Cannon Fodder Counterattack System (XVIII)

Cui Lan, who was leaning against the head of the bed, turned his head and looked at the ghost who had unknowingly stood in front of him.

The dim light in the old room did not affect his figure at all. His appearance was as if he had been cut out of another photo and pasted onto the present scene. Therefore, every detail of his face was extremely clear in Cui Lan's eyes.

His eyelids were half closed, his gaze was wandering, and his lips were slightly pursed, as if he had suffered a great injustice.

Cui Lan thought:

I haven't said anything yet, why are you suddenly getting upset?

In his opinion, the person in front of him was saying sweet words like "I definitely believe you" one second, but his emotions collapsed inexplicably the next second.

The change was as fast as a tornado, and it caught us off guard.

He lowered his head again.

The child's cheek is still in his palm, and his expression is exactly the same as the ghost's, but the emotions revealed are more obvious than those of an adult.

Looking at the guy in front of him who was so sad that he was about to break, Cui Lan racked his brains for a moment and finally guessed the content of the tragic essay he had written in his mind.

...This time it may be longer than before.

It seems that if we don't explain things clearly now, let alone rest, we may not be able to set off smoothly at dawn.

Cui Lan glanced at Youling's hand, and 568, who was held by Xuxu, immediately received the hint, [Host, I'm going to see grandma! ]

After saying that, it left the room quickly without looking back.

"Shang Li."

When there were only two conscious creatures left in the room, Cui Lan slowed down his voice and called softly, "Come here."

Upon hearing this, the ghost silently dissolved its data body.

In Cui Lan's eyes, the image of the little Shang Li who was close to him also changed immediately and became a grown-up.

It's the vision that is distorted.

Cui Lan ignored this little trick and looked at the red pupils. She said calmly, "It was me whose identity was exposed. I should be the one who was nervous and scared. How come you are more shocked than me?"

He loosened his hands that were pinching the child's cheeks, and instead lifted up the thick and soft quilt, motioning Shang Li to lie back down obediently.

After all, it is only the senses that are distorted and it cannot affect the nature of a six-year-old child who is easily susceptible to colds.

“…”

Shang Li didn't respond, but he cooperated by shrinking back into the quilt, leaving only his head exposed.

Cui Lan also lay down face to face again and turned off the light with a flick of his finger.

The room instantly fell into pitch darkness, which was just enough for him to feel Shang Li's presence but not enough to see his expression.

"You guessed it right. I am indeed a time traveler."

When the warmth enveloped his body again, Cui Lan took the lead in admitting his identity, and then resolutely apologized, "I'm sorry, I kept it a secret from you."

Shang Li remained silent.

Cui Lan hadn't dealt with relationship issues for many years, and after saying the first two sentences, she forgot what to do for a moment.

With no feedback to push the topic forward, he had no choice but to keep his mouth shut.

The only sounds that could be heard in the room were steady breathing and the baby smacking his lips in his sleep.

After a while, the hoarse cry of a crow outside the window broke the silence, and Shang Li finally spoke.

"If you wanted to hide it from me, why didn't you stop me from finding out the truth when we were in the snow?"

"Since you threatened me in the dark room, why are you admitting it so readily now?"

"Let me guess," he laughed briefly into Cui Lan's ear.

The warm and gentle voice was like a layer of fluff gently brushing against the body, immediately giving Cui Lan goose bumps all over her body.

"It can't be that someone has set up this trap and is waiting for me to discover it." The ghost guessed maliciously.

I was so angry that I lost all my usual interjections.

Cui Lan thought.

"You know I'm not good at behind-the-scenes arrangements."

He said, "This matter has nothing to do with the prophet."

"Did I mention that I had a relationship with that Lu guy?"

Shang Li decisively refuted.

Without waiting for the other party to answer, he immediately asked: "Xiao Cui, have you really forgotten everything?"

“…”

After a while, Cui Lan answered seriously:

"I didn't lie to you."

The words were wrapped in a cold voice and flowed into Shang Li's ears.

He slightly widened his eyes in the darkness, and the rising momentum was immediately suppressed by these words.

The fingers pressed under the quilt couldn't help but stretch forward and hook Cui Lan's.

"My memory begins when I opened my eyes and saw you."

Cui Lan hooked back the finger that was rubbing against him, and continued to speak calmly outside the quilt: "What happened before that... I don't know anything."

"As for the identity of the time traveler, I only found out later."

"It's Lu Yao."

Cui Lan closed his eyes in the darkness. The soft pillow and mattress made his tone a little tired. "That prophet knows a lot of information, and he is not willing to reveal it easily."

"Apart from the in-law relationship, although we are the leader and subordinate of the organization on the surface, the relationship between him and me is actually more like an employee-employee relationship."

"He is the boss and I am the employee."

"We have been working together for three or four years, and most of the time he told me directly what to do."

"You just listen to him?" Shang Li's tone was extremely dissatisfied.

Then he raised his body, trying to turn over and press on Cui Lan to question her, but Cui Lan was prepared and quickly pushed him back onto the mattress.

Shang Li: “…”

"It's an employment relationship, so the reward is naturally to get what I want to know."

Cui Lan pulled out the long hair tucked around her neck, and moved to a more comfortable position with the person beside her. "This includes the fact that I am a time traveler."

When Cui Lan first confirmed his identity, he was as terrified as when he found out Shang Li was abducted by a time traveler.

Just as Shang Li always worries about whether he is the real Shang Li, he also worries about whether he is the real Cui Lan and whether there is still an original owner whose life has been occupied in this world.

