Chapter 30 Chapter 30 The Man in the Iron Mask

Late at night, in Zhuolu City, Soldier A and Soldier B reeked of alcohol, standing on the empty street. "Actually, I miss the protons... Zhuolu City like this is so quiet that it doesn't make people feel interesting at all." Soldier B said with a cigarette in his mouth. "When you keep thinking of the men who got you into trouble when you were young, it's time for you to marry a woman," said Soldier 1. "But I'm already married and have children." Soldier B threw the cigarette butt into the gutter by the side of the road. Drainage ditch, this is a new invention after the wind. Since having this thing, Zhuolu City is no longer afraid of rainy days. The rainwater from the sky will flow along the drainage ditch. When the rain stops, there will be no stagnant water on the road. Pedestrians, carriages and horses can immediately take to the streets.It was not like this before. After every heavy rain, the roads in Zhuolu City were covered with palm-deep water mixed with yellow mud. People who wanted to go out could only throw a few stones in the water and jump between the stones. Come and go.

Feng Hou said that soon the new things of Zhuolu City will appear in every city under the rule of the Yellow Emperor, such as flat roads, waterways, wells every fifty steps, and wooden manhole covers on the wells.Feng Hou said that everything will get better and better. Those who try to oppose the great Xuanyuan tribe, such as Emperor Yan, Kuafu, Gonggong, they can only act as clowns blocking the progress of history, and cannot take on the great responsibility of building the world Obviously, they don't build roads, they don't understand the importance of sewers to a city, and they don't know how to cast weapons into iron brazes for sinking wells.

Soldier B also liked the gutters quite a bit, but he still missed Zhuolu City when there were no gutters.At that time, after it rained, the street was covered with yellow muddy water. The girls held up their skirts and jumped up and down among the stones. On those slender legs, I felt that the air was filled with a bright and moist smell of spring. The sky seemed a little bluer then. "If you are married and have children but still think of the man who caused you trouble when you were young," Soldier A said sadly, "Then there is something wrong with the quality of your marriage."

"How do you know?" said Second Soldier. "Because I suddenly miss those protons..." There was a clanging sound in the black fog in the distance, like a man wearing iron armor running on horseback, the armor undulating layer by layer, and like a rushing iron rain hitting a stone. Soldier A looked at the dark straight road in front of him, which led to the Xuantian Temple, which collapsed a few months ago, and a person was buried inside. "It's time to change shifts." Soldier B said confidently. "We are on duty in the middle of the night, right?" Soldier A looked at the sky, "Did I really drink too much? Could it be dawn soon?"

The clanging sound disappeared in the darkness. "As a veteran, I know very well that curiosity kills soldiers." Soldier B turned around, "So now we have to believe that we didn't hear anything, turn around and go home immediately, wash up and go to sleep." "Could it be a thief?" Soldier A asked. Second soldier did not answer. "Hello," said First Soldier. He turned his head and saw Soldier B smiling stiffly. In front of Soldier B and behind Soldier A, there was a figure standing there with his head tilted, looking at Soldier B. Their faces were less than half a foot apart, and there was a metallic trace of light flowing from their body. Light.The moon moved out from the clouds, and the silver moonlight slowly covered Zhuolu City, and the boundary between light and darkness swept across the figure.Soldier A was terrified and his scalp was numb.The man was wearing an iron armor, which was tightly covered from head to toe, without revealing an inch of skin, and even his fingers were covered by flexible iron gloves.Just looking in through the two eye holes on the helmet, there is a piece of pure darkness without light.

The three of them stood like this, and Soldier A only heard the heartbeats of the two, thump, thump, thump, like a drum beating. "Hello." Iron Man said politely, and the voice came out of his breastplate with a buzzing resonance. Soldier A breathed a sigh of relief. People in Zhuolu City are too idle these days, and they always like to play tricks. "Do you have a household registration book?" Soldier A asked, "There is no one who will be caught to throw sand!" The armored man was stunned for a moment, then tilted his head to the other side, "Household registration book? What are you talking about?"

