Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 497 Do you need me to pray for you?
Linger returned to his desk and wanted to continue his work, but somehow, he kept thinking of Leticia's back as she stumbled out of the corridor. He couldn't calm down for a moment, and looked out the window again. He saw a silver full moon hanging high in the night sky, bright waves rolling in the sea of ​​clouds, and a huge whale swimming in the sea. The forests, fields, hills and flower fields on its back were all shrouded in a hazy light.

Occasionally, one or two crows could be heard from afar, empty and lonely, echoing far into the night. It was a quiet night, just as it had been for hundreds and thousands of years.

Linger sighed silently, then put away his notebook and pen and put them back in the drawer. He turned and left the room, walked down the stairs, and came to the lobby on the first floor of the hotel, only to find that it was bustling with colorful decorations and fruit-shaped lamps hanging everywhere. A large group of fluffy rabbits shuttled back and forth between the half-man-high dining tables, laying out clean tablecloths and arranging neatly the tableware and trays. The potted orchestra in the corner was also adjusting its instruments and enthusiastically discussing which song should be used for the opening of tonight's banquet.

Ling Ge saw the bartender, Xie Liya, standing by the bar, directing a few Mr. Rabbits to help her take out her treasured crystal wine glasses from the cupboard, so he walked over and asked, "Are you going to have another party tonight?"

"Yes."

Shelia threw a rabbit named Bill out and asked it to go to the kitchen to help the boss lady Shesta. Then she turned around and said, "Today is the New Year of the Great Brittany Kingdom. It is a day worth celebrating. In addition, everyone seems to be in a low mood recently... So my eldest sister suggested holding a banquet tonight to let everyone relax."

It turned out to be the case.

Lingge thought that as a Brittany, he didn't take the New Year seriously, but the traveler fairies took it very seriously. Thinking about it carefully, it was a bit ironic, so he didn't ask too much, and asked instead: "Have you seen Miss Leticia?"

"Leticia?"

Although she had only known this new guest who was staying at the hotel for two days, and her grandmother, the legendary vampire Countess Nevile, Shelia still had a deep impression of her. Of course, the deepest impression was probably on the first day of staying at the hotel, when Nevile asked her if she could borrow a set of tea sets to make black tea, so Shelia enthusiastically recommended her latest masterpiece, which was much better than black tea. However, they failed to reach a consensus in the end, which made the bartender quite regretful.

Lingge didn't answer and walked out of the hotel, leaving Xie Liya standing alone behind the bar. She shrugged helplessly and said, "Still the same as always, not frank at all."

Ling Ge nodded gently and turned to look for Leticia, but Shelia suddenly stopped him: "Wait, Ling Ge, can you come to the banquet tonight? If you don't come, I don't think Xiao Xia and the others will be interested - so, in short, it's better to take some time to relax. Don't lock yourself in the room all day. It's not good for your health."

She pointed to the door and said, "She just left the hotel. She seemed to be in a hurry."

"I understand, thank you."

"..."

"Does that mean you agree?"

Ling Ge paused for a moment, and without looking back he said, "Thank you, I will remember that."

……

After leaving the hotel, Lingge did not look for Leticia in the direction of the herb garden or flower field, but walked into the forest near the hotel. To be honest, it was not difficult to find the traces she left behind, and it could even be said to be very obvious: the branches that were knocked apart, the bushes that were trampled, and the footprints of varying depths in the soil piled with fallen leaves... It seemed that Leticia had no intention of hiding her whereabouts at all, or rather, she had no time to care about these things.

Late at night, the forest seemed extremely dark. Although one could occasionally hear one or two rustling sounds in the bushes or the sound of a night owl flapping its wings on a branch, the empty space echoed in the night, which only highlighted a deserted atmosphere. There were no birds of prey or wild beasts on the island, and even if there were, they had been driven away by Yieta, so the forest was still very safe. Sometimes, the danger brought by the dark environment is not only based on physiological significance, but also includes the psychological sense of oppression and fear. If not, the ghost stories circulating in the countryside would not always happen in the wilderness or abandoned castles where no one lives in the silent night.

It is said that the group of rotten wood goblins taken in by the Goblin Deep Sleep Inn live in this forest. Although they are harmless, their appearance is really scary and strange. If you encounter them in such a strange and eerie night, the fright you will get will probably be no less than seeing a hungry wolf in the wilderness or encountering an evil spirit in an ancient castle.

