Chapter 18 THE SECRET OF EL DORADO

In the early morning of the next day, Mercy Taro had turned into a cold corpse.In the same place as Hengzang's chest, there is a shining dagger stuck in it. That afternoon Flora stood dejectedly on the tip of the headland, thinking of the dead wrapped in ice.Its scene is like the cemetery outside the village, shrouded in loneliness. At this time, she felt a strong fear of her own fate and sin in her heart that she had never had before.She had been seized by an impossibly persistent hand hidden in the mist. Wasn't it the father's arm that was clearly visible and reflected in the pupils last night?

And if it was the same with the eye reflected in the Yokozo mirror at the beginning—Flora began to ask and answer herself incredulously. The reason for this is because she inadvertently remembered that the mirror at that time was an old tin mirror. Because the original tin mirror is a kind of mirror made by coating tin on the glass and then pressing mercury into it, so the reflection of the mirror surface is not complete, especially after a long time, it will become completely dull. .In this way, the problem lies in the mirror placed behind Hengzang at that time. If the angle at that time was parallel to the light, then the mercury would naturally look dark.And Yokozo's eyes, seen from the front, may not necessarily look dark and sunken.

And the father's hand that appeared on Mercy Taro's shoulder seemed to be an illusion as well. The reason for saying this is because if you put a yellow waveform on a white base plate and then cover it with gauze, when you remove it, the afterimage will appear on the white base instead, looking like a black mess. In addition, there is also the possibility of light deflection.At that time, the fingertip was festered, and it looked like his father's hand. If the veil was lifted, wouldn't there be nothing to make a fuss about? Although Flora racked her brains and finally established a hypothesis, the father's arm that appeared last night could not be explained in any way.

She lost all her youth overnight, and only felt a heavy burden of sin on her shoulders.Finally, she made up her mind to tell Hongqin everything, willing to accept her punishment. "That's the way it is. Ma'am, I'm a sinful person who doesn't even deserve to mention the name of Lord Christ, neither Yokozo nor Mercy Taro--although it's all caused by that sickness on board the Aleutian--in fact , I mixed arsenic in the wick of the candle. And the rising arsenic vapor has shortened the lives of many people. I think you should have noticed that it is the blue flame that appears from time to time. Therefore, whoever did it , No matter how hard you try to change your mind and draw the sign of the cross, you can't get rid of that uneasiness and sorrow. Madame, please deal with me as you like..."

After finishing speaking, Flora was suddenly discouraged as if she had vomited out all the filth in her heart. However, there was no surprise on Hongqin's face, she just stared blankly at the light reflected by the sun on the stone wall. After a while, she urged Flora to leave the stone city and walked into the back mountain. On the top of the back mountain is a lead-colored frozen tundra swamp. There were some dewy, nameless plants growing in low knots, and from the distant beach, there were gusts of salty sea breeze and the smell of seaweed.Hongqin's face looked full of life under the setting sun that was about to start the white night.

She quietly uttered an incredible word to Flora: "Your sigh will die when the dew on the tip of the leaf reflects your face. I can't bear to see you alone and heartbroken. Now that you have gone to the cross, even Christ himself can no longer blame your sin." At this time, a miracle that cannot happen in the world appeared before Flora's eyes. As her eyes gradually adjusted to the dimness around her, her gaze fell to a certain point and she could no longer look away. It was reflected on the dewdrops on the tip of the leaves, and the back light that illuminated the top of my head brilliantly, this beam of light covered an inch or so of space from the neck to the shoulders with a translucent and pale light.

