Forces of Temptation

When the one-legged tin soldier turned out of the messy maze of bookshelves with Jiang Fang with a sullen face, Nan Zhou was sitting on the floor beside the chess table.

He put one foot cautiously against the crack of the door, as if worried that the door would suddenly close.

The light from outside the door was like vines, climbing all the way along his ankles, and the bright light cast on him, making him look like the light itself.

The stories that belonged to Jiang Fang were laid on his knees in an orderly manner.

Nan Zhou sat very close to the mummy.

The mummy had already sat stiff on the stool.

No one knows how long it has been here.

Its clothes are rotten, its skin is peeling off, and it can barely maintain the shelf of one person.

Because its back faces the chessboard for a long time, it is bent like a pot.

Even so, when the light came in, it still struggled to raise its face from the chessboard, regardless of the skin flakes and pieces of flesh that had fallen from its body, looking eagerly, greedily, and full of light at the outside.

This is the limit that it can reach with all its strength.

When Jiang Fang came out, Nan Zhou was trying to talk to it: "How long have you been here?"

Mummy: "..."

Nanzhou: "It's been a long time. You should also be a game player."

Mummy: "..."

Nan Zhou: "Can you understand me?"

Mummy: "..."

Nanzhou: "Hello?"

Nan Zhou's perseverance made his face, which seemed so cold and unreal, look extremely lively and lovely.

The one-legged tin soldier put Jiang Fang down, skipped step by step, and went to look for Li Yinhang deep in the bookshelf.

The game was over, and Jiang Fang, who was slowly absorbing his own memory from the book, walked up to him with a faint smile: "What are you talking about? Can you bring me one?"

Nan Zhou stopped the one-sided chat with the mummy, and looked at Jiang Fang: "You were in danger just now."

"It's careless."

Jiang Fang completely dismantled the scorpiontail braids that were loosened during the fight, and while re-braiding, wrote lightly: "The original plan was to be eaten until the age of 19. Up to the age of 22."

The variable falls on the tin soldiers who patrol every half an hour.

It would be safest if the chess game could be overturned within half an hour when the tin soldiers could not be dispatched.

Nanzhou still disapproved of his risky move: "You can wait a little longer."

Jiang Fang shrugged indifferently: "They have already decided three games, and I just waited for this opportunity. If I miss this time, who knows how long it will take to get to an ideal 'general' situation?"

As he said that, he tilted his head slightly, and then showed a brilliant smile to Nan Zhou: "Besides, I trust you, don't I?"

For some reason, Nan Zhou seemed unwilling to look directly at him.

He replied vaguely, "No."

Then, he handed back Jiang Fang's book on his knee.

Jiang Fang took it over: "Did you take a peek?"

Nan Zhou shook his head: "No."

Jiang Fang: "..." Tsk.

He couldn't tell if he was happy or depressed.

This is an extra gamble that Jiang Fang set for himself apart from this game.

He bet that Nanzhou's curiosity would allow him to peek at his secrets.

Ever since reuniting with Nan Zhou on the bus, Jiang Fang has been thinking whether to tell him about the past, or stop mentioning the past and start from scratch.

He wanted Nan Zhou to see some things that were difficult to put into words, but he was worried that he would see them.

Therefore, he chose to use the game to take a risk and entrust his thoughts and memories to Nan Zhou.

He bet that Nan Zhou would see it.

However, I lost to him again.

...For some reason, every time Jiang Fang wanted to gamble with Nan Zhou, he would definitely lose to him.

Jiang Fang laughed secretly, but when he took the book, his fingertips paused subtly.

Probably because nine-tenths of his stories were eaten up by the book, and he was not in a good mood after eating nine-tenths of it and forcing him to vomit it all out.

Therefore, Jiang Fang's memory recovery was a bit slow.

When memories re-injected into the mind, there will be a trace of strangeness, so Jiang Fang took some time to adapt and clarify.

When the story is still text, it is told from a third-person point of view.

Among countless quick flashbacks of memory fragments, Jiang Fang suddenly discovered that there was something strange and unfamiliar in his memory after he was nine years old.

——It seems that he once owned a healing tree house with a construction area of ​​about 20 square meters on a huge tree.

"The house was built by Jiang Fang, his father and mother together."

"In the house, there are endless desserts, fruits, endless toys, endless books, a group photo of Jiang Fang's family, a warm and safe fireplace, and the world's most Soft bed, the softest blanket."

"After that, every time he encounters painful things, he will hide here."

"When he is sad, the sky will rain for him."

"The rain falls on the wooden roof and the fire burns on the safety charcoal, making a pleasant white noise."

"He slept peacefully to the sound of rain and fire."

"When I wake up, all the pain fades away."

Jiang Fang frowned slightly.

The content of this memory is contrary to his logic.

His original home was in a steel forest.

There is indeed a forest park a few kilometers away from home.

When I was young, my father took my mother and him there for a picnic.

But since he was nine years old, he has no such memories.

He travels between the aboveground and the underworld of Kiev.

Where would he have room to buy himself a bed and blankets when he was sending his mother to an alcohol and drug rehab center?

Even if there is such an ideal harbor, he has no time to live there.

As for the photo with parents, it is even more nonsense.

After getting very drunk, my mother burned all the family photos with her father.

Ten-year-old Jiang Fang wanted to hide the last photo in his wallet, but his mother who was on the verge of madness snatched it away.

