Chapter 172

Considering that the other party was now spitting out moths, Xu Ming estimated that Landor would not run outside, so he focused his search directly on the second floor, especially the closed rooms with doors.

On this basis, all bedrooms were eliminated first - Landor was very careful about hygiene and would never bring moths to his sleeping place.

Then the study and workroom used by my aunt were eliminated - I have always managed these two rooms very carefully, so Landor would definitely not barge in.

The only remaining places were a bathroom and a utility room...

While thinking, Xu Ming had already reached the corridor on the second floor.

These two rooms happened to be located at the two ends of the corridor. Xu Ming originally wanted to ask the shadow dog to point out the direction, but unexpectedly, the shadow dog just ran up, and suddenly seemed to sense something, and sat down on the ground with a thump, and refused to move a step.

Xu Ming looked at it in surprise, and then reacted, sighing a little helplessly.

"Is it Landor?" She squatted down and spoke to the shadow dog in a low voice, "He didn't let you lead the way for me?"

The shadow dog fell to the ground with a plop and let out a low growl.

It seems that it is.

Xu Ming sighed again, and tentatively opened his mouth again: "But you are a good baby, aren't you?

" "A good and good baby should have his own judgment ability, don't you think? "

Shadow Dog: "..."

Xu Ming was actually not sure whether the other party really valued the compliment of "good baby", but the moment she finished speaking, Shadow Dog's tail swung several times, so she was very sure of this.

The next second, Shadow Dog's big eyes rolled twice, and his head suddenly tilted, and he fell to the ground sideways. A pair of thin long ears, just right Pointing to the left side of the corridor.

Xu Ming understood, touched its head silently, stood up quietly, and walked towards the room on the left.

At the left end of the corridor is the utility room.

Xu Ming stood in front of the closed door, pursed her lips, stretched out her hand to knock on the door, hesitated for a moment, and slowly retracted it.

Her fingers curled slightly, and after pondering for a moment, she finally exhaled as if she had made up her mind, and spoke directly:

"Landuo, you are in there, right."

After speaking, without waiting for the person behind the door to respond, she immediately said: "Don't be nervous, I won't come in. I just want to talk to you, that's all."

At this point, as if she remembered something, the corners of her lips moved slightly, and she added: "Of course, if you still want to run, it's okay. But I will find a way to find you, I'm serious. "

After the voice fell, there was only silence behind the door. Xu Ming was not in a hurry, just waiting there quietly. After an unknown amount of time, he heard Lando's voice muffled:

"This... sounds a little familiar."

"That's right." Xu Ming crossed his arms, "I copied it from you."

Back then on the 100th floor of the haunted building, the "Xu Ming" who was stripped away locked himself in a solitary room, wanting only to run away. Lando was afraid of scaring her away again, so he could only stay outside the door and try his best to get the opportunity to communicate first.

He used similar rhetoric.

Now that the two of them have switched places, Xu Ming simply copied the words verbatim. Instead, it was Lando himself who paused for a long time before he remembered this, and his tone suddenly became subtle.

"The situation was different then. "He whispered, "I was very worried that something might happen to you then..."

"Isn't that exactly the same?" Xu Ming said without hesitation, "I'm worried that something might happen to you now, too."

"...I'm fine." Lando was unexpectedly persistent about this, "I just haven't adjusted yet. Just give me a little more time..."

"I won't cause you any trouble." He said this with particular conviction.

Xu Ming's brows almost knotted when he heard it.

This guy really is...does he have to be stubborn in a place like this?

Xu Ming pursed his lips again, staring silently at the door in front of him, and after a moment, he finally sighed as if giving up.

"Okay, I understand." She rubbed her forehead, not hiding her helplessness, "but I have another question...I hope to get the answer from you."

"...Okay. "After a moment's hesitation, the person in the room finally responded in a low voice, "However, if it's about my body..."

"Who is this 'she' you're talking about?" Xu Ming spoke without waiting for him to finish.

"..." Lando in the room was obviously stunned.

After a while, he said in confusion: "Who?"

"The 'she' mentioned in the moth." Xu Ming immediately added, and even raised his voice slightly when he said this, "Don't think I didn't hear it, 'You are not like her at all'-that's what the moth said downstairs before!"

"So, who is 'she'? Do I know her? Why do you say that I am not like her? Why should I be like her? What are you planning?"

Lando: "......?" "

Ah?

Wait, I didn't...ah? Ah?

No, what, what is going on?

