"Kong Chuan?" said Lao Fan, "of course I know, there is no one around here who doesn't know Mr. Kong Chuan, he is the best demon slayer." ”

"The best?" I don't know what Lao Fan's evaluation refers to.

"This is a highly skilled and approachable old gentleman," said Lao Fan, "and whenever someone asks for help, Mr. Kong Chuan will come to help, and there are basically no problems that he can't solve, and the fees are very reasonable." ”

"I heard that he went to the Pocket Country some time ago, and I don't know if he went anywhere else after that. ”

Pocket Country, isn't that the hometown of the fungus people?

I thanked Lao Fan and quickly packed up our things and prepared to go to the Pocket Country.

"I'll ask you about sake brewing from the mushroom man," I said before leaving, "and you'll treat me to good sake then." ”

"That's nature," said old Vansay, who gave me a packet of things, "this is my home-made dough cake, and you can eat it on the way." ”

"I haven't done anything yet, so you can ask me for this and that. "I'm a little embarrassed, I feel like I'm eating, drinking, living and taking, if I really go home empty-handed, I'm really sorry for Lao Fan.

"What's the matter," said Fan with a smile, "Have a good trip, I heard that the Pocket Country doesn't welcome visitors." ”

I thanked the brewer and went to the Pocket Country to find the mushroom man and the demon exterminator named Kong Chuan.

The scenery along the way was nothing special, I was tired of walking and walking, the road under my feet began to get narrower and narrower, and the trees on both sides blocked my progress like soldiers, and I soon found that there was no way for humans to cross in front of me.

"That's right," I checked the map over and over again, "and it's really going from here." ”

"Young man, it's not a fun place ahead, let's go back to where you came. "It was an old man who spoke, with a pair of professional outdoor equipment all over his body, and I was like a lost child in comparison.

"Hello, excuse me, is this a pocket country in front of you?" I asked.

"Well, yes," said the old man, "since you know that it is a pocket country, you dare to go?" the old man's tone was very gentle.

"I want to find someone. "The old man in front of me seems to be wandering around this area a lot, ordinary people who will appear here, is it...

"Someone?" said the old man, "there is no one in there." ”

"I'm looking for a gentleman named Kong Chuan," I replied, "and a fox that has been entangled with humans for many years. ”

The old man observed me for a moment and clapped his hands, "Ling, looking for you." ”

A black-gray fox came out from behind him, and its delicate little nose poked forward.

"This—" I looked at the fox, and then at the old man in front of me.

"I am Kong Chuan," said the old man, "this is my companion, his name is Ling, and you have been commissioned by someone?"

"Yes and no. Mr. Kong Chuan, I took the liberty just now. I bowed deeply, even if it was a demon exterminator, he was a respected senior, and the Xuanhu called Ling behind him may be the monster who had been waiting for many years in the letter.

"If it's a commission from a man, please go back. Kong Chuan's tone was gentle but unquestionable, "You are not the first person to find me. ”

"It is true that I learned the story of your companion by a letter," I said, "but I have not come for the man who entrusted me, but for myself. ”

"The person who entrusts you can offer a high reward. ”

"For me, money is of little use. I laughed.

"What, would you like to talk to him?" Kong Chuan lowered his head and asked Xuanhu beside him, "If you don't want to, we'll leave." ”

Xuanhu cautiously took two steps forward, sniffed beside me, and nodded at Kong Chuan.

The old man checked again, and the fox swept his leg lightly with his tail, as if to reassure him.

"Okay," Kong Chuan said, "Twenty minutes, is it okay?"

"Well, that's enough. I said.

Kong Chuan walked to a place more than ten meters away from us and sat on the ground, looking back at us from time to time, the wrinkles on his face full of worry.

"He takes good care of you. I said, "Have you known each other for a long time?"

"It's not a long time for a youkai," Ling had already turned into a girl when she spoke, "but for Kong Chuan, it's been a long time." ”

"I'd like to apologize for my presence in advance," I said, "and it might remind you of not-so-good memories." ”

"If you're referring to the man I've been entangled with for more than a decade, I don't care anymore. Its voice was a little low, not the crisp and cute feeling it imagined, "Are you a demon slayer?"

"Not really," I said, "I'm a ghostwriter." ”

Ling's eyebrows raised slightly, and it looked at me for a moment, "The ghostwriter came to me for himself? ”

"Hmm," I pushed my glasses, "not as a ghostwriter, but just someone who doesn't know how to deal with their feelings." ”

"Oh?" it seemed to be a little interested, "did you like the youkai, or did the youkai like you?"

