Chapter 1 Dream and Reality
It rained heavily all night, making Nanwei City, which was already shrouded in haze all year round, look muddy.
Milo has long been tired of the life of standing on duty in the rain, but this is the duty of guarding the city and is unavoidable.
Fortunately, the weather began to clear up in the early morning, and Nanwei City welcomed the first ray of sunshine this month for the first time in a long time.
But this was not enough to cheer up Milo.
He has been plagued by nightmares for two full weeks. The lack of sleep has made his eye sockets sunken, and his nasolabial folds have begun to appear.
No matter how heavy the fatigue accumulated during the day's duty, after closing his eyes at night, he would fall into a series of bad dreams.
After waking up at a certain moment, I stared at the ceiling again until dawn.
……
“What? Didn’t you sleep well again?”
A familiar voice came from behind, and Milo felt a cold feeling on the back of his neck.
“Get out.” He pushed away the duty stick that the other party had stuffed into his back collar.
The person who appeared behind Milo was his colleague on duty - Yan, a young man with short gray hair.
The two of them are jointly responsible for the daytime security of three streets in this area.
Of course, more often than not, Yan’s main task is just to bring brunch to Milo, symbolically show up on the street wearing this guard uniform, say hello to the passing vendors and carriages, and then go there. I was absent from work and happily went away.
Seeing that he was getting two free meals every morning, Milo didn't bother to compete with this guy.
"Tell me, what did you dream about last night? The big man showed up again?"
Yan threw an oil paper bag under his arm into Milo's arms.
"Not this time." Milo took the paper bag, tore it open, and started eating today's breakfast with the musty smell of the leather clothes on his body.
After chewing two mouthfuls, he continued:
"A dead person."
"Yeah." Yan nodded, waved his hand for Milo to continue, then took out a cigarette from his leather jacket and held it in his mouth. Regarding Milo's dream of seeing a dead person, He's already used to it.
“I probably just remember that something broke into a house and killed the owner and his wife with a table knife...no, it was a knife like those used to chop bones in the kitchen, and then...”
“Huh~~” Yan exhaled a puff of smoke: “Then what?”
“Then use a spoon to take out their eyeballs.” Milo made a spoon to scoop something out. action.
"Your dreams are getting more and more perverted. My suggestion is to go to the drugstore on the corner of the East District after get off work to buy something to save your crappy sleep." Yan shook his head.
“You mean, something like a sleeping aid?”
“No, no, I mean, some special tobacco with a strong flavor.” Holding the smoke in half He held the cigarette up in front of Milo and waved it, with a "you know" expression on his face.
Milo simply ignored the other party's suggestion.
He was chewing hard pieces of bread in his mouth, and every bite of the upper and lower rows of teeth would cause a stinging pain in his temples.
And as the stabbing pains hit me, the scenes from last night's dream would flash back again and again in my mind.
What makes Milo feel strange is that apart from the bloody and terrible pictures, he can always hear the sobbing of girls.
The deliberately suppressed sobs were full of fear and helplessness.
But in the dream, he did not see any girl...
“I’m full.”
He shook his head, wrapped up the remaining breakfast and stuffed it back into the inner pocket of Yan's coat: "Next time, bring some bread that has been left overnight for no more than three days."
As for the weirdness that is still lingering in his mind For the sobs, Milo could only attribute it to his depressed mental state after a long period of insomnia.
These days, he has learned not to dwell on the things in his dreams. After all, there are "new goods" waiting for him tonight.
"Then let me take a walk with you for a couple of laps. While the guy in my bed is still awake, I still have work to do when I get back, hehe..." Yan bared his slightly yellowed teeth. , twisted his waist and hips back and forth.
"You were asked to join this class." Milo rolled his eyes.
...
However, before their boots had even taken a few steps on the bumpy urban streets, they heard the piercing sound of police sirens coming from behind.
Immediately afterwards, someone with a loud voice yelled:
"All prison guards go to Ron Lane in the fourth block to cooperate in maintaining the scene!!!"
……
"Something happened?"
The professional vigilance told them that something serious must have happened.
"It seems you can't leave. I hope your house won't be emptied out after the lady in bed wakes up."
Milo pouted.
After that, he quickened his pace and rushed towards Ron's alley.
Yan trotted behind, muttering:
"No, Eve is not that kind of person... Speaking of which, is it Eve? Or Kelly? Hey, it was too noisy in the bar yesterday. I have even forgotten what she said when she introduced herself..."
...
The two of them quickly rushed to the Ron Lane where the incident occurred.
This place is slightly remote compared to the main street. It is the oldest and most backward building complex in this area.
The alley is low-lying, and the heavy rain all night filled the alley with about ten centimeters of turbid water.
At this time, there were already more than a dozen pairs of high boots stepping on the stagnant water in the alleyway.
Some of these people were wearing the same black leather jackets as Milo and the other two, and were standing at the outermost perimeter guarding the scene, surrounding a small house.
Through the open door of the hut, Milo could vaguely see several figures wearing three-cornered hats walking back and forth in the dark room. Each of them had metal weapons on both sides of their waists. Unlike the hatless prison guards who only had short sticks as weapons, those in the house carried sharp blades and extremely lethal firearms.
So many law enforcement officers?
Milo was slightly surprised.
But he only glanced twice more and stopped looking at the situation in the room.
