How to Feed an Abyss!

Shi Yuan heard that a long time ago, human cubs had a mysterious ritual called "Autumn Outing".

Probably pick a place, lead by the school teacher, they eat, play, and scream everywhere.

He had always been curious about this ritual, but he had no chance to try it.

Thinking about it carefully, he and Lu Tinghan never went out to play.

They did a lot of things together, ordinary couples would do walks, eat, chat all night, ride a merry-go-round, watch movies and watch the stars together... what ordinary couples would not do, they also did, drive to the wasteland full of monsters, side by side Walk through the devastated battlefield, or go to a distant place, reveal the precarious past of the empire, see the lighthouse and the legendary white dolphin...

However, they have a purpose every time they go out of town.

Never a pure outing.

Now, Lu Tinghan said that they want to hang out together.

Shi Yuan was excited all day, packing things everywhere, putting binoculars, compass, tissues, compressed biscuits and old cameras into his small backpack.

He also went to grab Professor Guan's snacks.

When Professor Guan saw Shi Yuan walked into the office, he immediately became alert: "What are you going to do?"

Shi Yuan: "Don't do anything!"

Fifteen minutes later, he took away the raisins and buns that Professor Guan treasured.

Professor Guan's snacks were few, and there were only a few raisins and bread, but Shi Yuan carefully put them into his backpack.

That night, he and Lu Tinghan were lying together, the tip of their tails wagging excitedly.

"When do we leave tomorrow?" he asked.

"Eight o'clock." Lu Tinghan replied with his eyes closed.

"Oh!"

After a while, Shi Yuan asked, "Will it rain?"

Lu Tinghan: "The weather forecast says no."

"Then what if the forecast is wrong?"

"Dr. Guo is in charge of meteorology, you go and beat him up."

Shi Yuan was a little dissatisfied: "Why don't you fight with me?"

Lu Tinghan agreed: "Okay, I'll be with you."

Shi Yuan was satisfied.

After a while, he spoke again: "My alarm clock doesn't seem to be fixed properly, I have to get up and take a look."

Lu Tinghan: "You've done it, I'll watch you set the alarm clock before going to bed."

Shi Yuan said, "Let's take another look." He sat up and searched in the dark for a while, when the screen light came on in the darkness, he confirmed it repeatedly, then lay back and said, "You're right."

Lu Tinghan: "Hmm."

After a while, Shi Yuan said, "Lu Tinghan, shall we take the flying machine tomorrow?"

"Um."

"Oh."

After a while, Shi Yuan: "Go to Fengyang City first, right? How long can we stay?"

"Look at you."

"Oh."

After a while, Shi Yuan said, "Lu Tinghan, I..."

"Sleep." Lu Tinghan said.

"but…!"

Before Shi Yuan finished speaking, Lu Tinghan pressed him into his arms and rubbed his head frantically.

Shi Yuan: "Huluhuhuhuhu—"

This move was all-powerful, he leaned on Lu Tinghan and fell asleep happily.

The next morning, they set off in the aircraft.

The earth flew past under his feet, and two hours later, Fengyang City appeared in front of him.

It's been a long time since I saw you. Although the butterfly thunderstorm has gone away, the city is occupied by all kinds of monsters.

The aircraft stopped outside the city, and the two entered the city on foot. The little monsters walked through the ruins. The golden-fur monkeys were fluffy, with six paws and two tails. They rushed up to the house in groups and looked at the two visitors.

They saw energy towers and windmills.

Vigorous infested plants climbed up, blooming butterfly-like flowers that quivered in the wind.

The windmill no longer rotates, vines hang down from its leaves, lush; the energy tower no longer shines, some kind of bright purple long grass covers it, engulfing the metal frame, when the wind blows, the comfrey shimmers, reminiscent of The smooth mane of a horse, or a clump of dandelions.

Occupied cities always have a different, weird aesthetic.

Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan were walking on the street.

It's a crisp autumn day with blue skies. Shi Yuan identified the street while walking: "Isn't that Fenglin Avenue over there?"

"right."

"I remember... Linxi Street is opposite it? There seems to be a food distribution place there. I was transferred to go there."

"Well, just three blocks past Linxi Street, you can reach Beicheng District."

When mentioning Beicheng District, Shi Yuan thought of something: "I don't know if the carousel is still there."

