I am aging gracefully in the world of famous books

Accompanied by the sound of wind and rain outside the window, Pei Xiang listened intently to the little girl Lilia telling a story in the book.

"After the witch Alice left Helena as a guest, she ordered the maid to put a fishtail skirt studded with pearls on the guest, treat him to eat all kinds of delicious fish, shrimp, sea mushrooms and seaweed, and let him sleep in a huge comfortable light blue bed. among the colored scallops.

"Helena received the best hospitality, but he was not happy at all. Whenever the golden seahorse played the tortoiseshell harp, Helena would stand on the highest point of the palace and look at the schools of glowing fish in the deep sea, wrinkled tightly. frowning..."

——*——

"My friend, why are you always so sad?" Witch Alice looked at Helena puzzled, "Is it the rude octopus who secretly bullied you behind my back?"

"No, Your Highness Alice, the sea people here are very friendly to me, no one bullies me."

"Then why..."

"Your Highness Alice, I am very grateful for your kindness and generosity to me. However, whenever I feel that life is so happy, I can't help but think of my human friend Alice.

"I am very worried about her, Your Highness. She is a sacrifice given to the Lord of the Sea Clan by the human kingdom. She may lose her young life one day. Just thinking of... thinking of my good friend will sleep forever In the depths of the sea, far away from my family and my homeland, I can no longer be happy."

After listening to Helena's explanation, the witch was neither angry nor impatient, but said happily:

"The reason why I kept you as a guest is that I like your courage to take risks for your friends. If you turn around and forget about that Alice, I will drive you out of my palace instead, Helena."

These words made Helena's eyes brighten instantly. He looked at the witch with full expectation, and asked hurriedly:

"Then, can you help me? Help me and Alice! Your Highness, if someone must become the sacrifice of the Lord of the Sea Clan, I am willing to sacrifice my life instead of Alice. Please let her go." , let her go back to her father and be a happy and lovely little daughter."

"What about you, Helena? You are also young and beautiful, and you are willing to suffer bad luck instead of your friend?"

"I am willing, Your Highness." Helena said without hesitation.

Witch Alice looked at the firm-eyed Helena in amazement, and suddenly envied that girl named AndAlice. She was so lucky to have such a sincere friend.

However, the witch didn't completely believe Helena's words right away. She tested Helena in many ways and tested his friendship with human Alice.

The witch was very satisfied with the result, because no matter wealth, power, or a handsome and affectionate suitor, Helena could not shake Helena's sincerity in wanting to rescue her friend.

"Helena, I understand your intentions, I will intercede with His Majesty, and ask him to release the human Alice and let her return to her hometown of Burleigh safely."

The witch's promise made Heqiu, who was disguised as Helena, smile happily.After getting along with each other these days, he has already learned that this witch may have many shortcomings, but she is very committed to her promise, as long as it is something she promised, she will never go back on it.

"This, this is really great, and a little unexpected!"

Helena hugged the witch excitedly, and said loudly:

"If Alice can leave the bottom of the sea safely, I am willing to replace her as the sacrifice of the Lord of the Sea Clan. Your Highness, please let me have an audience with His Majesty, let me talk to him, he will be satisfied with my new sacrifice, I The heart is also hot and fresh."

Witch Alice shook her head and laughed:

"Helena, in fact, I have always wanted to tell you that Alice, who was sacrificed, will not lose her life. She and the human girls before her are living well. In fact, the Lord of the Sea Clan does not need a human heart. He just needs someone to live honestly by the cracks in the abyss."

Helena opened her mouth wide in surprise, and he stared at Witch Alice with an extremely varied expression on his face:

"Won't die?"

"Of course," the witch Alice's tone was full of pride in the success of the prank, "are you surprised, Helena? You humans describe the Lord of the Sea Clan as an ugly monster who likes to eat children, so we simply ask you for a sacrifice." Pin', anyway...we really don't care about human life or death, just like your nautical warriors always show off killing sea people."

