Chapter 11 Insects (8)

Is this the code to decipher the location of the "Butterfly Cemetery"? June 11 at 14:25 pm She is ready for everything. In the schoolbag are hidden the flute left by her mother, Meng Bingyu’s notebook, the printed “Map of the Butterfly Cemetery”, and the manuscripts of poems (she specially copied a draft and backed it up at home).There is also an up-to-date map of the city, a flashlight, a pair of canvas gloves, a bottle of mineral water, and even a small compass - fully armed like going on a wild adventure. Before going out, the mobile phone was fully charged, and I brought a small umbrella in case it rained.Dad asked her where she was going, and she replied coldly, "I'm going back to school."

After saying that, Shang Xiaodie walked out of the room. Her goal is - Butterfly Cemetery. At noon, the route was checked, and she got on a bus bound for the western suburbs.Looking at the gloomy sky through the car window, it was raining, and the city in front of me became gray.She sat quietly on the window seat, her mind blank.Like a homeless child, sitting on a drifting raft, let the ocean currents take him to the ends of the earth. Fifty minutes later, the bus stopped at Jingwei 3rd Road.Shang Xiaodie was almost asleep, she jumped up from her seat when she heard the station announcement, and quickly ran out of the car door.

This is Jingwei Sanlu, she held up her umbrella and looked around.Several tall buildings can be seen in the distance, but the skyline is obscured by rain and fog.On the side of the road is a factory of a foreign-funded enterprise, and many container trucks come and go.There is a wilderness across the road. Many houses have just been demolished. The ground is full of rubble and ruins. Some scavengers have built small shacks. Shang Xiaodie took out the printed mysterious map, in the checkerboard-shaped square in the lower left corner, there was a mark of a lighthouse.According to the new version of the map, this location needs to continue to walk two intersections.She looked at the direction of the compass again. She didn't need any other means of transportation, just trust her legs.The only good sports in middle school was long-distance running, so walking was the least scary thing.

I walked forward for several hundred meters, but there was no sign of "Huangquan Nine Road" at all, no wonder Meng Bingyu didn't find it either.Taking a closer look at the map, the "lighthouse" seems to be on a forked line.Looking carefully at the new version of the map, this bifurcation was not marked. According to the sixth line of the wild poem "do you see the cape in the night"-does this sentence mean something else?After walking a few steps forward, I suddenly saw the gate of a factory next to it. The inside was already dilapidated, leaving only a deserted road overgrown with weeds. Many cars used it as a temporary parking lot.An almost peeling sign hung on the gate - "Cape Bulb Factory".

Xiaodie felt that the name of the factory was very strange, so she repeated it silently several times, and suddenly she realized: "Cape" means a cape!And "light bulb" obviously has the same meaning as "lighthouse"! "The Cape in the Night" "Poseidon's Lonely Lighthouse" = "Cape Bulb Factory"! The code poem matched the map and the actual environment perfectly, and the key to the "Butterfly Cemetery" was finally in her hands. She excitedly ran into the gate of the factory. In fact, the factory had already been demolished.After walking hundreds of meters along the road in the factory, until I reached the back door of the factory, I saw the lonely street sign.

"Huangquan Nine Road" Shang Xiaodie rubbed her eyes, this time it was no longer a dream or hallucination, the words "Nine Roads to Huangquan" were so real, standing like sculptures in the wild grass.The bitter wind and rain are falling on it, waiting for the visit of the Nth uninvited guest. This is also the road sign on the "Butterfly Cemetery" website, the almost bent and deformed iron pole, the sign has long been rusted, lingering in the wind and rain. She read out the seventh and eighth lines of the wild poem—— Poseidon's Lonely Lighthouse Rusting under the torment of time

"Poseidon" is the god of the sea in ancient Greek mythology. His lighthouse is undoubtedly the road sign of "Nine Roads to Huangquan" in front of him. Isn't "rusting under the torture of time" a reflection of the rusty road sign? Xiaodie speculates that this place was originally called "Huangquan Nine Road", but later due to the renovation of the industrial area and other reasons, the road surface was replaced with the current "Jingwei Three Road". It became the lighthouse coordinates for discovering the "Butterfly Cemetery".