He knew very well in his heart that if Shang Li successfully returned, he would eventually know his identity as a time traveler. It was just a matter of time.

It was impossible to say that he had no selfish motives, so Cui Lan decided to keep this matter secret forever.

But as time went on, he found that no one would listen even if he wanted to reveal his identity.

Since Shang Li is not here, it doesn't make sense to reveal his identity or not.

He stripped off the soul of the time traveler, and held the lifeless body, powerlessly waiting for the next time traveler to come. In his heart, he even secretly hoped that Shang Li would wake up and question him.

Anyway, it's better than dying completely.

But after confirming that Shang Li had really returned, he hesitated for a long time and still couldn't take the initiative to say it out loud.

So when Cui Lan noticed that Shang Li began to doubt his identity as expected, he was surprised to find that his first reaction was relief.

So let it be. Lili won't hate me for this anyway.

He thought.

And the reality was just as Cui Lan had expected. The problem Shang Li was entangled with was not the same problem he was worried about.

"I'm curious about how you felt when you drove away those time travelers."

Shang Li asked dully.

"I want to get you back."

Cui Lan said bluntly: "I don't regard them as the same kind."

When hunting down time travelers, he once asked himself:

You are one of them, don't you have any empathy for their experience?

Of course.

Cui Lan responded.

If it is not necessary, I don't want to abandon my normal and peaceful life to become a fugitive who is in danger of being killed at any time and crush one living soul after another.

But who caused them to descend upon Shang Li?

He always has to make a choice.

Hearing this, Shang Li sniffed and said, "Actually, before the fusion, 031 told me about your life experience before you traveled through time."

"You have living parents in that world, and a sister with whom you have a very close relationship."

Most of the time, the vision of ghosts is not affected by the natural environment. Shang Li stared at Cui Lan's slightly trembling eyelashes, looking forward to his next reaction.

Before Cui Lan was picked up, he and his grandmother were the only two people living in this old house.

Grandma Shang was already old, and after Shang Li was three or four years old and almost sensible, she spent most of her time lying in bed drowsy. Naturally, she did not have the energy to play with a child who was at an age that needed attention.

So the lonely little Shang Li often went outside alone to attract cats and play with dogs.

He would feed some food to his neighbor's little yellow dog and watch it wag its tail at him. He would also touch the little black cat raised by a nearby business and let its little head rub against his legs.

Shang Li was sure that these little animals liked him very much.

But as long as the neighbor calls, the little yellow dog will run quickly to its owner; when the sound of a shop closing is heard, the little black cat will immediately return to its nest.

None of them wanted to follow him home.

"Silly little thing, because this is someone else's pet, of course it will be closer to its owner."

An old hunter who came to borrow money heard his frustration and said, "If they could be kidnapped just by feeding them something, the owner wouldn't let these cats and dogs run around freely outside. That's right."

“…”

Shang Li thought for a moment and then expressed his agreement.

"I also want a pet like this." He said eagerly.

"If you're really jealous, I'll get you some gadgets on the mountain in a couple of days."

The hunter kept his word and gave him a white rabbit the size of a palm.

Xiao Shangli was extremely excited as it was the first time he had a living creature of his own.

He consulted other experienced neighbors and carefully raised the rabbits in the provided cages.

After a while, Shang Li was pleasantly surprised to find that the white rabbit, which had initially huddled timidly in the corner of the cage, had now allowed him to hold it in his palms, and had become extremely docile no matter how he rubbed it.

So Xiao Shangli began to happily imagine playing with rabbits in the wild.

I have such a good relationship with it, even if it runs far away, it will definitely come back on its own.

Shang Li thought so.

However, before that day came, the rabbit disappeared.

The child who was about to exchange food stared blankly at the empty cage and the open cage door for a while, then ran out to question the hunter.

"Oh, that's how it is in the wild. Not all animals are friendly. I don't know how many have died of fright in my house."

The hunter rubbed his greasy hands on the little head, "The rabbit ran away, don't be sad."

"I'll get you something more docile and friendly then."

“…”

“But I want that one.”

Shang Li sniffed, his eyes reddened, "I've been raising it for so long."

Seeing that tears were about to flow, the hunter immediately racked his brains to comfort the small creditor, "Hey, hey, hey, you have to think like this."

"If the little animal doesn't like you, why should you like it?"

"?"

Xiao Shangli didn't quite understand what this meant.

"If an animal likes you, it will follow you home without you having to catch it."

The hunter pointed outside and said, "Look, this stinky cat of mine just ran in one day and wouldn't leave no matter how hard we tried."

As soon as he finished speaking, a little cat's head poked out from the door and meowed in protest.

"So you should like those little animals that like you and are willing to follow you, okay?" The hunter patted Shang Li's shoulder, leaving a light yellow palm print.

Shang Li: "But I think the little rabbit likes me very much. It is willing to let me touch it."

"That's just like the cats and dogs you used to play with all day long. Although they like to play with you, they still like their parents more." The hunter made up a story to coax the child.

“…”

Finally, Shang Li returned to the old house with a lot of nonsense in his ears, and began to wait for the arrival of the chosen pet according to the hunter's suggestions.

Then he found Cui Lan, dying in the snow.

“Save me…”

The naked child in the snow weakly stretched out his hand to the person in front of him, "Please... take me back."

Ah, that's it.

Shang Li accepted the pet given to him by God with satisfaction.

Now, he lay on the bed, holding Cui Lan's hand tightly, and asked:

"If you have the opportunity to return to the world before your time travel and reunite with your parents, brothers and sisters, will you choose to go back?"