dmims Chapter 631 The Past.
Chapter 631 The Past.
Although Valletta allowed Holmes to climb up on his own, the actual situation showed that Holmes did lack motor nerves.
However, Holmes has his own take on the situation.
He thought it was not entirely his fault. After all, the cliff in front of him was extremely steep, almost vertical, and because it was close to the sea, there were swamps around it.
To make matters worse, the surface of the cliff was covered with moss, making the entire slope extremely slippery.
Under such conditions, it was quite difficult for him to hold on to the cliff and climb up with difficulty, wasn't it?
However, Violetta didn't care about his trivial matters at all. She carried Wilde, who was tightly wrapped by her like a giant spider pupa, on her back without hesitation, and then climbed up the cliff in two or three swift movements.
Meanwhile, Holmes was climbing up the cliff with great difficulty. After some effort, he finally climbed up the cliff panting.
When Holmes stopped, he was surprised to find that Antonio, who was waiting for him on the edge of the cliff, was playing the violin leisurely.
Obviously, they were bored to death, so Antonio took the opportunity to play the violin on the spot.
Seeing this, Holmes couldn't help but feel annoyed: "So you would rather play the violin here than have anyone go down and pull me up?" His face was full of anger, and he was very dissatisfied with the behavior of Antonio and others.
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After a difficult climb, Holmes finally reached the ground. He leaned aside, panting, and took a rest.
At this moment, he suddenly realized something - Salter no longer seemed to be afraid of Antonio as before, and even took the initiative to let Antonio hold his hand and return to the dark tunnel together.
Holmes was very surprised by this. He couldn't help asking curiously: "What is going on?"
Antonio smiled and explained, "Oh, that's what you want to ask. Actually, when I risked my life to save Salter, my hair accidentally fell on him. Maybe because of this, he saw some of my past memories, so he is not so afraid of me anymore."
Hearing Antonio's words, Holmes' curiosity was completely aroused.
Originally, Miss Violetta planned to tell him about Antonio's past experiences, but unfortunately she was interrupted by an accident.
Now is a good opportunity to listen to the second half of that speech.
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Originally Miss Violetta talked about Antonio becoming the royal violinist, but...
"Do you know what happened to Antonio after he drank the princess' glass of wine?" Violetta's voice echoed in the tunnel with a chilling chill.
Holmes' eyes widened in disbelief. His breathing became rapid, as if his throat was being strangled by an invisible force.
"He didn't become the royal violinist, he became the royal male prostitute!" Violetta's words were like a heavy hammer, hitting Holmes' heart hard.
"What?!" Holmes's exclamation echoed in the tunnel. His body shook violently and he almost fell to the ground. He grasped the wall tightly with his hands and barely managed to stabilize his body.
However, this did not interrupt Violetta's words. Her voice continued to come, cold and ruthless.
"He became a plaything of the royal family. Can you imagine how that felt? He was forced to take off all his clothes and stand on the stage, playing the violin, but those people were not appreciating the music at all, they were appreciating his body!"
Holmes' face turned pale and his lips trembled slightly. He wanted to say something, but found that his throat seemed to be blocked by something and he could not make a sound.
"But Antonio endured all of this silently." Violetta's tone softened a little, but still full of bitterness and helplessness. "As long as the money can be sent to the slums, he can endure it, but........."
At this point, Violetta's voice became choked, and she really couldn't go on.
However, Holmes seemed to have guessed what would happen next.
"The money wasn't sent to the slums, was it? Those people didn't receive a penny at all." Holmes' tone was calm, but the certainty contained in it was irrefutable.
Violetta was silent for a long time, but finally mustered up the courage to continue:
"Yes, you guessed it. Antonio discovered it himself.
One day, he suddenly realized that although every time he asked those people, they swore that the money had been sent to the slums, he had never seen it with his own eyes.
He began to doubt and even didn't want to believe it was true. However, those people would never let him go, especially the words that the princess once said, 'Even if you go out, you will come back here on your own initiative', which made him feel desperate. "
Antonio finally made up his mind to escape one night.
He was desperate to get back to the ghetto and see for himself how people were living.
However, when he returned there after going through untold hardships, the scene he saw made his soul die.
In that poor corner, people lived in extreme hardship and could hardly earn even a dime.
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Unfortunately, however, a terrible plague broke out in the area, ravaging every life like a demon.
When the princess heard the news, she sent troops without hesitation to blockade the slums, trapping the people there and completely isolating them from the outside world.
This action resulted in almost all residents being unable to escape the clutches of the plague and eventually dying tragically.
When Antonio returned to the slums, he was faced with silence and despair.
