Before waking up, Zhao Zimai first smelled a mellow smell of medicine. He couldn't help frowning, this was the taste he hated, since he was a child, he didn't know how many bowls of bitter and astringent medicinal juice he was forced to drink, and what was more bitter than the medicine was the memory that accompanied it.

Whenever he was sick, in addition to the care he saw on his father's face, there was also a subtle disappointment, disappointment in a frail and sickly son.

So for the first time, he felt like he had made the right choice when he crossed the ocean to Europa and found that he finally didn't have to deal with those potions as black as ink. During his years in Europa, he never got sick once, and his body became stronger and stronger, and his stature sprung up like mushrooms. So he sometimes has to think that his hometown may be some kind of bond for him, some kind of bond that he can't leave but wants to escape all his life.

Zhao Zimai frowned again, because the smell of medicine was stronger now, and it seemed to be next to his nose.

Suddenly, he felt his mouth be torn open by a pair of cold hands, and then the warm liquid flowed down his mouth and into his throat. He sat up sharply and coughed a few times, but was surprised to find that the potion was not as bitter as it used to be.

He opened his eyes and met San's face, which was as cold as his hand, and finally swallowed back the foul words that were about to blurt out.

"What are you doing?" He wiped the residue from the corner of his mouth and asked knowingly.

"Hey you with the medicine, how obvious." There was a hint of impatience in San's tone.

Zhao Zimai looked down at the bowl it was holding in his hand, and the edge of the bowl was black except for the place where he had just spoken, and he didn't know what corner it had turned out of. But at this moment he didn't dare to complain, he only raised his head and drained the rest of the soup in one gulp, as docile as a child of three or four years old.

"What kind of place is this? What about Qiu Ran? Zhao Zimai wiped the medicine residue from the corner of his mouth and looked around, he found himself lying in a dilapidated old house, which could be called a room without the four broken walls of the roof.

"Where's Baotian? What about Liao Caichen? He added.

Sang put down the bowl, took out the two white bones from his shirt with one hand, and said casually while playing with his fingertips, "Baotian went to the villager's house to borrow some medicinal herbs and boiled them, and then slept outside the house, although I can't see any difference between inside and outside the house." Liao Caichen left, and he said that he was going to live a down-to-earth normal life, and never make trouble for himself and the tea garden again. As for Qiu Ran, it was shocked in the Jade River by the Hundred Eyes Demon. ”

"Hundred-eyed demon?"

When these three words were asked, continuous rain fell from the sky, and Zhao Zimai heard Baotian sneeze from the wall, and then seemed to fall asleep again.

"Part of my memory was awakened by these two bones, and I saw the Hundred Eyes Demon being burned by the real fire for several days without dissolving, so it was suppressed by me. It's perfect to use it against Qiuran, and instead of suppressing a youkai, I would like to make a deal with it, and I will set it free, but only if it can't do evil again, and will always guard Qiuran at the bottom of the river. ”

"Is being trapped at the bottom of a river count as freedom?" Zhao Zimai was a little puzzled.

"Compared to my body, the square inch of land at the bottom of the river is already very large, but the youkai is short-sighted after all, because it will not be long before it will become familiar with every aquatic grass and gravel there, and at that time, what freedom will there be? It and Qiu Ran, after all, will be trapped in this jade river together, and they will not be able to come out for eternity. ”

"The praying mantis catches the cicada and the yellow finch is behind, and it's really time for your memory to wake up."

"But there's more to it than I remember." Sang's eyes were suddenly covered by a layer of haze, but his eyes were still as red as hot charcoal.

"You also saw ...... What the? Zhao Zimai suddenly panicked in his heart, although he didn't know where the panic came from.

"I saw a girl, thirteen or fourteen years old, with a head full of pearls and emeralds that were brighter than the stars in the night sky. It was she who took off the kneecap and gave it to Qiu Ran, it was she who hung the rosary on the hands of those dry corpses in the valley, it was she who dropped the robe and returned to the true nature, nothing and no self. She's why I'm here, but I can't remember who she is. ”

These words were like a boulder in his heart, Zhao Zimai felt that a corner of his heart had collapsed, and memories poured in again, like a surging tide, instantly collapsing the layers of embankments that he had worked so hard to build.

"What does that girl look like?" His trembling voice was drowned out by the sound of rain, so Sang didn't notice the abnormality in his tone.

"I only saw the back, but her outfit was not common, and it could not be worn by people who were not very noble. The magnolia flowers alone are estimated to be enough for skilled craftsmen to embroider for half a month, not to mention the little emerald hairpins on their heads. Sang sneered and began to play with the two bones again, and the bones collided together with a crunch "click" that broke the silence of the night.

"Magnolia." These two words were blocked in Zhao Zimai's throat, and he couldn't swallow or spit it out: his sister's clothes were countless, but he remembered the dress full of magnolia flowers very clearly, because that day, he personally pushed her wearing this dress into the deep well.

Zhao Zimai felt that his stomach churned a few times, and a stream of sour water came straight up, and he couldn't hold it down anymore, so he turned his head and spit out all the medicine he had just drunk in one gulp.

"I've fed you for nothing," Sang glared at him in disgust and muttered, "The body is so delicate, it's far worse than Xiao Wu." ”

Zhao Zimai coughed a few times, his chest heaved a few times, and said in a low voice, "The one who dropped the robe and the rosary is the same person as the girl you saw?" ”

"Yes, but no."

"How?"

Sang smiled fiercely, "The skin is different, but the embryo inside is exactly the same, I can feel it." ”

Speaking of this, it seemed to finally feel the nervousness in Zhao Zimai's tone, so after its eyes turned around on his pale face, it looked suspicious, "There is something wrong with you, do you recognize that girl?" ”

Zhao Zimai felt a "groan" in his heart, and was thinking about how to hide the past, but suddenly heard a rush of footsteps, followed by Baotian's vigilant anger, "Who?" ”

The two of them were startled and looked out of the house at the same time, but it was still Baotian's voice waiting for them. Only this time, his tone softened, which was completely different from Fang Cai's scolding.

"Miss Susan?"

"Baotian...... Baotian, Amy...... Amy, she's gone. ”

Sang stood up, and saw the strange woman standing outside the door with a pair of pale eyes, like a cat.

***

The toe was gnawed by the fish again, and the teeth of the small fish hidden in the mud and sand were like steel nails, and each time it gnawed a small piece of meat, as if it would never finish gnawing.

But he couldn't move, he knew that if he moved even one toe, he would be seen by the monster. It watched him from above the sand, thousands of eyes shooting from all directions, like a flame burning vigorously against his body.

Qiu Ran knew that such days would never end.