Heavy teardrops, like broken beads, kept sliding down the cheeks.Sobbing with joy caused waves in her heart. At this time, Hongqin's awe-inspiring voice came from behind. "However, even if your crimes are eliminated, the guilt of killing the two people will never be restored. From today onwards, I will interrogate that guy in front of you." In less than half a moment, a tall man was trembling among the aborigines gathered on the beach. The sea mist turned into glistening droplets that condensed on his tanned skin and beard, but the man was still trembling in disbelief. Hongqin stared at the body resentfully, and said:

"How about it, Grivnicki? Now you know the resentment in my heart and mind? Even if you are crucified, it will not be able to atone for your endless sins. The one who killed Yokozo and killed Mercy Taro The blood debt, now I will ask you to pay it back. You must not have forgotten the footsteps that Mercy Taro heard at that time, right? Come, please take off his shoes for me." Hong Qin ordered solemnly, only to see four or five minions swarming up and took off Grivnicki's boots.At this time, Flora only felt a throbbing in her heart. At a glance, Gryvniki's right leg had been amputated from below the knee because of frostbite, and a strip of cloth was tied to the tip of the wood used to replace the right leg.

However, unexpectedly, Grivnicki, who had already noticed the situation, suddenly burst into laughter. "Madame, there must be a measure of joking. Indeed, if the shoe is taken off, since one foot will not make a sound, then your speculation is not entirely unreasonable. But ask Madam, since they have both sworn We want to explore the golden land together, so why should I kill them? The gods can learn from each other, but there is gratitude in my heart, and there is no hostility." After speaking, he opened his shirt, took out the cross and kissed it. However, Hongqin still stared at her, and then said: "I don't have time to listen to you lying here to confuse people and talk nonsense. On this island, the concubine is the law of the king. You should hurry up and recruit from the truth, and pray for your next life." Let's do it."

Grivnicki stared at the other person's face for a while, but that desperate expression tightly gripped his heartstrings.He made a growling sound. "Extremely stupid. You are a big idiot who just missed out on the Golden Country that is about to be acquired because of short-term considerations. Madam, you should ask yourself and think about it again." "Oh hehehe, it's back to the Golden Land..." The heroine of the female middle school tightened her pale cheeks and sneered. "As for its location, I don't need you to say much. It is precisely because I know this that I built the city here and on the island."

