Chapter 10 Chapter 9

The first ray of sunlight in the morning poured in through the windows of the cottage.Although filtered through the dust and grime on the panes, the light was still strong enough to wake Dylan.She woke up weakly, brushed the hair on her face to one side, and rubbed her eyes.For a moment she didn't know where she was.She lay quietly, looking at everything around her. The bed was strange and cramped, with a lumpy mattress.The timbers of the rafters on the ceiling overhead were so strong that they looked like they had stood strong for a hundred years.She blinked her eyes twice, trying her best to distinguish the north, south, east, and west.

"Good morning." A gentle greeting came from the left, and she jerked her head in the direction of the voice. "Oops!" The action was too hasty, and a tendon in the neck was twisted. While rubbing her neck with her hands to relieve the pain, she followed the reputation and gradually regained consciousness. "Good morning." She replied softly, with a flush on her face.Even though the two spent most of last night together, Dylan was embarrassed and on edge. "Did you sleep well?" Tristan's normal polite greeting sounded a bit out of place with the environment here, and it was still polite for the evil ghosts to gather in front of the steps.She couldn't help laughing.

"Not bad, how about you?" He laughed, "I don't need to sleep. This is one of the strange things in the wasteland. You don't need to sleep either. You just feel that it is necessary in your heart, so you have to sleep. Eventually you will forget about sleep. Take some time to get used to it." She stared at her, speechless for a moment.After a while she said, "Aren't you going to sleep?" He shook his head, "Don't sleep, don't eat, don't drink water. Your body is just a projection of your mental image, and your real body is left in the car."

Dylan opened and closed his mouth several times in shock.This sounds like a weird sci-fi movie.Is she already in the matrix?Everything Tristan told her seemed outrageous and unbelievable.But when she looked down at her hands, she realized that although they were covered with thick mud, the hands were smooth and flawless, and the deep scratches left by the devil on her hands had healed themselves. There were thousands of words in her heart, but in the end she just let out a hey.She looked out the window, "Is it safe to go out now?" She didn't know if the monsters-demons last night were also a threat during the day.

"It's safe now. They're not active in the sun. Of course, if it's cloudy and overcast, they might show up if they're desperate enough." Tristan looked at her frightened expression, "But we should be safe today. Sunny day." He pointed to the window. "Then what's next?" "Time to go. We've got a long way to go. The next safe house is ten miles away, and it seems to be getting dark very fast here." He frowned out the window, as if blaming the cloudy weather for putting them in danger. "Have I already died in the wilderness winter?" Dylan's eyes were mischievous, but also curious.She wants to know more about this strange place.

Tristan looked at her, weighing in his mind how far to go.The job of the guides is to escort spirits across the wilderness, nothing more.In most cases, once those souls find that they are just lonely ghosts now, and their family has been in danger, they will be immersed in their own pain and feel sorry for themselves. Not half interested.Dylan was different from the spirits he had seen before. She had calmly accepted the reality without any overreaction.There was nothing but question and curiosity in those inquiring eyes now.He persuaded himself in his heart that giving her more information would make it easier for her to accept and understand reality.But in fact, he wanted to tell her all this, and he wanted to find a way to get closer to her.He took a deep breath and made his choice.

"Yes." He smiled. "It's your fault." He had to bite his lip to keep himself from laughing.Her reaction was exactly what he'd expected: bewildered and slightly annoyed.She frowned and pursed her lips, and her blue eyes narrowed. "My fault? How could it be my fault? I didn't do anything!" He smiled calmly, "I mean, you made this wasteland." Her expression became both startled and confused, her eyes wide open, tears glistening like a pond shimmering in the sun. "Let's go." He got up from the chair, went to the door and opened it, "I'll explain it to you on the way."

Dylan walked out of the house. It was warm outside.A breeze passed around the wall, brushing her hair and blowing a few restless strands into her face.The sun was shining brightly, giving the wilderness a bright color.Dewdrops shimmered on the wet grass.The boundaries of the mountains break through the blue sky, and the majestic mountains reach into the sky.Everything was so clean, Dylan took a deep breath and was enchanted by the fresh morning. However, the direction of the horizon is dotted with dark clouds.She hoped the sun would drive the clouds away so they could have a peaceful day. She followed Tristan cautiously, trying to avoid the thistles and nettles that stalked among the rubble.Tristan was waiting just a few steps away, shifting his weight from one foot to the other, with the subtext that he was in a hurry.

