Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1072: Sad or relieved?

Shaymi was riding on his best friend.

This statement is undoubtedly quite shocking. I believe that most people will automatically generate some inappropriate images in their minds when they hear this sentence. This is a major pain point in the expression of ideas in literary works, that is, the reader's imagination is always too rich. But in reality, the scene described in this sentence is real - and there is indeed no inappropriate element for children, because the "good friend of Shaymi" mentioned here is actually the lamb.

Who do you think it is?
In fact, Shemi knew the lamb even earlier than she knew Metien. Ever since Saint Shalia used the power of the Destiny Kingship to help the Fairy Deep Sleep Inn avoid the night watchman's search, she and her lamb have formed a deep bond with the residents of No. 13 Sherri Street. Perhaps because of their similar intelligence, Shemi and the lamb hit it off at the celebration banquet that night. The former secretly took some snacks from the kitchen to feed the lamb without telling her two sisters and the lamb's owner; while the latter was merciful and allowed Shemi to ride on her head, changing her job to become the only sheep knight in the history of the traveler fairies, which slightly satisfied her vanity.

During that time, the relationship between the two... uh, the goblin and the sheep can only be described in four words: using each other!
Bah, you're wrong. The correct answer is inseparable.

Of course, we all know that the famous ACG expert Alice once proposed a theory, that is, "childhood sweethearts cannot defeat the one who descended from the sky", and deeply analyzed the principles behind it, such as childhood sweethearts are too familiar and lack novelty; the one who descended from the sky is shrouded in a mysterious aura, which easily arouses people's desire to explore. But the paper is too long, so I won't go into details here, and will just fast forward to the ending: the childhood sweetheart, Xiao Yang, lost to the one who descended from the sky, and the rest is omitted.

What a sad story, pfft.

"Baa?" The lamb called out suspiciously, and its expression seemed to be saying: You just laughed out loud, right?

"No, no." Xie Mi's mouth couldn't help but twitch, but she quickly suppressed it. To be honest, this was harder than suppressing her guilty expression in front of her elder sister after secretly eating snacks. But the little fairy actually did it. She said with a stern face: "I'm serious, if you don't believe me, just look."

She opened her eyes wide, trying to convey her sincerity, but the lamb didn't have the compound eyes of insects, so it couldn't observe the scene around it 360 degrees without blind spots. Naturally, it couldn't see the expression of the little goblin on its head, so it was still a little skeptical: "Baa?"

"Hey, I told you I didn't lie to you. What's our relationship? Don't you believe me?"

"Baa." The lamb shook its head, indicating that I no longer trust you since you ordered me to bite your homework to pieces in order to go out and play with Metien, which resulted in me being punished by my master.

"You obviously had a lot of fun that time too!"

Xie Mi protested her injustice, and then she saw that Xiao Yang seemed to want to dig up the past and settle the score, so she quickly changed the subject: "Okay, okay, let's not talk about this, let's talk about your business, Xiao Yang. Why are you so dejected as soon as you returned to the hotel? Are you feeling unwell?"

She pretended to be concerned, but at the same time did not forget to point out her own contribution: "Look, I haven't even played with Metien, but I came to care about you. It shows that our friendship is still indestructible, right?"

It was true when I thought about it. The lamb didn't know that Shemi was actually kicked out by Metien because she wanted to steal the snow mountain cake on the table, and the boss lady clearly said that the meal couldn't be served until everyone was present. By the way, Leticia was also kicked out for the same reason and was now being questioned by her grandmother, such as why she always smacked her lips, whether she had secretly eaten snacks outside, etc. Anyway, she believed from the bottom of her heart that Shemi was still a good friend worthy of trust and could confide in her.

"Baa, baa, baa!"

"Um, ah? Oh."

As Xiaoyang told the story, Xie Mi's expression gradually changed, from calm to surprised, and finally returned to a deep calm. She crossed her arms, narrowed her eyes, and said with an expression that said, "I have seen through the truth." "So, the reason you are in a bad mood is because Xiaoxia's lap pillow was taken away by someone?"

He actually snatched the owner's lap pillow from an innocent lamb. How uncivilized! What kind of person would do such a shameless thing?

After pretending to be calm and thinking for a while, the little goblin slowly opened his mouth and said, "This, this, this is incredible, a big event!"

