"You mean...the eleven-pointed maple leaf?"
The season has passed a little while since the beginning of spring when I came to Kaguya City, and it has quietly entered the period when the breeze is the warmest. Today's morning breeze also brought a warm feeling.
As long as you close your eyes for a moment, you will be reluctant to let the time slip away from your ears.
"Well...if you don't know, I can tell you."
Anile smiled proudly like a child showing off her treasure.
The golden cross with her name engraved on her chest shimmered as if echoing her smile.
"No, I've heard others talk about it, but I didn't expect to hear it here again."
The eleven-cent maple leaf is not a great thing after all.
It's just that ordinary maple leaves only have three, five or nine corners, and it's rare to see eleven corners.
And this rare eleven-cornered maple leaf carries eleven meanings: honesty, loyalty, courage, confidence, responsibility, patience, promise, reason, benevolence, wisdom, and success.
If I really wanted to talk about it, it would be something similar to a four-leaf clover or a purple dandelion.
"What, I thought you didn't know."
Supporting her legs with her elbows, Anner rested her chin and sighed.
"So, what does this thing have to do with the shrine?"
"I heard from a businessman from the city that there is a maple leaf forest that is deep red all year round on the sacred mountain of Kaguya City. It should be easy to find it there, right?"
"Eh--"
Li Mo followed Anner's example and put his face in his hands, showing a meaningful smile. He didn't know whether the long ending was intentional or not.
"What? You don't think it's childish for me to want this kind of thing, do you? Stop treating people like little brats!"
"Not at all."
Li Mo waved his hands repeatedly, and the cheerful smile disappeared from his eyes.
"Everyone wants to do some weird things from time to time. I once suddenly wanted to build a snowman, so I immediately ran all the way to the northern land where there was a blizzard and the roads were blocked."
An image of Li Mo, a grown man dancing and making a snowman in a snowstorm, appeared in Anile's mind.
"What? It turns out you also..."
"About when I was a brat."
"Ahem! I'm telling you, can you please stop breathing heavily when you speak! And you really think of me as a brat!"
"Oops, you saw through it."
Li Mo patted his thighs and burst into tears, then patted Anner's head with his hands.
"hateful......"
The nun's hat that was knocked off by Li Mo covered Anner's eyes.
However, she was very happy to be able to do this now, otherwise the tears that had slightly leaked out of the corners of her eyes would have been discovered by this arrogant demon.
"Stop laughing! Stop treating me like a child! Do you think I'm a fool?!"
Amid Li Mo's unstoppable laughter, An'er grabbed Li Mo's collar, dissatisfied one after another.
However, after struggling for a while, she gave up completely.
"Okay, okay, I admit it! I'm just a fool who wants this kind of thing, right?"
Ah, my Goddess! Why is life always like this!
She frowned angrily, put the cross on her forehead with both hands, and muttered this old complaint.
But even though he said this in a pretense of maturity, he was still a simple child after all, and he didn't look like an adult at all.
"What are you talking about at such a young age... Just because of this kind of thing, you just walk away with a demon you don't know. This is exactly the same as a kid who was tricked by candy."
Li Mo patted his butt and stood up from the ground. He reached out his hand to An'er, his face still had the lazy expression that An'er was used to seeing.
However, this always listless look gives people an unexpected sense of peace of mind.
"Also, your method of deliberately pretending to be unruly and unruly to hide yourself because you are afraid of demons is also very childish."
"I-I'm not pretending, I just hate demons..."
An'er didn't take Li Mo's hand.
She was embarrassed to tell Li Mo that her frightened legs had regained some feeling, but she still sat on the ground hesitantly, and stood up after a while.
"Besides, I'm not afraid of you at all."
"You'd be cuter if you were more straightforward."
An'er didn't respond immediately. She tried hard to hold back the tears that were about to burst out. After opening her mouth countless times but failing to speak, she was finally able to pray to Li Mo for an answer.
"Smelly demon clan, let me ask you, do you hate me?"
"Why do you say that?"
Li Mo did not answer Anier's question, but asked back with a question.
"You're acquiescing by asking this, hehe."
Anner showed an expression that was half-smiling but not a smile. This was not an expression that should appear on a child of her age. Just seeing it in her eyes made people feel like something in their heart had been torn out.
She turned her back, staring at her toes and digging through the pebbles on the ground, as if to avoid Li Mo's sight.