Because the people in the room were also very alert to his gaze.
After entering the alley, he and Yan quickly joined the guarding formation of his colleagues.
Milo was habitually silent, only observing the situation around him secretly, guessing what happened in the cabin behind.
Yan quickly started chatting with the other guards around him.
As soon as the cigarette was handed over and the match was lit, the general situation in the house became clear. "A young couple, poor people, hiss~~" The guard leisurely blew a puff of smoke on his head, and then said: "Not only did they wipe their necks, they even dug out their eyeballs, just yesterday At night, I don’t want to go into that unlucky room anymore.”
As soon as these words came out, Milo and Yan’s eyes immediately became uncomfortable.
"Aha, is it so weird?" Yan's tone was a little fluttery.
"Isn't it weird? You said we haven't had a murder case here for many years, but this time it's such a big deal..." The guard who revealed the information muttered to himself.
Only Milo understood that Yan's words were meant for him.
It’s really strange.
Can you not blame me?
This is absolutely correct.
Over the past few days, Milo has worked very hard to forget the strange appearances that appear in his dreams every night. Even if he and Yan stand on the street every day and discuss last night's dream, they only treat it with a joking and casual attitude.
But at the moment he had a vague feeling - all this was not just a coincidence.
Although he has not confirmed with his own eyes whether the tragic scenes in the hut are what he saw in his dream, the strange premonition in his heart has become increasingly intense.
Milo felt a slight chill, and it was not caused by the water under his feet.
"Hiss..."
There was another sharp tingling sensation in the temples on both sides of his head, accompanied by the familiar sound of a girl sobbing.
"Such a big case must be handled by the urban law enforcement officers. We just need to cooperate with their work." Yan flicked the cigarette butt from his fingers.
His words were actually meant for Milo.
The implication is that as long as Milo keeps his mouth shut and Yan doesn't talk nonsense, they will have nothing to do with this matter.
After all, no one wants to be involved in a serious homicide.
The two of them didn't talk about the nightmare at all, and the only communication they had was through their eyes.
Until later, several strangers wearing gray cloaks and hoods appeared in the alley.
Yan raised his hand to signal these people to stop moving forward.
The opponent directly showed a golden tree totem on the inside of his forearm.
"They are from the church." Yan Diao glanced at Milo, and then he honestly turned sideways and let the cloaked men pass the way.
...
Before that, everything in the cabin might be defined by murders.
But once the clergy of the church appear, it means that things are definitely not simple.
What kind of murderer can attract the attention of law enforcement organizations and churches at the same time?
The church representing the golden tree is the carrier of faith for the people within the empire. The church and the law enforcement organization are two completely independent institutions in terms of structure. Only under one circumstance will the people of the two organizations meet. That’s when some murderous incidents involving theological concepts occur.
Take this case for example.
Besides some kind of deep hatred, the only explanation for such a bad behavior as gouging out eyeballs is some ritual with religious overtones.
......
The church members who entered the hut and the law enforcement officers wearing three-cornered hats were talking.
The girl's sobs echoing in Milo's mind became clearer and clearer, and he could even hear the girl's prayers and calls for help.
Forcibly suppressing the uneasiness in his heart, Milo wanted to enter the hut to find out, but his reason told him that he was just a guard and there was no reason to be involved in a murder case.
Miluo exchanged glances with Yan several times.
The other party accurately captured the intention in Milo's eyes, and repeatedly told him with expressions - don't mess around.
At this moment, the voice of a female law enforcement officer inside the hut suddenly became louder, and she seemed to be a little excited:
"Absurd! It has been raining heavily all night outside. All the remaining clues are in this room, and now you're telling me to burn everything here?"
...
The sounds of arguments coming from inside the house made the guards outside the house look at each other.
Obviously, there are differences of opinion between law enforcement officers and church personnel, but this is a matter between law enforcement agencies and the church, and they have no right to interfere.
The quarrel in the house continued for a short time.
It calmed down after that, and it seemed that both parties had reached some kind of consensus.
...
"Gentlemen, you may need your help in the next work."
The church member wearing a gray cloak walked out of the hut and said to the surrounding guards:
< br>"We have to burn down this cursed house now that it's sunny. I hope there won't be people watching in the surrounding lanes, for everyone's safety."
The result is obvious, church personnel I don’t know what method was used to convince the law enforcement officials.
The guards looked at me and I looked at you, but no one took the lead.
Their city guard department is under the law enforcement system and theoretically has no obligation to execute church orders.
"Do as he says."
A female law enforcement officer wearing a black leather coat walked out of the house and gave the order in a bad tone.
Soon, everyone in the hut came out, including church personnel and law enforcement officers.
The leader of the church members now had a handful of dry firewood in his hand. He muttered some obscure words in his mouth, faced the door of the hut, and began to retreat slowly.
Without anyone noticing, a fire began to light up at the end of the dry wood.
It seems they are determined to burn the house down.
"Please step back, gentlemen."
The church personnel motioned to the law enforcement officers and guards present to move further away.
...
Yan was eager to leave this unlucky place as soon as possible. He pulled Milo's shoulder, but found that Milo was standing straight on the spot, with no intention of retreating, so he could only remind him in a low voice:
"Don't mess around..."
As a result, Milo rushed towards the door of the cabin before finishing his sentence.
“Eh?”
! !
(End of this chapter)