Krafft's Anomaly Notes

Chapter 362 Night Run
Dominic felt like he was dreaming. The process of falling asleep was very abrupt, like the feeling of standing up to answer a complicated question in a sleepy theology class, and finding that the chair had been pulled away when he sat down, and his consciousness fell straight down.

I couldn't remember what I was doing or where I was, only the endless feeling of weightlessness. Everything around me seemed to be moving away quickly, and it seemed to be broken into particles and then reassembled. Shadows were like ink seeping into the sand, dyeing everything a dark hue.

He seemed to be at a delicate borderline between dreaming and being awake, able to think about the situation but unable to wake up on his own initiative.

There was a noise that was hard to tell from near and far: people talking, horses neighing, and heavy axles and wheels rolling in the mud.

【It’s raining】

This seemed to explain the dimness of the environment, but it also led to more unexplainable problems.

Instead of lying there and imagining, he decided to go out and ask, after all, this looked like a decent place. Although it looked old and outdated by at least a dozen years, with simple windows that flipped up and needed to be propped up with sticks, there was actually a holy emblem woven from twigs on the wall.

There is nothing more reassuring than this symbol.

I failed to stand up the first time. My hands and feet were a little out of control and I felt very restrained.

He reflexively changed to a position suitable for exerting force, and tried to pull his hands out of the restraints. It was difficult at first, but as the force increased, after a dull and crisp sound, he had a lot more room to move.

One hand was successfully freed, followed by the other, but several fingers were still numb and had limited mobility, which caused considerable obstacles in untying the ankle straps.

Following the sound, he pushed open the door and saw the three-story vertical space outside the corridor, which made him realize that he was in a church. The newly built walls had not yet been painted with chalk, and there were no seats in the hall for believers to use.

The front door was open, and the gloomy air was surging like muddy water, making it impossible to see the outside clearly. He instinctively gave up the idea of ​​going out and decided to wait in the main hall.

The sound did not get closer as it left the room, but instead lost its direction.

Sometimes it was the conversations and footsteps that floated past my ears, and sometimes it was the sound of heavy objects being loaded and unloaded outside the door. The tone was severely distorted as if separated by a layer of water, with a bubbling mutter.

When one looks carefully, the sound is still unclear, shrouded in an indescribable haziness that makes it impossible to restore its original appearance.

He wandered aimlessly, following his intuition rather than his senses to find the source of the moving and changing sound, and stretched out his hand to pass through the cold air current condensed from moisture, where it seemed that two people had been having an intense conversation a few seconds ago, one full of questions, and the other with a firm attitude.

After many unsuccessful attempts, he finally confirmed that it was not a sound, at least not something that could be touched or perceived.

But he couldn't find a word to describe something that relied on material existence but was not material itself.

It should have been quietly placed in matter, like a mine buried deep underground, or the essence of wisdom hidden in scriptures, waiting for human consciousness to discover and understand it.

But the opposite is true, it came to us.

The muddy footprints and the drag marks of boxes and baskets are all telling stories, and every moment of sight turns into a buzzing sentence, endlessly.

It is like standing in a river that is not bound by the concept of continuous time and space. Information from the past and other places, as long as it is in the river basin, is brought here.

When I got close to the water and tried to understand it, it leaped up from the river and crashed into my mind, becoming the last piece of the puzzle that I had been searching for so hard.

Everything is suddenly complete, enlightenment arises, and the perspective is different.

Those vague whispers finally became clear, becoming a coherent message that links together and points to a clear direction. It was like suddenly learning a new language, and the ambiguous symbols became miracles that could refer to everything.

This transformation is no less than the acquisition of fish capabilities by shore animals.

The consciousness clearly recognizes that one is in the river of information and can feel the flow direction personally. The turbulent water pushes the body to take one step after another, and each seemingly autonomous or accidental decision is inevitable in the confluence.

He felt that his thoughts flowed through, yet it seemed as if he didn't really understand anything, because part of the entire train of thought consisted of it, and once this part was removed, the rest would crumble into irreparable fragments.

But this is enough, he already knows where he should go. No reason is needed, just like fish migration only needs to follow the established rules set by the Heavenly Father for all things. The river has already given the direction:
[…The road to the north…]

A hint that seemed to come from very close by, spoken by a voice that had been heard before.

Following the flow, he walked towards the stable.

……

……

Field, who was sleeping lightly with his head down, was awakened by the sound of horse hooves in the distance. He rubbed his sleepy eyes and looked around.

There was only a pile of quilts and crumpled sheets on the bed, and the person who should have been there was nowhere to be found.

The inexplicable situation made him want to laugh, thinking that he was in some absurd dream. He had personally confirmed the reliability of the belt that controlled the patient's hands and feet. Unless two or three finger bones were broken, it would be impossible to break free from it.

Besides, how could a confused person leave the room silently without waking up others?

This sense of ridiculousness only lasted until I saw two empty strips.

"Someone come, someone come quickly!" This was the second time he shouted that today.

The whole church was awakened by the horrified shouts. The priest came in a single piece of clothing, trembling, and saw Field standing in front of the stable.

Although there was only a candle flame, it was enough to see the situation inside clearly. The worst guess made the two of them break out in a thin sweat in the cold night.

Only one of the two war horses that were supposed to rest here was left, chewing grass and looking curiously at the panicked humans.

"Where did he go?"

The answer to the question has been imprinted on the wet mud after the rain: a series of horse hoof prints running towards the endless night outside the candlelight.

They followed for a dozen steps until the trail left the church, moved away from the village, and disappeared toward the road leading away from the village.

"Where is that?"

"North."

Before the priest answered, he had anticipated the answer.

"Why, what is that?!"

The vague feeling of uneasiness finally expanded to its limit in his chest, making it difficult for Field to breathe.

The candle in his hand and the church behind him can no longer protect him. In the dark mountains lurks a threat that seeks to devour anyone, leaving no trace but omnipresent.

The sourceless fear made him instinctively open his eyes wide, his eyes bloodshot, trying to find the invisible and inaudible strange thing.

The priest was frightened by his almost ferocious expression and took a few steps back, holding the holy emblem.

"I'm very sorry to bother you one last time." Field turned around, his expression mixed with fear and determination, "Please help me prepare some things. I have to take him back."

I am very sorry that the author has finally finished the big paper and can update it.