On his childish face, there was a calmness and coldness that did not belong to his age.

Outside the mirror, Lin Mo was still crying.

In the mirror and outside the mirror, it was as if there were two people with the same height and appearance, but completely different people, doing completely different actions.

"Brother, you have to help me. Fat Tiger and the others in Building 3 have teamed up to bully me!"

Five-year-old Lin Mo's voice was very tender and full of grievance.

At this time, 'Lin Mo' in the mirror shook his head.

"I don't care. If you have the guts, fight back yourself." It was also a child's voice, but a steady one.

"You are my brother. I was bullied, and you don't care?"

"I just said, no matter what, I don't care."

"Then I'll tell Dad about you."

"You dare!"

"See if I dare or not, I'll go right away."

"Okay, okay, I'll help you, but only this time."

"Hey, thanks bro!"

If someone saw this scene at this time, they would find that from beginning to end, it was the five-year-old Lin Mo talking to himself in front of the mirror.

Sometimes he cries, and sometimes he appears calm.

Some people might find it interesting.

But if you look closely, it's terrifying.

This is definitely not something a five-year-old child can act out.

The scene changed.

In a small alley, several children who were older than Lin Mo were lying on the ground crying.

Some of these children were already in the first grade of primary school, but they were all beaten to tears by Lin Mo.

"Listen carefully, if you bully my brother again, I will pull out all your teeth one by one." Lin Mo threatened viciously. A chubby child opposite covered his red face and asked bravely, "Who is your brother?"

"Lin Mo!"

Lin Mo left after saying this.

It's like waving one's sleeves and leaving without a trace of cloud.

Anyway, the kids who were beaten down by him were stunned.

From then on, whenever he saw Lin Mo from afar, he would take a detour.

In the old lanes, beside the alleys, on the river bank, and on the willow trees, cicadas are chirping and birds are singing; there is spring breeze, autumn rain, and summer sun.

This is where Lin Mo's childhood memories are left.

He lost his mother when he was young, and his father raised him alone with great difficulty.

But Lin Mo didn't feel unhappy.

Maybe it’s because I had my brother as a playmate throughout my growth.

Chat with him, play with him, stand up for him when he is bullied, and most importantly, his brother will not snatch the delicious food from him.

Simple, ordinary, and with a childlike innocence.

This was Lin Mo’s childhood.

"Xiao Mo, remember not to tell Dad about my affairs."

On the big willow tree at the entrance of the alley, Lin Mo leaned on a big branch, almost half lying down, with his eyes closed, a willow branch in his mouth, feeling the rustling of the willow leaves in the wind, and the warmth of the sunlight falling on his face through the gaps between the leaves. This was the most pleasant and comfortable moment for him and his brother.

The big willow tree is their secret base.

Of course, climbing trees has always been his brother's strong point. After all, this position is nearly three meters from the ground, which is not low. Lin Mo may not be able to climb up by himself.

"Brother, why don't you let dad know you exist?" Five-year-old Lin Mo didn't quite understand this. He didn't even have the mind to think about why his brother was different from other people's brothers.

No one except himself knew of his brother's existence.

Of course the reason is not only because his brother and he are in the same body, but also because his brother never lets Lin Mo tell anyone about his existence.

Not even Dad can tell.

As for why, his brother never told him, and he didn't say even when Lin Mo asked.

"Brother, can you tell me another story?" Lin Mo likes to listen to stories. Other children have their mothers and fathers tell them stories before going to bed, but not Lin Mo.

But he has a brother.

"Xiao Mo, what do you want to hear?"

"Let's go to the Havoc in Heaven. You didn't finish your story last time. I really like Zhu Bajie."

"OK."

A child's voice sounded on the tree branch, telling a story that only the two brothers could hear.

The scene changed again.

Night.

It was quiet outside the old building, and occasionally someone would ride a bicycle passing under the street light.

Although the street lights are dim, there are always some moths and other flying insects around.

In the old building, Lin Mo was sleeping soundly.

But soon, he frowned and breathed rapidly, as if he was experiencing a terrible nightmare.

In a dream.

Lin Mo hid under the bed. He was very scared, so he covered his face with his little hands. But he was the type who had a strong addiction to watching, so he still wanted to watch.

What he wanted to see was a ghost outside.

The house in the dream was very strange. Only a small part of the area could be seen from the outside, and most of it was pitch black.

Just in the darkness, there stood a figure.

That's a ghost.

It exudes a unique cold and rancid smell.

It was not Lin Mo who said that the other party was a ghost, but his brother. At that time, his brother was negotiating with the ghost.

