"I'll say it again." Bai Haorui's voice was a little hoarse, but he was still firm every word, "We won't sacrifice our families to change the world. If we want to fight, we will stay with you until the end; if we want to negotiate, we will change the terms."
Death Horseman looked at him, remained silent for a few seconds, and twitched the corners of his mouth.
Suddenly, the gray tide receded.
The dead air dissipated completely in an instant, the temperature in the store slowly rose, and the aroma of pizza slowly wafted over again. The frost flowers on the table melted into water droplets, as if the confrontation just now was just an illusion.
The shield dissipated, and Bai Haorui staggered, reaching out to hold on to the table before standing still.
His chest rose and fell violently, and he took a few breaths. There was still a sense of stagnation and a dull pain in his meridians.
"You humans are always so stubborn." Death Horseman shook his head, picked up a simple ring on the table, put it on the table and pushed it gently.
The ring slid along the smooth tabletop and stopped in the middle of the table. The metal surface glowed with a cold light. "I can give you the ring. Lucifer must return to the cage. This is the bottom line. As for the method, you can choose it yourself."
He paused, looked at Dean, his eyes became cold. "But I remind you, Dean. No one can cheat death. You'd better think clearly about whether you have any other options."
A white light flashed.
The pizza on the table was still steaming, but the figure of Death Horseman had disappeared. Only the ring lying quietly proved that everything just happened really happened.
Dean stretched out his hand to pick up the ring, and the cold touch spread from his fingertips to the bottom of his heart, as heavy as a huge stone.
Bai Haorui calmed down, took back the True Gang that was running around in his body, and patted Dean on the shoulder. "Don't listen to him. The methods are all people come up with. Take the ring back first, and we will discuss the rest slowly. If Sam jumps, I won't let anything happen to him. I'm here."
Dean didn't speak, just nodded. When the two of them walked out of the pizza shop, the rain outside became even heavier, and the wind hurt their faces.
Crowley was leaning against the car, smoking a cigar, the butt of the cigarette flickering on and off in the rainy night. When he saw the two people coming out, he raised his eyebrows and blew out a puff of smoke. "Hey, I thought you two were going to stay there for supper. Did you get the ring?"
"I got it." Dean sat in the driver's seat and started the car. The tires ran over the water on the road, causing a splash.
As the car drove away from the corner, the warm yellow light of the pizza shop became smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, and finally disappeared into the heavy rain.
Dean held the steering wheel, his fingers unconsciously caressing the cold ring in his pocket, and his heart was in a mess.
He knew what Bai Haorui said made sense.
But he also knew that what Death Horseman said was most likely the truth - except Sam, maybe no one could really introduce Lucifer into the cage.
On one side are billions of people around the world, and on the other side are the younger brothers who have been protecting me since childhood.
The car drove for a full three hours, and when it was almost dawn, we returned to the house in the suburbs of Bobby.
The rain hadn't stopped yet, and it was pattering on the iron sheet of the roof, making a rustling sound.
The old pickup truck in the yard was parked under the shed, the dog house was empty, and the surrounding weeds grew tall.
Dean When he opened the door, the three people in the living room raised their heads at the same time.
Bobby was sitting at the dining table cleaning guns. The table was covered with an old canvas, and there were three or four disassembled salt bullet guns, as well as a pile of bullet casings and gunpowder. He was wearing reading glasses, and his fingers were rough and calloused, but his movements were very skillful. When he heard the door open, he put down the gun cleaning cloth.
Sam was leaning on the sofa, leaning on his knees with his elbows, and rubbing the center of his eyebrows with his fingertips. His eyes were blue and black, and his face was stained with some dust from the warehouse. His coat was draped on the armrest of the sofa, and his T-shirt was stained with the smell of gun smoke. The operation to blow up the warehouse of the pharmaceutical factory was considered smooth, but his face was not at all relaxed.
Castiel stood by the window, with his back to the living room, looking at the rain outside. He was more haggard than a few days ago, green stubble appeared on his chin, and his shoulders were not as straight as before, but as he stood there, his back was still stretched and did not collapse.
The three of them had just returned from Niveus Pharmaceuticals Factory not long ago, and they were all still tired from working all night.
"Hey, you're back?" Bobby moved forward and his eyes fell on Dean, "How did things go? Death told you how to use the ring? Do you have a complete set of instructions?"
Dean said nothing, took off his wet coat, threw it on the chair, and walked to the dining table. He took out four rings from his pocket and placed them on the table one by one.
War, Famine, Pestilence, death.
The four rings were of different sizes and made of different materials, some with patina, and some with a cold light. When they were put together, they made a slight buzzing, and the temperature in the living room seemed to drop a bit.
"I told you, it's quite outrageous." Dean pulled out the chair and sat down, reaching out and rubbing his eyebrows, "But I have bigger troubles now."
"Oh? What's the trouble?" Bobby frowned.
"What do you think will happen to those who cheat death?" Dean raised his head, looked at Bobby, and said in a heavy tone, "There will definitely be no good consequences."
Bobby's heart skipped a beat. "What did you promise him?"
Dean sighed and leaned back in his chair, "I promised him that I would put Lucifer back in the cage at all costs."
"So?" Bobby touched his chin, thoughtfully.
"If it were him, I would make up this kind of cruel trick." Dean curled his lips, with resistance in his tone, "He is Death Horseman, can you believe what he said? Who knows if he colluded with Lucifer, just to trick Sam into being a container."
"It's not all made up."
Bai Haorui walked out of the bathroom, holding a towel in his hand to wipe his hands. He opened the jacket on his chest a little, and you could see a white bandage wrapped inside. He was injured when he blocked the life force just now.
He walked to the dining table, pulled up a chair and sat down. "I can feel that he is indeed bound by the spell of Lucifer, and the resentment cannot be faked. But what he said, 'Only Sam can do it,' may not be the only answer."
"But if you think about it, standing at that height, he must have seen more things than us." Bobby spoke slowly, his tone softening, "Wait a minute, I didn't say that Sam has nothing wrong with him. He has a lot of stinky problems. But... Today at Niveus Pharmaceuticals Factory, I watched that kid go out to rescue civilians one after another without stopping for a moment. We are too harsh on him, Dean, all the time. But he has followed us into the fire pit since he was twelve years old."
Dean was silent, eyes lowered, eyelashes casting a shadow.
He remembered that when Sam was a child, he would run behind him. He was timid, afraid of the dark, and would hold on to the corners of his clothes when he slept. He remembered that when Sam grew up, he could have gone to Stanford to live a normal life, but because of his accident, he came back without hesitation and followed him through thick and thin, hunting monsters, fighting demons, enduring all kinds of hardships, and suffering all kinds of sins.
It was obvious that he had failed to protect his younger brother, but now he was asking his younger brother to fill this hole with his life.
"Sam does have a dark side in his heart, I don't deny it." Bobby looked at him with a solemn tone, "But there is much more goodness in his heart than darkness."
"I know." Dean whispered.
"Then you should know that Sam can either defeat the devil or die on the way." Bobby leaned forward, his voice was not high, but his words were clear, "This is the best result we can expect. So let me ask you, Dean, what are you afraid of? Are you afraid of losing, or are you afraid of losing your brother?"