Because the only people who have not returned to the hotel yet are Lingge and Alice. But judging from the autistic look Alice showed before she left, she probably didn't have the mood or energy to fight with the lamb for the lap pillow. So, the real criminal is——

He who must not be named!

The little fairy stood up excitedly and turned around on the lamb's head. She felt that she had discovered a very incredible secret, and she wanted to rush to everyone and announce it: Everyone, look at me, I have something to announce - Xiao Xia's lap pillow was taken away by Lingge!!!
some type of.

But just as such a thought came to mind, a chill invaded his bones, making the little fairy shudder and wake up all of a sudden: What was he thinking, trying to defy the hand of fate? Of course, revealing this astonishing secret could bring him great honor and prestige. Not only would Metien worship him, but even his greatest enemy in life, Leticia, would bow down at his feet and submit to him. Thinking of such a scene, the little fairy was so excited, but unfortunately, the consequences that followed were even more serious.

On this Yunjingkong Island, you can offend anyone, except Xiaoxia. If you offend the eldest sister, at best you will be kicked out of the hotel and live as a savage for a few days, eating berries and mushrooms to survive; if you offend the second sister, she will put you on the blacklist and you will never be able to drink the water she carefully prepared again (maybe it's a good thing); if you offend Yieta, it's like offending a ball of cotton, nothing will happen; however, if you offend Xiaoxia, the consequences will be much more serious, because - you don't know at all!

That's right, no one knows what the consequences of offending Xiao Xia will be. After all, she has never been a petty person, but because of this, the unknown is more frightening. Look at Alice, she always jumps around in front of Xiao Xia, isn't it because she knows that Xiao Xia is always angry on the surface, but in fact, she doesn't hit her hard? But Xie Mi knows that the secret he holds is 10,000 times more serious than Alice's suicidal behavior, so the revenge he suffers afterwards will definitely be 10,000 times more serious than Alice's fate!

Many scary images appeared in her mind. The little fairy's teeth chattered uncontrollably, making a crackling sound, which was enough to prove how nervous and confused she was. She even regarded the complaints of her good friend Xiaoyang as a test: Could it be a spy sent by Xiaoxia? Because the only person on Yunjingkong Island who could understand Xiaoyang's words, besides its owner, was herself. In other words, she was the only one who could know and leak the secret. Xiaoxia had to - eradicate the trouble! ?
"Bah!"

“Ah!?”

Suddenly, a sheep cried, breaking the silence of the night, and frightened Xie Mi, who was already guilty. She raised her head with difficulty, but saw a terrifying shadow slowly approaching her in the depths of the darkness. The appearance of the monster was the most ferocious, cruel, and hateful in all the bedtime stories the little elf had ever heard. It had two heads, one of which was tilted to the side, emitting a cold light from its empty eye sockets, while the other head drooped strangely under its shoulders, swaying with its steps, like a dead person's skull hanging; its body looked very thin, but there was a huge, breathing cyst parasitized on its back, and tentacles like spider silk hung from the tumor at the top of the cyst; it had four hands but only two legs, and the two legs looked normal, but the four hands were deformed in their own ways. Two hands extended from the top, passing around the part where the tumor connected to the monster, and hung weakly on its chest. From the middle, two hands that were obviously thicker and with reversed wrist joint structures extended. The two hands on the top had ten branches at the end, but the two hands on the bottom had no branches at all, but were wrapped in a cocoon-like structure... Oh my God, what kind of alien or demon is this, or is it a man-made deformed monster! ?
I must have known Xiao Xia's secret, so she sent someone to silence her!

With a roar, Xie Mi jumped up from the lamb's head, holding his head and begging for mercy: "Wow! No, don't kill me! I will never tell the secret, please spare me, wuwuwu!" Perhaps the little goblin's begging for mercy worked, and the monster slowly stopped.

A familiar voice called out, "What are you doing, Shaymi?"

"Wow, wow, wow, I'm not tasty at all. If you want to eat it, eat the lamb... Eh?" Xie Mi was stunned for a moment. Did she hear it wrongly? How could she hear that guy's voice? She hesitated and raised her head carefully, like a naughty child who knew that playing with matches could easily burn himself, but still couldn't help but want to provoke the flame, and took a tentative look.

This glance made her stunned on the spot.

