The man by the bonfire looked about forty years old. His black hair had almost turned into long, dirty hair because it had not been taken care of for a long time. His body was wrapped in black clothes.
If Shade were asked to tell his first impression of him, he would probably be an unlucky and frustrated guy like "his marriage broke up, his children are disobedient, he is on the verge of losing his job, his parents are seriously ill, and he ate bedbugs in his cereal for breakfast this morning."
.
The middle-aged man also heard Shade's footsteps in the monotonous sound of the waves, but just glanced at him and lost interest.
After entering the light range of the bonfire, Shade felt that the sadness and sadness had receded a lot. However, his life now can be considered happy and contented, and there are not many bad things worth recalling, so these negative emotions have not completely affected him yet.
he.
He held Sha Mian and sat down by the fire. He let out a long and comfortable sigh. He looked at the middle-aged man by the fire to make sure he was a living human being. Then he looked at the tall figure on the boat next to the pier. That figure
Wearing a black robe, the hood completely covered his face. He was at least over three meters tall, so the originally normal-sized wooden boat looked very small in comparison.
"god."
Just one look at Shade confirmed the identity of the other party. The waves did not affect the stability of the small boat, and the figure standing on it wearing a black robe did not sway due to it.
Xia De nodded slightly to show respect.
In fact, the small boat was not very far from the bonfire on the shore. Even if you didn't take the trestle, you could run a few steps on the beach and then jump suddenly towards the water, there was a chance that you could jump directly to the stern of the small boat.
“You’re so close to the shore, don’t you worry about being stranded?”
Just as he was thinking about it, the silent man spoke at this moment. His voice was extremely hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken for a long time:
"Aren't you going to get on the boat?"
The language he used was not because of "language proficiency", but more like it was influenced by the power of the dock itself and was directly understood by Shade.
Shade understood that the venue itself had the characteristics of allowing everyone to communicate freely, so he looked at the small wooden boat and then at him:
"So, are you selling ferry tickets?"
""
The middle-aged man who looked up at him said nothing, so Shade nodded:
"You're not the ticket seller, why should I get on the boat?"
"Since you are not boarding the ship, do you want to wait for someone here?"
The vicissitudes of the middle-aged man asked again, and Xia De shook his head again:
"Actually, I don't know where this is or what it means."
Generally speaking, ordinary people who can survive in such a strange place must have their own stories and pursuits, so Shade asked:
"Can you tell me about what's going on here?"
There was no sound from the burning bonfire, and it seemed that the middle-aged man's voice would never appear in the sound of the waves.
Silence enveloped the two people beside the small bonfire. Just when Shade thought he didn't want to answer and wanted to get up to communicate with the gods on the ship, the middle-aged man spoke again:
"This is the lost place - Black Sand Pier.
According to rumors, only those who have lost hope in life or want to completely escape from reality will come here. They will board the ship and be carried to a place from which they can never return."
Shade raised his head slightly and looked towards the depths of the black water covered by the mist. There was no dark moon there:
"Will I be led to death?"
"It's not death, it's a place further away than death."
The middle-aged man still stared at the flames instead of Shade:
"I asked the witch to help me find this place. She said that once they are taken away by this ship, they will not be found even in death."
In other words, if you board the ship at the "Black Sand Pier", you will not even be qualified to end.
"Well, I'm not a nice person, and I don't like to pry into other people's privacy, but who are you waiting for here?"
"She" smiled in Shade's ear, which was "laughing" at Shade's previous explanations.
This time the middle-aged man finally turned to look at Shade, his tired and cloudy eyes swept over his young and handsome face, confirming that his mental state was normal:
"Waiting for my wife, she doesn't want to see me or our children. I've been looking for her for many years. I know she will eventually come here and board this ship. I want to see her one last time."
Although the middle-aged man did not tell the story of him and his wife, the outsiders had already guessed the complex and tortuous story:
"Shad Hamilton."
He nodded and stretched out his hand. The middle-aged man was a little surprised, but he also stretched out his hand to shake Shade:
"Frank Nelson. If you entered here by mistake, I don't know how to get out of here. Maybe you can ask the boatman over there what he should know."
Mr. Nelson didn't seem to know that the ferryman on the boat was a god, but Shade believed that his mission this time was to help Mr. Nelson bid farewell to his wife.
He asked the sad man some other questions, and then learned that Mr. Nelson didn't know how long he had been here. He only knew that all the visitors after him came from the darkness far away from the water just like Shad.
Walk towards the town.
However, everyone except Shade walked directly onto the trestle, chatted with the boatman for a few words, and then was carried by the boat into the depths of the mist.
