Red Mist Bliss Village

Dream of Eclipse, this is the work published by Sakuraba Aiko in April [-]. It describes the protagonist Qingye who witnessed the murder of his family when he was eight years old. The family did not know each other. The reason why he killed all his family members was that the murderer calmly said to the reporters, "Because I want to know if I will feel guilty about killing people."

The murderer was judged to have a mental disorder, so the police took him to a mental nursing home. In other words, the murderer who killed three people can continue to linger in the world. Even if he cannot connect with normal society in his future life, I believe the prisoner himself don't care too much.

When Qing Ye grew up, she became a high school teacher and lived with Izumi, a student she had taught. The two raised a black cat together.Qingye's favorite thing to do is to watch Izumi sleeping on the soft bed with the black cat in his arms. When Hequan is sleeping, he will have a very happy smile on his face.

Such a lovely and innocent Izumi is his treasure.At that time, Qingye swore to protect him forever.

The seemingly happy plot came to the later stage of the story. Qingye discovered that the murderer who killed his family was Izumi's uncle, and Izumi only had this relative who was imprisoned in a mental nursing home.Qing Ye, who suffered a considerable mental and psychological blow, twisted off the head of the black cat with no expression on his face, then put on a mask, dismembered Izumi's body with his own hands, and said softly next to Izumi's messed up corpse "I really like you, really like..." as the end of the novel.

This is the novel I read in two hours before going to the train station.In fact, before the publication of Dream of Eclipse, my publishing house made Dream of Eclipse into an e-book and provided it to [-] readers for free.

I vaguely remember the feelings of one of the readers. She said, "After meeting Izumi, Qingye changed a lot in his disposition. He is easier to smile than before, and he is more accepting of human contact , but this is not salvation after all.”

I really want to know why Aki Sakuraba wrote such a novel.

This writer never allowed the characters in his writing to be happy, and even let the characters die at the same age as the author himself. I want to get an answer to what such a writer wants to express in the novel.

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Although the time agreed with Aki Sakuraba was at ten o'clock, I still came 15 minutes earlier. After getting the reserved ticket at the ticket window, I sat in a long line in the station hall and waited.

He's a writer who never shows up.

I have actually read every novel I wrote since I was in junior high school. The vocabulary used by Ai Sakuraba is beautiful, but the pictures he constructs are always very cruel. I deeply think that he is a very vicious person. .

Even at this time, when I look back at his early works, I feel that the plot structure and the use of words are quite mature.I think he may be born to be a writer.

Just when I was thinking about Sakuraba Aisho, a tall figure slowly walked towards me and stopped in front of me.An aura that seemed to be eroded by rain, mixed with gloom and coldness, spread from that person. I raised my head, and I met those dark, emotionless eyes.

"Mr. Shinzo?" The man's voice didn't fluctuate at all, it was a deep voice, but no emotion could be heard.It's like a mechanical sound.

"...Yes..." While I was replying, I looked at this person without any trace.

The height of this man is really... I initially estimated that it should be 180 cm.Some men with amazing height would give people the illusion of a tribute ball stuck on a bamboo pole, but he was just right, although he was thin, he had a beautiful skinny feel.

When it comes to appearance, it is definitely top grade. Although his face is a little pale, it still cannot conceal the honor that this man can be classified as a handsome man.The thin lips with almost no smile showed his cold handsomeness, which can be described in one sentence, that is - he is handsome but also very unfriendly.

Then this handsome man only carries a small suitcase, which is completely different from me. All the equipment on my body is as grand as traveling abroad. After all, I am afraid that there will not be any convenience store within ten kilometers of the place I am going this time. supermarket.As an urbanite, life cannot be separated from convenience stores, computers, and mobile phones. Therefore, I really brought all the possessions I need in life.

"Excuse me, are you Aki Sakuraba?" I asked with some hesitation.

"Yes." He nodded, then turned around to take the escalator, and I had no choice but to keep up.

Before that, I was actually mentally prepared that this novelist and slammer writer might not be very easy to get along with. Just imagine, a reply never exceeds [-] characters, adheres to business, and never engages in emotional exchanges with editors or readers. If you are not satisfied with the cover of the novel, you can return it directly, and you will not tell the people in the publishing house what you are dissatisfied with in any euphemistic statement. Who will believe that he is shy by nature?

