【Ma Ai】Island of Illusion

It was a long time waiting for Dad to wake up.They could neither walk away nor take him by force.

The setting sun turns from bright orange to dull red, the clouds thicken, and the sunlight coats them with eye-catching golden edges.Lemon stays by Yaji's side affectionately, letting her mother lick the wound obediently.Ace will not come to trouble them for the time being, not to mention that they will bring their sleeping friends to the other side of the cliff, so they can only wait for Dad to wake up.

Marco is teaching Ace a simple game.

The stone is 0, the branch is 1, and there are only nine spaces where you can put things in. Whoever is the first to line up in a straight line wins.It's a game Marco has been playing since he was a child, but he hasn't played it since he was an adult.He is a master, but it doesn't mean he likes this childish thing.

Playing this purely out of boredom.Then there's the fact that Ace needs something else to focus his attention on.The blood loss and hunger made him very listless and his vision was blurred.Marko hopes he will be awake and alive until he meets the players.

Marko was the first to arrange the stones representing 0 in a straight line.Ace sighed, and took out the stone and stick from the grid.

"It's too hard," he muttered.He showed great interest in this game, but the god of luck was never on his side, "Why does it look so simple but I'm always one step short."

Marco knew the trick, but he didn't say it.As long as the desire to win is maintained, Ace has enough motivation to maintain the spirit.

"Can you do it again? Maybe your chance will come next time." Marco still chose to put the stone in the top corner box.Ace frowned and thought for a long time before placing the stick in an outer frame.

Marco sensed Ace's strange clumsiness.When he was knitting a straw hat before, Marco felt that something was wrong. When he was careful, his movements would appear stiff and unable to let go.Just like now, he put down the stick, withdrew his hands, and then hid them in his cross-legged thighs.There's nothing weird about the action, but there's always a strong sense of incongruity.

It's like he's never done it before.Some people think that they are introverted and self-closing, and gradually lose the ability to communicate with others. When they speak again one day, what they say will be confusing.Ace is kind of like that, he's resistant to certain subconscious awakenings within him, and he's unfamiliar with how to embody them.

While waiting for Marco's next move, he pulled out his hand and scratched his neck. He didn't notice the wound on his neck and directly scratched the blood.

"What a hassle." He complained softly.

"Don't be too impatient, it's your turn now."

Ace thought for a while, and finally threw the stick into the space below.

"I won." Marko said, raising his eyebrows.He picked up one of the stones lined up and tossed it up and down.Ace spread his hands helplessly: "Even if I continue to play, I have no chance of winning."

"Why don't you put the chess pieces here?" Marco threw the stone in his hand to the center of the nine squares, and the stone above the original position was smashed away, "From the beginning until now, I haven't seen you Which time did you put the pawns here, if you did this, at least it would make us a tie."

"I'm not interested in a draw, I just want to win," Ace said. "Only win."

why?

Marco felt that as he deepened his understanding of Ace, he was also increasing his doubts about him.His existence is like a labyrinth, and the more he goes inside, the more he can't see the end.In other words, he himself has incompatible contradictions, and the irreconcilable conflicts make him a weird complex.Brave and timid, confident and confused, strong and weak.

Ace cleaned up the stone sticks on the ground, he looked at Marco and asked if he wanted another set——

Marco suddenly understood, it was an instant.Either it's Ace's unnatural facial expression, or the words he's said once combined into a coherent picture with questions written all over it.Marco read certain key words from Ace's eyes and got the key to unlock the answer.People are strange, a lot of estimates and calculations are often not as effective as sudden inspiration.His senses flashed for an instant, and he caught them keenly.But is such a thing believable?What if things were not as he explained?

Ace noticed that Marco was staring at him, eyes straight.He wanted to feel if there was something extra on his face, but he accidentally poked the corner of his eye with a branch in his hand.

"What's wrong?" they asked at the same time.Ace rubbed the corners of his eyes vigorously, his eyes were fiery red.

"I asked you first, are your eyes okay?" Marco decided to temporarily put the so-called answer aside, he stretched out his hand to look at Ace's eyes, but stopped halfway through the movement—— He hears Dad's muffled voice - Ace gives him a quick look, then stands up.

