[Zhongyingmei] The clown is actually me

dark.

Jack was lying on the bed,? After a short quarrel, he needed to rest. Instead of being stuffed into Arkham Asylum,? He was sent back to his own home,? Covered with a warm velvet blanket,? Sleep on a soft mattress.Bean-sized raindrops hit the windows and the roof, crackling, overwhelming, the sky and the earth merged together drowsily, and the sound of rain filled the mountains and plains.

Until a long, long time later, when he thought he had slept for a century or two, he heard someone calling him.

He opened his eyes. There was darkness all around, without any light. It seemed that the world had disappeared. The only thing that existed was sheets, pillows, blankets and himself. This small space the size of a single bed was the only known human civilization. There are leftovers.

He rolled his eyes and looked up. The clown was lying beside him. This plaster statue was as pale as bloodless man. He was wearing the purple tuxedo he was most familiar with, with bright red slits drawn all the way to the back of the ear.It was rainy and foggy, and the air was filled with damp moisture. He and Jack were lying on the bed, sharing the same bed, breathing submerged in the sound of rain, and the wind and rain were precarious at this moment. Snuggle, hug each other.

The clown didn't smile, his acid green eyes were rolling, seeing Jack looking over, he called again:

"Good night, Jack."

Jack stared at his face, and said for a long time, "You're back again? I knew that you were so difficult to deal with, how could you disappear."

The clown seemed to be smiling, but Jack couldn't quite see it. The curved lipstick mark made him look like he was smiling all the time.He stretched out a hand as pale as a ghost, and helped Jack lift the broken hair beside his ears: "I'm just happy that you can finally live without me."

"Why do you say that?"

The clown said softly: "I have traveled through countless worlds, and finally came to a conclusion, if you want to live a long life, you must either be interesting enough so that the story will not be too boring, or you must be charming enough to make the spectators love you. "

"Is that why you did all this?"

"Yes, Jack, when I held you in my arms, I was really worried. You weren't interesting enough, you weren't three-dimensional enough, and you had no capital other than being my shadow. They would kill you." Yours." The clown stroked his cheek, "So I tortured you, suppressed you, made you suffer, made you unbearable, you hate yourself, drain your own blood to save others, and wish to blow your own blood Head... These pains and tortures all come from me, which is the cornerstone of reality. You will become a three-dimensional character. Those spectators will love you and let you go. Until then, you will usher in your own happy life. Story Once it's over, you're free."

Jack stared at him, gold eyes and green eyes reflecting each other, and he said, "You want me to be free too. I can't lock you up if you don't want to, you'll keep fighting with me, we Tortured each other, hated each other, inseparable for eternity."

"You're smart, Jack, and I gave you strength."

Jack looked at the clown, they hadn't talked for a long, long time, his thoughts flew back to the decaying corridor when they first met, and the devil who was locked in the room called him with a strange voice.He sipped his spring and said, "Actually, I didn't have that kind of power at first, right? I was too weak when I was born. You nurtured me with your strength and memory. Until now, I can easily counter you, you Why do you want to do this?"

"That's the point of the joke, Jack." The clown smiled. "You opened Pandora's box and released the devil, but the devil loves you, and he is willing to go back into the box for you."

Jack felt his nose go a little sore, knowing full well this was the last conversation he'd have with the Joker.Since then, in this world, there is no one who loves him more than the clown. The reason why he is vacillating is precisely because the clown's love makes him feel that keeping someone who loves him may be more important than the world. All moral dogmas on the subject matter.Now that he has made a choice, there is no room for repentance. Looking at the other party like a mirror, he suddenly feels remorse. There is no doubt that the clown loves him far more than he loves the clown. Could he Should this man be left to rot in the dark?He couldn't help shedding two lines of tears: "Why do you love me?"

The expression of the clown is like a teacher looking at a beloved student who asks a stupid question: "Because you are my half body, you are me. If I don't even love myself, who can I fall in love with?"

"Will we meet again?"

"Yes, you have grown, but you are still afraid of being alone. The box is in your hand, and you will still open it when you can't bear to miss it. I hope your friends can be trusted, they will always stand by your side , but you belong to me in the end." The clown leaned up and kissed the tears from the corners of his eyes delicately, "You have to remember, you are just a friend to them, but to me, you are all the goodness, hope, Lament, hate, love, and curse - love, and curse."

