After learning the news, Alyosha's team and Dr. Hunter's students all frowned. When they heard that this place had been visited by an expedition team first, everyone felt as if they had discovered that their girlfriend had an affair.
Just like the predecessors I met, I was a little annoyed and unwilling. The bizarre experience of this expedition team made the atmosphere weird again.
The Bermuda Triangle, cruise ships, disappearing sailboats... all the weird stories I have heard in daily life come to mind.
Peter wiped the sweat from his head, "Maybe they had an accident..."
"What kind of accident could it be?" Sarah choked him back with just one sentence.
"Army ants?" Will guessed, "They met army ants while sleeping..."
After thinking about it carefully, he overturned his speculation and said, "No, these relics are too complete. If it was really done by army ants, then these sleeping bags should be torn into pieces."
"Change a place?" Someone wanted to change a place to spend the night.
When encountering such evil things, the best way is to change places to live. You know there is something fishy in the house, so why stay here so stubbornly? But everyone listened to the howling of the wind outside and felt the warmth of the bonfire in the house.
I immediately lost my willpower to change rooms. Not to mention that there was something wrong with this room, but it was already the most suitable house for camping nearby.
In such a large city, it is no coincidence that the previous archaeological team and Tom's archaeological team selected the same house. The space here is wide, the house structure is solid, well-preserved, and there is plenty of fuel. Experienced adventurers will choose this place.
Make a camp.
Judging from the wind outside, if it were another house, there would probably be an accident: but it probably didn't disappear mysteriously, but it was buried underground by the collapsed house. As if to confirm their conjecture, there was a roar outside.
The house somewhere was overturned by the wind, or it might have been crushed by the sand.
Everyone was silent.
"Leave someone to watch the night." Alyosha sighed, made a decision, and began to clean up the ground, planning to make a sleeping place. When Alyosha and others were uneasy about what happened to the previous group of adventurers,
At that moment, Tom and Hermione were standing on the side, looking out of place.
Seeing that the two were idle, Will wanted to call them over, but the old man Yoshadu stopped him, winked at him, and shook his head. Will was stunned, glanced at them, and scratched his head.
Turned around and left.
Tom noticed that Hermione didn't look right.
She has been silent since entering the city. The spectacular ruins of the city wall and the shocking stories of her predecessors could not make her even utter an exclamation. Even when Tom came back, she had no reaction. After entering the house, she just silently muttered.
Stand aside with your clothes on.
He walked up to Hermione and tugged on the corner of her clothes.
"What’s wrong with you?"
Hermione turned her face away, still saying nothing, and seemed to be holding something in her hand.
Tom understood that he was blaming himself for taking another risk. So he came closer and scratched the back of Hermione's hand. Hermione wanted to pull her hand away, but Tom was a step ahead of her and held her hand.
"It's my fault, I won't do it next time," he leaned over with a smile, "Just forgive me——"
He was stunned.
Hermione turned her head, her eyes were red, and two lines of tears rolled down from the corners of her eyes. Her lips wriggled twice, but no sound came out.
"Hermione, you..." Tom's mind went blank. At this moment, Hermione swung his hand away, and at the same time, a piece of robe was thrown out and slowly fell to the ground.
"Let me go, you and I are... unfamiliar." She said hoarsely.
Tom subconsciously grabbed her hand back, then took advantage of the situation and pulled Hermione into his arms, letting her head rest on his chest.
Hermione struggled violently twice, but Tom held her tighter and tighter.
"Be good." Tom rubbed his face against Hermione's head, "I can't live without you."
Hermione froze, and the robe on Tom's chest suddenly became stained with water. He held Hermione in his arms, feeling the slight trembling of her body, and the whimper that still flowed out of the corner of her mouth despite his efforts to suppress it.
The two stood there. Others in the team also noticed the strangeness of the young couple, but they wisely stayed away slightly, leaving them some private space.
Finally, Hermione's tears stopped. She twisted slightly and raised her head from Tom's arms. At this time, her eyes were swollen from crying, and her face was covered with streaks of tears.
Her lips parted slightly, but before she could say anything, Tom leaned over and blocked her mouth.
Hermione's lips were cold, soft, and a little salty. Tom kissed her awkwardly. He first put his lips on Hermione's mouth, and then gently teased her lips with the tip of his tongue.
At first, Hermione's whole body was tense, but she soon relaxed.
Both of their minds were blank.
Tom and Hermione separated only when both of them were breathing heavily, and even though they were separated, there was still a crystalline thin thread connecting them.
Bo!
Hermione's pretty face was slightly red, her breathing was rapid, her eyes were watery, and Tom's eyes seemed to be able to spit out fire and melt her.
Tom pressed forward slightly, and Hermione immediately leaned into Tom's arms, and the two sat on the ground together.
Hermione rested her head on Tom's chest, breathing warm breath on Tom's collarbone.
"I beg you, don't leave me." Tom put his arm around Hermione and intertwined her fingers with his other hand. "I can't live without you."
Hermione huddled in Tom's arms and refused to look up. After a long time, she replied coyly: "I can't live without you either."
She didn't know when it started, but there was a figure beside her, like a little tail.
Was it the moment when the eleven-year-old opened the door and handed out the cake? Was it the moment when the two of them ran along the tree-lined path together? Was it the moment when the two of them took a boat together and crossed the Black Lake? Or was it?
Reading in the library, exploring in the secret room, solving puzzles in the Room of Requirement?
Hermione didn't know. But she understood that there was one more person in her life.
She can't live without him.
Tom didn't know when his life gained a touch of color. It might be the moment he took the cake, it might be the moment he caught up with the girl, or it might be the breeze blowing on his face by the Black Lake.
At that moment, it could also be the moment when the girl approached him on Christmas Eve.
But he understood that there was already a color in his life that could not be erased.
He can't live without her.
He had never been able to face his inner feelings, but when Hermione said those words, he finally saw his own heart clearly.