Twilight War

04

When walking out of Paradise Lost through the noisy crowd again, I feel that everything is too quiet and illusory.

"Where do you want to go next?" Wihipel asked Zichen.

Zi Chen shook his head.

"Get in the car first." Wihipel led Zichen to his car. The silver body was as bright as a silver armor, like a restrained yet sharp emperor in the dark night.Zichen couldn't help but think of the first time he saw Vichypel, the monarch riding a white horse, in the dark night, it seemed that life and death were all in his mind.

After Zichen got into the back seat, Wisipel started the car slowly. Unlike Devon's car with a roaring engine, Wisipel's car slowly slid into the car like a very precise white silver blade. night.There was no sound, but it seemed like a lurking silver snake.

Wihipel threw a piece of clothing behind, "It's going to be cold, put it on first."

The whole car was running very smoothly, unlike Devon who deliberately dragged or drifted, giving people a very reassuring feeling, as if falling asleep in the car seat would be very peaceful.But the speed is actually very fast, even twice that of Devon and the others. When driving on a road without other vehicles, people will forget about time and space.

The street lamps on both sides are like the stars of Asgard in the myth, never going out and never fading.

There was the song "BornToDie" in the car.

Zichen felt a little sleepy listening to the song, and was lying on the back wearing Wisipel's coat.

Later, he often recalled this road. In his memory, this road should be endless. The car like a delicate silver blade can drive forever, and he can sit in the back car forever. In the seat, wearing the clothes of Wisper, listening to the song "Borntodie".As if in a coma, he stared at Vehipel driving in front of him in a daze.

They can keep driving like this, leaving time as far behind as those street lights, and nothing can keep up with them.They were forgotten by time like this, driving on that deserted highway forever and ever.

There is no distance, no end.

04

"Get out of the car." Wihipel opened the rear door.Zichen opened his eyes in a daze, but was instantly startled by the scene in front of him.

It is the seaside, but there are countless silver-white light spots gathered on the sea, and the light spots gather like the skirt of a goddess, just like this, hanging from the nine heavens and the earth, falling on the blue sea.

Zichen ran to the beach, only to find that those silver-white light spots were silver fish.The shiny scales are like fine silver threads.It is like the masterpieces that can only be completed by dwarf craftsmen who have lived underground for a long time in mythology, because they cannot see beauty and can only live in the dark underground forever, so they devote all their lives to create the perfection that belongs to God.

There is a huge moon on the sea, which is a bit too big, as if you can clearly see every depression and every line on it.

Those silver fish kept jumping out of the sea, covered with silver moonlight, just like the fantasy land where the legendary mermaid lives.Every time it jumps out, the water drops are like silver particles.

There seemed to be countless silver coins buried beneath the surface of the sea.

Wisipel led Zichen to walk along the seashore. Wisippel wore boots inlaid with mithril and stepped on the fine stones by the sea.There is no ordinary seaside sand here, but various rounded stones, like gems in the sea water and moonlight.

Zichen took off his shoes and walked behind Wisipel barefoot.

"These are silvertails, also called silverfish. At this time of the year, when the moon is at its brightest, they will mate|mate and reproduce in this sea area. After mating|mating, they will lay their silver eggs here will die."

"And these fish eggs will be washed far away along the ocean current. When the ice and snow melt in the next year, they will be hatched. Then they will go upstream, back to the ocean, and continue their journey. the fate of the ancestors."

Zichen followed behind him and said, "Sounds quite tragic."

"Everything is like this." Wihipel looked back at Zichen.

Zichen turned around and looked at the infinite distance, all the whitebaits were chasing and courting in this sea area.It's like never getting tired.They are like a ring of fate, repeating itself over and over again.Life and death, death and life.

Perhaps this is life and death, two absolute concepts.In this way, it fit perfectly, like the Ouroboros in the Tarot - the huge Atrium Serpent Jormungandr with its own tail in its mouth.Half is the concept of life, half is the concept of death.Life and death, death and life.