"I have been an annoying person from the beginning. I always say harsh words unintentionally, and my character is also arrogant and terrible. All other human beings hate me, even me. Even my parents don’t like me, and over time I can easily detect other people’s dislike of me.”
"I see."
Li Mo responded slightly coldly.
An'er gently kicked away the pebbles, turned sideways, and looked up at Li Mo slightly.
This inadvertent look up made Li Mo feel that this girl with light freckles and a bit of immaturity would definitely become a very dangerous girl in the future.
"Actually, I don't hate people like you. You don't have the airs of a big shot at all. On the contrary, you are always careless. It seems that you don't have any bad ideas. It's better to say that you don't seem to be thinking about anything. "
This should be regarded as a compliment to me, right?
Work hard and think positively about the best.
"But even if you are like this, I can clearly feel that there is some disgust suppressed under your smiling and always lazy face... I am really annoying, right?"
"No."
Li Mo shook his head. After making the assertion, he looked towards Anier:
"Your feeling is very accurate, so accurate that it makes people a little jealous and a little scared. I thought I had hidden it well, and even the little fox demon who could only read minds couldn't see it, but you still let me know it easily. I noticed it, it seems I can’t call you a kid anymore.”
Perhaps because she didn't have the vocabulary in her mind to deal with such sudden and profound words, Anner could only remain silent, and could only try to maintain that ugly smile that even she didn't notice as she responded to Li Mo.
Seeing her like this, Li Mo sighed from the bottom of his heart.
"It seems that it's better for me to take back what I said. You are still just a brat after all."
Li Mo made a head flicking gesture in front of Anner's forehead.
But Anier was so scared that she closed her eyes and stopped.
"You're right, I really hate you... After all, I don't have a good impression of human beings, and it's not wrong to even say I hate you, but your short-sighted way of thinking only stops here. You have never had any See that part of you that I like.”
"Isn't this contradictory?"
"It's hard to say whether there is a conflict. Emotions are the most complicated things. No matter whether they are demons or humans, no one can control their deepest feelings. Even if you like me very much, even if there are many I can like humans, but I can't control the feeling of hating the human species in my heart. These intertwined feelings are not conflicting or contradictory... Even if I tell you this, you don't understand. "
What am I talking about to children?
Li Mo felt upset by his boring seriousness. Maybe he was really getting older and became so fond of telling such disgusting truths.
"Anyway!"
Li Mo put his hand close to An'er's forehead, flicked his finger, and transferred the love he left last time to this time.
"it hurts!"
“If I were to say, ‘People like people who are straightforward, but people who are not straightforward will not be disliked,’ I don’t think you would believe it, so I’ll just tell you that you are actually a very straightforward person. "
"That's weird, you have to pretend to be sincere when trying to flatter people!"
Anier covered her forehead, tears leaking out of the corners of her eyes.
"This is not flattery. Frankness is never a compliment, and of course I have my own reasons for saying this. Let me ask you, do you know the reason why we are standing here alone?"
"You need to pee."
"What if it's a big one... Bah, that's why you kept clinging to me on the road. You'll still be uneasy this time, right? Does it mean that you have some trust in me if you cling to me like this?" This is your unique frankness."
"It's, it's not. Even if it is, it's just you blocking my way."
"You are so stubborn. Why are you more like an uncle than me? Then let me ask you again, why do you ask me such a question?"
"Is there anything strange about this?"
"You also said there is nothing strange. If you just want to find the Eleven-Point Maple Leaf, then there is no need to waste time with me here. Just ask me to lead the way. Once you find the thing, we can go our separate ways. ,Is not it good?"
"Ah! Why am I here! Am I the new substitute?!"
"What are you talking about? Stop pretending! My Hermit Purple has found out that there are no substitutes around."
Li Mo really admires this little girl's spirit of refusing to admit it.
And the body is really realistic. He will be exhausted immediately after spending so much time with her.
I really want to eat pancakes drizzled with maple syrup. I must eat it once during the next Chinese New Year to comfort myself. Will I be able to save enough money by then?
Anyway, let’s end this sideshow now.
"It doesn't matter if you fool around with all this, because this is just the reason why I don't hate you. After all, no one hates people who trust them. And maybe this is really just my self-righteousness."
Li Mo has self-awareness, but he does not have the incredible power to make people simply express their sincerity.
"The thing that makes me think you are very good, I didn't know until just now."
"What? It's so mysterious. No riddles allowed!"
An'er raised her head tremblingly and used her eyes to confirm Li Mo's expression.
"It's a maple leaf, a maple leaf with eleven corners."