On that rainy night a year ago, Meng Bingyu and his car got lost and entered the gate of this factory by mistake.Maybe it was too dark at that time, and the driver thought it was a road. When he was about to drive out through the back door, he accidentally saw this street sign.This is why "Nine Roads to Huangquan" appeared in the crash video! Look at the few lines in the middle of the poem—— The last light pierces the night sky Light Up Ninth Avenue in Jericho Hear the witch moaning at the bottom of the sea Straight!Straight!Straight! What does this sentence mean?Xiaodie feels like an intelligence agent now, deciphering the code hidden in a top-secret telegram.

"Last light" obviously refers to the light from the "lighthouse," so what does "light up Ninth Avenue in Jericho" mean? "Jericho" is a city in Palestine today, and there are many records in the era of the "Bible". "Jericho Avenue" is leading to Jerusalem, so maybe "Ninth Avenue" is "Nine Roads of Huangquan"? Looking at "Listening to the Witch Moaning on the Seabed" again, it is probably some kind of supernatural instruction, "Straight! Straight! Straight!" - this is not only the hint given to us by the "witch", but also the direction in which the light of the "lighthouse" shines.

So, Shang Xiaodie set off according to this instruction—from the "Lighthouse" or "Huangquan Nine Road" road sign, walk out of the back door of the factory and go straight forward, cross an empty and quiet road, and there is another straight road ahead. Straight!Straight!Straight! The witch is calling to her. Shang Xiaodie was no longer afraid, and went straight forward holding an umbrella.The roadside is either a factory building or a construction site. There are almost no shops and few pedestrians.The sidewalks are potholed, and a few ponds are carefully bypassed, as if walking on another planet.