Although it was late at night, the Goblin Sleep Inn never closed, so the kerosene lamp hanging on the door beam was still lit, emitting a soft yellowish light. The young man stood at the edge of the light, looking at the goblin with strange eyes. On his back was Alice, who was dozing off, with her head drooping down, as if she was about to sink into a beautiful dream. But the young man's sudden stop startled her awake. She raised her head in panic and looked around: "What, what, are we here? Can we have dinner?"

Xie Mi: “…”

Facing this scene, even a simple fairy like her should have understood that what she just saw was not a monster at all, but Lingge carrying Alice on his back. The head drooping down the shoulder was Alice dozing off, and the head leaning to the side was Lingge turning his face away in disdain; those spider-like tentacles were Alice's hair, and the unbranched hand was not a hand at all, but Alice's foot in boots!

"So, what happened, Shaymi?" Ling asked.

"Nothing." The little elf said expressionlessly: "I just feel like a real idiot."

Why did you only discover this now?

The lamb bleated at Lingge, with considerable dissatisfaction and resentment in its cry, probably still brooding over the incident with the lap pillow. Its cry - including Shemy's begging for mercy - also alarmed the people waiting in the hotel, and they filed out, a huge group pouring out of the hotel like a tide, filling up the empty space.

"You're back, Lingge." Saint Chariya walked to the lamb and gently touched its head to comfort it, then cast her eyes on the golden-haired maid on Lingge's back. She opened her mouth, her eyes full of concern and worry: "Also, Alice, are you... okay?"

Alice knew what she wanted to say. After her sleepy eyes stayed on Saint Xia Liya for a moment, she looked at the group of people behind her: Olvera, who was annoyed for some reason; Yieta, who was giggling after seeing them come back; the little bat who pointed his chin at himself with a look of disdain; Metien, who shook his head back and forth from looking at Linge to himself; Rorona, who was leaning against the door and watching the scene with a smile; Gloria (or Bai Ye), who had a cold expression as if she didn't care about anything but didn't avoid it deliberately; Xino, who always trusted her companions and was not surprised by this result; Countess Nevill, whose mouth corners were slightly raised; the proprietress Shesta, whose eyes were curved as if she was smiling like a crescent moon; and the water mixer Shelia, who gave him a thumbs up for no reason...

The inn's residents gathered here to welcome a late guest. Fortunately, although she was late, Alice believed that she did not miss anything, because no matter what time or what difficulties she faced, these friends would always wait for her. You could not see any impatience in their eyes, only concern and relief.

If this were a game, I would have gathered the best teammates, and now I would just have to defeat the enemy with love and justice, and that was exactly what gamers were best at, wasn't it? And I was a genius gamer.

"Hey, I'm back.

Alice put one hand around Lingge's neck and raised the other hand to make a "yeah" gesture to everyone, with her usual carefree smile on her face: "Dinner should not be cold yet, right?"

"No." The proprietress replied immediately: "I used fairy magic to keep it warm, so it's still warm now, everyone -"

She folded her hands, placed them on her cheeks, tilted her head slightly, and smiled gently: "Is dinner ready?"

Everyone looked at Lingge, but the young man did not answer immediately. Instead, he suddenly remembered today's experience. From morning till now, the travelers from afar seemed to have experienced too many twists and turns and disappointments. The truth of the past once made them lost, and the confusion about the future made them a little overwhelmed. Fortunately, even if the reality is indifferent, the world is still gentle. No matter what they have experienced, there will always be a small hotel on this island named after whales, which can be their final destination.

All it takes is a candlelight, a dinner and some like-minded companions to wash away all the fatigue of this long journey.

The young man raised the corners of his mouth. In the dim light from the kerosene lamp, his expression seemed to soften a lot. He said softly, "Yeah."

"Let's go eat, everyone."

He said, but no one responded. Everyone - except Saint Xia Liya - stared at Lingge in amazement, with surprise and disbelief written all over their faces, even Metien, who was most familiar with her brother. Or rather, she was the most shocked person, because no one knew better than this little girl what this scene she saw meant to her past memories.

Reconciliation? Relief? Forgetting? Or... redemption?
The person who has passed away may not necessarily come back, but will the feelings that left with that person return to you one day? Because you know in your heart that is what he expects.

"what."

Metien said half sadly and half relieved: "Lingge, you smiled."

　Give me some meow
　　(End of this chapter)