I warmed his cold blood

Chapter 34 The Gold Box in the Sarcophagus

Herron's declaration came out with a low growl.He raised his chin high, his eyes were cold and serious, and he held Lucas's hand tightly, like a believer who ignored everything in order to protect a holy object.

His tough temperament pierced like a sharp needle, and his weak appearance couldn't hide it; it's better to say that this is more in line with his inner truth.

Fanny frowned, and said sadly: "Hermia...you are really getting more and more disobedient. Pliny is still lying in Polio's ancestral tomb...if he knows that you have indulged a gladiator so much, You're going to be pissed off."

When Herron heard her mentioning Pliny again, her heart became agitated.

"It's very simple, then I went to dig his grave." He said, "That kind of guy who is not worthy of being a father should suffer such evil consequences."

Fanny looked at him startled.She didn't believe that Heron could say such a thing.

Lucas helped Heron into the room, and pushed him into a chair.

Only at this moment did Helen relax a bit, the tense temperament subsided, revealing the essential femininity.His hands were trembling with pain, covered with blood, and the backs of his hands were already bloody.

Lucas squatted next to his legs, cleaned off the remaining lime, and delicately applied ointment to him.

A ray of sunlight hit Lucas's hair, reflecting a bright golden color, as if the floating dust was dyed gold.

Heron thought of the gilding on the scrolls, or the gold satin stripped into threads.

He reached out and stroked his blonde hair.

Lucas looked up blankly, "Does it hurt?" he asked.

Only then did Helen feel the pain, and nodded.

Lucas applied the medicine gently, "Just now...thank you for speaking for me." He said.

"It's nothing." Helen said lightly, "I said before that I am your master, and you belong to me from skin to bone. Even if you are beaten and scolded, you can only be beaten and scolded by me."

Lucas smiled and wrapped the gauze around him, "I'm glad that what you said was true and not just a whim."

"Of course it's true." Helen changed his tone, "Every word is true, absolutely nothing false..."

Lucas paused, raised his eyes to meet his meaningful eyes, "Do you really want to..."

"You guessed it right." Herron said heavily, "I'm going to dig Pliny's tomb. But... I'm not here to vent my personal anger."

Lucas was confused.Herron patted his face, "Do you remember my mother once said that she wanted to be buried with Pliny in the same coffin? She is about to die...I have to let her pass away without regret."

He sighed slightly: "No matter how much you quarrel, she is still my mother."

……

Heron needed to purchase a sarcophagus large enough to accommodate two corpses.

On the day of departure for the funeral home, the cloud that obscured the sun completely dissipated.

The sun like a golden veil climbed over the snow, and the sky was so blue that it seemed to be turning into sea water and pouring down.The sun is half blocked by the snow-capped mountains in the distance, like a golden stone inlaid between blue and white.People were grateful for the warmth in the snow, and those who were forced to hide in the house by the cold also came out and wandered around. The streets were lively and lively.

Lucas drove the carriage through a crowded street with difficulty.

The luxurious carriage stopped in the middle of the road, surrounded by crowds of people, like a still stone sitting in the flowing water.

A bold child came over, holding a puppy in his arms, reaching out to grab the tulle outside the car window.

At this time, the carriage moved forward a few steps.With a hiss, half of the red window screen was torn off by him.

The little hand holding the red gauze froze in the air, and the child stood dumbfounded in fright.

He saw the cotton curtain of the car window shake a few times, and then it was lifted.

He was stunned.

A beautiful face was reflected, with extremely clean eyebrows and eyes, like a character sought after by the gods in mythology.

The half of the torn red gauze fluttered up, covering half of his face.

Helen glanced sideways at Hongsha, and said indifferently, "You got into trouble."

The child stared at him blankly, his lips moved symbolically, but he couldn't say a word.

The dog in his arms seemed to sense Heron's malice, and barked.It is small in size, with colorful fur, drooping ears, sticking up its teeth, and black beans with shiny black eyes.The fluffy and weak body let out a sharp bark, and its short, fat legs clung to the little master's arm.

