Chapter 221: The Sleep Demon seemed to want Lu Hang to accept the invasion in advance...
A Sandman story?
Of course Bai Ling had heard of it. This story happened to be included in the "Imperial Fairy Tales Collection" that he had borrowed from Yu Chen before. Since it was the first story in the catalog, it was well-known to everyone.
However, this collection of stories has been criticized by the industry.
——Education sector.
The opposition from the old scholars in the Ministry of Education was particularly strong. They believe that although the title page of the book states "This book is suitable for babies aged 6 to 100 years old", the content is too bizarre, strange, and stimulating, and will be detrimental to the healthy growth of children.
But a certain mermaid still went against the majority's opinion and included it in the must-read list for primary and secondary school students.
In this regard, he said: "Children's mental health is linked to society, school, and family atmosphere, and it is definitely not determined by a 300-page picture book. Moreover, I hope that children can understand a little bit of reality in their spare time."
Even so, the debate over whether to remove this collection of stories from shelves continues to this day.
Bai Ling read this book when he was a child and was deeply impressed by many of the stories in it, and "Sleeping Demon" was one of them.
There is a line in the movie "Sandman" that goes, "If you don't go to bed early, Sandman will dig out your eyes and mix them in your mother's bean soup for you to eat the next day." Therefore, the nurses in the shelter often read to them in a sonorous voice before bed, specifically to scare those cubs who rolled around in bed and didn't want to sleep.
But Bai Ling had never been scared.
He lay on the mermaid, his eyes shining: "I like this one the best!"
Falcon Cub likes it because it contains many scenes of overeating. The editor of the story was also very careful and listed all the delicious foods one by one.
So while the magpie on the bed next door was trembling in fear under the quilt, the young falcon was secretly drooling.
In my dreams, I always enter into stories and eat my fill.
Yu Chen put his hand into the corner of the female's clothes, and touched up along the thin waistline. His fingertips stopped at her chest, twisted it, and said slowly as if he could see through it: "Baby likes to hear stories about having a full meal."
"Of course." Bai Ling's back shuddered as he was rubbed, and his crown felt like it was electrocuted. He groaned and pressed down on his evil hand to prevent it from moving. "Tell me again, and I'll let you touch it."
No one says that adults can't tell bedtime stories in bed.
But the way adults tell stories is definitely more in-depth.
Bai Ling was lifted by the waist and shoved into the pillow, with his palm stroking his lower abdomen soothingly, like a doctor's coaxing before giving an injection. Then his pubic bone felt sore, his toes tightened, and he was thrown forward unexpectedly.
Of course they didn't hit the headboard, because the two of them were so familiar with each other that they knew the rhythm well. The hand that was pinching his waist was pulled back calmly and promptly, and the weight of his body pressed up on him. He suddenly felt all his internal organs move upwards, and his whole body trembled and he couldn't help shaking.
The bad guy even whispered in his ear: "The story hasn't even begun yet, baby, it's already unfolding."
Bai Ling took a deep breath and propped up his bent arms from the pillow. Damn it, I knew he had no good intentions. I'll sue him for forced marriage one day and put a fingerprint chastity lock on this thing.
After taking a few breaths, the mermaid swam more and more smoothly, and her voice became seductively soft. The small-scale, low-pitched cochlear resonance creates a feeling of late-night broadcasting that is not suitable for children, but the content is pure guidance:
"Once upon a time, there was a sand demon who ruled over the vast, dark underwater world."
"This sand demon is very cruel. It eats a plate of fresh lion's eyeballs for every meal, because it will make its ears and eyes sharp, and it will kill any competitor who challenges it."
"But after a long time, all the lions in the world were eaten. What should the sleeper do? So the little ghost next to him suggested that he eat the eyes of children. 'My lord, my lord, there are five billion children in the world, enough for you to eat until the end of time.'"
The mermaid used a shrill voice to imitate the imp's flattery, which amused Bai Ling.
“And then?” He leaned back and touched the mermaid’s legs.
"Then, the sleep demon adopted the little ghost's advice and really started to eat children." Yu Chen deliberately slowed down and kissed the little female's neck slowly, feeling that he was listening attentively, "But children sleep deeply at night and it is not easy to scratch their eyes. The sleep demon sprinkled sand on the children's eyelids, so that when they opened their eyes in fear, they would be hit by a 'guchu'——"
"Wooah!" Bai Ling's pupils dilated instantly.
"Eat the eyes. Chew them like this, crunch, crunch, like chewing gummy bears with too much gelatin." The voice was spoken in a sinister, low voice.
What empire has ventriloquist?
Bai Ling's limbs went numb and his heart beat too fast. He felt like he had become a gummy bear that had been chewed up by him. He was so nervous that he was afraid that he would be swallowed down with a gulp.
"'It's delicious,' said the Sandman, 'I want to eat it 100 times more.'" The mermaid licked her teeth.
This sentence is not in the original book! You can't fool the falcon cub.
