【He found that he couldn't do it.】
[He has gone too far, the way he came has long been blurred, now looking back, he can only see light and warmth. ]
[You are such a mean guy. You died so early that he can't even dream of what you will look like when you have white hair.]
【...】
[14 days after you left, sunny.]
In the evening, the setting sun dyed the whole world into a romantic orange-red color, and a few floating clouds could not hide their shyness around it.
Otto finished processing the last remaining documents in the cart and shook his sore wrist.
However, he did not take out the Void Treasure as usual, but instead stood up and walked out.
Let’s go back to “home” after a long absence.
After many days, the house was still the same as when Otto left, except for a thin layer of dust on the floor.
The light quilt was spread out on the bed, the oil lamp on the bedside table was off, and the person who was supposed to light the lamp would never come again.
He stared blankly at everything in front of him, as if he was in another world.
After a while, he finally dared to walk back to the desk.
On the desk, which was also covered with a layer of dust, there were a few items quietly placed, including an unfinished airplane model, a closed book, and a pot of green lilies.
Otto pulled out his chair and sat down, then reached out and picked up the unassembled airplane model and started fiddling with it.
And just then, the wind blew.
A breeze blew in through the window, swaying the pot of green lilies on the table and emitting a faint fragrance.
Otto sniffed the elegant fragrance that seemed to linger on his nostrils and fixed his eyes on the pot of green lilies.
This pot of green lilies was given to him by Lu Mian the night before he followed Kallian to Shenzhou. He would never forget it.
But, it turns out that this green lily has grown so well?
"..." Otto quietly admired the green lily potted plant that had grown almost silently, while assembling an unfinished airplane model in his hands.
For a moment, it seemed as if I had completely forgotten about the complicated affairs of the world.
Time passed by little by little, and gradually, the orange sky turned into a night dotted with stars, and the setting sun was driven away by the moon.
The world fell silent.
Otto finally finished assembling the airplane model in his hand.
He rarely smiled, but he didn't really appreciate the model in his hand. He subconsciously said to the person beside him:
"Look at this..."
Before he finished speaking, he stopped abruptly.
There will no longer be anyone sitting next to him and responding to him with a gentle smile.
Habits are bad habits that are difficult for human beings to give up, and time is a quack doctor who claims to cure all diseases.
Otto admitted that he still couldn't get over it.
While he was distracted, he once again looked at the pot of green lilies swaying gently on the table, and suddenly remembered what Lu Mian said when he gave him the potted plant:
"On your desk there are only books and airplanes. It's too dull."
So that's what it means...
The night is very quiet and can accommodate any sound.
The gentle sound of the breeze blowing past your ears, the occasional long chirping of cicadas, and... the sudden sound of an airplane model falling to the floor.
Otto ignored the broken plane that had fallen to the ground and returned to the bed, lying down with his arm resting on his smooth forehead. The shadow underneath covered the upper half of his face and blocked his sight.
There is a clear line between darkness and the soft light emitted by the lamps.
As the light and darkness changed, the calm expression on Otto's face suddenly became gloomy.
Forget everything.
...can't do it.
Looking back, I have spent so many years with you that I cannot even imagine a world without you.
-----------------
"Otto! Otto!?"
Hearing the familiar call in his ears, Otto slowly opened his eyes.
What kind of scene is this?
The sun is rising, it should be morning.
The morning glow casts the sky a soft pink, dotted with nibble-worthy clouds.
"rustle--"
The gentle breeze travels across the four directions, awakening the drooping green grass, kneading open the buds, and waking up the sleeping ancient trees.
Under the tree, a man in a black windbreaker leaned against the thick trunk with his arms folded across his chest, a concerned smile on his face, his brows and eyes the same as before.
Everything is so beautiful, "like a dream".
Otto sat in front of the drawing board, brush in hand, watching the scene, not knowing what to say.
"It was you who came back from painting class and insisted on showing off your skills to me, but now you leave me here alone to doze off. I don't remember that I taught you to be such a child, do you?" Lu Mian raised his eyebrows.
Having said that, he was still extremely gentle.
draw?
Is...that so?
Otto felt a strange sense of disharmony in his heart, but after looking at Lu Mian leaning against the tree and then at the white canvas in front of him, he gave up thinking.
Be it an illusion or a misunderstanding.
At least, let him leave something behind...
Chapter 1: The meaning that has not yet been conveyed (5/)
“Wait a moment, wait a moment, just hold on a little longer, don’t move, it will be fine soon.” Otto said soothingly as he held a paintbrush and painted the outline of Lu Mian’s figure on the canvas bit by bit.
