had such a bad morning in a long time, hopefully it won’t be any more…

I stopped my own thoughts all of a sudden, I’m a veritable crow’s mouth, I can’t come up with such strange thoughts casually.

I barely got up from the ground, and the wound on my hand was still bleeding out. If this was in the hospital, I would just have to change my clothes now, turn left when I go out, and I can get the strict and gentle bandage by the beautiful lady nurse. Here… I don’t even know if there is an infirmary here, let alone a bandage.

“You bastard…”

I glared at the green beast, it was still lying on the stool and looked at me with that somewhat cheap expression, from this angle it still had a half-smile, which was very irritating. I raised my hand, wanting to punish this guilty reptile as the primate of all things, but before I could prop up my fingers, I suddenly remembered that this four-legged guy had an amazing backstage …just as the two-legged physicist had his dear college mentor Barrow. It depends on the owner to beat a lizard.

I sighed helplessly, and took back my raised hand.

Speaking of which, how is Mo Xiao doing now? Last night, when I was sent here by that big man, Mo Xiao was still in the room with that ‘God’, I don’t know what is going on with her now…

Before I knew it, I started to care about Mo Xiao. My relationship with her was only three days old. Although I followed her away in a daze, I don’t think we are friends… I don’t even trust her very much, but somehow I just kind of miss her. Is this the so-called ‘drawbridge effect’?

However, since I can live in a room with a bed and a ceiling painting, as the girl’s older sister, Mo Xiao shouldn’t be treated too badly. I think so.

‘Boom, boom, boom. ‘

At this moment, there was a gentle knock on the door, and it was very polite to only knock three times, which is a very particular way of knocking on the door.

I looked down at my attire, because I was sleeping on the bed in casual clothes, and now I was wrinkled all over my body. It was really not elegant, and it was not suitable for responding to such a polite visitor. But there is no other way, you have to open the door, right? So I simply patted my whole body, stepped forward and opened the door.

It was empty outside the door. I stood inside the door and looked outside for a while, but I still didn’t find anyone here. Am I hallucinating? I shook my head and closed the door. I remember it was mentioned in the lectures in the hospital that, in addition to some mental disorders and brain lesions, being too nervous can also induce auditory hallucinations.

During this period of time, the fright I suffered was comparable to the sum of the first half of my life. It is inevitable that this will be the case. Maybe I should get more sleep and rest. But before that, the wound needs to be treated. Speaking of which… Newton seems to say that it itself is poisonous.

‘Boom, boom, boom. ‘

There was another knock on the door behind him, which was slightly louder than the previous three knocks. This time I’m sure it’s not an auditory hallucination. So I turned around and opened the door again.

In the end, there was still nothing outside the door. Is this some kind of prank? I closed the door again with some displeasure. But then there was another knock on the door, this time much heavier than the last time, and it was no longer a gentleman’s way of knocking on the door, it was purely random knocking, knocking, maybe knocking down A little more appropriate.

I wanted to ignore it, but the loud slamming sound of the door was really annoying, so I had to open the door again with a very bad mood.

Sure enough, there was still no one outside this time, and I wanted to yell at the mischievous guy outside, but before I opened my mouth, I felt a sharp pain from my foot.

I looked down and saw a little man standing at my feet. He was wearing a sweater with a buttoned hood. From this angle, I couldn’t see the face hidden under his hat, but somehow I could see…or feel his big round eyes.

“Child?”

I blurted out involuntarily. This figure, no matter how you look at it, is really a child. He is not even as tall as my knees.

Hearing what I said, he pointed to himself very unhappy, and stood on tiptoe again, making a taller posture, which looked a bit like dumb… Although I don’t understand dumb, he probably meant… …

“You mean, you are not a child, but I am a child? My whole family is a child?”

The words sounded awkward when they came out of my mouth, but they seemed to be right. The little man nodded at me, then made a random gesture, pointing here and there, pointing from here to there, touching his stomach and mouth, imitating someone giving orders.

“Uh…you were sent to receive me? Take me to lunch now?” I tried to ask. “Don’t think about doing suspicious things, I’m a good fighter?”

The little man froze for a moment, gave me a thumbs up, and jumped up and down excitedly in front of me, as if I had done something extraordinary just now. Then he danced and made a hand gesture.

“No, it’s not that good.”

