In the end, Zhu Si gave the wizard a leaf of the myrtle tree and tied it to his wrist with a small piece of red rope, which served as temporary protection for Zheng Qing while he was in the mirror world.
But she also warned:
"Myth wood cannot stop the fairies in the mirror from sucking your soul away. At best, it can only help you isolate the sounds or images in this world that confuse you."
"This is already very good." Zheng Qing raised his hand, looked at the leaf on his wrist that glowed with red light, and praised it sincerely.
He felt that most students at First University could not do what this little girl could do.
Thinking of schools outside, Zheng Qing couldn't help but think of several other young wizards who were similar to Zhu Si's age - including Li Meng, Lin Guo, and the little fox girl Su Ya from Qingqiu Mansion.
He felt that these children should be able to play together.
"I'm leaving...where are you?"
The wizard looked at the leaves on his wrist as if looking at a new watch, and at the same time tried to ask in a casual and relaxed tone: "Would you like to go out with me? There are a lot of fun things out there now."
There was silence for a few seconds.
"It doesn't matter, I'm used to staying here." The little girl's voice was a little melancholy: "And I still have things to do."
"whats the matter?"
"I'm looking for my parents...they're hiding here, but I've been looking for them for a long time and haven't found them yet."
"Can you go out and play for a few days and then come back?"
"...I still don't want it." The little witch struggled for a long time, and finally refused with difficulty: "Mom said that when you do things, you must start and end, and you can't give up halfway."
"It's dangerous for you to be here alone."
"It doesn't matter, I'm very good at escaping...and, my mother said, don't talk to strange wizards...as long as you ignore them, the world will be safe."
"...I am a stranger too, why are you helping me?"
"Because you smell so good!"
This was really an answer that only a child could give. Zheng Qing felt a little dumbfounded, but his desire to take the little witch out became even stronger.
Then he thought of a small gift he had prepared for Lin Guo before.
Zheng Qing hesitated for a moment and took out a transparent glass box from the gray cloth bag. The box had the logo of 'Double Tang Dynasty'. Inside the box were several lifelike sugar lambs with twisted transparent horns and black sesame seeds embedded in them.
With his shining eyes, he ran around on the green marshmallow grass, nibbling on the fluffy 'green grass'.
It’s as if you can hear their cheerful bleating sounds through the glass cover.
Zheng Qing felt that Zhu Si was more suitable to receive such a gift than Lin Guo.
"What is this?" The moment the little witch saw the candy box, her eyes were glued to the sweet-smelling lambs, and she even forgot to continue counting the precious mirin leaves.
"Candyman, do you want one?" Zheng Qing unpacked the box without saying a word.
The lambs that were munching on the marshmallow grass seemed to feel that the sky was breaking and the end of the world was coming. They screamed and fled in all directions. The sweet smell spread with the violent movement of the sheep.
The little witch's nose twitched violently several times.
She pursed her lips very hard and put her hands behind her back.
Zheng Qing picked up the fattest black sheep with bamboo clips and handed it to Zhu Si: "Try it... the candy man is delicious."
The little witch hesitated for a long time, and finally stretched out a hand from behind and touched the screaming lamb - its four legs kicked harder and harder.
"This is obviously a sheep." Zhu Si corrected in a low voice: "I have seen it before!"
The wizard couldn't help but smile:
"Yes, Sugar Sheep... do you like it? There are a lot of these things out there. I'll buy them for you when you get out."
"I like it..." The little witch stared at the kicking lamb and finally did not take it. She once again rejected Zheng Qing's suggestion to take her out.
"I'll give it to you if you like it." The young public-funded student thrust the box into the little witch's arms.
Zhu Si hugged it with a look of surprise.
She also had a satisfied expression on her face as she watched the lambs nibbling on the green marshmallow grass.
"You give me a gift, and I'll treat you to a feast!" The little witch patted the wizard's arm generously, put down the box of candy figures, and took out a shabby picture album from her arms.
The picture album must have been read many times, and many of the colors on the cover have fallen off, but the entire book is still very complete and clean.
The little witch sat cross-legged on the ground, motioned for Zheng Qing to sit opposite her, and then opened the first page of the book.
There is a picture of hot rice on it.
"The only staple food is rice," she said in a regretful tone, as if she felt sorry for the guest: "Just make do with a little... I'm so sorry."
Zheng Qing looked at her blankly and said nothing.
The little witch made a hand gesture on the picture album with her hands, and a bowl of white flowers and steaming rice slowly appeared in the air. She carefully held the small blue and white porcelain bowl and brought it to Zheng Qing.
Zheng Qing lowered his head, looking at the rice that seemed to be mosaic, and the tip of his nose felt a little sore - those mosaics were damaged due to the magic spells in the album being used for too long, so the picture quality was affected.
The little witch turned to the second page of the picture album, and there was a roast chicken on it.
The meaty parts such as chicken legs, chicken breasts, and chicken wing roots have become completely blank, leaving only the chicken head as the most complete image, but without the comb.
She glanced at the wizard secretly, thinking that he didn't notice, and then quickly made a hand gesture to summon the incomplete chicken head shadow. She put it in a small plate and pushed it in front of the wizard.
"This is the most delicious part of a chicken!" The little witch said solemnly and introduced in great detail: "You have to start eating from the mouth of the chicken. There is a thin layer of skin on its lower jaw, which is full of flavor when you bite it...
There are a lot of bones in the cheeks, be careful not to pierce your mouth...The soup is the thickest in the eyeballs, and when paired with a mouthful of fragrant rice, wow, what a taste!"
She admired loudly, quickly turned the third page, and turned the album to the fourth page.
From the corner of Zheng Qing's eye, he caught a glimpse of some broken pictures on the third page. It seemed to be a page where many different pictures were spliced together? He was not sure.
On the fourth page are a few green vegetables.
It can be seen that there should be a bunch of green vegetables in the previous picture album, but now there is only a blank space in those places. The little witch's fingers wandered among the green vegetables for a long time, and finally selected the fattest one, and then
He summoned it with a hand gesture.
A stick of lettuce drizzled with soy sauce.
The corresponding image of lettuce in the album is a bit lighter visible to the naked eye.
"Mom said that eating more green vegetables is good for your health." The little witch pushed the plate with a green vegetable in front of Zheng Qing and sighed: "You can insert the vegetable into the rice so that you can get the last bite of the rice.
There are also vegetables to eat...and the rice tastes good when mixed with soy sauce."
"Okay, okay." Zheng Qing stopped Zhu Si's plan to continue flipping through, with an ugly smile on his face: "I have a small appetite, so I can already eat a lot of food."
"Really?!" There was a hint of surprise on the little witch's face, and then she patted her thigh hard: "It turns out that our stomachs are about the same... Even though you are tall, you only seem to eat one more dish than me.
!”
Zheng Qing raised his head and looked at the monotonous gray-white color above his head.
After a long while, he lowered his head again.
"What about you? What do you want to eat?" he asked with a smile.
"Me? Well... I'll eat it later."
"Let's eat together. Too much food will be wasted."
"May I?"
"It's necessary. It's up to the host to do whatever he wants."
"Okay... okay. Actually, I think it's a bit wasteful, haha..."