Night Journey

Chapter 114 Interlude
"what?"

Paul was taken aback by Wensey's answer, and Cillian on the rooftop was also stunned for a moment, his expression behind the mask becoming subtle.

"Instead of spending time and energy thinking about this kind of thing repeatedly, why not just ask the person involved directly?"

Wenxi said bluntly, "You're not a Chaos believer, so Reverse Falcon isn't going to draw his sword and cut you down, is he?"

"You're really talking nonsense."

How could Paul not understand this? The question is, can one see a falcon whenever one wants?

The fact that Reverse Falcon has roamed Hel City for so many years and no one knows his true identity is enough to show just how mysterious he is.

"Hey, spend some money and put a missing person ad in the newspaper... Oh, right."

Wenxi suddenly thought, "Paul, you work at a newspaper, why don't you give it a try? What if you succeed?"

Paul had absolutely no desire to speak.

"Ha ha!"

Wenxi kept laughing to herself, and seeing her carefree attitude, Paul couldn't help but smile too.

He loved Wenxi's innocent and romantic nature; every time he saw her sunny smile, it could dispel the gloom in his heart.

"Wow! Let's dance!"

Wenxi took Paul's hands and pulled him up from the bench. The two swayed and twirled, hovering and spinning on the edge of light and darkness.

This isn't dancing at all; it's just two people holding hands and spinning around.

Stumbling and staggering, the two walked towards home.

"Oh, by the way, one more thing!"

Wenxi suddenly stopped and asked, "Paul, when are you planning to propose to me?"

"Huh? Why are we suddenly talking about this again?"

Paul sighed helplessly; Wensey would become a real problem once he got drunk.

"What's wrong! Can't I even ask?"

Wenxi deliberately raised her voice.

Paul quickly covered her mouth, "Shh, everyone should rest!"

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu"

After struggling for a while, Wenxi gave up resisting, and Paul then let go of her, seeing the dissatisfaction on her face.

“Kiss me, Paul.”

"No, you've had too much to drink, you smell awful."

"Provoke it!"

Wensey kicked Paul's shin hard, and Paul cried out in pain, then quickly covered his mouth.

The two playfully wrestled as they slowly made their way home.

Cillian watched the two from afar, a smile appearing on his face.

The smile was so genuine.

The last time Cillian showed such an expression was when he said goodbye to Tania.

To be precise, ever since leaving White Cliff Town, every time Cillian showed that smile, it meant he was either killing someone or on his way to kill someone.

For the first time, Cillian did not smile like that because of death and bloodshed.

More importantly, he himself was completely unaware of it.

Goodnight, both of you.

Xilian bid farewell from afar, having already wasted some time; he should now go and investigate the Shang River and the Grey River.

He had just turned around when a sharp pain struck him.

The Ouroboros sign is bright and burning.

The smile on Cillian's face vanished completely.

"where?"

Looking at the straight avenue, the light of the soul paved the golden bricks, and no blasphemous figure could be seen. Turning the gaze to the dark streets and alleys, the streetlights lined up with points of light, and there was nothing unusual about them either.

The piercing sound of gunfire came from the direction where Paul and Wensey had disappeared.

Cillian swung his grappling hook and swept across the street like a falcon.

……

Paul hugged Wensey tightly, constantly comforting her.

"It's okay, we're safe now."

Golden light shone down from above, enveloping Paul and Wensey and spreading outwards to form a huge circle of light.

The streetlights in Hel City are all gas lamps. It's not that the spirit craftsmen are unwilling to update them, but rather that they are lit by the fire of soul essence. If citizens encounter chaotic events, they can take shelter under the streetlights in time to avoid being harmed.

The surrounding darkness writhed, and three damp, swollen zombies slowly emerged, clumsily moving their feet and leaving puddles of water behind.

The complex underground structure of Hull City harbored too much filth. After the destruction of the vertical farm, a small number of zombies survived. They acted according to their most primal instincts, avoiding daytime and operating only at night.

Many of the recent chaotic events were caused by these zombies. Fortunately, they are slow-moving and mindless, so they have not caused much of an impact.

Under Rolf's orders, the Spirit Craftsmen began investigating the underground structures to ensure that there were no Chaos Nests similar to the vertical farms.

However, no matter how thoroughly we screened, some omissions still occurred.

The manhole cover next to them was pushed open, and it looked like these zombies had crawled out from there.

