The carriage moved slowly along the road, and Audrey involuntarily looked out the window again.
Many pedestrians stood by the roadside, staring at the horses pulling the carriage, their eyes practically glowing green. The lucky ones who had managed to receive food scurried across the street, heading toward their homes.
Teams of police in black-and-white uniforms patrolled the streets, with revolvers at their belts and short truncheons in their hands, deterring anyone tempted to take a risk.
"Recently, we haven't dared go out alone..."
Audrey nodded slightly but didn't respond.
After a while, the carriage arrived at Pesfield Street and stopped at the edge of the square in front of Saint Samuel's Church.
The flocks of white doves that used to gather there were nowhere to be seen; the square was empty.
The Loen Charity Student Aid Fund, as well as the subsequently established Loen Poverty Relief Fund and Loen Medical Charity Fund, had all relocated from 22 Pesfield Street to a few small rooms inside the church, because the building they were originally in had collapsed during the recent air raids.
For the staff of these three funds, that was a terrifying memory. If they hadn't left 22 Pesfield Street early for various reasons, they would have become casualties.
Getting out of the carriage and passing through the gate, Audrey saw a young girl with black hair, brown eyes, and a thin face approaching.
Before the girl could speak, Audrey said proactively: "Melissa, are there still any food supplies to distribute?"
Melissa shook her head solemnly.
"Even the wounded soldiers we help can't get enough food..."
Audrey's green eyes dimmed a little, but she didn't show her helplessness or weakness. She nodded slightly.
"I'll figure something out."
…………
"From the
"From beyond the Cursed Land..."
Gehrman Sparrow's words echoed in the ears of Adar, Xin, and Rus, members of the moon city hunting team, leaving them dazed, unable to snap out of it for a long time.
Just as Adar was gradually regaining his composure and weighing his words, Xin, who had been born without a nose, excitedly fired off a series of questions: "Where is the City of Silver? What does it look like? How far is it from here?"
"How many normal people are there outside the Cursed Land?"
Klein glanced at her and replied in a flat voice: "The City of Silver lies on the other side of this cursed land. They discovered a plant that can be eaten safely, called black-faced grass. This allowed them to maintain their population's stability, effectively explore the depths of the darkness, and seek a way out.
"Recently, they also found some mushrooms. These mushrooms can feed on the flesh and blood of monsters, yielding fruits that contain no toxins or madness.
"The City of Silver has further broken free from madness. When the new generation grows up, even the elderly won't lose control so easily..."
These words made Adar and Xin feel a sense of loss, as if their own struggles had lost all meaning.
The life in the City of Silver that Gehrman Sparrow described was the most wonderful scene they could imagine, yet someone else possessed it so simply.
"...Are there deformed children among their newborns?" Xin asked in a dreamy voice.
Klein shook his head.
"Almost none."
"Will their parents, when their condition declines—no, when they grow old—walk into the depths of the darkness themselves?" Adar couldn't help asking next.
Klein, wearing a black trench coat, a top hat, and carrying a lantern, replied: "No.
"Because they bear the curse of kin-slaying. If a life doesn't end at the hands of a blood relative, it will transform into a terrible evil spirit or monster."
The members of the moon city hunting team finally regained some sense of reality. Their hearts were like a slowly warming lake, gradually sending up bubble after bubble.
These bubbles were fragile and hollow, popping at the slightest touch, containing nothing inside, yet they glimmered with something called hope and light.
Rus, whose two eyes were almost squeezed together, couldn't help repeating Xin's later question: "How many normal people are there outside the Cursed Land?"
Klein looked at them with a slightly complicated expression and said: "Mostly normal people. You don't have to constantly fear monster attacks, you don't have to fear being in darkness, you don't have to go mad in old age, you don't have to bear various curses. Every morning you wake up to sunlight, every day there's enough food, and every night the red moon rises..."
But all of that is now being destroyed... Klein silently added in his mind.