Always kill beautiful boys in novels, one of the protagonists is either sick or abused in childhood, there is a lot of blood plasma that does not cost money, the killing is very large, and none of them is immortal. Writers with the above characteristics are definitely not good. Especially after seeing him in person, I am even more sure.

The time to board the train was at ten o'clock, and the crowd was not too crowded. I boarded the train with Aki Sakuraba one after the other. After putting the luggage on the shelf above the seat, I sat on Aki Sakuraba's left hand On the side, there was a movable armrest between the two, and the rain-like cold breath on his body permeated again undisguisedly.

It's not the damp smell emitted by the rain.

It's like the depression in the air on a rainy night.

I saw the warm sunlight outside through the car window, so bright that I couldn't look directly at it, but because of this man sitting next to me, it gave me the idea that it was raining outside.

Hongwu Bliss Village is in a fairly hidden mountain forest. After taking the train to a fixed point, you have to transfer to a bus and walk for 25 to 10 minutes to get there. It can be said to be quite a long journey.

Aki Sakuraba was sitting by the window, watching the fleeting scenery with those dark eyes, and had no intention of talking to others at all.

Then after 15 minutes of silence between each other, I finally couldn't help but speak.

"What kind of novel does Ai Sakuraba want to write this time?" Such a simple sentence, but I rehearsed it in my heart for no less than twenty times before I dared to speak, and I am very confident that this gentleman will answer me with absolutely no words. More than half of my sentence.

"Fantasy-seeking orientation." He said without looking back, his voice was very cold.

"Uh... so..." Nonsense, of course I know it's a novelty orientation!Otherwise, would you still write teenage romance novels?I scolded this person from beginning to end in my heart on the spot.

"What content do you want to present in the novel? Why do you need to go to this place to collect materials?" As an editor, there are three indispensable skills, first, to have a Buddha heart, second, to have patience, and third, to have determination.I have been in the editing circle for more than five years, and I have fully practiced these three skills. In the face of arrogant authors, I have my own way to deal with them.

It seemed that after thinking for a while, Sakuraba Aisheng finally spoke slowly. "Similar to ancient folklore suspense."

"Ancient folklore suspense?" Taking the Danmei market as an example, the freshness of ancient folklore suspense is definitely enough. After all, no one has written it, but how to package it is a problem.The cover must not be too scary, after all, this is all a sham novel (under the pretense of sham beauty, with the reality of dark and bloody [-] prohibitions), although the content of dead people is indispensable, but at least the cover is warmer It will give readers the courage to read on.

"In this case, do you have a general idea?" I asked quickly.

"Yeah." Ao Sakuraba took out a slightly thick notebook from the black suitcase. You can see many dovetail clips and paper clips on the edge of the page. Then, he finally turned his head to me, holding the notebook with one hand. Take that notebook and hand it to me.

"You wrote it all on it?" I opened it curiously, and it was full of outlines and character settings handwritten by Ai Sakuraba, as well as research materials and hand-painted pictures by myself. All the content was neatly written, It doesn't feel fragmented at all.

I don’t know why, but after seeing these contents, I can’t help but feel that although Aki Sakuraba is indifferent, there are also places where he wants to devote all his energy to it, such as the novel where the protagonist will always be given to death by him.

"So what I want to write this time is about the outlanders going to an ancient family, and many weird things happened one after another?" I looked at the settings in the notebook, Sakuraba Aisheng almost completed half of the story structure, only the story It's just a stage for development.

Could it be that he wanted to use the Red Mist Bliss Village as the stage for this story?

"Yeah." Ai Sakuraba glanced at me indifferently, and then turned back to look out the window, saying "I don't mind if you want to read the notebook, just read it obediently, and then don't bother me."

"..." I subconsciously had the urge to tear up the notebook.

I said Sakuraba Aisheng, how long are you going to ignore the editor?

For things like publishing a novel, although there is nothing wrong with requiring the writer to complete the manuscript, the editor plays multiple roles in the writer's creation. Opinion; if the ending of the novel is completely crooked, the prince and the commoner should live happily (?), but suddenly the prince abandons the commoner and marries the princess. Of course, this kind of thing cannot happen to him. The editor must do a good job of ensuring that each novel will not be unfinished.