"Wait, Your Highness Alice, wait, your words confuse me," Helena murmured, grabbing the pearls on the mermaid skirt, "It's great that everyone is alive...but why did you let those Where are the girls living next to the cracks in the abyss? Forcing them to be separated from their relatives in their hometown... just to retaliate against some rumors?"

Witch Alice sneered and raised her eyebrows:

"Your Majesty is not that boring. We let you select qualified humans and send them to the bottom of the sea. Naturally, it will be useful."

"What's the use?" Helena asked hastily.

But this time, the witch Alice no longer answered Helena's question, she just lazily said:

"Your Majesty has gone to fight in the abyss connected to hell. After he subdues those arrogant and greedy one-horned three-eyed monsters, he will return to the palace. At that time, I will explain your brave deeds to him and ask him Release that girl named Andy Alice. Please rest assured, Helena, she is only a human being, and His Majesty will not reject me."

The heart of He Qiu in Helena's version was moved. He heard the word "Abyss" many times from the mouth of the witch, and also heard that the Lord of the Sea Clan was busy fighting with the mysterious and powerful one-horned three-eyed monster clan, and many thoughts came to him instantly. .

In the deepest part of the warrior He Qiu's mind, he always remembers the secret order of the archbishop before he left, remembers the human kingdom's fear of the sea clan lord these years, remembers the solemn oath and love for the motherland when he became a knight...

"Your Highness, may I meet my friend first?"

"No, Helena, without His Majesty's permission, no one can approach the abyss crack for no reason. I will not disobey His Majesty's will for you. However, I can assure you that your human friend Alice will be safe and sound, as long as When His Majesty returns triumphantly, I will intercede for you and Alice."

Helena let out an "um" in disappointment, and immediately showed a hopeful smile.

He stared deeply at the witch Alice, and half-truly expressed his gratitude to her.He said that if it wasn't for the great disparity between the identities of the two parties, and the witch Alice's temperament was too noble, and her magic power was too powerful, he would definitely regard her as his closest friend.

The witch, who has always been envious of the friendship between Helena and Alice, couldn't help being touched after hearing this confession.

After that day, Helena no longer was depressed all day long, but spent most of her energy on accompanying and pleasing the witch Alice.

As time goes by, the Witch's trust in Helena is getting deeper and deeper...

——*——

The sound of wind and rain outside the window gradually died down, and Lilia's story was coming to an end.In the dim room, she retells the content of the stories she heard as a child with a sweet and gentle voice, trying not to ignore any plot of the story.

"Once, the witch left the deep sea at the suggestion of Helena, and the two held hands and ran to the human city to play. It was very hot, and Helena kept making Alice laugh. The two of them ran and jumped, and soon felt thirsty. .

"So, under Helena's recommendation, Alice drank a glass of cool and delicious malt wine in a novelty. After quenching her thirst, the witch suddenly felt in a particularly good mood. She had never felt so happy and relaxed. She wanted to be with her good friends I was happy, so I told Helena a secret."

Pei Xiang raised his eyebrows slightly, a little suspicious in his heart, and told her instinctively that there might be something wrong with the glass of malt wine that the witch drank.However, Lilia's story was still going on, so she had no choice but to temporarily suppress the speculation in her heart and listen carefully.

"Witch Alice told Helena that the reason why the Lord of the Sea Clan allowed humans to live next to the cracks in the abyss was to use human physique to resist the evil aura overflowing from the cracks.

"It is said that those evil breaths will pollute the sea water, pollute the fish, and make the newborn babies of the Sea Clan weak, sick, and even die. Only the pure and kind people among human beings can purify those evil breaths.

"When those turbulent abyssal demonic energy hits a person with a pure heart, it will turn into a deep red coral, and then be sent to the bottom of the sea by streams of water. Home to some small fish."

Hearing this, Pei Xiang was in a daze for a moment.