"Father is awake."

Marco nodded.Yaji on the side was also calling, his voice full of excitement.The sky has become dark, the sun has scattered the sky, and night has begun to fall.

"Do you want to try this?" Dad's face was as red as an overcooked shrimp, and his sleep failed to wake him up completely. Instead, he was shaking under the repeated fermentation of alcohol.He cheerfully pointed at the lemon, beckoning Ace and Marco to sit on it together. "Ace, you should shake hands with the little guy. In the age of animals, he is about the same age as you. You can try to be friends. Without their help, we will not be able to cross this cliff."

Aki stuck out his long tongue and licked his face.The old man seemed very happy, and Marco thought he was completely drunk, and whether he could sit still was also a problem.

Ace stood in front of the lemon, stroking its head hesitantly.It was his hunting target a few hours ago, and it looks so cute now.The little one rubbed against him with its huge snout too, and its breath could blow Ace's hair up.

"Lemon? It sounds like a fruit." Ace said, "Yellow and sour, Sachi can use it to pour ramen noodles with gravy."

Lemon sticks out its tongue.It lifted its head and poked its tongue into a bush not far away. When it came back, a bunch of bright white fruits rolled on its tongue.It put the fruit in Ace's arms, and then licked his face, leaving a big puddle of saliva.

"Good luck." Dad laughed drunkenly. "It seems that he likes you very much, and he doesn't care about the past. Then let's go, or it will be too late."

The jungle in the twilight was like any jungle they had ever seen.Mosquitoes are everywhere, and from time to time, unknown animals will come out from the side, and they will be scared away by the huge Aki mother and child.Ace sat alone on Lemon, and Marco helped his father to sit on Yaji in front. They could feel that the road was not very smooth from the ups and downs of the animals. Occasionally pass through places where the tree canopy is relatively thin to see the dark sky.

Ace wolfed down the bunch of delicious fruit, and his stomach, which had been screaming all the way, finally stopped for a while.He opened his eyes wide and looked ahead, he could only see the vague figure shaking, he couldn't tell whether it was Ya Ji's, Dad's or the darkness itself.Ace's mind went through a brief period of blankness, and he was calm, even a little sleepy.There was a damp smell of shrubs in the air. Unlike the daytime, this smell was very fresh, a bit like the smell of refurbished soil after the rain.

He yawned, rubbing his fingers against Lemon's rough back.

"Can you understand the birds?" he suddenly whispered into the darkness.

Marco sees fireflies.The little night elves are dancing in groups in the jungle, the green light flickering, like dilapidated and stubborn pathfinder lights.He remembered that Bramank had caught thousands of fireflies before, and he gathered these little things in a transparent gauze bag, and tied them by the window of Harta at night.It was Harta's birthday that day, but it was a pity that Harta was so drunk that night that he couldn't see this strange and imaginative gift.Finally Bramank opened the paper bags and let them all go in the bow, he was there.There were only him and Bramank in the bow, he said it was a pity, Bramank unexpectedly replied, no——

At least it can enter everyone's dreams in the dark.Bramank said.He laughed at him at that time, what is this?

Man's romance?If you don't come here, it's as meaningless as every love word you say to a woman.

He didn't see anything shiny in his dreams that night.

Marco subconsciously rubbed his lips with his fingers.He thought of women.It was clearly an inopportune moment, but he did remember it.The image of a woman is actually a very vague concept in his mind. He can find what he likes among the women, pure or seductive, as long as he feels right, he will like it.But he often couldn't remember their faces afterward.They are like simplified symbols, with rounded and attractive lines, but they are all the same.He found joy and comfort in their soft bodies, and had a few unforgettable memories, but in the end they all died without a problem.He's sure he's different from a playboy like Thatch, but he's having a hard time finding the difference.They are all just passing by, and they won't stop.

Time now is the mast that always sails with the wind, and drives him to the weary port.

A large group of fireflies suddenly flew up as if they were frightened. They looked chaotic and orderly, and their neat ups and downs made them look like a piece of luminous silk gliding in the dark.Looking at them, Marco suddenly felt very hungry, and his stomach kept shrinking, expanding and contracting.