Its degree of loyalty is no less than that of the saint who guards the holy fire of the temple.

Lucas, who was sitting in front, turned his head and saw the window screen in the child's hand, and he knew it clearly.

He smiled and whistled at the child, deliberately teasing him:

"You are finished. The window screen is lined with silver thread. Even if you pawn all your clothes, you can't afford it. But...you met a kind man. In your childish age and ragged clothes, He will forgive you graciously."

The child raised his face and subconsciously held out his hand.He wanted to return the torn red yarn to Helen.

Helen gave him a cold look, and immediately closed the cotton curtain.The dog barking was immediately blocked out.

The street was wider, and the carriage moved again, gradually moving away from here.

Helen hugged the stove, lifted a corner of the curtain, and said, "You are quite generous."

Lucas waved his whip and said with a smile: "Even if I didn't tell you, you would do it. I just...help you maintain your noble status. An adult must have the majesty of an adult."

"You're making your own way again!" Herron sneered, "That kid has a irascible dog. I can assure you that the dog has not grown up to a month, but it has the bad temper of a strong Gaul!"

"So... even animals have feelings." Lucas turned his face halfway, "Even if it's only been raised for less than a month."

Herron glanced at him, caught a glimpse of his hand holding the whip.

"This stove is for you." He handed him the copper stove in his arms.

Lucas smiled slightly, his expression much lighter, "My dear master, you need this more than I do."

"Stop talking nonsense! I'm just too hot!" Helen frowned, then slowed down her voice, "And... your fingers are red from the cold."

Lucas glanced down at his hands, smiled slightly, and accepted his kindness.

……

The carriage arrived at the funeral home, and the director of the funeral home received Heron.Lucas stayed in the car waiting for him.

The curator is old, with deep and shrewd eyes embedded in wrinkles.He was dressed in black, with a long white beard, very elegant.

Most Roman men are beautiful with a clean and smooth chin.His habit of growing beard and hair runs counter to the mainstream aesthetics.

He warmly greeted him with a smile all over his face: "My lord, your presence has made this place full of glory! Life is coming to an end here, and your brilliance will not disappear!"

The funeral parlor was dimly lit, black gauze was wrapped around the roof, and there was a sharp smell of death in the cold.The aisle in the center of the house splits the coffins stacked on both sides; the coffins are carved with complex reliefs, with exquisite patterns, mostly pure gods.

The curator led Heron past coffins.They are like silent messengers, neatly arranged, and when people die, they wrap their bodies and carry them to the underworld.

"I need a coffin with ample space." Helen glanced around, "A coffin that can hold two people."

"A joint burial?" The curator was stunned.

"Yes." Helen nodded, "My father is dead, and my mother asked me to bury her with him."

"Nowadays in Rome, few couples are willing to be buried together!" The curator waved his finger, "You also know that marriages without husband's rights are popular recently, and wives can take away the dowry after the death of their husbands! The weak woman is Those who can't stand loneliness will take away their dowry and throw themselves into the arms of others."

He said appreciatively: "You have a great and pure mother!"

Helen smiled copingly, "She believes in pedantic dogmas, and she is a staid wife. I have to say, I hate those dogmas. But... this kind of pedantry can sometimes be called a virtue, can't it?"

The curator stroked his beard and laughed.His laughter was very hearty, and the tide rushed into the dark funeral home, penetrating through the dull coffin, which seemed out of place in the gloomy environment.

"Of course. The so-called love, hate, beauty and ugliness are by no means incompatible like water and oil! I have seen too many children who are obedient when their parents die; It will be transformed into love. There is no profession that can appreciate the complexity and fickleness of people like a funeral director!"

He patted Heron on the shoulder, "Death will make people understand a lot. Maybe when you open the coffin, bury your parents together, and stuff coins into their mouths, you will have the same emotion as a 60-year-old man like me!"

Herron smiled slightly as a courtesy.

He didn't chat with the curator.After a quick glance, the sarcophagus was immediately identified.

