East of Eden

THE FIRSTMORNINGOFCREATIONWROTEWHATTHELASTDAWNOFRECKONINGSHALLREAD.

—OMARKHAYYAM

Leaving Karr, they encountered wolves at nightfall.Jackals are one of the most outstanding predators in the desert. They have a thin body, a long and narrow mouth, and four upper and lower canine teeth that are enough to pierce the hide of a rhinoceros.

At first, I just heard rustling footsteps, as if the wind was pressing down on the grass, but there was no grass here.Long began to feel that something was wrong. At this time, there was a "boom" sound from the roof, and he saw a group of flashing green eyes behind the car through the rearview mirror. They were undoubtedly a pack of hungry wolves.

"Step on the accelerator and shake them off!" Shan Mu commanded, but he made a wrong decision.In the uneven Yadan landform, the speed of the car is fast and it is easy to roll over. As soon as the wolves on the car were thrown off, their wheels pressed against a raised stone, spinning and drifting with a harsh friction sound, rumbling and sinking Into the bunker.

The wolves quickly surrounded them, but they didn't dare to approach, they just stayed and watched from a distance.Long and Yun'an got out of the car, put on protective clothing, and held a Marley rifle in one hand.Xing also went down, leaving only Dr. Shanmu and Siswell in the car.The dragon originally intended to scare away the jackals with fire, but before he had gone far, the wolves suddenly attacked. A wolf jumped up from behind and almost bit his neck off. A melee with the beast.

None of the three people at the center of the melee realized that the people in the jeep were actually the most dangerous at the moment.

Wolves usually act in groups, but there are always a few solitary ones, and they stare at Siswell, who seems to be the easiest to attack.It wasn't until the sound of glass breaking that Siswell realized that the situation was not good. She took the gun in hand and smashed it into the wolf's mouth. She succeeded for the first time, but the next wolf rushed into the carriage.

The carriage was cramped, and it was too late for her to escape.A white figure flashed in front of her, helping her resist the blow—the wolf's fangs had already been embedded in the man's calf.

"Doctor!" she exclaimed.

The man punched the wolf's nasal bone with his fist. The nose is the weakness of all wolves, but they will not give up easily.The jackal bit open the screws at the metal joints, Shanmu Zhelang touched the dagger in his boot and inserted it into the wolf's skull, and pushed down hard, a burst of electric current rushed out, and the wolf howled ferociously from its throat, tearing as it slid down. All the parts where the crack passed, the internal nerve wires burst out like a bunch of blooming fireworks.At last the jackal's tail drooped and remained still, but the fangs were still nailed into the disintegrated leg.

Shanmu opened its mouth with his hands, the lens was splashed with hot blood, and wiped it away with his white sleeve.

......

"Give me a shot of morphine, and I'll have it in the trunk of the car." At this moment, at 08:30 in the evening, Shan Mu was lying on the table, facing a kerosene lamp.

"I brought them all." Yun An put down the toolbox and the first aid kit. He was not the one who was injured, but his face was uglier than Shan Mu.

Now they are at Red River Cabin, a house converted from plane wreckage.The Lockheed P-38 aircraft is a small interceptor aircraft commonly seen in the war years. The wings and tail on both sides were disassembled to build a triangular cone-shaped space of barely ten square meters that can shelter from wind and rain. , there is nothing in the house except a hammock, a table and a few buckets.

Dr. Shanmu took morphine, and the pain eased slightly, while Yun An helped him deal with the riddled mechanical leg.The boy held pliers, scissors, and a screw gun in his hand, but he didn't know where to start when he actually faced the injury.He was a little anxious, a little sad, his usual relaxed expression disappeared, he bit his lower lip, lifted his right leg very carefully like an archaeologist did with silk, and put it on his knee, his forehead and the tip of his nose were covered with Beads of sweat, big and small.

Hong He watched from the side, smoking a pitch-black pipe, his eyes flickered in the light.

"Is he your son?" the man asked.

Shan Mu turned her head, slightly surprised: "No."

"...pretty similar."

"looks like?"

Hong He shook his head, just smoking in silence.So Shan Mu laughed and said, "I don't have such a good son."