Listen… Seeing his kind words, I rubbed the back of my head a little embarrassedly. Am I the first person who can understand these dumb words so accurately? Although I think this body language is still very simple.

“By the way, you…”

Seeing him flattering me in nonsense, I suddenly wanted to ask him why he didn’t speak, but fortunately, he didn’t say so. There must be a reason for his reluctance to speak. Maybe it is unable to speak, congenitally deaf-mute or something, it is really not a good behavior to deliberately ask others such questions.

“May I have your name?”

So I changed the subject and asked a different question, only to realize in the next second that it was stupid. Since the other party can’t speak, how do you say your own name? This still hits someone’s sore spot.

It’s a pity, the words that were spoken and the water that was poured out, the little dwarf was stunned for a moment when he heard these words, and his whole body’s movements froze. I may have really hurt him.

Unexpectedly, he took out a small piece of paper from his pocket, offered it with both hands respectfully, and handed it to me. It’s almost like a seasoned office worker, with a perfect forty-five-degree bow. This made me bow involuntarily.

After receiving the piece of paper, it felt a bit like a piece of cardboard, but when I picked it up, it was really a piece of cardboard. Probably… Maybe, maybe, it should be a business card with crooked mysterious language written in colored pencils and imaginative patterns like children’s graffiti, but luckily the word ‘Reike’ is still legible, Although it is covered by the colorful surroundings.

“Rake…is that your name?”

The little man nodded.

“It’s a pretty good business card.”

Just when I was about to put the business card into my pocket, Lake patted my hand, beckoning me to return the business card to him, and then stretched out his leather-gloved fingers to make a ‘one’, as if Said there was only one piece of this thing. After taking the business card, he nodded himself with the business card and shook his head. Probably because he didn’t make this business card.

“Is that so, is it a gift from a friend?”

He didn’t deny it, but then motioned me to follow him, to take me to the cafeteria. I happened to be feeling a bit hungry too, but before I left, I remembered that there was a chameleon in my room.

I think I should take Newton with me, although he bit me, but if I don’t take good care of him, I have a strong premonition that Mo Xiao will punish me.

So I turned around and wanted to get it back, but found that this little thing had disappeared and disappeared from this room. Probably hid in the room, or ran out. But either way, I can’t be bothered to bother with it now.

So I took one last look at the one-night room and closed the door.

It must be snowing outside, I thought.

When Mo Xiao and I came, there was a large expanse of lifeless permafrost outside, and the terrifying temperature and scene were not incompatible with such things as squalls and snowstorms. But it was a little surprising that the cold could penetrate such thick walls and seep into the hallway. I brush lightly against the walls of this narrow hallway, and the temperature makes me feel like I just came out of the refrigerator.

[Don’t lick the wall. 】Lake told me with his gestures, 【It will freeze. 】

“Even if you don’t tell me, I won’t lick it.” I replied.

The walls here remind me of those very old buildings, not painted, not paneled, and obviously not wallpaper, this kind of original building built with large blocks of stone bricks has a special charm, It can relax the chaotic mind. Only people in the classical period built houses in this way. Both the Parthenon and the Duomo are great buildings. Some people will say that the Parthenon is a perfect building, but no one will say that the Duomo is perfect. Maybe the key to the problem lies in the bricks Bar.

As if to illuminate the ceiling here, all the lighting fixtures here are hung on the walls.

I looked up, and the ceiling was painted with colorful oil paintings, which reminded me of the ceiling paintings in the Sistine Chapel, but the colors of those ceiling paintings were brighter, but here it is more obvious Far colder and darker.

To be honest, I don’t think it’s a good idea to paint the painting on the ceiling. It’s tiring for people who paint it like this, and it’s also tiring for people who see it. I heard that when Michelangelo painted this world-famous masterpiece for the Pope, he complained to his friends countless times how tiring it was to paint on the ladder. And if you want to put such a painting on a small surface like the ceiling, it will look very uncomfortable to the eyes. After all, when people appreciate something, they will automatically ignore the details. If it is too detailed, it will make people feel uncomfortable. feel unhappy. It is said that Michelangelo deliberately cut off parts of the painting for the overall effect. It is conceivable how tired the Sistine ceiling painting looked at the beginning.

