Shut up, brave man! I don't want to atone for my sins to you!

He walked to the window, opened it, and looked down at the city and the country in front of him.

Quiet and peaceful, familiar yet strange.

Until now, the wish that Long Jin I made to the limited wishing machine thirty years ago is still an unsolved mystery, but perhaps it is precisely because of that wish that Diesel can thrive like it is today...

Although, Ivan Thorne has told them the truth - Diesel, who was like a paradise, was just a false dream after all.

But do they really want to burst this dream?

It was obvious that the emperor's wish was to protect his country, and he had even tried his best to accommodate those tall and thin ghosts. And they, a group of outsiders... they were indeed getting closer to the truth, but even if they found the truth, what could they do after that?

Charles did not think he could do better than Longin I.

But they can't just sit there and wait for death.

Because there are more and more "people" on the streets.

The specific reasons are unknown. In short, all the Diesel people who left Diesel and lived in the outside world in the past thirty years have returned to their hometown.

Those who returned home could not explain why they hurried back to their hometown, but no one cared about it. In the absurd but lively atmosphere, a few Diesel people even proposed to hold a celebration.

And their great, generous and loving emperor granted their request.

Therefore, the celebration was scheduled for three days later - that is, today.

Everywhere in the streets and alleys, one could see Diesel people gathered together happily, talking and laughing. The sound of gongs and drums was endless, and the whole country was drowned in the noisy waves of cheers and shouting.

Even the innkeeper, the talkative old man, got up early in the morning, dressed neatly, and knocked on the doors of the brave man, the witch, and the priest one by one, warmly inviting them to participate in this sudden celebration.

Although he was eventually politely declined.

"Thank you for your kindness, but we still have important things to do, so I'm sorry..."

This is not a lie.

They do have important things to do.

While Diesel is holding a celebration, they have to dive into the wishing well to verify whether the real Diesel is hidden underneath as Ivan Thorne said.

In order to avoid being noticed by the Diesel people and causing unnecessary trouble, the brave man temporarily turned off the forbidden spell, and the witch waved her wand and cast a concealment spell for the four of them.

So they were able to pass through the crowd silently and arrive at the wishing well in the Piazza della Signoria.

The Wishing Well was still silent, with almost no changes from when I first saw it. Even if you looked closely, it was hard to tell what was so special about it.

Charles stood by the well, leaning on the edge, leaning down and looking into the well.

But he could only see the thick layer of moss on the wall of the well and the endless darkness at the bottom of the well.

"This well is connected to an underground river, but that underground river dried up many years ago. It is for this reason that it has become a wishing well with far more decorative significance than practical value." Crazy John next to Charles said suddenly.

"That's why there's not a single bit of steam coming out of the well, nor can I hear the slightest sound of water - well, if a well can still be used normally, there's no need for the Diesel people to turn it into a wishing well," thought Charles.

Then he reached his hand into the well.

Perhaps she mistakenly thought that he was going to close his eyes and jump into the well, so the witch who was dozing off there immediately woke up and hurried over to grab his hand.

"Are you crazy?" she said. "Didn't we discuss yesterday that the information in Ivan Thorne's letter might not be true?"

Ciel looked at the witch's delicate and soft little hands and shook his head:

"I didn't plan to jump in directly, but I wanted to do this..."

He rubbed his thumb and index finger together, and a flame started to ignite, expanding rapidly, emitting dazzling light and heat.

——It’s the art of light.

Under the witch's slightly stunned and embarrassed gaze, Charles gently threw the ball of fire into the wishing well.

As the ball of fire fell, section after section of the well wall was illuminated, from shallow to deep, and the fire became weaker and weaker, from being as bright as a little sun at the beginning to being as distant and small as the stars in the sky.

Then, the little fire finally fell into the boundless darkness at the bottom of the well, like a firefly diving into a net bag, without even the slightest struggle.

Then everything returned to silence.

The brave man who had watched the whole process raised his head and happened to meet the eyes of the witch who was looking at him at this moment.

With just a momentary exchange of glances, they confirmed that the other person's thoughts were the same as their own.

However, before either of them could express their thoughts, a third person jumped out.

He is a pastor.

She stood on the other side of the wishing well, opposite the hero and the witch, and took the lead in speaking:

"Did you see it? Anyway, I can't see the end of this well. It's really scary. Could this well be a bottomless pit?"

"..."

The hero and the witch fell silent together.

But the pastor did not intend to take care of their feelings at all, so she continued:

"But maybe it's a good thing this way. At least we can confirm that there is indeed something wrong with this wishing well - because no matter the hero's powerful eyesight or the witch's detection spell, they can't reach its end."

At this time, the witch, who was interrupted by the priest, finally found an opportunity and wanted to take back the initiative:

"But it's not safe to send people down directly. It's hard to tell what's going on down there..."

As she spoke, she drew her wand and announced calmly:

"But I have a solution."

"It's dangerous for humans to go down, but we can use magic to create objects to explore the way first. Coincidentally, I have some attainments in the field of magic creation."

So the witch waved her wand and summoned several exquisite and small dolls.

Then, like a general, she ordered the puppets to line up, count, and then gave them tasks.

