bookbashuk Chapter 992 Barbara at the Crossroads of Life
Chapter 992 Barbara at the Crossroads of Life
Mondstadt, the headquarters of the Knights of Favonius.
In a bedroom, Barbara lay quietly on the bed, her eyes empty and lifeless, having lost all enthusiasm for life.
After learning the truth that broke her heart, Barbara fell into madness.
However, now she is left with only endless fatigue and deep despair.
Barbara stared at the ceiling blankly, muttering to herself, "What should I do..."
The room was unusually quiet, without a single sound of response, except for her own faint heartbeat, which seemed exceptionally clear in the silence.
She felt as if a huge rock was pressing down on her heart, making it hard to breathe.
I wanted to cry, but found that my tears had already dried up; I wanted to smash things to vent my anger, but I didn't even have the strength to lift my arms.
At this moment, Barbara even had thoughts of committing suicide.
"Lord Wind God... why did you do this? Why... please answer me, I beg you..."
Barbara's voice was filled with tears as she subconsciously began to pray, even though she knew that there would be no response.
However, the habits she had developed over the years had been deeply ingrained in her mind, causing her to instinctively seek a little comfort even in despair.
Perhaps, she will never be able to change this habit in her lifetime...
Just when Barbara felt completely desperate, suddenly, there was a sound of flapping wings outside the window.
Barbara's eyes naturally turned to the windowsill, curious.
Sure enough, there, a pitch-black crow was standing quietly by the window, staring at Barbara with its deep eyes.
Barbara sat up in bed, staring at the mysterious raven, and muttered to herself, "Is that... a raven? Could it be Miss Fischl's Oz?"
Driven by curiosity, Barbara opened the window and found that the crow standing by her window was not Fischer's Oz.
The crow's feathers were completely black, and under the bright moonlight, its feathers actually emitted a faint black glow.
What’s even more surprising is that the crow is not afraid of humans. It even leaned forward and invited Barbara to pet it.
Although Barbara was a little timid in her heart, driven by curiosity, she slowly reached out her hand and gently stroked the head of the mysterious crow.
Barbara moved very gently, afraid of scaring the mysterious crow.
The crow stood there quietly, enjoying Barbara's touch without any resistance.
After the stroking, the crow suddenly made a crisp "caw" sound, and then flapped its wings and flew up.
However, it did not fly away as Barbara had imagined, but flapped its wings in the air outside the window, waiting for Barbara.
Barbara asked tentatively, "Do you want me to follow you?"
The mysterious crow flying outside the window just flapped its wings gently, signaling her to follow.
Barbara stared at the crow, and an indescribable feeling welled up in her heart.
This crow seemed to have a charm that was both charming and terrifying, which made her involuntarily want to explore the secret behind it.
Her footsteps seemed to be under a spell, slowly moving towards the crow.
Immediately afterwards, Barbara seemed to have lost her self-awareness and left the Knights of Favonius and Mondstadt in a daze.
Her mind was blank, and the only thing she could see was the crow.
……
The moonlight shone on her, casting a long shadow.
Mond today has undergone tremendous changes compared to before.
The entire northeastern part of Mond was razed to the ground.
The huge wind field left behind after the death of the God of Wind is still raging on this land.
The howling wind blew all the soil, trees, stones and other objects on the ground into the sky, forming a spectacular and strange scenery.
According to Albedo's prediction, this scene will last for at least a few months.
Moreover, when the wind field finally disappears, the soil, trees, stones, and remains of the Thousand Wind Temple that are thrown into the sky will fall across the entire Mondstadt like flowers scattered by a fairy.
But at this moment, Barbara's mind was not on this at all. She followed the guiding crow and came to the place where the wind rose.
The wind blew, and under the big tree of Vanessa, the moonlight sprinkled on the ground like water, shining through the sprouting young leaves of the towering tree, forming patches of mottled light and shadow.
At this moment, the devil, the man in the top hat, stood quietly under the tree, his hands behind his back, looking up at the Vanessa tree that had regained its vitality, admiring it.
Suddenly, the sound of flapping wings broke the silence.
The man in the top hat slowly turned around and looked towards the source of the sound.
A crow landed on a branch above his head, its jet-black feathers gleaming faintly in the moonlight, blending in with the surrounding environment.
Then, Barbara appeared, followed by the crow.
Barbara came up to the man in the top hat and stared at him.
Although the moonlight was dim, she could still sense a strange aura emanating from this man.
"Who are you?" Barbara asked softly, mustering up the courage.
The man in the top hat looked at Barbara and said in a kind tone, "Hello, lovely little girl."
Barbara felt somewhat familiar with the blade in front of her, but she couldn't remember where she had seen it.
She hesitated for a moment, then continued tentatively, "Have we met?"