He supported his father, unable to turn his head to look behind.The hunger is increasing, and there seems to be a little monster in his stomach eating away his only nutrients.

"Are you worried about something?" The old man's steady voice rang in his ears, and he felt his tall body sit up a little bit, and his sense of oppression eased, "Why don't you take a look?"

"If I'm not here, old man, you will fall down and be trampled into cakes." Marco said, he no longer cared about the anxiety and poisonous tongue he showed. After all, it was a short-term thing. Back to normal.

"Boy, if I want to now, I can fly you two into the sea together." The old man was a little dissatisfied, he didn't agree with the crew who took too seriously to stop him from drinking, and treated himself as drunk as nothing Bad old man who won't come.He moves his hips to move himself away from Marko.

"Here, isn't this good?" The old man was triumphant.

"Old man, why didn't you answer Ace's question just now? You obviously heard it."

Marco feels like an all-inclusive nanny.Not only should we care about his diet, housing and transportation, but we should also help him solve why.

"What kind of answer do you think I should give him? Marco." The old man said, his voice was controlled at a suitable frequency, so that Marco could hear clearly without being too abrupt. "He is strong enough at his age, but he keeps asking the same questions. Then he keeps challenging new opponents. He can ignore his own life in order to win. You think all he needs is mine. A word of certainty?"

Why are you turning a deaf ear to your own life?

Because that doesn't matter, I just want to win.

Marco felt that he understood everything, but his words always seemed pale.

"There are many people who are not afraid of death, but those who are brave will not frown at death. But at least they will cherish life, because there are more things in life waiting for them to do, like children, wives or parents will be There is a reason to cherish life. But Ace doesn’t have it, he can’t even find a reason why he wants to live.”

"He has been eagerly looking for the meaning of existence, and thinks that only when he becomes stronger will others see him. Life is just a tool for him, just an accessory of power. If I can definitely make him happy, then I I will praise him every day, but now I have changed my mind - if this continues, he will send himself to hell with his own hands... I hope you can help him." The old man put his big hand on Marco's head, He rarely does, especially with Marco.He sighed with a strong sense of confusion, like he wasn't sure what he was doing was right or wrong, "I don't know how many people can get into his heart, but I have no choice. I'm too old , I’m so old that I don’t know what the kid is thinking now. I’m his father in name, but I can only serve as a benchmark to point the way ahead, and I can’t get closer to solve his problems. You are different, in fact, whether it is you Still Saatchi, and Blackman, you are all unintentionally exercising the responsibility of being called a mentor. This has nothing to do with power, but the reshaping of behavior and character. You have been reforming your students, but you I just don't know."

"Now I'm going to hand over the student with the worst grades to you. Are you willing to help me wholeheartedly?" The old man leaned down and asked, "Guide him and let him learn how to treat life kindly."

"...Old man, you are really not suitable for sensationalism. What are you talking about?" Marco blushed, but fortunately no one could find out in the dark, "And I don't have the ability and qualification to teach Ace, He shouldn't be following in my footsteps, he has his own freedom."

You wouldn't think so if you knew what kind of desire was in my heart.he thought with shame.

"Ku la la la, maybe he will like it, who knows?"

Ace's voice came from behind: "What are you talking about? Dad, is the hole you said coming soon?"

Aki let out a dull roar from his nose.The old man trembled slightly: "Well, something interesting is coming." Marco wanted to shake his wings, but his father stopped him.He said, "Don't worry, your light will cover them up."

Ace felt Lemon's uneasiness, and he lay on its back, trying to hear something from its fluctuating heartbeat.

"To cross the canyon, we have to go through here. Sure enough, we are still a bit late." The old man said, "Ace, cheer up."

"I've been very energetic!" Ace responded loudly, "Is there an enemy coming?"

"Ku la la la, it's not an enemy, it's just troublesome little bastards."

Dad opened his mouth.He's still feeling drunk, but this only makes him more excited.

"You have to be careful, don't be dragged away by the night accidentally."

Marco's eyes widened.In front of them, a curtain resembling giant fireflies intertwined appeared, and jelly-like green rays of light continued to fall from the bottom edge.

Welcome to the dark amusement park.