[Zhongyingmei] The clown is actually me

Fire is burning.

Emma turned her head and looked into the depths of the indigo sky. It is early morning. Behind the lace-like clouds, the rising sun sprinkles warm gold on the earth. The children in the orphanage and the breeding prison are all in Sleeping in the cradle of happiness.In the distance, the tongue of flames gradually increased, and the tall and beautiful birch forest made a bursting sound in the flames.It was Norman's idea,? Throwing Molotov cocktails at all the farms while escaping, now it's dry and dry autumn, the fire is easy to spread in the jungle, as usual, the people on the farm are in the orphanage at the moment, ? No casualties will occur.If the ghost wants to keep these crops, the children must be evacuated from the farm. The situation will be even more chaotic.

Emma, ​​holding a three-year-old baby in her arms, stood on the high wall of the farm. The morning wind blew her short golden-red hair, revealing her gauze-wrapped ears.

Lei didn't believe what the ghost said, so he made two preparations, cut off the transmitter behind the ear with a scalpel when he left.

The farm as a whole is a huge hexagon. It is divided into six triangles by a high wall. Outside the wall is a wide and deep cliff. There is only one bridge leading to the outside world. There must be countless ghost guards there,? It is impossible for women and children to go from there.Fortunately, there was Jack's asylum,? Plus two months, enough time for them to conduct multiple investigations outside the wall.The ghost thought that they had to cross the only bridge if they wanted to escape, but the plan of Emma and others was to go directly over the abyss—cross over!

"Isn't Mom here yet?" Emma looked at the end of the wall, where there was no one but the burning sky.

Lei looked at the pocket watch in his hand: "The appointment is at 45:3, and now there are only [-] minutes left."

"She won't come. She didn't intend to meet you at the beginning, but was shipped instead of you. Now she has been taken away by the ghost." The man's voice came from behind them, and the two turned their heads. Jack Sitting leisurely on the high wall, the luxurious black dress is clean and straight, without a trace of being soaked in kerosene. His two overgrown legs are crossed, and his two long swallowtails are blown by the wind. swinging in.Jack looked straight ahead and lit a cigarette: "I, you guys are very smart, creating chaos, leaving from the high wall, which really surprised me. The desire to take everyone away is very noble, and I like it very much, but I'm sorry, I There's still a deal with Ray."

Emma and Lei looked at each other: "You won't make things difficult for us."

"Ok?"

"Although it is a deal on the surface, you have been protecting us for the past two months, whether it was when Norman was about to be taken away or today. Without your help, we couldn't all stand here " Emma said, "You didn't come here to take Lei away, you just wanted to say a few words to me, and then let us go."

"I don't think I'm here to say goodbye to you." Jack grinned. He turned his head to look at the burning farm as if inadvertently, and said to Emma and the two: "After today's fire, there will be many The children discovered the truth about the farm, some of them will act rashly and even be shipped out ahead of time, will your actions save them or harm them?"

"I don't think I did anything wrong." Emma looked straight at him, her green eyes were as bright as emeralds, "I thought about it, the children on the adjacent farm, they are also our brothers and sisters, but, we now We can't take them away yet. But, one day we will come back, return to Grace Field Farm, and save everyone here. Then I will make a new agreement with that adult, and let all edible children go to the human world."

Jack smiled: "You hand over Ray to me now, you can do all this here, and you don't have to spend a lot of trouble."

"If I hand mine over to you, it will be like thousands of years ago. Humans sacrificed some people in exchange for peace, and eating children still cannot escape this cycle. You keep using this condition to lure humans, but what do you really want to see? I’m afraid that’s not the end.” Lei took a step forward, and the morning light was on the sleeping baby in his arms, and soft flakes of light fell on the baby’s white sleeping face, “What you want to see is someone who doesn’t give up on anyone. 'Kindness', and the 'bravery' that takes everyone along, is not the 'sacrifice' that sacrifices oneself to save others."

Jack was silent for a while, and finally fumbled in the clothes with gloved hands for a while, took out a cigarette and lit it: "Sometimes I feel that your cleverness troubles me. Especially you, Emma, ​​I think When I come to you, I always think of me as a friend, the only one."

"What kind of person is he?"

"Hero. Dark hero." Jack said without thinking, with a look of reminiscence on his face, "you are very similar, smart, brave, confident, want to save everyone, that's why I became friends with him, I can't resist him , I can’t refuse a hero story in my whole life. But I can’t stand him either, heroes always have strange sacrifices, anyway, I... I don’t know what I want.”

Lei rolled his eyes obviously: "I can understand, 'I hope all heroes are happy', it is really shameful to say this sentence. You are so old, it's normal that you can't hold back your face."

"The prejudice of the world is such that it is always the prerogative of teenagers to speak freely and honestly. It is not appropriate to say the same thing after twenty." Jack shrugged: "It's just like what you said. I didn't mean to put you Stay here, well, let’s go, I wish you all smooth sailing and a bright future.”

Emma looked around, but still couldn't find Isabella. Her eyes were red, but she didn't shed tears. Instead, she raised her sleeves and covered her eyes to calm down the turbulent emotions.Then he took a deep breath, took a step forward, and bowed to Jack: "Thank you for your help, Mr. Jack!"

Jack waved his hand.

"Mr. Jack, I have seriously thought about what you said. Both humans and ghosts eat to survive. If we have to admit that ghosts are evil, then we will not be much better. But I will not agree with you The phrase 'morality does not exist at both ends of the food chain', as long as there are intelligent beings, there is the possibility of equal communication. We cannot deny this possibility, and we will try it no matter how difficult it is!" Emma took a deep breath , in the growing sunlight, said to Jack, "I—will not kill ghosts."