The man in the top hat nodded and replied noncommittally, "We have indeed met."
Some vague images suddenly flashed through Barbara's mind. She tried hard to recall them, and finally, she remembered!
"I remember!" Barbara exclaimed. "I saw you in my dream!"
"I thought it was just a dream!" Barbara murmured to herself.
The man in the top hat slowly walked up to Barbara. His expressionless face made it difficult to guess his true thoughts.
"You have a good memory." The man in the top hat spoke in a low and calm voice, as if this sentence was just a simple statement without any emotional color.
However, Barbara could feel an invisible pressure emanating from him, causing her to swallow nervously.
Barbara's heart beat faster involuntarily.
This man was definitely not a good person. The aura he exuded made her feel extremely uneasy and dangerous.
"Is there anything wrong with you?" Barbara's voice trembled a little. She tried to make her tone sound firm, but she couldn't hide her inner fear.
The man in the top hat looked up and down at the innocent little girl in front of him, and then said in a half-truthful tone:
"I want to tell you that Mond has decided to use you as a bargaining chip to save the Wind God's life. From now on, you are mine."
When Barbara heard that she had saved the life of the Wind God, she did not feel that it was glorious to sacrifice herself for the Wind God as before, but felt fear and confusion.
How could she be abandoned by the god she believed in?
"No, you're lying!" Barbara shook her head excitedly, tears welling up in her eyes. "I believe in Lord Barbatos so much, I can't be abandoned!"
The man in the top hat saw that Barbara's faith in the God of Wind was wavering, and he knew that his plan had begun to show results.
It continued to use its nine true and one false statements to seduce Barbara, causing her to fall into complete despair and fear.
"I'm not lying. Using the life of an ordinary girl like you to exchange for the life of a god is quite appropriate no matter how you think about it, isn't it?"
"I believe you are not stupid. Your sister should have told you that she wants to rebuild West Wind Cathedral, right?"
"If the Wind God is dead, what's the point of rebuilding the church? Will you have nowhere to spend the money?"
Barbara held her head, still refusing to believe the reality that she had been abandoned by the God of Wind.
"No, this isn't real, I'm having a nightmare!"
The tip of the man in the tall hat's finger was inhumanly cool as he pressed lightly on her chin. The force was not strong, but it forced her to raise her head.
When Barbara's gaze was fixed on the devil's eyes that could not close at the same time, she clearly saw her miserable appearance reflected in the pupils.
Tear-stained cheeks, unfocused pupils, and that shaky and fragile look.
At that moment of looking at each other, the last bit of obsession in her heart about the God of Wind cracked with a "crack", leaving spider-web-like patterns, and then completely shattered into countless tiny fragments, which could never be put together again.
The faith and piety that had supported her through countless days and nights were all turned to dust at this moment.
Barbara suddenly opened her mouth, revealing a smile that was uglier than crying. The laughter came out of her throat dryly, full of self-mockery and despair.
"Haha, so that's what's going on?"
The man in the flattering hat withdrew his hand, and the regret in his tone sounded particularly harsh, as if he was commenting on something worthless.
"I have seen your past. You have spent your entire life serving a god you shouldn't be serving. Now your life so far has been meaningless."
"Heh." Barbara snorted softly, no emotion could be heard in her laughter.
She slowly raised her eyes, and the eyes that were once filled with tenderness and enthusiasm were now filled with dead silence and desolation.
"Don't say so much, Lord Fengshen has been saved, I want to dedicate it to you now, right?"
Then, Barbara closed her eyes and said resignedly, "Come on, are you going to kill me? Or whatever, I'll listen to you... I'm tired."
The man in the top hat watched and realized that it could indeed carry out its routine work, but it still needed to give Barbara a chance to choose and make her convinced.
"I could have done that, but I've changed my mind now."
Then, the man in the top hat calmly commented on Barbara's life so far, saying, "Your life has been so mediocre and meaningless. So, I want to give you a choice."
"You can choose to be like one of your friends, leave here, start a new life, and forget all this!"
When Barbara heard the devil say to leave Mond and start a new life, she immediately thought of Eula.
"Are you talking about Eula? Eula really did leave. I heard from Amber that she was living well in Fontaine."
Just when Barbara was feeling a little moved and thought leaving Mond was a good idea, the image of her sister "Jean" suddenly flashed through her mind.
Barbara's heart trembled, and she said hesitantly, "But, can I really give up everything? My sister, mother, and father, I can't bear to leave them!"
Leaving Mond means leaving her familiar environment, her family and friends, and starting over in a strange place.
For Barbara, who has always lived in Mondstadt, this is no different from exile.
"Besides believing in the Wind God, I don't have any other ideas. What should I do after leaving Mondstadt? I'm so confused..."
The most important point is that she didn't know what else she could do besides serving the God of Wind.