flower and big devil

Round up, round up!

caged bird,

When will it fly out?

dawning night,

The white crane and the tortoise fell down,

Behind you is—who?

----"Caged bird"

"Alice, why aren't you talking?"

"Ahhhh..." Luo Xiu's eyes widened slightly, because the man in front of him rarely showed a little panic expression. When he saw the man sitting on the horse's eyes with a deeper smile, he was slightly taken aback, and then The whole person froze like a deflated ball, "...It's not that I want to attack or kill someone."

"Oh?"

"Watching others rushing towards with weapons, in addition to fleeing, anyone will subconsciously draw out their weapons to resist?" The black-haired young man on the horse's back grabbed the horse's mane and turned over neatly on the bumpy road. Turning himself over from the "horizontal hanging" position on the horse's back, he jumped up and sat firmly on the horse's back. He scratched his head, sighed, and said to the tall man behind him, "Thank you, thank you for showing up in time."

"No, I just happened to pass by."

The tall Tarot soldier said casually, looked back, and after confirming that the people from the antique shop hadn't followed, he also tightened the reins in his hand to slow down the speed of the white horse under his crotch... At this moment, Luo Xiu found that they had completely left the bustling market, and entered a small village with strange buildings - a millstone that was not pulled by animals but turned by itself, a windmill on the roof that turned quickly without wind, and a red house. The roof is red, the bricks are red, the windows are red, and everything around is red except for the grass and woods. Under the sun, these reds are shining brightly.

It was quiet all around, and there were no residents who came out to farm, only the clatter of horseshoes became the only sound.

"Surprised?" Tarot soldier's voice came from behind Luo Xiu, "This is the cobbler's village, I thought Mr. Caterpillar had told you in advance when he first instructed you to avoid our pursuit here Compared with the backyard of the violent bear that let you hide in the first place, the shoemaker’s residence is not as simple a building as you imagined, and the shoemaker is the richest person in our place if you don’t count the Duke of Darkness.”

"What's going on here?"

Luo Xiu looked around curiously, and at this time, the meat ball also got out from the bottom of his skirt, jumped onto his head, looked around like Luo Xiu, and the ones that had just stretched out looked like bat wings His bone wings spread out in the wind, and the pink orb let out a comfortable sigh.

But at this moment, the black-haired young man sitting on horseback was asking a question, but his eyes were involuntarily attracted to a building not far away—compared to the surrounding flames that seemed to be burning under the sun. The buildings hidden in the shadow of the dense forest are very eye-catching. Although the roofs are also covered with red tiles, and the walls seem to have been painted with red paint, the sun seems to be unable to penetrate. Like that building, it stands there, cold and isolated from the world.

The dark-haired young man narrowed his eyes slightly.

I don't know why, but he always felt that there seemed to be something familiar... But soon, Luo Xiu realized that this was probably his illusion. Of course, it was his first time to come to the so-called shoemaker's site, and he couldn't see it before. Look past the building in front of you—I feel familiar, probably because I feel that such a strange building looks a little like Buddha Luomen from a distance.

"What is that place?" Luo Xiu raised his hand, pointed to the building, and asked the man behind him.

Looking in the direction of the black-haired young man's fingers, a red light flashed quickly in the man's golden pupils under the armor. He tightened the reins, and the white horse under his crotch stopped—— When the person sitting in front looked back at him curiously because of his action, the man put down the protective helmet on his helmet without saying a word, hid his eyes behind the shadow, he stretched out his hand, The dark-haired young man sitting on the horseback was put back on the ground from the horseback.

"I can't be away for too long, Alice, the Duke of Darkness won't be happy to know that I stay with you for too long, and there is nothing in this world that can hide from his eyes." There was no reply to the black-haired young man's words , the Tarot soldier gently pulled the reins, and the white horse's hooves immediately turned its head in one direction. The man sitting on the horse waved at the black-haired young man who was looking at him with his jaw raised.

"Wait, Death Card!"

The man on the horseback was taken aback for a moment, and then let out a muffled laugh from under the armor: "You called my name again."

Luo Xiu didn't answer according to his words, but straightened his waist slightly, staring at the man on the horseback with his black eyes who was obviously trying to change the subject: "What's going on in this village? No one, The atmosphere is also weird, what is that building—"

The dark-haired young man couldn't finish his sentence.

Because at this moment, the man sitting on the horse suddenly raised his index finger and gently pressed it on the position of his own lips - through a helmet, his actions should look very funny, but Luo Xiu failed. Laughing out loud, he just closed his mouth subconsciously, his throat tightened slightly—yes, since he left the lively market and entered this so-called shoemaker’s village, he felt uncomfortable all over, even though He tried to force himself to ignore this feeling...

"Why did you come here, Alice?"

"To find a shoemaker and have him make me a new pair of shoes."

"Why are you so obsessed with a pair of shoes?"

"..."

"Can't answer, can you?"

"Besides the shoes, you should know better than me that there should be more reasons for you to move forward - you know what you are really looking for, and you know that you can only proceed obediently according to the pre-arranged script , you can get the answers to the puzzles - who are you? Falling into a dream, why did you come here and meet us..."

"..."

"You have thought about this, but you dare not think about it alone; you try to rebel against the script that was written too early, but in the end because of your timidity, you stop the road to rebellion."

Luo Xiu felt a drop of sweat slipping down his forehead to his chin amidst the Tarot soldier's words.