No matter how you escape, you will never escape the ring formed by fate.

It's like they are driving the fastest car in the world, as fast as a silver-white blade, running endlessly on the uninhabited road, but maybe they are just driving on the ring of fate.

Zichen suddenly said softly, "Have you ever heard a saying in the Kingdom of Donghuang?"

"kindness?"

"Life is fleeting, and the world is a dream." Zichen said, looking at the whitebait in the distance.Vehipel shook his head, "No, how did you remember this sentence?"

"I just suddenly remembered that this sentence was said by Emperor Baiyu of the 24 kingdoms of Donghuang." Zichen sat on the beach, "He has been an emperor all his life. Drunk and fell into the river to die."

"It is said that the military officers all went down to the river to catch him, but they couldn't catch him even though they saw him right in front of them. And the civil servants and eunuchs kept calling him on the bank, but he just smiled and waved to them."

"Since then, the place where the banquet was held on the Qinhuai River has been called 'the emperor should not' by the world. The world calls him with the prosperity of the world, but he should not; he should not call him with the supreme emperor's position. "

"That should have happened 800 years ago." Wihipel sat down next to Zichen, watched the sea water flow over Zichen's ankles, lowered his body and rolled up the boy's trousers, revealing his slender calves.

"En." Zichen nodded, "Actually, I really like Donghuang 800 years ago."

"why?"

"Donghuang was the most fun time 800 years ago." Zichen said, "Because there were rivers and lakes at that time."

Wisper looked at Zichen.

Zichen played with the stone in his hand and continued: "The rivers and lakes 800 years ago were considered interesting. At that time, there were women in red who rode horses and ran across half of the south of the Yangtze River, there were old men in green coir who borrowed wine from the Southwest Road, and there were people who were willing to dry their lamps and pass through the Buddhist gate." The Prince Huairen who lived his whole life, and the swordsman who knows he won't survive seven days."

"But my favorite story is about Huangxuan and Chen." Zichen said.

The slightly cool water spread over the ankles, and the bright silver spots in the distance seemed to be covered with a layer of silver coins. Wisipel sat beside Zichen and listened quietly.

"In the end, there is only one country left in the 24 kingdoms, which is the current Chen Dynasty. The chaos of the country is over, but the Jianghu is still the same, and the knights don't obey the emperor's orders. Iron cavalry trampled through the rivers and lakes like they had crossed 70 countries. But the general in the court, Huangxuan Qiechen, asked himself to guard the rivers and lakes, so Emperor Qingming asked Huangxuan Qiechen to take a hundred thousand iron cavalry to the rivers and lakes."

"But Huangxuan and Chen didn't use the [-] cavalry. He came to the Jianghu to guard the Jianghu, not to kill. Back then, Huangxuan and Chenchen used a gun, and the name of the gun was Ba. At that time, Jianghu could fight I can count them with his two hands. But people in Jianghu don’t recognize guns. Guns are used to kill enemies on the battlefield, not for knights.”

"So Huang Xuan and Chen worshiped swordsman Li Aimo as his teacher, and Li Aimo's condition was that Huang Xuan and Chen's arm would be cut off after the sword was completed."

"So Huangxuan Qiechen learned swords from Li Aimo, and the sword was named Chishui Lady Xian. After three years, the sword was completed, and he created Huangxuan Nine Swords."

"On the day of Jiancheng, Huangxuan and Chen broke his own arm, but it doesn't matter, because at that time, there are already enough people who can beat him in this world." Zichen said looking at the vast sea.

Vehipel: "..."

"What do you think of this story?" Zichen asked.

"I can't tell." Wihipel shook his head.

"I can't tell." Zichen said: "The first time I heard this story was at the storyteller in Jinling. After hearing this story, many people clamored for money back. If I didn’t do it, I broke my arm first. But I didn’t retreat.”