However, the zenith paintings here have improved almost all the mistakes made by Michelangelo. Like Sistine’s group of paintings, the zenith paintings here seem to be describing a story, but the pictures look much more comfortable and the scenery is clear at a glance. , There are not too many characters in each painting. Some of them seem to depict the story of the little God. She stands above the crowd and gestures three fingers, just like a Christ Jesus… Maybe it was painted after Jesus.

There is also a scene that seems to be a painting of her birth. Three guys in suits and leather shoes bowed their knees in front of another woman who was holding her. The prototype of this painting is probably the three wise men of the East who saw the birth of Jesus, but I don’t know why ‘Maria’s’ face was painted in black. Judging from the thickness of the paint, this black scar should have been added later…why do you do that?

While I was still wondering about the blacked-out ‘Madonna’, this series of stories came to an abrupt end. It seems that the painting just now is the starting point of the story. Lake took me to a stop in front of a door, which was very old and mottled like a product of the Middle Ages.

Rick stood on tiptoe, trying hard to reach the doorknob that was half his body taller, but after trying for a long time, he still came close. At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open from the inside.

Lake was slapped against the wall by the door like a fly. From the steaming room, an uncomfortable woman walked out. Her slender body was wrapped in an old dusty overcoat, and the lens on her nose made it difficult to see her expression clearly. Her face was messily wrapped with stained bandages, and a little exposed skin showed Unhealthy pale, even more sick.

She stared straight at me for a while, then suddenly came closer, and the loose orange hair almost fell on the tip of my nose. My face suddenly became a little hot.

“that……”

“It’s a face I’ve never seen before.”

I was about to speak when I was interrupted. While she was talking, she stroked my face with her slightly rough fingertips, and her warm breath lightly spit on my neck, making me itchy; but her voice was as hoarse as the sobbing of a dead person who is about to leave this world , It makes people feel a little cool in the heart.

“You… are unusual.”

After saying these unbelievable words, she withdrew her hand and took a step forward, knocking me to the other side of the corridor, and walked forward as if no one else was there.

I watched the back of that strange woman leaving, scratched my head, and was about to complain about something, but saw her right foot sprain——

“Oh!”

She exclaimed, her body suddenly lost her balance, and her whole body tilted to the side. Fortunately, she had sharp eyesight and quick hands, and supported the wall with her hands, but her oversized coat completely fell off due to the imbalance of her body, revealing some shoulders that were not wrapped by bandages, and her bloodless skin was very conspicuous.

“What are you looking at? Little pervert.”

She glared at me and covered her body with the dirty overcoat again. He seemed to think of something again, and said to me with a smile.

“By the way, my name is Belita Corvaire. Be sure to remember it well.”

Although she smiled, there was no trace of tenderness in her voice. After saying these words, she left again.

Just when I didn’t know what to do, Lake suddenly came out from behind the door. He hysterically expressed his dissatisfaction with his body, including some foul language.

I really wanted to ask him who that Belita was, but Rick just walked into the door angrily, and didn’t seem to hear me, so I had no choice but to give up and follow him into the door in a hurry.

Walking in the door, there is a hot breath coming, followed by chaotic noise. I have never been to the so-called vegetable market, and I don’t know what the word “lively” refers to, but I think it should be It is almost the same as the scene in front of me. I don’t know why, but in this environment, I become very craving for food.

Lake led me to the back of a short line with a few people. The people in front of me and Lake looked a little weird, all wearing inexplicable helmets or gas masks, and old bandages all over their bodies. , although they wore thick and tight clothes, obviously trying to cover up these bandages, but most of them were still visible at a glance.

At the end of the line, a young woman is in charge of cooking. She is wearing white canteen overalls and a triangular headscarf, with short reddish-brown hair scattered underneath. One eye seemed to be injured, but it couldn’t hide her beautiful face. Maybe it’s because I haven’t seen many women, but compared to Mo Xiao, I think she is quite cute.

Soon it was my turn to cook. In the past, I always faced the stinky face of that grumpy fat man in the hospital, but now I was at a loss for what to do with such a bright smile.

“Oh, new face.”

What was even more unexpected was that she actually took the initiative to talk to me. I was holding a somewhat greasy dinner plate, and I blushed all of a sudden. I didn’t know what to do or say, and the atmosphere suddenly fell into embarrassment.

“Uh… want something?”

Seeing that I hadn’t spoken for a long time, she smiled and asked.

Hearing her words, I hastily shifted my gaze from her face to the grid below.

