bayedsolid Chapter 286: Past Events (End)
Chapter 286: Past Events (End)
Note: This chapter is two chapters in one
About the fact that Natsume's cat actually spoke human language.
Just when Natsume and I were chatting about academic matters... No, it should be that I was unilaterally telling him how difficult the questions he had done in high school were, the 83-year-old monk next to us was playing with a cat.
He first pulled out a cat toy - he had no idea why a monk would carry this with him - and tried to get the cat to jump up and grab it to play with it.
Useless.
Although its claws were already stirring, looking like it wanted to pounce and grab and destroy him, it still stared at Kong Jing with contempt.
"I'm telling you, don't stress yourself out. A large part of high school homework is actually..." Halfway through my sentence, my mind was no longer on homework.
I unconsciously glanced at the cat jumping on the ground.
I have always been very envious of Natsume's big fat calico cat.
In the years I have lived in the big city, although I have never kept a cat, I have visited cat cafes and pet shops quite often.
To be frank, I have seen all kinds of cats.
But I have never seen another one like it. It's like once you have seen the ocean, you will never be impressed.
The ones I met in the past were either too cute and not at all vulgar, or had a slim figure and a cool temperament, or lazily lay in their nests and didn't like to move, or were freedom-loving by nature and liked to wander.
Only it is both wretched and cute, a little bit mean but not too annoying, and with its pair of intelligent eyes, you won't feel sorry for it no matter how hard you try.
Of course, due to my past of petting cats too aggressively, it no longer allows me to touch it...
"Lily... Lily, come back to your senses." Natsume waved his hands in front of me, blocking my view of the cat. I finally came back to my senses and saw his slightly helpless expression.
"Go Minase!" I shook my head, which was so distracted, and said to him, "I was a little distracted."
Natsume pursed his lips and glanced at Kong Jing, as if he wanted to say something, but seeing that he was still interacting with the cat, he took a step back and stopped talking.
Seeing that the cat was not moved by the cat teaser, the old monk reached into his sleeves and took out a pot of wine and placed it in front of the cat. He smiled and said, "I made a bet with you many years ago, and you took away a treasure. Today I will give you a pot of good wine as an apology. What do you think?"
The cat moved forward, as if trying to pry open the cork.
Wait... cats shouldn't drink alcohol!
Just as I was about to go over to stop it, I heard a round voice coming out of its mouth: "What a joke! Stinky monk, you owe me ten bottles of wine, don't try to deny it."
. . . . . . .
I think my brain froze for a full minute.
It spoke.....the cat spoke....the big fat cat spoke....Has technology evolved to this point these days, or am I hallucinating?
In that hospital, the doctor's medical record said that I had delusional disorder, so I am ill now?
"Natsume." I pointed at the lucky cat with a numb face and said, "Did you hear it just now? It spoke."
The cat speaks human language.
It looked very guilty, with its two paws covering its mouth, its eyes darting around, and then it made a nondescript sound as if to cover up: "Meow meow meow~"
Natsume: “………” Natsume clenched his fists.
He walked over, picked up the cat tightly, and explained nervously: "Sister Lily, about that, it's like this..."
"When I was a kid, I told you that I could see monsters..."
I:"........."
Yes, the child did tell me this before. But at that time I thought it was because he had a rich imagination and would interpret some phenomena that he couldn't understand at the time as monsters.
After all, when I was a kid, I would imagine the curtains fluttering by the windows as robed monsters that would wrap up children at night and float them up into the sky to the moon.
There are many furry little monsters hiding under the bed. They will drag the slippers placed beside the bed into the bed to make their nests. They will only kick the slippers out when they want to move to a new home.
There is a world in the mirror that is completely opposite to this world. There live a group of goblins who like to imitate humans. They will bet on who can imitate the most. Then they will hold an imitation competition. Whoever gets the first place can get out of the mirror and travel to the human world for a day.
The red spots on the rotating fan are its eyes. Whenever it sees someone it doesn't like, it will turn its head away to prevent that person from continuing to cool down.
On my bookshelf, there are a row of small ornaments, dolls, cats, dogs, crystal balls, red pandas, etc. At that time, I always thought that they were spirits with souls. When I went to bed at night, they would have a pajama party and tell me what I did during the day.
This matter concerned me a lot at one point, and I even had a bit of an idol complex, so I would deliberately act like a well-behaved and obedient child on the doll.
However, after entering junior high school, I gradually forgot about these things. Every time I think about them, it is just a condiment to miss my childhood and the past.
