It wasn't until she was gone that I let out a breath that condensed into a conspicuous column of water vapor in the dry, cold air. With a wave of my hand to dispel the moisture that swirled in front of me, I was still immersed in the analysis of the conversation I had just heard.

The so-called rat nest refers to the rat groups that live outside the Bading standard, and these groups take the rat queen as the core, digging tunnels and nests in all directions underground. The social model of the rat is like a hive-like structure, and only one queen can exist in each rat nest, and the queen's status is as supreme as the queen bee.

So once a second queen appears in a rat's nest, the nest will either split, or one of the two queens will die. I don't know the specific mode of struggle and politics inside the rat nest, but the only thing I know is that there are far more than a single-digit rat nest group outside the Badcho standard, and there are hundreds of rat nests, large and small, which are basically under the jurisdiction of a certain department in the town.

The department in charge of these rats is called the Heterogeneous Management Division, which is a department under the health center and is said to be responsible for the management and monitoring of rat groups, as well as for handling disputes over rat nests.

Judging from the brief conversation between Miss Tomiko and the man named Naru, there is no harmony between the various groups of rats, and there is also an act of annexation between them. An act of war waged in order to encroach on each other's territory, to plunder each other's property, to enslave each other's populations – just like human beings.

From this point of view, the rats can indeed be called an intelligent race, even if I don't want to admit it in my heart, but the truth is beyond doubt.

I have a fear of war, and this fear comes from the fear of destroying the peaceful life; Born of fear of death; It also comes from the images of blood and blood flowing in memory fragments. There were weepings, screams, gunfire, gunfire, torn flesh and shattered bones, but no laughter.

In my memory, I can only watch the human beings fall forward like harvested rice, blood snaking under my feet, corpses' limbs twisted into strange shapes, their eyelids unable to close until death, and their faces still have the hope of life and the fear of death. I can't forget that image, it's like instinct etched in my memory.

I don't know what level of society the rats are in general, so I'm not afraid to speculate on the worst-case scenario of the wars waged by the rats—will their wars spread to the town? Will their war have an impact on our lives today?

The fear of the act of war itself made me think about these questions, and although I had great confidence in the adults with magical powers, and I would never believe that the struggle between the rats would involve the town of Kamisu 66 in the war, and the human race would be plunged into war, I still felt uneasy. Of course, these are not the main points, but the main thing is about the real village, did the two rats that broke into the bading standard be saved by the real village?

It stands to reason that it has been snowing heavily for several days after Mamura rescued the rats, and it has hardly stopped. According to Mamura's own account, the rat's leg was wound by a wooden arrow, and there were marks of a sharp blade on its back.

Such an injury is almost a declaration of death in the snow and ice, but what if it has another companion? Although the chance of death is still very high, there is no doubt that there is still a possibility of survival.

If there is really the one that Mamura encountered among the two rats, then not only Mamura may be exposed, but even I may be implicated. Mamura is just a child after all, and once he is questioned by adults or even hypnotized, he will easily reveal the truth, and even the things I helped hide may be known together.

This must not be allowed to happen.

I subconsciously clenched my fists, my nails piercing my palms with a faint pain.

I don't know what kind of punishment will be given to children who step out of the Hachicho mark without permission, and what punishment will be given to those who harbor the mistakes of others, but maybe the punishment will be light, just a few words of blame. But I'm not going to take chances and gamble on the possibility of a very light punishment, because it's not my habit to let others slaughter me.

Do you want to hypnotize Mamura to erase or tamper with the memories of that day? If you do that, it's good for him and for me.

I hesitated, struggling to make a decision.

In fact, I would never choose to play with other people's memories or thoughts unless I had to. Because both memory and thought are the most critical components of human beings, each person's memories and thoughts at every moment are unique treasures that will determine the direction and outcome of their lives. Changing a person's memories and thoughts is tantamount to reversing his original destiny and taking him on a completely different path in life.

Once this kind of thing is done, you have to bear the responsibility of changing the fate of the other party, and you must always wonder if the other party's memories and thoughts have not been changed, then will he live better than now? Maybe he will see a more beautiful scenery of life and experience a more brilliant journey?

