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Chapter 1271: One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty-Eight [Poem of Magpie and Nobody (Part )]

"I'm leaving, Siyi."

Under the quilt, Xiao Si Que spoke to the girl on the upper bunk.

With her golden hair drooping down, Siyi lay on the edge of the bed and looked at him: "Why?"

"For more interesting inspiration, I'm going to the royal city." said Little Sique.

"So you want to abandon me and the story you were almost done writing?" Siyi's eyes widened: "You just acknowledged me as your sister, didn't you? We still have a long time to live together..."

"Yes." Xiao Si Que said, "But there must always be a next story."

Siyi felt abandoned.

Su Mingan could feel her emotions, confusion, anger, sadness, and even some darkness...

"Please stay and finish this story. After all, you have been thinking about it for so many years." Siyi tried to persuade him to stay.

Little Si Que yawned, with a blush on the corners of his eyes: "Creators must learn to let go at the right time."

Su Mingan had heard the Creator's Creed - after the characters in his writing came to life, he should respect their independence and stop interfering in their future. But in Siyi's understanding, this was abandonment, and she couldn't understand letting go.

She looked at Si Que and suddenly said, "Brother, if I eat you, will you stay here?"

After hearing such horrible words, Si Que just turned over and said, "Then remember to add some wheat. I like to eat wheat..."

He just fell asleep like that, not caring at all about what Siyi would do.

Watching this scene, Su Mingan seemed to gradually understand why Si Que wrote the story of "The Last Supper". It was entirely Si Que's own doing.

In the quiet room, the only sound was the two people's light breathing.

Gradually, under the blue moonlight, the girl's soft crying began to sound. She kept her voice very low, covered by the quilt, as if she didn't want the sleeping Si Que to hear it:

"...Fairy tales like only obedient children get candy, monsters that steal stars, mighty demon kings and righteous heroes... these don't exist."

"The groom can't save the bride, and the bride doesn't like to eat wheat at all... The wheat ears in the story haven't even matured yet, and everything is over and abandoned."

"I thought this kind of life could last for a long time. The little magpie could write a better story at the table, but in the end, the child still has to become a steady hero, and the stories that fail to pass the review will be buried..."

"Then why did I come back to life? Why did I leave the paper all alone?..."

Her golden hair curled on the pillow, she was crying, and her shoulders were shaking.

On the lower bunk, little Si Que turned over again, his eyes reddened and he sighed silently.

"Ugh……"

……

[Act 7: Outside the Changting]

[There is an adventure island in every child's heart, with countless treasures on the island. 】

[Although their bodies are always in a boring reality, their imaginations will fly high again and again, flying to the distant adventure island, exploring treasures with the elves, breaking through the thorny maze, defeating the evil dragon, and starting the next adventure. ]

[I fantasized again and again...I imagined a monster stepping onto the playground, saving the world in front of the whole school, and summoning elves on the stage, causing teachers and classmates to exclaim...]

[Gradually, their bodies became heavy, and gravity began to drag their feet... They began to be unable to fly high, and were getting farther and farther away from MapleStory.]

【Then, one day, they no longer fantasized about that adventure island. 】

【The monster took the candy from their jar.】

【The stars in the bedroom were taken down.】

【The ears of wheat lie on the table.】

【The fairy tale on paper fell asleep. 】

……

On the night of departure, Si Que looked at the stars on the hillside.

…He was thinking, is he really going to the royal city? Is he going to change from a “child” to an “adult”?

His inspiration comes from his childish innocence. What if he says goodbye to his childhood? Will inspiration still favor him?
At this time, there was a rustling sound of grass behind him, and long green hair fell on the side of his face. Qiao was wearing a linen robe in accordance with the local customs, and walked over in straw sandals, without any aristocratic airs.

"The stars in the royal city are not so bright. They are always gray and full of boring and dull adults." Qiao looked up.

"Qiao, would it be best if I maintain the status quo and finish writing the story of The Floating City in the Daytime peacefully?" Little Si Que expressed his hesitation.

