Chapter 104: Night Watchman in the Storm

Chapter 104: Night Watchman in the Storm
"Forget it, forget it... At least I know about Lao Lin's situation, and Lao Lin also knows that I am still alive..."

"As long as Lao Lin is okay..."

"Hey……"

"Old Lin, Old Lin... Time is limited, you have to adapt quickly..."

Mao Feiyang glanced at the sky filled with swirling thunderclouds. The cracks in the sky were no longer there, and the previous cracks seemed like an illusion.

He picked up the drawing paper and set up the easel again, but looking at the palette he had thrown away, the paint bucket he had kicked away, and the paint all over the floor, he couldn't help but rub his brows with a headache.

"I did all this...?"

"It should be Lao Lin who did it, right? It must be him... Only he would do such a stupid thing."

"Tsk... my head hurts, my head hurts..."

He sat down on the ground, put his chin on his hand, looked at the drawing paper, shook his head and sighed helplessly.

"Come on! This is all your fault, right? I have to take the blame for this shit?!" As Mao Feiyang's first-person perspective, Lin Yi had a full view of Mao Feiyang's every move. Now, when he heard him putting the blame on himself, he couldn't help but get so angry that he jumped up and down.

But he suddenly realized a problem - when he heard Mao Feiyang talking to himself just now, Mao Feiyang didn't say a word at all!
In other words, what he heard... was Mao Feiyang’s thoughts?

“Boom…”

There was a dull thunder in the sky, and Mao Feiyang vaguely felt drops of water dripping onto his cheeks.

He subconsciously touched his face, and then found that it was not sea water: "Raindrops... seems to be raining?"

At this moment, he suddenly found a beam of light hitting the spire behind his watchtower. He looked towards the origin of the beam and saw another watchtower in an extremely inconspicuous, foggy corner of the castle.

There was a man shining a beam of light at one lookout tower after another like a night watchman of a harbor lighthouse, as if issuing a warning and sending away those art students like him who were sketching or doing other things.

Mao Feiyang turned around and found that Mu Daxian and the art student beside him had disappeared. Only two easels were left with two pieces of paper with ugly clumps of paint on them, still shivering in the sea breeze...

"Ah this...?"

Just as he was speechless, Mu Daxian and the art student rushed out from the corridor and put away the easels neatly and efficiently.

"A rainstorm is coming, classmate Mao, the wind is strong!" Mu Daxian helped Mao Feiyang put away the shelf, and went to pick up the palette and paint bucket not far away.

"It doesn't matter if the paint is gone, but the equipment must be packed up!"

He explained as he packed up, and the few of them worked smoothly, and finally returned to the passage before the storm came.

The moment the door was closed, thunder and violent winds covered the dark sky like a spider web. After the first drop of rain splashed down like a waterline, the rest of the rainstorm came in like a mighty army.

“Wow—Bang!”

“Wow—Bang…”

The ocean under the storm was rolling with huge waves, like an angry beast, roaring towards the shore.

The sky was covered with dark clouds, lightning flashed across the sky, accompanied by thunder, as if the whole sky was roaring.

A fierce storm roared, twisting the trees and grass on the rocks around the castle.

Thick rain swept across the world, forming an endless curtain of water.

The waves hit the rocks, splashing water and interweaving with the huge raindrops in the air, forming a blurry mist.

The sand in the storm was like a sharp blade, carrying the wind force and hitting people's faces fiercely, causing them severe pain. The sea water became turbulent, rushing up, and rushing towards the coast with a huge noise.

Under this raging force of nature, all life becomes insignificant.

The gloomy sky drowned out the last rays of light. The candlelight on the stone bridge was so small that only the last speck of light remained. Only darkness and turbulent sea water filled the world.

In such a heavy rain, the spilled paint on the watchtower was quickly washed away, merged into streams of water, and flowed down the mountain wall along the castle's drainage channels.

The carcasses of rotten fish and shrimps under the cliff were splashed by the heavy rain, and an even more disgusting smell surged in the mud, as if a feast for zombies had begun...

On stormy nights, the ocean becomes a chaotic realm of darkness, making all life feel desperate, powerless, insignificant and fearful.

……

From the windows above the bell tower, the splashing rain flowed down like thin silver threads.

The window glass was rattling in the strong wind, as if it would shatter at any moment.

