Chapter 2 Chapter 1 The Strange Will of "Burn Everything in the House"

Each color on the map has its representation.Blue represents rivers, lakes and oceans.Light blue means shallow water, dark blue means deep water.Green indicates plains, brown indicates plateaus or mountains, with darker browns indicating higher elevations.The white on the map means that the situation in this area is unknown and needs to be explored by geographers and explorers. However, what does the gold on the map represent? There won't be gold on the map - someone would say that. Naturally, on ordinary maps, there will be no gold, but there is one on that map. What I call "the map" is the one of Rollo the Explorer.

The funeral of the explorer Rollo seemed very deserted. It's no wonder that Rollo is a eccentric with a lonely personality that is almost unreasonable. He is also a celibate, has no relatives at all, and only a few friends--those friends are all able to endure his weird temper for a long time People, his funeral, and only those few friends attended. The weather that day was quite cold, and it was drizzling, so the whole process of the funeral seemed even more desolate. At the time of his heart attack, Rollo happened to be with a friend who was also a great explorer who had penetrated deep into the Congo and dealt with the cannibal tribes of New Guinea, who, according to legend, , to explore the "elephant grave" in the jungle of Honduras.

Luckily, I was with Rollo when he was ill—I mean Dr. Lesheng, that's why he was taken to the hospital. And when Rollo entered the hospital, he seemed to know that he was hopeless, and when he was slightly awake after a coma, he said the first sentence: "Bring all my friends." For ordinary people, This is a difficult thing to do, but it is easy for Rollo, because his friends are only a few people in total.Dr. Le Sheng then telegraphed those several people separately, and I was the last one to arrive, but it was only twenty-five minutes after Rollo gave that sentence.There were four people in total. Looking at Luo Luo's pale face before Luo Luo's sick bed, everyone felt that life was gradually moving away from Luo Luo, and that he was about to die.

Rollo looked at us silently, looking at him, he seemed to be unable to speak at all. He looked at us for several minutes before speaking again, and his last few words, and His usual inhumane style fits well. He made what is arguably the strangest will in the world.When he spoke, he was quite calm, and he said: "Four, I need you to take care of my funeral." There are only four friends of Rollo, and Rollo has had countless quarrels, and two of them (including me) even fought with him, but in any case, we all respect his adventures. Achievement, respect his attitude towards work, he is also our old friend.

Hearing such words from an old friend, anyone will inevitably feel sad.I spoke first: "Rolo, don't say such words, you will get better slowly!" This was, of course, an insincere consolation, for I had already seen that Rollo was dying. And Luo Luo also said honestly and bluntly: "Wesley, I really regret being friends with a hypocrite like you. I am going to die. I know it, and you know it too, and you still say such things!" I smiled wryly. Under such circumstances, I naturally couldn't argue with him, but I couldn't help but feel angry, so I could only say: "Okay, you are dying soon, if you have anything to say, just say it!"

Rollo panted, and said again, "I want to be cremated." We all nodded, cremation is not a rare thing, and it is not worth making a fuss if it is proposed by the deceased himself. Luo Luo continued to pant, and then said: "All my things will be burned to ashes. I said that everything is everything. Everything in the house I live in will be burned for me!" The four of us looked at each other, for a moment, not knowing what to do. Because this "will" is so weird! Burn everything in his house. Only we old friends know how valuable the things in Rollo's house are.

Rollo has been in his room for the past two years, sorting out the materials he obtained from his explorations in the past 30 years. This is an epoch-making masterpiece, four-fifths of which have been completed! If we do as he bids, burn everything in his house, including the original manuscript of this unfinished tome! And we all know that although his great book has not been completed yet, it will definitely have a great impact on human history and civilization. It is simply a masterpiece in humanities, geography, and even literature! When the four of us looked at each other, not knowing what to do, Rollo's voice became very shrill.

He seemed to be using the last ounce of strength in his life, and he was making a shrill cry, "What are you hesitating about? Do as I say, promise me!" He kept panting: "This is my last request, burn everything in my house, immediately after my death, promise me!" When he was saying those few words, the expression on his face was extremely terrifying! It's really hard to describe that terrible and stern look in words, I can only express my feeling at that time.My feeling at the time was that if the four of us didn't do what he ordered, then after he died and turned into a ghost, he would definitely come to settle accounts with us.

