1

Qiao Mu pulled out a comic magazine.

Flip through one of the pages and excitedly show it to me.

The title of the manga is Love and Romance.

"Qinghe Qinghe, have you seen this?"

He said to me with a smile on his face.

"No...... What is it? ”

I've never been interested in love stories.

"This is a chapter that was just serialized two days ago, and it's very good! The hero and heroine didn't have a cold, but one day, they attended a certain banquet together, and as a result, a bomb was installed at the banquet site, and the male protagonist Xiangyong hugged the heroine Shuzi at the moment of the explosion, and they became survivors, so they fell in love. ”

Qiao Mu talked endlessly, as if he had completely forgotten the decision to 'make a stone god' just now.

“…… Oh, that's right. Does this have anything to do with the stone gods? Didn't you say that you want to build a stone god on the mountainside of M-shaped mountain? ”

I interrupted.

"That said—I want to use the Stone God as an opportunity."

He began to explain.

"What do you mean?"

"Look at this."

As he spoke, he pulled out a white bag from his bag, which contained something in the form of powder.

……

Drugs? Flour? Either is not a thing that should appear in the backpack of an elementary schoolchild.

"Hey, I'm going to call the police."

I threatened.

"What! This is quicklime. ”

He turned the white bag over, and that's when I saw the word quicklime written on it.

"Eh, didn't we do an experiment in science class the other day? Soak this bag of white stuff in water and it will become very hot. ”

"Seems to be the case."

I'm not very interested.

"I've bought this tube before. I didn't have cold water on hand, so I poured hot water and it exploded with a bang. ”

"That's dangerous. Wait a minute......"

By this point, I already knew what he wanted to do.

"It's dangerous."

"Don't worry, it's just a slight explosion, it's similar to the matchstick you play with during the New Year. Even if several light-emitting tubes explode together, there is no danger. ”

"That's bad too, what if the rock blows up."

"Wouldn't that be better? It can create a sense of urgency. ”

"I don't agree."

Why do I say the word 'agree', I don't need my consent to do so.

Besides, the explosion of the 'Stone God' is already very bad.

When I think about this, my heart feels like something is grabbing me.

I don't want to interfere with anyone if I can.

"Don't you want to see the cute appearance of Koeiwen being frightened?"

Arbor threw out tempting conditions.

"Really?"

The main body of this matter is Qiao Mu, and if something happens anyway, he will bear the responsibility. I just have to watch from the sidelines. The deal was worth it.

"I don't want to be involved in this. If something happens, you're responsible for it. ”

"It's going to happen, don't always be scared."

"Aren't you realised? You are an art escort student with excellent moral character, and if something happens to you, you may lose your eligibility to be escorted. ”

Art students in this era have more or less moral requirements. Many well-known actors, if there is a stain on their morality, it can be said that their entire acting career will be buried because of this.

"It's going to be fine. So why look ahead and look backwards~"

He is very optimistic, and it seems that he is carried away by love.

“……”

I'm not in a position to stop anyone either.

"This comic is for you! As a reward for your help. ”

He said that he had a sense of payment at such a young age, and it was better to be a businessman than an art student.

Our family is a family of merchants.

I'm going to be a businessman one day.

I also really want to be a businessman.

Perhaps carried away by his tempting terms, I agreed to Arbor. From a legal point of view, the moment I accept the other party's payment, the transaction between me and him has already taken place.

I didn't expect that the consequences of this 'performance' would be so far-reaching.

The smoke from the explosion made it difficult for me to breathe.

Even lime was floating in the air, blocking my vision.

The sharp stone hit my right foot, and I didn't feel any pain for a moment, but the impact caused me to lose my balance and fall to the ground.

Breathing, vision, movement are all impeded.

What else can I do?

Fortunately, the wind was strong in the mountains, and the smoke quickly cleared, and I couldn't see Lianwen at this time. Then the sound of falling water came, and I knew roughly what was going on.

It was terrible, my mind went blank, anxiety and fear filled my body.

But now is not the time for fear, anxiety and fear.

I stood up and it hurt.

Looking around, all I could see was trees.

He sat on the ground in a daze, looking injured as well.

"Arbor?"

He didn't react and seemed to have lost his mind.

"Tsk."

I gritted my teeth, dissipated the pain, and ran to the edge of the platform.

The sound of falling water just heard should be in this direction.

It's only a few meters away, so it shouldn't matter.

That's what I told myself.

Then, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and rushed straight down.

Boom!

[I've still practiced swimming well.] 】

It's not very skilled, but it's not that bad.

It's just that I don't really like swimming.

The first time I swam in the lake, I got my feet entangled in aquatic weeds and drank two sips of lake water. Therefore, I was laughed at by Qiao Mu, and I was very happy to see him, so I won't explain it. Then every time I swam I watched from the shore in this name.

My body was completely immersed in the water, and I was in a hurry, so I didn't feel the pain.

It's a hard thing for me to open my eyes, it's a hard thing to open my eyes in the water, I don't know why so many people can do it, I feel bad anyway.

The water was still fairly clear, and I soon saw a sinking black shadow.

The edges of the shadows glowed red, and the bubbles that stirred the lake kept rising.

As soon as my feet were hard and my body dived down, I reached out and called out to the shadow.

She may not see me, she may not know that I exist, but even so, I have to grasp the last glimmer of hope.

That's when I realized that this lake was so deep. It's unbelievable that we've been playing in places like this all the time.

Please, a little faster.

It was at this time that the pain in my right leg spread to my cerebral cortex, and on top of that, I felt the characteristic cold of the water.