Therefore, if it weren't for the fact that the other person's life really came to a dead end, and I had to exert external forces to change the direction, and I could really convince myself that "his changed life is definitely better than the original unchanged life", otherwise I would never easily modify the memories and thoughts of others.

I couldn't make a choice for a moment, and I couldn't help but sigh. Suddenly, there was a slight sound of footsteps from behind, almost inaudible, but distinctly audible to my increasingly sensitive ears.

Listening to the footsteps, I couldn't analyze who it was for a while, but it was not difficult to guess the other party's idea. So I stood still, and when the footsteps approached, I turned abruptly: "What are you going to do?" ”

"Wow......!"

She screamed, jumped several steps away like a fried cat, and then stood five meters away glaring at me. And behind her, Asahina, who was holding her head, Maria Akizuki and Aonuma couldn't help but laugh instantly. Among them, Asahina Satoru laughed the most exaggeratedly, holding his stomach and laughing "haha" while hammering his knees with his fists.

"Laugh what a laugh! Shut up for me! ”

Annoyed and angry, he pounced on Asahinajaku's head and smacked him. Asahi Najue suddenly couldn't laugh, he held his head in his hands and shouted: "Early season! It's not me who scares you, you're going to beat him! I'm not the only one laughing, why are you hitting me! ”

"You have to take care of it! I'm going to hit you! ”

"Don't ...... Don't hit me in the face! It hurts, stop it! ”

"If you laugh, everyone will laugh the loudest."

……

"Don't they need to be stopped like that?"

While the two children were chasing each other, I struck up a conversation with Maria Akizuki and Aonuma.

"It's okay, the two of them often fight like this, it will be fine after a while."

Aonuma shook his head for a moment and signaled that there was no need to stop it, and then he suddenly bowed his head apologetically to me: "Excuse me, can you lend me the book you lent me for a few more days?" I watched it more slowly, and there was still a part of it that I didn't finish. ”

"It's okay, please take care of the time. When you finish reading it, you can return it to me whenever you want. ”

I smiled and waved my hand, I had already read the book, and my father didn't care much, it didn't matter how many days he left it.

"Thank you."

Aonuma instantly thanked politely, and Mariya Akizuki beside him looked around from just now, and couldn't help but interject at this time: "Shiraishi, isn't Sister Saa with you?" ”

"Together. But before the show even started, she went to the bathroom with a friend, and I stayed here to wait for them. Speaking of which, they had been gone for almost half an hour, and they still hadn't returned, and they didn't know what had happened. ”

After she mentioned Sa, I remembered that the two girls had been gone for a long time, and several performances on the stage had passed, and that Sasha and Mika were not procrastinating personalities, and it stands to reason that they should have come back long ago. Did something happen?

"That's right."

Akizuki Mariya stroked her long fiery red hair, and she looked at me with a thoughtful expression: "Shiraishi, do you have a good relationship with your sister?" ”

"My relationship with Sa? If anything, it's pretty good. Can I help you? ”

My eyes were drawn to the red hair, Maria Akizuki's hair color was lighter than that of Miss Rokuchi, and it looked like a burning flame, giving the illusion of being burned.

"Then have you ever met Aunt Liuzhi? What kind of person is she? ”

"Yes."

Although it was a little strange about her question, I still nodded, and after sorting out my thoughts, I described Miss Liuzhi in the most objective way possible: "Well, what kind of person is it?" On the surface, Miss Rokuchi is a very beautiful woman, and she can make a lot of things, clothes, shoes, furniture...... I think she can make everything, and she does it very well. As for her personality, she's not the kind of gentle person, she can't be seen smiling, and her speech sometimes makes people feel harsh - well, it's the kind that people don't like. ”

"That's pretty much it, why do you suddenly ask that?"

After euphemistically describing Miss Liuzhi, I asked a rhetorical question.

"Doesn't sound terrible."

