Fairy Tale

When something unacceptable happens, a good night's sleep can significantly alleviate the symptoms, because you can Deception yourself that it might just be a dream.

But dreams, after all, must eventually end.

With a nervous heart, Tong opened her eyes and saw that everything she had destroyed had been restored. A somewhat familiar figure was sitting by the fire with his back to her. The firewood crackled as it burned, and the flickering firelight was reflected in her eyes.

... So, everything that happened before was just a dream?

Seeing this scene, which seemed familiar and ordinary to her in the past, the Girl's eyes lit up. However, before she could even sit up, the figure sitting by the fire stirred upon hearing the noise and turned to look at her.

"You're awake?"

"..."

Looking at the face of the person who turned around, the memories she didn't want to face resurfaced in her mind. The Girl's expression gradually froze, and the light in her eyes gradually faded... In the end, she was expressionless.

"Who gave you permission to enter my house?"

"What, isn't this your home?"

Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

My home is gone.

Tong's face remained expressionless.

"No, the home is still there. She asked me to take care of you."

Shaking his head slightly, Bai Zhi turned back towards the campfire.

"You can't survive on your own, can you?"

"My affairs are none of your business."

Standing up, Tong spoke coldly.

"Now, leave my house."

"I've prepared the food. The conditions here are terrible, so please make do with it."

Without saying anything more, Bai Zhi got up and left the cave after leaving those words.

Then he moved a small stool to the doorway and sat down.

"..."

"You need my company now, and I'll leave when you don't need it anymore... That way you won't see me anymore, okay?"

Seeing that Tong was staring at him, Bai Zhi shrugged slightly and simply closed the door ajar.

"Now that you can't see me, you can pretend I don't exist, just like Vampire can't see the sun and can pretend the sun doesn't exist."

--The interior was deathly silent, save for the occasional crackling sound of burning wood.

However, Bai Zhi didn't care about these things at all.

As he took out food to summon the small animals in the Garbage Mountain and tried to make a deal with them, he muttered to himself.

"People always have to learn to look forward. Nothing in this world is permanent, and you must understand that. So-called happiness is always relative. There are many people in this world who are less fortunate than you, but they are still strong. You must also learn to be strong."

"..."

Hearing the rambling voices coming from outside the door, Tong huddled beside the fire, hugging her knees, and remained silent.

"In this world, everyone feels unfortunate, but in other worlds, in certain places, there exist people far more unfortunate than you. Should I tell you their stories? First, there was the person I met in the very beginning, the very first person I ever met... or rather, someone who couldn't even be called human..."

"..."

Listening to the voices coming from outside and staring at the flickering flames in front of her, the Girl seemed to be listening intently, but also seemed to be immersed in her own world.

"... Legendary that after death, people go to heaven, but I don't think so. After death, people go to someone's heart, becoming that person's memory, forever existing there, Eternal Life on in our hearts. Just as there is sorrow before there is joy, separation before there is reunion, life is like that, joy and sorrow are equal."

... Is this all you can say? It's so annoying... Can't you just shut up for a bit? What does this have to do with me...?

The Girl sitting next to the fire adjusted her posture, looking slightly annoyed.

"... I used to think that happiness couldn't be bought with money, but later I realized that it was my limited funds that couldn't buy happiness. Are rich people really happy? Yes, you can't even imagine the happiness of the rich. My initial dream was to make a lot of money, but now that I think about it, that dream was so mundane; I actually valued money so much..."

Yes... it's absolutely vulgar... and there's no logic to it at all, it's just rambling on and on...

... Listening to the never-ending chatter outside, the Girl found a golden-brown flatbread by the fire, then broke it into pieces and put it in her mouth.

Looking back now, I really shouldn't have done that. Because I valued money too much and didn't find something to weigh it down, all the money was blown away by the wind... Sigh, youthful arrogance...

"Cough cough..."

The Girl nearly choked, coughing several times. As she covered her throat and prepared to get up to find water, she discovered a pot of warm water next to the fire.

"Alright, let's not talk about those sad things from the past. Let me tell you a few Fairy Tale tales instead. The first Fairy Tale I'll tell you is about the little match girl..."

In this filthy Garbage Mountain, the boy sat outside the door talking to himself, while the Girl sat silently by the fire inside, listening... like the beginning of a beautiful Fairy Tale.

The night was as still as water.

In the end, Tong didn't know when she fell asleep. When she woke up again, she found herself lying next to a campfire, but the fire beside her had already gone out.

After sitting up again from the ground, Tong's expression was blank for a moment.

A moment later, as if she had suddenly thought of something, she quickly went to the door and opened it.

Outside the door, there was no one.

All that could be seen was a stinking Garbage Mountain and a small stool placed on the ground.

"..."

After standing there in silence for a moment, she closed the door with a gloomy expression. However, when she turned around, she met the gaze of someone who was squatting on the ground, holding a teapot, and pouring it directly into their mouth.

In an instant, the scene became extremely awkward.

"Cough cough... I was thirsty, so I came in to get some water."

After gulping down several mouthfuls of water, Bai Zhi put down the kettle and coughed slightly a few times.

"I've already prepared breakfast and put it on the table. You can eat it yourself in a bit."

"I..."

"Don't worry, don't worry, I'll leave right away."

Bai Zhi waved his hand to interrupt the other person and walked towards the door.

"I still have some things to do right now, I'll come over around noon and bring you some food... um, something delicious."

"..."

As the other person brushed past her, the Girl ultimately did not extend her hand.