"Bang"

A bill was pressed on the table, awakening the sleepy boss in the afternoon sun.

In this small street shop in Florida, the slightly bald boss looked up and saw a young man wearing a beach shirt and big shorts with sunglasses on his face, almost covering most of his face and carrying a bag.

“5 bottles of water!”

The young man looked at the watch on his wrist and said:

"Please hurry, I'm almost out of the train."

“5 bottles?”

The boss quickly put away the money. He looked at the young man in front of him in surprise and asked:

"You drink it alone?"

This question made the young man with sunglasses smile a helpless smile. He reached out and pushed his sunglasses and shrugged his shoulders at the boss:

"Yes, I like drinking water, I like it very much."

After a while, Merlin, whose backpack was filled with water, buckled the sun hat behind her to her head.

He twisted a bottle of water and poured it into his mouth in the sun.

As the cold water entered his body, a small shell pendant hanging around his neck flashed with a ray of light like water. Merlin could feel the water flowing down his throat and into his stomach. The cool perception quickly filled his body under the influence of the magical jewelry given to him by the underwater man Vico.

In the state of Merlin's spiritual vision, the black smoke "flowing out" from him just tried to dissipate, and quickly dissipated under the scrubbing of the magic of invisible flowing water.

Merlin shook his head and threw the empty water bottle in his hand into the trash can at the station entrance. He walked into the train station like an ordinary backpacker.

This was in 1990, and the network system that left criminals nowhere to hide was just mature and did not reach the level of replacing the traditional ticket sales model. For Merlin, who had a shadow cloak, he didn't even need a passport or ticket at all. This train station was almost unprepared for him.

A few minutes later, Merlin was relaxed with her bag on the platform and was waiting for the arrival of the train from Florida to the western United States. His fingers subconsciously touched the shell pendant on his neck, which was like a cheap souvenir from the beach in Florida.

But when your fingers touch it, you will feel as if you put your hand into the water, and it feels cool.

This is the "solve" that Vico gave him.

This thing is good, but the activation method is a bit weird. Merlin still remembers that when he and Vico separated, Vico gave him the reminder:

"The shell pendant can purify the dark magic, but it will be use once an hour at most. Without drinking water, it will have no effect. Once it is not drinking water for more than six hours, it will temporarily fail. And the dark magic you accumulate in 6 hours will immediately cause a bad disaster."

"So, drink more water at the right time! Hot and cold water are OK, soaking in water is better."

"All right."

Meilin took out another bottle of water from his pocket, raised his head, and poured it into his mouth with a gurgling sound.

That morning, he had already drunk 4 bottles of water. After drinking this bottle of water, Merlin felt that his stomach was already banging.

So the first thing he did after entering the train was

Go to the toilet.

—

The railway network in North America was built very early, especially the closer it was to the western land, the more the rail lines here had an atmosphere of era.

Many of the railway lines here were even built in the Western era. With the progress of the times, more forms of transportation were used by people. The railway, which was once regarded as a symbol of civilization progress, also fell at a disadvantage in this competition.

After all, there is a more convenient and faster aviation system, and more and more cars, fewer and fewer people will choose to travel by train.

Amid the rhythmic clanging sound, Merlin leaned his head against the car window, and he admired the scenery outside the car window. After entering Texas, the scenery outside the window became rough, as if reminding the passengers that they had arrived on the wildest land in the country.

Merlin was very relaxed, he had never been so relaxed.

The undersea man Vico helped him solve a big problem. Although the dark power in his body would be restless from time to time, the troubles that were plagued can be eliminated through purification.

This allows Merlin to finally become a real tourist without having to worry about ruining everything inadvertently.

Once a person relaxes, he will involuntarily think about more things. Just as Merlin was immersed in the scenery of the west, a nice voice sounded beside him.

"Hello, can I sit here?"

Merlin turned around and saw a beautiful blonde girl with a bag on her back, and also dressed as a traveler.

"Of course, sit down."

Merlin took his backpack over and placed it at his feet. The blonde beauty sat beside him, and the faint smell of perfume rushed into Merlin's nostrils, making him feel a little distracted.

He is 19 years old and is a healthy adult, and the hormonal restlessness is still flowing in his body. He was not without beautiful peers in his past journey, but at that time, Merlin focused on dealing with his bad luck and had no time to think about these things.

Maybe

It's time to make some friends.

"Did you come to the West for the first time?"

Meilin looked at the young lady beside him, and he asked. The young lady put down the book she had just opened. She turned her head to look at Meilin. Chatting with a handsome man with a hint of mystery was not something that could be resisted, so the young lady replied:

"No, I was born in Texas."

"Oh, this is my first time."

Merlin said casually:

“I’ve traveled all over the Northeast, from Madison to Chicago, from Maine to Florida, and I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

"Are you going on a national trip? That's cool."

The young lady exclaimed, and her eyes fell on the pendant around Meilin's neck, and she said:

"A very good necklace, is it a souvenir?"

"This, this is my lucky amulet."

Merlin laughed:

"Let me think, well, it's what I got on a little beach in Florida just after I spent almost 6 hours, after arriving in Florida from Maine."

"6 hours? You're really good at joking."

The young lady was amused, and she laughed so hard that she leaned back and forth:

"Are you taking a space shuttle?"

"No, cooler than that!"

Meilin's eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses. He lowered his voice, as if he was sharing a secret, and said to the young lady beside him:

"I was sitting on the dolphin and swam all the way."