"No, no, no... Not to that extent," I hurriedly explained, "but I don't know if the relationship between humans and youkai would be deeply hurt if you really let go of your feelings and develop freely." ”

"To hurt or not to hurt, where can we decide by a small life," Xuanhu's voice was so soft that I couldn't hear what it was saying if I didn't pay attention to it, "I met it inexplicably, and then I liked it, and it seemed like we could control it ourselves." ”

"I've heard your story roughly," I said, "the guy you've been waiting for for a long time, and you didn't recognize you in the end, you... Whether..."

"Do you hate him? Of course not. "I knew from the beginning that it was wishful thinking, so the end result was predictable." ”

Its answer left me at a loss as to how to ask.

"That's how I usually talk, don't you care. It smiled rarely, "When I first met that man, he was still a young man, he looked obedient and wooden, but from his eyes, I could see that he was not a person who was willing to live in the shadow of his father all his life, at first it was completely out of boredom that he took the initiative to contact him, and after coming and going, I found that he had erudition and romance beyond his age, and I was slowly fascinated by him." ”

It turns out that the curiosity of youkai is not an isolated phenomenon, but a universal phenomenon...

"At that time, I knew that he didn't like me, just impulsively, but when he said he was going to leave the house, I was a little reluctant, and my terrible self-esteem made me change my face and observe him from a distance, there are too many humans in that place in the school, no matter how hard I try, I can't make a perfect human form, but fortunately, humans invented glasses, so that I don't sway like a blind man, but I didn't expect that in the end, because of poor eyesight, I met him again. ”

"But he didn't find out it was you at the time..."

"It's impossible to say that there is no loss at all, he is very good in school, not only academically, but also in the opposite sex partners, I am just the most inconspicuous of his many girlfriends. ”

... This is not what the man said in the letter.

"After a long time, I also felt that I was not interesting like this, so I took the initiative to leave, but fate is very interesting, not a few years later, I met him in a social situation again, it is strange to think about it, there were so many people that night, I actually saw him at a glance, he has a smell of oil paint that I can no longer be familiar with, he also saw me at a glance, but still did not recognize me as the girl who appeared next to him twice, that night I thought, maybe it is good to accompany him so simply, do not have to think about so many things in the future, everyone is very relaxed。 ”

Speaking of this, Ling's eyelids drooped slightly.

"Who knows, the next morning, he actually skillfully gave me a sum of money. Ling shook her head, "I was originally ready to say my feelings and say that I wanted to be by his side, but his sum of money made me completely dismiss this idea." yes, why should I be nostalgic for someone who didn't recognize me three times? But when he was holding his head and smoking box after box in the dark, I—" it smiled self-deprecatingly.

"You still reached out to help him. I said.

"yes, actually, that time, I thought I would be able to stay with him all the time. He has lost the aura of success, and he has become much gentler and more attentive, although he has not recognized who I am, but what does it matter? It is more reliable to expect a human to recognize you as a monster than to expect him to treat you as an ordinary woman," Ling said, "and yet, on the night when I was about to accept his proposal, he left me alone in a heavy rain. ”

“... You say, he proposed to you?"

"It seems that he didn't tell you this," Ling said, "yes, he proposed to me, and I didn't dare to say yes, what if he was scared away after knowing that I was a youkai? What if I couldn't stand him and went before me? After a long hesitation, on the day when I was finally ready, he didn't show up at the restaurant I had promised, and the next day, I got the news that he was going to marry another woman soon. ”

"Is it his future wife?"

"Well, it seems to be a man with a background, and I don't want to delve into it anymore, on the eve of his wedding, I sent a painting as a gift, full of hope that he would find something in the painting, but ironically, he didn't look at it, I finally gave up, and people and monsters are fruitless. ”

"You still shouldn't let fate continue...", my sentence is more like saying it to myself, "only to increase regret and sadness." ”

Ling suddenly stretched out her hand and touched my head like a child, "But later, I met Kong Chuan." ”

“... Mr. Kong Chuan? He's not..."

"He's a demon slayer, but he still saved me. A smile bloomed from its face, "I'm not a useful youkai for the demon slayer, but in order to prevent me from giving up on myself and hating me for the rest of my life, he dragged me on a trip, and for the first time in my life, I found that humans can also have such power." ”

"Strength?" I asked, "I don't understand..."

"The power that reassures me," it said, "is strong enough to protect me from harm, both physically and mentally, strong enough not to be afraid even if I know he's going to leave me one day." ”

“... Why?"

"Because he made me believe that a life that values emotions will have an incomparably wonderful life with or without the company of others. Ling's eyes moved to the place where Kong Chuan was sitting, and I followed its gaze to see that Kong Chuan's side was full of monsters of all sizes, talking and laughing, like family.

"Those are all monsters rescued by Kong Chuan, and they have all been hurt by humans to a greater or lesser extent," Ling said very gently, "We who originally had no contact with each other voluntarily signed a contract with him, and this contract is not a shackle that binds us, but the warmth of our family." That's right, Kong Chuan explained a word to us, called family. ”