Landuo was really dumbfounded this time. No matter how hard he tried to figure it out, he couldn't figure out why Xu Ming would think in that direction. He opened his mouth to explain, but his throat suddenly itched again and he quickly covered his mouth.

And during this delay, Xu Ming's voice outside had already sounded again. Maybe it was because he was really angry, his speech speed was getting faster and faster, and the volume was getting louder and louder -

"Ah, right, if you think about it, it seems that there is a kind of novel called substitute literature.

" "The goddess is a substitute, Wanwan is like you... So, classmate Landuo, am I also a substitute? Who am I replacing? Your white moonlight? Don't you really want to explain this? Who are you looking at through my eyes, classmate Landuo? Huh?

" "Landuoduo, speak? Don't hide in there and keep silent, I know you are listening--"

At this point, he even knocked on the door excitedly.

The more he knocked on the door, the more panicked Landor became. He coughed for a long time and finally suppressed the itching in his throat. He waved away the moth he had just coughed out and spoke hurriedly, his voice still hoarse:

"No, it has nothing to do with you, I'm not talking about you..."

"But your moth clearly said 'you'." Xu Ming repeated firmly outside the door.

"That's not you, that's me..." Lando tried to explain, but Xu Ming asked the next question: "Really? Then who is 'he' referring to?"

"Not anyone, just a movie character..." Lando tried to make his tone more convincing, but Xu Ming was obviously not that easy to deal with:

"Really? I don't believe it.

"Tell me clearly, which movie, which character? "

The one you and I watched together, the fox demon in it..." When Lando said this, he seemed to realize something and his voice suddenly lowered.

Almost at the same time, Xu Ming's knocking on the door stopped.

After a while, her sighing voice was heard outside the door, and there was some understanding in her tone:

"It's that one..."

"I remember, the one where the heroine gave the hero a heart transplant, right?"

Lando: "..."

The moth that had just been coughed out flew back again, circling around annoyingly. Lando looked at it silently, raised his hands to cover his eyes.

"Don't lie to me all the time..." He said in a low voice, burying his head lower.

Xu Ming outside the door looked very confident: "There is no way to avoid lying. You are so stubborn. If I ask you directly, you will definitely say 'I'm fine', 'I can handle it', 'Please give me some time'..."

She raised her hand and knocked on the door again: "So? Are you going to make it clear, or are you waiting for me to lie to you again?"

Lando: "…………"

Is there any other choice?

He closed his eyes tiredly, and his palms clasped together, just catching the moth that flew in front of him. After looking through the gaps between his fingers for a moment, Fang said in a deep voice:

"Actually...it's not a big deal.

"I just suddenly realized that I seemed to be very bad. So it's a bit difficult to accept it for a while, that's all. "

…Is it because it's difficult to be self-consistent and has been repeatedly entangled that so many problems have occurred?

On the other side of the door, Xu Ming slowly withdrew her hand that was knocking on the door and lowered her eyelids thoughtfully.

Thinking about the "role" that Lando had just mentioned, she gradually had some guesses in her mind.

"I remember that you liked that movie very much, right?" She asked tentatively, "and you also like the fox demon role. "

To be precise, it is the attitude of liking each other, the way of giving without reservation.

- At the end of the movie, the fox demon who was the heroine gave her heart to her lover in order to save his life.

The lover came back to life, but lost his past memories. The fox demon died quietly and became a lonely grave behind him.

Xu Ming now feels complicated when he thinks of the ending, but Landor did say that he liked it. Like and yearn for it.

"So what are you struggling with..." Xu Ming pondered and murmured in a low voice, "You can't think that no one else, the fox demon, died cleanly, so you cause trouble for me, right? "

In response to her, Landor coughed violently again.

Xu Ming was stunned, and after a few seconds, he almost blurted out a swear word -

no way? And she guessed it right?

What kind of reason is that? Is this guy sure that the fragments he melted back are his own? Or did he melt something weird...

Stop, stop, this is not the point.

Xu Ming exhaled restrainedly, and was about to say something else, when he suddenly heard Landor's deliberately lowered voice coming from inside:

"Just like now.

"I'm just causing you trouble, aren't I?"

Xu Ming: "..."

"I don't think it's a trouble." She was silent for a moment, and said seriously.

"But you are having a headache now." Lando said softly, "From the results, I seem to have messed up."

Xu Ming closed his eyes helplessly: "So, it's not like that at all..."

Before he finished speaking, he heard Lando's voice again: "Actually... I have been thinking about it these two days.

