Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 787 Do you want to cross the river?

"Okay, let's stop talking nonsense and get down to business." Tiantis looked back and chuckled. "If I delay any longer, I'm afraid Victoria will come to trouble me. You know, although she is the philosopher of the Witch Society, it is just a signal of cooperation between the kingdom and the society. In essence, she attaches more importance to her status as queen, and her love for the Kingdom of Great Britta is greater than her love for the Witch Society."

"Everyone has something they love, a goal worth striving for all their lives. If not, such people are empty and have never really lived. Mr. Ling, what is your passion?"

She naturally turned the topic to Lingge. The young man frowned slightly and did not answer directly, but asked back: "What does this have to do with the main topic you want to talk about?"

"Of course, and it's a very deep relationship." Tiandis grinned and said, "Mr. Ling, you are a very special person. This is not only observed with the naked eye, but also the conclusion drawn after a careful analysis of your life experience. Although you are not strong, taciturn, sometimes too realistic, always hiding your thoughts, and don't seem to be an easy person to get close to... Despite all these shortcomings, you still became the core and leader of this team, awakening one lost girl Wangquan after another. I personally don't think this is luck, so there is some special power in you that others don't have, do you understand?"

Before Lingge could answer, Alice next to him muttered, "I am the core and leader of the team!"

Saint Xia Liya also stood up to speak for Ling Ge: "That's because fate chose Ling Ge to have such...power."

"destiny?"

Tiandis pondered for a while, then suddenly smiled and said, "Perhaps this explanation can be given, but it is not accurate enough, Miss Saint Xia Liya. Everyone in this world is chosen by fate, but only a few people can catch the tail of fate and set foot on the path it leads. Whether it is active or passive, when he takes a step, he has surpassed most mediocre mortals. Do you think what I said makes sense?"

Saint Xia Liya was silent after hearing this. She shouldn't agree with the enemy's point of view, but what Tiandis said was exactly what she had been thinking all along. Why does everyone have a thread of destiny? Because everyone is chosen by destiny. But only a few people can walk along this thread unswervingly, and Lingge is one of them, so he is special. Although the young man did not embark on the journey based on his personal will at first, the macroscopic aspect of destiny is precisely reflected in the defiance and search of each tiny individual for his own will.

Nevi'er had already blocked her granddaughter's mouth, not giving her a chance to talk nonsense. However, when she heard Tiantis's evaluation of Leticia, she still sneered and retorted: "Only the guys in the Witch Society are not qualified to say such things. In terms of radicalism, who can compare to you human supremacists? The fire in the Hollow Root Swamp has been burning for three months. I believe the ashes of those aliens must have flowed into the Sea of ​​​​Land, right?"

"It's because the plot has been repeated too many times!" Alice said unhappily, "That Ronning Ravel said that he once listed Lingge as a candidate member of the Witch Society, and the Dread Witch Fei'er also personally invited Lingge to join your ranks. And now you're trying to do the same thing again. Are you trying to visit me three times?"

"No!" Alice refused outright, and the reason for her refusal was also very strange: "I've only heard of villains being whitewashed and joining the protagonists, but I've never heard of the protagonists being discredited and joining the villains, so I won't do it!"

As expected, they all got negative answers. Gentle ones like Lorena just smiled and shook their heads, stubborn ones like Olvera angrily said who wants to be with a bunch of bad guys like you, and extreme ones like Leticia even made a knife gesture with murderous intent: "Humph! Bad guys like you should all be killed. Once they are all killed, the world will be peaceful!"

"Huh?" Tiantis raised his eyebrows in surprise: "You are really smart, Miss Alice, did you guess this?"

As the death bird among the seven saints of the Creation Goddess Church, she once left the motto "Life is full of beauty, enjoy the present life, and leave no regrets when you die" in the church scriptures. The girl who was as cheerful and open-minded as the breeze has now become such a vigorous and aggressive character. If those who admire and follow her see it, they will definitely be surprised. Or should we say that this just proves the truth that life is impermanent, and even the eternal kingship cannot own eternal things?

Emotional eternity.

The young man remained indifferent and continued to repeat what he had just said: "What does this have to do with the topic you want to talk about?"

"What do you think, Mr. Ling?" asked Tiantis.

She gently raised her hand and extended her flawless white palm to the young man. Saint Shallia slightly widened her eyes at this, and Alice shouted directly: "Stop, stop, stop! You don't want to invite Lingge to join your witch association, do you?"