Paul swallowed hard and raised the pistol tucked into his waistband. For the masses in the city-state era, carrying a gun was a basic virtue; unfortunately, Paul was just a newspaper clerk busy at a typewriter, and his marksmanship was practically nonexistent.

"Damn it, don't come any closer!"

Paul pulled the trigger; the immense recoil made his hands go numb. The bullet pierced the walker's abdomen, but it did nothing to stop their advance.

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Paul nervously looked around, searching for a way to escape, but the three zombies surrounded him from all directions, and the encirclement was getting smaller and smaller as they got closer.

He had considered trying to cross the darkness of the zombie ghetto before the encirclement closed in, but no one could be sure whether there was a chaotic gray fog or even a more deadly force in that dim light.

“Take a deep breath, Paul, calm down.”

Wenxi comforted him instead, saying, "We're standing under the light of the soul essence, so they can't get close to us for the time being."

She was right. As the zombies approached the light, a crackling sound of burning flames rose up, like an invisible wall that kept all evil at bay.

Paul took a deep breath and pulled the trigger repeatedly towards the night sky.

Since bullets can't kill these monsters, let's make even more noise to attract the attention of the superhumans patrolling at night.

Only extraordinary power can combat these abominations.

Now, Paul is holding Wensey and joking around.

"Is this a self-fulfilling prophecy? We just finished telling the story of our ancestors and then we had a terrible misfortune."

Wenxi pressed his hand against his chest and echoed, "Then, according to the plot, the next thing to happen is that the Reverse Falcon will come to save us."

"I'm not really looking forward to this kind of thing."

Paul repeated what he had said to Elton, "There are so many people in Hull, the Falcon can't save them all."

"What if?"

"hope so."

Paul lowered his head and quickly kissed Wensey.

Wenxi looked at Paul blankly.

"I'd rather do something definite than pray for something uncertain."

Wenxi thought Paul would say something to express his love, but instead he continued.

"I'll go into the shadows first. If nothing goes wrong, I can confirm that there's no chaotic power in the shadows. Then you can follow me immediately."

Paul counted how many bullets he had left and glared fiercely at the zombies in front of him.

"They're coming."

Wenxi turned to look at the walkers, which literally meant "they've arrived."

The mindless zombies, completely disregarding the burning of the soul fire, were slowly squeezing into the light.

The damp, pale skin spontaneously combusted, and after the skin disintegrated came rotting tendons and muscles, then decaying bones, struggling to move forward.

Paul roughly estimated the speed and distance at which the walkers would spontaneously combust. If nothing unexpected happened, the walkers would be able to catch him and Wensey before they were completely burned to ashes.

He encouraged, "Are you ready?"

Wenxi belatedly realized what Paul was about to do and shouted to stop him.

"Wait a minute, Paul..."

The howls of the walkers drowned out Wenxi's words.

All their knowledge of chaos came from books and the disaster rehearsals held regularly by the city-state council.

Paul's estimate was accurate, but he forgot a fundamental thing: walkers can also lunge and bite.

The burning zombies became the shadow of death, covering Paul and Wensey.

Wenxi began to regret attending the party tonight, and even bringing Paul along.

She instinctively snuggled into Paul's arms, and then, she raised her head, trying to kiss him one last time before she died.

Just as despair was about to descend, the sound of birdsong came from the end of the night.

"Cuckoo..."

The voice, clear and resonant like a triangular gong, shattered all panic and unease.

In absolute tranquility, a figure descended from the sky.

Paul didn't see how he swung the sword at all; he simply landed steadily in the shadows, and then the three zombies disintegrated into pieces, falling into the light of the soul marrow and burning silently.

Wenxi slowly turned his head, and in the shadows, his pale six eyes emitted a cold light.

“Reverse...Reverse Falcon…”

Her voice was dry and lifeless, devoid of any excitement or fervor, or even the joy of escaping a desperate situation.

The Falcon in the story and the Falcon in reality are completely different. Under those cold, six-eyed gaze and sharp sword, any excited words will become powerless and pale.

"You...you really came?"

Paul could never have imagined that the Reverse Falcon, which he had never expected, would actually come to save him.

An eerie silence fell over the atmosphere until Reverse Falcon spoke.

He raised his sword and pointed it at Wenxi.

"What are you waiting for? Didn't you want to kiss him? Go on!"

The two of them froze for a few seconds, then simultaneously made duck-like sounds.

"what?"

(End of this chapter)