Chapter 16 Masked Man in the Dungeon

"Aren't you afraid?" He seemed surprised. I shook my head: "It's just a mask. You don't want to show your true colors, there are always reasons for you." He bent down, gently put the candle into a clay pot, and said in a low voice, "I wear a mask because I'm ugly, so ugly that it scares people." I straightened up and wanted to stand up. When I was exerting force with my hands, I suddenly felt a sharp pain from the right elbow joint. When I looked down, I realized that my arm was bleeding.Oops, it must have just fallen to this place and broke it.I had been so nervous just now that I didn't even notice that I was injured.

"Are you injured?" He immediately noticed my strangeness. I shook my head: "It's okay, it's just a little scratch." Although I'm not like my dad, no matter what injury I get, it can heal automatically, but any wound on my body will disappear after more than ten days. "It's better to wrap it up." He took out a roll of cloth from the corner of the wall, walked up to me, gently took my hand, and carefully wrapped it layer by layer. At such a close distance, looking in through the gap in the mask, I found his eyes were emerald, and at first glance, they seemed a little familiar.Although there is a thick mask, it can't hide the tenderness and delicacy in the eyes. I suddenly feel a little curious, why is such a man locked in a dungeon?

"Maybe I'm talking too much, but why are you here?" I couldn't help asking. His movements froze for a moment, and he said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Because I'm too ugly, I will scare people." At this time, my guard was also slightly reduced, and I said casually: "What does it matter if you are ugly on the outside, the ugliness on the inside is the real ugliness." He was slightly taken aback, and turned his head away. "By the way, how can I get out from here?" I looked around, and there seemed to be no exit, and I couldn't even see where I fell in.

He hesitated for a moment: "For the time being, you can't go out, but after a few days, the guards will come to inspect and deliver food, then you can ask them to take you out." "How many days?" I looked at him suspiciously, "Do they deliver food to you every so many days?" He didn't make a sound, and I suddenly thought of Xika, and asked quickly, "By the way, did you see a seven or eight-year-old boy fall?" He stood up and walked forward with a candle in his hand: "Follow me!" I followed him and walked forward, only to find that this place is also a maze-like place, through a corridor, he pointed to one of the rooms and said: "The boy is here, and he passed out when he fell. "

I pushed open the door, and by the candlelight, I vaguely saw a familiar little face, it was indeed Sika!I saw that his eyes were tightly closed, and the wound on his forehead had been carefully bandaged. "Don't worry, he was only slightly injured, I think he will wake up soon." He closed the door, "If I'm not mistaken, you are sacrifices from Athens, right?" I nodded. "Have you seen the Minotaur?" Candlelight casts alternating light and dark shadows on his mask. "No." He said softly, "I just know it's a monster." "Monster..." I leaned against the door, "If it could choose, it wouldn't want to have such a fate. Destiny is often not something you can choose, and what you can change may only be a small and limited fate. "

He didn't say anything more, and continued to lead me forward. There are many rooms with closed doors on both sides of the corridor.I'm getting more and more confused, is this really a dungeon? "I've never seen a dungeon this big," I interjected. "No matter how big a place is, it's just a cage." He stopped in front of a room, opened the door and entered, and put the candle on the table, "You can live here temporarily for a few days. Call me, I'm right next door to you." I glanced at the room, and there was only a table, a few chairs and a simple wooden bed inside, and there was still a musty smell in the air.Although a little depressed, I still went in bravely, who told me that I was so unlucky that I would fall into such a ghostly place.

He walked out of the room, and suddenly turned around and said, "By the way, if it's okay, you can go to any room, except for the one at the end of the corridor." I responded and watched his back disappear in front of my room. In this dark place, I couldn't tell when it would be dawn. Watching the last bit of flame jumping and disappearing on the table, I closed my eyes helplessly. Who is this strange man?Although I suspected that he was a minotaur before, but he is obviously a human, and, is there such a gentle monster?Although he said that he was locked up here because he was too ugly, I was a little skeptical. If he was really afraid of being too ugly and scary, wouldn't it be easier to kill him? Why bother to lock him up here?His identity must be very mysterious.

As I was thinking about it, drowsiness gradually came... Maybe it was because I changed to a place I was not used to. I had many strange dreams. When I dreamed that the princess was beating me violently, I suddenly woke up.Alas, why are sweet dreams always so short-lived? In the boundless darkness, I opened my eyes, and an inexplicable tension came to my heart.This familiar feeling came again, even though it was in the dark, I still had that feeling, as if someone was watching me in the dark, and a chill came from behind... Is it my illusion?However, the feeling of being stared at by someone is so real.

