Late at night.
After disposing of the bodies of the four Holy Fire Virgins, the three of them changed places.
Along the way, Aya didn't dare to look directly at Qi Leren, and walked silently with her head down. At this time, Qi Leren seemed very embarrassed. He didn't know how to strike up a friendly conversation with girls to invigorate the atmosphere, so he had to keep silent in the end go forward.
The little queen took the two of them to a hidden courtyard, and Qi Le went to wash and clean up the monster slime on his body, while Aya sat quietly by the terrace, looking at the sky outside the window, and fell into a lengthy meditation.
Although it was not long before she became the Virgin of the Holy Fire, she once thought that she would never be able to see this colorful world after putting on the blindfold, but she did not expect that she would take off the blindfold so soon.
The severe pain around the eye sockets had stopped, she stroked the slightly raised ring lines around the corners of her eyes, and her eyes became moist again.
"Why did you take off the blindfold for me?" The little queen's voice came from behind.
Aya stood up in fear and looked at her. In the dim light, the little queen stared at her, with probing eyes in her deep eyes.
"I swore to be loyal to you... You gave me a comfortable life, I, I want to repay you, I can't let them hurt you." Aya trembled.
"But you fear me, and even hate me," said the little queen.
Aya was silent for a while, lowered her head and said in a low voice: "I dare not lie to you, I am really afraid of you... the rumors about you."
The bloodthirsty and brutal secrets of the Dragon Ant Queen spread throughout the Tranquility Desert. Among the sacrifices sent to the underground ant city by various tribes to sacrifice to the queen, most of them became honey ants that provided blood, and a few lucky ones were hand-picked. They are virgins who serve the holy fire, but no matter what kind they are, they will never be able to return to their hometown to reunite with their families for the rest of their lives.
"You scare me, but also make me awe, I... I am very grateful to you. If you hadn't personally selected me as the virgin of the holy fire, I could only become a honey ant and die quickly..." Aya murmured .
"So you appreciate the kindness a murderer bestows on you?" the little queen asked sarcastically.
Aya was silent, silent, and finally murmured: "I don't know... But if it weren't for you, I'm afraid I would have died in the mouth of the monster. sons of above."
The corners of the Dragon Ant Queen's mouth slightly hooked, and the smile was full of sarcasm and a touch of sentimentality: "Then do you know where these monsters come from?"
Aya looked at her blankly and shook her head. No one has ever answered this question, neither demons nor humans. People in the underground ant city are troubled by the monthly tide of monsters, but they don't know where these monsters come from.
"Then let me tell you, they come from my heart," said the little queen.
Aya stood blankly on the balcony, as if she couldn't understand her words.
"You also know what a dragon ant queen looks like. Every dragon ant queen's body is torn apart, and they have to suffer inhuman pain for the rest of their lives. This pain of losing half of their body also tore their souls, making them become Became a devil full of resentment. During the twenty years of pain, everyone was distorted, and countless negative emotions were squeezed in their souls, and finally formed a demon rampant in the mausoleum. As long as the Queen Alive, the monsters in the mausoleum will continue to proliferate until they die and seal their own tomb. But this blockade cannot prevent new monsters from being born, so there will be a tide of monsters once a month, and this group of monsters will pass through the seal The barrier came to the underground ant city, massacring humans and demons. Now you know why the dragon ant queen can't stop the monsters from entering the underground ant city, right? Because these monsters were originally born in this field!"
The little queen looked straight into Aya's eyes and said: "Look, everything you have suffered now is completely caused by me, do you hate me?"
Aya stroked the ring lines around her eyes, tears fell silently.
She nodded.
The little queen smiled faintly: "I knew... one day, the sacred fire in the cracks in the ground will go out, so let it sink quietly into the ground."
"Then... what will happen to the people who live here?" Aya asked.
"I don't know." The little queen said, "There will always be someone who will take over all of this. Look at these virgins, don't they come here for this? The demon king of power has long been eyeing the underground ant city, and when it is incorporated into the ideal Kingdom, everything will be over. No one will bear the pain that the Dragon Ant Queen has endured, and there will be no more monster tides. You will live in a carefree utopia... "
Seeing the mocking smile on the little queen's face, Aya shook her head and said in a trembling voice: "I don't believe, how can there be ease and happiness in this world? I don't believe it!"
These words surprised the little queen, and she looked at this ordinary human girl seriously again, and she always surprised her again and again: "You always surprise me. I thought you would be like them, easily Believe in these."
"I don't believe it, Your Majesty, I don't believe it. I believe in you more than some illusory utopia." Aya cried.
The little queen smiled: "Then are you willing to be the Dragon Ant Queen?"
"I never thought about it..." Aya replied almost horrified.
She didn't even dare to think about this kind of thought.
"Then let me ask this question differently. If one day you become the dragon ant queen, what kind of world do you want to create?" the little queen asked.
Aya fell into deep thought, unable to give an answer for a long time.
Once again, she thought of the traveler on the vast Gobi. He also asked such a question.