So when Natsume said he could see monsters, I was actually more relieved and happy, and even thought that this was a sign of his childishness and should be well protected.
As a result...he can really see monsters, which is completely different from me!
The boy in front of him was still looking at his hands with a worried look, his fists clenched, looking cautious.
I couldn't help but raise my hand and touch his soft hair (it felt so good), and then I said softly: "It turns out that Natsume can really see monsters. I'm sorry that I didn't believe you at that time."
He was stunned, as if he had not expected me to say that.
"Sister Lily..."
"But..." I raised my head slightly, rubbed my chin, squinted my eyes and thought, "A talking cat, it's so magical!"
"If we put it on tour, people will buy tickets even at the highest prices. If we sell a thousand tickets each time, and each ticket costs 100,000 yuan, we can make at least 500 million yuan in a year, and we can become billionaires in no time!"
Natsume: "......You're obsessed with money again, Lily-san."
"Oh, oh, oh." I waved my hands and said with a smile, "It's just a joke."
"Woman, what do you think of me?" The lucky cat jumped up, jumped onto my shoulder and loudly accused me, "I haven't even settled the score with you for the last time you put your face close to me and rubbed my head like crazy!"
"Oh my," I said, "how come you have no sense of humor, little kitty."
"I'm not a little cat, I'm a big monster, a big monster!" It jumped up and down in Natsume's hand, waving its claws and teeth. "Humans like you can only pay tribute to me, but you actually want to take me away. This is too much!"
I watched with my own eyes as a distinct “井” character appeared on Natsume’s forehead, then I pounded the cat’s head hard and said, “Teacher Cat, can you please stop talking, okay?”
At this moment, the sound of bells suddenly came from afar, echoing melodiously in the woods.
I took out my cell phone and saw that it was already 7 o'clock.
"Oh no," said my friend, "Senso-ji Temple opens at 6:30, there must be a lot of people outside now!"
"Natsume." I turned to him and said, "Let's go."
"Sister Lily." He held the cat and smiled at me, "I may have to stay here for a while. I'll come to see you later. Is that okay?"
Monk Kong Jing behind him clasped his hands together, the sun shining on his grey robe, illuminating his entire body. Long white eyebrows drooped on his forehead, his eyes were compassionate and kind.
He nodded at me.
.........I pursed my lips, pulled my friend and turned away.
I always feel like...he really knows me.
*
After watching Sister Lily leave, Natsume Takashi stood in front of the old monk and bowed politely: "Excuse me, Master, are you the monk that Cat mentioned who made a bet with him over a drink?"
Before he could get a response, he saw Madara transform into his original form, circling around Monk Kong Jing and saying, "Hey, old man, you're not dead yet."
"Yes." Kong Jing nodded with a smile, "I'm lucky to be alive today."
"It's just that... I'm the only one left now."
"Master." Natsume Takashi didn't have time to pay attention to the greetings between the two and asked directly, "About the fusion of the worlds, and why Sister Lily appeared here..."
"Yes, it's what you think." Kong Jing nodded without hesitation and said, "She is the chosen one."
Natsume Takashi's heart suddenly sank, as if he was soaking in a mountain stream, being continuously washed by cold water.
Even though he had a bad feeling the moment he met Sister Lily, there was still a faint glimmer of hope in his heart, thinking that it might just be a coincidence.
But now the old monk's words ruthlessly shattered his fantasy.
"Shi Nian..." When he mentioned the Buddhist name, he paused, then changed the subject and said, "Suzuki Shi, her father, was once the youngest monk in this temple."
"You may not know that Wuzhuo Temple is a cursed temple. Monks cannot live past the age of 40, so they are not allowed to marry each other," he explained. "Even if they get married, it will bring disaster to their wives and children."
"There was only one exception, and that was me. I lived past the age of 40. This gave Shi Nian some hope, and when he met Lily's mother, he chose to return to secular life and get married, and later gave birth to a daughter."
“I even hugged her.”
"But twelve years ago, Shi Nian came here alone again. He knelt in front of me in pain, saying that his wife had died of illness, and begged me to save his daughter."
"So I asked him to leave his daughter and not stay around to affect her life." Kong Nian said, "Later, he lived a few more years, but also..."
"What about Lily?" Natsume Takashi couldn't help asking, "What does this have to do with Lily? Why do you say she's the chosen one? This has nothing to do with her, right?"
"Lily..." Kong Jing slowly opened his closed palms and said, "Six years ago, we met again."