"Of course. It's good to continue being a child, and it's also good to become a smart adult. You don't have to grow up, Si Que, it doesn't matter if you don't grow up." Qiao said.

They sat quietly on the hillside for a while, with only the chirping of birds in the mountains. The fire was burning in the lampshade in the center of the village, and every household had gone to sleep.

"You said that everyone will face a monster when they are sixteen or seventeen years old. It will eat our candies and stars, our innocence and spirit, and then we will gradually become boring adults." said Xiao Sique.

"Haha." Qiao laughed and lay down next to him:
"So, you have to fight it head-on. If you don't fight it, how do you know if you will win? My little warrior, pick up your little wooden sword and face it bravely. You must be sure that no matter how old you are, it will not be able to devour your innocence and spirit, and that you will always be someone who can see MapleStory. Until the moment you defeat it, you will be blessed by inspiration forever."

"Forever..." Little Si Que chewed on the word: "But the life span of the magpie tribe is only more than 30 years, and I can't write a great story."

Qiao stroked his head with his palm, his eyes deepened: "The quality of life does not depend on its length."

Little Sique stood up and looked intently into Qiao's eyes.

The moonlight flowed on their fluttering hair, and Xiao Si Que opened his palm - it was a worn-out, gray-brown feather pen. It was made of the most common materials, without any special features, but it had been with him for a long time.

The golden color flowed in his eyes, and it was hard to tell whether it was the light of his eyes or the moonlight:
“—But what if I am defeated by that monster? What if I can no longer write spiritual stories when I grow up? What if The Floating City of Daylight is the best story I have ever written…”

If he also...

Fleeing from the "monster"?
If he also...

What about "Oppa" and "Uncle Hunt"?

What about those stories in his mind that have not yet been written, the poor girl who was the subject of the experiment, the young woman who was waiting anxiously, the wanderer returning home from a long journey...what if they were also "erased"?
Familiar but never uttered names floated on his lips, as if they would spring to life from beneath the paper as long as he called them.

until--

The bridge hugged him.

The emerald-like long hair fluttered by, and the boy's eyes were fixed on Qiao's chest. His head was held by broad hands and buried in the warm embrace.

"…It doesn't matter if you're defeated." A generous voice flowed into the boy's ears.

For a moment, Xiao Si Que felt that what was touching his cheek was not the texture of a cloth robe, but a hard police uniform. His hair was being rubbed by big hands, and he was being held by arms like iron hoops.

"...Whether you are a boring adult or an interesting adult, you will always stand above the spiritual energy."

"Because you are a child blessed by inspiration, you are born with wonderful ideas. Moreover, even if you are defeated and really lose your childish spirit..."

"I will help you get it back, too, because it is as precious as gold, little bird."

"I found you in the beginning only because my divination crystal told me that a child with a destiny entangled with mine appeared in the village of Tara in the east. I don't really believe in vague prophecies, so I just came to look for you. I plan to provide you with food and drink until the end of your life, but I don't plan to do anything more than that."

"But after seeing you, I realized... you are different."

"You are different from the others. Your aura is the brightest and most dazzling I have ever seen."

“Little bird, you should fly, fly high over the Adventure Island, find the treasure in the mist again and again, and always keep your spirituality and romance, no matter how old you are, no matter after the Second Age, the Third Age, the Fourth Age... after thousands of years, where will we return to, or even dust.”

"Look, the starry sky is so beautiful tonight. Before we leave, let's make a star necklace for your sister."

……

[Act 8: "Star Necklace"]

【He runs forward.】

[He left the old rut, the warm village, and the treetop where he had spent his entire childhood.]

[The summer cicadas' chirping faded away, and he could no longer hear the croaking of frogs by the lotus pond.]

[“Don’t go, little magpie. You promised me that you would let me go to see the wheat.” The bride in a white wedding dress called him. ]

[“Don’t leave. You are curious about the future of the floating city, aren’t you? The crazy ruler, the mechanical bride named Nolia… Come back, little magpie, continue to be a carefree child, and write about us.” A uniform voice called him from behind.]

[“Don’t leave, great creator. I haven’t even invited you to see the scenery of our inner and outer cities, and you’ve given up on the story just like that…”]

【"elder brother……"】

……

"Si Yi."