The cold wood piles were piled up like mountains, and the streets were full of corpses, emitting a disgusting stench. This scene made him feel like a knife was cutting his heart, and he couldn't accept the tragic scene before his eyes.
What's worse, the princess even sent people to spread rumors and maliciously slander Antonio.
Rumor has it that the reason he no longer sent a penny to the slums was because he had become the royal violinist and had a high opinion of himself. He thought these common people were no longer worthy of him, so he decisively drew a line between himself and them.
Such rumors undoubtedly brought great pressure and distress to Antonio, and also caused people to misunderstand and resent him.
All of this was a conspiracy carefully planned by the princess, with the purpose of putting Antonio into an irretrievable situation.
Now Antonio finally understood why the princess was so sure that he would return to the slums.
It turned out that all this was a trap she set, waiting for him to fall into it.
So, Antonio finally chose to return to the place that made him so miserable - the castle.
During the long days of being imprisoned by the princess, he suffered endless torture and humiliation and was manipulated like a plaything.
However, in this dark time, he could always hear a voice echoing in his ears: "Give up being a human, because humans are more terrifying than demons."
This voice followed Antonio like a shadow, constantly eroding his heart.
Although he was full of fear of this voice, something deep in his heart began to waver. He was afraid that once he turned into a demon, the people in the slums would no longer recognize him, and he would lose his connection and sense of belonging with them.
However, Antonio now could not find any reason to resist the temptation of this voice.
His life had been completely destroyed, his dignity and freedom stripped away, and in the depths of despair, he felt himself losing his hold on to his human identity.
Finally, Antonio resolutely returned to the castle. When he stepped into the familiar gate, all the guards present stood quietly by, without any intention of stopping him.
It was as if all this had been arranged by the princess in advance and they were just following her orders.
Antonio walked through the line of guards as if nothing had happened.
He went straight to his room and changed into the piece of cloth that could hardly be called clothes.
As night fell, Antonio once again stood on the stage, facing the princes and nobles below. His figure looked particularly lonely and desolate in the dim candlelight.
He slowly raised the violin in his hand and gently placed the bow on the strings.
As he moved, a melodious and sad music sounded, as if telling of his inner pain and despair. This was his last performance and his final farewell to the world.
He could no longer find any reason to continue to exist as a human being. After all, what humans did was more terrible than that of demons. Antonio couldn't help but wonder, what expressions would these people show when they really faced the demons?
As the violin melody became more and more passionate, Antonio's body was gradually engulfed by flames, and finally turned into a hideous flame demon. His appearance terrified everyone present, and they screamed and tried desperately to escape from this terrible scene.
However, where can they escape? As Antonio said before, music is fair to everyone. As long as they hear this song, no one can escape the fate of death. "
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"Have you two finished talking?" Antonio's voice revealed a hint of helplessness and irritation. "I have been in this position for the whole way. I am really afraid of hitting the rock again."
As he spoke, he moved his feet carefully, fearing that he would be hit on the head by the protruding rocks again if he was not careful.
Antonio, who was walking in front, was secretly groaning in his heart.
He really couldn't understand why these two people could be so inconsiderate of other people's feelings and kept talking about things that had happened.
For Antonio, the past is like a passing cloud and cannot be changed no matter what.
He could accept others talking about his past experiences, but he hoped they would pay a little more attention to the occasion and impact.
After all, there is a ten-year-old child here——Salter.
Along the way, Antonio felt like he was walking on a tightrope. Not only did he have to pay attention to the road conditions at all times, but he also had to distract himself to take care of Salter.
Can they please pay attention to the inappropriate things they are saying? Antonio had to wrap his hair around Salter and cover his ears with his hands.
This situation made Antonio very anxious, and he was really afraid that he would hit the rock again because of distraction.
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However, it is surprising that Holmes did not care about such things at all. With his astonishing emotional intelligence, he probably could not understand what was going on.
“And what happened next?” asked Holmes calmly.
Hearing this, Antonio's anger was instantly ignited. He stared at Holmes with wide eyes, looking at him in disbelief, and really wanted to punch him hard to wake him up. But in the end, Antonio still resisted the urge, took a deep breath, and tried to calm himself down.
“Later, when I struggled to crawl out of the burned building, I was horrified to find that my body had completely transformed into that of a demon.
But, to be honest, it felt pretty good. After all, everyone in the slums had died and I had nowhere else to go.
So I could only wander around the streets like a lonely ghost. I wandered the streets for a long time until I met everyone and finally felt a sense of warmth and belonging. "
The conversation finally reached the end of the corridor.
Antonio used his hair to lift himself and Salter back to the ground. He didn't want to care about the rest of the people anymore as they had to find a way to climb up.