I rubbed my temples, maybe I've been under too much stress lately, so I often have this neurotic hallucination.At this moment, I suddenly heard a very light breathing sound from the corner, which really made my hair stand on end.He held his breath and listened for a while, but there was no sound.Could it be that my hallucinations are getting worse? When I woke up again, the room was still dark.Someone knocked lightly on the door, accompanied by a gentle voice: "Are you awake?" When he heard my answer, he pushed the door open and came in. The candle in his hand immediately filled the place with light. Through the light, I could clearly see that he was holding a basin of bread and a bowl of water in his hand.

"Just eat something." He put the things on the table and glanced in my direction, "Did you sleep well last night?" "It's not good." I said it honestly. "Is the injury on your hand better?" There was a hint of concern in his voice. "It should be fine." I got out of bed, and when I walked to the table, I swayed slightly, as if I was looking for a support. I was pulled down with a snap. He immediately screamed, covered his face with his hands in horror and bent down, huddled in the corner and refused to raise his head again, with a trembling and pleading voice: "No, please don't look at my face."

I originally wanted to take this opportunity to see if he was really an ugly monster, but seeing him like this, I couldn't help feeling a little regretful, that fear of being hurt didn't seem like a fake: "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. "I suddenly felt a little cruel, so I picked up the mask and handed it to him, "Put it on, I won't look at your face." He buried his entire face in his knees and reached out to take the mask with one hand.I turned around immediately, only to hear a sound behind me, followed by his soft voice: "Okay." When he turned around, he was arranging his mask. Unintentionally, I found that he also had a pair of very beautiful and slender hands, which were almost as good as Ashley's. "Actually, you don't have to be so afraid. It's not something to be ashamed of being ugly." I wanted to try to comfort him. He shook his head, with a trace of indescribable sadness in his voice: "I don't know why I came to this world. I am obviously unwanted and hated. Since that day, my mother has always rushed into hysterics. I shouted: I don’t want to see you again! Everyone’s disgusting faces are a nightmare that I can’t get rid of every night. I will be even more dissatisfied when I hear it. I know that no one would like such an ugly me, not even my biological parents..." His sadness can move everyone, even the air is sad and trembles slightly. My heart seemed to be touched by something. This gentle man has done nothing wrong. Is it just because of his ugliness that he will be locked up in this kind of place for the rest of his life? "No matter how ugly a person is, as long as he has a noble soul, someone will like it." I smiled at him, "Why don't I tell you a story." He raised his head in doubt: "Story?" "Well, this is a story that happened in France. In the story, there is a very ugly bell ringer. His name is Quasimodo. Quasimodo has the most ugly appearance: a strange face, a tetrahedron Nose, horseshoe mouth, jagged teeth, one eye, deafness, hunchback... ugly enough." He didn't have any objection to the word "France" that hasn't appeared yet, but he was a little surprised by the ugliness I described: "Is there anyone that ugly?" "Of course there is, listen to me." I took a sip of water from the clay pot, "In the story, there is also a beautiful girl, her name is Esmeralda..." Hugo's is mine A very familiar story.When I was seven years old, my parents took me to Paris to see an opera adapted from the story, so I have always been very impressed. There are a few wonderful lyrics that I can still sing to this day.It is really suitable to use this story to comfort him. France has the Hunchback of the Clock Tower, and Greece has the Hunchback of the Mask... He had been listening attentively, and when he heard that Quasimodo was in love with Esmeralda, he let out a very soft sigh. I smiled and continued to tell the story. When I told the whole story happily, I didn't forget to take the opportunity to encourage him: "Look, although he is ugly, he is not disgusted by Esmeralda." , because he has a noble soul, and so do you, you are so gentle, someone will definitely like you." He didn't speak, and his emerald eyes seemed to have complicated expressions. I took a bite of the bread, and my thoughts went back to when I was seven years old. That was the first time I went to France. My mother took me to Provence to see lavender and sunflowers. There, my mother was angry with me for the first time. I remember that time Always clamoring for a picnic in the sun with Dad.At that time, I didn't understand that my father... could never appear in the sun. In the ear, it seems that the tune in the opera is echoing: where u from beautiful exotic girl You are an elf in the sky or on earth beautiful bird of paradise why are you here i'm a gypsy no one knows where i come from gypsy girl I wander the world Who knows where I will go tomorrow gypsy girl Everything is written on my palm ... "It's a very special tune." His voice suddenly pulled