Dylan made a face.Trek further.She understood now where they were going and why they had to get there as soon as possible, but that didn't make the journey any more attractive. "Why can't the wilderness be a little flatter?" She walked up to Tristan and complained in a low voice. He smiled smugly, did not answer, but turned his heels, and then strode forward.Dylan sighed and pulled up his jeans a little, hoping they wouldn't get soaked, but knowing it wouldn't help. Their journey begins at one end of the hut, along a narrow dirt road.The path meanders through a lush meadow.Wildflowers abound, here and there sprinkling purple, yellow and red in a sea of ​​green.This piece of grass is like a half-hidden oasis in the mountains, the size is equivalent to a football field, but it is undoubtedly much more beautiful than the stadium.Dylan wanted to walk slowly and enjoy the scenery, brushing his fingers between the grass blades, letting the flowers and plants scratch his hands gently.For Tristan, it was just another hurdle to overcome.He strode forward without even glancing at the beauty on either side.It took them ten minutes to cross the grass.Dylan soon realized that he had reached the foot of the first mountain that he was going to climb today, and he couldn't help but look up in panic.At this time, Tristan had already started to walk up the mountain, and Dylan took a few steps to keep up.

Every step he takes is long and firm.As soon as Dylan caught up with him, he immediately started talking, "Why are these..." She pointed to the desolate mountains, "It's all my fault?" "And it's all uphill, and it's your fault." After finishing speaking, Tristan smiled mysteriously. "Well, mountains aren't all like that," Dylan muttered breathlessly, annoyed at Tristan's cryptic answer.Tristan didn't mean to be ashamed at all, instead he laughed, with a few laugh lines showing on his face. "I said before that your body is the projection of your mind. It's the same in this wasteland." He paused, seeing her staggering, and quickly grabbed her arm.She was so focused on what he said that she didn't pay attention to her feet, "When you came out of the tunnel, you figured you were halfway from Aberdeen - somewhere in the highlands, a remote, Mountainous, desolate place - that's why the Badlands are like that. You don't like exercising, so whenever you walk, your mood sucks. The place reflects what you think and feel. When you're angry At that time, it was cloudy and windy...it was pitch black. The more gloomy your heart is, the darker the night will be." He looked at her, trying to understand the reaction in her heart.She looked back at him, listening intently to his every word.