As for the dark and sensual beauty like Sakuraba Aisheng, the ending is towards a scene where all the characters survive, the protagonists live together in peace, and everyone is happy... An ending like this cannot be allowed to happen...

The problem is that this writer just doesn't want to have any communication with the editor and me at all, which is really a bit frustrating.

After finally getting off the train and transferring to passenger transport, and then in the passenger transport with no more than ten passengers, I staggered all the way to the terminal, and at the last stop, only Sakuraba and I were left.

It was only ten o'clock in the morning when we set off, but it was already four o'clock in the afternoon when we arrived here. Half of the time it took was due to the passenger transport that came every two hours.

The passenger terminal is said to be a 25 to 10-minute walk from Hongwu Bliss Village, which is probably not a short distance.

The terminus itself is quite unfeeling, with a mess of weeds on its feet, and a pile of mountains at a glance. In some places, there are still retro things like telephone poles. Overall, it’s good. The mountains and rivers are so boring.

Fortunately, there are still some people living in this kind of rural countryside. The houses here are different from the high-rise buildings built with money in the city. They are almost low houses, and they are super low-rise houses.The concrete walls are not flat, and may be recessed in some places; the roof part is scattered tiles, if the wind is stronger, the roof will probably be blown away.

Some people were sitting outside the low room to enjoy the shade. When they saw outsiders coming to this place, everyone showed quite surprised expressions, stopped what they were doing, and looked at me and Ai Sakuraba with doubts on their faces. born.

"Uh, you should know where the Red Mist Bliss Village is, so let's go there quickly." Being watched by this group of people with wide eyes, I felt very uncomfortable all over.

Then, our eccentric in the world of tanmei novels, Sakuraba Aisheng nodded first, then walked over to the group of people enjoying the cool outside, and asked in a low voice: "How to get to Hongwu Bliss Village?"

...God, he ran over without investigating anything clearly, is this really right?

As soon as the group of people enjoying the shade heard the five words Hongwu Bliss Village, they didn't care that they hadn't finished the tea they just brewed. Everyone seemed to be preparing to evacuate. In less than eight seconds, everyone flashed into their homes. In the house, the door was closed tightly so that the dog could not bite people.

It was almost dusk at four o'clock in the afternoon, and the wind blowing from nowhere lifted the fallen leaves outside the low house. In this situation, the shadows of Aki Sakuraba and I seemed to be isolated in the world, a bit desolate.

"Very good." I spread my hands helplessly, "What do you think we should do now?"

The expression on Sakuraba Aisheng's face has not changed, it has always been very calm and indifferent, even if he is not treated enthusiastically by the public, the classmate does not even frown.

The question is that people here have locked their doors tightly and obviously don't ask, so how to find out the location of Hongwu Bliss Village?

We, Ai Sakuraba, will tell you right away.When this family is hiding inside and cannot die, it's very simple, just ask the next family.

As a writer, Sakuraba Aisheng displayed the spirit of seeking truth from facts, without any hesitation, he searched for other residents further inside, and I could only follow behind him silently, praying that I could reach Hongwu smoothly before the sun went down. Bliss Village.

Finally... After being rejected by more than eight people, not including the family that closed the door and windows at the beginning, Sakuraba Aisheng and I finally met a little girl who was kind enough to answer for us.

The young lady is about 19 years old. Because her mother is sick, she came here from the city to visit her. When she heard that Ying Ting Aisheng was going to Hongwu Bliss Village, she first showed a very surprised expression, and then thought deeply. It took about a minute and a half to point to an old street lamp in the distance.

"Did you see that street light?" the lady said softly.

"Yes." I professionally picked up the paper and pen, and prepared to copy down the way to enter the Red Mist Bliss Village.

"There is a small path after the street light. Cross the path and pass through a village. Go west of the village for about 10 to [-] minutes, and you will arrive at Hongwu Bliss Village." After the lady finished speaking, she paused for a while before continuing, "But , what are you going to do there?"

"It's for collecting materials." I showed a business smile and explained very well, "The one next to me is a writer, and I'm his editor."

"So that's it." The young lady nodded in a sudden realization, and then said very earnestly. "Well... I just suggest that if there is no special need, it is better not to go to that place."