"It must be a blind flow from another place." Soldier A confidently said to soldier B, and then turned to the Iron Armored Man, "Now entering and exiting Zhuolu City requires a household registration. The Prime Minister Feng Hou said that those who move blindly without a registered residence are blind flow. Blind Liu needs to pull sand, and I will send you home when I have enough travel expenses. Last time, a guy who came from Mount Zairi to join his relatives was small and weak, and his family was far away. It took more than sixty years of sand to make it together. Enough for the travel expenses. Tonight we brothers are in a good mood, we don’t make things difficult for you, let’s go.”

"It's very kind of you," said the armored man. "I'm looking for a friend. Do you know her?" "A friend? What kind of friend? There are more than 100,000 people in Zhuolu City. The person you are looking for is tall, short, fat, thin, what blood type, and physical characteristics. If you think of us as Yunshi, you will just ask around. If you say you can find someone, you will definitely be able to find them?" Soldier A is getting impatient. "I forgot," the Iron Man thought for a while and said, "She said that if I need help, I go to her."

"What help do you need? No fare to go home?" "I want to know who I am." "Fool!" Soldier A said to Soldier B, "So it's a fool." Soldier B stood there like a clay sculpture and wood carving, with his mouth wide open in a daze. Soldier A looked up and down at the armored man's glamorous outfit, "Isn't it enough to pay for the trip home after selling this armor? Are you brainless? Eh? No, if you came from other places, wouldn't you wear an iron armor all the way? Impossible, impossible, you stole it? You must have stolen it!"

Soldier A suddenly widened his eyes, "Speaking of which, your armor looks familiar to me... Where have I seen it..." "Do you recognize me?" Iron Man's voice was full of joy, looking at Soldier A and then at Soldier B. "You are...you are..." Soldier A opened his mouth, and at the same time fear pierced into his heart like a cold dagger. When the name was about to come out of his mouth, Soldier B covered his mouth and smiled all over his face, "I don't know, I don't know, aren't you new here? Our brothers are all locals and have no relatives from other places. "