Kerosene lamp, grille in front of the window, and yellow wooden table.

Little Si Que grabbed Si Yi and placed the feather pen in her palm.

"What is this?" The blonde, blue-eyed heroine looked at him blankly. Her eyes were red, and she cried all night because she knew that the story of the floating city was destined to be abandoned, and Si Que abandoned them.

"I want to give the pen to you, the heroine." Xiao Si Que looked at her: "The main storyline has been told to you in the past few years. Next, please write your own story."

He transferred the right to write the story to the protagonist himself.

There was a sudden light in Siyi's eyes, and she stared at little Sique blankly.

"Really?"

"Well. I'll go to the Royal City, maybe I can see the World Tree. One day, I will try my best to make sharp contradictions no longer be content that cannot be reviewed, so that you can truly appear in the world... I will come back." Little Si Que stretched out her hand and wiped away her tears with a handkerchief:
"Until then... the pen is yours. Freedom is yours."

"I must leave the village. The war of independence has begun."

"Si Yi, I'm sorry to leave you. But I'll give you my quill. Wait for me... okay?"

Siyi sobbed:
"it is good……"

Little Sique took out a star necklace from her arms.

"Then wear this parting gift, which I made last night."

He put the necklace on Siyi's neck:

"This way, no matter what you become, I will recognize you at a glance when I see you."

"My first protagonist...I will come to you."

……

[“I have a brother… but he is gone too.” Siyi lowered her head. There was a star necklace on her neck, which was left to her by her brother.]

……

——The strong children have all left the village, so there must be children who stay to help grandma-in-law harvest the wheat, right?
The little magpie smiled, turned its back and walked out, followed by a large group of villagers.

——This time, the child who stayed to help grandma-in-law harvest wheat took them out.

Later, over the thousands of years, he drank the same glass of wine with the wise men of ancient Greece, shared the same law of gravity with the first apple that fell, and sang the same poem with the crows at the Tower of Babel.

He left behind a brilliant, romantic, lasting epic that spans epochs.

He defeated the "monster" that would appear at the age of sixteen or seventeen, and became a child who always remained spiritual and romantic.

He flew high over the Islands of Adventure, retrieving treasure from the mist again and again. His candy jar was always full and the ceiling was always covered with stars.

One day, he completed the thrilling adventure and became a hero known to the world...looking back.

——A pure white city, shining brightly in the distant game.

"Finally, the protagonist and his companions entered the inner city, met the most powerful mechanical goddess in the city, and started the ultimate duel..."

……

[At eight o'clock in the morning. Su Mingan entered the core building of the floating city.

Xiao Su and Xiao Nuo seem to have reached the final moment of the plot: Xiao Su is challenging the strongest person in the city - the Mechanical Mother Goddess. 】

……

"The bride and groom defeated the Mechanical Mother Goddess in the Colosseum, but the fertility problem in the floating city was still not solved. At this time, the heroine Siyi walked into the Colosseum..."

……

[Su Mingan watched Siyi walk towards the Mechanical Mother Goddess step by step. There was no fear or trepidation on her face. She just kept holding the star necklace that her brother left for her.

The thin girl, with a frail body and skinny legs, walked towards the altar step by step.

……

"In order to save the future of the floating city, the girl decided to sacrifice herself and make a reproduction machine..."

……

【Then,
The girl looked at them.

——The chosen "child" looked at these "adults". 】

……

The heroine holds a quill.

She did not follow the plot, but rewrote the story that Xiao Si Que told her in the white space and wrote her own story.

Siyi.

It was Si Que who wrote this world, and she gradually enriched it over the long years, making it a complete world, and she held the feather pen to rewrite this world.

Therefore, she is——

——Floating City in the Daytime, the Supreme Lord, Siyi.

……

【“Yes.” The white-haired young man knelt on one knee and lowered his head.

"I obey your orders, Most High Lord."]

……

"Little magpie."

"You finally... came to see me?"

"The wheat is still lying in my bedside table."

"I want to give it... to you."

……