"If I hadn't taken back the two fragments, it would have been great. "

If I hadn't taken back the fragments, there wouldn't have been so many surging emotions and thoughts that suddenly swept my mind left and right. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been unable to control so many troubles, making me so caught up in the dilemma now.

And if I think about it carefully... it seems that there have been many similar and unnecessary choices from the beginning. It's just that I didn't realize it at the time. Now looking back, everything is bad.

I could have stayed away after Xu Ming got the rule book; I could have pretended that it was just a chance encounter after meeting Xu Ming again; I could have said nothing and let her notice nothing.

…Evidently, I wanted to see her again and be with her, but I had to make excuses saying that I was afraid that she would not remember anything and would be in danger; I had clearly told myself that she did not remember anything, so it was normal for her to like someone else, but I still couldn’t help but secretly care about her and get angry with a cat. I

could obviously appear as a stranger, but I couldn’t help but play up the little familiarity between myself and the other person. It was obviously not something worth bragging about.

What I yearned for most was selflessness, but every step was selfish. Until now, things have been completely made to the most awkward point, leaving both of them at a loss. He was in a dilemma...

If he had known this would happen, he would have just made the deal and traded himself away.

Just like the fox demon in the movie, it would have ended once and for all, leaving only a grave, without even a trace of negative emotion for the other party...

Anyway, his life was meant for Xu Ming, and this was agreed upon long ago.

Inside the door, Landor spoke incoherently and haltingly.

Outside the door, Xu Ming was completely stunned.

Although Landor spoke very evasively, she still understood the general meaning.

And the result of understanding was that her head felt buzzing, as if countless moths were flying over her head.

...My pot.

Xu Ming closed her eyes tightly and reflected deeply in her heart - she should have been more careful when choosing a movie.

She said that bad movies harm people!

After a moment of silence, she looked at the closed door again and couldn't help but smile. However, the smile soon faded and turned into an indescribable sigh.

Then, she raised her hand again and knocked on the door.

"Okay, I understand what you mean." She said to the inside of the house, "To be honest, I'm also very moved..."

"But Lando, I have to tell you. If one day, I face the same situation, I probably won't be willing to die for you."

"..." The person inside the door didn't seem to expect her to say that, and subconsciously uttered a single sound. Without waiting for Landor to react, Xu Ming continued,

"Because I am a selfish person."

"Of course I want you to live, but I definitely want to live too. I want to continue eating your sweet and sour pork and touching your dog. I want to take you to the movies and plays as we agreed...

"And if I choose to die directly, all this will be just a thought.

"So, even if there is still a possibility of struggle, I will never die for you. I yearn for a future where both of us are here, and this is my choice."

At this point, Xu Ming paused slightly. She did not hear any more responses through the door.

But this did not prevent her from continuing: "So, I also understand and like all the choices you are making now.

"Because it is these choices that lead to the current result. It is precisely these choices that have given my "I want" the opportunity to be realized.

"To put it more simply...I like your "selfishness". I don't think it is a bad thing.

"Do you understand what I mean? "

After a long time, Landor's slow response finally came from inside the door, and his tone still sounded a little hesitant:

"But if, I wasn't there in the beginning..."

"I told you it's not like that--"

Xu Ming sighed for the nth time, raised his hand again, and this time knocked on the door very formally.

After knocking, he didn't wait for Landor's response, and pushed the door open directly. The prepared speech was about to come out, but the moment he saw the situation inside the door clearly, he swallowed it back.

- On the floor of the utility room, there was a large open cardboard box.

And Landor Benduo, at this moment, was sitting on his knees in the box, feeling so aggrieved and tired. When he saw Xu Ming coming in, he subconsciously shrank down.

"..."Xu Ming forgot what he was going to say. He was stunned for a long time before he found his voice and tried hard to resist the urge to laugh out loud, "Why are you sitting here?"

"...Convenient." Lando lowered his head a little, "If there is a moth, it will be easier to catch it this way..."

Xu Ming: "..."Okay, it seems to make sense.

"Forget it, this is not the point." Xu Ming shook her head and walked straight forward. Because Lando was sitting at the moment, she simply leaned over, her eyes almost level with Lando's -

"Since you remember the movie, you should also remember what I said to you after the movie ended, right?

"It doesn't matter if you don't remember, I can repeat it again -

"I said, love and dedication are certainly worthy of admiration, but sometimes, one-sided all in is not a wise choice. "

Xu Ming raised the corner of his mouth: "Because some things are not about winning or losing, but about continuation. On the card table of love, the most interesting thing is the back and forth between you and me. You have to give your opponent the opportunity to play cards in order to keep the game going."

