In the middle of the moon, the distant Valentin tribe is still lively and joyful.
But it is such joy, but some people can't avoid it.
A petite figure walked forward in this stone forest. It was dark, and the moon above her head could not bring enough light. The shadow of the stone pillars made it difficult to see the ground under her feet. When an eagle honked overhead, she fell down unexpectedly and knocked her head. Landing on the stone, he groaned in pain.
A human maiden, perhaps Valentine.
The traveler jumped off the wind erosion pillar and walked up to her. She backed away in fear, her back pressed against the stone wall, and shouted: "Don't catch me! Please, let me escape! Don't tell the patriarch and the high priest! "
"Who are you?" asked the traveler.
The girl's panic was calmed down by this question and this voice, and she mustered up the courage to look up at the stranger. Under the moonlight, the handsome traveler made her open her mouth unknowingly: "I... my name is Aya, wa, wa People of the Lundin tribe."
"Where are you going?" asked the traveler.
"Ant City... I want to go to Ant City!" Aya said in a low voice at first, but then suddenly said loudly.
"You should leave at dawn, the desert at night is very dangerous." The traveler warned.
Is he caring about her? Aya looked at this stranger in astonishment. He was tall and fair-skinned, completely different from the short, brown-skinned Valentine, and he was so handsome that it made one's heart skip a beat.
Aya turned her head suddenly, looked at the bonfire in the distance, and suddenly had an idea in her heart.
She stood up from the ground, brushed the gravel and gravel off her skirt, and looked at the traveler tremblingly. He stood in front of her, as calm as the moonlight, as resolute as a Populus euphratica that would not fall down, she was uneasy, but was forced by the anxiety in her heart.
"You... Do you want to ask me to dance? We can dance the whole night!" Aya mustered up her courage, and said a subtle and outrageous invitation with her face flushed.
If the people of the Valentine tribe were here, they would understand her. Fearing that he might not understand, Aya boldly squeezed out another sentence from her throat: "I'm an adult, it's more intimate than dancing, anything is fine!"
After finishing speaking, she quickly lowered her head, for fear of seeing contemptuous disdain in the traveler's eyes. This shame mixed with fear made her eyes red, and she was almost crying with sadness.
"Sorry, I'm a monk." The traveler answered her.
Aya's heart has already retreated, even a girl like her who lives in a remote tribe understands what this means - he will not get close to a girl rashly, and he will not do things beyond the rules before entering marriage. She should apologize and run away in shame.
But the fear of the future was forcing her, she trembled her lips, and begged desperately: "We can get married, I don't want a gift, I don't want a ring... Let's get married tonight, and you don't have to visit me after tomorrow, please I don't want to... I don't want to..."
The traveler replied: "Sorry, I have a lover."
Aya cried, trembling with tears, envious of the lucky girls in the tribe who could dance with the boy they wanted on this beautiful night, while she was locked in the room and waited for her fate. She escaped, but where could she escape to? She can't go through the vast tranquil sea and desert, but can only go to the underground ant city—the hell on earth that frightens her. She doesn't have the strength of a bear, the sharpness of an eagle, or the agility of an ape. How can an ordinary human girl survive there
Everywhere is a dead end, and there is no ray of hope in sight. She finally despaired, wiped away her tears, turned around, and walked towards the tribe. She escaped impulsively, but now that she thinks about it, there is a dead end everywhere, why doesn't she go back obediently and accept her fate
But the traveler stopped her: "Do you have any difficulties, do you need my help?"
Aya stopped and turned to look at him. The traveler stood in the bright moonlight and watched her with his soft blue eyes. This stranger cared about her and cared about her pain. This realization brought tears to Aya's eyes. She wished she could express all her grievances, but when she was stared at by such a pair of eyes, she couldn't say anything. , can only shed tears silently.
"Thank you... sir... thank you."
During the joyful celebration, the tribal girl with honey-colored skin told her story intermittently.
The Valentine tribe is a tribe that migrated here from other places. Unlike the aborigines with tall noses, dark eyes, and white skin, they have darker skin and are not very tall. In addition, they came late, and in this land where water and grass are thin , Their relationship with other tribes is not harmonious, and they are even discriminated against.