Not emotional orientation, but value orientation?
What does it mean?
Everyone showed a confused expression, but Tiantis didn't seem to want to explain. He looked at the taciturn young man again and said, "Your companions all rejected me, Mr. Ling, but I still have a last glimmer of hope. Can I hear your answer?"

"Human supremacists? It seems that the Countess has a deep misunderstanding of our Witch Society." Tiantis glanced at her and said in an intriguing tone: "The reason we chose humans has nothing to do with our emotional orientation, but our value orientation."

she mused.

"I didn't realize you were such an impatient person, Mr. Ling. In that case, I won't keep you in suspense." Tiantis smiled and said, "Although you are a very special person, the point is that you are not using your specialness in the right place. Although it is a rare quality to stick to one path, isn't it also good to turn back after straying? So, Mr. Ling, what I mean is-"

"Hahaha, so that's how it is." Tiandis was not embarrassed at all, but seemed to find it very interesting. "Fei'er and Lang Ning didn't mention this, but it doesn't matter. This only proves that we have the same vision. Maybe I am even better, because I not only invite Mr. Lingge, but also you - all the guests present, as well as those who are not present. No matter who is willing to join the Witch Society, I welcome them."

Alice wanted to jump out and say, "Lingge will never agree to you," but was stopped by Saint Shallia. The shepherd girl looked at the young man. She also believed that Lingge would not accept the invitation, but she also wanted to know how he would answer.

Linger did not answer.

Or rather, he answered with questions.

"That's an interesting reason." Tiantis nodded, then looked at the others: "What about you?"

Tiandis was stunned when he heard this: "Little sister, you seem to be a little too extreme?"

"You said that I used my specialness in the wrong place," he said slowly, word by word, "So, what do you think is the right place? Is it the Eden Project of your Witch Society?"

After the words fell, the atmosphere seemed to freeze for a moment, but soon, Tiantis's answer came, almost without interruption: "Yes."

He admitted it without hesitation. "Right and wrong are relative concepts. Since they are things defined by humans, they should also be judged by human standards." Tiantis said, "Let me ask you, Mr. Ling, what was the path you insisted on taking before this? Find the seven maiden kingships, open the door to the Holy Temple of Heaven, meet the great mother who created the world, let Him come forward to set everything right, and you can naturally return to your previous peaceful life... In your script, have I ever said a wrong word?"

Of course there is none.

She understood Linger's thoughts, perhaps even better than Metien understood her brother, so the young man could only answer with silence, and silence was a tacit agreement. Then Tiantis shook her head slowly: "Then this path is wrong, it won't work."

Before Lingge could answer, Saint Shallia could not help but take a step forward and said in a serious tone: "It won't be wrong. Lingge will join us in resisting the brutal rule of the Witch Society. Your indifference and cruelty to life will come to an end one day."

This was also her determination. After enduring the curse for so many years and wandering around in so many places, she finally made a decision on her own for the first time with the young man's clumsy guidance and silent encouragement. Therefore, this road also had extraordinary significance for the shepherdess.

however.

"This road is also wrong." Tiantis shook his head again: "It still doesn't work."

No one noticed that Tiandis said "also". She didn't seem to regard Ling's path as the same as Saint Xia Liya's path. Alice kept listening to her saying that this way and that way were not feasible. She couldn't help but feel a little indignant. She looked up and asked back: "Why do you say that it's not feasible?"

"Because you have no idea of ​​the difference in power." Tiantis said calmly. This was the first time she showed the dignity and authority that a leader of a society should have since she appeared. "What kind of power do you have? What kind of power do your enemies have... If you don't understand anything, then naturally you won't be able to take any path."

What this means is that the Witch Society is an enemy that you cannot defeat.

This overconfident and even arrogant statement made everyone at a loss for words. Should we say she was arrogant? But her arrogance was also based on facts. At present, there was indeed no country, force or organization in the Mirror Star World that could compete with the Witch Society, let alone any individual. The believers of animism were chased around, aliens and monsters hid in the wilderness and trembled, and the East Continent fell into an endless war... Human will was not worth mentioning in the face of grand destiny.

"It's not shameful to recognize the reality." Tiantis's tone was so serious, as if he was stating an irrefutable truth in the world: "Unrealistic fantasies will only drag you into the abyss. Some people will eventually return to reality."

