After returning from town that day, I had been restless. As long as it is quiet and alone, that painful memory will come to mind.

I would also have nightmares at night, dreaming that Phoebe and I were walking on an empty street, but in the blink of an eye, Phoebe was gone. I started to get scared and walked slowly. I shouted, is anyone there? But no one responded. Suddenly, I caught a glimpse of a figure not far away, and I ran towards it, full of joy. When I got closer, I realized that the figure was not so much a human as a humanoid monster. It has no facial features, and only a skin on its whole body, or a skin wrapped in flesh. It stood on all fours, then turned to look at me, and then the human skin slowly faded away, revealing a cow's head, its hollow eyes staring straight at me. My body trembled uncontrollably, cold sweat and chill invaded my consciousness, and I lost the strength to escape. Looking back, I saw a sight that broke my last psychological defenses—it was a group of minotaur monsters in human skin, all of them coming together and rushing towards me......

This state lasted for a few days, and the whole person may look a little haggard. Phoebe recovered quickly, and she says it's not the first time she's experienced something like this. She has experienced it three times in four hundred years. Vera said she had been through it a few times.

Now I'm sitting at the bar in the dining car with two heavy dark circles under my eyes. On the other side of the bar, Angelo was wiping his wine glass, he looked at me and smiled helplessly:

"Chaoge was attacked by evil spirits after only three months of coming, and I am very lucky to come back alive." Angelo's speech was a comfort to me. He is such a delicate person who can always catch any subtle changes in you.

Vera filled the vase at the bar with fresh flowers, and then she walked over to me and sat down, patting me on the back with her little hand, trying to relax me.

"If it weren't for Phoebe, you wouldn't have seen the lovely me." I crouched at the bar, still lacking in energy, and probably looked like a wilted eggplant.

"I say, what kind of monsters are they?" I shudder at the thought of the monster. I've only seen monsters in movies and TV shows or comics, and I wonder why the protagonists in many stories are so scared that they can't even run away when they see monsters for the first time. Now I'm afraid I don't have the right to laugh at them, it turns out that when people feel threatened by their lives, their brains really stop thinking.

"It's evil ghosts, they eat people, not just people, they eat everything, even a little fox like me will eat it." Zhen'er replied as she gestured her hand to the shape of a bull's horn and placed it on her head to look like a ghost.

"Why do they exist? Is it a bug in this world? ”

"There it is! Strange things in Chaoge's mouth have appeared again! Angelo didn't know what a bug meant, and his deliberately exaggerated reply was nothing more than to cheer me up, and he was kind enough to hand me a glass of apple juice. Then he went on to answer my question: "Why they exist, there is no way to know. All the information about the demons is kept in the upper echelons of the Authority, and we at the bottom have no way of knowing. ”

"They're so scary, is there any way to resist their attack?" I asked again.

"The army should have a way, I remember when I used to travel outside, every town would have a special place to contact the army. However, it seems that the people of the army do not always arrive in time. Vera also asked Angelo for a glass of juice.

"It's so useless!" I slapped the table and blurted out a complaint that the apple juice on the table had spilled a little bit due to the shaking of the table.

"You can't blame the army entirely, some small towns are too remote, and it's normal for the army to not be able to catch up for a while. But ......" Angelo finished his work and sat down on the side of the bar. "But this time it is indeed very abnormal, I actually dared to attack the town next to the capital, and what is even more unusual is that the army did not arrive......"

Angelo fell into deep thought.

"Maybe it's just an accident, like a broken tool to contact the army." Zhen'er gestured with her hand to look like a phone again.

"Maybe." Angelo came back to her senses.

"By the way, what about Phoebe?" We talked for so long in the dining car, but we never saw Phoebe.

"She should be writing in the room." Angelo said.

"Write a letter?"

