The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 1190 (Ch.1189) At the Ball

Dragon plague is clearly an invisible and intangible infectious disease. Unlike influenza and the plague, this disease is neither fatal nor painful; it only distorts the mind, making people idle and aimless all day long.

This town isn't as big as London's East End, but it has a wide variety of clubs.

As Dave Lawrence said, there's something off about the villagers here, from top to bottom.

While Roland and Harida were "going crazy" on the dance floor, Rupert and Theodore tried to strike up conversations with a few women taking a break nearby, only to receive the same answer as the coachman, Little John, and the two men playing chess—what reason did they have to work?
"We live long, we live happily, we live wonderfully... The gold coins of mortals are like flies, little girl... where did you come from?"

After receiving the reply 'London', the women exchanged knowing smiles and whispered among themselves.

"We knew it."

She said Rupert looked like the educated type: the kind destined for a certain path, or else subject to gossip and accusations of being 'undignified'.

"I've been here for a few days, madam, and I don't understand how you make a living?"

One of the women was somewhat surprised: "Child, we live by the same means you live. The people of Ildossett live by the same means the people of London live."

Rupert shook his head without hesitation: “We have property, madam.”

“We have land, hands and feet, minds no less sharp than yours, and perhaps even sharper eyes than city dwellers—that’s how we live,” she said with a smile, wondering why Rupert would ask such a question.

Aren't they 'living'?

Or is it that peasant women dancing doesn't count as a way of life?

Rupert couldn't continue explaining. She suddenly realized that if she continued, she would be entering the philosophical realm, which she hated most and where she felt least qualified.

She gazed at the ragged, spinning figures on the dance floor, watching their movements resemble those of lepers, cripples, fools, and bandits. She seemed to see a more insane illusion than the scene before her: another path between a life of glittering dreams and the cacophony of impoverished machines.

One must wear a cloak and set off before the morning dew wets the hem of one's clothes.

Because it is far away, one should hum a song all the way to block out the whispered teachings of God in one's ear.

We must learn from locusts, weaving through the rustling grass, letting our blood mingle with the blood of the trees, forming a simple yet magnificent wave.

She was unusually silent in face-to-face debate, and her naturally perceptive soul realized something before Theodore beside her: perhaps the people here weren't really crazy, but they were chasing happiness and freedom like believers chasing the sun.

—There was originally only one way to achieve both, but guess what?

They discovered another narrow path leading to the sheep farm in the mortal world.

This is truly outrageous.

"...Is it a gift from the 'Dragon'?"

She asked in a low voice, her face no longer showing contempt or doubt.

Perhaps that's the answer, but she still hopes it's thanks to the existence of 'dragons'—at least they live long lives?
“We never considered such a favor, young lady,” the woman said, handing her a champagne glass filled with beer that shouldn’t be there—but Rupert didn’t care how outrageous it was to use a champagne glass and beer at this point.

"Whether we live long or short, whether we live happily or painfully—whether we have dragons or their gifts…what prevents us from living this way?"

The women wove words diagonally in a spinning method that Rupert was not familiar with.

It went around and around, but ended up at the starting point.

"I've heard that gold has been found here."

Rupert said in a low voice, "Didn't you leave any gold behind..."

“Of course it stayed,” another woman chimed in, laughing and raising her fist. “My son found this big piece, and it’s still on the table.”

To Rupert's surprise, she didn't say anything about 'gold not being important'—but rather in a different way: in a way that treated everyone equally.

As if gold were equivalent to iron, copper, and pebbles, they were all just heavy little things that she could neither eat nor drink—at most, they were just different colors.
"To be honest, I still don't quite understand."

Rupert took a sip of beer, his curled eyelashes fluttering slightly.

"Why didn't you leave more wealth behind? I heard from the mayor that all the mines were taken by outsiders..."

"What's the point of keeping it?"

"I don't know. Food and clothing? At least buy the club a piano?"

“A flute can also play tunes, what you’re talking about is too complicated,” the woman waved her hand. “Just having a basic shape is enough, child. Why do we have to get ourselves into a busy, spinning top?”

Unlike Rupert, Theodore completely failed to understand the townspeople's thinking.

He had experienced poverty and believed he knew better than anyone how difficult those supposedly tough times were—in his view, these people simply hadn't experienced the glamour of big cities. If someone were to actually go there for a few months and then return, they probably wouldn't be able to endure such a life at all.

"I should have been" is a very powerful phrase.

It emboldens the coward and plunges the greedy into the abyss.

“It’s not like there aren’t people from big cities here, sir.” Theodore’s question was hardly a problem to the woman—the man with the towel draped over his shoulders wasn’t an isolated case in Ildossian; the town simply didn’t have that many people to begin with.

When gold was first discovered, a group of miners stayed behind. Then, as time went on, more and more people joined.

Now, it's hard to say how many people in the town are 'outsiders' and how many are 'locals'—and the residents don't care, each finding their own enjoyment and living each day to the fullest.

“It’s not that we don’t work, sir. But we’ve gathered enough to live on, why should we worry about anything else? Let me tell you a secret,” the woman said mysteriously, leaning close to Rupert’s ear. She was completely oblivious to the slight discomfort that flashed in the girl’s eyes.

"A huge secret. If you two agree, you'll dance with us..."

Rupert looked to Theodore for help.

"I would be very happy to."

“You’re cunning. I wanted to invite your sister… how many sisters did you say she was?” The woman rolled her eyes at Theodore. “I can’t let my husband find out I’m dancing with a tall, handsome man… how about I give you to… Lily?” She nudged a slightly younger woman next to her.

“She came from Bibury, her husband drowned. You might—”

That girl named Lily has already started flirting with Theodore.

Realizing the conversation was about to veer in an uncomfortable direction, Rupert quickly replied, "What secret are you referring to?"

The woman laughed and took her hand, lowering her voice as Rupert's smile faltered: "Actually..."

she says.

“We have never believed in dragons, nor do we have any such belief.”

(End of this chapter)