Lu Tinghan smiled and said, "It doesn't have long legs, so it can't run away." He put his arms around Shi Yuan, "If you want to see it, go and have a look."

"OK."

They keep going.

Shi Yuan scared away a group of blue birds. When they flew up, their wings were translucent in the sunlight.

When they arrived in Beicheng District, they walked through the ruins to the amusement park.

Amusement parks have been abandoned for years, and even more so now. Several large monsters have built their nests here, turning over the ruins and rubble, piled up as high as a hill. The two had to climb over, Lu Tinghan walked in front, quickly stepped up a few steps, and then turned around and dragged... or carried Shi Yuan up.

It's obviously an amusement park, but the feeling of climbing a mountain abruptly disappeared.

They managed to get back to the carousel.

The merry-go-round was also taken over by vegetation, with dogtail grass everywhere. Two red birds folded the dog's tail grass, carefully paved the nest, and placed it on the back of a white horse—if they hadn't grown too many eyes, this scene would be very warm.

Lu Tinghan found Shi Yuan's favorite pumpkin cart, took out a short knife, and cleaned up the vegetation on it.

He was about to call Shi Yuan when he looked back, the boy was standing in front of the wooden horse, staring intently at the soft golden-green bird's nest.

The sky is as blue as washing, and Shi Yuan's clothes are so white that it shines, and the skin from the side face to the neck is delicate. He stretched out his hand, and a red bird flapped its wings, flew around his hand two or three times, and landed on his hand, with its long tail feathers hanging down.

It tilted its head and looked at Shi Yuan with dark eyes.

Lu Tinghan watched silently for a few seconds.

Shi Yuan noticed his gaze and looked back: "Ah! Pumpkin cart!"

The two red birds flew away in an instant, not knowing where they were going.

Shi Yuan leaned over with his tail cocked, looking at the pumpkin cart. Lu Tinghan asked him: "Aren't monsters afraid of you?"

Shi Yuan said: "It's much better than before, I'm learning how to make friends with them."

Lu Tinghan touched Shi Yuan's head: "It's pretty good."

As expected, Shi Yuan still liked the pumpkin cart very much.

The two sat in the car and ate fried rice and mashed potatoes for lunch.

At noon, they returned to the No. 4 Tower in Nancheng District.

Shi Yuan has worked here for a long time. Once upon a time, the top of the tower was an old dream where the starlight was hidden. In the tower, there were endless calls and stories. The bottom of the tower was the computer room and server. A girl named Alice walked through the data.

Now the tower is empty.

They went to the counseling center on the 8th floor and the welfare center for mutants on the top floor. Nothing changed, the phone, the front desk, the room, the desk, the glass windows... They were covered in dust and stayed where they were, but it seemed like nothing had changed. up.

Shi Yuan took Lu Tinghan to visit Lin Yeran's office, found his attendance sheet, and found that he had deducted more than 30 people's bonuses in a quarter.

They also climbed to Wu Zhengqing's small attic, opened the creaking skylight, and overlooked the city.

Shi Yuan said, "I still did a lot of work."

Lu Tinghan: "Hmm."

"Unfortunately, the salary is not high."

Lu Tinghan took it seriously: "Yes."

He couldn't forget Shi Yuan's hourly salary of 6 yuan.

Coming down from the tower, they turned around and went home.

The home is still in good condition, with thick dust covering everything. Shi Yuan ran to the window to look, the windmill outside the window was still there, covered with dark silver flowers.

They looked around to see if there was anything they could take away.

But before leaving Fengyang City, Shi Yuan packed his things too cleanly, they only found a photo frame.

There is an old photo in the photo frame, it is a group photo of Lu Tinghan, Lu Zhun and Yu Qingmei.

As in other photos, the trio appear as polite strangers.

Shi Yuan said, "I don't know where the jellyfish and the deer outside Gaolin are now."

"Who knows." Lu Tinghan said with a smile, "The world is so big, they can go anywhere."

He opened the photo frame, took out the old photos and took them away.

The two stopped and walked in the city like this, going to all the places they wanted to see.

Shi Yuan distributed the raisins and buns to Lu Tinghan.

Lu Tinghan raised his eyebrows and said, "Professor Guan's?"

Shi Yuan: "Of course."

After sharing the snacks together, they returned to the aircraft.