Under the sun, the armor on the Tarot soldiers emitted a dazzling light. Although the metal light was bathed in such sunlight, it still made people feel bone-chillingly cold—thinking of the armor that was hidden under the armor before. With golden pupils smiling, Luo Xiu was amazed that after a person lost the emotion that his own eyes could convey, the gap between front and back could become so huge.

Tarot soldier said, you are a coward.

The black-haired young man swallowed his saliva lightly, but at this moment, he heard the man sitting on the horse not far away who was looking down at him at this time say: "You sweat too much, Alice , You’ll catch a cold if you go on like this.” Although under the helmet, Luo Xiu couldn’t see what kind of expression this man had at this moment, but from the tone of his voice, he couldn’t imagine that... this guy, probably I'm smiling.

"I……"

"Shh."

The man's finger on the armor was slightly bent and pressed lightly. In the next second, he moved the finger away from his lips and put it to his ear, and said in a voice that was almost blown by the weak warm wind: "Do you hear Is there any sound?"

Luo Xiu subconsciously held his breath and concentrated his attention. At first, he seemed to only hear the rustling sound of the wind blowing through the treetops, and the monotonous sound of unknown insects lurking in the grass and bushes. Insects chirping, but soon, he thought he heard a little different sound——

Faintly, it seemed that there was a sound of children singing from the direction of the building that looked familiar to him, which looked like Buddha Lomon...

"The moon shadow shakes, the sky is panicked, and the east wall is torn down to make up for the west wall.

The sheep in the sheepfold are being yelled at by wolves, the first Alice came to me.

He held a longbow in his hand to shoot the wolf, was tempted to drink the soup, lowered his bow, and became a sheep,

The moon shadow shakes, the heart is panicked, the wolf enters the sheepfold and chases the sheep away..."

The sound became more and more clear and three-dimensional, and finally, the faint voice seemed to ring in Luo Xiu's ears, and the vague children's chorus became a childish little girl childish voice...

"He held a longbow to shoot at wolves, was tempted to drink the soup, hung down his bow, and became a sheep,

The moon shadow shakes, the heart is panicked, the wolf enters the sheepfold and chases the sheep away..."

The black-haired young man was stunned for a while, because he heard "Alice" in the song, he became very concerned. He was frowning and trying to figure out what this strange nursery rhyme meant, but at this moment, he suddenly I heard a rustling sound from the bushes around me!

After a moment of daze, the black-haired young man took the meat dumpling off his head and grabbed it in his hands. The wings of the meat dumpling flapped the long and sharp spikes that grew from the mouth, but in The black-haired young man stabbed the spikes towards the grass, which was becoming more and more turbulent. Suddenly, the singing stopped abruptly, and a panicked scream sounded from the grass. Luo Xiu was startled, and subconsciously put away the weapon in his hand , stretched out his hand to pull the grass in front of him, and then he was shocked to find that the one who fell in the grass was a five or six-year-old girl who stood up to about his waist.

The little girl has chestnut shoulder-length hair and unhealthy white skin, but she is wearing a bright red children's cloak.At this time, because of Luo Xiu's previous actions, she fell back into the bushes, and the cap of the cloak slipped off her head at a half angle. There was an overturned flower basket scattered around her, and there were a few flowers in it. It looks like freshly picked wildflowers.

"...Sorry." Luo Xiu stretched out his hand, trying to pull this strange little girl up from the grass, but when he reached out to grab her sleeve, he accidentally caught nothing.

The dark-haired young man was slightly taken aback.

But I didn't expect that this momentary pause was exchanged for a big white eye from the other party——

"How is it? Have you never seen a disabled person?" The little girl staggered to her feet while patting her buttocks with her intact hand. With bare oval arms, she picked up the overturned basket, "What a strange person, suddenly appeared in the middle of the road, and attacked people without saying a word—"

"...It was you who suddenly appeared in the grass beside the road."

"I've been watching you here for a long time." The little girl in the red cloak rolled her eyes again, "What a strange person, standing here talking to himself endlessly, talking strangely The words—when I was singing, suddenly turned around and ran to attack me!"

"...I'm not talking to myself, I'm talking to—Huh?"

Luo Xiu stared at the empty country road behind him, a gust of warm wind mixed with the smell of mud blew in, and the cool feeling made the sweat on his forehead rise slightly, and the black-haired young man who was stunned in place blinked his eyes—— He lowered his head until the little girl on his waist frowned at him - he raised his head, but the Tarot soldier who was talking to him last second was lost.

He disappeared into thin air, as if he had never existed.

But the bumpy feeling on the horse's back is so real that Luo Xiu, who is not used to riding a horse, can still feel his buttocks hurting...

"Did you see it? Weird!" The little girl in the red cloak raised her chin.

The dark-haired young man blinked.

In the end, he seemed to give up and stared at the air trying to find out something. After sighing softly, he turned his eyes back to the little girl in front of him who didn't seem to have a good temper: "Excuse me... ..."

"what?"

"...Do you know where this place is?"

"Alice's Cemetery."

"……what?"

"That's the name, this village." The little girl frowned.

"Where is that building over there?"

"Orphanage? Recycling site for abandoned babies? Grave of conscience? A place where Mr. Shoemaker can't continue to operate without donating money?——You can call it whatever you want, but that's what it means. I'm from there too. But I know my mother must have had to keep me there, and if you look at me sympathetically, I'll kick your ass!"

"........."

Now Luo Xiu got the answers to all the questions he wanted to ask before.

But now he feels that his whole body is going to be bad.