【Qijie】The Kingdom of Eternal Life

On Bonayer's desk, there is a picture frame.

The photo frame is a very ordinary single photo. When Xiaojie and Qi Ya went to her for consultation, they had seen this photo frame.It's not surprising, with a wooden frame and a transparent glass top. The woman inside is sitting by the lake, with long hair flying around, one hand resting casually on the side of the guardrail, with a bright smile on her face.

I didn't think so at the time, but when I thought about it later, that posture looked like she was holding the hand of some invisible person.

They don't know exactly what the relationship between the sisters who worked together in the two places was.Did they know each other's identities when they were in the same organization, did their relationship change when they entered the tower, and even when Anmikus invited Bonaye out and killed her on the rooftop, did they have any questions? Xiaojie had no idea what kind of communication he had.

Although he guessed that Bonaye probably didn't know all this, and Anmikus really hated her sister in her heart-the smashing of her right arm was the best proof.Based on this speculation, he deduced that Anmikus knew everything, but didn't tell Bonaye anything, and just watched the life of her sister who had abandoned her and almost killed her.Because she probably used her true identity to catch Bonaye and kill her on the rooftop.

But in the end there was one piece of evidence that overturned Xiaojie's guess.

On Bonayer's desk, in the inconspicuous wooden photo frame, behind the flying long hair of the woman in white and the scenery of the lake and mountains, there are two other hidden stories that are unknown.

The photo sandwiched on the second layer is an extremely old one. Not only that, but it has obviously been burned, the corners are frayed, and the transparent film on the top of the photo has been removed. It became an irregular trapezoid, and the color faded fiercely, and the tentacles felt ancient and smoky.

In the photo are two little girls holding hands.

This is probably because their parents, who are not as good as animals, can count on their fingers the extremely rare times of warmth towards the pair of experimental animals.

It's just that this bit of warmth is probably just like the dried color of the photo. After touching it for a long time, it can only lie dryly on the surface. When it is illuminated by the indifferent pupils of the two little girls on the picture, it disappears without a trace up.

The third photo is new.Compared with the second group photo, which seems to be crumbling and makes people dare not use a little more strength, the third photo is also a single photo.There is also a woman in the photo, the pixels are not clear, and the angle is a bit strange.Like a candid shot.

The girl in the photo is leaning against the window sill, looking at the other colleagues in the window, probably chatting, her brows and eyes are warm and amiable, even if she is far away, she can still feel the warmth of the spring breeze.

The girl wore a navy blue guide uniform, and the golden world tree on the chest of the white shirt had two branches, symbolizing the "B" rank.

Outside the window sill, there were two magnolia branches in full bloom, and her side face was hidden among them. Those flower branches were white and delicate, but they failed to stop a scarlet scar. A faint vertical point was exposed behind the loose collar, almost One can imagine how the scar lay on her back like a centipede.

This is when Anmikus enters the tower as a guide.

If Bonaye didn't know anything, why did she put a photo of a female colleague she had never met and who had just entered the tower so preciously into the innermost layer of her photo frame—— , or have been treasured for so long?

Kiya clearly saw the expression change of Daisy who was sitting on the ground.

Her careless brows retracted for a moment, then raised again, and the corners of her lips were slightly opened for a second, which was enough to represent her astonishment.But she obviously received professional training in expression control, and quickly suppressed all the unnecessary fluctuations on this beautiful and delicate face.

She said, "What are you talking about?"

In this short sentence, this woman seems to have picked up countless armors and masks again, and armed herself in every possible way.But maybe because Xiaojie's previous words affected her too much, there were still some subtle cracks in her expression.

To cover up the rift, she stood up, from a sitting position to a standing position.Even if she was sitting down before, she was still confident that she could control the situation completely, but this time the information, or bargaining chip, given by Xiaojie was enough for her to treat it subconsciously carefully.She regained her easy-going smile, that smile was still as beautiful as a gardenia in full bloom, but there was some absent-mindedness that she might not even realize, and there was even a bit of a woman wanting to know what she was thinking in her voice When you know something, you usually act like a baby: "What are you talking about?"

Xiaojie looked at her coldly, motionless.

Daisy probably realized his subtext, she straightened her seaweed-like hair with her slender fingers, and the smile on her lips regained the connivance of the elders when they looked at the ignorant children. You can't help it. Although I don't care about a dead person's things, if I don't figure it out, I will feel very uncomfortable."

"Actually, it stands to reason that I shouldn't say anything more. After all, this violates the confidentiality agreement, but the matter has reached this point, I think..." She glanced at the direction of the camera casually, "I have no use value. "

Her attitude was a bit strange, frank and even straightforward to the point of surprise.What made her change her original attitude of not cooperating with Tai Chi at this moment, and revealed some news that had been hidden tightly?

"About the former sentinel leader you said, there is actually no reason, I just want to try what I can do... But you probably won't believe it... Well, how about it, since you don't believe me, why don't you Let her tell you instead?"

She smiled and nodded her side face, and said: "She has not done as many bad things as me, can you rest assured?"

"No need." Xiaojie cut off, without any wavering in his voice.

Qi Ya looked at the screen for a while, then suddenly turned around and walked towards the exit of the monitoring room.Strange was holding his breath and waiting for the development of the situation. The surveillance personnel next to him were so busy just recording that they even forgot about it.He had reached the door before Strange realized it, and shouted at his back: "Kiya?"

Qi Ya waved his hand.

He heard Xiaojie's voice from behind: "You are disgusting."

The next second, Xiaojie came out of the iron box not far away, and when he looked up, he saw Qi Ya standing there, slightly stunned, carrying the wind and anger, like a bird wrapped in a storm Like a petrel, he ran towards Qi Ya non-stop.

——Yes, bumped into it.