"Did anything happen over there besides the fire 20 years ago?" I asked.The news that can be obtained from the newspapers is limited, and before the fire broke out in Hongwu Bliss Village, it was a quite isolated village.

"This... Actually, I also heard about it when I was a child. Before, some people seemed to find many wild cats and wild dog corpses near the Red Mist Bliss Village. Those corpses looked like they had been attacked by wild beasts, and their bodies were all torn apart. ...Also, I heard from my mother, don't go near that village at night, you will meet weird-looking humans..." The young lady whispered more and more, if it wasn't because I was standing in front of her, she would definitely What will be said later is left to guesswork.

"Human beings with weird looks?" I became interested, so I asked the lady, "What does it look like?"

"Someone here has seen it, and said it's... a human that looks like a praying mantis..."

Hearing this, I was stunned.

There are two reasons why I am stunned. One is that I have never seen a human being that looks like a praying mantis, but it is scary just to hear it. The second is...Miss, a human being that looks like a praying mantis is not called a human being, but a human being. monster.

Out of the corner of my eye, I glanced at Aisheng Sakuraniwa next to me. The man's expression was just as I expected. After hearing the lady's terrifying strange talk, there was not even the slightest ups and downs on his face.

"Is it like this? Anyway, thank you very much." After thanking the lady a few times, Sakuraba and I came to the streetlight she just pointed out.

The street lamps are quite dilapidated, but despite being so dilapidated, there are quite dense plum blossoms blooming beside the street lamps, forming an indescribable sense of disobedience.I looked up at the sky connected to the street lamps. There was some orange-red glow on the edge of the water-blue tone, and it was almost dusk.

Sakuraba Aisheng took out the camera from his suitcase and took a picture of the street lamp. The camera made a very crisp "click" sound.

"Why do you want to take pictures of street lights?" I asked puzzled.

"Beautiful." Sakuraba Aisheng's deep voice spread in the air, he said "beautiful", his dark eyes looked at such a dilapidated thing, it was hard to know what he was thinking.

Sakuraba Aisheng zoomed in on the sign above the street lamp, and took a close-up photo of the street lamp again, and I was also seriously looking at the writing on the sign.

Honglian Township.

It turned out that this place was called Honglian Township.Speaking of the term red lotus, in addition to being a plant name, it also has a lesser-known meaning.

is hell.One of the eight cold hells in Buddhist legends. People who are tortured in this hell will turn dark red because of the severe cold, and their skin will be frozen and cracked. say.

This place is called Honglian Township, does it mean that this place is actually hell?Anyway, the name really makes people feel a chill.

"Let's go." Sakuraba Aisheng put away the camera, glanced at me, and walked forward.

"Ah, wait." I quickly followed, but because I was only focused on speeding up my pace, I didn't notice that the ground here was actually very unstable. When I was about to slide down and hit the floor, Sakuraba Aisheng stretched out The left hand easily supports my body.

My cheek touched Ai Sakuraba's silk coat, and the cool smell of rain hit my sense of smell. I couldn't help but feel such a powerful left hand on my waist. This was the first time I was so close to him.

Ai Sakuraba's light chestnut-colored hair seems to be still steamed, and it is gently stirring in my ears under the breeze.

Then it was so close, I couldn't find my figure in his dark eyes.The moment I realized this, I felt an inexplicable heaviness in my heart.

"Please be careful." Sakuraba Aisheng said coldly, and let go of his left hand.

"Um... sorry." I lowered my head and followed behind him in embarrassment.

Sakuraba and Aisheng and I walked through a small path near the street lamp, and finally came to the village that the lady mentioned. The scale is not large. I looked at it like this, and there were at most about 200 people. Then, it was the same as the house on the side of the passenger terminal. , are low houses that are not shockproof, windproof, or rainproof.

Most of the low houses are built next to bamboo forests or bushes, which look like ancient times at first glance.

Then, the people here are all dressed plainly, either in black, white or gray. Both men and women have their hair above their shoulders. Likewise, no matter men, women, young or old, everyone's face is very pale.

When the residents of this village saw me and Sakuraniwa visiting, everyone showed doubts in their eyes, but there was no doubt for a long time, and a handsome young man walked towards us, smiling politely and saying , "Are you a guest? Both of you."

"Uh, sorry to bother you all of a sudden." I said embarrassedly.

