Chapter 69: Innocent Monster
When Ali heard Li Ke's words, she became even more panicked. She didn't dare to look at Li Ke because she had taken the bell from a woodcutter.
A long time ago, she could no longer bear the hunger and frantically wanted to devour memories and vitality, to the point that her mind began to blur and she wandered around like a zombie.
When she regained consciousness, she found herself standing next to a weathered middle-aged man, who was seriously injured - of course not by her, but by a wild beast.
When Ahri discovered the other person, the middle-aged man was actually about to die.
She looked at him, hesitated for a long time, and still resisted the hunger, wanting to leave here to avoid turning into a monster. But he grabbed her hand while she was confused, calling the names of the two women.
Ahri turned her head and tried to break free, but the man said how much he missed these two people. Ahri's body, which had not been nourished by vitality and memories for a long time, began to absorb it without her control.
So, Ahri saw the other person's whole life.
The woodcutter was very happy when he was young. He had his own farmland and his childhood sweetheart. They lived happily and had a daughter.
However, one day , a group of bandits attacked their village while he was out at market. When he came back, he saw the warriors who had killed all the bandits, as well as the miserable corpses of his wife and daughter.
Without his enemies or relatives, the woodcutter left the sad place and found a place to rot. He pawned everything he could to buy wine and didn't even go to the Spring Festival.
It was not until the only thing left with him was the bell that he had given to his wife when he was a child and that his wife had given to their daughter that he came to his senses and found a job to do so that he would not starve to death.
Then, one day he lost the bell, and while frantically searching for it, he also found a baby wrapped in strange clothes.
He thought this was a revelation from his wife and daughter, so he adopted Li Ke and wanted to start a new life.
But he would still dream about the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter every night, so he decided to go to the legendary Forget-Me-Not Garden to forget the tragic deaths of his wife and daughter.
So he said goodbye to the child and came to Shangzan to look for the Forget-Sorrow Garden.
Then, he failed.
He couldn't convince himself to forget the memories of his wife and daughter, even just a little bit, so he wandered in the Forget-Me-Not Garden for a long time before giving up.
But when he finally tried to leave, he was attacked by a hungry beast.
Then, she arrived.
The woodcutter was in great pain. He was sad that he could not protect his wife and daughter, sad that he could not die with his wife and daughter, sad that he could not fulfill his promise, and sad that he only figured it out now.
This pain was more tormenting than death, and in his remaining life, which was measured in seconds, pain was all he had left.
So Ali gave him a beautiful dream.
At the end of his life, he was still the happy farmer, his wife and daughter were still by his side, and his son was very sensible and obedient, and was able to become a shrewd, wealthy and compassionate businessman.
His life is only going to get better.
So with this expectation in mind, the woodcutter died with a smile on his face.
Also because of the other party's love for his wife and daughter, Ahri collected the bells scattered around him to remind himself that he had eaten another human soul.
The dead woodcutter will never think about the tragic death of his wife and daughter, but she still remembers it. So as long as she remembers it, the happy life between the woodcutter and his wife and daughter will still exist, and the woodcutter's feelings will still exist.
Resisting the urge to run away, Ahri didn't want to be misunderstood, so she stopped and faced Li Ke's sword.
"I met a ... He was seriously injured by a wild beast near the Forget-Me-Not Garden. Before he died, he told me his story, so I took his bell as a souvenir... I have been following their story for several years."
Ali inexplicably didn't want Li Ke to know that she was a man-eating beast.
No, the beast is better than her, because although the beast may eat people, it will not make the person no longer himself, but what about her? Devouring memories, devouring emotions, she is a real monster.
But Li Ke knew that the story would not be that simple. His hand still did not fall from the hilt of the sword, and his eyes were still fixed on Ahri.
"You are able to devour people's memories and vitality, right? I have heard of your legend, the fox that devours memories."
He didn't know why the self in the simulator didn't pay attention to this, nor did he know whether the self in the simulator didn't notice it.
But for him, he would not pretend not to see it.
The old woodcutter had done him a great favor. If he didn't even know how to repay his kindness, then what was the difference between him and an animal?
Ali's body trembled. Li Ke's eyes made her uncomfortable. She didn't know how to answer Li Ke, because even though she didn't want to do so, she still absorbed the remaining memories of the woodcutter.
Even if she didn't do that, the old woodcutter would die in seconds, but that was the fact.
Maybe a monster like me shouldn't be alive?
Looking at Li Ke's eyes, Ali had an urge to give up on herself. Before she gained human rationality, she never thought that there was anything wrong with what she did.
But after gaining human memories and tasting human emotions, she realized how despicable it was for her to do so, and shame kept haunting her.
So she wanted to escape.
He didn't intend to give Li Ke an answer, but ran away like a coward.
But at this time, Li Ke also calmed down. He looked at Ali and asked word by word.
"So I want to know, was it painful when he died?"
Is it painful?
Ali raised her head. She didn’t know whether the old woodcutter was happy or not. Although the old woodcutter left the world with a smile on his face, it was just a false illusion.
"It was very painful. He could not let go of the boy he adopted and his wife and daughter who were killed. So, I wove a beautiful dream for him, but..."
Pursing her lips, Ahri decided to tell the truth.
"...I did absorb his memories, so I know all this."
“…”
Li Ke wanted to draw his sword for a moment, but after a long silence, he put the sword back.
"Is there any evidence?"
Ahri pursed her lips again.
"No."
No one could prove that she was not the one who killed the old woodcutter, and Ali also recognized that Li Ke was the child adopted by the old woodcutter.
Maybe I should die here?
This way, there will be one less monster in the world.
Ali, who was extremely hungry, couldn't help but think of this idea.
