noon

The scorching sun was in the sky, and the scorching breath spread on the ground, like a steaming dragon, bound to dispel all cold.

Xu Kai followed in the footsteps of Macallen and entered this land that was both familiar and unfamiliar to him through the side door of the academy. The path underfoot runs through the dense forest, and the mottled shadows of the trees on the bluestone slabs tremble with the breeze, casting a sparkling sunshine. It's like the staggered vertical and horizontal on the chessboard, and like every step he takes now, it's a game that leads to death.

At the end of the path is a small two-story building hidden in the bamboo forest, the staircase is poured with cement, and the dense creeper swallows up the whole building, and only a few gaps downstairs, like a desperate situation, will accept the light called hope.

"This is where she lives now." Mecaren pointed to the small building in front of him and sighed softly, "When you were in the academy, you also lived here, but later when you graduated, this place was abandoned, and I know that the company has changed it to its current appearance." ”

"Has she been here all these years?" Xu Kai raised his head slightly, and took in the unobstructed view of the not tall building.

"Yes, except for the big ceremonies of the academy, she hardly takes half a step out of here, like a canary in a cage, only to stir her wings here." The old man approached Xiaolou and took out a quaint copper spoon from his jacket pocket, with a new tooth pattern, which seemed to have never been used. "This is the key to the gate, which she handed me back then, saying that she would give it to you after finding you, and that you should come here to find her yourself. I thought I wouldn't need it until I died, but I still carry it with me every day, but I didn't expect it to end up in your hands as she said. Macallen recalled the past, and his tone was embarrassed.

"She knows I'll be back?" Xu Kai looked at the key handed to his palm, his muscles trembled slightly, he couldn't believe what kind of determination a person must have to wait for another person for so long, so long that time flies and vicissitudes. Like a stubborn stone, regardless of the wind and rain, it still stands here, waiting for the inscription of the destined person. It's just that this kind of persistence makes people want to cry and want to soak their tears unscrupulously.

"You should know." Mecarron shook her head and didn't give her own answer. He sighed softly, like a loser admitting defeat, admitting that he had lost in front of Xu Kai for the first time. "The ship mother is a kind of magical creature, their life is only for one person, as long as he does not completely disappear from the world, they will wait until the earth is desolate, until he appears in front of them. I admit that I lost at this point, I wouldn't have that patience or that perseverance, I couldn't compare to you after all, at least I've always been alone, and no one cares about me. ”

"That's why she's locking herself up here, waiting for me to open this cage? If I don't come back, will she wait until she dies? Xu Kai's voice was low, as if he was choked.

"Yes, no one can understand her loneliness, no one can understand her pain. In front of people, she is a domineering enterprise like a god, and she has the courage of tens of millions of people. But here, she's just a wretched worm, waiting to break out of her cocoon and become a butterfly. Macallen patted the long-time enemy with his dry palm, as if encouraging. Go Xu Kai and use the key in your hand to open this shackle. I think I've changed my mind, you can see her one last time, and say anything to her now, to your beloved girl, even if it's so late. Don't be like in the past, you can't even say the word love her, then you will leave a lifelong regret. ”

Xu Kai looked back at this old face, for the first time he had the feeling of not knowing him, the first time he had the feeling of no longer hating him, and the first time he felt relieved.

Under the shade of the trees, the two looked at each other.

Perhaps, the two are destined to stand on opposite sides, or maybe the two are destined to fight each other, but this can't stop the sympathy between them, their handshake, and looking at each other like now. Lifelong rivals are sometimes dimmed and silenced by the departure of one person. Because in this life, you will never find the same opponent who is against you as you were at the beginning, you will never be able to find the needle point against Mai Mang at the beginning, and you will never be able to find the feeling you had at the beginning, as if you were killed.

Mercarron, I think this is my moment of greatest gratitude to you. Xu Kai looked at the figure of a rickety tree, nodded emphatically, opened the dusty door with the key, and disappeared in the shadows, as if sinking into hell, deciding to pass away quietly in the beautiful memories as gorgeous as dry bones. The same is true of meteors, when they are most beautiful, they burn themselves across the sky.

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Xu Kai stood in front of the rusty iron door and stopped moving forward, there was a faint smell of rust on it, like the precipitation of years, lingering here. He pinched the key, inserted it into the door, and turned it slowly. At the beginning, he could kick open the heavy door at will, but after many years, now he is like a vagabond, with a face full of stubble and hair like a chicken nest. He saw himself through the opaque door. Like a teenager going out on a date, he straightened his hair against the door, shaving the sharp stubble with a razor in his pocket. As at first sight, he opened this door with dignity, as if opening a new world, with a heavy and reverent heart.

