Chapter 719 The Story of an Old Skeleton

Time flies and the sun and the moon fly by - this unit is a bit big, but it doesn't stop me from lamenting the quiet passage of good times.

Just when we were busy eradicating violence, saving the world, maintaining peace, and protecting the people of Gensokyo from the fire and water, the joyful carnival was quietly coming to an end. Sandora and I were hurrying and slowing down, even in Gensokyo. I ran back without even finishing my farewell meal (actually I had finished eating, but Sandora thought she was not full yet), only to face the painful situation that it was the last day of the carnival.

At this moment, I really hate the time asymmetry between the worlds. It has only been a few days. How come the carnival is over like this... Oh, it is true that several days have passed.

Various activities during the festival celebrations have ended. Today is basically a day for visitors from various worlds to pack up their things and go back to their homes to find their own mothers. The festival that lasted for fifteen days allowed them to have all kinds of addictions, and in their own The wonderful experiences that are rare in the world and even only appear in literary and artistic works, and the magical life heard from friends in the brother world make them still feel unfinished even after half a month of the festival, and even hope that this carnival can continue forever. Go on - the organizing committee has really received a lot of proposals and other documents from Macro World. The broad masses of people have suggested that the carnival should not end at all, so that Shadow City can become an eternal paradise of celebrations, and even become a symbol. In fact, the "Celestial City" is the right path, and Qianqian agrees with it with both hands and feet, but Sandora and I still have to regard it as a beautiful fantasy.

We are already so messy in normal times, but if we have to celebrate the New Year all day long, how many urban management officials will die just because I have a bunch of people who don’t wander around and make smoke? At that time, I am afraid that the main army of the empire will have to dedicate a division of troops to form an urban management brigade!

However, even though it was the last day, it was still the carnival period. The slight desertion of some venues did not affect the entire festival atmosphere that continued to ferment in the Shadow City. Visitors to Gensokyo arrived at Avalon yesterday. Under our personal guidance and later Artemis’s guidance, they had a general understanding of the environment at the Empire’s “Mysterious Side Base Camp” and expressed their appreciation for this new home. Satisfied, that night, many monsters in urgent need of accommodation were teleported through the World Gate at Hakurei Shrine. After registration, they checked in in the town next to the Fairy Forest (the nameless town has now been temporarily named Monster Leader, I don’t know who gave this name, but it definitely didn’t take more than a second of the namer’s time), and many curious monsters began to wander around the Shadow City, curiously looking at “other A world of bizarre scenes, grasping the tailbone of the carnival, and experiencing the novel life and lively atmosphere they have never seen before. Taking advantage of his own shrine and status, Hakurei Reimu also took this opportunity to become a tour guide. Based on his experience of working in the Shadow City, he led his fellow villagers around. It seemed that he planned to take advantage of this opportunity. Make a fortune. During the carnival, the number of people in the Shadow City was astonishing, and the population density in the bustling neighborhoods reached a level that would make any statistician drink Sanlu angrily, so the sudden appearance of these monsters quickly disappeared into the vast crowd of people. In the sea, their obviously new faces and rookie problems did not attract many people's attention. In short-

Since 7:30 in the morning, the number of cases of missing adults and children received by the Shadow City Neighborhood Committee has skyrocketed.

I always feel that this girl Reimu appears in this world just to lower the average moral standard of the people of my great empire. Can't she do some good things for me occasionally?

In addition, considering that it is impossible for every immigrant who comes from Fantasyland to be taken sightseeing by Sandora and I, the tour guide team that Artemis organized before has now begun work, and the subsequent fantasy of coming to this world The villagers are familiar with the world under their leadership. Today is their first day on the job. I don’t know what the group of heroic guides led by spearmen will eventually turn into in this mission, but yesterday Artemis informed The cases of Cu Chulainn and Leonidas seem to be a little reassuring: maybe after extreme personal misfortune, their mission may bring good luck.

Based on my personality, although it was a pity that I couldn't enjoy the carnival to the fullest, after completing such a physically and mentally exhausting expedition, it seemed more cost-effective to lie down at home and sleep for a day to have a good rest. After all, "The head of state is not in good health and needs to rest" was one of the few reasons that allowed him to skip the closing ceremony speech. However, things did not go as planned. He had just slept until about eight o'clock this morning when he was struck by a certain energy that had already broken through the sky. The girl was dragged up because he wanted to go shopping with her.

Qianqian resented that she could only spend so many days alone during the carnival. It was so hard to have such a happy festival but she couldn't be with her lover and have a lot of resentment. Knowing this, although deep down in her heart she was still fighting for her life. Yawning, I happily followed Qian Qian out.

Because I know that with this girl's personality, if I really look tired, she will definitely tell me to go home and rest with a pout - even if I feel wronged and regretful, she will do so. Despite her thick-headedness, Qianqian is also a kind-hearted girl who knows how to care about others. It's just that she is usually too careless to notice her surroundings.

