【Good Leaf】Eclipse of the Crimson Moon

Chapter 9

【Nine engraved】

When I ran downstairs in a hurry, I almost fell because I stepped on my trousers. This kind of panic is rare for me.I really overslept today, and this is the third time my mother's call has come.

Before walking to the restaurant, I could already smell the aroma, and I couldn't help guessing about the dishes.There is a little taste of seafood, and the aroma of curry that I like, is it udon noodles?I turned around the aisle and rushed into the restaurant in three steps at a time, not forgetting to respond to my mother loudly.

Father wears glasses, sits near the window, holds a newspaper in his hand, and reads while eating.My mother is still busy in the kitchen, and seems to be preparing lunch for me at noon.It was as calm and peaceful as usual, so that I didn't feel weird that no one responded to my arrival, but I just ignored it because I was busy.

He went straight to the dining table and sat in the seat where he often sat, only then did he realize something strange.

Father had already started eating, and he seemed to be concentrating on the news in the morning paper without raising his head as he picked up a handful of side dishes and put it in his mouth.The udon noodles in front of me were also wafting out a strong aroma, but no one paid any attention to me until I picked up the chopsticks and said, "I'm starting."I froze for a moment, turned my head and looked around, and asked:

"Mom, do you want me to help?"

I looked at my father who was buried in the morning newspaper, and I planned to get up and go to the kitchen. My mother seemed so busy that she didn't even notice my arrival.But during the time I walked over, she still didn't stop what she was doing to answer my question.Maybe it was at this moment that I really felt strange.

At this distance, it is impossible not to hear me anyway, right?Such a thing as ignoring my existence has never happened in the past... What's more, I have stood in front of her now.

My mother walked past me without turning my eyes, and sat on the seat. While pulling the chair closer, she asked my father who was still reading the newspaper:

"Why isn't Masumi coming down? I'm going to be late soon... That kid never sleeps in, maybe he's sick?"

I stood there blankly for a few seconds, and finally understood the meaning of what she just said, and ran towards her in a panic.

"Mom! What are you talking about? You..."

Then the next second I was stunned again, my outstretched hand couldn't touch her, and I was already beside her!She still turned a blind eye to my existence, and asked with the usual concerned expression on her face when she picked up the dishes. My father raised his head to respond to her, but he didn't say anything to me who was just across the table from me.

"Then I'll go up and call him, husband, you can continue to eat first." She got up and walked out as she spoke, completely ignoring my obstruction.

As for me, I opened my arms and desperately wanted to hold my parents, but was blocked by an invisible wall in the middle. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get through that barrier, and even my voice seemed to be blocked and unable to convey. into their ears.

…Why?What exactly is going on? !

Soon, I found that I couldn't even touch the tables and chairs. Around them... no, everything in my field of vision seemed to be surrounded by a transparent barrier, which kept me out. The more I struggled to get closer, was pushed even further.

don't want!dad!Mother!I am here!Why is this happening?

The space around me is gradually shrinking, and there are invisible walls pressing towards me all around. Not only is my movement restricted, but I can't even turn around gradually. I have been trapped in an invisible prison. Silently knocking on the non-existent solid wall, trying to let my father not far away discover my existence.

dad!Why can't you see me?I'm right here!

[Lie, you're not there. 】

The screaming was choked in my throat, and the faint voice suddenly came from behind, which made all the nerves in my body tighten.I turned around, and there was a young man standing behind me, but that face was clearly my own.

Is it... a mirror?I rubbed my eyes in disbelief, but the other party didn't respond in the same way.Of course there are no mirrors.

"Are you... talking to me?" Surprise overwhelmed fear, probably because the other person's appearance was not unfamiliar to me, but this was not the only question I wanted to ask.

【I've been here all the time, you clearly know it. 】His lips didn't move, but the voice pierced directly into my mind, which made me feel very uncomfortable.I can't understand what he's saying, and I feel a little angry. I'm not cheating anyone, am I?

"Who are you? Why are you here?"

[Of course I should be here, I am Masumi. 】He looked at me firmly, with the expression of hearing a bad joke.

"Impossible, I'm Masumi! No matter how much you resemble me, it can't be me!" I couldn't help raising my voice, the young man in front of me had a slightly contemptuous smile that made me unable to suppress my emotions, and my heart was full of inexplicable anxiety and panic.

[These words are exactly what I want to say, how long do you want to deceive Mom and Dad?Counterfeiters! 】

He pointed at me and scolded me sharply, those words smashed me and the surrounding confinement like sharp knives from the sky, and turned into chapped fragments and flew into the darkened space in an instant.

I lay limp on the ground, completely out of strength, the electric shock-like stinging pain and confusion still enveloped my body and consciousness, and I no longer knew whether it was the world or myself that was crushed.