But this doesn’t give me much comfort, because I don’t know any of the following dishes. It’s a mess of colors and things that look poisonous…and some suspicious creatures that have been fried…wait…what’s that? Gecko stew? Fortunately, I didn’t bring Newton with me. Although it should not be the same species as the gecko, they are both of the suborder Lizard… He shouldn’t feel a sense of crisis, right?

Finally, my eyes fell on a white mass that looked like potato or chickpea mash, so I pointed to the white mash.

“Ah, do you want ‘fragrant mud’? Okay.”

As she spoke, she dug a large piece with a spoon into my bowl, and poured me a little gecko soup.

“Anything else?”

“No…no need.”

As I said that, I hurriedly took back the dinner plate. Although I felt that only one dish was not enough, I was really embarrassed to stay here any longer. Just when I was about to leave, suddenly Lake grabbed my pant leg from behind. I looked back and saw that he was holding the plate on his head, trying to put the plate on the table with all his strength, but he was too short, and he might not have appeared in the sight of the girl who was cooking vegetables after jumping around for a long time .

The antics were so amused that I put down the plate and picked him up.

“Hey, isn’t this Little Lake? It’s rare for you to come to the cafeteria to eat.”

Rick danced around in my arms, pointing at the eyes and pumping his fists, looking aggressive.

“I come to the cafeteria every day, but you blind man can’t always see me!”

I tried to translate Rick’s words.

“Do you know how sad it is to go out of the cafeteria hungry!? Ah!”

I put my emotions into it, and repeated what Lake wanted to say empathetically, then I was taken aback for a moment, and then added immediately.

“Ah, that’s not what I said, it’s what this guy meant.”

“Haha… So that’s what you meant by dancing every time I cooked for you before… Sorry, I’ll get you more of your favorite food, please forgive me.”

Saying so, she dug two tablespoons of ‘fragrant mud’ into Lake’s plate, poured another spoonful of soup on it, and added some other dishes to Lake with an apologetic expression. Only then did Lake nodded in satisfaction, motioning for me to put him down. Then he hopped away with his full plate on his back.

“Huh, that guy really looks like a child.”

Seeing Lake bouncing around to find a place, I said involuntarily.

“You can’t say that.” The girl who served vegetables smiled at me. “He’s one of the elders of the ‘Eternal Dead’.”

“Elder…”

I murmured, looking at his short stature, it is hard to associate him with the word ‘senator’ anyway. It’s like I can’t connect Mo Xiao’s sister’s eccentric character with the word “God” no matter what.

“Did you just join us today?”

She seemed to see me in a daze, so she patted my shoulder with the handle of the spoon. I suddenly recovered from the seemingly easy-going atmosphere just now, and realized that I was talking to such a cute girl, so I blushed again. Although not as speechless as before.

“Forget it…forget it.” I grinned. “I did come here today.” Although not voluntarily.

“No wonder, I said why I haven’t seen you before, my name is Miu Ito, you can just call me Miu. What about you?”

“Waste… Wasteland.” I stammered. “Yes, yes, how do you know I’m a newcomer? Don’t most of you cover your face?”

As I spoke, I pointed to a passer-by. His face was tightly wrapped in bandages, as if he had suffered eighth-degree burns.

“That’s a strange question, and you’re not wearing a mask.”

“Say, that’s what you said, hehe…”

I scratched my head, at this moment, there were a few muffled coughing sounds from behind, I turned my head and glanced at it from the corner of my eye, and found that the line behind had grown up at some point. It seems that the chat with Ms. Miwa just now affected her work.

“Ah, sorry, it seems to be hindering your work, let’s talk again when we have a chance.”

Before the menacing-looking gas mask in the back can get angry, I pick up the dinner plate on the counter and run away. Subconsciously looking back, Miwa-san waved at me. Ah, what a friendly girl. Compared with someone who always has a stern face, there is a huge difference. Maybe this is the difference in education.

It didn’t take me long to find where Rick was sitting. Although there are many people in the cafeteria, it is strange that there are very few people sitting in the cafeteria. So I could easily spot Lake’s big head buried in the plate among the sparse seats, so I took a seat opposite him. Seeing me sitting down, he stopped eating like a gluttonous beast, and looked at me.

【Why are you so slow? ] he asked me with gestures.

“Not too slow.” I shrugged. “By the way, why are there so few people eating here?”

I looked around, and sure enough, the surrounding area was too empty.

