Shadow trail of the beautiful world

Chapter 2 1. The Beginning of Merlin

On July 1989, 7, the sun shone on the land of Wisconsin. This piece of land called "prairie" by the Indians finally reached the most beautiful time of the year.

The rich milk here almost fills the whole land with fragrance, and for others, this season is also very important, because they will usher in the turning point of the first half of life.

August is when college starts, which means that there is not much time left for young people graduating from high school to have fun.

On the side of the farm and on the road, young people full of youthful vigor drove around.Boys and girls with surging hormones are prone to do some romantic things in this season of infatuation. Of course, occasionally they also need to bear the bad consequences of passion.

"Merlin! Merlin!"

A black muscle car drove across the road in front of the farm at a speed of 120 mph, and stopped outside the farm with a chic elegance.In that car, sat a few girls in very cool clothes, and they yelled towards the farm.

"Come and play with us! Don't be alone all the time! You nerd!"

The boy driving the car kept honking the horn, startling the cows on the farm.A moment later, a thin-looking young man in a striped shirt walked out of the garage holding a wrench.

He has black hair, light gray eyes, a height of 1.8 meters, and a handsome face.

There were black oil stains on his clothes and hands, as if he was repairing something just now.He stretched out his hand to block the sunlight above his head, and waved to the men, women and girlfriends in the car.He shouted:

"Go and play, I'm still a little busy."

"Come on, Merlin."

A girl in the car stood up, and amidst the booing of others, she yelled sweetly:

"Come and play with us."

The other girls also started booing. It seemed that Merlin had a good impression on the girls. Of course, the boys didn't like him very much.The guy driving made a "weak" gesture towards Merlin, and then stepped on the accelerator.

"Nerdy Merlin! Just play with yourself."

Amid the screams of a car of young people, the car started at a speed like a racing car, and disappeared before Merlin's eyes almost in the blink of an eye.

Watching his classmates leave, Merlin shrugged. He didn't care about the sarcasm, but turned and walked back to the garage.After a while, the sound of knocking and knocking sounded again in the farm.

As a young man, Merlin didn't really like hanging out with those stupid peers.

This boy, who experienced disasters and nightmares at birth, is more stable than his peers.Especially when his family was forced to move out of Buffalo County because of some gossip about him. After coming to Madison, Merlin knew how to hide himself better, and he tried not to make himself the focus.

He knew that some things that happened to him were really hard to explain.

Merlin would rather spend some time with his family than spending time with those girls who dressed themselves up beautifully.Or just stay in the garage on the family farm, trying to get that classic 1962 red Chevrolet Corvette fixed.

He called the car "Lola," as if that beautiful car was his girlfriend.

His father had promised that as long as Merlin could fix it, then this cool car would be his.

For Merlin, there is no better 18th birthday gift than Lola. He also plans to drive Lola all the way to New York, where he will finish his 6-year college life, then become a doctor and find a lover , give birth to a few children, inherit the blood of the Riley family, and spend his life like this.

"Merlin! Can you make your knocking sound a little quieter? It's only 9 o'clock in the morning! Can't you let me sleep well? Even if it's only for one day!"

The moment Merlin closed the front hood, the voice of complaint sounded from behind him.

Merlin turned around and saw Phil in a loose T-shirt and jeans, with messy hair and yawning.

That was his younger brother, Philip J. Coulson, the son of his adoptive father, James Coulson. He was 3 years younger than him and a high school student with excellent grades.

"If you go to bed on time every day, you should be here at 9 a.m. to help me fix Lola."

Merlin leaned against Lola's hood. He put down the wrench and reached for the towel.While wiping his hands, he looked at Phil.

It wasn't until Phil began to avoid his gaze that Merlin asked:

"You didn't come back until after 2 o'clock last night. What did you do?"

This sharp question made Phil couldn't help turning his face away, and he muttered:

"I'm a healthy 15-year-old young man. I'm handsome and popular. It's summer vacation again. What do you think I'm going to do? Haven't you experienced puberty?"

"Of course I did, but apparently my adolescence wasn't as 'passionate' as yours."