Obviously I'm not the only one who feels this way, the same goes for the other three. Therefore, the four of us spoke out almost at the same time, and we said in unison: "Okay, burn everything in your house!" Rollo let out a long breath. This breath was the last breath he exhaled in his life, and he died in that instant. Rollo was dead, but he still stared, still looking at us, to see if we would really do what he said. It is not a pleasant thing to be stared at by a dead person, so I stroked his eyelids and closed his eyes, and then I sighed: "We have lost a old friend!"

The other three shook their heads sadly and remained silent. Rollo's death was just the beginning of this incident. The subsequent development of this incident was unexpected by the few people present at that time, and it had a great relationship with the four people present. Therefore, I should give a brief introduction to the four people who were in front of Rollo's hospital bed when he was dying. Those four people are: (1) Dr. Le Sheng, a great explorer, and a senior advisor to several universities in the world.The most troublesome thing for other explorers is the cost of the expedition, but he needn't worry about it. There are several large-scale scientific funding institutions, and Dr. Le Sheng can accept whatever conditions he puts forward.Dr. Le Sheng is fifty years old, as stout as an ox, and as knowledgeable as a sea.

(2) Mr. Tang Yuehai, an anthropologist, his special research is the migration process of Asians on the earth.His treatise on the migration of Americans from North to South was regarded as the definitive work, forty-nine, dashing, easygoing, ornamental, and a dandy. (3) Mr. Ruan Yao, collector.This gentleman is a strange man who collects everything from glass bottles to jewellery, from mineral specimens to stamps, and there are many different kinds of one thing, all within the scope of his collection.He became such a collector after he enjoyed an inheritance so rich that he could not spend it in his lifetime.The place where he lives is called "Ark", because it is like Noah's Ark, with almost everything, and he himself named his residence "Mustard House".That is the meaning of "Surna Yu Mustard", which means that he has everything in his house and in the world of Sumeru. Ruan Yao, forty-two years old. (4) I, Wesley, seem the least worthy of introduction, ostensibly the manager of an entrance branch, but in reality I'm pretty darn good, interested in all sorts of weird things, and writing, that's all. The four of us stood in front of the stele for quite a while after seeing Rollo's ashes put in a porcelain vase, the porcelain vase was put into an exquisite box, and the box was buried in the soil. meeting. Among the four, Dr. Lesheng was the first to speak, and he said, "Okay, we should follow Rollo's instructions and deal with his belongings!" When Dr. Lesheng said that, we could all see that what he really meant was to ask us if he really wanted to do what Rollo asked. As a matter of fact, Rollo is dead, and even if we completely violate his will, he can't object. He can't yell at us with the most vicious words as he did in life, and he can't use his fists as he did in life. Dangling in front of our faces. However, after all, Rollo just died not long ago. Before he died, we all agreed to him with our own mouths. The most important thing is that the fierce look on his face before he died is in the minds of each of us. , the impression is still fresh, no one dares not to do what he said after thinking of his expression. Therefore, we sighed together: "Okay!" We left the cemetery together and boarded Ruan Yao's car. Cars are the same thing but there are many different types of objects, so it is also one of Ruan Yao's collection targets. On this day, he drove a classic car that was manufactured in the year Luo Luo was born. When the four of us wore mourning clothes and drove to Rollo’s house in one of those classic cars, everyone who saw us along the way thought we were filming a period film. Rollo lived in the suburbs. It was a very nice one-story house. Rollo changed the original layout a bit into a large studio and a small bedroom. The original garden, which Rollo had completely paved with cement, turned into a large piece of bare flat land, which looked really unpleasant, but at this time, it was somewhat helpful to our burning work. The four of us arrived at Rollo’s house, first we used bricks to form a circle on the concrete floor, then we took out chairs, tables and other flammable things and piled them in the center of the circle, and then I gave birth to Fire, the tongue of flames rose to a high level all at once. The four of us did not discuss anything beforehand, but at this time, we all threw insignificant things into the fire first, such as wardrobes, beds, chairs, things in the kitchen, and