Mariya Akizuki didn't answer, she held her chin with her hand after listening to my description of Miss Rokuchi, looked like she was deep in thought, and muttered something in a low voice. I heard it clearly, but Aonuma on the side instantly patted her on the shoulder: "Truth, what are you talking about?" ”

Being instantly patted on the shoulder by Aonuma, Maria Akizuki trembled with fright, and she screamed "ahhhhhh ”

Seeing that she didn't want to say, Qingnuma didn't ask again, but just pointed at me and reminded, "Shiraishi is asking you." ”

"Huh?"

She tilted her head to look at me, as if she had a big question mark on her little face. Should I say that it's not a cousin, that stupid look is eight points similar to yarn, which makes people want to reach out and pinch her face.

"I said, why did you suddenly ask Miss Liuzhi?"

Resisting the urge to reach out and pinch her face, I repeated the question.

"Ah, that's right."

Qiuyue Zhenya suddenly approached with a mysterious face, and lowered her voice as if she was afraid that others would hear it: "Once, I heard my mother talk about Aunt Liuzhi, and she said that Aunt Liuzhi is a 'heavenly girl', and she may return to heaven one day." So I often wonder, what kind of person is Aunt Liuzhi? ”

"Heavenly ...... Woman? Is it said that Miss Rokuchi is beautiful? ”

The little girl's words were so absurd that I couldn't turn my head for a moment. What kind of person does it take to be called a celestial maiden? Is it because of Miss Liuzhi's incomprehensible beauty? This seems very strange again, the Celestial Maiden is not a common name for beautiful women, it is just a written description, and it is too much to use to describe a person in reality - although I have to admit that Miss Liuzhi deserves such praise, but this is a mistake of common sense.

"I think so too."

Aonuma nodded instantly, agreeing with what I said.

"That's not the case."

Maria Akizuki shook her head around, she spread her arms, and drew the appearance of a giant egg: "I also saw my mother's drawing, which depicts a very beautiful girl inside a huge egg. I asked my mother who she was, and she told me that she was Aunt Liuzhi, the reincarnated goddess. The old shell is faded and a new life is ushered in from the new shell. ”

The absurdity described by the girl with a childish appearance would have been laughed at by everyone who heard it, but somehow, there was a sudden chill spreading in my heart, and I didn't know where it came from, but it seemed to be more piercing than the ice and snow around me, deeply permeating the skin, blood vessels, and bone marrow, making people instantly even cold their hands and feet.

I looked up and saw that the sky was obscured by thick clouds, and the sun could not penetrate the canopy, which made the earth under the sky dark, and it was only morning, but it was as desolate as the sunset in the evening. The overlapping mountains in the distance seemed to turn into a wall of black cages under the oppressive skylight, sealing everyone in the narrow seven towns of Kamisu 66 Town.

What is the outside world like in Kamisu 66 Town? In this millennium from now, what kind of life will human beings live in other parts of the world? The impulse and desire to step out of the Eight Labels and see the outside world rose in my heart again. This desire is so strong that it makes the heart pound, as if standing at a height of 10,000 meters and looking down on the earth, suddenly rising and jumping down, flying freely, full of a different sense of temptation.

But I know that if I do, I will be greeted with death and tears of my loved ones. After the flight of freedom, there is eternal darkness and destruction, and I will not and will not pursue this momentary pleasure, what I want should be something more eternal.

The sudden chill caused me to fall silent, and this sudden silence brought the conversation to an end. After discussing a few words with Maria Akizuki, Aonuma and Maria Akizuki stopped talking about this topic without interest. But judging from the way Maria Akizuki glanced at me from time to time, she probably hid something and didn't say it.

But since she didn't want to say, then I wouldn't ask, so I looked at the early season and Asahina who were still fighting, and I was stunned. I couldn't figure out the inexplicable chill just now, but my heart was very clogged, like an omen telling me something.

The two children's fight lasted for about four or five minutes, and it was only after he yelled for mercy that he stopped in the morning. Then she crossed her hands on her hips and actually looked down at Asahina Satoru who had slipped to the ground: "Say, do you dare to laugh?" ”

"Don't dare, don't dare anymore."