"Doctor, don't talk." Yun An glanced at him, and inserted the pliers into the first neural interface: "Rest."

"Okay, okay." The gray-haired man sighed helplessly.

Hong He stood up from the bucket (he used the bucket as a chair) and planned to prepare something for the group.He went to the market half a month ago and found three instant rice, a bag of potatoes, five eggs and green chili peppers.

"I'm going to cook something." He said with a few potatoes in his hand, "You don't seem to have eaten yet."

Long touched his shriveled stomach: "Thank you, how about I help you?"

Honghe doesn't want help or thanks, but just does what he thinks should be done.A man built a fire in the kang, put an iron pot on it, and fanned it with waste newspapers to promote the combustion. Then he took down the knife hanging on the wall and peeled and sliced ​​potatoes bit by bit.His movements are steady, and his rough hands look like they have been weathered for a long time. The skin color is dark brown, the flesh color is purple red, the fingers are thicker than ordinary people, the nails are flat and blunt, and the palms are hard with calluses.

Occasionally, he looked up at the table: the blond woman held Dr. Shanmu's hand guiltily, her voice was weak, like a string that was about to break.

"Sorry...." The kerosene lamp flickered on her face.

"If the prosthesis is gone, you can still change it. It's really not possible." Shan Mu said with a smile.

The woman cried.A tall man named "Dragon" with a wide open collar and a cross pendant went over to comfort her and pat her on the shoulder.Hong He watched for a while, then moved his gaze away to Heiyan who was sitting in the corner.The black eyes were silent, and the eyelashes like crow feathers drooped, wiping the blood on the clothes in vain.

They are not like ordinary travelers.Hong He shredded the potatoes and asked, "What are you doing in Longyou Land? This place has already penetrated deep into the hinterland."

The dragon took the question: "Look for 'Sakwa'. Have you heard of it? It is said that they live where there are dragon skeletons."

"Sakwa, ghost swordsman." Hong He pointed to the east: "The dragon skeleton is not where they live, it's just an entrance."

"Entrance?"

"The entrance to the city of scorched earth." The pot was heated up, the man poured a little oil into it, sprinkled the shredded potatoes into it, and there was a squeak: "The city of scorched earth is their residence. The ruins of the temple are like a circular Colosseum, with three gate walls inside and outside. The city is surrounded by statues, which are as high as a twenty-story building, and you will probably see them through the keel."

Long crossed his hands: "You are very familiar with it."

"Because it was my previous destination, a place I've always wanted to go." He was cooking without looking up, as if he was telling a story that had nothing to do with him: "I know everything about it, but I haven't seen it with my own eyes. .”

"Where are you from?"

"Alpha City."

Long laughed and said: "Alpha City and Longyou Land span almost the entire continent, and it only takes half a day from here to the place you mentioned."

"I know, but I can't go on."

"why?"

"Because my son died here." Hong He said calmly, "He died of thirst. In fact, he could find the wreckage of the plane if he survived another kilometer. The water reserve in the cabin is enough for us to drink for seven days and seven nights."

Hearing this, everyone was silent.Green pepper and potato shreds are fried, and Hong He pours them into a small plastic bowl, steaming and exuding the nostalgic aroma of home cooking.There were three sets of tableware included in the instant rice, and Hong He disassembled them and distributed them to several people: "Although it is not enough, let's make do with it."

It was late at night, and everyone was sleeping in a crowded room in this [-]-square-meter hut. It may be because of the exhaustion of the day's work. They all slept very deeply, except for the stars. singing.

Remember you promised me you wouldn't let me lose you

But you flew so far with the migratory birds returning to the south——

I don't know why, when Xing heard "I still remember you promised me that I wouldn't let me lose you", he felt the urge to cry for a moment.He thinks this song is only suitable for running on the wasteland. Only when a person is full of heavy stories and memories can he understand it, and he will find it pleasant and sad.

He thought and thought, thinking of the person he once loved.

Get up from the ground, open the curtain and go out.The night in the desert was very cold, the night sky was very clean, and Honghe didn't sleep. He built a bonfire and knelt by the bonfire and prayed to something.The flames swayed like meteors falling to the ground, and the lamb nestled quietly at his feet.