As for this bonfire, it existed before he came:
"Perhaps there are others who came here but did not leave immediately. This flame is the last resting place for those who are determined to leave."
Because Mr. Nelson couldn't determine the time, he couldn't tell how long it would take for the boat to come back once it left. But people would come here while the boat was leaving. At that time, people would be waiting on the trestle, and a few people would even say a few words to him.
sentence.
"So, all the people who come here want to get away from everything, right?"
"Even if it isn't, if you stay here for a long time, you will have that kind of thought."
The middle-aged man with a scruffy beard looked at Xia De:
"If I hadn't been determined to wait for her, maybe I would have taken a boat and left long ago. Young man, you should find a way to escape as soon as possible, otherwise you will get on that boat sooner or later."
The depressing atmosphere of the scene itself and his low tone made even the most cheerful person unable to be happy at the moment, so Shade made a little joke:
"Well, since you have time, do you want to play a game of Rhodes?"
"What?"
"Kidding."
Shade stood up in a good mood, and Mr. Nelson watched silently as he walked onto the trestle and came to the side of the small boat.
We are already above the water, but we still can't feel the wind. The old and shaky trestle is actually very stable when we walk on it, and there is no creaking sound.
"Hello."
Shade bowed respectfully to the tall figure on the boat, and then discovered that the god was not wearing a black robe, but the black mist around him gave the appearance of a black robe.
There was nothing on the ship, and there were no markers on the gods. Even because the gods had restrained their power, there was no trace of the "divine afterglow" on Shade's body.
God responded to him:
"Stranger, do you want to leave here by boat?"
His voice was hoarse and slow, and it seemed like there was a lump of phlegm stuck in his throat, but Shade noticed that he was speaking the Delarian language.
Shade did not refuse immediately, but asked:
"Where can this ship take me?"
"Anywhere."
God responded, as if he knew what Shade was asking:
"The boat can ferry you to any time and place you know, even the river beach illuminated by the dark moon."
This answer is really unexpected:
"But those mortals who come here"
"You are different from them."
This is indeed true. Shade looked at the mist deep in the water again:
“If I really want to go by boat, what do I have to pay for the boat fare?”
He doesn't think it's free.
God answered:
"It will depend on when and where you want to go."
"I understand if I may know what mortals call you?"
Shade finally asked again, and the hoarse and slow voice under the black robe answered:
"The god of ferrymen, or the ferryman between narrow spaces."
Shade tried his best to recall and confirmed that he had never heard of this god's name. Therefore, this was definitely not an evil god. He had at least heard of the names of evil gods who were still active in the Sixth Age.
"Is this the unknown old god who left in the Fifth Age?"
He thought to himself, turned around and wanted to return to the bonfire, but then asked:
"Can you please tell me the ferry fare you charge for those mortals who want to leave forever?"
"Memory, emotion, and the temperature of the soul."
"clear."
Shade thanked him again, then returned to the bonfire, and then saw Mr. Nelson looking at him strangely. The area where the trestle was located seemed to have a unique "silent" environment. Mr. Nelson outside the trestle should not have heard Shade.
What was said to the boatman, he was surprised by another thing:
"When you arrived at the ship, you were not taken away by the ship?"
"Maybe it's because I'm happy enough that I haven't thought about leaving without looking back just yet."
Xia De sat down again, and the vicissitudes of life in the middle-aged man nodded slightly:
"Looking at how handsome you are and how energetic you are, your life must be very happy, right?"
"Fortunately, I have my own house, a fiancée who loves me very much, a beautiful lover who is willing to spend money on me, a teacher who likes me very much, friends who are willing to help me, and I even have a dog at home.
Very cute cat.”
Dirty Mr. Nelson smiled for the first time:
"So how's your job?"
"It's not bad. I can be considered a minor noble. I have a job that pays well but I don't have to do actual work. I also have some side jobs that make money."
"Looking at your age, you are already twenty-two or thirty years old. Don't you plan to have children?"
"I haven't thought about it yet. I still have a long way to go in the future, and I am a very carefree person. There are some girls around me who may not be able to help me, so I have to consider everyone's thoughts."
【You actually admit that you are too busy? 】
Mr. Nelson held his legs with both hands and nodded gently with a smile and a little melancholy:
"Since you live a happy life, you can think about your children later. Family harmony is the most important thing. You are still young, and you will have a long way to go with the people around you in the future. Some people said when they were young that they would love each other until the end of time.
,but"
He stopped talking and looked towards the beach with Shade in the distance, because a staggering figure was walking towards this side.