Demons have always liked pure human girls. As the dragon ant queen ages, she asks for more offerings. There are bloody and cruel secrets about her in the desert of Tranquility—she sucks a lot of virgin blood in an attempt to restore the traces left by the years. Aya, who has just grown up, was selected as the tribute of the Valentine tribe this year, and will be sent to the palace of the Dragon Ant Queen in the underground ant city. She didn't know if she was really going to face a bloodthirsty tyrant, but she knew that none of the girls who were sent back came back.
Aya's mother died young, and her father was bewitched by a businessman and became a believer in the Utopia. He left the tribe to pursue the Utopia in his dream. Aya, who was alone, was raised by the tribe on the condition that she would be a tribute to the tribe when she came of age.
Aya, who had no choice, grew up in anxiety. In order to maintain her purity, the patriarch and the high priest strictly forbade her to have contact with the opposite sex. Seeing her peers getting married one by one, she felt sincere envy and deep love for her. of fear.
Finally, at this unattended bonfire festival, she was moved by the joy and excitement, and quietly escaped from the tribe, intending to sneak into the underground ant city to make a living, and then she met a person who changed her life.
Now, she and this man sat on a low, easy-to-climb wind-eroded pole, looking out at the distant campfire together.
She confided intermittently, sometimes confused, sometimes self-pitying, and sometimes even feeling guilty: "Maybe I shouldn't have run away. If I did, other girls would be sent there instead of me, and they didn't want to be like this... They should have a better life."
The silent traveler told her: "No one should bear this pain, and neither should you."
Dry tears flowed down from her eyes again, and Aya choked up and said, "But everyone doesn't think so. Since I have been raised by the tribe, I should repay them. This is a matter of course."
"Raising a child is an obligation, and it is unjust to demand her life in return for this obligation," said the traveler.
"Isn't it my fault? Isn't it because I'm too selfish?" Aya asked expectantly.
The traveler shook his head: "It's not your fault, nor anyone else's fault."
"Whose fault is that?" Aya was confused.
The traveler couldn't answer, and he was also thinking, if this world forces a warm and kind-hearted group to sell their own kind in order to survive, whose fault is it
"It's the devil's fault," said the traveler, "so we want to destroy them and drive them back to the demon world, so that they can never come to the human world."
"That's great. In this case, Dad won't believe in any Utopia anymore, right? The world without demons is as beautiful, and it was originally an Utopia. I want to live in such a world, where everything is good. It's the best." Aya said. Her poor vocabulary can't express the world in her heart, she can only use "best" to describe it.
"What kind of world?" asked the traveler.
Aya thought hard, and described the ideal country in her heart: "It must be an equal world. Besides humans, there can also be demons that don't hurt people... I heard that there are such demons in the underground ant city, and they will even marry humans. , if they don’t hurt us, I can accept their existence. No matter what kind of skin color, whether it’s you or me, whether we are men or women, whether we have faith or not, as long as we are willing to be peaceful and friendly, no hurt each other, they should all be equal, they should all be happy."
The traveler was surprised. He didn't expect that an uneducated tribal girl would have such a mind and ideal, which made his heart that was blindly hostile to all demons feel ashamed.
Thinking about such a world, Aya couldn't help smiling: "It would be great if I could live in such a world."
As she spoke, she suppressed her smile again, and sighed softly: "What are you thinking so much about? We don't even know if we can survive the next monster tide... During those few days of every month, some monsters will always escape to the ground , ate five sheep from the patriarch's family last month, and even ate people before."
Aya asked: "I heard that monks like you can do magical spells, do you also?"
"I don't have that power, but I have God in my heart." The traveler replied, even though he was exiled, he still believed.
"If you believe in the Lord, will you become as smart and powerful as you? Can I also believe in it?" Aya asked nervously.
The traveler handed her a heavy book in answer.
Aya held the book carefully, for fear that her hands would get dirty with the precious book. She looked at the words on the cover and pronounced the words with difficulty: "The scriptures, is that how you read them?"
She only knew some simple words, and she was afraid that she would remember them wrongly. After turning the pages of the book, she was even more embarrassed to find that she couldn't even read more than half of the contents.
