Chapter 23 Chapter 22

Facing Dylan's weird request, Sally neither argued nor asked her to give her reasons.He just held out an arm and motioned her through the library.Dylan hesitated, taking one last look at the page before following him.Before her eyes left, something else on the page caught her attention.Just at the bottom of the page there was another strange entry, and another soul's name was blacked out. Before she could ask Sally what these strange deleted entries were about, he was already a few meters away towards a door, and Dylan wasn't even sure if the secret door embedded in the wall had existed at all.She frowned and touched her forehead, feeling a little confused.

"This is..." She turned to Sally, wanting to say something. He smiled at her and waited for the rest of the question, but Dylan didn't continue.It didn't matter, now there was a door and she had to be wary of it, no matter what was on the other side of the door, it was all just too weird. "Want to go through?" she asked, pointing to the solid-looking door. The dark doors, probably of mahogany, had intricately carved panels to complement the stately exterior.The doorknob made of brass is small and round, polished and polished. Sally nodded.Dylan waited for him to open the door for him—not because he was used to other people's gentlemanly demeanor, but because everything here seemed to be under Sally's control.But he didn't move. Could it be that she had to do it by herself again this time, just like crossing the dividing line in the wilderness?She looked at Sally as if for a little comfort, then tentatively reached out and grabbed the doorknob.She turned the door lightly and it opened, and Sally stepped back a few steps to allow Dylan to open the door wide open.Dylan opened the door, glanced nervously at Sally again, then walked in to observe the environment inside.

Inside is a street.Dylanton felt relaxed, but the buildings inside were completely different from what he had seen—it was a far cry from the tall, uniform red sandstone apartment buildings in Glasgow. —Rows of neat and elegant single-story buildings, the neatly manicured front lawn and beautiful flower gardens come into view.The vehicles parked in the driveway or on the side of the street are almost all black sedans with curved hoods and shiny silver steps on both sides.Sometimes the Dylan family would have an elderly neighbor over for dinner, and Joan would ask Dylan to watch old movies with them, and the cars in front of them looked exactly like the ones in the movies.The sun is breaking through the sky, and there are quiet and harmonious murmurs here.

Dylan took a well-paved path that weaved across a clean lawn.There was a soft click behind her, and she turned around to see that the entrance door was closed, making her feel like she had just come out of the house.It is a free-standing building with dormer windows and black timber clad exterior walls. Sally was nowhere to be found, but Dylan felt like all he could do was remember the door so he could find his way back to the recording room. She quickly memorized the yellow and orange flowerpots on the right side of the steps, the bronze number 9 nailed to the center of the door, and the narrow mailbox above, and now she was sure to find it.She turned to stare at the street ahead when Dylan struggled to hear a small voice in her ear.The sound is a little hissy, but behind the sound you can hear the rhythm and ringing of a melody, like listening to a radio that is not tuned to the band.She followed the sound back and forth between the cars, and finally saw two legs protruding from the underside of a gleaming black sedan.The noise was louder here than anywhere else, and she realized that her hunch had been right. There was an old-looking radio—her grandmother would have called it a radio—on the roof of the car, playing old songs. One foot was still bobbing up and down to the beat of the music.She wondered if she had found Jonas.

"Hello?" She bowed slightly and squatted under the car to greet the man, still only seeing her legs.But that leg didn't dangle anymore.A second later, there was a scratching sound.Dylan saw first the legs stretch, then the man's upper body, and finally a greasy face. He stood up slowly and stood in front of Dylan.He has a baby face, which is Dylan's first impression of him.A pair of blue eyes gleamed on his smooth round cheeks, and his blond hair was parted neatly, but there were still a few strands of hair that refused to fall back into place and were raised at a strange angle, making him look even more childish .It was incredible to have such a baby face on such a tall body and broad shoulders.

Dylan knew this was the soul he was looking for.He was different from what he had imagined, but this was indeed him—Jonas.She suddenly remembered that he was German, and she was a little puzzled, wondering if she could communicate with him.She had learned French at school, but her German was limited to counting to five. "Can you understand what I'm saying?" she asked. He smiled at her, showing a row of crooked teeth. "You've only been here a long time, haven't you?" His English sounded very native, with just a slight accent. "Yeah." Dylan realized his rudeness just now, and his face was a little flushed, "I'm sorry, I just arrived."

His smile widened a little more, full of sympathy, "I can understand you." He said confidently. "You're Jonas," she said.It wasn't a question, but he nodded anyway. "This is Dylan." "Hello, Dylan." After a moment of silence, Jonas began to look at Dylan patiently.His expression was polite, surprised, and curious.Dylan had an unnatural expression and felt restless.Why had she asked to come and see him?What did she want to ask him?She was also confused, unprepared, and didn't think clearly in her mind. "I asked them to come see you," she said anyway, feeling the need to explain first, "I...I want to talk to you and ask you a few questions. If, if it's okay." Jonah Si listened quietly, which Dylan took as a cue for her to continue.