She especially wanted to know, since pure and kind people can purify the evil abyssal energy, why only girls are chosen as "sacrifices"? Is there no pure and kind man among human boys?

At this time, listening to Lilia's preaching, Helena also asked the same question to Witch Alice, and then Witch Alice said indifferently:

"How do I know? Anyway, we told your kings and nobles the conditions for selecting candidates. From now on, the 'sacrifices' sent by humans every time are girls. I still want to ask, you guys Are human men all bad? There is no one who is kind and pure?"

Pei Xiang blinked, thinking, the right to choose the "sacrifice" is generally in the hands of men, do they do this, are they patriarchal or look down on their own sex?Or... Some people have misunderstood, thinking that the so-called "sacrifice" is not only a "sacrifice", but may also become the woman of the Great Demon King?

She thought wildly for a while, then resumed her concentration on the story.

Lilia turned over, lay on her side and said softly:

"Helena is very worried about the physical condition of those human girls, fearing that they will be harmed by filth and evil spirits. But the witch said that as long as the souls of those girls are always bright and pure, evil spirits cannot harm them, just like, um, some vicious dark wizards It's like never being able to truly curse a kind-hearted creature.

"After hearing the witch's explanation, Helena finally stopped worrying about Alice's safety all the time, because he firmly believed that there is no more pure and beautiful girl than Alice in this world."

Pei Xiang shook his head silently, thinking that the setting of "pure and kind" is invincible in the fairy tale world.

If she is not mistaken, the little girl beside her who is telling her a story is the heroine in "The Wild Swan", and she will also be cursed by the witch's stepmother in the future.

Then, relying on her kind and pure heart, she resisted the invasion of evil magic. Not only did she not become a stupid, poisonous and ugly person because of the toad hidden in the water, she also turned the three magical toads kissed by the witch into Became three flowers, ignorantly transforming ugliness into beauty.

"Well, but human nature is not static."

Pei Xiang subconsciously touched the dagger under the pillow, and thought to himself:

"This story doesn't make it clear. If those once pure and kind girls changed their minds, what would happen to them? However, it would not be too good to think about it. After all, they live near the cracks in the abyss of the sea, and they are always in contact with evil spirits." Together, sooner or later they will be corroded. Then...they will die at the bottom of the sea?"

"It's absolutely impossible. Once they lose the function of 'sacrifice', they will immediately be sent to land by sea snakes and sharks." Pei Xiang's cold voice sounded in his mind.

"Why? It is said that the lord of the Sea Clan hates humans. Would he devote all his energy to taking care of the 'sacrifice''s health, and then send them away when he finds something is wrong? Oh, he is not worthy of it' Big Demon King' is such a horrible title." Pei Xiang teased.

She didn't deliberately conceal her curiosity and probing intentions, she just wanted to know the attitude of Dagger towards the Lord of the Sea Clan.

Dagger did not evade this time, and directly declared: "He deserves everything, whether it is slander or praise."

Pei Xiang was surprised by the determination in the tone of the dagger, and blurted out:

"Are you a fanatical and loyal believer of the Lord of the Sea Clan?"

"No, I only believe in the Lord of All Things."

"Oh, well, the proud Dagger doesn't believe in His Majesty Asfar," Pei Xiang murmured, "but you have a deep affection for him. Do you know him? Or was he influenced by some existence, such as Hai Witch?"

Dagger responded to Pei Xiang's question with silence.

Pei Xiang did not pursue the details, but went back to the previous question:

"Why does His Majesty Asfar send humans who can no longer resist the demonic energy of the abyss back to land instead of letting them fend for themselves."

"The bottom of the sea is so beautiful, what qualifications do useless human beings have to live for a long time? Their souls are already turbid, and they will cause many disasters, whether they are alive or after death, and they will naturally be driven to land. This...is His Majesty Esfar of wisdom."

Pei Xiang choked, thinking this is really a vivid interpretation of "you can't die somewhere".

"You know His Majesty Asfar's thoughts very well? Don't tell me that you talked with him like this 1000 years ago."