"It was left to me by my mother, and now I give it to you," said the traveler.
Aya closed the book in panic, threw the book back, and hit the traveler's waist. He let out a muffled grunt, and his face suddenly turned pale.
"Are you okay? Did I hurt you? I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Aya apologized in fear, so anxious that tears fell down.
"It's okay, it's a previous injury." Although the traveler's face was ashen, he was calm, as if the wound on his body was really just a minor injury. He put the book back in Aya's hand, "It doesn't matter anymore, I can memorize this book a long time ago, if it can help you, it is valuable."
He didn't think there was anything to be sorry about giving the "Book of Scripture" to a girl who couldn't read all the words, and the place he was going to was full of dangers, and the result of taking it with him might be to let it sleep underground forever. Let her go back with this tome, at least the tribe will not blame her for her escape.
There is a seed of kindness in her heart, whether she believes it or not, she should be treated kindly.
"Thank you, thank you very much." Aya thanked you repeatedly, holding the book and being overwhelmed with joy.
On this uninvited bonfire festival, she still received a gift. Maybe the traveler didn't know the meaning of the gift, but it still made her secretly happy. There was a happy bird singing in her heart, almost from her heart. fly out.
But he has a lover. Aya lowered her head sadly, tried her best to hide her sour mood. She lowered her head and turned the pages of the book, reading the words on it by the moonlight, but secretly blushed: "Love is... and..."
"Love is patient and kind." The traveler told her the pronunciation.
This heartfelt sentence made her heart surge, as if she was inspired by fate, she bravely continued to read: "Love is not... what?"
The traveler told her slowly: "Love is not jealous."
Aya's hand stroking the pages of the book froze, and her ignorant longing turned into full of disappointment and self-mockery, but in the end it made her think.
Love is not jealous. Aya silently read this sentence in her heart. Don't be jealous of girls who can dance with their sweethearts, and don't be jealous of lovers who are worried by strangers, that's not her love.
The bonfire in the distance has become weak, the sound of celebration has gradually become low, and the festival has come to an end.
Holding the book in her arms, Aya said softly, "I want to go home."
The traveler said: "I can take you to the ant city and help you settle down."
"No, I'd like to go back, thank you." Aya said, "but before I go, can I chat with you for a while? Talk about anything."
The traveler agreed to her.
Aya happily talked about the past, no longer mentioning the fear that caused her pain and hesitation, but talking about the interesting things she encountered, from the bucket being pushed into the well by the sheep when fetching water, and she was so angry that she chased the sheep, When she was making naan in the naan pit, she burned her hands. The boy from the neighbor helped her fetch water to cool down. He heard the merchants talk about the outside world, and knew that there was a place called the Holy See. She can't wait to tell all the interesting things, because she thinks the traveler is not happy, she wants to make him happy, and she also wants to know his past, even if it's just his name.
But the traveler is always just a silent listener, he has no intention of telling his own story.
She didn't know where he came from, didn't know what kind of pain and despair he experienced, didn't know why there was such a gentle sadness on his body, and didn't know that what he kept in his heart carefully was a what kind of person.
But the traveler didn't say anything, he didn't say anything.
It was late at night, and the girl was extremely sleepy. She murmured and asked, "Where is your lover? Where did she go?"
The traveler replied: "He is always in my heart."
Aya couldn't tell whether it was the words of the traveler or her dream. She fell asleep with a book on her pillow. The traveler didn't take the liberty to take the strange girl back to the tribe, so he covered her with a blanket, sat beside her and kept watch for her. warmth.
The traveler himself did not sleep, he was waiting for the morning sun to rise, and then he left quietly to continue his journey.
Before the start of this journey, he actually didn't have many chances to watch the rising sun. He couldn't see it in the land of twilight. When he arrived in the land of nowhere, he was shrouded in the eternal starry sky for more than half of the year. When he was performing tasks outside, he was in a hurry and had no intention of waiting for the sunrise. In fact, he doesn't have any attachment to the morning sun. If his lover is still there, watching the sunset together is also very beautiful. The sunset in Twilight Land never falls, and they can sit side by side on the beach, hold hands, and see forever and ever.