The chasing wind was full of sharp whistles, passing through the gaps in the bell tower, bringing with it gusts of icy cold.

The spiral staircase inside the bell tower kept creaking due to the vibrations of the storm, and the dim lights were swallowed up by the darkness of wind and rain.

The bell tower was filled with a damp and sad atmosphere. The ancient murals on the walls were blurred by the rain. The former glory seemed to be gradually dissipating in the storm.

Art students hurriedly avoided the bell tower area, shivering in the cold wind. Their faces were filled with fear and worry, as if there was a mysterious and tense connection between them and the bell tower, and tragedy could break out at any time.

However, even in the storm, the bell tower still stands tall, as if it is the last glory in the castle, a symbol and witness of the relics of the old times.

“Hum…”

The bronze bell on the bell tower emitted a low humming sound in the violent storm. As the sound waves vibrated, an invisible field was formed. A series of ripples that seemed to be there and not there spread out like sharp blades, covering the entire castle...

On the cliff closest to the sea, the night watchman stood still in the storm, letting the heavy rain splash a layer of water on his windbreaker, but his iron tower-like figure remained motionless.

He looked back at the bell tower, then came to the cliff carrying the ancient bronze cup.

The storm made his windbreaker rustle, and the heavy rain made his hair messy on his face, but his face was as strong as a knife.

He slowly raised the ancient green lamp, and the orange-yellow light expanded an area in the wind and rain.

Under the steep cliff at his feet, countless twisted figures were wreaking havoc like a swarm of insects. They were climbing up desperately, as if they were going to invade the area where the castle was.

And in front of the night watchman, in the blending of wind and rain, it seemed to reflect some unknown creature with wings. It was like the ruler of the insect swarm, being surrounded by them and moving forward, like an iron cavalry, about to flatten and submerge this lonely castle.

Those swarm-like figures cried out in agony as they climbed, and the sound mixed with the whimpering of the sea breeze and the pounding of the rainstorm, as if resonating with some ancient and cult music or hymn.

In the midst of wind and rain, that strange voice surged towards the night watchman like a tsunami:

""I AvgruNnen av tKe og mrke jaGer forTapte Sjeler fanTome!"

""I AvgruNnen av tKe og mrke jaGer forTapte Sjeler fanTome..."

The night watchman had a blank expression on his face, but his eyes seemed to be burning with a cluster of red-gold flames, brighter than the sun.

His tightly pursed and slightly bent lips finally loosened. He slowly opened his mouth and uttered the same syllables as the cry of pain, but his voice was low and heavy, like the sound of an ancient bell, covering the tsunami and thunder, spanning endless time, and resounding here:
"De som jager lyset i tke blir til slutt fantomer!"

“Boom—Kaa!!!”

Pure white lightning tore through the dark sky and passed by the side of the bell tower.

The scene at this moment is exactly the same as the painting drawn by Mao Feiyang, except that there is no trace of the night watchman in Mao Feiyang's painting.

……

In the corridor of Art Classroom IV, Mao Feiyang stared at the water stains on the glass window, and at the world outside the window that had almost changed completely, and he couldn't help but be lost in thought.

Looking at the paint washed away by the rain, feeling the eerie chill seeping in through the crack in the door, he slowly clenched the damaged drawing paper: "Is that really a 'virtual image'?"

The art student next to him was stunned when he heard this. Just as he was about to speak, Mu Daxian at the side reached out and pulled him.

Mu Daxian glanced at Mao Feiyang and said in a deep voice, "Let's go back to the classroom first."

Mao Feiyang slowly withdrew his gaze and followed Mu Daxian's footsteps, but after only a few steps, he couldn't help but look back at the outside world.

But this time the distance was a bit far, and he could not see anything except the glass window wet by water.

Lin Yi's gaze also followed Mao Feiyang, but as he walked in the passage, he suddenly felt a light feeling under his feet, as if there were no bricks under his feet.

Lin Yi was startled and suddenly realized something: "Wait, this...?!"

At this moment, he felt that the space around him suddenly shattered like a mirror, and he stepped on empty air and fell into the crack.

“Hoo…”

The familiar whistling sound of the wind reappeared in his ears, and he found that he was once again in the thick cloud, falling down at an accelerated speed.

"Here we are again!"