Seeing her winking, several silver rays of light mixed with the sound of sharp blades slicing through the air, and fell on the struggling Grivnicki. Gryvniki slapped his arms and legs and struggled like crazy, but it didn't take long before his eyelids began to sink, his moaning gradually died down, and finally he became rigid. Hongqin lowered her head and stared blankly at Grivnicki's body for a while.Although the seabirds were singing frantically in the white and chaotic light, after the bloodstains were washed away by the sea water, the original silence was restored on the beach again. Flora put her mouth to Hongqin's ear with a puzzled expression: "Is what you just said true? Do you really know the location of the Golden Country?" "If you don't know, how can you be like this? Flora, if I want to tell you where it is, there are many people on land, so let's talk at sea." Although she had put on a resolute attitude just now, at this moment Hongqin showed a lonely and infinite smile for some reason, and asked someone to prepare a small boat. Flora's body was gradually dampened by the salt air, and from a distance, the top of the cottage was blurred like a ghost.The boat swayed slightly, and came to the sea two nautical miles away from the shore. Flora couldn't help being surprised to see Hongqin's eye sockets getting wet. "Ma'am, why are you crying? Although you lost two brothers, as the lord of Luo Chu and the island, and the queen of the Golden Land, tears are an ominous thing." "No, Flora, we must bid farewell to that island now. Ah, that cottage, Yokozo, Mercy Taro—from now on, no one will visit their graves again. .Maybe you haven't realized that if the two of them have passed away, there will be no one on this island who can make firearms and command the aborigines. Knowing the reason, then you should understand me Why kill the innocent Gryvniki. Because I don't want to see him rule the island after we're gone. Now I'm neither the master of Lochu and the island nor the queen of the Golden Country. I'm just like you, just an ordinary woman." Hongqin kept straightening her back, reluctantly looking at the shadow of the island that gradually disappeared into dots, at this moment, she felt a silent roar coming from the top of the island. Suddenly, far below the horizon, like a white night emerging, a shining golden halo appeared. Seeing this scene, Flora lay on the corner of Hongqin's clothes and wept endlessly, letting out a sigh. "You, you are too short-sighted. If you leave that golden town behind, where do you plan to go, madam?" "No, we are now planning to set off for the Golden Country." Hongqin said in an unexpectedly quiet tone: "To be honest, all of you, headed by Grivnicki, have been confused by the mineral veins on the top of the island. That thing is called brass. Although the color is similar to gold, in terms of price, it is not worth mentioning at all. .Because part of that thing is exposed to the surface, whenever the sun goes behind the island and the sea fog turns into a circle and floats by the island, there will be a golden halo like that. Even so, I still I firmly believe that the final key is on Bering Island. How can I let go of my dream of the Golden Land before I see the suicide note printed on the corpse of Bering with my own eyes?" "Oh, that means... that means we're going to Bering Island next?" Flora's heart was filled with uneasiness and loneliness, and her deep voice trembled slightly. However, at the same time, she seemed to have sensed something, and her whole body trembled slightly.The reason for this is that the true face of the Golden Town that Cai Hongqin mentioned just now is exactly the same as the Houguang theory that flashed above her head just now. That is the so-called Buddha light (the dew acts as a mirror surface, showing the image of the sun on the leaves of plants, and the image formed is used as a light source, and the light is reflected back, and the side where the sun is located will form a mirror image. And if The mirror image is reflected in the human eye, and it looks like light shining in the dew)—and is it not a common truth that everyone knows that the dew reflects his own head with a halo? And so, again, that misery quietly fell from the sky, and she screamed aloud in terror. In this way, the endless regret and the mystery of the murderer—for Flora, the doubts left by the mysterious appearance of her father Stryer, the boat keeps moving forward between the gaps in the drift ice. "Go, of course... No matter where you go, madam, I will accompany you. At the same time, I am also going to meet my father's ghost. That is not my real father - but my father's ghost .” In the next ten days, the boat seemed to be moving forward in an infinitely extending gray curtain. Although sometimes the low-hanging clouds are lined up like earth dams, making people mistaken for the shadows of islands, and the heart skips a beat, but the clouds are immediately blocked by sea fog, and the sea and sky become like the light in a dream. Indistinct. In this way, when the boat was passing through the drift ice under the dead leaden sky, one morning, an incredible scene appeared before the two of them. The dark gray protruding horn like a spear point is Manachino Cape at the southern tip of Bering Island. This is a vast ice field without even a tree. In this milk-like mirror world, the two complex colors, whether it is the mysterious sable coat, or the green hair that burns like fire, even the body that shines with vermilion and gold The radiant Taifu outfit also looks so peaceful and sad. When they landed, there was very little food left, and their legs had become weak due to fatigue and restlessness.At this moment, only the bodies of the two of them are still awake, but their hearts have already fallen into a deep sleep, and they can only move forward mechanically. Not only that, clouds emerged from west to north and spread in the sky, and the signs of the approaching storm were already vividly seen. At night, the two hug each other and keep each other warm under the crotch.In such a hug, a strange love that transcends gender gradually sprouts. Soon afterwards, when they walked across the frozen wilderness to the mouth of the hunting tiger and reached