A sly smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, "Actually, the reason why I look like this is because of you." Hearing this, she frowned, lowered her head and stared at the ground intently, slowly digesting his words in her heart, but couldn't keep looking at his face. "Why?" She finally asked, and his last sentence baffled her. "Every soul guide should look non-threatening. You must trust us and follow us. So naturally our appearance must look attractive to you." Dylan's head was still bowed, but her eyes were wide open and her face was flushed, which still gave away what was on her mind. "So," Tristan continued with relish, "if I did nothing wrong, you should have a crush on me." Dylan stopped suddenly, hands on hips, blushing even more. "What? That's...that's just... I didn't!" she said angrily. He took a few steps forward, then turned to face her, grinning happily. "I didn't." She repeated. He smiled even wider, "Okay." He replied, sounding like irony. "You..." Dylan didn't seem to be able to think of the right words to scold him, so he ran up the hill, furious every step he took, and didn't turn around to see if Tristan was following.The dark clouds that surrounded the sky ten minutes ago now rumbled forward, covering the sky and the sun, and the sky was dark for a while. Tristan glanced at the sky and frowned at the changes in front of him.He started chasing Dylan, up the steep slope as if on flat ground. "I'm sorry." As soon as he caught up with her, he hurriedly apologized: "I was just kidding you." Dylan didn't look back, as if he didn't hear at all. "Dylan, please stop." He reached out and grabbed her arm. She tried to break free from his hand, but he held it firmly, "Let me go." The words came out between her teeth.Dylan felt ashamed and angry. "Listen to me," he said, his voice soft, almost begging her. They stand facing each other.Dylan was tired and angry, breathing very heavily. Tristan looked very calm, only his eyes were cautious.He glanced at the sky again, the clouds were almost black.It started to rain, and the dense, cold drops left black stains on their clothes. "Look," he said at last, "this rain is a nuisance. I'm sorry, but you see, we've got to let you follow us. If you won't follow us, if you're walking around here by yourself... Well, you've seen those things. You can't make it through a day, and even if they don't catch you, you can't find your way across the wasteland, and you'll be here forever." He searched her eyes , watching her reaction to these words, but she remained unmoved. "My look is comforting to me. Sometimes, like with you, I choose a look that should look attractive, and other times, I become intimidating. look, depending on which look appeals to someone more." "Then how do you know?" Dylan asked curiously. Tristan shrugged. "I just know. I know their inner world, their past, their likes and dislikes, their feelings and hopes and dreams." Dylan's eyes widened as he spoke.So what does he know about himself?Dylan swallowed dryly as a string of secrets, intimate moments flashed through her mind.But Tristan continued, "Sometimes, I embody someone they've lost, like a spouse." He looked at her face and realized right away that he'd said too much. "You pretend to be someone's lover, their spiritual partner, and then trick them into believing you?" Dylan demanded sharply, with indescribable disgust in his heart. How could he use and play with one's most precious memory like this?It made her feel nauseous. His expression hardens. "This isn't a game, Dylan." His voice is low and full of emotion. "If those things get you, you're finished. We just did what had to be done." The rain was getting heavier, and the rain was splashing on the ground.Dylan's hair was soaked through, and the water trickled down his face, looking like tears.The wind picked up, too, blowing across the hills and into every chink in their clothes.Dylan was trembling all over, and crossed his arms to protect his chest, trying to keep warm, but it didn't help. "What do you look like?" Dylan asked.She wanted to see his true face behind the lie. His eyes changed slightly, but Dylan didn't notice it under his anger.He didn't answer, but Dylan raised an eyebrow impatiently.At last, he lowered his gaze to the ground in a trance. "I don't know," he whispered. Startled, Dylan's anger was reduced by half. "What do you mean?" she asked. He looked up at her, and pain seemed to darken his blue eyes, too, to cloud them.He shrugged, his voice sounding disturbed, "I appear to each soul with the most suitable appearance. I keep this appearance until I meet the next soul. What does it look like. If I really exist, I exist because of your needs." Dylan watched him as the rain began to lighten.Her breast was full of sympathy for him.At this time, the dark clouds suddenly dispersed, and a ray of sunshine broke through the clouds.She held out a hand to comfort him, but Tristan ducked away, his sad expression replaced by a grim one.She watched him shut himself up again. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "We should go," he said.Looking at the horizon ahead, thinking that there was still a long way to go for them, Dylan nodded numbly and followed him up the mountain. Thereafter they walked in silence all morning, lost in their own thoughts.Tristan was pissed, hating himself for making a joke of her and causing an argument, and even she had become a little hideous.She made him feel phony and cunning, like con artists who exploit people's feelings to get what they want.He didn't expect her to understand him, but she'd seen those demons before, and she knew the risks.Sometimes it is necessary to be cruel, and sometimes it is really necessary to use any means to achieve the goal. Dylan, on the other hand, was filled with guilt and sympathy.She knew she had hurt him when she accused him of being insensitive.She didn't mean to say such nasty things, but the thought of someone pretending to be your mother, your father, or worse, the love of your life...it's a horrible thought.But maybe he was right to do so.This is a place where the cost of making a bad decision is chilling.This is a matter of life and death, even more important than life and death.Those seemingly important quarrels in her previous life were actually trivial matters, and there was a world of difference compared to this one. She also tried her best to imagine what it would be like to lose one's identity.The self is completely defined by the people around you, and you never have a moment to be alone, and you don't even know what you look like.She couldn't think anymore.This time she was relieved that she was still herself. At noon, they walked halfway down the mountain, and temporarily stopped at a slightly protruding rock.It offers shelter from the wind and uninterrupted, breathtaking views of the mountains.The clouds were thick but did not appear to be holding rain.Dylan sat on a rock, the chill seeping through her thick jeans, but she didn't care.She stretched her legs, leaning against the rock. Instead of sitting next to her, Tristan was standing in front of the ledge overlooking the mountains, with his back to Dylan.The gesture seemed defensive, but Dylan knew he was just trying to avoid talking to her.She bit her jagged nails, trying to ease the relationship, but didn't know what to do to get back together.She didn't want to bring up the old story again, for fear of making things worse, but at the moment she couldn't think of what to say to sound less deliberate.How could she return to her previous state of mind?How to reawaken the joking, carefree Tristan? Tristan turned suddenly, looked down at her and said, "It's time to go."