Qi Ya expected that his emotions might be very agitated, but he didn't expect that it would lead to this situation, but his arm opened far more honestly and faster than he thought in his heart, and he caught the almost It was the small cannonball that smashed into his arms.

Xiaojie hugged him tightly, clasping his arms behind his back, and buried his face into Qiya's neck. He hugged him very hard, so hard that for a moment, Qiya thought he was almost going to die Into his own chest, become a rib of his own.

He heard a voice that was so calm and almost cold that it was completely opposite to the hot, unsteady, almost wet breath coming from his neck.

"Qi Ya." Xiaojie said in a low voice, his voice was so low that it was almost inaudible. "I want to see Kate."

Qi Ya turned his head slightly, and stopped the shocked Strange and other surveillance personnel who were about to walk this way with their eyes.

Then he lowered his eyes and touched Xiaojie's shoulder bones reassuringly.

"Okay. Let's go."

He looked behind Xiaojie, the iron box-like prison stood coldly in the center of the huge open space, like a giant silently overlooking them.

The cemetery where Kate is located is far away, and it takes several hours to drive there in the next city.The sentries and guides were not allowed to leave the tower and their residence without permission, so their temporary leave application went through a lot of twists and turns, and was barely passed with the help of Kurapika.

Qi Ya adjusted the autopilot, and looked at the time, it was already one o'clock in the morning on the [-]th.He closed his eyes and glanced at the rearview mirror. Xiaojie curled up quietly in the thin quilt and curled up into a harmless ball on the rear driver's seat. He didn't sleep. He opened his eyes, but neither did he. Speaking, the golden eyes are hanging down, loose and unfocused on a certain point on the floor.

Probably because he noticed Qi Ya's eyes, his eyes moved for a moment, and suddenly they looked up. Their eyes met in the thin rearview mirror, they touched for a short time, and then quickly staggered.Xiaojie said: "Qi Ya sleep in the back, it's more spacious."

Qi Ya responded, and just before he opened the door and got off the car, for some reason, he subconsciously glanced at the drawer in the front seat from the corner of his eye: there was a hardcover photo album in it...or a wedding photo would be more appropriate.

Before he had time to look at the photo carefully, he only glanced at it hastily.And this was enough to make Qi Ya feel that the cerebral cortex was overheating.He wasn't sure if Jay had read all of it, or when he'd have time to read it carefully.But at least now is not a good time... After all, today's events happened too intensively, and he still has some doubts that he can't figure out, so the personal matters can only be postponed.

Qi Ya sat next to Xiaojie, the car started to drive automatically, drove up the super-fast highway channel dedicated to the tower, and gradually accelerated, the dim and gloomy city gradually shook and became a blurred scratch splashed on the car window, and quickly fell backwards .Xiaojie gave him the quilt, Qi Ya hesitated for a moment, and got into it anyway.

Xiaojie shook his hand, unfortunately, probably because Xiaojie had something in his heart, his hands that were warm like a small hand stove all the year round turned out to be as cold as Qi Ya.

Qi Ya didn't say anything, but held the hand he was about to withdraw with his backhand, and rubbed his thumb on the back of his hand twice comfortingly.

"Go to sleep," he said.

That being said, neither the sentinel nor the guide intended to fall asleep immediately.Together they silently stared at the chaotic patches of color brushing past the car window in a daze. Under the thin air-conditioning blanket, their hands were messily clasped together, but none of them’s heartbeats accelerated, pulsating up and down quietly, Qi Ya almost thought that this was the most peaceful moment he and Xiaojie stayed together.

"Kate is Jin's student." Xiaojie said suddenly. "We've known each other for a long time."

Kim is Jay's dad, and Kiya knows it.

"The first time I saw him was at Whale Island. I strayed into the territory of a pregnant fox bear, and he saved me." Xiaojie obviously didn't need Qiya's reply or response, his gaze fell on the blanket and shook The spot, the sound is very low, but also very clear.

"We have known each other for more than ten years since I was five years old. To be honest, I prepared to die on the battlefield very early, and I also knew that the companions around me might disappear tomorrow."

"Actually... When I knew that Kate died in battle, although I was sad, I was not particularly sad. Although there were accidental factors, he died on the battlefield as a soldier, and he was still fighting at the last moment of his death... and we Everyone knew this was coming, didn't they?"

"But."

"I suddenly realized that he didn't die because of fighting."

His gaze finally lifted up at this moment, and he looked at Qi Ya.Qi Ya looked into his golden eyes, and the dizzy light and shadow fluttered across his motionless eyelashes, as if a butterfly was trying in vain to drill through a vast sea of ​​fireworks.

"That's Kate." Xiaojie asked, "How could he die for such a reason...for such a person?"

When he said the last two words, his tense emotions finally burst for a moment.Qi Ya clearly heard the choking point.

Xiaojie is not asking knowingly, he is really raising his doubts to Qiya very seriously.

Such an excellent and perfect sentinel with no flaws or weaknesses, such a gentle person, his teacher, his friend, his most important relative, how could, how could it be possible for such a reason, an almost absurd reason, to die Die so easily?

but……

Death is something that is meaningless even if the cause is traced back.

Qi Ya stretched out his hand, pressed Xiaojie's eyes with his palm, and applied it quietly for a while, then he said again: "Go to sleep."

Xiaojie stopped talking.He turned his head and buried his face in Qi Ya's shoulder socket again.

The hot tears flowed together with the icy night to form a rushing and raging river. High above them, the slender moon watched all these silently.The street lamps on both sides of the highway stand reservedly and indifferently in a column, the light dims, brightens and then dims, extending forward, until it reaches a remote place that seems to touch the sky.In this seemingly endless road, two souls huddled together, silently listening to the heartbeat of the light.

TBC.