"Write to the Authority. Chaoge, you can also see that this world is not friendly to other races other than humans. A long time ago, Phoebe was not used to this phenomenon, so she would write a letter to her superiors every month. ”

"Phoebe, she's amazing." I can't help but praise it from the bottom of my heart. If it were in this world, Phoebe would have become an important vanguard member of the anti-racist community. I can already imagine Phoebe holding a sign that reads "No Discrimination" and leading a group of people to demonstrate in the streets. Maybe she will become a great character like Mandela in the middle of the girl.

Now that I think about it, when Phoebe and I hid in the little attic together, Phoebe cried all the time. Perhaps, she was not afraid of it, but because someone would die innocently......

"I want to thank Phoebe, too," said Hao, jumping out of her seat, looking full of ambition. "Angelo, can you borrow the kitchen, I want to make Phoebe's favorite peach blossom crisp." After getting Angelo's affirmative reply, she looked at us again and smiled, adding: "Of course, it will also be done for Angelo and Chaoge." ”

"Thank you." I buried my head on the table and raised a hand in thanks. I've been plagued by nightmares from demons for the past few days, and I almost forgot to help Zhen'er find books.

"By the way, Zhen'er, regarding your wishes, Roddy told me that the black market auction will have to wait a few more days."

"I don't care." Zhen'er's eyebrows and eyes were crooked, and her sweet voice was showing off. "Zhen'er is very good at waiting."

Wait, wait? It's really good, I'm not good at waiting, I have to get what I want right away...... Wait, speaking of waiting......

Zhen'er has been waiting for Qianxiu to ......

That's the only sentence left in the Book of Memories.

"Zhen'er, Qianxiu, do you have an impression of the name Qianxiu?"

As soon as the words fell, I saw crystal tears quietly slipping down from Zhen'er's face, and the word "Qianxiu" seemed to open the floodgates, her emotions gushed out, and tears kept pouring out of her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Zhen'er......" Angelo and I were both a little surprised, and I hurriedly apologized - I must have poked her in the sore spot.

"No, no." She shook her head and quickly denied it, she wiped her tears with her sleeve, trying to calm down. "There is no need for Chaoge to apologize. It's weird, I don't know what's going on with myself, it's the first time I've heard this name, but I feel nostalgic. This person is important to me......"

Vera's tears flowed uncontrollably, even though I could tell she was trying to restrain herself. Her nose and eyes became red, and she was very emotional, as if the grievances that had accumulated for years were broken at this moment.

"It's really weird. I feel that a long, long time ago, there was someone who would teach me to read and write poems, buy me my favorite peach blossom cake, and take me to temple fairs...... But...... I don't remember him, I forgot very important people and important things......" Zhen'er's voice gradually became weaker, and slowly, she couldn't cry.

Forgetting is a curse, tormenting somewhere in the soft heart of people all the time. I couldn't relate to Vera's feelings, but I could feel her indescribable sadness. I stepped forward and hugged her, only to find that she was even thinner than she looked.

After she had calmed down a bit, she decided to go back to her room and rest.

Zhen'er's thin back when she left was really distressing. She walked down the narrow passage of the train, and for a moment, I seemed to see her hundreds of years of wandering. Such a thin figure walked through the bustling streets, walked into the silent alleys, or crawled forward in the desert against the wind and sand, or left one firm footprint after another in the wind and snow...... Day after day, spring, summer, autumn and winter, year after year.

Zhen'er is a fox demon, and a few hundred years is only a short time for her. But is that really the case? Once she comes to the world and is stained with the fireworks of the world, I think that in her eyes, the years may become long, and no one will be able to bear the loneliness at that time. The world is such a lively and quiet, beautiful and cruel place. And this world is the mirror of the world, and everyone here is a person who has existed in the world, not a god, not a saint, but a person who is struggling in the world.

Zhen'er told me that she likes peach blossoms, she likes spring, and every time the peach blossoms bloom in spring, hope burns in her heart, and she may meet the people she wants to meet.

This spring, I hope she can meet the people she wants to meet......