"Is this a story?" Vehipel asked.

"It's true, 800 years ago there really was Huangxuan and Chen, and he really broke off his arm to learn the sword, and there really was a world where Huangxuan and Chen broke his arm to defend." Zichen said: "Then when I was 13 years old, I wanted to see what the rivers and lakes that could make Huangxuan Qichen break his arms were like, so I packed my things and went down the mountain by myself."

"Then what?" Vehipel asked.

"Donghuang has long since ceased to exist." Zichen said, "Those knights were all 800 years ago, and they are gone now."

"Only Brother Pao, who worshiped Guan Gong, was left. He couldn't even pull out his sword for the wanderer who drew his sword for a few taels of silver."

"Back then, the old man in green coir raincoat robbed the tribute wine given to the emperor on the Southwest Road. After he was drunk, he inscribed the stone forest wall with his sword - green sword and green coir raincoat, and asked for a pot of wine. It is said that the old man in green coir raindrops pierced the sky with sword energy, and his breath broke Triple stone. Really romantic."

"They say that the knights from the 24 countries have exhausted the 800 years of Donghuang's charm, so there will be no such knights in the world." Zichen lifted his shoes aside and walked barefoot on the gravel by the river.

"There will be no such rivers and lakes anymore."

……

05

Wihipel followed behind Zichen.

"The old man's lighthouse is over there." Vihipel raised his head and looked at the lighthouse in the distance, "Would you like to go up and have a look?"

Zichen nodded.

From here, I found that the lighthouse was so high that it almost reached into the sky, like a guardian standing at the end of the world, standing quietly for thousands of years.

The beam of the lighthouse at the top is still very penetrating even in such a well-lit night, shooting into the distant sea.

The spiral staircase was already very worn out, creaking as if it would break at any moment.

"I didn't expect someone to visit me at this late hour." Hearing the creaking of the steps, the tower guard said without turning his head.

"There are whitebait outside today, why don't you go and see it? It's very beautiful. Why don't you—" Zichen just wanted the old man to go out to watch the fish with them, when he saw the half-baked silver fish in the old man's hand. A grilled fish with shaved silver scales.

God, those beautiful mermaid-like miracles were eaten by him like this! ! !

Zichen suspects that even if he catches a mermaid one day, the tower guard old man will be very happy to say, hey buddy, we have something tonight.

Then make mermaids for dinner.

"You think I think so? Once the whitebait comes, the other fish will run away. This kind of fish is so small that you can't catch enough to eat. The scales are thin and soft, and it's not easy to scrape, and the meat is very small. But it's very fragrant. How about two, I caught a lot." After speaking, he handed over the two fish that had been directly pierced on the iron spit, "But you have to grill it yourself."

Zichen shook his head quickly.

"You scared him." Wisipel sat next to him and didn't touch the whitebait. Only the old man who guarded the tower was eating the roasted golden whitebait, muttering while eating. It smells so good.

"Hey, by the way, I heard that you are looking for Yermungandr." The old man who guarded the tower suddenly muttered halfway through eating, still looking at the half-eaten grilled fish in his hand.

"En." Vehipel nodded.

"It's been so long, why can't you let it go." The old tower guard shook his head as if he couldn't understand.

Vesper smiled slightly.

"These fish have been around for thousands of years. They come here every year and swim up foolishly. Not one of the nine thousand whitebait may be able to swim back. What are you doing when you swim back? If you make love, you will die. You Ah, even stupider than these fish." The old tower guard was still eating the fish in his hand.

"But some fish are more pitiful than you. They finally swam back and thought they could have sex, but they were eaten by me. Are you stupid?"

The fire on which the fish was roasting was crackling and crackling.