He could only watch helplessly as the photo and the wallet his father bought him were swallowed by the fire.

All in all, children need this kind of tree house where they can heal their wounds after being hit and fall asleep.

……

However, the source of this strange memory is not difficult to find.

After thinking about it for a while, Jiang Fang lowered his silver eyes slightly, and a feeling of warmth crept into his heart.

There is a person who wants to fabricate a warm memory for him after getting his memory book.

The false memory of him sleeping in the softest bed in the world under the softest blanket in the world was a soft leaden gray.

...The color is very similar to the pencils used by Nan Zhou when he draws sketches these days.

Jiang Fang's heart was burned by this warmth.

The slight tingling pain hidden behind the warmth made him almost flustered.

In order to conceal the feeling of kissing his heart that was almost uncontrollable in his heart, Jiang Fang deliberately put on a gesture of indifference, and asked with a smile, "You said you didn't peek?"

Nan Zhou sighed lightly.

Still didn't hide it.

It seems that this book will not absorb and assimilate memories that did not belong to the original owner.

So, he said honestly, "I didn't peek."

"I used the directory to find your nine-year-old location, and picked up the blank space with a pen to write. I blocked your other stories, and I didn't even read them at a glance."

Jiang Fang didn't expect that the more he talked to Nan Zhou, the more he couldn't help liking him.

When it comes to love, he just can't admit that he likes someone.

Therefore, he couldn't help but started picking on the thorns in that beautiful story: "How could someone light a fire in the tree house?"

Nan Zhou: "As I said, it's a safe fireplace and charcoal." I also emphasized it twice.

Jiang Fang: "Dessert and fruit, you want to eat."

Nan Zhou: "Yes. That's very happy."

Jiang Fang: "When a person is sad, the sky will not rain just for him. Besides, when it rains, the tree house will get damp."

Nan Zhou: "I know. But the sound of rain can make people feel calm. I want your story to rain, and it will rain."

Jiang Fang laughed: "That's a fairy tale, not reality."

Nan Zhou: "I know."

Nan Zhou: "But I want to give you fairy tales."

Jiang Fang was dumbfounded.

He rubbed his head half-smiling and half-seriously: "How did you grow?"

In such a lonely, desperate, filthy, endless quagmire, why does such a gentle flower bloom?

Nan Zhou showed his usual seriousness and replied, "It's a long day."

Nan Zhou thought about it, combined with his own experience, and said: "Fairy tales, some are fake, and some may be true. If you don't believe it, it will never be true."

Jiang Fang focused on the tear mole under Nan Zhou's eyes.

The fairy tales he once believed in before, but refused to believe later, are now standing before his eyes.

His cheeks were warm and his eyes were bright.

Jiang Fang finally smiled sincerely again.

"Okay, I believe it."

The memories of the wooden house were automatically corrected and gradually erased from Jiang Fang's memory.

But this bit of warmth lingered in his heart.

It seemed solid, fluffy, and rubbed against him warmly.

Like a house cat.

Suddenly, in the maze of bookshelves, the one-legged tin soldier poked his head crookedly from above the bookshelves.

It became angry and said: "Please let your friend come out and stop hiding! I explained to her that the game is over, but she won't listen to me!"

It was only then that Nanzhou discovered that Li Yinhang hadn't come out for a long time.

At times like this, she is quite remorseful.

If it wasn't for the safety guarantee from her teammates, she would take it all as fake.

Even though the chasing sound of the big leather boots behind her had disappeared, she still didn't believe a word of what the tin soldier said, and just walked back and forth among the bookshelves to hide.

The one-legged tin soldier leaned on one leg, unable to catch up with her.

After a long rest, Nan Zhou's spirit also recovered a lot.

He stood up, told Jiang Fang to keep an eye on the door, and started to move towards the inside of the bookshelf maze.

When rubbing shoulders with Jiang Fang, he accidentally touched his shoulder.

Jiang Fang, who was a little distracted, failed to hold the book, and the book fell to the ground with a slap.

Jiang Fang signaled that he would pick it up and let Nan Zhou go first.

So Nan Zhou walked quickly to the depths of the bookshelf.

The spine of the book in Jiang Fang's hand fell to the ground first.

The book is facing upwards, with a page open.

There are still some characters on it that have not completely disappeared.

When Jiang Fang was about to bend down to pick it up, his eyebrows frowned when he saw the indistinct words on it.

【"Boss, we can listen to you for everything, but letting him out is impossible."】

【"He's a boss, boss, you can't treat him as a human just because he has a human face?"】

【"He's in your backpack now, of course you have the final say. Why do you have to let him out? It's the safest way."】

【"Boss, how sure are you that you can completely guarantee that he won't hurt us?】

["Heaven and earth conscience, boss, I assure you, I have never played "Eternal Day" at all, and I have never killed him, but he is recognized as the dungeon boss with the highest fatality rate, which is something everyone knows. Boss, Don’t make things difficult for us, do you want us to believe that he will have goodwill towards our players?”]

【Jiang Fang heard the collective protest of the team members, fell silent and thought. 】

【He said: "Then let him out after a while."】

Jiang Fang lowered his silver eyelashes, picked up the book, pinched the seam of the book, and held it firmly in his hand.

It seemed that it was a past that he couldn't bear to look back on.