so on. The fire kept burning in the brick circle, and we kept bringing things out of the house and throwing them into the fire. An hour later, we started to burn Rollo's collection of books. The entire bookcase was brought out and pushed into the circle of fire. The burning books made a "pat" sound, and the ashes of the paper rose into the air with the flames. Spinning and dancing with the wind. Luo Luo had a huge collection of books. After burning for two hours, thick ashes had already accumulated in the brick circle. Almost everything in the house was burnt out. What remained was only one book in Luo Luo's studio. Huge desk, and another filing cabinet. We all know that in the desks and file cabinets, there are all the original materials obtained by Rollo's thirty years of exploration work, and the original manuscripts of his great book. The four of us gathered together in the already empty studio, and it was Dr. Le Sheng spoke first. Perhaps because Dr. Le Sheng is also an explorer, he also knows the value of Rollo's relics best. He pressed a corner of the table with one hand: "What should I do?" The three of us were silent for a while, Ruan Yao sighed: "I agree not to open the drawer at all, the whole table is carried out and burned, then everyone will not feel sad." Tang Yuehai immediately agreed to Ruan Yao's proposal, and I also nodded, Dr. Le Sheng sighed. The four of us worked together to lift the big table out and push it close to the fire. The table was really too big, much bigger than the circle of bricks we had piled up earlier. Moreover, with the strength of the four of us, we couldn't lift the table and throw it into the fire. Therefore, we just pushed the table closer to the turning circle, and knocked down half of the turning circle. The red-hot charcoal and ash poured down together, and the tongue of fire immediately licked the table. After a while, the whole table was on fire. After looking at it for a while, we pushed out the filing cabinet together again, using the same method, without opening the door at all. We pushed the filing cabinet outside, pushed it hard, and the filing cabinet fell to the burning table with a "boom". Things in the world are really subtle, but a little difference can make a completely different change in the future. At this time, we pushed the filing cabinet to the burning table. When we were pushing down the filing cabinet, we never thought whether the cabinet should face down or the cabinet should face down, and the cabinet only has two sides. , either face down or back down, that is a fifty-fifty chance. If at that time, the cupboard was facing down, pressing on the burning table, then nothing would have happened. However, when the cupboard fell down, it was face up! When the cabinet fell down with a "boom", the flames burned the corner of the cabinet almost immediately, but at this moment, due to the vibration, the door of the cabinet was knocked open. There was fire all around, and the hot air was rising. As soon as the cabinet door was shaken open, a large amount of paper flew out together. The four of us scrambled to pick up the papers that flew out of the cabinet door together, and, by coincidence, no matter what kind of paper we were holding, we didn't even look at it. At this moment, Ruan Yao suddenly said, "What does the gold color on the map represent?" Dr. Le Sheng replied casually: "There will be no gold on the map!" Ruan Yao was holding a stack of papers in his hand, and he raised it: "Look, there is a piece of gold on this map!" I already have sharp eyesight and quick hands to close the door of the filing cabinet, and the two tongues of flames have already closed the door. I believe that at this time, all the precious things in the cabinet will start to turn into ashes. As for the papers we picked up, we threw them into the fire without even looking at them. Only Ruan Yao held the map in his hand.The map was naturally also rolled out by the hot air when the door of the filing cabinet was opened. As I said before, the world is really wonderful. If the filing cabinet is facing down when it falls down, nothing will happen.And even if the cabinet was opened and the papers in the cabinet flew out, and the four of us picked it up together, if Ruan Yao hadn't picked it up, the map would have been thrown into the fire and turned into a few pieces of ashes. When I introduced Ruan Yao, I made it very clear that he is an unusual collector. Generally speaking, collectors often have to identify his collections, and the differences between some collections are very slight. Yes, so the observation ability of collectors is also particularly keen. The reason why I took the trouble to explain this way is to show that if someone else picks up this map, they will not pay special attention at all, but Ruan Yao is different. He immediately noticed that