Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 76 Are You Looking at Me?

Parks can be found everywhere in Rustin City, including community parks, church parks and even private parks, hidden between the streets and alleys, in corners that are almost forgotten by human footprints. Sometimes, when you turn a corner, you will accidentally enter these quiet and peaceful areas and see pine trees, chestnut trees and sour pear trees thriving in the natural habitat given by the city.

The existence of the park actually gives the city a more profound history.

Statistics show that there are still 218 medieval parks left in the city, but they have never been visited. Even though Rustin has become a well-known tourist city, foreign tourists rarely stop here. After the reconstruction and construction of the city, these ancient parks have shown a more unique temperament. Only locals who have lived in Rustin for more than 30 years can explain the meaning behind them.

The oak trees standing at the "end of the world" in Hyde Park once listened to the melodious flute of shepherds. At that time, the pastoral area outside the city had not yet moved from the southern foot of the Thorson Mountains to the vast wilderness today; behind the largest St. Celeste Church in the city is the great Meadville Park, where the poet de Césaire saw the dark night walking towards the woodland sprinkled with endless moonlight; City Square Park is home to tens of thousands of white-fronted sparrows. After a lightning strike three hundred years ago, people saw the corpses of birds covering the green space of the park. They felt pity and experienced an incomparable shock of life...

The unique temperament of city parks provides different profiles for city blocks. If you are willing to calm down and observe carefully, you may understand the specific meaning of this sentence written by Bartholomew Camuel in his diary in the mid-18th century: "I remember Rustin as a park city. The birdsong in Hyde Park woke me up in the morning. Meadville Park was full of poetry, and Hoxton Gardens was the quietest... Few people passed by, except during festivals."

Travelers who have not gotten answers and are still confused about the future sometimes need a place to relax, meditate and relieve themselves, and the city park just meets this need. Without spending too much time, they easily found a small hidden park behind a house on Scherer Street.

The grass and bushes were growing vigorously, colorful fallen leaves covered the ground, and the wooden bench was covered with solidified bird droppings. A golden-haired maid wiped it clean while suppressing her nausea, then sat down carefully and shared with Metien the traditional delicacy of Rustin City that she had bought from the street - a three-layer thick flavored lamb pie.

The outermost layer is crisp and refreshing vegetables, with cucumber slices clinging to the thin pie crust, which is sour and appetizing when you take a bite; the middle layer is lamb roasted until golden and sprinkled with cumin and sesame powder. It tastes fat but not greasy, and the juice is rich and mellow, which makes people unable to stop; the innermost layer is a secret sauce. It is said that its raw materials are taken from the most common plants near the city of Rustin. Due to too many types and different choices, the sauces of each vendor will be subtly different. The one that Alice bought is mainly salty, spicy and fragrant. The stimulation from the plant spices washes the taste buds on the tip of the tongue, bringing a luxurious enjoyment comparable to court dishes.

Alice took a big bite and praised it as she chewed, "It's delicious!"

Lingge didn't answer, which was considered as his consent.

Alice guessed why Lingge had no intention of filling his stomach: "Are you still thinking about the 'Fairy Sleep' Inn?"

At this time, the young man was standing on the ground covered with dead leaves, staring at the tall old tree in front of him. After hearing his sister's voice, he shook his head: "No, I'm not hungry yet."

"Don't think too much. There will always be a way. If it doesn't work, we can just wait for Saint Xia Liya to come to us. She was the one who invited us here, so she should be responsible." Alice chewed the pie and said incoherently, "We need to fill our stomachs now so that we can have the strength to move later. Besides, we are here to travel, so you should be happy. Come on, smile for me?"

Lingge didn't laugh, he couldn't laugh.

"But it's already noon." Metien pouted, feeling that her brother's answer was just a perfunctory one.

In comparison, Metien was much more polite. He held the paper bag with both hands to prevent the juice from spilling out. He took small bites of the pie, chewed it carefully, and swallowed it. Then he narrowed his eyes and showed a happy expression on his face: "It's really delicious. What the travel magazine said is right. If you come to Rustin City, you must try the local lamb pie!"

As she spoke, she raised her head and stared at her brother's back with sparkling eyes: "Lingge, come and have one too!"

Only Alice, a foolish maid, would forget the original purpose and think that she was really here for a trip. In fact, in Lingge's mind, the real purpose of this trip was to solve a huge problem.

The golden apple that symbolizes the power of destiny can fall into anyone's hands, but it should not stay with Lingge.

After all, he never thought of becoming the protagonist of his fate. The young man raised his head and quietly stared at the palm-shaped split leaves, only to find that he was looking at a typical Rostin plane tree. It is a new variety obtained by hybridizing the "Sosen plane tree" from the Sosen Mountains and the "Oriental plane tree" from Mindlias. It is also the most widely distributed tree species in the city today. They can be seen in almost every street and every park. The magnificent scene of yellow leaves flying in autumn is no less than that of the "Planatha City" Mühlheil in the White City Republic. Therefore, some poets believe that they have endowed Rostin with a kind of "solemn silence" and "desolate romance."

The sycamore tree in front of him was particularly tall, at least fifty yards high, and its shade almost covered the sky of the entire park. Half of the fallen leaves on Ling'er's feet probably came from the tall dead branches of this tree.

Such tall plane trees may have been planted when the street was first built, and they have grown to their current size after a long period of growth. In this way, it is not difficult to understand the origin of the word "plane tree" in the "Fairy and Plane Tree" street.

As for the goblin, we won’t know until we find the hotel.

Ling Ge was also feeling a little hungry at this time. He thought, if he didn't ask Alice to get a pie now, would he still be able to eat it later? Suddenly, he heard Metien exclaim "Ah", with a tone of surprise and confusion.

"What's wrong, Metien?" he turned around and asked. Alice beside him also echoed with a greasy mouth: "What's wrong, Metien? Choked? Do you want some water?"

"No, I didn't choke. I just seemed to see something flying behind the leaves of that tree..." Metien's tone was a little hesitant, as if he was not sure.

The tree she was talking about was the old sycamore tree that Lingge was facing now.

"illusion?"

Alice tilted her head and said, "Is it a sparrow or a squirrel? The green environment here is so good, it's normal for small animals to appear."

"But," Metien ignored the half-eaten pie in his hand and stared at a branch on the tree. The colorful shadows of the tree were reflected in his emerald eyes. "Why do I feel like it's still looking at me?"

Lingge naturally believed what his sister said. He also raised his head and stared at the branch without deviating his gaze. His gaze was calm and indifferent, just like when he was gazing at the believers below from the altar of Tianxin Church.

Alice was infected by the serious expressions of the two. After thinking for a moment, the maid quietly placed her hands on the SLP game console and cartridge hanging on her belt, secretly making preparations.

These two things recovered their energy while the train was running and can now be used normally. If any unexpected situation really occurs, they are the only ones we can rely on.

The atmosphere became silent, with an occasional breeze blowing, ruffling the dead branches and leaves on the ground, making rustling sounds along with the bushes.

Suddenly, a leaf on the branch trembled strangely.

"you--"

A soft and thin voice came, like a young animal that had mustered up the courage to interact with humans, asking curiously: "Is this the guest Xiao Xia introduced?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)