Deep Sea Embers

Deep in a back alley away from the abandoned factory, in an unremarkable old hut, an oil lamp was suddenly lit.

In the flickering lights, one can see the simple and old furnishings in the hut, the slightly moldy ceiling, the faded and peeling wallpaper, and a dark crack slowly creeping and shrinking in the corner of the room.

The horrifying bone hound was lying beside the crack, motionless like a dead dog that was completely exhausted. On the other end of the black iron chain, Shirley, who was wearing a black-and-white long skirt, carefully adjusted the oil lamp. The wick came to the window again, and checked the sky outside with concern.

"...The Creation of the World came out," the girl exhaled softly, "Fortunately, I got home before the night completely fell, otherwise I'm afraid I will die like a dog in a stinky ditch."

Not far away, the Youshen Hound lying on the floor with his corpse raised his head immediately, with a hoarse and cracking voice in his throat: "Just say what you say, don't talk about dogs."

"Can you still talk? I thought you lost half your life on this trip to the dark world." Shirley turned her head and glanced at Agou. Shuttle with the most dangerous abyss? Didn’t you say that there are countless demons in the abyss and deep sea waiting to chew your black bones?”

"No matter how many demons there are in the deep sea, I can walk around them. I can't beat them, but I can still run, but just now... I really didn't run quickly, and I might not be able to run away." Only then did the deep hound seem to catch his breath. Exhausted, he raised his head slightly and looked at Xue Li, "You should be thankful that I reacted quickly and opened the rift the moment that scary guy turned his eyes away, otherwise as long as his eyes are still on you and me, I will not even have a way to escape." Can't open it!"

Shirley frowned, and slowly came to the dark hound: "So what's going on? Why are you so afraid? That guy named 'Duncan'... Have you ever seen that dog? He belongs to the Church of Annihilation Some big guy? Or is there some deep demon standing behind him?"

The deep hound seemed to recall some extremely terrifying feeling all of a sudden, its bones cracked, and then it mumbled in a low voice: "I haven't seen him before, and I don't know him either."

Shirley immediately widened her eyes: "I've never seen you be so afraid!?"

"Even if I haven't seen it, as a ghost demon, I can still 'see' a shadow that is more terrifying than death!" The ghost hound suddenly raised his head, and the hollow red eye hole "stared" at Xue Li, " Inside the body of a human being, there is a vortex of light and shadow stuffed into a fucking vortex that makes me feel insane even just looking at it, do you think I can't be afraid?!"

Speaking of this, it paused for a while, as if it wanted to organize its language to describe its feelings to Shirley, who is a human being. After organizing for a long time, it slowly opened its mouth: "When he spoke, I could hear ten thousand overlapping words. The voices roared at the same time. When he watched, I could feel that all my fate from birth to death was spread out and flattened on the ground for people to watch. Let me tell you, the last time I met such a scary person What a thing, I saw the 'Holy Lord' from a distance in the deep sea! But the Holy Lord can't move, today we met that person, he can walk and move!"

Shirley was horrified by Agou's scary tone and eyes (although its eyes were just two glowing holes), but she subconsciously muttered: "Why didn't I feel anything at that time... I still felt that his Very kind..."

"So sometimes I really envy your human beings' inefficient and dull perception-this barrier of ignorance is really a treasure bestowed on you by the world, it can make you all die with a smile on your face in the crazy and twisted catastrophe," The deep hound lay down again weakly, "Continue to be blind, the world can be better--poor little dog like me is not so lucky, every now and then I will see something that can scare dogs to death Son……"

"...how in the world can there be such a cowardly and deep devil like you?" Shirley couldn't help but squinted at Agou, and then seemed to be thinking about something thoughtfully, and said hesitantly, "But you Having said that, I think we shouldn't run away... If that person is really a super powerful big shot as you said, maybe he can hold his thigh! You see, he was quite kind to us just now, and even talked to us Ask about things, and it seems that he is also at odds with those sun bastards, isn't this an opportunity? I act like a baby, pretend to be cute, in case I am a backer..."