Asahina felt scared of being beaten, he stood up with his head covered, and inhaled the cold air in pain: "The beating hurts me so much...... You actually played it in the early season. ”

"Who told you to laugh so loudly, you deserve it."

In response to Asahina's complaints, Hajiji grimaced, then turned her head to look at us, and after seeing me, a faint flush appeared on her fair face, and her expression was a little unnatural.

I understand her thoughts, probably a sense of embarrassment and shame when facing the object of her own ugliness, and the reason why she beat Asahina Satoru is also to vent this embarrassment and shame. Of course, Asahinajue's smile is too exaggerated is also a very important reason, which makes her shame directly turn into shame.

To ease her mind, I smiled and waved at her, signaling that I didn't care, so that she could come up and punch me as well. Children's personalities are unpredictable, and I can't guess if the angry early season will give me a punch in the way, so it is necessary to get vaccinated in advance by smiling. Reaching out and not smiling people is not only the experience of the ancients, but also has a psychological basis.

Speaking of which, this bear boy gave me several punches when he was a baby? It seems that her bear nature has not disappeared with age, but has become more and more powerful.

I couldn't help but cast a sympathetic look at Asahina, only to find that he was glaring at me angrily, his eyes as if they were about to burst into flames, and his dark face was full of "I was beaten because of you, apologize, bastard!" ”。

I'm really sorry that you were beaten.

I apologized to him in my heart, and then smiled apologetically at him as well. He looked at Leng for a moment, then pouted and turned his head, the anger on his face finally calming down.

When Zaoji stretched out his hand and pulled Asahina Satoru up, he apologized to him awkwardly, and Asahina Satoru also touched his head embarrassedly and accepted the apology, and the two reconciled as before. Then when the two of them walked together, I smiled heartily at them: "The relationship between the two is very good, it's really enviable." ”

"It's not a good relationship. It's just ......"

Asahina Satoru denied it, but he couldn't say why. Zaoji looked at him with slanted eyes: "This idiot always causes trouble for other people, talks a lot, and often brags, whoever has a good relationship with him will definitely be angry to death." ”

Her words made Asahina unable to refute them, so she tilted her head with a pouting and "hummed" and stopped talking.

"Zhe, are you here to eat too?"

Choked so that Asahinajau couldn't speak, Zaoji pointed to the igloo not far away, which had begun to emit white smoke, and asked me. The igloos were prepared with hot food, so fires lit up early. The other shops are almost ready, and they can open as soon as the performances on the stage are over.

"No, a few friends and I were originally going to come to see the show, they have something to leave, I'll wait for them here."

I shook my head, and then I noticed that her eyes had become sparkling in the morning, and she threw away the embarrassment she had just thrown to the sky, and excitedly extended another invitation: "Then come with us to eat!" After eating, we went to see the ice flowers, and in the afternoon we could watch the game. ”

"Thank you, but I'm sorry, I've already made an agreement with my friend."

As I did just now, I smiled again and refused, and then pretended to be anxious: "Speaking of which, they haven't come back yet, maybe something has happened, I have to go to them, it's rude." ”

After saying that, without giving her a chance to continue talking, I waved my hand in goodbye and walked briskly towards the shop called Worm Specimens where Mamura went.

"Really...... How so. ”

When I walked a few dozen steps, there was a faint grunt from behind me, and I could only say sorry to her in my heart. After making my way through the crowd around the center stage of the street, I couldn't help but trot, and the anxiety I had just shown in front of the early season was more than just a disguise.

……

PS: It seems that there is a book friend who has helped promote this book, and in recent days, the collection and recommendation have risen rapidly, and I was surprised when I came up and saw it. But I don't know which book friend did the promotion, so I can only say thank you here, or to you. Thank you for your interest in this book, and thank you for your support of this book, if I can make it to the end, it must be because of your support and other readers.

Thank you again, this book was written by myself because of my interest, and I can make myself happy and make everyone happy at the same time, so I think I got a good harvest.

Well, I'll try to see if I can write two chapters next week.