"If I were a fish, I would stay wherever the ocean current washed me away. I don't swim, how tired I am, I find a nest by myself, swim out in the morning to find some shrimps to eat, and look under the sea at night. At sunset, the whole sea turns red, it must feel like the end is coming. But there is nothing, the sea is still cold, even if it is dyed red by dusk, it is still cold, and every night I will I wonder if I will die like this, but no, then I go back to my nest like yesterday, find some food, and continue to come to the same place to watch the sunset the next day. So dead."

Wihipel listened beside him, expressionless and silent.

"If I'm lucky, I'll come out to watch the sunset one day and wait for another fish. Then we'll watch the sunset together..."

Another stupid fish.I will tell her what kind of dried shrimps are delicious and what kind of dried dried shrimps are not tasty, and watch the sea water dyed red at dusk together.

"Sounds like a good life." Wihipel smiled.

Looking out from the highest point of the lighthouse, it seems that everything has become small, and all the light spots converge into the skirt of the goddess swaying in the moonlight, like flowing rhinestones on the skirt illuminated by the lanterns.Perhaps only this kind of perspective can see some things so thoroughly, such as fate.

But some people can only do stupid things like those whitebait all the time, for thousands of years.

"Of course, it's a pretty good life." The old man guarding the tower said while chewing the fish in his mouth, his voice was indistinct.

"There is a boat outside, if you want, you can take the boat down to the sea and have fun." The old man who guarded the tower said, "But don't go too far."

"Really?" Zichen jumped out when he heard it, he didn't want to stay with this reckless old guy!

The wooden stairs were rattled by the quilt dust, and Wihipel got up, saluted and turned to leave.

When he reached the stairs, the tower guard old man suddenly said——

"There is something that I don't know if Your Highness knows?"

……

06

It was almost dawn when we returned to Paradise Lost again, and Zichen said that he was waiting for Devon and the others to come out and go back with them.Wischpel put him back in Devon's stunning roadster.

And the white car has been parked in the back, like a loyal knight, but the aura is as strong as an emperor.

After a while, Dai Wen and the others came out, and Dai Wen ran into the car and put his arms around Zichen's shoulders, "Next time you have to go in with us."

"Really, it's the most unwise decision you didn't go in. It's super cool inside! The girls are amazing! Those legs, that waist."

Another young master said, "By the way, next time you come, you must meet the proprietress of this store. It is said that she is absolutely stunning."

"Boss, shouldn't you be very old? What are you doing seeing her?" Devon frowned and urged the people behind to give him the key.

When the engine started, they squealed like ordinary dudes.Zichen turned his head and looked at the silver car behind him, and the people in the car waved to him gently.

"That's beautiful enough, it's not comparable to ordinary little girls."

"Hey, isn't it said that the proprietress is called Black Widow, be careful that she gives you...hehe"

Everyone was playing around, but Zichen just sat quietly in the corner behind the car, watching the silver-white car start slowly.Like a silver spear piercing the dawn.

"Fuck, whose car is that? It's so handsome!" Devon, who was driving, couldn't help laughing and cursing, and the people next to him couldn't help but started to play around too.

The man in the silver-white car didn't hear what the high-spirited teenagers were talking about, he just looked into the distance and drove quietly.

There are many fishes in the world, some are smart but some are stupid. The stupid fish have been swimming against the ocean current to return to the sea area they have never seen since they hatched.They have never seen the sea, but the way back seems to be engraved in their minds.As if urging his mission.That is the mission engraved in their blood and soul.

Maybe they could just stay where they are, be a smart fish, make their own nest, and find something to eat during the day.But how can it be?Whenever dusk falls and the sunset dyes the whole sea area red, that silly fish will feel that something is wrong, he can't tell what is wrong, but he just feels very sad... very sad... as if something is missing in his heart Something is the same.

Yeah... what was forgotten?

How can he?

Until he embarked on a journey again, upstream again, being a silly fish.

Only one of the nine thousand whitebait can finally return to that sea area.

He didn't know if he was the lucky one, and he didn't know if he could go back.But he can't stay in a corner forever like a smart fish.

Because he knew there was another fish... waiting for it.