Before the girl finished speaking, she heard the rattling of the pitch-black iron chain, and Agou, who was still lying on the corpse a second ago, jumped up immediately: "Put away your crazy thoughts immediately! Your frenzy is almost enough to open the sub- Space channel!"

Immediately afterwards, it paused, and continued to exhort uneasy: "Listen, never deal with such indescribable things that wear a human shell, they are more cunning than pure demons, and more cunning than real humans." Sinister, their calm conversation with you is always just an appetizer for a feast—don’t look at him being very kind just now, but do you think he can let you leave completely after you tell him everything you know?”

It seems that the never-before-stern stern tone of the deep hound had an effect, Shirley seemed to be a little overwhelmed, she finally gave up her bold idea, but still muttered: "I know, I know—but Agou, you Why does the tone of voice sound like an old mother..."

The deep hound lay down on the ground: "Nonsense, I raised you!"

Shirley snorted, then looked at the sky outside the window, and after seeing that the night was getting lower, she walked towards the window.

The black iron chain was tight, and following the girl's footsteps, the Youshen Hound, which wanted to rest on its stomach, was dragged helplessly on the ground and moved. This huge and heavy Youshen Demon was dragged around in Shirley's hands as if it weighed nothing. : "What do you want to do again, can't you let me have a party? I was exhausted from such a big fight today..."

"I'm mainly fighting, okay?" Shirley looked outside without looking back, "I'm looking at the situation outside...it's completely dark, and the street lights just came on."

"After all, it is a slum area. The authorities can ensure that these street lights maintain the most basic ability to exorcise evil spirits. Don't expect them to be lit before the evening clock like other urban areas," Agou muttered, and looked back The oil lamp placed on the old dining table, "Turn off the lamp later, oil is quite expensive."

Shirley pursed her lips: "...turn it off before going to bed, or the room is too dark."

Agou grunted in his stomach, but didn't say anything.

In the city-state, the city managers and builders strictly planned the location and quantity of the most basic exorcism device, the "street lamp". The gas lamps distributed throughout the city can ensure that the entire urban area is protected after dark, so In the dwellings on the surface, it is equally safe to use electric lights or oil lamps, and it is even safe to turn off the lights in the room after the street lights are lit.

But no matter how prosperous the city is, there are also forgotten corners. In the depths of the slums, which are even older and dilapidated than the lower city, the number of gas street lamps is far less than that in other areas. These street lamps are almost enough to maintain security day and night, and this This "enough" state is obviously not reassuring enough.

Therefore, in the slums, oil lamps and grease candles that use flame lighting are necessary for every household.

If the street lamps are a quarter and a half late, the firelight in the home can at least temporarily ward off the darkness after the sun goes down.

Of course, there is another important reason why many poor families use oil lamps and candles: they cannot afford the relatively high cost of electricity conversion.

The electric light is bright, clean and safe. In a safe and worry-free urban area, it has long been the first choice for every household's lighting, but in this slum house...

The only thing that can bring Shirley and Agou a sense of security is the flickering flame in that old lamp.

In the dim light, the voice of the deep hound broke the silence: "...Are you going to go out for activities for a while?"

"Um."

"Continue to trouble those sun bastards?"

"It's to ask them for information."

"Anyway, it's almost the same... But now, it seems that they don't know what happened eleven years ago. Look at the situation today, even they are asking the local people..."

"This is because today's wave of people happened to be from Lensa, so maybe there will be something to gain next time."

"Okay, as long as you like it."

"Agou, next time you weave a camouflage for me, just rely on some tricks, and don't be exposed halfway through."

"I just hope that I won't run into that scary guy again today—I suspect that our aura was exposed early today because there was such a strong 'disturbance' at the scene..."

"Okay, okay, you say yes..."