After nightfall, Yanagihara and Al had finished their work. The old man did not pursue the fallen apple, but regarded it as a reward for Al.

The wind and snow outside should be lighter, because the sound of the wind seems to have gradually subsided, but the weather on the ice sheet is still so cold, or even a little colder.

In the lobby of the lounge on the second floor, Liuyuan stood by the window drinking a glass of warm water. She turned her body slightly and looked at the end of the ice field in the dark night.

It was still about half a year before they entered the eastern snowfields. Counting the supplies and time spent along the way, it would take at least another year for her and Al to reach her home country.

A year is not too long, but it is not too short either. This journey undoubtedly has special meaning for Yanagihara, but the journey seems to have changed slightly at this time.

She originally thought that she would return to the seaside of her hometown in silence, then jump in and fall into a long enough sleep in the cold and darkness, long enough for her to forget everything in the past.

But it was as if fate had really arranged it. On the way, she met Al, Droso, Liz, and all kinds of people. This made her, a person who should have been prepared to die in advance, feel again

There was some unexplainable throbbing.

However, this kind of throbbing did not make her give up the idea of ​​death, but made her more determined.

Because she saw the passing of some glory again, and in these passings, she once again confirmed one thing.

That is, there is actually no difference between living and dying. The difference lies in how you view the relationship between the two. The difference lies in which of them gives you a greater sense of belonging.

Liuyuan has been wandering for too long, and she is exhausted.

Now she just wants to find a place to stay and never leave again.

And this place can only be her hometown. It can only be the sea where she once grew up, looked at, longed for, and talked about.

It will embrace her deeply and quietly, it will cover up her fatigue with the sound of the waves, it will kiss her with the sea water, and finally accept her.

Yanagi Yuan believes that this will be her best ending.

When the moonlight covers the sea, when she sinks to the bottom of the sea.

Thinking like this, a smile appeared on Liuyuan's face, and her face was reflected in the window, looking calm and peaceful.

Al was sitting on the other side of the hall, dazed with the apple in her hand. She didn't have anything to do, and she was going to save this apple to eat with Liuyuan before going to bed.

The old man sat opposite her and looked through several documents.

After finishing the work at hand, perhaps sensing the girl's boredom, the kind old man thought for a while, raised his head, adjusted his glasses, and said.

"Little girl, I have nothing to do. Do you want to hear me tell a story?"

"Is that okay?" Al looked at the old man hesitantly, as if he was a little worried about affecting the old man's work.

"Of course, it's nothing. Anyway, I've finished my work today." The old man said with a smile and put the documents in his hands aside.

"Well, I'll trouble you." Al said quietly while holding the apple, but judging from her appearance, she was probably looking forward to hearing an interesting story.

"Haha, it's not troublesome, it's just that I, an old man, want to find someone to chat with." As the old man said, he picked up the coffee at hand and took a sip.

"Most of my life has been wasted. Only this old age has given me a slightly broader perspective than others, and a few personal experiences that left a deep impression on me."

"When it comes to this research institute, I actually don't have much to say. The only thing I can talk about is probably the incident twenty-three years ago."

Having said this, the old man sighed softly, put the coffee in his hand on the table, and then continued to narrate.

"At that time, it was the seventh year since the establishment of the institute. Because there had been no research results for a long time, and the top management of the greenhouse was pressing harder, the morale in our team had been very low. This was not a big deal, because for many years

Everyone has been accustomed to such a situation. Until, one person had a problem."

"His name is Herman, and he is one of the first researchers to come here. This man usually doesn't talk much. Compared to communicating with other people, he seems to prefer to work hard alone. And everything after that seems to be

It started from his personal observation..."

During the next period of time, the old man told Al a story about a researcher who went crazy and died after observing something he shouldn't have observed.

Seeing the old man's pretentious and serious appearance, Yanagi Yuan, who was standing aside, was basically sure that he was playing a trick on Al.

Obviously, this old gentleman who looks kind and gentle is not as serious and rigorous as he appears on the surface, and he even has a bit of a bad taste.

And Elle, as a girl who may not have heard a few stories, has never heard of such exciting content.

So just in the middle of the story, she was so frightened that she froze and hugged tightly the rabbit doll that was originally placed next to her.

This must be the first time she heard a horror story, so she was so frightened that she almost lost her voice and movement.

"Later, I heard that someone saw Hermann, who was supposed to be dead, in the corridor on the second floor. At about 12 o'clock in the night, he saw the other person knocking on the door one after another.

Then he looked inside and asked: Have you seen the woman with six eyes..."

"Speaking of which, when I was smoking outside last night, I did seem to catch a glimpse of a tall and thin figure standing in the snow outside."

Liu Yuan leaned against the window and interjected at the right time.

"But maybe I saw it wrong."

(So ​​do you have the nerve to say that others are evil!?)

"Ugh." Al, who was huddled in his chair, let out a muffled groan of unknown meaning.

The wind outside was blowing softly and loudly, making the atmosphere seem a little weirder.
Chapter completed!