on that map, there is a small Places are represented in gold. And there is usually no gold on the map, so he asked.He may have asked casually, but since he asked, it must have attracted our attention. Even more coincidentally, at this time, all the things that can be burned in Rollo's house have been burned in the fire, and we are all empty, so after the question and answer of Ruan Yao and Dr. Le Sheng , Tang Yuehai and I also looked at the map in Ruan Yao's hand. The map was folded into several stacks, and on the top, you could see that small piece of gold, which was shaped like a curled up caterpillar.If it wasn't for the golden side, surrounded by a thin and neat black border, one might think that it was a little gold that was accidentally applied, but in the current situation, the gold is obviously painted on purpose. Tang Yuehai said: "It's really weird, there are too many strange things about Luo Luo, who painted gold on the map?" Dr. Le Sheng said: "This is an expedition map. Look, there are several dangerous marks on it." Dr. Lesheng said while pointing to the map. The danger mark is a skull and crossed bones, the same as the poison mark. Such marks are also invisible on ordinary maps, but they are very common on expedition maps. The danger mark on the expedition map has many meanings. It may mean that there is a swamp in this place, or it may be that a group of headhunters live in this place. It may also mean that the snow in this place may have the possibility of an avalanche at any time. . And on that map, beside that small piece of gold, there are as many as seven or eight danger marks! Tang Yuehai said, "What kind of map is that? Why are there so many danger marks?" I said, "Open it and have a look!" Ruan Yao had already opened up the entire map, squatted down, and spread the map on the ground. I picked up a few broken bricks and pressed the four corners of the map up. This is the four of us, looking at that map for the first time. It was getting dark by then, but the flames were still high so we could all see clearly. There is no doubt that Dr. Lesheng is right. It is an explorer's map.There's blue on the map, and there's brown, and there's green, and that little patch of gold.There are blue lines, which indicate rivers, and circles, which of course indicate towns, but there is no text at all. That is to say, after looking at this map, it is impossible to know where it is. Seeing this situation, I couldn't help asking: "What is this place? Why didn't Rollo put the name of the place on the map?" Ruan Yao said, "Maybe it's to keep a secret." Dr. Le Sheng shook his head and said, "Is there anything worth keeping secret about the map, forget it, burn everything, let's burn it too!" Ruan Yao folded the map again. When he folded the map, I saw the scale of the map, which is one in 40,000. A map of 1 in 40,000 is an extremely detailed map. For maps used for military purposes, the ratio is usually 1 in 50,000. Naturally, there are more detailed maps, but a map of 1 in 40,000 is always very detailed. Unusual, on such a map, a path can also be found. This time, I was the one who said, "Wait a minute, I want to keep this map as a souvenir. This is the only relic of Rollo!" Tang Yuehai immediately said: "Let Luo Luo live in our hearts forever, I don't want to violate his last words." Ruan Yao supported me: "What's the matter? He's dead. What's more, it's just a map with no words. I don't know what it's for. What are you afraid of?" Two were in favor and one was against, so the three of us, They all looked at Dr. Le Sheng. At this time, the sky was getting darker, so under the light of the fire, Dr. Le Sheng's face looked very strange.I said: "Why, doctor, what are you thinking?" I said this sentence twice, and Dr. Le Sheng was shocked: "I was thinking, I know everything about Rollo Yes, why did he have such an expedition map, I never knew?" Tang Yuehai wiped his face with his hands, and yawned: "That's a very common thing. It's not likely that a weirdo like Luo Luo will tell you everything!" Dr. Le Sheng shook his head: "No, this is an expedition map. I saw at least a hundred danger marks on it just now. If I hadn't been to this place in person, I wouldn't have added these marks, and , I can see that this is drawn by Rollo himself, and Rollo should have told me where it was, and shouldn't have kept it from me." I hurriedly asked, "What is this place?" Dr. Le Sheng said: "I don't know, there is no reminder of the place name, how do I know what this place is?" Ruan Yao still couldn't forget that piece of gold, and said: "There is a place on the map that is represented by gold, that's really weird!" I jumped up straight: "If Rollo has been to that place, then, in his records, he must be able to find out what it is, and what the meaning of that small golden area is!" Tang Yuehai shouted: "Yes!"