"The greedy Sandman ate many pairs of eyes in this way, small eagle eyes, small chicken eyes, small octopus eyes, and small fish eyes. He liked to eat small fish eyes the most. One day, he came to the home of a small fish and planned to eat him. The Sandman took off his robe and went into the bathroom to wash his hands."
"But it didn't know that the little fish was not asleep. The clever little fish quickly ran to the window and asked the bird on the treetop: 'Bird, bird, you can see far and fly far, is there any way to escape from sleep?'"
The bird felt sorry for him and told him: "The Sandman has an invisible robe. Put it on and run into the underworld. Maybe you can be saved."
The little fish asked, "But if it's invisible, how can I find the robe?"
The bird said, "The other side of the robe is striped. It is on the chair. You can see it when you go there."
So the little fish stole the invisibility cloak and ran all the way into the underground world. But he was so hungry that he had to sneak into the homes of the little devils along the way to eat.
The demons' tables were filled with delicious food, including roasted pigeon, roast duck, braised chicken, goose liver, cuttlefish noodles, jellyfish wine, and sweet and fragrant bird's nests. Several swallows were spitting there day and night.
The little fish ate voraciously while wearing its invisible cloak, stuffing everything it saw into its mouth. He couldn't figure out why he suddenly felt so hungry. It might be that the invisibility cloak consumed his energy.
He ate so fast that he didn't notice his clothes fell off, and as expected, he was discovered by the demons.
The demons were very angry and wanted to eat him, but Xiaoyu suddenly had an idea and held up the robe and said, "If you recognize this robe, you should know who I am."
Of course they recognized it, and naturally thought that the little fish was the incarnation of sleep.
So the little devils diligently served food, and the little fish ate its fill along the way and gained a lot of weight.
"Ah... I'm hungry too." Bai Ling lay on the pillow, rubbing his face with sweat.
"I'll feed you later." Yu Chen's hands rubbed his lower abdomen, his hands were skilled and flexible.
The story is coming to an end.
The Sandman eventually realized he had lost his Invisibility Cloak, and rushed back to find the little fish, vowing to kill him and gnaw off his blue fish tail bit by bit while he was still alive, right in front of him.
The little fish thought: "I am wearing an invisible cloak, so it must not be able to see me. Now, I have to find a sharp knife to kill it, so that I can survive."
At the critical moment, Xiaoyu pulled out the knife that was stuck in the crab shell. The fact that this knife can cut crabs shows how sharp it is.
Finally, Xiaoyu put on the stolen invisibility robe and stabbed the Sandman's eyeball with a knife. The sleep demon let out a scream, and countless pairs of eyes that were still open came out of his mouth, rolling to the ground like pearls covered with mucus.
The sleep demon was dead, and the little devils who had been watching suddenly rushed forward, happily wanting to enthrone the little fish as the new king.
In this way, the little fish became the new master of the underground world and was the king for a whole century.
The story ends here.
Every time Bai Ling heard this, he always felt that this was not the real ending, as if something was missing.
He asked: "What about a century later? Is this the end of the little fish?"
The mermaid's cool blue belly scales pressed against him, rubbing against him with a taste of the marrow. "Who knows?"
It doesn't know either. Because a century later, it is ongoing.
Bai Ling fell to the ground exhausted, letting him lick her sweat and hydrate her body. "When I was in elementary school, my teacher asked us to do some reading comprehension. He said that this was justice defeating evil."
He lazily propped up his face and turned to look at the merman. “But now that I think about it, it’s not that simple.”
"This is the dragon slayer who finally becomes a dragon."
Yu Chen lowered his eyelids, a hint of interest appeared at the corner of his mouth, "So it's the dragon slayer who turned bad."
"Not necessarily." Bai Ling held up his face, his eyelashes fluttering slightly, and said thoughtfully, "I think Xiaoyu may not be a new good devil. After all, this is a fairy tale, how can there be a bad ending?"
"Except being a bit greedy." He carefully summarized the protagonist's shortcomings.
Yu Chen smiled happily, "Except that I'm a little greedy."
Moreover, Bai Ling heard from the teacher that the invisible cloak actually symbolizes [power].
Just like the Ring of Gyges in Plato's "The Republic", whoever wears it can become invisible from the public's eyes and gain unlimited power.
In Plato's story, the shepherd put on the ring, sneaked into the palace, killed the king, and became the next monarch of the country.
In their waterfowl version of the story, the little fish put on an invisible cloak and killed the Sandman.
But there is nothing wrong with the invisibility cloak, and there is nothing wrong with power. It is just that once people gain such great power, they can instantly override the justice, morality, law and dignity of others.
Whether to use power for personal gain or to uphold justice depends entirely on personal choice.
Powerful, dangerous, and alluring, the Striped Cloak of Invisibility.
Who will wear it next time and what consequences will it bring?
This is the unspoken blank space in the story of Sandman.
Bai Ling leaned in the mermaid's arms and was coaxed into eating two small bowls of passion fruit and pear porridge, which made him feel drowsy. Lying on the pillow, he felt dizzy and wondered why no one had ever told him when he was a child that when adults told fairy tales, there was not only the in-depth part but also the after-part.
