Southwark Bridge The wind is blowing underneath.
Lin Ze was wrapping his coat and crawling under the bridge, the traffic on the bridge above his head rumbled past, making the stone walls buzz. Water droplets seeped out from the moss gaps at the bottom of the bridge and dripped on the back of his neck, making him shiver with cold.
At the end of the bridge tunnel is a rusty iron fence, with a warning sign posted by the Muggle government - "Dangerous Area, No Entry" wrapped around the fence.
The sign had been hanging for many years, and only half of the iron sheet was rusty, and the handwriting was blurred and could not be read clearly.
Only a few iron bars in the middle of the fence had been cut open, leaving just enough space for a person to squeeze in sideways.
Lin Ze got in sideways.
Inside is an abandoned old wharf. Most of the embankment made of bluestone strips has collapsed. Several barges with broken skeletons have been stranded on the mudflats, blackened by the river water.
The river water lapped against the mud bank, making a dull "gurgling" sound, like some living creature turning over underneath.
The entrance to the air-raid shelter is on the innermost side of the embankment. A cement door frame is embedded in the retaining wall of the river embankment. The door panel has been removed long ago, leaving only two rusty iron hinges hanging on the frame.
Lin Ze stood at the door and probed into the hole with his wand.
It's dark and deep, and a cool, moist wind rises from the bottom of the cave.
He lifted his legs and walked in.
The air raid shelter is very deep.
The entrance is a set of cement steps going down. Some grooves have been cut out on the edge of the steps, probably left by homeless people to prevent slipping.
After walking about a dozen steps, the floor turned into a flat concrete floor, and the walls on both sides changed from rough cast surfaces to plastered partition walls. There was a recessed niche every few steps on the wall, which was probably where the kerosene lamps were placed.
Lin Ze's fluorescence illuminates the channel.
The passage is very long, with a horizontal partition wall at every other section, and an arched passage opening in the middle. It should have been designed to prevent explosion shock waves.
After he passed through three partition walls, the front suddenly opened up and he entered a larger space.
It's a hall, probably where supplies were stored back then.
The roof is much higher than the passage, and there are several thick cement pillars standing in the middle. The pillars are mottled with Scabbers, and there are a few old newspapers that have long since rotted into fluff.
The floor was flat, and there were several beds made of wooden boards placed against the wall, covered with blackened blankets and plastic bags.
"You know how to pick a place." Lin Ze muttered.
This place is much cleaner than the bridge tunnels above. It is warm in winter and cool in summer, and the ventilation is good.
He continued walking inside.
The end of the hall is connected to a narrower branch passage. A dark cloth curtain is hung at the entrance of the passage. The curtain is hung by a thin rope. The other end of the rope is tied to a cement pillar and tied with several slip knots.
Lin Ze opened the curtain and walked in.
The branch passage is very short, and at the end is a small, square room, which is slightly smaller than the Knockturn Alley warehouse.
There was an old wooden table in the center of the room, with a candle lit on the table. The candle flame danced, casting flickering light and shadow on the wall.
There is a person sitting at the table.
The man was wearing a washed gray work jacket, pants with patches on the knees, and a pair of old rubber shoes.
He looks very thin, his collarbone protrudes from his collar, and his cheekbones are higher than ordinary people.
Her hair is gray-white and cut very short, revealing a chiseled face.
There were no wrinkles on his face, but his eyes were strange. There was a very thin dark red ring around the pupils, like some kind of faded lines.
He was lowering his head to peel an apple, using a folding knife. The peel formed a long and thin spiral and hung down to the table.
Hearing footsteps, he raised his head.
"Coming."
The voice was very calm, like a neighbor saying hello.
Lin Ze stood at the door, the wand in his hand was not put away, but he was not raised either.
"Are you Number Forty-Eight?"
"My name is Fearn·Burke." He put the peeled apple on the table and pointed at the chair opposite with the tip of the knife.
"Sit."
Lin Ze didn't move.
"What are the names of the people lying in your coffins?"
Fearn The knife in his hand stopped for a moment, and then continued to peel off an apple.
"I don't remember."
"Don't remember?"
"I have lived for almost four hundred years and have done so many things that I can't even remember the names of those people."
He finished peeling the second apple, placed it next to the first, and started peeling the third.
"I know what you want to say. Those people should not be used for experiments and die unjustly."
"You are quite honest."
"There's nothing wrong with being honest. You can't catch me anyway."
Fearn raised his head, his dark red pupils reflected the candle flame, looking like two half-burned charcoal.
He put the third apple on the table. The three apples were placed side by side, peeled cleanly, and the peels were piled on the corner of the table intact.
"When I did those experiments, I thought that the immortality of the vampires was a gift, and stripping it off would make me live longer and stronger. Later I realized that living longer is not necessarily a gift."
"Oh?"
"For some people, immortality is a punishment."
Lin Ze sat down on the chair.
"You didn't come to me just to tell me this."
Fearn nodded, reached out and took out a folded piece of paper from the inner pocket of his overalls, put it on the table and pushed it over.
Lin Ze took it and opened it.
On the paper was a list with a dozen names written on it.
Some names have hooks drawn behind them, some have crosses drawn behind them, and a few are circled.
"These people, those with a cross, are dead. Those with a cross, have entered Azkaban." Fearn said.
"What are those circles?"
"The ones circled are those who are still alive and continuing to do what I did back then."
Lin Ze looked at the list, and his eyes stopped at the first circled name.
Old Mulciber.
"Mulciber..." Lin Ze looked up at him.
Fearn said, "You should have discovered after searching for so long that those Muggles of Dark Night Society are just appearances. Those who really transfuse blood to that vampire never rely on those Muggles. The real vampires have a higher desire for the blood of wizards than those Muggles."
"He has been giving blood transfusions to the vampires?"
"This little guy is crazy. Ever since he knew his father had done this, he has never stopped or given up."
"Casa·Longbottom?" Lin Ze's finger tapped another name.
"Longbottom family..."
Fearn finished peeling the fourth apple and put it on the table.
He picked up an apple, took a bite, and chewed it twice before speaking.
"Longbottom family Although most people are serious people, there are also crazy people in serious people. This is nothing surprising."
"Is this person still alive?"
"Living well, living in the countryside of Wales, on the surface he is an old man raising sheep." Fearn said.
"But he's been doing deals with those things all year round."
"What?"
"The vampires, the vampires like Targaryen, but I don't know exactly who they are. What I am sure of is that there must be a deal between them, otherwise a normal wizard would not live so long. After all, he and I are from the same period."