He and Qianqian walked hand in hand in the bustling assembly hall. No one else followed except Dingdong, who was picking up the third piece of candy after today's meal in his pocket. The two of them walked through the crowd like the most ordinary young lovers. After going back and forth, no one could imagine the amazing identities behind these two people. Along the way, we watched street magic, watched roadside circuses, bought barbecue, ate candied haws, blew up balloons, played air guns, and enjoyed the fancy billiards held jointly by the Biberu clan and the Zenith Stars (I really felt for those big iron balls) I was panicked, their interests were so weird), and I even bought two candy figures from Kaios, the candy seller. Later, I had a vague idea that instead of going shopping with my lover, I would be shopping with my lover. The feeling of taking a daughter at home to play - going out with Qianqian is so youthful.

After wandering around for a while, we arrived at an area with significantly less traffic and stopped.

The reason for the low traffic here is that it is the territory of the Forsaken of Azeroth. Under the propaganda of the empire, the citizens of the macro world are not actually repelled by the undead, but to be honest, this does not mean that ordinary people can accept it. A group of skeleton zombie ghosts live together. During the carnival, the flow of people in the Forgotten venue is always relatively small. Except for performance artists, curiosity enthusiasts, and visitors to the world that do not have humanoid creatures at all, there are few other races here.

Of course, for those who were feared by everyone in the past and were described in all textbooks as heinous, dark, cunning, bloodthirsty and vicious, who often robbed, killed, tombs and property, broke up families, destroyed marriages, polluted the environment, chopped hair and bullied female classmates into giving bicycles. For the forgotten people who put caterpillars in the teacher's chalk box, life is not easy now that they are no longer ostracized and have many living friends. They are also a race that can endure loneliness. Although During the fifteenth day of the carnival, there were only a few guests in their own area, but it did not affect their enjoyment of the festival. For example, they took off their ribs and soaked them in ionized calcium energy water, planted some mushrooms on their abominations, and threw them with their own arms. Going out to entertain zombie dogs and the like are all great sideshows.

I think I know why this place has so little traffic.

Ahem, in short, what I want to say is that I met a familiar "person" here, although I didn't recognize him at first.

It was a tall and very skinny undead wearing a wide cloak that is common in Azeroth. The exposed head looked like a skeleton. Next to him, there was a very thin and shriveled zombie. , what made Qianqian and I couldn't help but pause was that the little zombie was actually wearing a brand new dress. The undead rarely pay attention to their appearance, because in theory, their appearance will only become more and more miserable. , but this little zombie has obviously been carefully dressed up.

This strange pair was standing in front of a stall selling cave mushrooms, a specialty of the Undercity. The former was leading the latter to learn about the types of mushrooms, and didn't seem to hear anyone coming from behind.

An already vague name emerged in my mind, and it became clearer and clearer because of the strange combination of the two forgotten people in front of me. Finally, I spoke with uncertainty: "Zarkon?"

The tall skeleton in front of me who was leading the little zombie to learn about the types of mushrooms shook. I could hear his ribs from the first to the twenty-fourth ribs colliding with each other. Then the other person slowly turned around, and I finally saw the other person's ribs. The face—oh, I still don’t recognize it. You can't blame me. The only people in this world who can tell two skeletons apart by their faces are the dead except medical graduates. I am none of them.

But this does not affect my confirmation of the other party's identity. The other party's response to my greeting shows that he is indeed the skeleton warrior named Zarkon. When I led Anweina around in Tirisfal, the first person I met A forgotten person.

I thought of the unforgettable years I spent living with health problems such as air pollution and declining water quality in the circle city, and this man named Zakken, who lived with his zombie daughter who had lost her soul, a somewhat passionate skeleton. soldiers.

I always thought he was dead: before the Salvation War began, the Forsaken camp suffered heavy losses due to Varimathras' early betrayal. When Sylvanas desperately escaped from the city, the surviving warriors around her even formed Not a standard legion, Zakken is just an ordinary skeleton warrior, and he stubbornly takes his daughter who has no soul at all. Logically speaking, it is impossible to survive that kind of battle.

"But luck favored old Zarkon, Your Majesty," the skeleton soldier's chin clicked back and forth, and a small box tied around his neck made a hoarse but clear synthesized voice, "Nina and I started from you. The 'sewer' we arrived at escaped unharmed, and we buried ourselves in a collapsed tomb that had already been inspected by the ghouls. We only returned to the surface after the salvation war began, and were captured by a human patrol deep into enemy territory. Rescue. Old Zarkon participated in the Salvation War and only lost one and a half ribs."

I noticed that Zarkon raised his head proudly when he mentioned that he participated in the Salvation War. This is the behavior of every warrior who survived the battlefield meat grinder of the Salvation War. Even if they were only responsible for cooking, they would be regarded as legendary heroes who saved the world, let alone this old skeleton. *** He fought with those mutant demons on a frontal battlefield.