The further you go, the more desolate it becomes, and now it is almost deserted.Xiaodie quickened her pace and had to find her destination before dark.Suddenly, the text message ringtone rang inappropriately. It turned out to be a text message from Shuangshuang—— hello where are youDidn't we agree to meet at the school gate at four o'clock in the afternoon? June 11 at 16:30 pm "Where did this WOW go?" Lu Shuangshuang put down her phone, stood at the gate of S University, and looked around anxiously.Just in time to see Zhuang Qiushui running over with a big bag and an umbrella, she waved forward quickly. Zhuang Qiushui came over and asked suspiciously, "Why are you standing here? Are you waiting for someone?" "Yes, we agreed to meet Monk Xiaodie here at four o'clock, but we haven't seen her after waiting for half an hour." "Did you call her?" "I just sent a text message to ask her." Shuangshuang sighed, and retreated under the eaves of the school gate, "Who made Xiaodie my best friend. But she always makes me worry, especially when she has been depressed recently of." Zhuang Qiushui's brows twitched immediately, he wanted to say that he met Xiaodie yesterday, but he was afraid of causing misunderstanding for both of them, so he swallowed the words again.He could only try to ask: "What happened to her? You must know." "Ah, this—" Shuangshuang suddenly remembered that she had promised Xiaodie to keep it a secret, "I don't know about this either." At this time, her text message rang, and both of them looked down: "It's Xiaodie!" Then Shuangshuang read out the text message from Xiaodie—— Sorry, I'm on Huangquan Road After reading this text message, Lu Shuangshuang's hands trembled: "Huangquan Road? My God! Isn't that death?" "Show me!" Zhuang Qiushui immediately took her mobile phone, and his expression became tense, "Impossible, this is impossible!" "Is Fluttershy dead? Is this a text message from a ghost?" Zhuang Qiushui shook his head: "No, maybe she really found it - hurry up and call!" Shuangshuang nodded, and tremblingly dialed Xiaodie's number. The bell rang for a long time before I heard Xiaodie's weak voice: "Hey……" June 11 at 16:40 pm Huangquan Road. Shang Xiaodie received a call from Lu Shuangshuang, only to hear the other end of the phone anxiously say: "WOW, where are you?" "Didn't I reply to you? Huangquan Road." There seemed to be a man's voice on the phone, followed by trembling words: "Come back quickly, don't stay in that place!" "No, I'm going to find the Butterfly Cemetery soon." A stronger fear came from the other end: "What are you talking about? You're not kidding, are you?" Xiaodie's voice was extremely calm: "Shuangshuang, I will never lie to you." "Don't scare me, WOW, you must never go to that place!" "Don't worry, dear, I'll be back safe and sound." She was as calm as going to the supermarket to buy a bottle of yogurt.Shuangshuang's yelling continued on the phone, but Xiaodie had already hung up the phone. Taking a deep breath, Huangquan Road was filled with a desolate smell, which became more and more hazy in the light rain. Straight forward—another crossroads, like a stream barrier, she forded easily. She knew she was almost there. On the left was a construction site, and the foundations of several buildings had already been laid.On the other side of the road is a tall and thick wall, I don't know what is inside the wall. The phone rang again, Xiaodie let it ring and didn't answer it.She knew it was Shuang Shuang's call, but now that she was here, it was impossible to turn back. Shang Xiaodie continued to walk forward until a river embankment appeared in front of her, blocking her way. Her Suzhou Creek. At this time, she looked down at the manuscript, the thirteenth and fourteenth lines—— But don't cross the creek outside Gusu City 1999 Breathing in the ear Xiaodie repeated silently again: "The creek outside Gusu City?" Although, Suzhou Creek is famous for crossing the urban area of ​​Shanghai, but as the name suggests, it is a river that originates in Suzhou.Suzhou was called "Gusu" in ancient times, and "the stream outside Gusu City" is naturally the Suzhou Creek! "But don't cross the creek outside Gusu City", which means that when you come to the Suzhou River, please stop and don't cross the river again. The rain had almost stopped, and the river flowed slowly under the dark clouds.There is also a large open space on the other side, and there are some residential buildings a few kilometers away.The high tide is almost parallel to the ground, and the fragrance of the river bottom mud is blowing.This ancient river comes from Taihu Lake in Suzhou, and will flow into the Huangpu River to join the Yangtze River estuary until it is embraced by the raging waves of the Pacific Ocean. And what about "1999 Breathes in the Ear"? Shang Xiaodie looked across the road to the right.The tall wall broke by the Suzhou River, and a side door was opened next to the river embankment. Crossing the road along the embankment, she came to the dilapidated side door.There was a rusty street sign at the door— No. 1999, Jingwei Ninth Road 1999! My heart was hit hard. I thought the "1999" in the poem refers to 1999, but I didn't expect it to be this house number! Yes, 1999 Jingwei Ninth Road is breathing in the ear. Suzhou Creek, No. 1999, is exactly the same as the description in the poem. The side gate was sealed with iron bars.But there was a gap in the fence, just enough for a person to bend down and slip through.Shang Xiaodie threw the backpack through the door, curled up and got in. There was a large wasteland of rubble inside the door. She put the umbrella in her bag and walked forward step by step.On the left is the embankment of Suzhou Creek, and the river wind blows in at dusk.The surroundings are so quiet, as if you have left the city and come to an archaeological site. It used to be a factory here, and the water transportation is convenient by the Suzhou River, and the goods can be unloaded directly from the dock.Now almost all the factory buildings have been demolished, leaving only some ruins.A chimney with a height of more than ten meters stands alone by the Suzhou River, symbolizing an era of industrial civilization that has passed away. Facing this devastated scene, Xiaodie read out the fifteenth and sixteenth lines of the poem—— Machines and motors eat us up Black smoke drifts out of God's finger Although I didn't see "Machine and Motor", considering that this poem was written in 1986, there must have been many such machines and equipment in this factory at that time.And what about "Black Smoke Wafting Out of God's Finger"?Sounds like some sort of religious cipher. "Black smoke"?Shang Xiaodie looked up and