Please, a little faster.

I want her to grab my hand—

Just as I was thinking this, suddenly, her body began to glow, the black color gradually disappeared, she reached out to me, and without hesitation, I immediately grabbed her hand fiercely.

Never, never, even if it sinks here, I don't want to let go of this hand.

I'm almost at the limit of my breath-holding time, and if I don't hurry up, I'll sleep here forever.

I braked hard with my foot, and then kicked in the opposite direction - please, faster.

The light shines on the whole water.

——

I took Lianwen to the shore, and she was already unconscious. Thinking back to the knowledge of the safety education class, I pressed her heart and gave her artificial respiration.

I heard the footsteps of the arbor.

"Call an ambulance."

I didn't have time to talk to him, so I continued to talk about Lianwen.

After a few minutes, Koiwen's body began to tremble, and the water he had sucked in was spit out.

I breathed a sigh of relief and wiped a handful of water droplets from my forehead, I no longer knew if it was lake water or sweat. I looked at Lianwen carefully, and she was covered in wounds, especially on her face, which was terrible.

"How's it going?"

I asked Qiao Mu, who nodded.

"Really?"

It looked like he was still in a state of shock and overwhelmed.

"I took your bag off."

I stood up and saw the bag next to Qiao Mu, so I took off my wet short sleeves, fortunately it was summer, and it was not very cold when it was wet. I always have an extra piece of clothing in my bag, just because I was worried that I would get dirty in the mountains, but I didn't think it would get wet.

"You look at Lianwen, I'll go down and shout for a while, so that the emergency doctor can find us."

I put my dry short sleeves on and headed down the hill.

"Huh...... Qinghe. ”

“……”

"Don't you know how to swim?"

His voice was sharp, as if he was reproaching me for deceiving him and betraying him.

"What about you?"

I asked rhetorically, sarcastically in my tone.

Soon, the medical team climbed the mountain and rushed Lianwen to the hospital, and it was only then that I was relieved.

We were supposed to make a confession, but when it was getting late and we were children, we were sent home.

During this time, Koshiwen's mother rushed to the hospital, and I will never forget her application at that time.

Until now, her face still appears in my dreams.

On the way home, Qiao Mu didn't say a word.

"Messed up."

He said.

The street lights seem to be making noise constantly because of poor contact, and the light is cut off from time to time. As the only source of light for this road, this looks very eerie.

“…… I'm sorry. ”

He bit his lip as if he was about to cry.

"Don't apologize to me, I'm not a victim."

"I'm sorry."

He didn't seem to hear me.

"What to do ......"

His voice was filled with fear, and it was indeed inappropriate for a schoolboy to bear this.

"Don't worry, the doctor also said that Lianwen will not be blind, and the other injuries are not very serious."

I comforted the arbor.

"Ah...... That's too. I'm more worried about my ......, though."

I didn't understand Qiao Mu's words for a while.

["If you want to record a confession tomorrow, you will definitely know that we deliberately detonated the lamp......"]

Qiao Mu lowered his head and said.

"This will definitely leave a stain on my file...... There is a high risk of being denied admission to secondary schools. ”】

He said scaredly.

Sometimes, I really admire his straightforwardness, and he really says whatever he wants. Completely ignorant of the atmosphere.

“……”

I didn't continue to hit him, after all, I also have a lot of responsibility for this matter.

However, I always felt angry.

"Is this the most important thing?"

I clenched my fists, suppressing my anger.

"Hmm. I didn't want my mother to worry about me, I was her only expectation. ”

Qiao Mu's family is not very wealthy, and learning art can be said to be the strength of the whole family.

"Really?"

My tone was calm, after all, it was to be expected.

I am not qualified to judge and interfere with others, it is someone else's choice.

However, I could not calm my heart.

"Are all your previous words false?"

"What?"

Hearing his questioning tone, I didn't pursue it anymore, because I felt that it was just a wasted effort.

If you want to say that the only thought is that you must not hand over the love text to him.

Why do I think this way, it's not like me at all.

"Let's make a deal, how about it."] ”】

I stopped abruptly and said to Qiao Mu.

"Tomorrow I will find a way to hide our actions and disguise this as an accident."

Lamps that explode at high temperatures are inherently a safety hazard, as long as you grasp this point and use children's ignorance to sell stupidity, you should be able to fool the past.

"It's you who saved Lianwen today."

I pointed to his face and said.

"Ah......?"

He didn't seem to understand my words.

["If someone asks: Who rescued the girl from the shore."] You just nodded. In this way, you can gain a reputation for righteousness and courage, and you will not be denied admission. ”】

I said calmly.

Qiao Mu's eyes lit up, and he grabbed my hand excitedly as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.

"Really?"

His expression was so understandable.

"It's worthy of being my good brother, and I will definitely repay you well!"

His original dark mood was swept away, and the whole person became extremely happy.

Optimism is a good thing, but I always feel that it is not good in my heart.

"Then again, you just said that you made a deal, did it gain you anything?"

He asked coldly, completely ignoring the atmosphere, and sure enough, he was a person who would say whatever came to mind.

【“…… Of course, you must be admitted to an art secondary school in another place. ”】

I didn't answer him directly and continued to walk in the direction of home.

"Thank you."

A smile appeared on his face again, a smile of innocence and joy.

[Of course, there is a benefit, and it is the one I want the most, in a sense that I am using him. 】

The hot summer day, the noisy Zhizhi, the dark streets, the black cats huddled on the corners, the reinforced concrete buildings, the observation of human gods, complex emotions, everything changes from here, everything begins here.

That was the prologue to the disappearance.