The unexpected encounter made me a little emotional. I remember that when I met Zakken, I was not very happy. I even kicked a lot of his bones. Now that the other person has become one of my people, I have to... I lament that my eyes are funny. The little zombie next to Zakken has been standing blankly, with those yellow and swollen eyes looking here unblinking. This is Zakken's daughter. It was also Zakken's "vocal cord" when he spoke, even though he is not conscious. , but Old Skeleton always thought that she was still alive, and proudly announced to everyone that his daughter was a good child who could do many things for her father. Two or three years later, Zakken had already used Imperial Yangming small appliances Produced by the spiritual harmonic electronic vocal cords, this little zombie may have completely become the follower of the old skeleton.

I must admit that it is really difficult for me to have any caring thoughts about a zombie, but Zakken obviously regards Nina as his heart. After noticing my gaze, the old skeleton reached out and gently pressed the little zombie's head. His dull expression remained unchanged, but he blinked reflexively.

...winked!

I immediately looked at the skeleton in front of me with weird eyes. If my memory is correct, this little zombie has lost its soul long ago because its spirit is too weak. "She" can move completely because of Zakken's mental control. In this case, Zakken still controls it. Nina blinked in response to herself - has the long-term psychological repression finally caused the great father to have a mental deviation and become a twisted daughter? This world is so terrible.

"Please don't look like that," the old skeleton shook his head. I couldn't see the expression on his high-calcium face, but the other party's tone was a bit depressed, "Nina, call your majesty."

The little zombie was stunned for a while, and then slowly spoke hoarsely: "Your Majesty."

I looked at Zakken even more strangely.

"Ahem, Your Majesty, actually what I want to say is that Nina is recovering her memory..." the old skeleton said in an embarrassed but unable to conceal joyful tone, "Her soul is returning!"

"This is the best gift old Zarkon got after his death. My Nina is coming back... Yes, her soul has revived. This is the grace of the goddess! After the war in the Koprulu sector, the Darkness The city welcomed the Temple Knights of Archbishop Lilina. They were invited by the Queen of Darkness to help us solve the self-corruption problem that the undead have been troubled by, but an accident happened at that time - of course, now I think it was the will of the goddess guiding, A drop of holy water fell on my Nina's head! I was frightened at the time, thinking that my weak daughter could not bear such surging life force, and she was purified into a ball of smoke by the divine power of life, but..."

"Then, she regained consciousness?" I was intrigued by this inspiring story and asked anxiously, but I didn't dare to tell the other party that the so-called holy water was actually the product of Dingdang's bath water diluted a hundred times.

"No, the situation was not so good at that time, but that night, I found that Nina would gradually move closer to me when walking without her own command... I don't know what happened, but the archbishop guided old Zarkon, she said : 'Follow the goddess, and you will be able to eat well, drink spicy food, be powerful, store your bicycle, and don't even have to change.' I think this is the goddess's exceptional kindness to an undead creature. Since then, I have believed in the goddess of life... …”

At this moment, I was shocked. With a look that was almost admiration, I began to look at Zakken. This was the victory of a certain evil priestess. That magical girl actually developed a believer among the undead! And he still uses such a deceiving method...

"I began to pray to the goddess, asking the goddess of life as a dead soul to grant my daughter a new life. The hatred next door kept laughing at my abnormal belief. It said that one day I would be burned to death by my own beliefs. The holy goddess of life could bless a dirty skeleton unless she had the leisure to travel across the void to bless a bunch of cave mushrooms. But the next day the abomination was covered with mushrooms, so I prayed even more firmly— —This is very effective. Every time I finish praying, my Nina will be more agile. Her soul is gradually being repaired by the power of the goddess of life. Two consecutive years of pious worship have not been in vain. I have received the best reward in the world. : Nina knows how to call daddy again. I have to say, she learned much faster this time than when she was a child, haha..."

The skeleton soldier laughed hoarsely. Although it didn't sound very nice and was mixed with a lot of high-calcium noise, it was definitely the most sincere voice. The little zombie next to him still had the same dull look, but occasionally he didn't know. He shook his head in confusion, as if he didn't understand why his father was so happy. Looking at the undead father and daughter in front of him, for some reason, a certain sense of satisfaction suddenly emerged.

In any case, it seems that my efforts have really helped a lot of people.

But suddenly I remembered a very important question. Although I knew that this question was a bit deceptive, my curiosity still made me ask involuntarily: "What about that, Zakken, let me ask, when you pray... suffix yourself Do you have your name and address?”

Zakken was stunned for a moment: "Ah? Name and address? Why do you need to add that?"

At this moment, I didn’t know whether I should tell him or not. In fact, Nina’s recovery theoretically had nothing to do with his prayers. It was entirely due to the residual heat of the right dose of holy water...