Jack reached out to shake his hand, the palms of the two people overlapped, and the fingers slowly clasped together. Finally, Jack put the other hand on his shoulder and said with a smile: "Honey, why don't we dance for a while?" Dance?"

The clown froze for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay."

He grabbed Jack's waist and turned around suddenly. The scenery around them had completely changed.Jack saw the ocean and the bright moon again. The undulating waves gently lapped the snow-white sandy beach. The full moon hanging in the depths of the sky was like a white pearl embedded in flannelette. Slowly, the moonlight left long traces of light, as smooth as silk.The evening wind was blowing their temples, the sea tide was kissing their ankles, and they began to dance amidst the distant sound of the sea organ.

It's hard to say how long they danced, there is no time here, such a warm evening breeze, such pale moonlight, and a scene so gentle that it would melt the skin, dancing with him is the devil who loves him the most in the world. When hugged by his arms, he was so happy that it was almost painful. Facing the brightest moon he had ever seen in his life, it seemed that it was his fault not to jump until he stopped breathing.But everything has an end. Jack held his hand and raised his head to kiss him. If this person kisses him in the future, he can only kiss the cold glass through the mirror.

The clown let go of his hand, and everything was slowly disappearing, like the first ray of sunshine on the snow in early winter.In the gradually collapsing world, Jack heard the words that came with the wind amidst the sound of the tide, like a curse, so light, so devouring his body and mind, making him restless for the rest of his life. The last words the clown said to him were :

"Honey, see you in hell."

Jack woke up.

He waited for a long time before sitting up from the bed, as if breaking free from a nightmare, the morning light outside the window was like diamonds rolling in velvet.

He put on his slippers and walked slowly to the desk, where there was a piece of snow-white letter paper, a corner of the letter paper was pressed by an ink bottle, and it was rattled by the wind.Jack raised the corners of his mouth, smiled palely, and picked up the love letter, which contained a long poem:

Dawn finds me on empty street corners, I outlast night.

Night is the wave of hospitality, its dark blue, top-heavy waves speak of the layers of color of the deep earth, of unreality and longing.

Night is always a sneaky boon and a denial, giving you what you withhold, giving you the flourishing of a dark hemisphere.It's the habit of the night, I tell you.

The breaking waves of the night leave behind insignificant everyday bits and pieces: a casual acquaintance or two, the music of dreams and the smoke of bitter ashes.My hungry heart is useless.

This rough wave has brought you.

Words, words, your laughter and your so languidly mesmerizing beauty.We sit and talk until you start to forget your words.

The dawn of despair has come into my city, into the lonely street where I am.

The silhouette of you turning around, the melody that makes up your name, your hearty laughter: I still can't get enough of your remaining beauty.

I give all your things to the dawn, I lost them; I tell to the stray dogs, I tell to the scattered stars at dawn.

Your hidden and rich life...

I'll try to get you: put aside all the fascination you've left me, I want your hidden face, your real smile-? That cold, mocking smile that only your mirror knows. *

(From Borges' "The Helpless Dawn")

Jack folded the letter in half and put it in the envelope. At the same time, he heard the system's final prompt: "System prompt: You have obtained a new item, Tarot Sun (Legendary Awakened)."

"System prompt: It has been detected that the Thanatos master agreement has expired, and the system is about to go offline."

Jack didn't listen to these voices. He already knew that the system was constructed by a clown. He just stared at the beautifully written long poem, and brushed the letter paper with the smell of sea salt perfume with his fingertips. After a long time, he spoke softly like a lover. Said, "Good night, Clown."

Immediately, he took a deep breath, and jerked open the curtains, showing Gotham in the morning and Gotham in the new day before him.The dense fog was dispersed by the sunlight, and in the blue sky, these cotton-like clouds were randomly scattered, thin and long, like crumpled lines in the blue sky.The air is filled with damp water vapor, the flowers and trees are still shaded green, the wind is carrying the coal smoke and the distant fragrance of flowers, blowing from afar, shaking the canopy of the trees.

On the grass, the blooming white cosmos is swaying slender flower branches, the dewy flowers and stems and leaves are shining, the snow-white pea blossoms are blooming in the corner of the wall, and the iron-gray old wall is crawling with layers of black. The green creeper falls down like a wave of wheat when the wind blows.The sky has not yet fully lit up, and the lights are like golden threads adorning the corners of a dark velvet skirt, and on the skirt, stars scattered like broken diamonds are shining softly.

Jack looked at it for a while, and finally smiled: "Good morning, Gotham!"

【end】