"Yes, I'm new here." The armored man grinned gruffly, "I'm here to find a friend." "No one from other places lives in the city." Soldier B said very kindly, and continued to pinch Soldier A's mouth. "Where are they all?" "They all live in the woods outside the city. Everyone in the city needs a household registration book, so people from outside the city live in the woods. Some of them will jump around on the trees, and some will collect pine cones. Some have a pair of long horns...you can go there and ask." Soldier B smiled. "Thank you." The armored man said politely: "I can only dance, thank you for dancing." The joints all over his body turned slowly, and his nails rubbed against each other to make a piercing sound. He really started to dance. It was a cheerful dance, and it was the dance after everyone had a good drink during the spring society.He jumped and jumped, bowed deeply to soldier A and soldier B, and then walked away slowly.He twirled on his toes, saluted in all directions, hummed an old and happy song, and his iron armor jingled all over him.The moonlight shone on him, leaving a long shadow behind him. Soldier B slowly let go of his hand, and Soldier A finally took a breath. "Are you trying to suffocate me?" Soldier A said, "That's..." "Have you heard of an ancient legend?" Soldier B turned half of his face to the moonlight, with a mysterious expression on his face. "What legend? You look like a ghost!" Soldier A shivered involuntarily. "Don't call the ghost's name, he will wake up..." The full moon, the eagle glides in the huge moon. A little flying squirrel who didn't know what to do or not spread its limbs imitating the appearance of a big eagle, and slid across the treetops through the skin membrane between its legs.Its dexterous little claws poked out, and missed the twigs of the ancient pine by a few minutes. The animal pilot in ancient times suddenly lost its balance. It tried its best to open its skin, but fell helplessly. A flickering black shadow flitted among the branches, and stopped on an old pine branch after a whirl.Little Momonga, who was still in shock, let go of his blindfolded paws, and saw the green-haired, round-faced child smiling at it, revealing two small white canine teeth. Sprite stretched out his short fat fingers, nodded the little flying squirrel's head, and put it back on the branch, the frightened little guy slid into the dense pine leaves, "Be careful next time .” The sprite waved at its back. He thought maybe he should use a deciduous sorcery, so that the ground of this forest is covered with thick pine needles, so that the little ones who love to fly can practice safely, and squirrels can also find pine cones in the needles. Sometimes rabbits can also collect the needles and make a warm nest for the little rabbits. The moon rose to the mid-heaven, and the flawless cold light shrouded a slender shadow standing on the highest point of the ancient pine. This is the tallest tree in the forest, and only here can one look at Zhuolu City at the end of the horizon without shelter.Its little lights are an ethereal temptation in the extremely thick night, illusory and unreal, like a group of fireflies gathering together for a short time. If the fireflies disperse, the city will disappear. And fireflies always have to disperse. It's like the people who gather will one day leave one by one. Meng Yao's round face suddenly blocked Yao Mei's sight, "Qi Mei, do you still want to go back to the human city?" "Get out of the way, I'm just looking at the scenery." Qi Mei slapped the jumping little guy down like a football. "But you have been looking at that place all day long, and your desire for the scenery over there has surpassed the sunflower outside the forest that yearns for the sun." "Okay, okay, I'm just a little throbbing when spring comes, and I wanted to find a human man to have fun, and you found out, is it okay?" Qi Mei began to get irritable. "First of all, it is autumn, and secondly, if you say that you want to find someone to eat, I might still believe it." "Brother, can you understand a woman? A woman has lived in a forest for hundreds of years. In the past few hundred years, she has tried to jump from tree to tree like a monkey, and collected countless treasures like a squirrel. The pine cones are then peeled out to pile up a pagoda, and she also tries to collect a pine leaf specimen every day for 365 days a year to make a work of art called "A Year of the Pine Tree"... She has tried everything in the forest. In the next few hundred years, she will still do these emotional and humorous things in this woods, repeating and repeating. The only thing she has not tried is with a brother who looks only seven years old Give birth to a child... Is there anything wrong with her looking forward to life outside?" Xi Mei grabbed the green hair on the sprite's head, "I have accepted the reality of being an old maid when I and this world are destroyed together Do you still want to stop me from cheating psychologically?" "You're a goblin, you're not going to be a spinster." Yao Mei took a deep breath, staring at the innocent eyes of Yao Yao, "This is not my point, okay? Even if I am an old goblin, I will not marry you! Do you understand?" "Your focus is on Chi You." The little goblin spoke the frank truth again. Qi Mei wanted to jump violently, "It's ridiculous! Why do I miss him?" She wanted to continue yelling, but she suddenly felt tired, so she didn't want to deny it anymore.Damn it, why did I hear that name again?Didn't she dug a hole for this name a long time ago, buried it and stepped on it thousands of times?Why do you still have to pop out to make her uncomfortable? "Go away!" she yelled at the sprite. Sprite thought for a while, took off a pine needle and put it on his forehead, put