"Go!" the witch ordered, "Sneak into the wishing well, conduct reconnaissance, and bring back the information!"

The leading puppet stepped out, saluted and said yes to her, then led the other puppets in an orderly manner and jumped into the wishing well in unison.

"These little guys all have the most basic intelligence," the witch introduced to the other three, "In a sense, they are equivalent to my clones."

"If the wishing well is really connected to the so-called real Diesel, then they will scout the environment near the exit as quickly as possible, return and report to me."

"So, we just need to wait for a moment. We will know what is going on under the wishing well in just a moment."

Since the witch has said so, naturally other people will have no objections.

So they began to wait patiently.

But before long, someone lost their patience.

It was none other than the witch herself.

She frowned, bit her fingertips, and announced to the three people unhappily:

"Something went wrong. There is also a 'wall' deep inside the wishing well, just like the wall that surrounds Diesel now. It keeps all my puppets out."

"So," the pastor suddenly said, "we still have to go down by ourselves in the end?"

The witch became even more unhappy. She bit her fingers and glared at the priest fiercely. After a long time, she stopped, closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and decided not to... not to bother with another self.

"But even if my puppet wasn't blocked by that 'wall', once it had gathered the intelligence, we would have to go down and investigate in person sooner or later."

After saving her reputation in this way, the witch sighed:

"Okay, stop wasting your breath with these useless words. Hurry up and pack up and prepare to go down the well... Be fully prepared. After all, who knows what the situation is at the bottom of the well."

While speaking, she had already begun to skillfully cast various defensive spells on herself.

Poison resistance, physical resistance, magic resistance, even cognitive barrier and thought protection shield, it’s free anyway, so get some.

As she put on her shield, the hero silently drew out his holy sword, and the priest took out his staff.

Only Crazy John stood there motionless - this poor old man probably didn't have the same magical power as the witch, nor could he afford the fine equipment that the hero had...

He didn't even have a proper weapon.

The brave man noticed the old man's predicament, and after a brief hesitation, he asked the witch for the cane sword left by Mr. Shilin and gave it to the old man.

"If you insist on going down with us, you might lose your life there."

He gave this advice.

The old man was surprisingly calm.

He even smiled at Ciel:

"I may not live long anyway. If that's the case, using this wishing well as a coffin may be a good idea. Please don't try to persuade me anymore. After all..."

He drew out the cane sword, tested the blade with his fingertips, and only nodded with satisfaction after seeing the glaring bloodstain.

Then, the old man's expression became serious:

“When a person has decided what he wants to accomplish and is ready to lose everything for it, there will be nothing in this world that can hold him back. He will move forward without hesitation until he calmly embraces death—”

"But you know, Mr. Charles, death at that time will be as sweet as honey to him."

Charles was stunned for a moment, then immediately paid his highest respects to Crazy John:

"I understand. In that case, please come with us."

"It's impossible."

The old man nodded happily.

So, the four people who were ready entered the wishing well.

[To be continued]

-

67. Still Human

The sky was shrinking rapidly.

It gradually changes from the original vastness to a small round piece of light blue.

The noise was gradually fading away.

The noisy sound in Manyuan Square was blocked by the thick blue brick wall. As they "dived" deeper, it became fainter and fainter, like a candle in the wind.

This change reminded Ciel of the scene he had witnessed before—

Almost all Diesel members came out of their homes and gathered on the streets to join this sudden celebration in different ways.

There was a mixture of singing, shouting, and cheering; the smells of spices, food, and sweat overlapped; the Diesel people all changed into bright new clothes and painted their faces with oil paint, which was really dazzling.

The whole country is celebrating outside, and the momentum is so great that it almost stops the clouds.

However, they sneaked underground to the sound of gongs and drums, falling into the depths of the wishing well little by little, hoping to touch the secret buried at the end of the wishing well...

Charles suddenly felt that this was a bit ridiculous.

The fake Diesel above their heads is so beautiful, like oil boiling in a blazing fire and flowers blooming in a brocade. Except for a few rare flaws, it is almost perfect and can be completely called the so-called "Utopia".

"So, what does the real Diesel, as Ivan Thorne claims, look like?"

He couldn't help but have this thought, and then he lowered his head and looked down at his feet.

Under his feet was a vertical shaft that seemed to have no end.

It has been some time since they entered the wishing well, and they have "dive" a considerable distance, but they have not yet touched the "wall" that the witch mentioned.

Charles was a little confused, so he turned around and asked the witch:

"Isn't it here yet?"

Since the diameter of the wishing well was too small for four people to "dive" side by side, they split into two groups.

The brave man, the priest and the witch were in the front, and Crazy John was the rear guard.

And now, the three people in front are almost squeezed into a ball.

Charles originally wanted to suggest that the four of them "dive" one by one, but before he could open his mouth, the witch hugged his left arm and vowed to advance and retreat with him.

Then, the pastor came over and hugged his right arm, not wanting to be outdone.

He obviously wanted to keep a certain distance from the priest, and was even planning to reprimand her and ask her to let go of his arm - but the witch interrupted him again, and before he could order the priest to leave him, the witch waved her wand and used the levitation spell.

So he had no choice but to let the witch and the priest hang on him like two koalas and "dive" with him.