Riding in Balsa's carriage, the two of them headed outside the city, and Ren tried to pry open Balsa's mouth.
"When we get to the place, this secret will no longer be a secret. Even the farmers will tell you, so why waste everyone's time."
It's a pity that Balsa still has no intention of letting go.
Ren looked at the way he gritted his teeth and refused to say anything despite being scared to death, feeling that the hidden truth might be more complicated and tricky than imagined.
...
After leaving the city and sitting on the carriage, Ren saw the same scene he saw when the yet-to-be-famous Master Valo returned to his hometown.
No, it should be said to be worse.
From the same perspective, large tracts of farmland are abandoned and overgrown with weeds.
There are even unknown trees growing in some fields. Although they are not tall, they look like they have not been cultivated for many years.
If it weren't for the vague sight of people walking around in the distant village, Ren would have thought that something major had happened here.
The farmers no longer farm? But didn’t they build a reservoir in the first place? How do these people make a living now?
Renn had more questions in his mind.
Just ask someone.
Renn thought, but when he caught a glimpse of the locals on the roadside, Renn murmured: "You people from this kingdom... are really strange..."
Not only do these people have no legs, they also have no hands and no hearts just like the barrel men we saw at the beginning.
It doesn't even have a mouth.
It's like a doorpost with a face.
As soon as Ren showed up and asked questions, everyone ran away. Even if he stopped one or two, facing the armored monsters, these mouthless goalkeepers would not say anything.
The only normal ones are the children, but they don't understand anything.
Maybe I just don’t understand anything and I just act like a normal person.
Ren had no choice but to get in the car and continue walking to the real place where the painting was painted.
"You can't ask anything." After the carriage started, Balsa unexpectedly took the initiative to speak, although his voice was very weak: "No one in this kingdom will tell you."
"I don't believe you can't find a normal person."
"No matter how many people you ask, it will be the same."
"I have been out for so long, and now I have never been able to admit defeat with just my words." Renn glanced out the window: "If you are planning to distract me and take the opportunity to delay time, I advise you to give up this idea as soon as possible.
There are too many little tricks, and he always looks to the right inadvertently, so you can’t fool me. Let’s go, turn around, I’ve already seen it.”
The only normal field here.
Although it was far away, almost at the end of the field of vision, the yellow color was too conspicuous in the vast wasteland covered with weeds.
Balsa's hands froze when he heard this, and he could only turn around due to the intimidation of the armored monster.
He had heard rumors that the armored monster would only stay in one place for a short period of time before leaving. He originally planned to delay it, but he didn't expect his intention to be discovered.
...
The carriage drove to this wheat field that was growing well and was about to be harvested. Renn saw a figure from behind in the field.
The limbs are sound and the chest is "solid".
I couldn't help but sigh, I finally found a normal land, and finally saw a normal...well, still abnormal.
When he shouted and the other person turned around, he realized that the man working in the fields was an old man in his sixties. Of course, age is not important, the key is...
He also has no mouth.
But this is the most normal thing Ren has seen, and he is the only one who is special here. Ren has no choice but to try to make this mouthless person "speak".
The old man heard shouts from behind him and turned around to see a carriage parked on the side of the road. The man who got out of the car was a strange man wearing armor. After being confused for a few seconds, the old man ran into the fields quickly when he remembered the identity of the man.
But in the end he was caught up.
"I'll ask you a few questions, and if you answer them honestly, I'll let you go. Don't worry, I would have killed you long ago."
After hearing the armored monster's words, the captured old man was still scared, but he also had hope of living.
Change source app]
But the armored monster's immediate question made him struggle again, trying to escape.
"Do you know the painting "The Fields"?"
Seeing the old man's strong reaction, Ren was very surprised as to what was wrong with this painting that sold for a sky-high price. When these people heard him ask this, they felt as if they had seen a ghost.
Since they had to avoid such a common question, Ren asked it more directly.
"Your place is not big, and you should be familiar with several villages. Since you know that painting, and given its reputation in your kingdom, you should know the child in the painting, right?"
Unexpectedly, after asking, the old man struggled even more fiercely and seemed to resist the question.
Ren noticed that the old man suddenly had a strong reaction when he mentioned "child".
Maybe his thinking was right, and Ren was going to be more direct.
"You know him, right?"
"And you know each other well?"
"You...are his father?"
Ren asked while guessing, watching the old man's expression change.
I said he is the father of the child in the painting, and I just made a casual guess based on his age and calculating the number of children from 30 years ago to now.
What he didn't expect was that after asking this question, the old man was suddenly stunned for a moment, and his expression was a little complicated.
"Are you really his father?"
Realizing that he might have hit the right car, Ren immediately turned around and said, "Hey, stop running. You can't drive as fast as me. Send the painting over."
After struggling for a few seconds, Balsa finally gave up on escaping and walked over with the painting.
When the old man saw Balsa, his expression changed again, and the latter gave him a look.
It seems that these two people have known each other before.
Taking "Flame" from Balsa, Ren handed it to the old man and lied: "You must also know about Master Vallo's suicide. This is what he drew for you before he died."
The old man stared at the painting closely and did not speak for a long time.
Ren was worried that he couldn't understand, so he tried to explain: "This painting represents..."
Before he could say anything, the old man suddenly burst into tears while holding the painting.
...
Thirty years ago, on the day when Master Wallow returned to his hometown, people in several villages who were still able to work, men, women, old and young, left their homes to build reservoirs.
It was indeed a "joyful" day. One family gritted their teeth, killed the family's cow, and cut up pieces of meat to send to the reservoir so that everyone could eat something good and have the strength to work.
But because he was old and had limited mobility, he could not climb the mountain road, so he had to leave it to a child in the village who also had not gone out.
This child was born with a slight handicap in his legs and feet, which usually doesn't affect him much, except that he can't do heavy work, but it shouldn't be a problem to give him something, so the person who killed the cow gave the meat to him.
The boy who was originally left in the village, but felt that he was already very capable, was very excited when he got the task. He patted his chest and promised that he would deliver it as quickly as possible. Then he carried the meat in a wooden bucket and left the village happily.
He was followed by a big village dog that smelled the smell of meat and kept circling around him.
Then something unexpected happened.
Because he ran too fast, leg problems arose. The boy accidentally fell on the field ridge. A piece of meat fell out of the barrel, fell to the side, and was picked up by the big dog following him.
The boy was chasing after him.
And this is the scene that Master Wallow saw in 30 years.