the upper reaches of the Comandor River, they learned that it was here that Bering finally died. However, when they arrived at the place where Bering was buried, as if a tragedy was coming, something as cold as sand was drawn across their cheeks. This is the first snow this year.It floated down quietly like milk and mist. Although Hongqin who just found out about this incident felt a little stunned, what was this nothing in the face of her fanatical desire to uncover the mystery of the ages?The two encouraged each other, chiseled the ice and dug the sand, and finally found the frozen body of Bering. The corpse folded his hands on his chest, his eyebrows were tightened, and the expression on his face faintly gave off a feeling of trouble and melancholy. However, when the two of them held their breath and carefully inspected the frozen carrion of the corpse, they found that it was indeed written with the words EL DORADO RA just as Grivnicki had said. Ah, so it is.But if you want to return to Luo and the island again... Just as Hongqin was thinking sadly, she saw hairpins falling silently one by one, and Flora's body, which was hugged in her arms, gradually became heavy stand up. She has exhausted all her energy, and she is about to fall into a peaceful sleep in the middle of this vast ice field. Hongqin was taken aback, and opened the skirt of her chest, trying to warm her up, but Flora smiled slightly, and held Hongqin's hand tightly.Obviously, for Flora, the most unfortunate moment is approaching step by step. She puffed on Flora's chest and cheeks, screaming frantically. "Cheer up, Flora, hold on. You can still see me and hear me, can't you? Your haggard look really hurts my heart. Just now, I have found out the gold The location of the village. Flora, you are the immortal golden city—EL DORADO." In an instant, Flora's cheeks flushed slightly, and in the shadow of death, a look of surprise clearly appeared. Hongqin went on to say: "Having said that, you don't have to go back to Luochu and the island, and it's not on this island, but on your body. In fact, the position of EL DORADO RA is a matter of you, your mother Dora and The secret between the three Berings. "Although your mother, Dora, said she was Bering's cousin, she had an ambiguous relationship with Bering before she married your father, Strayer. At that time, your mother was pregnant with you , and the name Bering wrote on his deathbed is a sign of his confession to Stryer. "The reason is that the E in EL actually misrecognized the F, and the letter O behind it is the markings that naturally appear on carrion. At that time, because Bering touched the swollen bag in front of the letter O - Flo La, you should also be very clear that blind people are very sensitive to fine particles such as swelling. So he crossed the D behind and wrote EL DORADO RA. "In this way, you should understand, right? That sentence is not implying that the Golden Country (EL DORADO) is in Luo and the island, but that your name Flora (FLORA) and your mother's name (DORA) are coherent. Therefore, your father is not Strayer, but Vitus Bering, the discoverer of the Bering Strait. Dear Flora, your troubles will be turned into precious tears, dripping down your father's cheek." With infinite emotion in her heart, Flora stared blankly at Hongqin's face.Now she didn't even have the strength left to drop her faintly oozing tears. Hongqin hugged her neck tightly, like coaxing a child, gently dangling on her chest. "When I first saw you, I knew your past... If your green hair that burns like flames is not a sign of suffering and persecution, what is it? You Drifting to the Copper Mountain in Nerchinsk, working hard, caused your hair to have such poisoning symptoms. But let’s put this matter aside for a while, I’d like to tell you the name of the person who killed Yokozo and Mercy Taro Bar. "The arm of your father you saw at the time was not really a wrist, but a bad phenomenon that appeared on the window glass. Although you used sulfur gas to prevent the arsenic vapor from spreading, it dissolved When it entered the water accumulated in the depression, it became a dark mass, so the originally straight things looked distorted instead. "Whether it's on the boat or in Mercy Taro's house, one of them is a brute who is eyeing you, and the other—if I tell you that person is me, I think you will be surprised, right? " With that said, Hongqin took off her shoes, revealing the strange feet inside the shoes.The toes on both feet are all slanted to the outside, only the big toe is as big as a spatula. Needless to say, this is exactly foot binding. "Seeing this foot, I don't think I need to explain further. Let me explain to you who made the footsteps that Mercy Taro heard at that time? When I was growing up in the Japanese language school in Iltsk, I was hit A Russian who was interested in the Chinese left such scars. Because of this, I couldn't walk at all when I took off my clogs and my hands couldn't reach the wall. Flora, you know why I put Are those two irreplaceable brothers, Yokozo and Merci Taro, killed? Just look at your figure in Taifu costume, and you will understand this. You are so beloved, as a compatriot But I am jealous. Sometimes I am bored like a little girl, and sometimes I become like a ghost. I am uneasy and worried, and I am obsessed and immersed in the magic of love. Once a person takes a step towards love, he will follow its direction. Keep going. What is right and chaste, and what can they do? Perhaps you can no longer move your hands, but you have chosen this white and beautiful bed. Now, Flora, I do not want to put out your lamp, So fold your arms around..." However, Flora's delicate face did not see any change.She closed her eyes tightly, and she didn't know whether she had fallen asleep or fell into an eternal sleep.Hongqin's eyes were burning with blazing fire, driven by her irrepressible lust, she hugged Flora's body tightly. The surrounding hills and rocks, like inconceivable trees and blooming flowers, turn white and taller moment by moment. In this way, the secrets of the Golden Land, the evil spirit Stryer, and Luo Chu and the murderer on the island...all turned into an indescribable color and merged into the mysterious long sleep.