The beautiful mage was kidnapped by the contracted beast again

The moonlight was like water, sprinkling over their new resting place, and the surrounding grass swayed from time to time in the breeze.

Jiang Liujing closed his eyes and felt the natural fragrance and Chi's breath gradually merge into one.

It wrapped him tightly, bringing him a reassuring peace.

Chi hummed softly beside him. The strange melody was particularly ancient and melodious, as if it came from a distant time and space.

Although it was the first time he heard it, Jiang Liujing still had an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

He didn't feel the surge of magic from the sound, but just as Chi said, as the humming sounded, the tense thoughts in his mind gradually relaxed.

Before long, the boy's breathing became even and long.

He fell asleep.

Chi always paid attention to Jiang Liujing's condition. Seeing that he could finally have a good rest, his eyes became a little softer.

In the moonlight, the boy curled up like a kitten, sticking to his legs.

That divinely created face was as white as jade, but its hair, eyebrows, and eyelashes were as black as crow feathers.

The extreme white and the extreme black are intertwined and set off against each other, making it look like a painting outlined with thick ink and heavy colors.

Chi looked at him for a long time, so long that he didn't know when the chirping of insects outside gradually faded.

He finally said, "Sweet dreams, Miaomiao."

I wish I could appear in your dreams tonight.

-

Jiang Liujing walked in a white light.

Without direction, without purpose, and tireless, he is like a hollow puppet without a brain.

He just kept moving forward, repeating a certain action until he reached his goal.

Until one moment, the white light all over the world suddenly took on a complex color. The empty world suddenly came alive before him.

Jiang Liujing paused, and when he regained consciousness, he found himself in a wooden house.

He felt something hard beneath him, and when he looked down, he found himself sitting on a tall wooden chair.

Looking forward, a huge bronze mirror stood quietly. The edges were covered with exquisite patterns, but it seemed that it had been there for a long time, and the patterns were covered with traces of rust and damage.

A slender figure was reflected in the mirror.

The figure had gracefully sculpted arms, shoulders, and neck. Above that, a face identical to his own.

But the expression on this face carries a strange innocence and curiosity, as if it is myself in another time and space.

Jiang Liujing unconsciously raised his hand and touched his face, and the "him" in the mirror also made the same action.

At this moment, there was a sound of the doorknob turning suddenly at the door, followed by a creaking sound, and a cold air flow rushed in.

Jiang Liujing tried to control himself to turn his head, but his body seemed to be frozen in place and he could only feel a strange breath approaching.

The footsteps stopped behind him, and then Jiang Liujing felt a big hand gently lift up the hair hanging on his shoulders and hold it in the palm of his hand.

"You look beautiful today." He heard the person say to him in a gentle and smiling voice.

The undisguised praise and the simple language filled with genuine sincerity made the figure in the mirror move and his expression became a little happy.

No one doesn't like to hear praise about themselves, and he is no exception.

"Will you really take me away from here?" Jiang Liujing heard himself ask in the mirror.

The person behind him took a carved wooden comb from the side and skillfully combed his long, smooth hair that looked like black satin.

Hearing Jiang Liujing's question, he smiled gently, his voice tender and lingering, like the spring breeze brushing past his ears, but his answer was extremely firm: "Of course, I said, I will take you to see the outside world."

"We're best friends, aren't we?"

The figure in the mirror thought about it and nodded.

"You are my first and only friend. I believe in you."

The friend's movements suddenly paused for a moment.

After a few seconds, a soft laugh filled the air.

He lowered his head, and with this movement, a handful of shiny golden hair swayed into the mirror.

The young man said casually, "When you get outside, don't trust others so easily, especially what humans say."

"Why? Aren't you a human too?" The black-haired boy raised his head in confusion, but the young man behind him straightened his head, not allowing him to move.

The blond youth continued to braid his hair as he spoke calmly, "Because there are many liars among humans. They are full of lies and hypocrisy. If you believe them, they will eat you to the bone."

Hearing this, the black-haired boy was silent for a while, and suddenly said: "You seem to be saying that I am stupid."

“…” How come after thinking for so long, you came up with this?

The blond young man touched his head wordlessly and lovingly.

He coaxed her casually, "You're not stupid, it's the humans out there who are too cunning. If they find out you're easy to fool, they'll force you to do things you don't want to do."

The boy's expression suddenly darkened upon hearing this, and he said dejectedly, "No, I'm a monster, that's why I'm locked up here. They'll just run away in fear when they see me."

He stretched out his hand and twisted a strand of black hair from the top of his head, as if dipping it in the deepest color in the night sky, and gently twisted it around his white fingertips.

"Look, my hair and my eyes are different from theirs."

He smiled somewhat sadly, "Compared to me, you look more like one of their people."

The blond young man completely stopped what he was doing.

He pressed the boy's shoulders, pushing him to look directly at himself in the mirror, and said in a serious tone: "You are not a monster."

The boy was stunned by his sudden serious tone and stared blankly ahead.

"Repeat after me, you are not a monster." The young man said firmly.

The boy stammered, "I... I'm not a monster."

"Yes, remember, you are not."

"Your hair and your eyes are both uniquely beautiful, treasures bestowed upon you by the world." The young man looked directly into his eyes in the mirror and spoke word by word.

"You are perfect. You possess a power that no one else can match. You shouldn't be confined here by anyone. You belong to a much wider world."

Jiang Liujing stared blankly at himself in the mirror.

Since the moment he was born, all he heard were words of rejection, and he was imprisoned in a wooden house by a sealing formation.

It was the first time that someone said something like this to him, and recognized himself more than he did himself.

It took a long time for the blond young man to calm down from his excitement.

Noticing the boy's surprised look, he knew that he was frightened by his own behavior just now.

"Sorry, I got a little too excited," he whispered, giving a wry smile.

"When I was little, I was also treated as an alien by others. But it's different from you. You are very strong, and I... am very weak."

"My talent has always been terrible, almost like I have no talent at all. Even after years of hard work, I can only achieve the limit of an ordinary person. I can't compare to geniuses like you."

He closed his eyes, as if he could still recall the days when he and others practiced together.

Even if you work hard day and night for a year, you can't compare to the moment of enlightenment that others have after a lazy night's sleep.

That feeling of powerless despair, accompanied by the laughter of the gifted, almost encompassed his entire childhood memories.

Jiang Liujing asked cautiously, "What about now?"

The blond young man chuckled faintly, "Now? Now I don't care about my own strength anymore."

"I have new goals and new plans. I will prove to all of them that talent does not determine destiny, and that they will not always be at the top."

He finally finished braiding the hair in his hand and gently placed the black hair on Jiang Liujing's shoulders, as if he was putting on a precious cloak for him.

He took a step back and looked at the beautiful work he had created with satisfaction.

Perfect, so perfect, without any flaws, there is no other miracle like this in the world.

The blond young man stood at the door, his face blurred in the backlight.

Only his voice was as gentle as ever, and he extended a hand to Jiang Liujing: "Will you be willing to help me, my friend?"

Jiang Liujing looked at him and stood there for a long time.

Finally, he took a step and slowly walked towards the figure at the door.