"It doesn't matter, it means, why did you come here?" the boy asked.

"It's like this. We want to go to Hongwu Bliss Village. We will pass here on the route. I'm really sorry."

"It's like this!" Hearing the five words of Hongwu Bliss Village, the boy's reaction... The boy didn't respond at all, and the smile on his lips was still very beautiful and brilliant. "Yeah, the Red Mist Bliss Village is indeed near us, but it's a bit inconvenient to go there right now!"

"What's wrong?" I asked quickly.Could it be that the place was demolished by the government?After all, no one lived there, and all that remained were the ruins after being burned by the fire.

"Please don't be so nervous. It's inconvenient to go there now because the fog in the Red Mist Bliss Village is very thick. It will take some time to get better. If you don't mind, please allow me to entertain two guests during this time!" said the boy. It's easy and serious.

"Well..." I took a peek at Sakuraba Aisheng. When he saw the boy, his eyes were a bit complicated, but he nodded anyway. It seems that he doesn't object to living here, and I was really relieved. tone.In case the young master is not used to living in the backcountry, where should he find a hotel at this time and place!

"Then excuse me." I followed the boy's footsteps with my luggage, and I also took a look at the scenery of this village along the way. As expected, this place is next door to that very weird Red Mist Bliss Village, and every house will hang a Black lanterns, black and red paper pinwheels will be inserted next to the house.

As long as there is wind blowing the paper pinwheel, you can hear the sound of rattling in your ears.

The bright orange light at dusk shone on the village like a layer of light fog. The black and red paper pinwheels and the pale faces of the residents merged into a rather enchanting picture.

Aisheng Sakuraba and I followed the boy to a house with a very retro appearance. The house has a very grand door. After the boy pushed the door open, I also took advantage of the opportunity to see the large garden and the quite antique corridor inside. .

Frankly speaking, I have a feeling of time travel to ancient times.

If it weren't for the telegraph pole standing behind me to bring me back to reality, I would definitely want to chant poems here on the spot.

"Let me take you to the guest room first!" The boy said enthusiastically as he walked, "Speaking of which, what do you call them?"

"My name is Shinzo, the one behind is Aki Sakuraba, he is a writer."

"A writer? Is it the kind that writes books? What kind of books do you write?" the boy asked with interest.

I have to say, kid, you asked a good question, what kind of novel are you writing, how should I answer you... I decided to use a more euphemistic way of saying that gay novels should scare children.

"It's the danmei novels that are very popular now." The word danmei is definitely more euphemistic than homosexuality, although the meaning is basically the same.

"What are Tanmei novels?" The boy showed incomprehensible eyes.

"Gay novels." The great novelist and best-selling novelist, Aki Sakuraba said it bluntly.

... I'm tangled, I'm really tangled.If I had known, sir, that you would say it so readily, then why did I think about it for a long time just now?

Ignoring my entanglement, the pale boy stopped in his tracks, and said with an expression of "Oh my God! How could such a thing happen?" "Gay novels! Modern people are really advanced."

"So... are you a couple of lovers?" The young man said in an unastonishing tone, and the tone of the sentence "It's a couple of lovers" can be said to be [-]% sure and [-]% suspicious.

"...No." I bent forward in frustration.Although you are a beautiful boy who doesn't understand the world, didn't your mother teach you not to guess about other people's relationship?Especially when you are guessing about two big men, you must remember that you must never think that they are a couple. You must know that men are very afraid of being misunderstood as gay.

"It's a pity." The boy also sighed.

Wait, what are you regretting, please explain clearly.I cried out inside.

"This is the guest room. Is it okay for you two to see it?" The young man opened the Japanese-style lattice door. The furnishings in the room are very classical. There are black cabinets with red tassels hanging from the wall, and a screen with pictures of wind, flowers, birds and moon. , the floor is covered with tatami mats, so sleep on the floor.

"This room is very beautiful, thank you." I smiled at the boy, and suddenly thought of an important matter and asked quickly, "By the way, I don't know your name yet, can you tell me?"

"My name is Ye Yue." He glanced at the watch on his wrist and reminded him very intimately, "We all have dinner earlier, it's almost six o'clock, please remember to come and eat!"

After speaking, he left with a very strange smile.

Looking at the back of Ye Yue, I only have two words in my heart, and that is - disaster...