He wanted to take him to the snow-capped mountains to see if the snow leopard he had rescued was still occupying the snow-capped mountains. There was a beautiful waterfall and ice lake there. The mountain is as beautiful as a fairy tale. He also wants to take him to the polar regions to see penguins, and even adopt an abandoned little penguin, feed it, and watch it stagger on the ice until it is strong enough to return to the colony.
He has many, many things that he wants to accomplish with him, maybe he doesn't want to do things, but just wants to be with him.
When people who love each other are together, even if they don't say a word, they can feel each other's hearts.
But if the distance between life and death is separated, can this distant longing still reach the other side of the Styx
The traveler looks at the sun rising from the horizon and feels peaceful in his heart. He is like a small boat, drifting from one port to another, maybe there will be a storm along the way, but when the boat arrives at the harbor, he still feels lucky and never feels that he has worked hard.
He also never felt that he should take his happiness for granted. His belief is not to seek happiness, but to gain peace in his heart, even if he is punished.
Frank pain is better than hypocrisy, he firmly believes that, so he will not escape. He made a mistake, and he doesn't want to repent, so he has to accept punishment. For him, such punishment is not pain, but atonement. All the suffering in this world is atonement for the original sin he was born with, and he will spend his whole life to pay it back.
It was dawn, and Aya woke up from her sleep. She was covered with a blanket, and the bonfire beside her was lit at some unknown time, and there was still a faint flame swaying in the wind, and the traveler had already left.
Aya held the blanket, picked up the books, and hurried to the tribe. The rocks and thorns along the way prevented her from running too fast, and accidentally fell to the ground.
She didn't care about taking care of herself, and picked up the "Teaching Book", only to find that a piece of paper had fallen from the page.
She picked up the piece of paper and turned it over. On it was a hand-painted portrait of a handsome young man smiling at her.
There is a name in the corner, it should be the name of the person in the portrait, it is very simple, and she can easily pronounce it even if she is not very literate, she said it softly: "Qile people."
It was obviously just an ordinary name, but the lingering strokes on the portrait made her voice soft unconsciously. She wanted to take a closer look and feel the overflowing tenderness, but a gust of Gobi wind blew violently and swiftly, snatching the portrait from her hand unexpectedly and blowing it to thousands of miles above the boundless yellow sand. clear sky.
The sand was flying in the wind, fascinated Aya's eyes, she waved her arms in a panic, but she could only grab the yellow sand with her hands. When she opened her tear-smeared eyes again, the portrait had already been carried to the sky by the wind, fluttering, rootless and about to disappear into the sky.
Aya chased after it without thinking, racing against the wind all the way, a great sadness filled her heart, and a voice in her heart made her run, run, run desperately... She lost her shoes and stepped on the gravel , bleeding, but the pain in the body couldn't overshadow the sadness in her heart, she still didn't dare to stop, she wanted to grab what she was about to lose—until she tripped over the thorns and fell heavily on the ground .
She fell in such pain that she fell to her knees and cried, the soles of her feet had already been cut bloody, her knees were smashed and bleeding, and even her hands were covered with scars. She flinched and wanted to give up, but Reluctantly, he raised his head and looked into the distance.
The wind picked up again, gusts of gusts sent that thin piece of paper to an unknown distance, such a big sea of sand, such a small piece of paper, there was no trace to be found in a blink of an eye, only the vast yellow The sand and the blue sky are from ancient times.
Who is the person in that picture? Aya never knew again.
It is destined to be unknowable, unfindable, and unobtainable.
And how can the emotions carried on the delicate paper be worth the ruthless wind and sand in the desert
It will be destroyed, buried and forgotten.
Aya knelt and sat under the scorching sun in a daze, with a trail of mottled blood behind her, showing the almost crazy efforts she had made for an unanswered story. Tears flowed from her eyes captivated by the wind and sand, but they could not wash away the hard grains of sand in her soft eyes, as if something sharp was stuck in her heart, so sharp and painful, but she didn't know What exactly is that.
She doesn't know anything.
Sadness and melancholy suddenly flooded into the girl's heart, and she burst into tears in this barren land, for a stranger who didn't know his name, for a stranger who only knew his name.
[The first copy: Star Death Reality Show]