Xiaowen said it very plainly, but I was shocked to hear it.

How could such an eye-opening and mysterious place be a cage?

"Don't show such an unbelievable expression," Xiaowen said, "for you, this should be a treasure trove, because you can come and go freely, but the library kangaroo can't leave here, and the place where you can't get out is a cage." ”

"Isn't it true that all creatures in the time gap can't leave here?"

"That's nature," Xiaowen didn't know where to conjure up two teacups, could they be in his own bag?" All creatures born in the time gap can't leave here, they have a life cycle that fits this environment, but we," it poured me a cup of tea and sat on the floor in front of me, "The library kangaroo is not a creature that is not a time gap in the first place. ”

The tea in its cup rippled in circles.

"The library kangaroo was not originally called by that name, our home is very far from here, a separate land in the middle of the sea, which is quiet and peaceful, rich in produce, and the only place in the world where there is no night. ”

"How is it possible," I said, "that the earth is turning, and how can the sun shine in the same place forever." ”

"Of course, the sun does not stay for a piece of land," Xiaowen said, "but the soil of our former homeland has a miraculous ability to absorb sunlight during the day, and every night, the soil will release the light absorbed during the day, and the soft light will spread through the land throughout the land, day and night, before we came here, the name of that territory was the Land of Radiance, and we were called the Children of Light at that time." ”

“... You're not talking about the place that disappeared overnight on the Earth's tectonic plates. ”

"Looks like you've heard rumors about the Radiant Lands, too?"

"I have heard," I said, "that the people of the Land of Glory have broken the heart of the land, and the land has sunk and vanished. But I didn't think it would be real, and I always thought it was just a legend. ”

"History becomes a story, and a story becomes a legend. Xiaowen took a sip of tea, "Where is there something groundless, there are some jokes in the legend, but they are not all fictional things." ”

"But the children of light," I said, "must all be humans..."

"Well, that's right," said Xiaowen, "all the library kangaroos you see here were originally the people of the Land of Radiance, all humans. ”

"What the hell have you done? ”

"This is a long story, as mentioned earlier, the soil of that land is somewhat special, we who can be isolated from the world know what kind of world is outside, our ancestors have lived there for generations, because of the light day and night, the plants and minerals of the Radiant Land are not species in the conventional sense, they may have been blessed by God, or they have absorbed the moisture of the earth, all the creatures there are healthy and long-lived, but because of isolation, most of the children of light are kind, but ignorant. ”

I took a sip of tea, a faint taste.

"This quiet life lasted until the arrival of that man," Xiaowen said, "it was a traveler, I can still remember his appearance, that man was erudite and funny, according to him, he was the first person to set foot on this land, he told us a lot of stories, described the outside world, refreshed our self-righteous worldview again and again, and when we left, we also left a lot of information, it is those materials that let us feel the size of the world for the first time up close, and the feeling at that time was extremely shocking." ”

"The more you know, the more you want. I said, "Humans are not satisfied." ”

"The more you get, the greater the price you must pay," Xiaowen said. Unfortunately, this is the truth that we realized many years later, the leader at that time called that person the teacher, and he came to the glorious land many times, each time he would bring a lot of books, take away a small handful of soil, with the help of the knowledge and advanced ideas in these books, the leader helped everyone to improve their lives, and also began to think about why our land is eternal and nightless, when the teacher left, the leader wanted to go with him to see the outside world, but he refused the leader. ”

Xiaowen's emotions were a little excited, and he seemed to remember some bad memories.

"The teacher said that the Land of Glory is the only pure land left in the world, and I bring you knowledge in the hope that you can better protect this land from the corrosion of time, and not let you leave here. "But the chief at that time could not listen to this, and he insisted on going outside to have a look, so he studied many methods, and finally one day, he sailed out to sea, and before going to sea, he firmly believed that he could bring a more prosperous future to this land." ”

"Anyway, he's still a leader who thinks about everyone. ”

"Now that I think about it, I'm just a fool who is eager to prove himself," Xiaowen shook his head, "The leader has almost been drowned by the waves many times, but as if a god is protecting him, he has successfully come to the land in the conventional sense of the word, where he has seen advanced civilization, high-end technology, people's desire for money, and the potential of the Land of Glory." ”

"The potential of the Radiant Lands?"