This time it was Jack's turn to be surprised: "What?"

"I don't kill ghosts," Emma repeated.

"Are you going to forgive them?"

"No forgiveness, never! Ghosts ate my friends. Personally, I can't forgive them. But there are still ghosts in the ghost society like you, Jack, who will help us, so I won't kill me see All the ghosts I have seen will not destroy the society of ghosts. There must be a better solution than genocide to the deep hatred between humans and ghosts. When that happens, I will come back here and make a new relationship with you. Promise'!"

This is what children and teenagers would say, but Jack never laughed at them in his heart. Innocent, enthusiastic, noble, and upright hearts should not be laughed at by the so-called slick and sophisticated, and mediocre flies will always be flies.Now, the sun has risen completely, and in the dazzling sunlight, Emma's water green eyes seem to be brighter than Gao Yang's, making Jack really see a familiar shadow in this smiling girl.It is not difficult to understand that the appearance and personality of heroes are always different, but they generally have the same eyes. They are candles lit in the dark, or torches that use themselves as firewood to illuminate others. Shamo is still as bright as molten iron.

"I hope all heroes are happy."

Yes, in fact, at the beginning, he shouldn't be confused.

For a split second, what Jack thought of was the appearance of him sitting in front of the computer and reading the latest "Batman" comics in his previous life.Although he always complained about DC's showmanship, scolded the mentally retarded plots written by different screenwriters, and played "Bruce Wayne is an unscrupulous capitalist" on online forums, he really likes clowns, and he likes him as a villain. The ability to do things and professionalism, but this does not conflict with his desire to see the heroes live a happy life.

He always yells that sacrificing himself is disgusting, but he can never resist glorious hero stories. He loves these weird people wearing capes and flying walls, so he has been paying for these familiar heroes, otherwise he would not Which manga did he quarrel with which son, and which manga did he sleep with?There are too many dark stories about Batman, and he no longer expects Batman to live a happy life. After all, there are only a handful of stories about Batman dying well in his later years. He just hopes that Batman will live a happy life.

Jack stood up, took a deep breath, and did not affirm Emma's exposure of his true identity: "In the very beginning, you set limits on yourself, and you will always pay for your innocence, just like you bring several babies , it is impossible to survive in the wilderness, these children will drag you down to death."

"I won't leave them behind."

"I mean, do you want to take your mother with you? The road outside is dangerous, and it will be much easier to walk with your mother."

Emma was stunned for a moment, then smiled at Jack: "Of course!"

"Don't you resent Isabella for taking your brothers and sisters?"

"In the beginning, yes, but my mother was forced to eat children, and everyone is human." Emma let out a series of crisp laughter as she spoke, "Actually, the most important thing is that she is Our mother."

Jack jumped down from the high wall, his figure was like a giant bird with spread wings, and disappeared from everyone's sight after a few ups and downs.Soon, the giant black bird flew back again. When it landed, its body was like a mass of melted thick ink. Occasionally, a few rows of sharp and jagged fangs flashed across its surface, as well as golden eyeballs that were completely unhuman. In the end, the thick ink turned into a huge cocoon as tall as a person, and quickly collapsed, spitting out a familiar figure. Jack was still wearing the dress, and the wide wool shawl shook slightly, revealing Isabella hidden in the depths. .

"Let's go, you have worked hard for the past 1000 years." Looking at the touching scene of mother and child embracing in front of him, Jack patted Emma on the shoulder, "When the time comes, we will renew the agreement and completely separate the two worlds."

"Can't we conclude now?"

"No, Emma, ​​you have to come in through the 'main entrance', so we can talk about the agreed things."

"What about the price?"

Jack rubbed his chin and said with a smile: "Without the compromise of the ancestors of the Ratori family, humans and ghosts should have gone on completely different paths. The 1000 years of the two races should not have been like this, so use these 1000 years of distortion and Let the pain be the price. You have worked hard."

Emma pursed her lips and raised her sleeves to wipe away the tears that overflowed.She turned around and faced the sun, the light coming towards her face was blazing hot, the bright sun pierced through the gray clouds like a sharp sword, and the whistling morning wind was like a mother's gentle hand, rushing to her face and passing by her ears , and blowing up the corners of her snow-white skirt, like wind lotuses lifted up one by one by the West Lake.

It seems to go back to a long, long time ago, when all things were first opened, and people and ghosts lived together.Blood and fighting are still the main theme of the world. The defense line made of flesh and blood is pushed back and forth. The lives of young people are consumed in the long seesaw. The two races wake up from ignorance and darkness. The ghost's huge feet trampled past.Heroes and fools sleep together in the cradle of iron and blood.The turbulent river water and the falling rice gradually give life to the ghosts while feeding the hooligans.The air breathed by the immortal gods penetrated into the mouths and noses of floating mortals.

In the blink of an eye, everything has changed, but it seems that it has never changed.

Jack held Emma and tied her hands to both ends of the clotheshorse, and the way for the children to cross the abyss was to set up ropes on the trees on both sides and let them slide down like a cable car.This method can easily create a psychological burden on people. There is an abyss under the feet, and as long as the hand slips slightly, it will be beyond redemption.Jack hung her on the rope and said to her solemnly, "Emma, ​​don't think that everything will be fine if you go to the human world. You have read the history of human beings in the orphanage. There are 1.9 million casualties in World War II alone." "Cannibalism" has been happening in human society, and human beings don't eat human beings."

"It's okay, I'm not afraid, my mother and my friends are by my side, there is nothing I can't do." Emma turned her head to look at him, "Mr. Jack, you are also my friend."

"It's an honor." Jack nodded with a smile. "Looking forward to the day we meet again. Good luck, Emma."