Tsubaki's question was obviously asking Shi Xia, but I felt like she was asking me.

"The greatest pain of man comes from not being able to accept the impermanence of fate. "If you can't accept that, it's easier to be a youkai seriously." ”

"After my brother left, I abandoned the idea of becoming a human being. Shi Xia's gaze avoided Tsubaki, "Now I just hope that one day I can maintain my human appearance without relying on human life force, so that I can accompany my mother to the end." ”

"There's no such thing as the best of both worlds," Tsubaki said, "and it's only fair that you're trading someone else's life force for being human, and I'm trading my own memories for what I am now." ”

"Memories?" Shi Xia was stunned for a moment, "Did something happen?"

"It's a bit complicated," Tsubaki smiled stiffly, "and it turns out that I've lost most of my memories about Yeke. ”

Shi Xia looked at me as if seeking answers.

"It was my mistake," I said, "that caused Tsubaki to forget many things." ”

"But there is a loss," Tsubaki snatched me, "and after that, I suddenly gained the ability to transform into a human form." ”

"I really envy you," Shi Xia said, "I can rely on my own strength to grow to this day, and I am just a taker, if I hadn't thought about relying on human life force in the first place, maybe it wouldn't be like this today." Back then, you won the game that you said. ”

"Yek. Tsubaki said to me, "Can you give me some time alone?"

I nodded, turned away from the white and gray cats, and sat down on a bench in the park in the middle of the street to rest.

Time passed, so long that the moon could not be seen clearly.

"Sorry to keep you waiting so long. Shi Xia's voice sounded behind me.

"What about Tsubaki?" I didn't look back.

She said she didn't want to see it. Shi Xia said, "I have a question I want to ask you." ”

"Well, you say. ”

"If I hadn't asked you today, would you have sent me to no man's land?"

"Yes. I thought for a moment and replied, "If you really can't control yourself from absorbing the life force of humans, then it's really not suitable to stay here any longer." ”

"Does Tsubaki know what you're thinking?"

"Maybe you know. I said, "I don't know, but even though I'm a ghostwriter, I've never sent any youkai to what you call the Third Dimension." ”

"It seems that I'm the first youkai to make you feel that there is no reason to stay in human society. ”

"Selfishly, your plea has freed me. I looked back at Shi Xia, who was sitting on the ground behind the bench, "Otherwise, I really don't know how to make a decision, for youkai who have established contact with humans, wouldn't it be cruel to cut off the memories of this place and go to no man's land? ”

"I haven't been, so who knows what will happen there. Shi Xia looked up at the sky, "The moon is almost gone, and the Mid-Autumn Festival is about to pass." ”

It seems that Tsubaki can't catch up with Bifang's Mid-Autumn Festival barbecue night.

"My sanity tells me that you must be sent to no man's land, and that if you have no control over your power, you may pose a threat to humanity at any time. I said, "But I don't agree with my feelings, you are Tsubaki's partner, a good son and a good brother, although you once had the heart to hurt humanity, but you have been punished, and you have also returned to the essence of kindness." ”

"Don't bother with it. Shi Xia said, "I asked for you, and it has nothing to do with you." I can't control the power of absorbing the life force of others, and I can't control my longing for my mother, which will one day kill her. ”

"Have you discussed it with Tsubaki?" about your mother?"

Shi Xia nodded.

I stood up, walked around the bench to it, and held out my hand.

"Let's get started. ”

Control your power, connect with the monster in front of you, feel its power, see through its heart, and explore its memories.

I silently recalled the process of opening the gate to No Man's Land, opened the paper spirit and spread it on the ground, took out the pen I had with me, and confirmed with Shi Xia again whether I really planned to go to No Man's Land, and after getting a positive look, I wrote its name on the blank paper spirit.

"Shixia is the name given to you by humans, you abandoned your original name to become what you are today, Jinhua cat Shixia, I am about to cut off your connection with the human world, this will become your key to no man's land, I don't know what will happen ahead, and I don't know whether it will be successful or not. ”

As soon as the words fell, the ink on the paper spirit seemed to be stained with water on the paper, and soon became a line, the two ends of the line slowly extended, one end stretched to Shi Xia's heart, drilled into its body, one end wrapped around my right hand holding the pen, lifted my hand above the paper spirit, the pen in my hand suddenly moved on its own, with my hand on the page where the ink was written quickly.

Every word, all of them are the memories that Shi Xia told me, and the parts that it didn't tell me.

Each sentence was transformed into a scene at that time, and one scene after another reappeared in front of me, separating me from Shi Xia, just like when I first saw the memories of Winning Fish.

When it was a normal gray cat, it looked up at the moon.

When it first met Tsubaki, it was attracted to her.

When it first spoke to Tsubaki, it looked embarrassed.

When Tsubaki is sad and sad, she says to herself that she wants to protect her.

When it agreed with Tsubaki to become a powerful youkai, it was full of confidence.

The first time it saw the mother, it didn't care.

It looked curious and overwhelmed when its mother cooked it dinner.

When it was touched by its mother's hands, it looked like it was about to jump up with joy.

When it saw its brother for the first time, it had mixed feelings.

It finally accepted all of its family as it was, the sad way it loved when it left, the way it decided to protect its family, the way it finally decided to leave.

......

All the important memories were written on the paper spirit one after another, until the end of the last period, and the paper spirit was densely written.

The ink wrapped around my right hand left my hand at this time, slowly retracted back onto the paper spirit, and the ink that recorded memories slowly gathered in the center, and Shi Xia's name began to become clear again.

When all the memories disappeared from the paper spirit, Shi Xia's name floated from the paper into the air, and almost at the same time, a door-like hole appeared in the space behind Shi Xia.

"It's called No Man's Land. Shi Xia turned his head and said.

"I'm afraid, that's right. "I couldn't see the other side of the door, only the ink that connected the name to Shixia.

Shi Xia also noticed the ink that connected to his heart, "If you cut this line, I won't have anything to do with this world, right?"

I nodded.

"And one more wish, if possible, I hope you can help me again. Shi Xia said.

"You say. If only I could do it. ”

"Is it possible for me to abandon the mind of a monster, leave only the body of a cat, and accompany my mother in this world to the end?"

"I don't know," I replied truthfully, "I try my best." ”

"Thank you. Shi Xia smiled happily.

I raised my right hand, and the pen was very heavy, and the tip of the pen was no longer what it used to be, it was sharp and sharp, like a small short knife.

"If possible, let's really be a human being once in my next life. "I said to Shi Xia.

"Forget it, it's good to be a cat. Shi Xia said, "Human beings are too bitter. It paused, "But if I had to choose again, I'm afraid I'd make the same choice." ”

Sure enough, your heart has long been the same as that of a human being.

I lowered my head, raised my right hand above the ink that connected Shi Xia and his name, and slowly fell, the tip of the pen cut off the ink the moment it touched the ink line, and the name floating in the air changed back to the memory handwriting that disappeared just now, and entered my fingertips one by one along the tip of the pen, the hole behind Shi Xia became bigger and bigger, and when the last sentence of the memory was about to enter my fingers, I wrote that sentence on the paper spirit again, wanting to keep Shi Xia's body as a gray cat.

But it didn't seem to work, and as the last punctuation point fell, Shixia and the void disappeared in front of me.

"There's nothing better than family. The handwriting on the paper spirit reads.

(End of chapter)