his hands together, "You can't see me, you can't see me..." "What are you doing?" Yan Mei slapped the pine needles from the top of his head, "You think you're really seven years old?" "But I want to look at you here, I look at you and you can't see me, we are all fine." Sprite said. "It won't be good, this is the limitation caused by your seven-year-old intelligence." Yan Mei asserted. A squirrel came bouncing along the branch, climbed onto the shoulder of the sprite, and squeaked and nodded. "What did it say?" Qi Mei couldn't understand the squirrel's language, so she could only look at her senior brother. "It says that a strange man came from the woods. His whole body is made of iron, he likes to dance, and his brass helmet shines brightly." "Why are you always ah, ah, are you stuttering?" "No, but this squirrel likes to sigh more, so I'll teach you how to listen to it." Xie Yao said, "Xiao Mei, let's go see the dancing Tin Woodman." "I don't want to see it. What can the Tin Woodman do?" "I can dance." "I can dance too." Qi Mei turned her head away. "Qimei, you ignored me." "I'm not ignoring you, I just despise your boring way of life. A monster like you can only talk to squirrel monkeys in this woods after living for a thousand or ten thousand years?" "It's not boring if you can live," said the sprite. "If you die, you will never hear the squirrels and monkeys talking, and you won't hear any sounds." Yan Mei felt a slight chill all over her body, she bit her lip and remained silent, looking at the city under the night that seemed to gather fireflies. "Xiaomei, do you really want to go outside the woods that much?" Yaoying said cautiously, "It's very dangerous there." "No, I don't want to, I don't want to at all!" Qi Mei couldn't help jumping up, "What the hell do you think I am? I'm a goblin. Can I bear living in a house? Can I be with those mediocre people?" Are people who have lived a mediocre life for fifty years mixed together? I am very happy after returning to the woods... Hahahaha... Look, be happy, have you heard such carefree laughter?" "Qi Mei, then I will grow up quickly, and when I grow up, I will marry you." "Marry me? Have you read too many romance novels? Why do you want to marry me? Your appearance is the most suitable for pets! You have never seen a girl without clothes, have you? Go low self-esteem, hit you to death , do you need me to subsidize you a piece of tofu?" "Then I can be with you forever." "To be with one person forever... It's annoying, will you only talk to a monkey forever?" "If it's a demon... don't worry about it." "I mean I'll be annoying, Brother Monkey!" Qi Mei jumped up and wanted to leave. Ghosts followed behind her buttocks, shaking her sleeves, "Xiaomei, I'm not a monkey...I'm not a monkey..." It was a joyous night in the woods, and all the animals were as happy as a festival, they gathered in one direction, the monkey was riding on the elk's horns, and the squirrel was hanging on the monkey's tail. There's going to be a big party in the moonlight. Qi Mei couldn't restrain her curiosity, and walked along the soft grass path to the center of the forest, with various animals passing by her side.She heard tinkling not far away, like a special musical instrument being played again, or like iron raindrops falling on a stone slab. The animals laughed like never before. Walking on this road, she felt that this was not the woods she was familiar with. "Xiaomei, you're going to see the Tin Woodman with me." Yaoying followed her like a little tail, pulling her sleeves. "Shut up, you're the one following me, okay? Don't always act like you're the head of the family in this forest!" Qi Mei scolded. They came to the middle of the woods, where there was a soft yellow meadow, with ancient tobacco hanging from the surrounding ancient pines, squirrels, monkeys and elks formed a circle, and on the meadow, a man danced, making a clattering sound all over his body. .The moonlight shone on him, reflecting the light like a sword, but the dance of that man was funny and cute. Sometimes he waved his hands above his head, and sometimes squatted down and swayed his buttocks. He looked like a monkey learning from a human being. The ground trembled slightly, and the pine cones fell on him cracklingly, and the squirrels took the opportunity to peel them and distribute them to the surrounding animals. "Hey, you see he's as heavy as an elephant, and when he dances, the pine cones fall from the trees," said a monkey. "Is he iron? Is he iron?" asked a squirrel standing on the monkey's shoulder. "I'll try it for you." A brave woodpecker poked its head out of a tree hole. It flew to the man's shoulder in a beautiful arc, and hit the man's head with its thick and powerful beak, making a hollow sound. "He's an iron fellow!" announced the Woodpecker. The Tin Woodman turned his head to look at the woodpecker on his shoulder. He slipped, lost his balance, and was about to fall to the ground while spinning.The woodpecker panicked and flapped its wings vigorously but failed to fly. "My God, the woodpecker is going to be crushed to death!" The monkey covered his eyes. The animals covered their eyes.After a while, the most courageous monkey slowly let go of its paws. It let out a squeaking laugh, and all the animals also let go of their paws. The Tin Woodman was seen with his arms on the ground, as if he was doing push-ups. The woodpecker turned its head under his chest in shock and looked around. A heavy voice came from the Tin Woodman's chest: "Don't be afraid." The oldest monkey ran up to the top of the branch, and raised his arms and squeaked at all the animals, who responded with joyful and cheering voices. "What is it talking about?" Chi Mei asked. "It said welcome to our new friends in the woods," replied