Merlin stood up and walked to Phil. He looked down at his brother who refused to admit defeat.After a while, he sighed, handed the towel to Phil, and said:

"Wipe the lipstick marks on your neck, don't let mom see, or she will yell at you again."

Phil hurriedly took the towel, faced the mirror, and wiped off the three hickey marks on his neck.

Merlin stood behind him, looking at his younger brother. Phil reflected in the mirror was a typical white American. He was a little shorter than Merlin, with a fair face, the same gray eyes as Merlin, and a pursed mouth. At that time, this face had an unexpectedly cold and serious face, which also added a lot of points to him in the eyes of those silly girls.

Holding the numbers, Phil combed his messy hair into a cool, slightly upturned hairstyle that has been very popular in recent years, and then coquettishly applied hairspray to the hair.

Behind him, with his arms folded, Merlin, who looked like a real doctor, said again:

"Use less hairspray, that thing will make you 20% more likely to lose hair. And, I'm curious, have you protected yourself?"

"What's the name of the girl from last night?"

"Damn it! Don't ask that question."

This series of questioning made Phil a little annoyed. He turned his head and glared at his brother, and said:

"I'm much more experienced than you in these things, and you don't need you to teach me. And, the girl last night was not Stacey, it was Julie, the girl who just moved to Madison, she's half Nordic , very exotic, she likes me very much, and I like her very much, if things go on like this, maybe we will really be together in the future."

"and many more!"

Merlin interrupted his brother's beautiful fantasy. He walked to the table in the garage, opened the drawer, searched through a stack of letters, and asked without looking back:

"Julie? Julie Noyce? It's her, isn't it?"

"Yes, how do you know her name?"

Phil looked at his brother curiously, and then saw Merlin turn around with three letters in his hand.The letter smelled of perfume that Phil was very familiar with, which made Phil's expression slightly ugly.

"Of course I know her, my stupid brother."

With a strange smile, Merlin put the letter in his younger brother's hand. He patted Phil on the shoulder and said softly:

"When she first came to Madison High, she wrote me 3 love letters, 2 to Jason, 2 to Boulder, and other guys I didn't know, about the same That's all the boys in high school..."

"You wouldn't be so foolish as to think that a flirtatious girl like that would fall in love with you at first sight, would you? My brother, you've been making the same mistakes since you were 13, and you haven't grown up."

Phil's body was a little stiff, which also gave Merlin a hint of warning in his tone of voice.

"Phil, I don't want to interfere with your puberty, but you better restrain yourself. Dad is a high school gym teacher. He is a decent person in school and in the community. Don't let Dad Discredited, I mean...keep your eyes open, understand?"

"That bitch! That damn..."

Phil tore up the letter in his hand like an anxious cub. He wanted to throw the pieces out of his hand, but Merlin grabbed his wrist. He said:

"At home, no swearing is allowed!"

"Clean up, wipe away your tears, go back to the house and get dressed, we're going out to dinner today. It's my birthday, my brother, you won't be absent, right?"

Phil nodded silently, his eyes were red, obviously, this young man was hurt by being played with his feelings again.

However, this is the characteristic of young Americans, and no one can escape it.

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"Okay, let's all be happier, today is the day for dinner."

James Coulson walked out of the room. While straightening the tie around his neck, he winked at his son:

"Merlin, the principal told me today that he wants to invite you to speak as an outstanding graduate. You really make me proud. Compared with Phil, who is not worry-free, you are simply the perfect son. Speaking of which, you Are you in Repair Laura? Do you want me to help? It's only half a month before you start school, you haven't fixed it yet, maybe you need some wisdom from the elders."

"No need, Dad."

Merlin, who changed into a set of casual clothes, walked to the car, opened the car door for his father, helped him into the car, and said to James:

"I've changed Lola's engine, and now it's just the last few steps, and your precious car is mine."

"Original engine?"

James' eyes widened. He looked at his son with a hint of sternness in his eyes:

"Where did you get the money? You won't do something you shouldn't do, will you?"

"I earned it all myself."