"...Thousands of years ago, I didn't fall into a deep sleep, and I did know a lot about the Sea Clan."

"So, what are you? What is your relationship with the sea witch? She sent you to me to help me break the spell?"

Dagger still refused to talk about topics related to identity, he said lightly:

"You should get back to your bedtime story, little girl."

Then, without waiting for Pei Xiang to say anything, the dagger fell silent unilaterally, leaving only a faint sense of connection.

Pei Xiang pursed her lips, thinking that no matter which world she was in, this impolite behavior of ending the call abruptly should be criticized.

At this time, Lilia finished talking about the various interesting stories that the witch Lilia and Helena encountered in the human town. She yawned a little, rubbed her eyes and whispered:

"The two returned to the bottom of the sea again, and their relationship became closer. The witch Alice has never liked a friend so much, and she hopes that Helena can stay at the bottom of the sea forever to accompany her.

"Half a month later, the silver dolphin brought good news, saying that His Majesty Esfar completely defeated the abyss monster that was about to invade the ocean, and successfully sealed the abyss crack connecting Hell, and he is already returning to the palace. on the way.

"The good news made the whole Sea Clan very excited. They are talking about His Majesty's affairs every day, and they are also keen to inquire about the details of this great victory. The conchs who sent the message reported that His Majesty is very grateful to those who helped to purify the evil energy of the abyss." Human beings were very satisfied and decided to commend them at the celebration banquet, and gave them mermaid bloodlines with a lifespan of 300 years, turning them from short-lived two-legged races into noble sea races.

"This news made the witch Alice very happy, but Helena was not happy. The two had their first dispute after becoming friends. Later, Helena convinced the witch Alice and let her understand that not everyone is happy. It lives forever on the bottom of the sea for a lifespan of 300 years.

"So, with the help of the witch Alice, Helena finally met her human friend Alice. After some twists and turns, Helena and Alice finally left the underwater world and returned to their hometown safely... Yawn... Story It's over, so sleepy... Amy, good night..."

Lilia, who finished the story in one breath, finally couldn't resist the dream elf's call, closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep as soon as she finished telling the ending, leaving Pei Xiang with her big clear eyes open and loving herself quietly.

--persuade?How did you convince me?help?how to helpWhat twists and turns?

Of course she knew that Lilia's story was probably incomplete, but she didn't expect that it would have such a high-intensity and general unfinished ending.

——On the eve of the upcoming appearance of the key character, the Lord of the Sea Clan, the story ended so hastily!

——Even if His Majesty Asfar showed up?

Pei Xiang gently turned over on the bed, trying to brew sleep.

At some point outside the window, it began to drizzle lightly, bringing a bit of coolness unique to summer rainy nights. Pei Xiang slowly calmed down, allowing the little sleepiness to gradually pervade his whole body.

However, before falling asleep, she couldn't hold back and asked one more question:

"Is His Majesty Asfar handsome enough 1000 years ago?"

——The appearance of the villain has a great influence on the excitement of the story. It is too hard to follow the drama in another world, and it needs some superficial but real motivation.

Dagger didn't answer Pei Xiang's question immediately, he seemed to be caught in some kind of hesitation and entanglement.

Pei Xiang waited for a while, but gradually fell asleep without hearing a response.

It wasn't until Pei Xiang's consciousness fell asleep that the dagger came back to his senses and said slowly:

"First of all, you need to know that Asfar is not human. Secondly, he doesn't agree with human's definition of beauty and ugliness. Finally, he should be able to change his appearance at will... Well, Amy, are you asleep?"

Pei Xiang, who fell asleep and was awakened by the voice in his head: "... already asleep, good night."

——It seems that he is definitely not handsome enough to be able to make such a fanatic fan of the dagger answer so obliquely and non-positively.

——No, remove the filter, the truth is probably worse.

— Forget it, go to sleep.Asleep, the little fairy has everything in her dream.