She reached out and tapped the bell on Lando's neck: "If one side goes all in, the game will end too early and it will be meaningless, do you understand?"

"..." Lando was not sure if he understood or not, he only knew that the redness on his face must be more obvious. The heat was like a crazy moss, spreading uncontrollably on the skin.

The moment he met Xu Ming's gaze, something seemed to flash through his mind, and he spoke as if he had an idea:

"The question is, are you willing to sit at the same card table with me? "

Xu Ming responded with a light smile. The next second, he felt his throat tighten, and he lowered his eyes slightly, only to find that it was Xu Ming's fingers that had hooked the ribbon on his neck at some point.

Xu Ming's fingers gently lifted up, hooking the necklace and pulling it up, and Lando followed her strength and cooperated to stand up little by little, until finally, he stood up completely, but his head was still hanging, and he couldn't help but glue his eyes to Xu Ming's face.

Ah, see, he started to be selfish again.

Xu Ming was still smiling, and gently rang the silent bell:

"I've already sat up, but you have been holding on to the previous things and refused to open the cards again."

Lando: "..."

The corners of his lips moved slightly: "But what if in the future..."

"The past cannot be changed, and the future will be discussed later. Isn't this a very simple truth? "Xu Ming took his hand back," But I have to say this in advance, if you want to open the cards, you'd better hurry up. I don't have much time to play cards. "

The warmth on his neck was instantly withdrawn, and Lando felt a buzzing in his head. Before he could react, his limbs had already moved first, grabbing Xu Ming's wrist.

Xu Ming raised his eyebrows slightly, his eyes turned to his hand, and then looked at him with a smile:

"Hmm? So what do you want to say?"

"..." Lando was looked at like this, and the momentum that had just surged up was instantly retracted. After a few seconds of pause, he murmured, "Why do you seem so calm."

"Illusion." Xu Ming said seriously, still with a smile on his face, "I'm actually nervous as hell now. "

So you'd better say whatever you want to say quickly, or I won't be able to hold it back any longer."

...What kind of statement is that?

Landor looked at her in disbelief, not sure whether she was telling the truth or just lying to comfort herself. After a few breaths, he finally made up his mind.

"I still think... I'm terrible." He pursed his lips, trying to overcome the burning temperature on his face and the increasingly noisy heartbeat in his chest, "but I have to admit that I like

it now, too." "I like the present time when you are here and I am here too."

"Yeah. "Xu Ming tilted his head and looked at him, as if to say, and then what?

Landor's chest stagnated, and he felt that the surroundings suddenly became quiet again, so quiet that his own voice was clear as if it fell to the ground: "So, I decided... I think, um... I... um?"

He didn't finish his words and suddenly stopped.

Xu Ming tilted his head again, looking at his suddenly bulging cheeks in shock. Immediately afterwards, there was a "puff" sound -

a moth stuck half of its body out of Landor's mouth, and a pair of wings fully spread on his lips, with the wings still trembling.

Xu Ming: "..."

Landor: "..."

...I might as well die.

Landor thought silently, holding the moth in his mouth, unable to swallow or spit it out. His eyes gradually became desperate.

But Xu Ming stared at the blooming moth for a moment, and finally couldn't help laughing - while laughing, she pinched Landor's cheeks, forced him to open his mouth, and took the moth out with two fingers.

"Forget it, just figure it out. We'll talk about other things later." As she said, she put the moth into her pocket and sighed softly.

"At least wait until your awkward period is over."

She said firmly and patted Landor's face. She turned and walked out.

She didn't forget to close the door when she went out. Not far away, she saw the shadow dog trotting towards her, its tail wagging like a propeller.

"Don't worry." Xu Ming also patted its head and looked back at the closed door. "It's okay now."

She raised her foot and continued to move forward. She heard the tiny sound of the moth in her pocket:

"I like you."

"I like you."

"I like you very, very much."

"..." Xu Ming couldn't help but burst out laughing again.

"I heard it, I heard it." She touched the moth through her pocket soothingly, and then exhaled deeply.

"Who isn't..." She muttered again without changing her expression, and patted her face again.

Then I called the shadow dog and went downstairs to eat.

I did my best in the love scene [lying down]

I wanted to arrange a kiss, but when I thought that Landor's mouth would probably have scales, I gave up (bushi)