Merlin sat in the driver's seat, started the ignition skillfully, and pulled the reverse wheel. In the rearview mirror, he looked at his parents. As he drove the car out of the farm, he explained:

"In the past few summers, I have been working in Rubes's private hospital as an intern and part-time job. Although it was not up to the legal standard until this year, Rubes still paid me more. Dad, in your eyes, I am a Untrustworthy bad boy?"

"of course not."

Before James could speak, Merlin's mother, Anna Colson, stood up from the back seat and left a hickey on the forehead of her proud son. She said to Merlin:

"My family's little Merlin is the most powerful, but you are leaving, it really makes my mother sad."

Facing the trace of sadness shown by his mother, Merlin just wanted to respond when he caught a glimpse of a figure suddenly appearing in front of the starting car.

Although there was only one glance, Merlin could see clearly.

He was wearing a black suit, an eerie blue cape, and a black gentleman hat.

The brim of the hat was so low that people couldn't see his face at all. He was leaning on a cane, with a smile on the corner of his mouth, standing in front of the car Merlin was driving, as if he was greeting him.

The figure was so clear that Merlin subconsciously stepped on the brakes, and the accelerating car shook violently, throwing Mrs. Coulson who was caught off guard on the back seat, and Phil who was sitting next to Merlin slammed into the car window.

Almost everyone in the car turned upside down.

"Damn it!"

Phil rubbed his red forehead and roared at Merlin:

"Are you going to kill me?"

"No, no! I see, ahead, there is a man in front. Wearing a cloak, wearing a hat... I can see clearly."

Merlin held the steering wheel sluggishly, his heart was beating fast suddenly, he explained in a panic, but Phil turned his head and looked ahead, there was no one in front of this car at all.

"You're crazy! Merlin."

Phil screamed:

"There's no one there!"

"Phil! Shut up!"

James saw the tension on his son's face. It didn't seem like a fake. The middle-aged man recalled the dark rumors about Merlin's life experience that had been circulating in Buffalo County back then.

People there said that Merlin was an unfortunate person who killed his parents when he was born, and anyone who came into contact with him would suffer bad luck.

The Coulsons had to move to Madison 15 years ago because of those vicious attacks.

Merlin's expression made James a little nervous. He opened the car door decisively and walked to the front of the car.But after repeated searches, there was no one there, not even footprints.

"No one, Merlin, you may be blind."

James looked around, and after repeatedly confirming that there was nothing abnormal, he sat back in the car and comforted Merlin and his wife.Then yelled to the grumbling Phil:

"Phil, come and drive and let your brother rest."

"But I'm only 15 years old. Didn't you say that 15-year-olds can't..."

"Shut up! If you are told to drive, you can drive! It's time to eat, don't be late."

Under James' scolding, Phil didn't get angry. Instead, he drove away happily. As a boy who grew up on a farm, Phil's driving skills are still very good.

But in the midday sun, when the car left the farm and drove towards the restaurant, every time Merlin, who changed places with Phil, looked out the car window, he could see the figure in the blue cloak and hat .

The figure was watching him...

The figure was communicating to him something that could be explained without words or gestures.

Merlin could read him.

The sun shines on this land, but Merlin feels like falling into an ice cave.

Yes, he lied.

He is not ignorant of the deaths of his parents, and he is not without memory of the fire that destroyed the Riley family that night a month after his birth...

He recognized that figure, he remembered it very clearly, when his parents died, that figure had appeared.

He hadn't appeared for 18 years, so long that Merlin thought it was just an unreal memory, but it wasn't.

Not fantasy, but reality.

Are there really devils or angels in the world?

No one knows, but today, Merlin knows...

Whoever that thing is, whatever it represents...

He... came to him.

New book upload, please collect, please recommend... upload 3 chapters today, and then one chapter per day before changing the status, after changing the signing status, two chapters per day, a hundred changes on the shelf, three chapters per day after the shelf, and a reward every month My friends will add an update once, about 10-20 chapters, in short, it’s all the old rules~ I hope readers will support me a lot!Thank you Old Road!

(End of this chapter)