"I want... want an equal, peaceful world. I was born in the Valentin tribe, because of the color of the skin, I have been discriminated against by people from the surrounding tribes. I don't know why they do it, because we are immigrants here. But aren’t we all human beings? If I were to create a world, I hope it would be a world of equality, where demons don’t harm humans and humans don’t harm demons, and everyone can understand each other; whether it’s a man or a woman, Whether you have faith or not, as long as you are willing to work hard for the underground ant city, everyone should be equal and everyone should be happy. But this kind of happiness should not be something you get for nothing, and it shouldn’t be a Utopia.” Aya said intermittently, Her culture prevented her from speaking too profound words, but it was such a simple yearning that made her ideals more pure.
After hearing this, the little queen said softly, "You are a very remarkable person."
Aya smiled shyly, and asked timidly: "I want to ask one thing."
"you say."
"Why does Your Majesty keep honey ants? Because blood must be used to sustain life?" Aya asked worriedly.
"The girl's blood can keep her alive, but it is not necessary. It's just that when you are in that position, you will naturally want to ask for more. Since you have the right to have it, it is difficult for you to restrain your desire and rely on morality Maintain your own persistence, because morality is just a flimsy white paper in front of power." The little queen said.
Aya couldn't understand the words that were too advanced, but she still understood, so she breathed a sigh of relief: "It turns out that you don't need to drink the solution."
"Of course you can, but in this way, you may not even live for twenty years."
"It's okay." Aya laughed, her beautiful eyes bent into two crescent moons, "It's okay."
Hearing her answer, the little queen already understood her choice: "It seems that you are ready to become a queen."
Aya looked at the mist outside the window, which was the direction they came from. At that time, the man with a gentle voice was walking in front of her, and she was staring at his back all the way, a kind of familiar longing quietly sprouted in her heart. She stroked the ring lines at the corners of her eyes, with an unconscious smile on her face.
"I want to try it," she said.
"Well, come with me after dawn, and I'll take you to see the holy flame." The little queen said.
"Holy fire? But mortals will be blinded when they see the holy fire..." Aya said timidly.
"If you don't even have the courage to look directly at the flames, how can you protect your people?" the little queen asked.
Aya lowered her head in shame.
"It's late, let's go to bed early." The little queen nodded slightly, and walked towards Qi Le who was standing behind the pillar, and gave him a half-smile look.
The people of Qi Le were puzzled.
He came here after washing off the demon blood on his body, and heard the conversation between Aya and the little queen, and I have to say that Aya touched him a lot.
There is such a great dream hidden in the heart of this poor tribal girl.
"Zhou Ning?" Aya felt something, turned her head, and saw Qi Leren standing behind the pillar from a distance. The distance was too far and the light was too dim to see his face clearly, but it was just a standing figure. It made Aya's breathing stagnate.
She suddenly felt blood rushing to her face, for a while she was thankful that the light here was dim, and for a while she was glad that her skin was dark and Qi Leren should not be able to see it. She turned her face away and looked at the scenery outside the terrace, not daring to look at that person again.
The heart beat faster, and the girl's longing sprouted silently in this quiet night.
She felt her throat was so dry that she couldn't speak, but her ears were focused on listening to the sound of the man coming forward, flustered beyond words.
"Why are you standing here?" Qi Leren asked.
"I... see... the scenery." Aya said.
Qi Leren smiled, walked to Aya's side, and looked at the scenery outside with her, even though it was an impenetrable fog.
"Have you... um... read the scriptures?" Aya asked timidly.
"I've seen it, what's the matter?" Qi Leren was a little surprised, he didn't expect Aya to ask such a question.
"Then can you teach me how to read? I don't know many characters in the textbooks." Aya opened the satchel she carried with her, took out the textbooks in the bag, and held them in her hand.
She still didn't dare to look at Qi Leren's face, for fear of seeing rejection.
Qi Leren turned his face to the side and looked at the textbook opened in Aya's hand. Every sentence in this old textbook made him feel countless emotions.
"I didn't expect you to have this." Qi Leren said with emotion.
Aya lowered her head and whispered, "It was given to me by someone else."
Qi Leren lit the lantern, sat down on the chair next to him, held up the textbook and looked up to ask Aya: "Where do you want to learn from?"
Aya's heart was beating like thunder, and it seemed like a weight of thousands of catties was on her head, making her dare not look up.
She opened her mouth, closed it again, wanted to raise her head, but didn't dare, until he asked the second time, she raised her face in a hurry from the panic.
In the soft light of the lantern, she saw his face clearly for the first time.
A young and handsome face, her figure was reflected in those brown eyes, as gentle as a dream that could not wake up.
But at this moment, Aya suddenly forgot to breathe.
"Q...Leren." Aya murmured, tears fell from her eyes, "Your name is not Zhou Ning, you are Qi Leren, right?"
Qi Leren's shocked eyes gave her the answer.
The strong wind on the vast Gobi swept away the portrait that was sandwiched in the scriptures. At that time, she chased all the way for the story that the traveler had never told and the longing that she dared not tell in her heart, but in the end she did not find the portrait. The lost portrait can only fall to the ground and cry bitterly—just like her now.
Now, the person in the portrait is sitting in front of her, but she vaguely knows that this person will not belong to her anymore.
Once again, something sharp stuck in her heart, so sharp and so painful that her tears couldn't stop flowing down.
At this moment, she doesn't resent anyone, she just hates herself, why do she always fall in love with strangers so easily, but strangers already have someone else in their heart, she doesn't even dare to express her admiration.
All she could do was let her tears fall, expressing the sadness of a young girl to her heart's content, for a love that no one knew about, that would last forever.