Lin Mo didn't know or hear what was said specifically, but when he thought of how scary ghosts were, he couldn't help but shiver.

For foreign-related work like this, it was always his brother who stepped forward, and Lin Mo was always the one standing behind his brother.

He doesn't feel embarrassed about this.

Lin Mo has nightmares like this one where he can see ghosts almost every day. Of course, it is his brother who goes to negotiate with those scary ghosts every time.

Lin Mo has become accustomed to it.

Sometimes ghosts are more obedient and leave on their own after a while of talking.

But sometimes we encounter some people who are disobedient.

If this is the case, the elder brother will fight with the disobedient ghost, and of course the elder brother will win every time.

So although Lin Mo was afraid, that was all, and he was not worried.

On the contrary, he hoped to meet an unreasonable ghost so that his brother could give it a good lesson.

Watching a fight is definitely much more interesting than watching a boring negotiation.

The negotiations did not go smoothly this time.

Although Lin Mo couldn't hear what his brother said over there, he could feel it.

Something is not right.

But Lin Mo was both afraid and excited at this time. If he had to compare, the latter might be more.

"Fight, fight."

Lin Mo, who was under the bed, clenched his fists and looked at his brother's back outside with some anticipation.

Soon, a strange laugh was heard from outside.

Accompanied by his brother's scolding.

"Don't be so shameless, get out of here!"

As soon as the voice fell, a pale hand suddenly stretched out from the darkness and pulled his brother into the darkness.

Lin Mo couldn't see it, but he could hear the fighting.

That sound was scary.

After a moment, the sound stopped.

My brother is back.

Covered in blood.

Lin Mo quickly ran out to support the other person.

"Win?"

"Nonsense, can I still come back if I lose?"

"Brother, why did those ghosts come to us?"

"I'm not here to find us, I'm here to find you."

"Looking for me? Why? I didn't provoke them."

"It is a crime to possess a treasure, understand?"

"I don't understand, what does it mean?"

"I don't want to explain to you, I want to take a break, I want to be quiet!"

"Who is Jingjing?"

“…”

The scene changed again.

This is a physical education class.

The boys have to run around the playground four times.

Lin Mo was running at the back from the beginning.

He is not fat, but very thin, even skinny.

I was already out of breath after running just one lap.

"Lin Mo, you are really weak."

"Yeah, yeah, all the girls are better than you."

Lin Mo has been hearing similar ridicule from his classmates for several years.

I'm used to it.

At this age, one should be full of vigor and vitality, and have the most physical strength and energy, but Lin Mo now looks like a sickly person, and his physical strength is far inferior to that of his peers.

That night, my brother announced a big news.

He is leaving.

Lin Mo didn't quite understand what leaving meant.

As long as he could remember, his brother had been with him for twelve years. He was used to being with his brother, and at that age, he didn't understand much about separation.

"Brother, where are you going?" In the dream, Lin Mo pulled his brother, somewhat incredulous.

"Even if I tell you, I won't know. So, you'd better not ask."

"But why are you leaving?"

"If I don't leave, you'll become a vegetable."

"Vegetative state? Is it the kind of person on TV who gets hit by a car and never wakes up again?"

"Yeah, so I have to go."

"But if you leave, I'm scared. What if no one talks to me? Who will tell me stories? If someone bullies me, who will help me find a way out? Also, if ghosts come at night, who will help me drive them away? Brother, you can't leave."

In the past, Lin Mo always acted like this.

He knew that as long as he made such a fuss, his brother would definitely give in and accommodate him.

But this time, my brother's attitude was very firm.

I'll leave no matter what.

It's impossible to stop it.

"Don't worry, Xiao Mo. At your age now, you can completely merge with that thing. After all, it has been more than ten years. So even if I leave, no ghosts will come to find you. Your physical strength will be the same as others in the future, and you will live a normal life."

"I don't want it, I don't want it!"

"You don't listen to me, do you? Do you believe I will beat you up?"

"But, what should I do if I miss you?"

"Look in the mirror. We look the same. When you see yourself in the mirror, you're also seeing me!"

Brother is gone!

Twelve-year-old Lin Mo didn't know where his brother had gone.

But he always remembered what his brother told him and never mentioned his brother's existence to anyone else. However, people around him found that Lin Mo was much quieter and more withdrawn than before.

But no one cares.

Even Dad.

My father even consulted a doctor about this, and the doctor said that the child was about to enter puberty and it was normal.

The rings of years begin to turn, and time is like a calendar torn off the wall, page by page. You tear it with great force, but soon, it will be thrown into an inconspicuous corner, as if insignificant.

Life is made up of calendar pages, and each page records joys and sorrows.