The sarcophagus is very large and made of high-quality marble.There are more than a dozen fat little gods carved on the wall of the coffin, with wings and bows and arrows, lifelike, holy and pure, without the dead silence of ordinary coffins.

The curator got the money and ordered the slaves to pull the sarcophagus in an ox cart and follow Heron's carriage.

The horse-drawn carriage and ox-cart bumped all the way and arrived at Polio's clan tomb before sunset.

Generations of Polio lie here, and the mausoleum has been repaired for generations.Even after weathering, marble shows no signs of erosion.The clan mausoleum is like a solid and cold fortress, sitting safely in the white snow.The statue of Hades stands on the top of the mausoleum, with snow on its head.

Two slaves hold torches to light the dark path of the tomb.Herron led Lucas into the mausoleum, passing the mute coffin.

In the dark and deep tomb passage, shining light emerges, like a ghost's hand sweeping over the ashes on the top of the mausoleum.The spider web was buried in dust, and even the spider's body was dried and shriveled.There are only dead bodies here, without any vitality.When a living person walks into the tomb, it is like stepping a foot into the gate of the underworld.

Herron walked to Pliny's sarcophagus, and the slaves lit the torches around them.The coffin was exposed to the fire, lying in the center of the torch circle.It was so hot that the black veil on the coffin lid was swept away by the heat wave, and the sarcophagus was completely exposed.

The swaying firelight falters on the wall of the coffin, like golden coral floating in the sea moving with the waves, very beautiful.As a result, the eerie atmosphere was dispelled, and the mausoleum became sacred and warm.

Heron had the illusion that the sarcophagus was warm, and subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch it.

He stifled unrealistic thoughts, took a deep breath, and ordered the slave to open the coffin.

The slave used a wooden stick to pry up the heavy coffin lid, and then pushed it with all his strength, and the stone rubbed against each other to make a sharp sound, like the last mournful cry of a dying bird.

Helen covered her mouth and nose to block the dust that hit her face.He frowned and stepped forward to check the situation inside the coffin.

His frown drooped suddenly, and he froze.

Half a year later, Pliny's swollen body was carried into the coffin with maggots, and now only a pile of bones remains.His skin and flesh had already been eaten up by worms, and the expensive funeral clothes were bitten to pieces, making him look like a ragged beggar.

The dead man's embarrassment did not shock Harun at all.

—because he saw something more conspicuous.

A slender gold box was tipped over inside the bones, in the abdomen, embedded between the bone crevices.The gold box shone with a dull light, the size of a little finger, reflected in Heron's eyes.

This was something he had been looking for a long time ago, and now it was delivered to his door on his own initiative.

Gold cannot be used as a funeral object, but it appeared safely in the sarcophagus. The only possibility is that Pliny swallowed the gold box.

Pliny committed suicide by swallowing gold—this thought pierced into Heron's brain like an arrow, flowed through his blood, was as sharp as ice or a knife blade, and rubbed his internal organs painfully.

He shuddered, and goose bumps appeared on his back.He directly reached out his hand, regardless of the dirt, and took out the gold box.

The mystery that stretches from the previous life is about to be solved.

The gold box was opened.

Inside is a chipped ivory whistle.

Heron was very familiar with it, so familiar that he could describe its texture, remember its temperature, and know how it broke.This is the only memory of his childhood, and he treasures it.

His expression paused for a moment, the hand holding the gold box shook frantically, the blood surged upwards, and his shoulders trembled like spasms.His eyes were wide open, and his heart was beating so fast that it nearly vomited out of his throat.

Everything in the past, the remains of Pliny, the shattered whistle, all of these flashed through his mind quickly.

The tide was ringing in his ears, and a thick fog filled his eyes, thick and thick, squeezing out some of his long-standing prejudices; then the fog slowly dissipated, leaving behind a long and slender figure— —

Pliny's back, father's back.

This back image is extremely clear, even though the shells have been washed thousands of times by the waves, their texture is not as clear as this old image.

Helen's breathing stopped suddenly, and he passed out...

The author has something to say:

In ancient Rome, in order to save resources, it was stipulated that gold products could not be buried with them.