saw the chimney - yes, wasn't this chimney emitting black smoke every day?As for the "finger of God" is also solved, the tall chimney pointing straight to the sky, doesn't it symbolize the "finger of God"? These two codes in the poem are undoubtedly describing the factory, especially the tall chimney, which is the most obvious coordinate point. It seems that she is getting closer to the "Butterfly Cemetery"! But there is only wild smoke and weeds left in front of it, rocks and rubble, and no one is there. Even a strong man may not dare to enter alone.Shang Xiaodie looked around carefully, and suddenly found a small path in the weeds on the right. The so-called path can only allow one person to walk through it.Both sides are full of grass over one meter high, as if walking into the green gauze curtain in the north.The map is completely useless, and I can only rely on the compass to identify the direction and walk southeast. At five o'clock in the afternoon, the rain had completely stopped.You must find the "Butterfly Cemetery" before dark, otherwise you will not be able to get out, and there may be robbers and other bad people. The cell phone rang again, and she knew it was from Shuang Shuang without looking at it, but Shang Xiaodie still let the cell phone ring but didn't answer it.The path in the ruins of the factory is winding, and when I look back, the road has long been covered by weeds and I can't see clearly.Even the side door to come in is gone, only the Suzhou River embankment in the distance-for a moment, I thought of "Spirited Away". Could it be that what was waiting for her was the hidden world under the cloak of a theme park?She even thought of the title of Hayao Miyazaki's next film, which is called "Butterfly and Fluttershy". Suddenly, a fence appeared in front of the path, erected in the blink of an eye, and she was caught off guard and almost ran into it—damn it!Is this the end? Looking anxiously to both sides of the wall, I saw a small door on the left.Immediately ran to this door, there seemed to be a hidden cave inside. Passing through this "wall within the wall", Shang Xiaodie finally stepped into the death zone. cemetery. I can't believe my eyes, there is actually a large grave behind this wall!Those stone, brick or wooden tombstones are densely erected in the wilderness, like zombies standing in line. Her lips were biting white, and she stared straight at the cemetery in front of her. A cold wind blew from the ground and slowly blew across her whole body. So she read the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth lines of the poem again—— You will carry your body to the graveyard Nails for an ancient cross Recite the words of Brother Kirill aloud Sure enough, it is a cemetery, and the password has clearly shown that "carrying the body" refers to the body of a living person. "Nail the old cross" - yes, most tombstones are cross-shaped, clearly Christian graves. It's just that she didn't understand at all what it meant to "recite Brother Kirill's words aloud." The sky gradually darkened. Only then did Shang Xiaodie remember the time, so she could only bite the bullet and walk towards the cemetery.Holding her shoulders tightly with both hands, beware of a dry bone suddenly protruding from the ground, grabbing her arm and not letting go. She found it strange that she only saw the tombstone but not the head of the grave.Taking a closer look at the characters on the tombstone, I found that they were all in foreign languages, with almost no Chinese characters visible. It turned out that this is the cemetery of foreigners. Wait a moment, Xiaodie suddenly remembered - that morning, Bai Lu said that she had arrived at the "Butterfly Cemetery" and sent her a "live broadcast" of MMS, and those photos also had the same scene! This is the place!She has found the right one!In an instant, excitement overwhelmed fear again. I don't know when it came from, but most of the words on the tombstone are blurred.Some tombstones simply fell to the ground, or broke in two.She boldly stepped over an incomplete tombstone, only to see the coffin protruding from the soil, and she almost fell to the ground in fright.There are even dense white bones on the ground, probably the work of wild dogs.If the weather is hotter, there must be wildfires at night?Or become an Eastern European vampire? Shang Xiaodie subconsciously covered her nose, as if there was a smell of carrion—is this the "Butterfly Cemetery"? Shaking her head in disappointment, she continued walking across the cemetery to the last headstone. Behind the tombstone is a dilapidated old house. The last tombstone was broken, and on the black marble was dotted with a bright color—she saw the wings. God!It's that butterfly! She quickly squatted down and looked carefully, and saw the pattern on the butterfly's wings clearly.That's right, on the left is the face of a beautiful woman, but on the right is a skull. Butterfly with beauty and skull. How could it be here too?A few days ago, it was this butterfly that guided her to the school's "ghost creek", found the mysterious schoolbag, and then dragged her into the whirlpool... Butterfly was still not afraid of her, and stopped in place leisurely.On the tombstone below it, there is a cross carved with a line of text underneath. It was almost half past five, and I couldn't read the foreign characters clearly, so I took a picture of the words on the tombstone with my mobile phone. Suddenly the text message rang.Xiaodie finally took a look at her phone, only to find that it was not Shuangshuang, but a text message from Zhuang Qiushui—— tell me where are you June 11 at 17:30 pm Zhuang Qiushui held the phone, waiting for Shang Xiaodie's answer. The sky outside the car window is getting darker and darker, but the road is getting more and more congested, and the wheels of the taxi are rolling like turtles.He urged the driver to hurry up, and the driver was a little angry: "Or you can drive!" Ten minutes ago, Lu Shuangshuang called Shang Xiaodie for the third time, but she refused to answer the phone.Shuangshuang became more and more frightened, and she was worried that something might happen to Xiaodie. Shuangshuang was so anxious that she wanted to go to Huangquan Road to find Xiaodie—if there was such a road.But Zhuang Qiushui stopped her, saying that it was already evening and it might be dangerous to go there.In the end, he looked into Shuangshuang's eyes and said: "I know how to get to Huangquan Road. I can go to find Xiaodie alone. You go back to school first, and wait for my news at ease. I will bring Xiaodie back safely. .” Lu Shuangshuang had no other choice but nodded and said, "Qiu Shui, you are so kind, I love you."