Besides, he forgot one more thing.
I forgot to ask the secretive mermaid, what the relationship between the sleep demon and the kite is.
·
Lu Hang took off his striped pajamas and put on a neat major general's uniform.
It has to be said that the texture of the general-level uniforms is much higher-end. Not only are they tailor-made, but even the epaulettes and cufflinks are gold-plated. After putting it on, your whole temperament will be enhanced.
Lu Hang looked at himself in the mirror for a while, curled his lips, and tried to make an arrogant and rude expression.
But he didn't learn very well, at least not as naturally and fluently as those nobles outside. This won't work, it won't seem to fit the character of the sex demon.
Lu Hang recalled that he had joined a drama club in the past. The president had always said that his temperament was too upright and he couldn't play a villain, so he found an excuse to kick him out and make him a backstage lighting technician.
The drama club once released a self-study course, which contained many books on how to improve your acting skills.
That was all many years ago, and of course Lu Hang doesn't have that information on his computer now. Besides, there was no internet here, and he couldn't download it on the spot. After thinking about it, he decided to go to the library where the half mermaid was.
That library looks like it covers a lot of space, maybe it has the book he wants.
When we got there, the half-merman was still there. The shabby old man saw him coming and looked very surprised and amused, "I didn't expect you would dare to come here."
Lu Hang smiled and said, "You said you would kill me in a month, but it's not yet time. There are still twenty-one days left..."
As he spoke, he suddenly paused, but quickly adjusted himself and said calmly, "There are still twenty-one days left. So before that, I would like to borrow two books from you. Is that okay?"
"Of course, you're welcome!"
The half-merman looked at him a little longer, and was surprised to find that this guy seemed more confident than before.
His eyes fell on his military uniform. Oh, maybe this outfit gave him confidence.
The half-merman grinned imperceptibly, moved his wheelchair, and watched Lu Hang steadily move between the bookshelves, finding the book he wanted according to the label.
Stanislavski wrote a work of drama theory, An Actor's Work on Himself.
The half-merman almost laughed out loud. It turned out that this was a last-minute effort to fit in with the nobles. But using such an academic method of learning is really strict.
It was dinner time, and he was too lazy to watch any longer, so he maneuvered his wheelchair back into the house to enjoy his lunch.
Lu Hang took the stack of books he needed, and out of politeness and desire to survive, he said goodbye to the half-merman before leaving.
When he knocked on the door and pushed open the inner room, he saw a shocking and uncomfortable scene.
The half-merman was eating, with an eyeball on his fork, and the rest of the eyeballs were densely piled in a delicate bowl, like a bowl of over-soaked tapioca pearls.
Lu Hang tried his best not to vomit on the spot.
His face turned purple with smothering, and he kept saying to himself, "Stay calm, stay calm," because anything could happen here. Merfolk are at the top of the food chain, and their diet includes all parts of all animals.
The half-merman chewed his eyeballs with his false teeth and smiled weirdly. "I'm scared already. Your acting skills need to be improved, leather suit."
From now on, he started calling Lu Hang "leather suit".
It was as if he wanted Lu Hang to accept the fate of being invaded in advance.
Lu Hang forced himself to stay alert, said, "I will return the book on time," then bowed and left.
After walking back, number eight had already been sent over.
He rested on one knee, leaning slackly against the cage, the mask still on his face. Seeing Lu Hang walking back with an uncomfortable look on his face, he knocked on the cage with the chain and asked:
"What's wrong with you? You look like you're about to vomit."
Lu Hang: "...Even you can see that."
This means that he is indeed finding it difficult to control his expression.
Lu Hang endured the nausea in his stomach and rummaged through the closet, finally pulling out a pair of green striped socks that looked a little pilled.
He put it on like a lifeline.
Number 8 couldn't help but chuckle when he saw it, "You actually still believe this, shock socks, did your mother put them on for you?"
The story of "Sandman" was once selected as a must-read book for primary and secondary schools, so in many people's minds, the devil who eats children's eyes is an indelible psychological shadow. From this, some interesting cultures are also derived.
For example, in some families, parents are afraid that their children will be frightened from an early age, so they dress them in striped pajamas and buy them striped socks.
Children wearing striped clothes are like wearing striped invisibility cloaks, which can avoid nightmares.
Moreover, in the culture of the empire, stripes are a kind of "camouflage color".
The bird's abdomen has striped feathers, which can confuse the enemy's eyes when it flies into the sky. Fish have stripes on their bodies to mimic their colors, which can help them scare away their natural enemies and avoid being hunted.
Lu Hang wears striped socks because he does have a psychological need to do so.
But these shoes were not given to him by his mother.
His mother was a senior intellectual at the university. She hated the superstitious habits of these lower-class people and did not allow her children to participate in them.
Lu Hang lowered his eyes, looking at the pair of socks that he had carefully protected but still had small holes in them, and said briskly:
"No, this is given to me by my alpha lover. He said that in order to prevent me from having insomnia in the middle of the night and going out to feed spiders, he must force me to wear it and have a good dream."
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