His paintings could not be identified by any school, but they were extremely detailed, as if he wanted to paint every single hair on Lu Mian.
After all, this might be his only chance to leave some traces for Lu Mian in the world.
He didn't want to miss it no matter what.
Lu Mian still leaned against the tree trunk with his arms crossed. After carefully accepting the 108th word of comfort from Otto, he complained in a gentle voice:
"Not only do my arms ache, my body is also a little stiff. Isn't this painting too laborious?"
"It's really just a little bit more," Otto's brush moved faster, "Just need to fix the wrinkles on the clothes... OK! Come and see how it goes? ... Sleep?"
No response was received.
He poked his head out from behind the drawing board, but could no longer find Lu Mian leaning against the tree.
Lu Mian disappeared just like that suddenly.
Otto felt a sudden chill and looked back at the portrait in front of him.
The painting was fine, Lu Mian in the painting was still smiling gently.
However, just when Otto was about to breathe a sigh of relief, the scene in the painting suddenly changed - Lu Mian, who was originally smiling gently, suddenly became bleeding from all seven orifices, looked horrible, and his body was about to break apart.
At the same time, an inexplicable fire started from the center of the painting and Lu Mian's heart, spread, and then engulfed Lu Mian's smiling face.
! ! ! ? ? ?
Without much thought, Otto subconsciously stretched out his bare hands, trying to stop the flames from growing stronger.
However, not only was the flame not extinguished, but it burned again and swallowed him up.
"Ah!" He closed his eyes reflexively.
The anticipated pain did not come.
In the darkness, light penetrated into Otto's eyes.
"Get out of here!" Amid the crackling of the flames, the man's tired and angry voice was as clear as thunder out of the blue.
As the words fell, a distinctive "crack" sound of broken glass rang in Otto's ears.
About a breath later, Otto opened his eyes again and found that the scene he was in had changed again.
He returned to "home" again.
He lay on the bed, looking quietly at the ceiling that once seemed so familiar to him, and sighed softly.
Is he awake?
I subconsciously glanced at the desk and saw an endless orange-red corner breaking into the window, romantic and gorgeous.
It must be the sunset.
Standing at the desk under the window, a man in a black windbreaker held an intact airplane model in his hands, seemingly... smiling?
It's still a dream...
Otto looked quietly at Lu Mian in front of the desk, pursed his lips, but said nothing in the end.
But Lu Mian seemed to be able to guess what Otto was thinking. He put down the plane he was holding and turned to face Otto.
"Maybe it was just a dream," he said.
He also didn't expect that he would be able to endure the pain of his scattered soul and force himself to piece together his shattered self and wander back in confusion to see Otto and Kallen.
If this isn't a dream, what else could it be?
[Do you still remember the question that you once buried deep in your heart? ]
[You passed the college entrance examination but at the same time received the news that your grandparents had passed away. This made you doubt yourself. You thought about it more than once, but never found the answer.]
[But just before you die, you suddenly understand why your grandparents hid their critical illness from you.]
[It’s not that they don’t love you. On the contrary, having lost their own son, they put all their love into their life with you.]
[Then why did they keep it from you and not let you see them for the last time? ]
[Because reality is not like a work of creation, it does not follow logic, and when accidents and regrets come, they never say hello politely. ]
【Death is something that cannot be helped.】
【Many people left in such a hurry that those around them were caught off guard.】
[When people die, they return to the earth and turn into dust, no longer having dreams, but the living are left with only sorrow. ]
【There is nothing we can do about this. 】
[What your grandparents can do is to prevent their "love" from becoming a burden to you. ]
[It is the same with you, so you understand them, and thus you are able to reconcile with your own life. ]
[When you were guiding Otto and Kallen in the past, you always had the attitude of "Even if you are not better than others, you must not be worse than others." ]
[And now, this weird thought that was almost like an obsession has disappeared without a trace. ]
【You only have one thing to say to Otto.】
Otto seemed to notice something was wrong with the "dream" before him. He slowly sat up and stared at Lu Mian closely - his short nails carved deep marks on his palms, and he was ready to pounce at the next second.
But in the end he didn't rush out, he was still hesitant.
The afterglow of the setting sun gently poured down through the window lattice, clearly dividing the entire house into two halves, one half was filled with brilliant skylight, and the other half was covered with shadows that could not be touched by light.
Lu Mian stood in the sunset, not caring about Otto's hesitation at all, with an indelible warmth between his brows.
He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly he seemed to be unable to remember anything and became dazed:
"Otto, what I want to tell you is...Otto, what I want to tell you anyway is..."
Otto just huddled in the shadows, staring at Lu Mian, who looked like he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease.
