The child stared at the bird and said uncertainly, "You...want me to follow you?"
Seeing the little bird nodding, the child's eyes widened in surprise.
He stood up.
The bird has flown forward.
He felt anxious and chased after him with staggering steps.
...
"At that time, I only had a small fire in my eyes, and I didn't pay attention to the surrounding situation."
The boy lamented the incredible experience, "Until I heard my mother's cry..."
"I realized that I had already walked out of the house, even down the stairs, to the landing."
To this day, he is still confused as to what happened at that time.
But the only thing that's certain is -
Xiao Huo saved him.
…
He still remembered his mother holding him and crying that day.
He was a little confused.
Of course, in the eyes of others, he appeared to be terrified.
He was indeed frightened.
But, beyond that, Xiao Huo's presence diluted his fear.
That experience left him with not only fear, but also magic.
His mother's emotions infected him.
His mother also hugged him too tightly.
He could feel the shivers coming from his mother.
As he burst into tears, he temporarily forgot about Xiao Huo.
"...When I thought about it later, Xiao Huo was gone."
The boy smiled.
Although I was disappointed at that time, I was helpless.
He told his parents about Xiao Huo.
But his parents told him that it was just a hallucination in his dazed state.
How can there be a bird in the sea of fire?
Did this little bird save him?
What saved him was his obsession with escaping.
He still remembered that his parents hugged him and praised him as a brave child.
Since his parents said so, the child quickly forgot about the bird in the sea of fire.
but……
"I saw Xiao Huo again later."
The boy squinted his eyes. The gap between the leaves above the place he just walked through was a bit large, and the sunlight shining down stung his eyes.
He took a few steps quickly.
"I was pleasantly surprised."
"I thought the little fire was really just my imagination..."
"But it shows up again."
Just on an ordinary day, a spring afternoon.
He comes home from school.
Looking up inadvertently, he saw -
Xiaohuo stood next to the jasmine flowers sticking out from the wall.
The beautiful sunset shines on Xiao Huo's body, and the fiery red hair shines more and more, making people almost unable to see the winter jasmine beside him.
He couldn't help but walk into the wall.
When he got closer, he realized that Xiao Huo's body was red, but Xiao Huo's head was white.
The firelight last time and the sunset this time prevented the boy from discovering this at the first time.
The small fire illuminated by the firelight and sunset looks like the whole body is burning with flames.
Just like...a fire elf.
The boy opened his eyes wide.
His eyes and face were full of wonder and astonishment.
…
"It was also that time that I discovered that Xiao Huo was a monster."
Seeing that the road was in front of him, the boy stopped and turned around.
Walked back again.
"I met my classmates..."
They called his name.
When he turned to look at them, they asked him strangely: What are you looking at?
He is stranger than them.
Of course I am watching birds.
Such a beautiful bird…
He told it truthfully.
But they got even weirder looks in return.
They said: Where are the birds?
There are no birds on the fence at all.
He was stunned.
When the students saw this, they all asked him with concern what was wrong.
They all knew that he escaped from the fire, and the teacher also told them in class to pay more attention to their classmates.
The boy asked them again seriously: Are there really no birds?
They all shook their heads, and some even said that the boy was strange.
The boy was a little flustered and at a loss.
He shook his head.
Said he was just joking.
There was really a bird before, a very beautiful bird.
But it flew away before they came.
The weird atmosphere immediately dissipated.
The classmates all laughed.
They say boys can also joke.
Because the boy usually has the kind of temperament that rarely talks in class and is not particularly active.
The boy smiled reluctantly.
The classmates said goodbye to him and left.
The boy left too.
But soon, the boy ran back again.
He was disappointed when he didn't see the bird at his original position.
His shoulders slumped.
"...Zhizhi~"
This voice?!
The boy suddenly turned his head.
Then, on the other wall, he saw a fiery red bird.
The little bird stands with the setting sun behind it, almost as if it is melting into it.
The boy walked over slowly.
"You...are a monster?"
…
"...Actually, Xiao Huo is not the first monster I saw."
The boy stopped.
After the passers-by walked by, he continued, "I was only five years old when I first saw a monster."
It was really a long time ago.
But he always remembered it very clearly.
"What does such a young child know?"
The boy smiled and said, "I probably scared my parents back then."
He still remembered his parents' anxiety, sighs, doubts... and sadness at that time.
"Later, my grandma told me what I should do."
In order not to worry his parents, he pretended not to see the monster.
He never gets close to monsters.
Grandma said that monsters are very dangerous.
Moreover, transvestites have different paths.
It's not good to be too close to monsters.
"I once asked grandma, can grandma also see monsters?"
"But grandma shook her head."
"Later, when I was older, my grandma told me that it was my grandma's brother who saw monsters when he was a child."
"It's just that there's no comparison between then and now."
"Grandma's brother... was treated badly."
"I always remember what my grandma said. Maybe monsters are not malicious, but monsters can bring bad luck to the humans who come into contact with them."
"For a long time I didn't know if this was true or not."
"Actually, I'm very curious about monsters."
The boy pursed his lips and said, "He is a monster after all."
"I've read a lot of books about monsters, as well as movies and TV series about monsters..."
"Anyone who knows me knows that I am a monster lover."
"But because of what happened to me when I was a child, my grandmother's words, and maybe my own personality... I have never dared to approach them."
"Until I met Xiao Huo..."
"I know this sentence is wrong."
The boy shook his head, "Xiaohuo saved me."
"Without Xiao Huo, I would be dead."
"I don't know about other monsters."
"But a small fire is different."
"Xiao Huo is my friend."
Therefore, when Xiao Huo disappeared again and again, he also went to find Xiao Huo again and again.