The warm and bright world that was still there just now has disappeared, and in this cold darkness, there is only the boy with the same appearance as me in front of me, staring at me coldly, then turned and left.

"Wait……"

The rest of the sentence could not be uttered, my voice froze in my throat, and I found myself speechless like a fish in water in my panic.Desperately stretching out his hand to make a holding motion, his arm froze uncontrollably.

for...why? …

When I fixed my eyes on my fingers stretched out into the void, I realized that they looked a little strange... The surface was no longer soft and full of life, but a dark and pale texture, and the knuckles were bent stiffly. Make a "crack" friction sound...

The pupils widened in an instant, it was——

★★★

The break in the dream is a decisive and sudden stop like a cliff.

Because of the unexpected sudden stop, it is often difficult for people to recall everything they have seen before, but only the last fragments remain, which are deeply imprinted in their minds.

At that time, what I saw was not darkness, but a chaotic and dazzling mess of colors, like an old palette, or abstract art, messy, trivial, and indistinguishable in shape.There are so many color blocks overlapping and entangled together, which makes people restless and dazed, but when the observer breaks away from the painter's perspective and stands in the distance to look at it inadvertently, the picture unexpectedly presents an unnoticed The truth comes.

I woke up when I finally remembered the last time I saw it.Maybe it was because I couldn't accept the picture, or because the dark environment made me think it was still late at night, so I turned around and continued to sleep.

Sleep is heavy and hard, without the relaxed feeling of floating in the air, the whole body is unexpectedly weak and sore, and it takes several times to find a sleeping position that is not too uncomfortable.My mind is full of chaotic thoughts, tangled and painful, lingering, and extreme fatigue is mixed in, which makes me enter a state of drowsiness, so the time is spent in the thicker and thicker.

He woke up again because of the ear-piercing noise beating the eardrum extremely sharply, and the surrounding light was still dim when he slightly opened his eyes.It can't be before dawn, because the head is already hurting so much that it is about to split open.Experience tells me this is a reaction to sleeping too long.

When he habitually turned his body and tried to get up, he was disturbed by a strange sense of restraint. At the moment, his drowsy brain was half awake, and he looked at the arm that could not move smoothly.

Surrounding the wrists are heavy metal objects with strange shapes. Although they have never been seen before, they are indeed similar to "handcuffs".

He jumped up from where he was lying down suddenly, and the whole person woke up completely.Of course this is not my home, nor am I lying in my bed.

Looking around, it seems to be a place similar to a basement.There are solid walls on all sides and cold stone slabs below, and the damp air penetrates into the room through the gaps. Only then did I feel that my body was almost numb from the cold.Directly in front of it was a crooked and old door made of metal plates and wooden bars. Needless to say, it was tightly closed.Other than that, there is no way to find any way to the outside world.And I was thrown in this stone room with my hands handcuffed, how much time has passed?

No, should I say, am I still alive?

It took about 10 minutes to gather my thoughts, and I had a complete memory of what happened before I lost consciousness.And after witnessing that kind of incident, he was still alive, which made a glimmer of hope surge in his heart full of anxiety and anxiety, and at the same time created more doubts.

As an outsider who trespassed into the forbidden area without permission, wouldn't it be easy to "hide" him?Why on earth did you lock me up here?I don't know even after repeated thinking.

Finally, I found the place in my dream, but I didn't expect such a development.

I sighed and closed my eyes against the stone wall.The sense of loss has not disappeared, the emptiness in my heart is still expanding, and a heavier undercurrent is brewing and accumulating.There are too many things I want to know, but I don't know what deep and sinful secrets will be hidden in them.

What kind of past have I forgotten when I "saw" that place?Is it because of this reason that I can't integrate into normal life?what that all means to me...

The so-called ominous premonitions tend to come true.Perhaps I have committed a crime that I cannot forgive...

"Chuck".

The sound of the key turning in the lock interrupted my thoughts, and I looked towards the open door.

The dim light instantly filled the narrow space, my eyes stayed on the person who came, and my consciousness was stuck again.

The girl put the kerosene lamp on a wooden frame on the wall by the door, and looked at me indifferently:

"Finally awake?"

"...is...you?" I really never expected to see her here, the blond girl who spoke ill of me when we first met.If she is also a priest, it wouldn't be too unexpected to appear here, right?

Ignoring my question, she put the dark wooden box in the other hand on the ground and slowly opened the lid. I noticed that it was a lunch box.

"Eat, if you don't want to starve to death."

…The indifferent and intimidating tone was more like coercion than persuading people to eat, and I felt a chill rushing from behind.With this kind of momentum and expression, she really is not an ordinary person.