Sprite. The Tin Woodman raised his head slowly, and saw the ghost and the sprite. The long-legged elf and the green-haired elf who was pulling her sleeve were so eye-catching among the full circle of animals.The Tin Woodman sat on the ground and stared at Mei Mei. There was no light in his two dark eye holes, let alone eyes, only absolute darkness.The hood on his mouth was parted slightly, and he seemed to be smiling politely. Yan Mei felt that her heart stopped beating, the air was filled with a familiar atmosphere, invisible shadows were descending on this happy party, and something in her heart was breaking out of the ground. "Where are you from?" Her voice trembled. "I want a friend," said the Tin Woodman; "she said she would help me if I wanted to." He looked at Mi Mei, that polite smile suddenly disappeared, and he began to step back step by step, as if the beautiful girl in front of him was an extremely terrifying monster.He trembled slightly, and his armor jingled.All the animals felt that the world was slowly becoming colder around them. The sprites looked at the sky, and the clouds were rapidly rolling in from all directions, as if the raging tide was about to swallow the moon. "But what do you want to do?" Qi Mei approached step by step. "I... can't remember." The Tin Woodman held his head, "Ha, headache, my head hurts!" "I remember...I still remember." Qi Mei stepped on the pine cones all over the ground, and approached him step by step, "What you forgot...I still remember!" "I...don't remember, I'm not looking for anyone...you let me go!" "You are..." Qi Mei said. "Don't...don't call me by my name..." The man in the copper mask and iron armor stumbled back a few steps, his voice suddenly became very strange, it was no longer the harsh sound like metal rubbing against iron, it became hollow and distant , as if there was another voice coming from his chest under the iron armor, heavy and fierce. It was as if someone was speaking in the depths of a dark iron prison. The monster's small hand was tightly pulling on the demon's skirt, and the thousand-year-old spirit suddenly felt the panic of impending doom, as if something was about to be lost forever... "Don't call... my name..." The man Holding his head in his hands, he bent down. "Don't call my...name!" His voice turned into a whimper as if in pain of being torn apart. He fled desperately with his head in his arms.The pine cones full of arms fell to the ground, and he trampled on those beautiful pine cones like pagoda spikes, just running, running, running. A soul afraid of being awakened. The monkeys climbed up the trees in fear, the sika deer retreated into the bushes, and the lemmings shivered tremblingly with their heads retracted into the pit.Only Yao Mei and Yao Yao stood there, watching his back getting smaller and smaller. "Chi... You..." These two words finally escaped from the trembling lips of Yan Mei, low and soft, like dream talk, the name you will only mention in the deepest sleep, it is rooted in your memory, Like an ancient ghost. No reason, you just want to call that name.Just because when the name was spoken between the lips, the warmth came back quietly.When you say this name, you know that you are still yourself, you have never forgotten, and you have never given up. You have to say the name to prove that you are alive. The Tin Woodman stopped suddenly.His body suddenly froze there in a running posture, as if time had stopped and everything stood still. The running deer, the monkey climbing the tree, and the squirrel in the cave all stopped at the same moment, turning their heads tremblingly. Watching the most terrifying scene in the world descend silently. Sprite raised his head and looked at the sky silently, the moon was engulfed by dark clouds.He felt that a terrible door opened in the void, and thousands of invisible demons roared towards the earth.They hissed and roared in the void, grinding their teeth and sucking blood. The Tin Woodman turned around slowly, and turned his deep eye holes to Mi Mei, his voice was low and cold, "Who? Calling my name!" Silent lightning tore the sky apart, and dense rain enveloped the entire world in an instant. Suddenly, there were fewer animals in the woods.They went away together, far away, because after that night, the clouds never parted, and the rain kept falling, and the Tin Woodman stood in the rain and never danced again.He looked at the tallest ancient pine, where there was a tree hole, and ghosts and monsters lived in the tree hole.He waited, rain dripping from his armor. Yan Mei was in the tree hole, gently combing her seven-foot black hair, the strong miasma waved like a green flag in the air.Sprites tugged at her sleeves, shaking them. "Okay then," the ghost made a decision, "I'll go with you." Yan Mei continued to remain silent, combing her hair. "Why don't you speak, Yu Mei?" "I once thought that maybe we have a chance to go back to the woods, forget everything outside, and continue to live for a thousand years." Qi Mei gently stroked the little monster's head and kissed his forehead gently, "But I Wrong, you had that chance, but I didn't, since I met Chi You, I haven't. Don't come with me, don't lose your chance." "Xiao Mei, don't talk like that," Ling put his chubby hands around her neck, "I have a bad feeling, I'm scared." Yan Mei gently hugged him to her chest, stroking his round head. "Don't be afraid," she kissed the monster's forehead, "isn't this the best thing for monsters like us? We are never short of time, we can live for a thousand or ten thousand years... just don't know why." She walked out of the tree hole and looked at the Tin Woodman under the tree, "Are you ready to take revenge on this world?" "The world? What is the world? Revenge? What is vengeance?" said the Tin Woodman.