A British folk song came from the counter of a dimly lit bar. With the soft sound of the tape, the music was interrupted. One hand pressed on the radio, and the long-haired bartender patted the radio.
The radio didn't work very well, and he shook his head helplessly.
The guest's bell on the bar called him over. As soon as he turned around, he saw a blond man passed out drunk at the table. The bartender sighed helplessly, walked up and pushed the man's shoulder and said
: "Mr. Constantine, are you okay?"
"The radio...why doesn't it ring?" Constantine said vaguely. The bartender took a glass from the shelf and wiped it while saying: "That old radio was left by the boss's father. It is too old.
, so it often breaks."
Constantine did not raise his head, but slowly raised a hand. The bartender saw that under the light of the light, his fingers had clear joints and looked slender and elegant, which was somewhat different from his overall decadent temperament.
He lightly snapped his fingers, and with a "click" sound, the radio exploded with a series of sparks, and then the music started playing again.
The bartender was startled, and he took two steps back slightly, but it was not because of this magical phenomenon. Constantine was a regular visitor here. Everyone here knew that this decadent man had some special powers.
The bartender put the cleaned glass on the bar and asked, "Is it still the same?"
"Yes, let's have an extra cup of ginger juice."
"Ginger juice?" After hearing the word, the bartender showed a troubled expression and said, "You mean the kind of medicine used to treat colds? But we only have wine here..."
"Give me a cup."
Constantine finally stood up from the bar. He covered his head. The dizziness caused by the euphoria of the drug had not dissipated. His vision was a little hazy, and he saw a glass reflecting the shining light placed on the bar.
, he gently pointed with his hand, and it was filled with ginger juice.
Just after he finished all this, a black figure appeared in the shadows in the corner of the bar. Constantine did not look back, he just moved his body to the side, as if leaving a place for someone.
The black figure walked up. He was wearing a black armor, a black cloak on his back, and two pointed ears on his head. Constantine held his head with his hands, turned his head to look at him and said, "What if I
When designing uniforms, I will definitely choose to expose my chin, otherwise I won’t be able to drink...ahem..."
Batman picked up the cup, and he could already smell the strong smell of ginger. Constantine looked at his expression, chuckled and said, "Don't you like ginger juice instead of wine? Don't you plan on taking a sip?"
Batman put down the glass again, and Constantine went to take the real glass of wine handed over by the bartender. After taking a sip, he gritted his teeth and seemed to be hit by the ice. He said: "...It's amazing, I
I’ve never had a drink as cold as in a Gotham bar anywhere else…”
"Do you have any secrets?" Constantine looked at the bartender and asked.
"Gotham's cold chain is very famous now." The bartender continued to wipe the glass and said: "At the beginning of this year, four large ice-making factories were established. The quality of the ice we have here is very good. Not only
The temperature is very low and it is not easy to melt.”…
Constantine took another sip of wine, Batman looked at him, Constantine shook his head, and then said: "I know what you want to ask, magic...magic..."
As if he was drunk, he turned his head to the side, leaned on his arm, and then said: "You have been following me these past few days just to get an answer from me, but I have told you a long time ago, kid.
,Don’t think about using magic to resurrect anyone..."
Batman still stared at him silently, and Constantine said like a prophet: "I know that people like you are like this. If you don't understand the principle, you won't completely deny the possibility of something."
"However, in the process of figuring out the principle, you have to pay a much higher price than you think."
Constantine picked up the wine glass but did not drink it. Instead, he put it against his face. It seemed that the coldness could make his brain clearer. He said: "I used to be just like you, and I was full of worries about these things."
Out of curiosity, I thought, if I had never really pursued it, how could I know that it was not my way out?"
"But this is magic. It seduce you to explore and verify, and then makes you lose everything in the process. In the end, you find that the process of losing everything is magic itself."
"This is not an exchange of equal value." Constantine shook his head and continued: "It's not that you can resurrect anyone because of what you pay, but that you have lost everything in the process of resurrecting someone."
The British folk tune kept playing, and Batman's hand holding the glass looked even younger. Although his figure had grown to be the same as that of an adult, it could be seen from the joints of his fingers that he was still a teenager.
Seeing his hands, Constantine recalled his former self, that young, immature and healthy self, just like a summer oak.
Fortunately, he thought, he met the young Batman at this time. If the two people's ages were swapped, or they met each other at the same age, there would really be a big mess.
It was the first time that Batman stayed in a bar in Gotham for so long. The ditty kept echoing in his mind, reminding him of the British countryside. He couldn't remember when he also heard it in Alfred's mouth.
Live a little tune like this.
When the old butler's face appeared in front of Batman's eyes, he stood up from the chair at the bar, put down his glass, and then turned around and left.