Seeing me standing still, I glanced over coldly: "Forget it, if you starve to death, we can save trouble."

Awakened by her words, all the anger and inexplicability surged up in my heart. I stood up suddenly and wanted to rush to grab her collar to question, but I lost my center of gravity and fell limp as soon as I took a step.

There is no strength in the legs, so the paralysis all over the body can be so severe... I have already thought of the reason, it is the effect of the potion they forced to drink before, right?

"It's better not to move around, or the effect of the medicine will wear off more slowly." The brisk voice without any emotion is even more annoying to my ears.

"Isn't that exactly what you want?" I looked at her without showing any weakness, suppressing the anger in my heart.

"About that point I was going to tell you," she blinked her fine long eyelashes, and said in a tone that was a little lower but more unrefutable: "You didn't see anything, you didn't hear anything , if you don’t want to die, remember these.”

"Hahahaha!"

My sudden burst of laughter stunned her, showing displeasure: "Are you really a fool? Masumi Nishikujo! Do you think you won't die?"

I suppressed a smile and asked her: "How could it be? Anyway, this is the 'custom' here, right? The so-called gods are nothing more than a group of shameless murderers! What 'hidden gods' are just you hiding your sins It’s just a means!”

She was shocked by my sudden roar, she wanted to interrupt, but she only raised her head and was suppressed by my voice.

"What the hell happened to this island! Why did you do that kind of thing! How many people have been killed so far? West Village is definitely not the first? It won't be the last! What are you thinking!" The stagnation accumulated in my heart is so loud that I can't even imagine it myself.My throat was dry and tingling, and I finally fell down weakly, but I didn't forget to add a sentence: "Why didn't you kill me?"

"..." She looked at me silently, the expression of surprise just now was limited to a moment, but now her face is still indifferent.

It made me very uncomfortable to be looked down by her with that kind of eyes, and I suspected that I had an illusion. There was a moment of bottomless sadness behind the ice-like brown eyes, accompanied by the slight trembling of her lips. At last it closes and disappears into darkness.

"Don't you explain anything?" The intense emotions were gradually suppressed by the dead silence. I don't know what she was thinking, and my thinking just made me more and more anxious.

I must be calm.

Instead of being killed immediately, he was imprisoned here.What is the purpose of the other party in keeping me alive?At least, I wouldn't expect that they were going to let me go just like that, if I promised myself that I would forget everything and keep it a secret.

Impossible to forget... I can't calm down my mind now, after seeing Nishimura being brutally murdered with my own eyes, how can I put aside all this and pretend nothing happened?

I can not do it.It was also clear from the look in her eyes that she didn't expect me to compromise.

"Does anyone else know about your going to the mountains?" She asked suddenly, breaking the long silence.

"...No." After thinking for a moment, I decided to answer this question truthfully.

If someone else knows, it will inevitably involve others.Judging from their behavior style, it seems that they don't care about dealing with one more insider.

"Why did you go to that kind of place? How did you get in?"

……

Did she think I would definitely answer?

It's not that I don't understand my situation. After seeing what happened that night, I have somewhat realized.Even being killed now is not surprising... So, is it necessary for me to answer her question honestly?

"There is no particular reason, I just like climbing, so I went in by myself."

She raised her eyebrows and obviously didn't believe my words, but she finally didn't pursue this issue any further.The girl raised her hand and took off the kerosene lamp, as if she was going to turn around and leave.

"Wait! How long are you going to lock me up..." I couldn't help asking.

She turned around and smiled, and her tone had completely returned to the indifference when she first met: "It's better not to go out for a stubborn and stupid guy. Be prepared to stay here for the rest of your life."

I felt a chill in my heart, but I tried to calm down and blurted out the words: "Okay, I don't have to go out for the rest of my life, and there are people who deliver food every day, so it's not bad."

The girl's face changed slightly, and she glanced over with a sharp blade-like gaze, and I shrank my body instinctively.Unexpectedly, she didn't attack me, but kicked the lunch box next to me suddenly.After the clanging sound, several bowls and plates and their contents were overturned to the ground, and the steamy soup quickly meandered on the black stone floor and seeped into the cracks.

"Then lie on the ground and lick it."

Throwing these words down proudly, the girl's figure disappeared behind the slammed door, leaving me sitting there dumbfounded, unable to recover from my senses for a long time.

★★★

all…

all……

A solid and dull echo echoed from the depths of the stone wall.I slumped against the nearby wall to rest my sore arms.

There were a lot of blisters in the palms, and the pain was like burning when soaked in sweat.Blowing into the palms didn't do much to ease the pain, so I had to give up.