As Lingge thought, he followed the traces left by Leticia. Because the tree canopy above his head was too dense and the various leaves blocked the sky, the moonlight only flowed quietly between the branches and leaves. The forest was completely illuminated by the faint light of the native fungi, which barely illuminated the way leading to the depths of the forest for Lingge.

The glowing mosses clinging to the rocks and tree trunks and the fluorescent plants in the bushes emitted a faint starlight, which cast a layer of faint phantom light on the drooping green spring ivy, purple leaf ivy, hanging bell flowers and curly ferns. The fallen leaves on the ground were crackling under the young people's shoes, and the humus below was sunken and silted up, just like stepping on a soft carpet. After walking forward for about ten minutes, Lingge finally found Leticia under a tall and ancient spring ivy tree. The spring ivy tree was obviously at least a hundred years old. Countless green spring ivies clinging to the branches fell down like dark green waterfalls. Behind those small curled leaves bathed in the faint moonlight was the figure of the vampire girl, but her current situation did not seem to be very good.

Leticia huddled in the shadow cast by the Spring Ivy Falls, obviously avoiding the bright moonlight that stubbornly squeezed through the gaps between the branches and leaves and sprinkled on the open space in the forest. The full moon hanging high in the night sky brought a sign of death. The power of the curse was tearing apart her originally intact soul, crushing her memories into dust and gradually blowing them away. This process was obviously extremely painful, making her face pale, her whole body trembling, and her eyes frightened and panicked, as if she had seen some terrible monster. She hugged her arms tightly with both hands, and her nails even sank into the flesh because of too much force. The red and blue blood vessels on her wrists were clearly visible due to excessive blood loss.

Although she was enduring such horrible torture, she still clenched her teeth, as if she would rather her gums were broken than let out a moan that symbolized weakness. Strands of dark red blood oozed from the corners of her mouth and slowly flowed down.

Linger took another step forward, his footsteps echoing the fallen leaves, instantly provoking a violent reaction from Leticia. She raised her head abruptly, glared at Linger fiercely, and let out a threatening growl from between her teeth, like a wounded wild cat threatening its enemy, although such ferocity was only a disguise, which made her look weak inside and showed her fragility and sensitivity at the moment.

"It doesn't matter."

Linger said to her, his tone as calm as ever, not moved by the pain the girl was enduring, nor annoyed by her vigilance: "I know why you came here, because you don't want others - especially your closest grandmother - to see your weak posture when you die, you don't want them to pity you or comfort you with sympathetic tones, doing so will make you feel that your self-confidence and dignity have been trampled on, right?"

Leticia growled again, with more impatience than before, as if questioning him: Since you knew that, how dare you appear in front of me?
"Because I am not here to sympathize with you, nor to comfort you."

Lingge said, causing the girl to be stunned and look stunned: "Some people will feel sympathy and pity for others' misfortunes, and will want to do something to help them, but I am not that kind of person. For me, unless it is something that is closely related to me, no one in this world needs to interfere with their choices. As for death and reincarnation, it is your curse and your fate. It is you who choose to bear the pain brought by it alone, and you don't want your death to affect the people around you. In this case, I have no reason to interfere with your choice."

Leticia stared at Lingge in a daze, not knowing whether her attention was attracted by the young man's words, she even gradually ignored the death she was experiencing, and the feeling of pain also left her and slowly disappeared in a very distant place.

"Then, you might ask me, if you don't want to interfere with my choice, why did you come to me?" Linger asked the question that Leticia was thinking about at the moment, and then paused for a few breaths of silence. He slowly extended his left hand to the girl: "This is very simple, I just want to ask you: Do you need me to pray for you?"

Leticia looked at him blankly, not understanding what this meant. In the waterfall of green ivy, her slightly hot breathing gradually slowed down, echoing warmly like the tide on the embankment.

Lingge didn't care about her reaction and continued, "A long time ago, my adoptive father Mr. Yang Ke told me that human death is inevitable, but some people leave this world full of pain and unwillingness, while others fall into eternal sleep with blessings for the living and awe of death. Only the souls of the latter can ascend to the distant lightless sea and find rest. Therefore, it has become the duty of the pastor to wash away the lead in the souls of the dead and purify their impure memories and heavy grief."

"Everyone needs someone to pray for him, no matter if he is a homeless person on the street, a noble in the manor, a worker in the factory, or a girl who fell in front of me at this moment. The voice of the soul can convey blessings, and the voice of piety can communicate with the Holy Spirit. No one can ascend to heaven without being prayed for, so I want to ask you a question-"

With his hand suspended in the air, he repeated the question in a very serious tone:
"Do you want me to pray for you, Miss Leticia?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)