The door was pushed open, and the sun was shining like a bright light. On the opposite side is a huge floor-to-ceiling window, the white gauze curtains are pushed open, the glass window is also wide open, the sunlight shines in unhindered, and at the intersection of light and shadow, you can clearly see those floating dust in the air, like elves, injecting life into this room.

Next to the window was a large, soft bed, with a neat white sheet, as if it had not been touched. Xu Kai stretched out his hand to touch it, and his fingertips were full of dust. Next to the bed was a small desk stacked with books, and on top of it was the "Mythological Stories", which was his favorite book in the town guard mansion in the past, and the fantastical stories in it fascinated him, the young admiral. He took heavy steps and held the heavy book in his hand, as if crossing time and space, Xu Kai could even see the scene of the company lying on the side of the bed and watching the book fall asleep every night, like a wife waiting for her husband to return home, seeing things and thinking about people.

The title page of the book was opened, and on the front page was a photo stuck inside, which was a group photo left by himself when he first took office. A young inch-headed boy and a beautiful white maiden stood together, with the blue sea behind them, empty and endless. The girl has long hair and is wearing a white navy uniform, and she is extremely heroic. She happily hugged the expressionless teenager, her eyes overflowing with satisfaction. Xu Kai trembled and stretched out his hand to touch the original memory, like an electric shock, his heart seemed to be blocked, and it was so heavy that it was suffocating.

He slowly continued to flip through the title page, which was full of notes stuck inside, on which were written the girl's bits and pieces.

"July 31, this is the end of the month. This was the third day of the Admiral's disappearance, and I thought he would appear in front of me as usual, but I was still alone when I woke up in the morning. ”

"August 5th, this is the eighth day of the Admiral's disappearance, I seem to have gradually become accustomed to the days without him, I know that he is not dead, he just disappeared, but I don't know why he didn't come back, obviously I have learned to be strong, I have learned not to think about him, but, but why are tears so disobedient, why do they fall." The handwriting at the end is twisted like a worm, and the yellowed paper is full of tears.

"On August 13th, it was the Admiral's birthday, but he didn't come back, and the protagonist didn't appear. I bought the biggest cake in the store, wrote his name with my own hands, and lit candles to pray for him, but ...... But it didn't work, he still didn't show up. Like a liar, he cheated my heart and never came back. ”

"On September 1st, the first day of the academy, I had to come out and give a speech. When I went out to put on makeup, I wanted to cry when I looked at my makeup. People say that women are the ones who please themselves, but I don't even have the ones who please themselves, and I still need some makeup. ”

…………

The book is full of records of the girl's waiting diary, like a journey, very profound. At the end of the book is a wrapped letter with a postage stamp, the largest of which can be sent anywhere in the world. Xu Kai slowly put it down, picked up the unsealed letter, and slowly opened it. The ink was sprinkled all over the letter, as thick as a love letter.

"Admiral, Admiral. Why don't you come back? How long have I been waiting for you, you know? ”

"Maybe you don't remember how long you've been gone, but I still remember clearly, it's been a thousand days since you disappeared, it's been almost three years, and I don't know where you've gone. To the endless deep sea, to the crowded crowds, to the countless townskeepers, to another ocean. I've tried them all, but ...... No, no news from you at all. Every time you hear that someone has seen you, but you go there and find nothing, do you know what it feels like? It's despair, it's despair! I didn't understand human emotions before, but now I finally know that the kind of emotion that is blocked in my heart is called despair. ”

"After thinking about it, I decided to write this letter to you, I have bought all the stamps, they are the largest kind, and you once told me that such a stamp can be sent anywhere in the world, because it is large enough in denomination to be mailed to the other side of the world. But it will never be mailed to your hands, and I don't know if there is such a post office in the world that can break into your heart. ”

"I've read this book well now, and I know that Hercules isn't that perfect, and that he has a tragic end. But I don't think it's a shame, everyone dies at some point, and Admirals are no exception. I think that one day, I don't feel the Admiral's presence, I think that is when the Admiral dies, and then I will go to another world with the Admiral. Even though we can't be together in this world, there we will be forever and ever, never apart. ”

"Admiral, you're coming back, aren't you? Will definitely be back, I will always be waiting for you, always, forever. ”

At the end of the letter, there was no payment, only the heavy heart of the girl, and it seemed that there was an endless rain in it, which was about to swallow up all the sorrows.