On the way back to Wayne Manor, Batman felt keenly that it was extremely cold this winter, so much so that when he saw the familiar buildings in Wayne Manor, he actually felt a warmth in his heart.
However, Batman seemed a little extra cautious when opening the door to his home. Even when he walked through the courtyard, he no longer had the windy attitude of his usual coming and going. Instead, he walked lightly and walked in slowly.
.
Arriving at the stairs of the manor, Batman looked at the hook fixed on his hand. In the past, he would directly launch the hook onto the balcony, then jump up onto the balcony and return to the room.
But he still chose to take the stairs.
It is actually very difficult to expect Batman to be able to walk up the stairs well, because he is always good at using various methods to appear in various places where he should not appear, regardless of whether there is anything available there.
The way up...
Therefore, when he was walking up the stairs with some caution, he did not notice that some of the old stair railings in Wayne Manor were loose. When he reached the third floor, he planned to take the last step.
When he was walking, he instinctively held the handrail of the stairs, and then, the wooden handrail made a very slight "squeak" sound under his hand.
Batman's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he quickly turned his head, and sure enough he saw a small black shadow rushing over from the end of the corridor on the second floor like the wind.
It was a little girl with black hair and blue eyes who looked very similar to him. She was wearing pajamas, rubbing her eyes in confusion, and then looking at Batman with her shimmering eyes in the dark night.
Logically speaking, in this scene, Batman's first action should be to directly reach for the Batarang at his waist, and then turn on the night vision goggles to gain a visual advantage.
But this time, his first move was to stretch out a hand, hold all the other four fingers, leaving only one index finger, then put it to his mouth, and gestured "Shhh" to the little girl.
"Gesture.
The little girl frowned, sniffed hard, and showed a somewhat confused expression. Then she ran up the stairs and came to Batman's side, and took two more deep breaths.
Batman shook his head at her, and just when he reached out to cover her mouth, the little girl opened her mouth full of fangs and let out an earth-shattering "Wow!"
!
!
"
In an instant, the lights of Wayne Manor were brightly lit.
A few minutes later, Batman holding Elsa appeared on the sofa in the manor hall. Elsa was biting Batman's wrist guard with her fangs. Batman said to Alfred opposite him with a straight face.
: "No, I didn't drink."
The old housekeeper cast his eyes on Aisha. Aisha, who could not understand human speech very well, seemed to suddenly awaken to infinite wisdom. She let go of her mouth and jumped to the other side of the sofa.
He was jumping up and down on the sofa, pointing at Batman, and kept saying "Wow, wow, wow".
Dick walked out from upstairs with his eyes closed and staggered down the stairs holding on to the handrail. He was obviously very sleepy.
After walking down, he stretched and yawned. Alfred walked over and patted his back first, and then said to him: "Go back to sleep, young master, there won't be any more noise."
is you."
Dick closed his eyes, but he shook his head, then walked up to Batman, took his arm and said, "You won't go to that place again, will you?"
"I didn't." Batman immediately denied it, but Elsa continued to raise her voice and kept screaming. Batman walked over helplessly and picked her up. Dick rubbed his eyes and said, "Elsa said
You smell of alcohol, did you go to a bar?"
Batman remained silent and didn't speak. He lowered his head and looked at Elsa. Elsa still could only scream incomprehensibly.
Batman glanced at Elsa, then at Dick, and then at Alfred, who had been staring at him. He wondered if the three people had any secret words that could be used to communicate. He didn't learn from Elsa's
Any syllable that can be analyzed to decipher the message is heard in the scream...
Elsa struggled hard and jumped out of Batman's arms, then ran to Alfred, pulled his trouser legs, pointed at Batman and kept saying "Wow wow wow".
After Alfred picked her up, she immediately stopped screaming. Alfred hugged Elsa and said to Batman: "Master, although you are now the father of two children, in reality,
Say, you are not an adult yet."
"Always going to places that are not conducive to the physical and mental health of minors, I'm afraid it will be difficult to set an example for the two children."
I don't know if it was Batman's hallucination, but he thought he heard murderous intent in Alfred's tone. He heard the old butler say:
"I don't know how that scumbag named Constantine from London seduced you, but I hope that he can stop tarnishing the reputation of his hometown in his limited time."
"Otherwise, as a fellow countryman of his, I feel it is necessary for me to teach him the etiquette of being a gentleman."
At this time, Constantine, who was still drunk in the bar, felt a bone-chilling chill in his back for some unknown reason. He shivered hard and sensed the surrounding situation, but he didn't know what was going on.
No danger was found.
This coldness followed him everywhere, but he didn't know the source. Constantine turned his head around helplessly. Suddenly, he saw the glass of ginger juice he had conjured. He reached out to pick up the glass, pinched his nose, and drank it all.
The pungency finally made him feel warm. He coughed hard twice, sneezed again, and broke out in a cold sweat.