"Yes, the chief stumbled upon the miraculous power of the soil he had brought with him from his homeland, and that no matter how barren the land was, if it was sprinkled with the soil that absorbed sunlight, it would become a productive and fertile land. Xiaowen said, "This made the locals extremely excited, they bought the few soil brought by the chief at a high price, and the leader used the money to go to more places, learned a lot, and squandered a lot, he didn't expect the world to be so beautiful, unlike his own family only knows how to deal with animals and plants." ”

"And then?"

"Later, when the soil was finally sold, the leader returned to the Land of Glory with wealth and machines, the Children of Light had never seen such a large machine, mouth-watering food, extremely elaborate clothing, and a dazzling array of artworks, and they worshipped the leader as a god," Xiaowen said, "Soon, the leader went out with the soil again, this time it happened to meet a world-class natural disaster, many areas were deprived of grass, and the soil of the Land of Glory saved many lives. ”

"That should be a good thing. ”

"Originally," Xiaowen said, "the teacher probably used this soil to save the dying life, but the leader began to enjoy people's worship and gratitude to him, and in the transaction again and again, the leader gave birth to a thought, can these life-saving soil become a weapon to control others?"

“......”

"When this idea first came out, he himself was startled, but he quickly convinced himself and the other children of light," Xiaowen smiled bitterly, "With his sturdy body and delicate mind, the child of light walked out of the glorious land and invaded other regions in a mighty way, in order to survive, most of the regions directly bowed down, but there were a few exceptions that needed to be solved by force, and soon, the flower world immersed these kind people in it, and they had forgotten that they still had a home." ”

"The children of light have left the land that raised them, and the land will be disappointed. ”

"Well, yes," said Xiaowen, "when they returned to the land, they found that it had changed, the endless light had been replaced by darkness, the animals and plants had died one after another, and the people who had not left the land trembled, no different from other stricken places. ”

"Is this the punishment of the land?"

"Yes or no," Xiaowen said here and was silent for a long time before continuing to speak, "The soil of the Land of Glory is nourished by the soul of the Child of Light, when the Child of Light is no longer simply kind and desireless, the land will be barren, and at that time, our eyes are already full of rights and desires. ”

"But how did you become library kangaroos?"

"If we had realized early that it was our own problems that caused the gloom of the Radiant Land, I am afraid that we would not have fallen to the point where we are today," Xiaowen said, "but the only thing left in our minds at that time was fear, because of fear, we left here again, wantonly expanding the territory, and I don't know whether we want to prove ourselves or want to take revenge on nature, and soon, the whole world will tremble when they hear the name of the Child of Light, until one day, the leader meets the teacher again." ”

“... It shouldn't just be a casual encounter, right?"

"Well, it was the teacher who took the initiative to find the leader," Xiaowen sighed slightly, "The teacher asked us why we did this, but we still didn't find our mistake, the teacher blamed himself, he said that if he hadn't let us see the outside world, the glorious land would not have ended up like this, originally he wanted us to better protect our homeland, who knew that we not only failed to protect it, but even destroyed the homes of other lives." ”

I saw Xiaowen gently put down the cup and take out something like a roster from the bag.

"We are still obsessed, unwilling to listen to the teacher, unwilling to go back to rebuild our home, and in the end, the teacher can only use all his strength to curse us. ”

"Curse... Curse?"

"All the children of light are locked up in the gap in time, they can't leave here, they can't see the sun, they don't need to eat, they don't die, they can't be considered alive, they can only keep working in the library endlessly, and the Land of Glory disappeared on that day," Xiaowen said, "This punishment, I only figured out after a long time, the reason why it is a time gap and not somewhere else, because only this is the closest place to the course of life, forgetting awe and gratitude, is our greatest fault." ”

"Is there no way to leave?"

"Yes," Xiaowen said, "the teacher said that if one day, a ghostwriter is willing to bring your name back to the glorious land, then you will be redeemed and can live as a human again, but for so many years, no ghostwriter is willing to do this, I guess what we did back then was really bad." ”

"Why ghostwriters..."

"Because the teacher is the ghostwriter," Xiaowen finally had a smile, "Although the teacher imprisoned us here, we don't resent him, after all, it was our own fault, but..."

"What's wrong?"

Xiaowen flipped through the roster in his hand, "It's been too long, and there are not many library kangaroos left that can remember their names." ”

He handed me a roster, a thick one with few names, almost all numeric codes.

“... It really doesn't look like a cage...", I said, "What if you forget your name?"

"You'll never be able to get out," Xiaowen said lightly, "but there are still some guys who have the possibility of going out, so they will try their best to get you to the gap in time." ”

"Is it possible for me to redeem you now?"

Xiaowen looked at me silently and didn't speak for a long time.