"I want to ask about your ferryman." No matter how much Jonas had speculated before, he didn't expect her to ask this.He blinked and frowned slightly, but nodded anyway, motioning for Dylan to continue.Dylan fiddled with his tongue between his teeth, biting down hard until it hurt.What exactly does she want to know? "Is his name Tristan?" She thought it best to start off simple. "No." He shook his head slowly, as if recalling a long time ago, "No, his name is Henrik." "Oh." Dylan muttered, trying to swallow his disappointment, but couldn't hide it.Then maybe it wasn't him, maybe Sally was wrong.

"What does he look like?" she asked. "I don't know what to say, I think it's the appearance of a Jintong person." Jonas shrugged, as if the question was difficult to answer. "He looked like any other soldier. Tall, brown hair, in uniform." brown hair?This is not right. "I remember..." He suddenly let out a long sigh and grinned, "I remember, he has blue eyes, I have never seen such eyes. I teased him at the time and said, Why does he look like the purest Nazi soldier, with such eyes. The color of those eyes is the most peculiar."

"Cobalt blue," Dylan murmured.This color flashed in her mind immediately, vividly, as if he was standing beside her. The face around the eyes was a bit blurred and was gradually fading out of sight, but his hot and cold eyes were still deeply imprinted in her heart.It was him, it was Tristan, she smiled slightly.At least this one is real.Maybe every time he meets a soul, he will change the name he thinks is most suitable. She remembered what he said before, how to make them follow him, for example, he had deliberately made Dylan feel good about him.Thinking of this, Dylan blushed again.She likes the name Tristan, which sounds mature, sophisticated, and a bit mysterious, completely different from the clumsy names like David, Darren, and Jordan in Gischel Middle School.Is this part of his job too?Is it another trick of his?She suddenly realized that even if he had a real name, she might never know it.Thinking of this, a trace of sadness welled up in her heart, and she felt a little congested in her heart.