There are the troubles of growing up and also the restlessness of youth.

But even after entering high school, Lin Mo still remembered the story of Journey to the West that his brother told him on the branch of the old willow tree that summer. The sun was very warm that day, and the rustling sound of the swaying willow leaves was very pleasant.

Lin Mo never had that horrible nightmare again.

It seems like it was a long time ago, or even just a childhood fantasy.

No time to miss it, as if it has already gone with the wind.

High school life is very fulfilling.

Fragments of memory flashed through Lin Mo's mind bit by bit.

Many of them he remembered, but some were very unfamiliar to him. These memories passed by one by one, just like a person reliving his past life.

Those precious past events in memory, those important people in memory, laughter and sadness, are experienced again. As a bystander, Lin Mo feels more than a thousand emotions in his heart.

The most exciting thing I remember when I was in the first year of high school was that I had a fight with a girl named Liu Jia.

…

Liu Jia is a girl with a strong personality.

The first half of the memory that was cut was about his brother, and the second half was all about Liu Jia.

Character is something that is innate. Even after going through the hardships of growing up, it still cannot be changed. If we have to say there is something that can change, it is that the things that obscure the character have been worn away, and what remains is the essence.

It's like an iron rod being polished with sandpaper, from being rough at first to becoming shiny and smooth.

Luck made Lin Mo and Liu Jia sit at the same table from the very beginning.

Because of such trivial matters as who occupied more desk space, the two people escalated from verbal greetings at the beginning to a fight in the woods after class.

Lin Mo didn't expect that this woman actually dared to come.

He never expected that he would lose his first fight in high school, to a woman.

A great shame and humiliation.

Later, when Lin Mo learned that Liu Jia had practiced martial arts for ten years, he realized that he had been tricked.

So in the first year of high school, Liu Jia gave Lin Mo the impression that she was a cunning and sinister woman.

It’s shameless that you didn’t tell me earlier that you had practiced martial arts.

But most of the time, the sparks and affection between men and women are generated in the collision. Lin Mo and Liu Jia obviously belong to this category, although neither of them admitted that they had a good impression of each other at that time.

By the time they were in their second year of high school, the two had already called each other brother and sister.

Everyone in the class knows about this.

Of course, falling in love too early is an absolute taboo in middle school. Even if everyone knows it, no one dares to talk about it openly.

Compared with others in the class, Lin Mo and Liu Jia were much more restrained.

Memories flash by quickly.

Obviously, Liu Jia is definitely a very important person in Lin Mo's life.

And this importance is irreplaceable.

Senior year of high school.

The pressure of studying suddenly increased.

The school adopts a boarding system for senior high school students, allegedly to allow everyone to better devote themselves to learning wholeheartedly.

There is an effect, of course.

Even those who are the worst students in the class sharpen their spears to the utmost in their senior year, and the tips of their spears are polished to a shiny finish.

In Lin Mo's eyes, he already had an impression of this section of memory except for the one about Liu Jia. After completing his memory and walking through it again, he felt like he was living his life again.

It turns out that what the teacher said at that time was true.

Even though high school is tiring, it is the best experience in your life.

But some people didn't make it to graduation.

Mo Wenting's experience overlapped with Lin Mo's memory for a period of time.

Of course, this time it is told from Lin Mo’s perspective.

And from this moment on, the memory, without the previous sunshine and brightness, began to become terrifying.

It was a not very clear night and not a single star could be seen in the sky.

Lin Mo and Liu Jia walked on the campus path as usual, enjoying a bit of comfort and relaxation after a day of intense study.

Halfway through the walk, Liu Jia suddenly stopped and pointed his finger at his lips.

Lin Mo understood and said, here comes a pig eating cabbage.

The pig was very happy eating it, and the cabbage was also very satisfied.

Continuing to walk forward, suddenly, a man rushed out from the bushes and hugged Lin Mo tightly.

It’s Mo Wenting.

Lin Mo relived the past and could feel all the emotions he had at that time.

And at this moment, Lin Mo felt something very clearly.

Very strange.

But Lin Mo knew what it was.

fear!

When Mo Wenting suddenly rushed out and hugged me, I felt frightened and terrified at that moment.

Lin Mo had heard about this matter from Liu Jia and Mo Wenting, but this was the first time he saw it from his own perspective.

Lin Mo didn't care about the details of the matter itself.

What he cared about was that he actually felt fear.

It's like something that was taken away has returned to you.

“It turns out that I am also a person with fears!”

On the last day of March, in the last few hours, the word count reached the goal set at the beginning of the month. But the monthly votes were half of what I expected. I think I can do it if I work harder! 　　 　 (End of this chapter)