Zheng Qing was the last to leave the Sakura Pub.
Before him, feeling the subtle atmosphere in the air, Xiao Xiao and Xin Fat Man had both found excuses to ’wash their hands’ and slipped away early, leaving the trouble to their captain and the pub owner.
Zheng Qing decided to try once more.
"A few days ago, I had a very bad dream..."
He detailed his dream—from the shriveled ravens hanging on the scaffold, the frenzied dancing worshipers, the giant claws descending from the sky, to his forr magical zoology teacher Gan Ning—understanding only as he recalled it all that everything was so vivid, as if it had just happened monts ago.
This made his heart sink slightly.
In his mind flashed the words once spoken by the Doctor—the scene he witnessed in his dream might have been carefully disguised by soone; only a false dream remained clear after waking.
"Interesting dream."
Korma’s voice brought the boy back to reality, and he looked in surprise toward the witch behind the bar, only to find her tilting her head, intently focused on the glass and the gently swaying apple juice within.
Noticing the warlock’s gaze, she did not lift her head but raised the glass slightly, changing the topic: "...but for students at Jiuyou Academy, having bad dreams is not unusual. The professors’ endless assignnts and experints are like terrifying mountains of nightmares that inevitably appear in their sleep every night. Moreover, as I understand, you have enrolled in thirty courses this term. Tsk, if my schedule had had so many classes back then, I surely would have had very bad dreams every night."
"Not thirty, just twenty-eight," Zheng Qing muttered, quietly correcting, though his tone was notably weaker than before.
"When did you have the nightmare?" Korma seed interested now.
Zheng Qing calculated in his mind: "Last Tuesday... the night after leaving here. Yes, that’s right, the next day was a History of Magic class; our history class is on Wednesday."
"Last Tuesday, the day you drew the ’Inverted Tower,’ right?"
The witch murmured, as if sensing sothing, and suddenly turned to look outside the window. After a while, she spoke again: "The appearance of the Inverted Tower does not convey true destruction, but rely our inner fear of destruction. Fear arises from all sides. For ordinary wizards, dreams are most harmful, as many cannot distinguish between fantasy and reality, falsehood and truth. You think you’ve seen the future, but in reality, you’ve seen an illusion; you think you’ve seen reality, but in fact, you’ve seen falsehood; you fear what you think you fear, but actually fear your own... anchoring perception in dreams is a very unhealthy choice."
She withdrew her gaze, looked at the boy seriously, and said: "Even now, I do not dare easily believe my eyes. When I just beca a Big Wizard, I felt the world was so clear, the threads so evident, the truth so palpable... it seed I could just follow the order of events step by step to reach a bright future... but now, I am no longer so confident."
"But you saved the Northern District Wizards and founded the Edge Academy!" Zheng Qing couldn’t help but quietly argue for her.
Korma showed a strange smile.
"Did I establish the Edge Academy?"
She softly questioned, as her fingers lightly tapped the glass cup’s rim, the crisp sound echoed in the room sharply contrasting with her slightly bewildered tone: "Do the Northern District Wizards need to save them?"
Saying this, she put down the glass and raised her arm to draw a large circle in the air: "...Do you know how big this world is? Do you know how high the true masters are?
Above the Big Wizard are Legends, and beyond the Starry Sky exist Ancient Ones, whose figures stretch from distant antiquity to an unseen future, weaving endless possibilities with strands of ti.
We lack the ability to see truth.
Every possibility, every future we perceive is rely the aftermath of those giants’ clashes, or the result of their mutual concessions... When you are small, just a bit, the whole world seems so kind; but as you grow up, attempting independence, the cold and realistic facet of the world gradually unfolds before you. The larger you grow, the farther you see; the more you can sense how great those figures are, how deep the darkness colors are... the more you see and understand, the more reverence you feel... Reverence creates distance, distance breeds coldness, and coldness leads you to slowly beco indifferent."
This last statent made Zheng Qing feel sowhat suffocated.
"Do you know those Northern District Wizards will die?" His tone carried a trace of shock and confusion.
The witch looked at him calmly: "Everyone dies, it’s only a matter of ti."
"Who killed them?" The boy pressed on.
"Does it make a difference?"
After the witch’s rhetorical question, she picked up the cup and began drinking the juice by herself: "...By the way, put away the Clear Heart Symbol and Anti-evil charm you secretly took out, I’m not crazy."
By this point in the conversation, Zheng Qing had realized today’s visit was a mistake—he rembered that Korma was never one to be fatalistic.
At least, she would never say sothing so irresponsible as ’Do the Northern District Wizards need to save them.’
Sothing was definitely amiss.
He stuffed the talisman he had just pulled out back into the Grey Cloth Bag, stood up, and, as if rembering sothing, abruptly asked: "Just now you turned to look outside... Did you see sothing?"
Korma raised her eyebrows slightly, with a noncommittal expression on her face.
"Perhaps."
She muttered, scrutinizing the young wizard in front of her, finally sighing: "Whether seen or unseen, what difference does it make? The dead will ultimately die, and the living will continue to live. Sotis, being too perceptive is not necessarily a good thing... nor is it aningful."
Zheng Qing thought for a mont, quietly drew the Colt, and loaded each Fu Bullet into the cylinder, just in case, pressing in a Blood Symbol Bullet at the last.
During this period, the pub owner watched him quietly, neither mocking nor stopping him.
Before leaving.
Zheng Qing finally looked back at the pub owner.
Korma sat behind the bar, her tall figure shrouded in the deep shadow of the liquor rack, appearing sowhat blurred and distorted. A chill went through his heart, he instinctively withdrew his gaze and hastily left Courtyard Thirty-three on Gu Diao Street.
Korma seed off; this was the only thought in his mind.
User Comments
0 comments from readers