Coming to this place is a disaster, and meeting this young man is also a disaster. I really don't know what kind of shocking scene I will encounter after arriving in Hongwu Bliss Village.

On the other hand, Sakuraba Aisheng quickly organized his luggage. Basically, he didn't need to organize too much because he had so little luggage. went outside.

I seriously feel that if I had a role to play in this journey, it would be to be his voice plus being a publicist.In addition, the editor has basically become a hidden identity.

Just as I was about to take out the things I needed in the luggage, through the wooden window, I seemed to vaguely hear the sound of a boy crying nearby.

Although I haven't seen the boy's face now, I can imagine that the boy must be very sad.

When I was going to look for the crying boy, I remembered a novel written by Sakuraba Aisheng many years ago. condition".

It is written that on a rainy night, a mother killed her eight-year-old child, who was born with an affair, and secretly threw the body to another place without telling her eldest son.The older brother was very sad not to be able to find his beloved younger brother. On that rainy night, he sat in the living room, waiting for his eight-year-old younger brother to come back.

Just when my elder brother was feeling physically and mentally exhausted, along with the rain, the sound of a boy crying came from outside the closed balcony. My elder brother opened the curtain of the balcony suspiciously, and saw my younger brother standing on the balcony with his whole body wet. The younger brother showed some pain smile.

In this novel, the younger brother was killed by his mother no less than ten times. When the mother killed him for the first time, she almost strangled him to death with her hands, because her husband was about to be transferred back to the country. Fearing that his affair would be discovered, he reluctantly killed his own son.

The first time she killed her own child, the child appeared in front of her not long after, so she had to kill the second time.The mother also shed tears the second time, but there was more fear in her heart than sadness.Later, the child appeared again, forcing her to do it for the third, fourth, and fifth times... Gradually, she didn't feel anything, as long as she saw this child, all she could think about was how to get him die.

It reads "This boy, the one I described at the beginning, killed a certain man when he was young, and his mother went mad beautifully that autumn" (Note [-]), the next Page ushered in the end of the novel.

In the end, the mother killed all her brothers, and she was left alone in the whole room looking at the gray sky outside the window, and the sound of the boy crying from nowhere.

There are different interpretations of such endings, but there are two generally recognized by readers:

One is that the mother was already crazy when she killed the child for the first time, so it was all her fantasy afterwards;

The second is that the elder brother with a bad taste, in order to retaliate against the mother who killed his younger brother, did many things that hurt his mother one after another, such as indirectly killing the object of his mother’s affair, and being suspected by the readers. The "father" who had never appeared before drove the mother to go crazy.

When I watched "Conditions of Existence in the Human World" earlier, it was just past twelve o'clock in the middle of the night, and it happened to be raining outside.Such a creepy plot combined with the sound of rain made me a little cold for the boy's voice.

Even so, I left the room to find the source of the crying. I have to say that this house is really big, and there are black and red paper pinwheels inserted in both the garden and the bottom of the corridor.

The sound of the pinwheel rattling and the sound of the boy's crying sounded, and there was an indescribable subtlety.

Finally, I found a crying little boy in a remote corner of the courtyard. His back was facing me, and his small body was squatting on the ground. His upper body was wearing a white shirt and a sky blue woolen vest. The shorts, very formal dress.

I walked over, squatted down behind him, and patted his shoulder lightly, "What's wrong? Why are you crying?"

"...Woo...it hurts..." he said sobbingly, his voice was quite small.

"Where does it hurt? May I have a look?" I asked softly with a smile.

"All...the whole body hurts..." The boy slowly turned his head to me. Before I could see his face clearly, scorching marks suddenly appeared on the boy's fair skin, and soon his body seemed to be on fire. Like, burn up quickly!

"What!?" I stared dumbfounded at the boy's transformation in less than two seconds. The boy whose whole body was on fire let out a small scream. In less than ten seconds, the boy's petite body was reduced to ashes before my eyes. , slowly floating in the air.

At that time, the color of the sky had become very dark, the dusk faded away quickly, and all that could be seen when looking up was darkness.

Note [-]: Adapted from "Etchings" by Ryuichi Tamura, the original text is: This man, who I described at the beginning, killed his father when he was young, and that autumn, his mother went mad beautifully.