The aircraft left the ground, and Shi Yuan saw the deep pit outside the city by the window, and the corpse of a giant snake winding like a mountain—the "heavy hammer" fell here, killing the rock snake. Zhong kissed Lu Tinghan.

He also saw the Iron City, and dimly saw the towering communication tower. He thought of Colonel Lu Zhun and countless sacrificed soldiers, Yan Xin who sent out the "Overview" data before his death, and Edward's waltz. Thinking about it now, it seems like a lifetime away.

Fengyang City and Iron City are getting farther and farther away.

"Goodbye." Shi Yuan said.

After more than half an hour's journey, they arrived at Gleaming City.

As soon as you get off the aircraft, there is a sea of ​​flowers all over the city, and the splendid flowers bloom freely.

When the two came to the street, Shi Yuan walked ahead, wagging his tail and humming.

Lu Tinghan looked at his back with a smile in his eyes.

But soon, that smile was mixed with other emotions, almost nostalgic and sad.

"...Shiyuan." He seemed to have finally made up his mind, and said, "I have something to tell you."

"What?" Shi Yuan turned back and waited for him.

The flowers on the roadside are blooming lively, light pink, rose red, light blue and goose egg yolk.

The flowers are of different sizes and are of all kinds of strange things, swaying cheerfully in the wind.

Lu Tinghan talked about "deep diving".

He said that this trip is dangerous, there are often turbulent currents and monster groups in the abyss, and the black fog is enough to damage the hull, so even frigates must be extremely careful; Putting all the resources on the frigate, even so, is still insufficient; he said, even if they reach the bottom of the abyss safely and send back data, they are only mortal bodies.

The body of a mortal, with flesh and blood, will eventually die there.

He also said that as difficult as it is to dive into a deep dive, it is almost impossible to leave with a frigate. What's more, collecting data is a long-term thing, and they have to stay in the abyss.

Shi Yuan listened silently.

Lu Tinghan said: "I promised you that next time I will say goodbye with dignity."

He paused: "When I was shot in the main city and lost consciousness, I heard the singing of the human-faced bird and saw a hallucination. I saw my parents were there, you and Yu Qingmei were in the kitchen together Cooking, I just came home from get off work, sitting on the sofa reading a book, and then Lu Zhun came back, he fished for a day, but he didn't catch anything, and we laughed at him... Then we ate together, Yu Qingmei and I both I'm putting vegetables in your bowl, you can't finish it, and you're so worried that your tail gets knotted."

"This trick didn't work for me. I came out of the illusion and returned to you. But then I remembered it a few times, and I thought, this might be the life I imagined." He smiled, "I don't know why, but I think you'll get along well with my parents."

"Illusions are illusions after all, so they can't be taken seriously. I'm still not good at saying goodbye after so long."

""But, Shi Yuan, I don't want to lie to you, and I don't want to give you unrealistic hopes. This is where I end up. "

A few butterflies flew among the dilapidated houses, passed through the windows, and settled on the black curtains.

Shi Yuan said, "I know. From the day I infected all the monsters, I knew you would go to 'deep dive'." He added, "Professor Guan told me everything."

Lu Tinghan was speechless, and whispered: "Shi Yuan..."

"Besides, I knew from the very beginning that you are a human being with a limited lifespan, and you will leave one day." At such a time, Shi Yuan actually bent his eyes and smiled, "You told me to 'come' before The most important thing. I have lived for a long time, but these years by your side, I feel wonderful and truly alive."

So he thought, life cannot be measured by length, but by concentration.

People will remember a wonderful and diverse story.

He held Lu Tinghan's hand: "So don't feel guilty, the day I came to see you, I was ready to say goodbye."

Lu Tinghan never knew that Shi Yuan saw the moment of parting from the day they first met. His expression moved slightly, and he was about to say: "You..."

Shi Yuan interrupted him: "Let's talk about it later—let's have a good time first, we haven't been back to Gleaner City for a long time. This is an autumn outing!"

"...Okay." Lu Tinghan smiled, "Where do you want to go?"

"Let's go to the Garcia Theater first!" Shi Yuan replied.

It was almost dusk, but the sky was still so bright, and the clear sunlight fell around them.

A hundred flowers bloom, and the vegetation is verdant. It was a crisp autumn day, Shi Yuan pulled Lu Tinghan, and the two of them walked briskly towards the bustling street surrounded by flowers and plants.