Lu Li gently hugged the weightless crying girl around her waist.
"I know you will come...I know...I'm sorry...I'm sorry..."
Anna murmured in her sleep and hugged Lu Li tightly.
Lu Li was also immersed in the beauty of finally meeting again.
Remi's silhouette appeared next to the wooden house, followed by Jimmy, Tesla, Adangfuya, Ampere, and the children...
Anna ignored them, her fervent emotions almost melting Lu Li. After a long time, she reluctantly let go of Lu Li and held him with her fingers intertwined, fearing that everything was just a dream.
"Our friends live here too."
Anna looked at the people on the other side of the river who were blessing good things, and led Lu Li to float across the river.
All of them were faces familiar to Lu Li.
"I thought it was an illusion, but you haven't changed at all..." Tesla was the first to sigh. Time has carved traces on him, turning this former investigator into an old man.
"Perhaps Lu Li will make you look younger when he comes." Adang Fuya still looks like the beautiful woman she was back then.
"Did you see the letter we left? I almost thought you had..." Unable to speak, Remi gently hugged Lu Li, but Anna magnanimously did not stop her.
There is nothing better than having Lu Li back in her life.
Remi let go of Lu Li, and Jimmy hugged him again. He seemed to have just finished his farm work, exuding enthusiasm, and said incoherently: "I... thank... welcome..."
Jimmy pushed away, and the children ran over hand in hand, singing a song around Lu Li: "She is surrounded by a vast forest, far away from disputes. Animals gather here, and plants are still growing..."
"Rustling"
Ampere, who was coiled around the outside, shouted in a low voice.
"I'll take you to our home."
Anna picked up Lu Li and walked towards the wooden house complex.
The jumping children wanted to follow, but Remi waved her dance skirt lightly, and invisible force stopped them.
"Give them some time alone," Remy said softly.
Pushing open the door decorated with flowers, Lu Li stepped on the creaky floor and walked into the wooden house. What he saw before him was like returning to a detective agency: bookshelves, desks, sofas, and sculptures standing on the wall.
It raised its arm, holding a cluster of flowers in its palm.
"Enri!"
Anna looked at the overturned flowerpot on the window sill. All the carefully tended flowers were in the hands of the sculpture.
"Just this once."
She waved her hand gently, and the sculpture was lifted up by invisible force and flew into the bedroom, and the door clicked shut.
Anna, who was finally alone, faced Lu Li, and her fingertips carefully and painfully crossed the scabs and brand-new wounds. Tears welled up in her eyes: "I'm sorry... I should have been waiting for you outside... You paid a lot to find me...
…Is it right?"
"Um."
Anna gently stroked Lu Li's thinner cheek and gently pressed her forehead against his chest.
The two embracing silhouettes solidify like sculptures.
Because of Lu Li's arrival, Remi and the others carefully prepared food and slaughtered a lamb on the farm.
In the evening, the sun disappears behind the dark forest surrounding the grassland, and the stars climb into the night sky.
They had a dinner together at Jimmy's brother and sister's house. The aroma of lamb and jicama was cooking in the pot, they clinked glasses of wild fruit wine, and Lu Li and Anna, who had put on brand new cloths, stood shoulder to shoulder.
In addition to the aroma of the food itself, there are also stories of the past in the house.
"Why don't you get out of here?"
"We've been to the edge, and it's still dark there, as if we were the only ones left in the world," Tesla replied.
They don't know the existence of the Land of Light.
Lu Li looked at Anna, she held his arms and said softly: "I knew you would come..."
Mentioning this place, people recited a long poem like a prayer: "She is surrounded by vast forests, far away from disputes. Animals gather here, plants are still growing, rivers like honey flow, and people who escape the world migrate here, it is like paradise."
This is not the end, they complete the long poem praising the eternal forest.
"The forest called Eternity, where life flows; it is the lungs of the world, nourishing the world. It is a pastoral without sorrow, a pure land without dirt."
"Will you stay?"
After chanting along, Anna asked Lu Li with hope:
"I will take you away." Lu Li told them the Land of Light.
Tesla laments his former home.
"How about staying...we can live here forever." But Anna prefers it here.
Lu Li almost agreed to her, but when he thought about the outside world and everyone's expectations, he shook his head slightly: "The land of hope is our home."
"Same here."
Anna lowered her head sadly.
Tesla recited a long poem again: "She is surrounded by vast forests, far away from disputes. Animals gather here, plants are still growing, and rivers like honey flow..."
People followed, folded their hands, and chanted like a prayer. Anna also followed and chanted: "People who escape from the world migrate here, it is like heaven."
"Lu Li..."
The prayer was suddenly mixed with the whisper of the Swamp Mother, and it sounded in my mind.
"The forest called Eternal, life flows here; it is the lungs of the world, nourishing the world. It is a pastoral without sorrow, a pure land without dirt..."
Lu Li lowered his eyes and listened quietly to something.
"What’s wrong with you?"
After praying, Anna opened her eyes and asked Lu Li.
"I feel a little uncomfortable. Let's go outside for a while."
"I'll accompany you."
"Need not."
Lu Li left his seat, left the warm house, and came outside where the breeze was blowing.
Lu Li walked to the edge of the wooden house cluster like a stroll, put his hand into his stomach bag, and held a pure white stone.
"Your heart tells me that you are hesitating..."
"Anna" sat on the rafter shaking her calves.
"There is nothing wrong with immersing yourself in illusion. If you think this is true, then it is true. You can think that the reminder of the Swamp Mother is false."
Lu Li looked up at her: "Anna is still waiting for me outside."
"But what if I'm already dead..." Anna stopped shaking and looked down at him: "The answer is sometimes not that important. My love, you have to learn to deceive yourself..."
Lu Li responded with silence, but the outline of "Anna" gradually began to fade.
"It seems you have decided..."
"Anna" smiled softly and disappeared into the night sky.
Lu Li briefly stared at the warm light coming from the window not far away, then turned and walked towards the lonely and dark riverside.
squeak
The door behind him opened at this moment.
"Lu Li! Don't leave me! Please!"
The crying Anna held up the hem of her skirt, took off one of her shoes, and ran towards Lu Li barefoot.
But how could the ghost cry, how could it run, and how could it throw off its shoes?
Lu Li watched Anna running tenderly, then turned around and jumped into the river that might be filled with rotting juice. The coldness washed away all the previous good things, and the unknown current dragged him deep into the dark forest.