me back from my distraction, and I suddenly found myself humming the song inside without knowing it. "Yeah!" I smiled, "I just watched it when I was a child, so I forgot a lot." "It sounds good." There was a gentle color in his eyes, like sunlight wrapped in a glass, soft and transparent. When RP broke out today, good people will do it to the end.After thinking about it, I hummed another song that I remember more clearly: my esmeralda What you ignite is my love you don't care I'm blind for love no more sound you have moved my heart When I look into your eyes that I shouldn't see I can only secretly watch your back pitifully Hide in a dark room and indulge in missing you ... Before I finished singing, he suddenly stood up: "I'm not feeling well, I, I'm going back to my room to rest first!" After saying that, he hurriedly left in a little panic. I swallowed the last morsel of bread and raised my eyebrows. What a strange, impolite guy, who rarely sings two verses and doesn't join in. After eating the bread, I picked up the candle and groped into the room where Sika was.He hasn't woken up yet, but his breathing is even and his face is rosy, so there shouldn't be any major problems.But it is annoying to be so dull, but as long as he is not eaten by the Minotaur, I have completed the task, right?But the sword from the princess is still a problem.I don't know if Dafa Dafa will have the same effect when applied to human beings! Maybe it's because I've been in the dark all the time, I feel that my body is particularly tired, and I'm more likely to fall asleep than usual.I don't know if it's day or night, anyway, I can't care so much, I fell asleep again. Between half-dream and half-awake, I faintly felt that someone was approaching my bedside. Although my eyes were still closed, my consciousness had begun to wake up and I was on alert. A black shadow suddenly enveloped me, and then, a hand slowly reached out to me, and when my body was tense, I found that the hand just gently covered me with the blanket that I kicked away. body.As if he was afraid that I would catch a cold, he tugged on it reassuringly and covered half of my head. I gripped the blanket tightly, a warmth like melted granulated sugar welling up inside me.Gentle masked weirdo, someone will like you, for sure. When I woke up again, I suddenly remembered the scene last night. I was really touched at that time, but now I have new doubts.Could it be that he was the one who was in my room before?Or was he the one watching me in the dark?If this is the case, then when I was in the princess room, who was that shadow who was watching me?What a weird feeling... I fumbled outside the door, took down a candle stuck in the corridor candlestick, and walked towards the toilet at the end of the corridor. Now I have no concept of time at all, and I don’t even know whether it is day or night outside.If I stay for a few more days, I'm afraid I will go crazy. I really don't know how the masked man survived. Thinking of this, my heart seems to be blocked, even I don't believe it, a string deep in my heart has been touched, this time I somehow want to meddle in my own business and get him out of prison .Maybe, let him leave here with Theseus... As I was thinking, I walked slowly forward. After solving my personal problems in the toilet, I suddenly noticed the last forbidden room. The more taboo the place is, the more it can arouse people's curiosity. Just like now, when I think of the masked man's words, my curiosity suddenly begins to overflow. I pushed the door, and the door was firmly locked, but it was not difficult for me to open such a lock.The door was only opened a crack, and there was a smell of blood mixed with the rotten smell. I was slightly startled, and I slipped in sideways, and closed the door gently. Raising the candle in my hand, under the faint candlelight, a scene that I will never forget in my life suddenly appeared in front of me.On the ceiling, on the walls, and on the ground, there are all black and red bloodstains that have dried up, which is shocking.At the corner of the wall, piles of white bones were piled up, all of which were human skeletons... There was a sound of bones rolling, and a skull rolled down to my feet impartially. I took a deep breath, and after forcing myself to calm down a little, I bent down and took a closer look at the skull. It looked like a child's skull, and it had been covered with dust for a long time.I stepped forward a few steps and walked to the pile of bones.I moved the candle closer, and suddenly found a strange horned thing next to the white bone.I stretched out my hand, picked up the thing, took a closer look, it turned out to be a mask with a bull's head...a mask with a bull's head?The dungeon in the maze, the human bones, the bloody room, everything is connected in a row, and I suddenly feel that the blood in my whole body seems to be congealed... Could it be... Could it be that…… A gentle voice suddenly came from behind: "What you hold in your hand belongs to me." As soon as I let go, the cow-head mask fell to the ground with a bang.Turning his head slowly, what caught his eyes was the hideous silver mask at the door. "Who the hell are you?" I was able to remain calm and opened my mouth to him first. He stepped into the room: "I am—the Minotaur."