Taking advantage of the gap when no one came, I have already used the small wooden sticks I picked up in the corner to dig around the gaps in the stone room, hoping to find a passage other than the door.The walls and floors here are not made of masonry, but of natural stone slabs, which is a common basement practice in the countryside.So I also thought that if I found a place closer to the ground and dug up a rock, maybe I could escape, but it turned out that the stone chamber was much stronger than I thought.Judging from the sound of knocking, except for the side with the door, there is no other wall behind which is not a solid mountain wall.

The only door that came in and out looked crumbling and dilapidated, but it had been strengthened many times inside and out, and the door was fixed with a thick chain on the outside. No matter how hard I tried, it wouldn't budge.

I also considered looking for opportunities when someone opened the door to deliver food, but no one has opened the door since the girl came.Later, the dinner trays were handed in through the trap hole below the door, which was less than a head high. The people who came didn't talk much, and completely ignored my questions and accosts, let alone waiting for an opportunity to escape.

The air in the stone room is very dirty and humid, and there is a dusty vent on the upper left of the door, which is too big for people to pass through.The indoor furnishings are similar to a single cell, and there are no tools that can be used.There is no light source here, and the only light that adds a little layer to the interior is the dim light in the outer passage through the gap in the door.I tried to look out through the gap, but the field of view was so small that I couldn't see the situation clearly.

Unable to know the exact time.The light in the passage outside the door never went out, the watch had stopped, and the clear cracks in the dial showed that I might have broken it when I was dragged through the forest.I can only roughly infer the date of my stay here from the number of food deliveries.

At least four days have passed since I woke up.The effect of the drug that paralyzes the body gradually wears off, but I still haven't found a way to get myself out of trouble.No matter how much I yelled, no one responded.

To say there is no anxiety and fear would be a lie.But those emotions didn't help me at all, so I just threw them away and kept looking for a way to escape, tirelessly and repeatedly trying to dig every crack I could find.

The part with the larger crack in the corner near the door is the most likely weak point to break through.The only wooden bar used to excavate the soil was broken during the process of prying the stones. I can only use chopsticks or spoons in the dining plate to replace them. The action is perceived by the opponent.Even if I have to use my fingers to continue at the end, I will not stop.

I don't want to die like this, and I don't want to be imprisoned in such a dark place forever!If I can leave here, I will definitely expose everything I know to the world, and absolutely cannot allow this crazy atrocity to happen again.

★★★

So, in the dark, I repeatedly explored without knowing whether it would be successful, and several days passed.When I was awake, I kept digging, and when I was sleepy, I curled up in a slightly higher corner of the stone room.

The temperature has dropped compared to the beginning, fine water droplets have condensed on the stone walls, and a little water has accumulated in the depressions on the ground.It seems that maybe it's raining outside?

Leaning against the cold stone wall again, staring blankly at the mottled stains on the dark ceiling not far away, exhaustion has penetrated into the depths of my consciousness, and I can no longer move.

My fingers were so painful that I lost consciousness, and probably several nails were cracked. Fortunately, in this dark environment, I don't have to confirm how miserable they have become.

For many days, I tried my best to loosen the wall on the side of the door, but finally retreated without success.Although the cracks have been expanded a lot along the gap, and the stones in several places have become loose, but when I dug them, what appeared behind them was a huge whole rock.

The bone-piercing coolness spread from the soles of the feet to the whole body, but the heart was even colder.

Is there no other way?

It's ridiculous to end up in this kind of place, isn't it?

He smiled self-deprecatingly, but his body was still shivering from the cold. If he looked in the mirror, he would surely see a distorted face that was uglier than crying, right?

I fell weakly along the wall.

The ground here is the low-lying part of the entire stone chamber, and as soon as I lie down like this, the accumulated water in the depression will slowly soak my coat and seep in, and the chill will cling to my skin even more fiercely, wrapping me up.

The temperature beyond the ability to bear caused the body to resist and germinate unexpected heat, which slowly burned out from the body.Is it a sign of fever?

My head is dizzy and I don't want to think, just lie on my stomach like this.I've run out of ideas...

At that moment, a flash of light suddenly flashed through his blank consciousness surrounded by overlapping feelings of hot and cold.I got up immediately, fumbled for the zipper of my jacket, and quickly pulled it down.

With his hands handcuffed together, it was extremely difficult to complete this simple movement, but he finally took off the long coat and a thin sweater inside. After thinking for a moment, he took off his shoes and socks as well.I stacked them aside and lay down again.

Put your body against the damp and cold stone slab as much as possible, let all the heat in your body be absorbed by the bone-piercing cold, and the high heat in your body will spread uncontrollably.

This is the last way I can think of.

Thinking about all the things that happened after I came to Yuejian, I suddenly didn't want to pray for the blessings of the gods.

If I can leave alive, I will make public all the tragedies caused by the "God" of Tsukimi.