"Yeah," Jonas said with a smile, "cobalt blue. That's the right word for his eyes." "He... what does he look like?" Dylan subconsciously raised a hand and began to bite his fingers.Now that the most critical question was asked, she was suddenly restless, not sure whether she wanted to know the answer or not, she was afraid of hearing what she didn't want to hear. "What do you mean?" Jonas frowned, puzzled. Dylan took a long breath from his nostrils and bit his lips.She really didn't know how to express it. "I mean is he... nice? Does he take good care of you?" Jonas didn't answer her, but tilted his head and looked at her seriously with a pair of blue eyes.His eyes, though dwarfed by Tristan's, were also sharp. "Why do you keep asking these questions?" "What?" Dylan muttered.She took a half step back until her back lightly touched a car parked behind her. "What the hell do you want to know, Dylan?" It's kind of weird to hear your name spoken in a weird retroflex.It sounds weird and offbeat and doesn't sound like you're talking about yourself at all.But at this moment, her mood was restless and full of mixed feelings, so the strange pronunciation matched her mood. "Dylan?" Jonas' voice brought Dylan back from his reverie. "I miss him." She lowered her eyes and confessed, speaking the truth in a daze.After a few seconds, she looked up to see Jonas looking at her with sympathy and confusion, "We've been through a lot together, and I...I miss him." "When did you get here?" "Right now. I mean, not long before I saw you, maybe an hour ago." But is there any time here? The shallow line between Jonas' eyes deepened, and his brow furrowed into a ball. "You came here to see me? Don't you have family to see? People in your life you thought you'd never see again?" Dylan looked away before answering, a little embarrassed to tell the truth to himself, "I don't want to see them, all I want is Tristan." "What happened on your trip?" "What?" His question brought Dylan back from his thoughts and turned to face him.He leaned sadly, arms folded, on the car he was working on, trying to figure things out. "I don't understand what you're saying. I met Henrik—" he quickly changed his words when he saw Dylan's face was wrong, "Oh, I'm sorry, I knew I was dead when I met your Tristan. I knew almost right away who he was and what happened. I was happy to have him the whole journey with me, but in the end we broke up. That's how it was. I kept going and he went to meet the next soul .When I think of him, I will feel a warm feeling of intimacy in my heart, but I can’t talk about missing him.” Dylan looked at him disappointedly.He was right, he didn't understand his emotions, couldn't.In fact, even if she visits every soul in Tristan's roster, she may not be able to find a soul who can empathize with her. They cannot understand the unforgettable pain that is churning in her heart at this moment, which feels like losing The same as the vital parts. Thinking of this not only made her feel a little relieved, but also made her sad.Dylan leaned to one side and slowly walked away from Jonas.He was still looking at her, sympathy in his eyes.But seeing herself sad in his eyes made Dylan even more painful, and now she just wanted to leave him, find a quiet place to hide, and sort out the mess in her mind. "Hi, thanks for listening. I think...I think it's time to get you back to your car. Are you working on it?" "Yes." Jonas smiled mischievously, his chubby face almost squeezed his eyes into slits, "I always wanted to buy a car when I was alive." Lun sounded awkward, but she remained expressionless. "Now I can afford what I want. Even though I feel like it's going to run no matter what I do to it, I like to pretend it's all about me. When I came across the moors to see it It was so exciting, I hardly noticed I was back in Stuttgart at first!" He responded with a slightly sad smile to Dylan, "There is at least one thing that's good about it here . . . it made me go home." Home, here we go again.Dylan's eyes clouded and his lips pursed impatiently. "I'm not going home," she said. "What do you mean?" Jonas squinted at her as if he didn't understand. "The recording room can take you anywhere, can't it?" Dylan asked. "Yeah." Jonas still looked confused, "but when you cross the dividing line in the wilderness, when you cross..." He paused, tilting his head and looking at her, "you Didn't you come home?" Now it's Dylan's turn to be puzzled. "After I cross the dividing line, it still looks like a wasteland." "Are you sure?" he pressed. Dylan raised an eyebrow at him.Of course she was pretty sure, "I'm sure," she said, "I was standing exactly where I was on the other side of the line, except, just Trace—just my ferryman was gone." "No." Jonas said with concern, the wrinkles on his forehead were showing, "I have also communicated with other people. Whether it is family or friends, the moment they cross the dividing line, they reach this place that they regard as a writer. place." Dylan didn't know what to say about that.She felt that she should have felt bad that she had not returned to her parents' home before their divorce, nor had she been to her grandma's. But she didn't feel uncomfortable, but felt a little relieved.She was supposed to be with Tristan, that's what was in her head. Although she hated the wilderness—hated the freezing cold, the wind, and the mountain climbing, that was where she should be. She doesn't belong here, she always doesn't fit in. "I shouldn't be here," she murmured, more to herself than to Jonas.She began to pull away, to be alone for a while, to think, to cry. She pulled herself together from her voice, "Okay, let's play with your car. Thanks again." Before she could say the last word, she walked away quickly, and began to search for the flower pot and the No. 9 bronze door plate with her eyes . "Hi! Wait a minute!" There was a loud hiss between Dylan's teeth.She stopped, and after a second, turned around hesitantly.Jonas got out of the car and walked towards her, closing the distance between them by half.The worry written all over his face made him look almost grown-up. "Won't you try it?" he asks, so quietly Dylan can barely hear him. "try what?" He glanced left and right before answering, and Dylan raised his eyebrows curiously. "Go back." He finally spit out the word. "What?" Dylan yelled and rushed to him involuntarily. "What do you mean by going back?" Back where?Wasteland? Did he mean there was still a way back? Jonas looked around and made a "careful" gesture for her to be quiet.Dylan ignored his nervousness, but lowered his voice when he asked. "What do you mean by going back? I thought I couldn't go back." "I can't go back." Jonas replied immediately, but his expression was a little evasive. "But……" "There's nothing wrong with that." Jonas tried to back away, but Dylan wouldn't let him go, and followed him step by step. "Someone must have tried," she thought to herself.Suddenly those deleted names flashed across her mind like lightning. Could it be that she was thinking wrong just now?Aren't those souls lost on the way here, but on the way back?possible. "You can't go back." Jonas repeated Sally's words, as if the answer was a matter of course.But he still couldn't keep looking innocent in the face of Dylan's apparent disbelief. "How did they do it?" she pressed.The German was silent. "How the hell did they do it, Jonas?" He bit his lip and looked at her, "I don't know." Dylan looked at him, and the sudden hope in her heart made her forget her shyness. "You liar," she said, looking at him slyly. "I'm not lying to you, Dylan. I don't know how they got back, but I know it would be suicide." Dylan smiled wryly, "But I'm already dead." He stared at her for a long time, "You should understand what I mean." She thought for a second.Death, the real death is the disintegration of souls, which is indeed scary.At the thought of this, her heart throbbed in pain in her chest.But, next... What's the point of staying in this place?It was eventually Mother Joan, Father, and Katie, who would all travel across the wasteland to join her.She might go back to her old life, or restore it in some weird way.Or she might still be alone and unhappy, as she was before facing the wasteland. It's not worth a lifetime of waiting.If she knew that Tristan would eventually come, then perhaps she could bear the loneliness of wandering here.But that's not going to happen, he's never, never going to be here. Thinking of this, she felt a piercing pain, and could only close her eyes tightly to endure the severe pain.Tristan, she could still recall with vivid clarity the burning sensation of being kissed and held by him.That moment was the most aroused she'd ever felt in her life, which was ironic. Is it worth risking eternal sinking just to have that feeling again? worth. "You don't even know how they did it, why are you so sure?" Dylan questioned Jonas.He had just given himself a glimmer of hope, and she didn't want to be held back by his negativity. "No, Dylan, you don't understand." Jonas shook his head at her, hands in the air in fear, "there are some souls here who have seen countless centuries of time passing. They know hundreds of thousands, even Thousands of souls who have tried to sneak back to their wives and children, and none of them have ever come back here to tell their stories. You've seen those demons too, and you know what they do." Dylan bit his lip, lost in thought. "How did you know them? The ones who tried to go back." He waved his hand, unwilling to talk more, just said: "Rumor." Rumors?She took another step forward, and the sun was shining brightly.Jonas wanted to take a step back, but was blocked by Dylan.Dylan looked at him firmly and said, "Where did you hear the rumors?"