Lin Yi quickly calmed down. He guessed that if dreams had an order, then it would be his turn to enter the vision of Kuai Hongji or Wei Liang next?

Sure enough, he soon felt a push on his back, as if a comfortable warm bed was supporting his body.

His vision changed and gradually became clearer...

Then he found himself lying on the bed.

"bed?"

His first reaction was to be stunned for a moment, and then he couldn't help but mutter: "Why is there a bed?"

But just as he finished speaking, a familiar voice came from beside him: "Why shouldn't there be a bed? Lao Lin, are you sleeping like an idiot?"

Lin Yi was stunned and confused for a few seconds before he realized that he had woken up.

He looked in the direction of the voice and found Wei Liang lying on his fence, sticking out his huge face and looking at him with a fatherly smile.

The dormitory has a power outage from 0:00 to 18:00, so the only light in the dormitory at this time comes from the sunlight outside the window. When the sunlight is reflected on Wei Liang's face, that yellow and white face with a smile suddenly looks like a ghost face in a Hong Kong movie.

"Fuck, you're pretending to be a ghost to scare me so early in the morning?!"

He felt a chill and slapped Wei Liang, pushing him off the bed.

“Eh?! Eh hey hey hey…”

Wei Liang lost his balance and fell off the bed.

The sound of the chair clanking and Wei Liang's "ouch" instantly merged into one.

Lin Yi quickly glanced at his watch.

6: 28.

Then he carefully checked the time on the pendulum clock on the wall and found that it was also 6:28.

Although he had experienced a very exciting journey in his dream, his mind and body did not show any signs of fatigue as if he had experienced that journey.

On the contrary, at this moment he was refreshed, his thoughts were clear, and he couldn't be in the best condition possible.

"what--"

He stretched out his body, and his bones made a series of crackling sounds, as if he had undergone some strange transformation.

He is fine, but some people are not so good.

Wei Liang was lying on his back in the aisle between the beds, hissing and groaning, his body twitching one or two times, like a parasite.

Lin Yi looked past Wei Liang and towards the other roommates.

Tian Bufan was washing up in front of the washbasin. Wei Shan had just come out of the bathroom. Kuai Hongji stood next to Tian Bufan, adjusting his collar in front of the mirror, and then looked out the window.

"You all got up early?" Lin Yi asked in surprise.

"Since you're sleeping so soundly, I'll let you sleep a little longer... Gurgle..." Tian Bufan rinsed his mouth and washed his face. "We have to queue up to wash up anyway, so there's no need for everyone to get up at once."

Tian Bufan gave up his seat and walked to the side to wipe his face with a towel. Kuai Hongji behind him took his place.

"Hey, hey, hey, it's my turn, right?" Wei Liang shouted from the ground.

"The cricket pupae are lined up behind the dogs." Tian Bufan came to his side and prepared to step over.

"Damn it! A gentleman won't accept humiliation given out of pity!" Wei Liang squatted down and stood up gracefully, avoiding the humiliation from Tian Bufan's crotch.

Tian Bufan ignored Wei Liang and came to Lin Yi's bedside. He stretched out his hand and knocked on the bedside: "Get up."

"Please, I'm awake." Lin Yi said speechlessly.

"So I'm asking you to get up, not to wake you up."

"…What you said makes so much sense that I can't refute it."

Lin Yi got out of bed silently.

"So...what did you dream about?" Tian Bufan asked beside Lin Yi.

"Hmm?" Lin Yi looked at him suspiciously, "You know?"

"what?"

"Nothing..." A trace of doubt flashed across Lin Yi's eyes, and then he shook his head, "I dreamed about Maozi. I'll tell you after I sort out my thoughts."

"Sure." Tian Bufan showed a hint of curiosity.

Lin Yi was the last one to get out of bed in the dormitory. By the time he changed his clothes and washed up, it was almost 6:45.

I took a day off, but there is no improvement. It is so uncomfortable… If it was just a runny nose, it would be ok, but it is mainly runny nose and tears, and there is always the sound of wind and waves in my ears. I really want to write well, but as soon as I sit down, my whole head is buzzing, and I can't concentrate at all. The plot of the night watchman part of this chapter was polished yesterday, and it takes two days to finish one chapter… It is too painful…

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(End of this chapter)

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