Xing saw a small clay god statue in front of the man. The paint was peeling off and it had been eroded a lot by wind and sand. It was probably an ancient relic.The statue is covered in robes from head to toe, and its face is covered with a mask or roughly carved. It looks benevolent with its hands folded and pressed on its chest, but it looks like a fettered chrysalis.

Xing knelt down beside him without making a sound, watching Hong He kowtow three times with his palms up, his hair was covered with sand.

"I used to not believe in God." After praying, Hong He turned around and said.He picked up some tobacco, put it into a pipe, and lit it on the fire: "Only people who have been hammered by fate will believe in something...Young man, don't you sleep?"

"Can't sleep."

"When the mind is thinking, it cannot sleep."

Xing sighed, feeling the tag with his name engraved on his chest slide over his skin, leaving a cold mark.At this time, the lamb ran to Lululu, with wet eyes, looked at him curiously for a while, then lowered his head and licked the back of his hand.Xing smiled, and scratched the soft fur on its neck in turn.

"This sheep is very good." Xing showed a long-lost gentleness, vaguely remembering that he had touched a lamb a long time ago.

"I don't know where it came from, and I'm not willing to kill and eat it." Hong He said.

The lamb jumped away from Xing's hand and jumped towards the Red River.The man hugged it, righted the idol that had just been knocked over by it in the fire, and slapped its ass hard: "You rebelled, and the idol was almost burned by you."

"This statue looks very old." Xing's eyes fell.

Hong He placed it on the ground: "It was dug out of the soil on the day my son was buried, and it is the guidance of the heavens."

"I seem to have seen it somewhere..." Xing stared at it for a long time: "What kind of god is he?"

"Liang Shiheng, the sorcerer of the Eastern Continent, is the last Zhu Si in the historical records." Hong He exhaled a puff of smoke: "It is said that he wears a silver mask and a white robe. He comes like flowing water and passes away like long winds. Under the guidance of the sun, moon and stars, cross the continent."

"Sounds great."

"Yes, 3000 years ago, everyone knew that his name symbolized light, and he was the guardian of travelers and undead in the dark."

Xing had a strange feeling, he couldn't explain it clearly, as if something was trembling deep in his heart, and his stomach was also shivering sourly.

"By the way, Liang Shiheng made a prophecy 3000 years ago, predicting what we are today. Do you want to hear it?"

His eyes expressed want.

""At that time all the stars will be annihilated, the brilliance of the sun will disappear on the earth, the memory of mankind will be erased, everything will fall into silence, and the devil and the gods will become one." "Hong He's voice was up and down, and then gradually weakened: "Two years later, he took Yin Qi civilization and disappeared forever, leaving only ruins that no one can understand. "

"Why did it disappear?"

"It is said in the history books that it was due to natural disasters." Hong He looked towards the sky: "It is said that in order to avoid natural disasters, he led all human beings to evacuate to a place that we cannot find. Maybe he is waiting for someone to cross everything and find where he disappeared .”

Liang Shiheng walked barefoot across the vast desert, wilderness, and snow-capped mountains, reciting songs that no one could understand.

He walked a long way, his blond hair burning like a torch.

The duty of Zhu Si is to deduce the fate of mankind and the country through the stars. He is a powerful and wise warlock, and at the same time he is also the loneliest person on the earth.

Xing closed his eyes and saw Liang Shiheng again.

A piece of golden wheat ears, running barefoot, sometimes distant and sometimes approaching.This time he saw something more, he saw the night after the day, the man's long golden hair wrapped around his skin, caressing his cheek and whispering softly:

Now, we are all still young, and there are so many things we want to do. We want to become the popular clouds in the sky, and we want to become elk among the green cliffs and go away.However, we will part ways at the end of summer, please untie the reins of the horse at that time, if you think of me, go find me in the distance, I will wait for you in a place full of roses back.

--

The author has something to say:

*Updated the section about natural disasters

*Two years ago I was good at literature and art, good at stream of consciousness orz