Lingge didn't know that on another battlefield that night, the Dark Witch Caraboss said the same thing to the Saint of the True Spirit Sect, Livia, but he could hear that Tiandis was referring to something else, so he asked back: "What is the path of reality like?"

What exactly is the path that your Witch Society wants to take, the so-called Eden Project?
"It's very simple."

Tiantis opened her arms, as if to embrace this long and noisy night, this ancient and glorious city, and even the whole world in her eyes: the stars hidden behind the clouds, the airships drifting in the depths of the night sea like whales, and the people who followed her all the way here, all seemed to be shining, just as a footnote to her ideal. So the black-haired girl took a deep breath of the cold wind in the middle of the night, and gently exhaled a breath of warm white air. The crucial answer was poured out by her during this breathing process, a path that the Witch Society has walked since ten thousand years ago and will never change until death: "To create a new world where everyone is born equal and without distinction, that is the reality I am pursuing."

……

“Hoo, hoo…”

The sound of rapid panting echoed in the dark underground world. The nun, whose dress was stained red by blood, covered the wound on her abdomen with one hand and held the rough and hard rock wall with the other hand. She moved forward with difficulty in the darkness with the weak fluorescence emitted by mosses and fungi. But she didn't know where she should go. Her legs just moved forward numbly. Every step she took would tear the wound, squeeze out more scarlet blood, and sprinkle on the road she walked. But this didn't make her feel painful, but more at ease.

Therefore, the words written by Mr. Romain Rolland in his autobiography are indeed the true saying of the world: Only the bloody pain can make you feel that you are alive.

Sister Livia did not regret that she had not understood the true meaning of this sentence until now. She was just a little sad that she had neither taken back the original manuscript of Saint Tumi nor saved her brothers and sisters who had gone to the battlefield with her. In the end, she even survived at the mercy of the enemy. Where should a person like her who had accomplished nothing, a confused mortal, go?

The sound of flowing water came from the front, and the sudden drop in temperature stimulated the exposed wound, which made Sister Livia stunned.

Her mind was a little distracted, but she did not stop. She continued to move forward subconsciously, holding onto the rock wall and turning the corner. Then, a small ferry suddenly caught her eye. Torches were burning on the steps of the ferry. The bright rising flames brought precious light to the lost travelers. The warm but not dazzling flames dyed her eyes, as if covered with a layer of crimson mist.

The wooden sign at the ferry reads "Homeward Station". Next to it is a river. The turbulent water flows along another fork in the road, rushing towards the unknown dark end. The underground river network of Renwitin connects the entire underground world and nurtures countless lives and deaths. It is said that if you follow the common flow of these rivers, you can find the source of the Tywell River, the ancient glacier Nexavel. The snow melted from that glacier has forged the tenderness and stubbornness in the bones of the Renwitin people.

Is this some kind of revelation?
Sister Livia stood blankly in front of the sign at the ferry, staring at the words "Homeward Station", wondering which home she should return to? The home full of laughter and joy in her childhood? But after her parents passed away, she donated the house to a charity, and it is now an orphanage, not her home; return to St. Annville Cross Church? That is where she has lived the longest, and she is more familiar with every tree and grass in the church than she is with herself, but it is not her home either; then, return to the Nexaville Glacier in ancient times? The common hometown of all the Renwetin people, their souls float on the water, and after death they will find the same snowflakes on that glacier.

The water flowed non-stop against the reefs and stone walls in the water. The splashing water infected the air in the city. Tiny whirlpools quickly formed and dissipated, and their existence time might be shorter than a human dream. Sister Livia raised her head and looked upstream. In her sight, a shadow gradually enlarged and swam towards her from the darkness.

The shadow had a huge body, graceful figure and noble temperament. When he surfaced, with a loud splash, water cascaded down his slender neck covered with tiny scales. Half of the firelight at the ferry was occupied by him, and the remaining half was shrouded by Sister Livia. The confrontation between light and shadow was as tall as a mountain and as far away as the eternal night. He looked down from above, his eyes as cold and tranquil as a water snake, quietly fixed on the nun at the ferry.

The nun didn't say anything, just stared at him quietly.

"Do we need to cross the river?"

After a long while, the ferryman finally spoke and asked slowly, "Miss Livia?"

　Give me some meow
　　
　
(End of this chapter)