"This child is the most suitable candidate I have ever seen." He said, "He has an extremely strong obsession and powerful spiritual power, but for various reasons, he has always closed his heart."
"So..." Natsume Takashi's voice tightened, "You just want her to sacrifice herself to save the world, right?"
"My friend." Faced with the boy's almost interrogative words, Kong Jing did not feel the slightest bit of displeasure at being attacked, and continued calmly, "I met her by the river near a hospital."
Natsume Takashi was stunned.
"Without her, it would be someone else. Since it could be someone else, why couldn't it be her?"
"People always ask, why me? But they rarely ask, why can't it be me?" Kong Jing said, "But your Lily stood up and said, it can be me."
"The miasma from another world would continuously flow in here through the channel connecting the worlds, killing many people. Everyone, including Shi Nian, essentially died from this. There were also many people who tried to mend the rifts in the world, but they all failed."
What this means is that, at present, only Sister Lily is the one closest to success.
Natsume Takashi lowered his eyes and remained silent.
"Suzuki Yuri's actions were to eliminate the bad causes. Without bad causes, there would naturally be no bad consequences. If the causal line did not exist, then her parents, your parents, and the lives of millions of people could be preserved, and everyone could have a bright future."
".......a bright future." Natsume Takashi raised his head and asked angrily, "What about Lily? Will she also have a bright future?"
"My friend, you have to know that this is an exchange she made voluntarily." Kong Jing was silent for a long time before finally uttering these words.
He recalled the chess game that day when the girl sat under a tree, the wind blowing her long hair across her shoulders, her eyes like a pool of silent stagnant water.
After forcing him into a dead end, the dead water began to ripple slightly. She suddenly put down her hand and smiled with relief.
"Master, you lost," she said, "so you should listen to me."
Kong Jing didn't say anything.
"So, as long as I wear this eye, it will become the beacon and channel that guides me back and forth between the two worlds as I wish, right?"
"Yes." Kong Jing closed his eyes, without showing any emotion, and said in a serious tone, "This is the most important treasure of this temple. According to various legends, it has the power to make people's wishes come true. As the name suggests - dreams come true."
"After accumulating a certain amount of energy, it will open automatically, and then according to your ability, it will send you to another world within a specific time." After a pause, Kong Jing said, "But I have to warn you..."
"Whether you succeed or not, you will die. Not only your soul, but also your body, even all traces of your existence in this world may be wiped out completely. By then, no one will remember you."
Where in the world can you expect your dreams to come true? It is always just an exchange of equal value, one thing for another, love, family, friendship, important people, lost lives and precious memories... It is nothing more than that.
This did not scare her.
"Master." After a moment's silence, she asked, "Has anyone ever succeeded in what you said?"
"......never."
"That's it." Suzuki Yuri smiled casually and said, "So, if I can really succeed, no one can predict what will happen."
“Maybe I’ll die, but maybe I’ll survive,” she said. “I figured it was a gamble.”
"......"
"Don't look at me like that." She said, "I have good luck in gambling, and...even if I lose, I won't suffer any loss."
"But Sister Lily doesn't remember you, nor does she remember what she was going to do." Natsume Takashi frowned and said, "So, how can I know whether what you said is true or false?"
"This is a measure imposed on her by this world to protect her." Kong Jing said, "How much the world here loves her, the world over there will hate her as much."
"Even if she met some nice people there, there's no guarantee that she wouldn't encounter even more violent malice and pain. So... taking away all the related memories is the best option."
Natsume Takashi clenched his fists.
He took out the celadon bottle that he had kept carefully in his pocket, placed it in front of him, and asked, "What is this? Can it save her life?"
"I don't know." Kong Jing stared at the celadon bottle for a long time, and finally shook his head and said this.
"This is your own thing, how could you not know it?"
"This is not mine," he said. "It is a treasure that has been passed down in the temple for thousands of years. My master's master passed it down to my master, and my master passed it down to me."
"They just said that if you meet someone who can save the world, giving this to him/her might save his/her life."
"Then why did you give it to me so easily?" Madara asked, "Aren't you afraid that I might lose it?"
"I believe you will keep your promise." Kong Jing's eyes wrinkled with laughter, "Because you are such a monster."
"Because I was afraid that every time I met someone who was trying to save the world, I would open it and use it, so I gave it to Madara for safekeeping. But now, since you are here again with it and Lily, maybe it is the guidance of fate."
"My dear friend," he said, "please give this treasure to her."