"Let everything be hopeful and nothing should scare you."
"Recalling those golden years"
“From babbling to growing up”
"My daughter is wearing a beautiful wedding dress"
"Oh, God-sent blessing, bringing comfort and joy"
"My daughter has grown up and will get married today."
"Hudgens! For God's sake! Stop singing!" Todd, whose eyes were covered by layers of gauze, lay on the four-wheeled flat wooden car, covered his ears with his hands, and raised his head to the driver above.
People issued serious protests.
Accompanied by the sound of the wooden wheel turning, a rich male voice came from the front: "Hahahaha! Little guy! My singing was famous in the village back then. It could make the geese fold their wings and make the hares stop!"
"I think your voice can scare geese into incontinence and hares into Parkinson's disease, right?"
With such slander, Todd raised his head slightly, pointed at the gauze in front of him, and asked Huggins: "When can I take this thing off?!"
"You can try it now, but I can't guarantee that your eyes will be fine."
Putting down his arms helplessly, Todd asked again: "Where are we going?"
"Go where we belong."
"How will you deal with me when you get there?"
"Little one, that's up to you."
Placing his head heavily on the car board, Todd put his body in the shape of a "big" character as if giving up the struggle: "Okay, why do you give me the same answer every time?"
With good-natured ridicule, the rich voice rang in my ears again: "Okay, why do you have to ask me the same question every time?"
Showing his middle finger to the other party, Todd turned over angrily, feeling the bumpy road under his body, and recalled what he had experienced in the past few days.
Seven days have passed since I was taken out of the cellar. I spent the first three days in a coma, and when I woke up on the fourth day, I was lying on such a flatbed cart pulled by horses. The period after that
, this man who calls himself Huggins has been on the road with him. Even when he eats, sleeps or even defecates, he does not leave the carriage three steps. For such a long time, his eyes have not improved. Even if he secretly lifts the gauze, all he can see is
It was dark, and the only comfort was that the pain in the brain was slowly fading away.
After asking several times, although the other party did not tell me the direction and destination, but by the change of direction due to the warmth of the light, I could tell that the carriage was traveling south.
It's not that I didn't consider running away and hiding in the middle, but firstly, in my situation, even if I could escape, walking like a blind man on this strange land would be nothing more than seeking death; secondly, through the relationship with Huggins,
After several conversations, I could vaguely feel that this man did not seem to have any malicious intent.
Regarding the two corpses in the hunter's cabin, Huggins never mentioned it from beginning to end, and Todd was naturally not stupid enough to bring it up. The two of them maintained a very tacit understanding on this topic.
Xuan's silence.
What happens next?
In short, let’s take it one step at a time.
"God grant you joy, my daughter~"
Hearing the song that was comparable to plastic foam rubbing against each other, Todd was so excited that he sat up from the car, raised his hands to the sky, and shouted: "God, please send down a bolt of lightning to kill us!"
"
————————————————
This painful and boring journey lasted for another day and night, just when Todd was thinking about simply piercing his eardrum and being blind and deaf for the rest of his life.
The sound of a bell ringing in the distance attracted his attention.
Huggins' next words immediately made Todd understand the true meaning of the sound of nature.
"We're here."
The carriage stopped on a flat brick ground. The man driving the carriage stretched out his hands wrapped in leather and motioned for Todd to grab his sleeves. The two of them moved forward slowly, one behind the other.
Walking on the cobblestone path, the sound of monks chanting came to his ears. Todd smelled the fragrance of flowers and asked the leader in front of him: "Where are we?"
No response.
After walking for another ten minutes, Huggins led Todd to a stop on a soft sandy ground.
The rich voice seemed a bit reserved and awe-inspiring: "Master Mairis, I'm back."
An old voice came from far away: "Come in, my child."
Huggins pulled Todd's sleeve and said to him in an inaudible voice: "Don't talk nonsense after you get in."
Todd nodded noncommittally.
After crossing a threshold, he heard the old man's voice again: "Is this...?"
Guiding Todd to stand still, Huggins said respectfully: "Master, this boy has unlocked the 'Box of Proverbs' with his own strength..."
"Oh? Is he an apprentice of the church? Or a child of a noble family?"
"No, he is just a child from an ordinary farmer's family. Also, he touched the 'Sutherland Relic'..."
"Well...what did you say? This is impossible!"
"Master Mairis, although this boy is alive, his eyes have lost their sight."
Todd felt a warm hand touch the top of his head, and the old voice came to him: "This is a lucky result. None of the people I know who came into contact with the relics are still alive.
"
Todd couldn't help but asked: "What exactly is the 'Sutherland Relic'?"
Huggins coughed.
Todd could imagine that the man must be dissatisfied with his casual questions.
The old man did not blame, but explained patiently: "The sage Sutherland was the greatest alchemist in the past thousand years. He laid the three primordial foundations of alchemy and proposed the theory of origin. Later, he was punished by fanatics.
After being burned at the stake, the remains were divided into several parts and stored all over the world..."
Todd's face became darker and darker as he listened. How dare I be sprayed in the face with the ashes of a dead person?!
Master Miles continued to explain: "It is rumored that Sutherland's remains have incredible power, but over the years, everyone who has tried to touch the relics has died and turned into dust."
With a tentative tone, Huggins asked the old man in a low voice: "So, will this boy become one of us?"
Master Mairis' tone was uncertain: "I don't know, after all, there is no precedent to follow. First, let me try to heal his eyes..."
Confused, listening to the conversation between the two was like reading from heaven, Todd's face was full of doubts.
The old man put his hand on the latter's eyes.
Todd suddenly felt a warm force stimulating the nerves around his eyeballs.
After a moment, Master Miles removed his palm and untied the gauze wrapped around Todd's eyes.
Slowly opening his eyes, slowly adapting to the changes in light, Todd, who could see the light again, was shocked to find that the scene he saw was completely different from the past. Through people's clothes, he could see the flesh, flesh and bones under the skin;
Through the wooden boards of the cabinet, he could see the folded quilts inside; through the masonry roof above his head, he could see the sun hanging in the sky.
Turning his head to the side, he found half a ham hidden in Huggins' arms. Todd pointed at his pocket and said angrily: "Didn't you say this morning that there is no meat but bread?"
Seeing the man taking out the ham from his arms, Master Miles laughed loudly: "That's right, he is one of us."