"Hahaha, you're so humorous."

The boring journey also becomes pleasant through the jokes and sharing between two young people. According to the theory of relativity, time will pass very quickly in a happy mood.

"Have you heard of the Chicago bombing? I'm a personal experience."

At St. Austin Station, Merlin with a backpack and holding the blonde chick's arm, he whispered:

"Or why we find a place and have a rest. By the way, I will share with you all the secrets I know."

"Are you asking me for a date? Merlin."

The girl looked back at Merlin, with a playful smile, she said:

"Do you think I'm the kind of voluptuous girl?"

"Of course you are not."

Merlin held her hand and walked naturally to the hotel outside the station, he said:

"I'm not that, but this doesn't prevent us from sharing each other's secrets. Look, this is just a simple chat."

"So if it's just a simple chat, just next time, if we're destined to see each other again. What's more,"

The beautiful beauty gently shook Merlin's hand away. She looked at the watch on her wrist and smiled at Merlin:

"I still have some things to do."

After saying that, the beauty brushed her golden hair, stuffed something into Merlin's hand, gave him a blowing kiss, and then dragged the slightly heavy salute and turned away.

"All right."

Merlin was not disappointed, he looked at the thing in his hand. It was a note with a name and a string of phone numbers, and a message:

"Merlin, your hidden eyes should be beautiful. Remember to contact me - Inez Temple, your friend in Texas."

"Oh, good people, good times."

Merlin held the note and walked outside the station. He looked at the city covered in sunshine outside, and shook his head:

"But that's it, cute girl Temple, I don't want to hurt you."

After saying that, he tore the note apart, threw it into the trash can, then carried his backpack and turned around and left.

It is indeed easy to share stories with people, but after relaxing, it is time to do a good job.

He came to the West not just for fun.

—

The desert area of ​​Texas, located in the northwest of this wild land, takes about several hours to get there by train from St. Austin.

That's Merlin's destination.

He knew from Bruce that during the declining Western era, many supernatural events had occurred here. To this day, many supernatural stories have been circulated among the local people.

The Demon of the Wheat Field, Desert Wizard, Cemetery Ghost, and the most famous local legendary Ghost Rider.

It is said that in the most remote area of ​​the desert, there is a town ruin known for its hauntedness. It is said that it has suffered a terrible curse, and the ghosts of people after their death are trapped there and cannot be free. The ghost place is called San Van Gonza. Merlin took two days to get there, but he dared not walk into the town ruins.

He could see things that ordinary people could not see. When he looked at the ruins of the wild town, he saw dense crowds of resentful spirits trapped in the ruins. Their faces were distorted and roaring wildly, but they could not rush out of the ruins.

Even if you just get close, Merlin could feel the gust of wind in that place, and the roar of ghosts, it was like a real hell on earth.

That's where Merlin can't go yet.

Now he has no ability to enter it and find hidden secrets.

But the existence of this ruin proves that the supernatural legends in this place are traceable. This gave Merlin hope that what he feared the most was that he worked hard and found nothing as before.

Merlin recorded the dangerous Santa Van Gonza on the notebook he carried with him. This is a supernatural area. If he becomes strong in the future, he can come back and take a look.

He drove his rented car and headed along the desert highway toward the nearest city.

If San Van Gonza exists, it means that the Ghost Rider related to this town also exists. He wants to search in the nearby city library and maybe he can find the clues he wants.

But just as Merlin was driving by a small town, he suddenly realized a very familiar force.

It is dark and gloomy, like a snake crawling on the ground.

That was magic, the magic of darkness, which was different from the dark power in his body, but they should all come from the same place.

hell.

This made Merlin stop the car, and he opened the window and looked at the place where the power was emitting. It was a circus under the night. The lights and the burning of large bonfires shone the circus very lively. Even though it was already night, there were still many tourists.

Obviously, the performers of this circus must have excellent skills or sufficient gimmicks.

Merlin entered the circus along the bustling crowds. On the grass outside the town, there were many temporary tents set up, which were the performance venues. One or two screams of exclamation were heard from time to time in the tent, but this did not disturb Merlin's search. He walked in the direction of the weak dark force extending, and walked all the way to the inside of the circus, which should be a place for employees to rest.

Compared to the lively scenes outside, it is very quiet here.

He took off his sunglasses, and in the dark, the pupils of his eyes changed for a moment. The things in the darkness in front of him were nowhere to hide. The magic that extended in the darkness also appeared in front of Merlin.

It's like a series of footprints leading to a large tent with lights on.

Merlin covered his shadow on his body and walked over quietly. When he walked around to the entrance of the tent, he saw a very familiar scene.

A white-haired old man in a suit and robe and a cane was handing something to the young man with a confused look in front of him. This scene made Meilin fall into a strong sense of déjà vu. a year ago, he was also forced to sign the damn contract.

The most important thing is that the young man did not discover the true identity of the old man in front of him, but Merlin discovered it.

In the state of spiritual vision, he saw a phantom, a red figure burning with hell fire and wings on his back, with sharp horns, recurved hooves, and a tail swaying in the air.

That was a real devil.

This scene was very similar to everything Merlin had experienced at that midnight a year ago.

A mortal is being tempted by the devil to sign a hellish contract, a young man's life is being destroyed, and a soul cursed like him is about to be born.

This shouldn't have happened!

Seeing the young man reaching out to take the golden scroll in the old man's hand, Merlin could no longer suppress his anger. He stood up from the darkness and shouted loudly:
Chapter completed!