“Obviously there are so many people cooking.”

[They all went back to their room for dinner. 】Lake spoke dumbly, and just walked out of the cafeteria with a lunch box.

“Go back to the room…why go back to the room, isn’t it convenient to eat in the cafeteria?”

[Because they don’t want to take the mask. 】

“Why?”

[Because it’s ugly. 】

“Ugly…” It sounded like a joke at first, but it was inexplicably convincing. Good-looking people don’t need to wear masks every day, do they? Just when I was struggling with this answer, Rick suddenly stood on a chair, leaned in front of me, and motioned me to look at him.

I saw him pick up a bean from his messy plate, put it in the palm of his hand, and then showed the bean over and over in front of me, as if he wanted to tell me that there was nothing wrong with this bean. Then he flipped his palm over and spread it out to me. And the bean has disappeared without a trace, only his greasy gloves are left.

“Is this magic?” I applauded lightly, out of politeness. This is not a very wonderful trick, and I know the mystery when I see it. When I was in the hospital, the people in the hospital seemed to have a grudge against magic. They often did “anti-superstition science popularization” in class, and magic was their main target of attack. As big as turning into a living person, as small as hiding a pigeon in a hat, every trick is clearly introduced, so clear that if there are props, even I can do these tricks.

Seeing that I didn’t seem particularly shocked, Lake seemed a little dissatisfied, so he stretched out a finger, waved at me, then picked up his plate, and dumped the leftovers on the ground, Totally wasted food like a kid. He picked up the round dinner plate, shook it in front of me again, and then disappeared the dinner plate that was about the size of his head right under my nose.

For a moment, I wondered if I had blinked just now. Such a large plate really disappeared all at once, leaving no time for people to react. I stared blankly at Lake for a long time, he spread his two small arms, as if he was provoking me.

“how did you do it?”

I clapped my hands again, this time from the bottom of my heart. Lake raised his head, beaming with joy, so he once again showed his great magic in front of me, and then he disappeared spoons, chopsticks, forks and an innocent fly in front of me one after another. Finally, he set his sights on my plate. Luckily, I was a little quicker than him, and I got the plate away before he dumped my untouched lunch on the floor.

“No, this won’t work.”

Hearing my words, Rick glared at me, seemed a little angry, but obediently sat back in his seat.

Now, I can finally eat something. Yesterday, I just ate a little bread on the plane, and my dinner was completely forgotten because of the unexpected situation. This is really a long-lost hot meal.

I picked up a spoon and took a bite of the ‘fragrant mud’. This white paste has a wonderful feeling to eat. It tastes like beef and tastes like chicken. It is very chewy and slightly sweet, but it has no meat. The peculiar fishy smell of the species. At first I thought it was bean paste from some kind of bean, but it clearly tasted like meat.

It’s the first time I’ve tasted something like this, and it tastes pretty good. However, I am not very used to eating. Firstly, it may be because I am eating in an unfamiliar environment. Secondly… I am a little uncomfortable with the noisy atmosphere here.

What is Mo Xiao eating now? I suddenly thought of. Really, why do I always worry about that poker-faced guy.

I looked around, looking for those who were still sitting in the cafeteria eating. Maybe Mo Xiao is here too, I thought so. But after looking around, he didn’t see the guy’s ponytail and white coat at all. Well, after all, she is the sister of the ‘God’, so she really wouldn’t eat in the cafeteria with mortals? I put down the spoon after thinking like this, and I didn’t really want to continue eating. I didn’t know if I was full or not in the mood.

I remember that Lake said that he was ordered to take me to the cafeteria for lunch. From another perspective, he may be the so-called ‘watcher’. I think I should still be in a state of ‘house arrest’, which is very clear from the fact that they separated me from Mo Xiao. But I don’t know anything about them. Mo Xiao led me into this place, and didn’t tell me anything… Although the people here seem to be very friendly, to be honest, I’m still somewhat flustered.

The number of people in the cafeteria gradually decreased. After Lake helped me solve what I couldn’t eat, there were only two of us left in the whole cafeteria.

“What should I do next?” I asked. “Should I go back to my room?”

Lake heard my question, rubbed his chin with his hands and thought for a while, then suddenly jumped off the chair. Then ran out of the cafeteria, waving at me while running. This probably meant that I should follow behind him. I put down the tableware, stood up and stretched, and followed him calmly.