Chapter 4 Chapter Four Blue

May 10th.night.Three o'clock in the morning.Japan. There was a drizzle in Toshima District, Tokyo, and it was very cold late at night. The skyscraper is completely dark, only a few scattered windows are lit, illuminating the hardworking silhouettes who work all night. There are discarded drawings all over the floor, and all the staff in the studio are working overtime.The lights in the chief writer's room were all on, and no one from the boss went back to rest before publishing the manuscript—after all, for such a heavyweight manuscript, even Master Hoshinozuka, who claims to have the "ten-dan level" in the Japanese animation industry, did his best. Don't be sloppy with all your strength.

At the age of 27, Hoshinozuka was frustrated in the talented Japanese animation industry. Finally, he borrowed the convenience of being able to speak Chinese and had no choice but to go to China to make a living by holding manga training courses.By chance, one day he met a man who claimed to ward off evil spirits. After glancing at his sketches, he silently put a magazine in his hand: it was "Fantasy" with the largest circulation in China, and it was published just now. A long-form manuscript called "The Lost Continent" began to be serialized. He especially remembered that it was published in the fifth chapter of the first volume of "Sea and Sky".

He only read one chapter, and was overwhelmed by such a magnificent world.I quickly found the front part, and watched it all night.On the second day, I flew to the headquarters of "Fantasy", contacted Feitian, the editor in charge of this article, and through him, signed the animation adaptation rights with the original author Shen Yin—— It was a magical contract, as if the scepter of fate had hit his forehead, allowing his talent to be revealed and bringing him to the pinnacle of honor.With the popularity of "The Lost Continent" over the past ten years, his reputation and status have been getting higher and higher, and he has been hailed as another national treasure master after Hikoji Toyoda.

However, in the ten years since then, he has never seen the man who handed him the first volume of the article—later he learned that the mysterious man named Bixie was the only assistant of the original author of this article, Shen Yin. And that legendary Shen Yin has never met. At four o'clock in the morning, I finally finished correcting the last page of the drawing handed in by my subordinates.Heaving a long sigh of relief, the elegant man with golden eyes raised his head from a thick pile of drawings, and smiled at the assistant who was also tired: "Okay, it's finished. Let's go to the Chinese restaurant across the street Have some supper, my treat!"

The final volume of "The Lost Continent", the 217th series "The Great Wilderness" is finally announced to be completed! Seeing the boss pass by, all the employees cheered, packed their things and walked into the empty elevator room.Assistant Yoko Ito took a black windbreaker and put it on Hoshinozuka, and followed him.Knowing the ambiguous relationship between the boss and Ms. Ito, all employees consciously walked away. "Mr. Hoshino, after the 217th series, "The Lost Continent" will be completely over, right?" After walking out of the elevator, and onto the empty street, Ms. Ito opened an umbrella for him. Following his assistant, he finally couldn't help but question for a long time.

"En." Hoshinozuka responded noncommittally, "The original manuscript is like this, and it was quickly finished." "But..." Yoko Ito asked timidly, "After that, what are your plans, sir?" ——Because I have devoted all my heart and energy to "The Lost Continent" for ten years, and there are no other works.Therefore, while receiving lofty honors, some jealous colleagues in the industry slandered and said: The reason why Hoshinozuka gained such a reputation is entirely due to the excellence of the original work itself-and without "Lost Continent", he is nothing.

The cold rain in the middle of the night hit the face, and a few motorcycles passed by at high speed, bringing up the rain—they were runaway teenagers in the city racing wildly in the middle of the night.Hearing such a direct question, the cartoonist had a smile on his face and didn't care about the assistant's question. ——As if, completing this masterpiece that took him ten years of energy is like ending a journey of life. "After Yunhuang is over, of course I have to start painting 'My Own World'." Hoshinozuka smiled, and nodded to the woman who had worked under the umbrella for ten years, "Yoko will come with me Finish it?"

In the cold rain, they were so close that Yoko Ito could even feel each other's breath blowing on his face. Her face turned red, she lowered her head deeply, and stammered: "Naturally, naturally - for ten years, I, my heart for Mr., Mr. you..." Her eyes suddenly filled with tears, unable to help go on. "I know...I know." Hoshinozuka smiled, raised his hand to hold Ito's hand, took the umbrella, and explained the indifference for many years to his beloved for the first time, "It's just that I used to be with Ito God signed a contract and gave Yunhuang 10 years of time—for that contract, I became a workaholic."

Smiling with relief, Hoshinozuka put his hand into the inner pocket of the windbreaker: "It's been so hard for you all these years." A plain white diamond ring shone brightly in the black velvet box in his hand. "In the future, I will continue to work hard for you." Hoshinozuka held Ito Yoko's hand and begged softly. Suddenly, his eyes froze—— On Yangzi's slender finger, at some point, there was already a ruby ​​ring! Yoko Ito shivered as if afraid of the cold, forgot to hold an umbrella in his hand, as if trying to hide his hands.When the hand let go, the umbrella fell and was swept into the wind brought by the racing boy.After a pause, the pale woman finally raised her head, slowly and hoarsely: "I... I accepted Mr. Murakami's marriage proposal. Just yesterday afternoon."

"Hidenan Murakami?" Hoshinozuka's face was also pale, he looked at the restaurant across the road blankly, and murmured, "That's the man who chased you for more than ten years, from his hometown to Tokyo? The Chinese restaurant owner boss?" "Well... Yingnan is very good, and she agreed that I can continue my current job after marriage." Yangzi lowered her head and remained silent for a long time, then burst into sobs and covered her face with her hands, "I, I am already thirty Two years old! Hoshino-san...forgive, forgive me for being one step short, I can't wait until this moment."

No one can wait forever.Even if you love him like she does. What a huge irony—a couple who have been together for ten years, go to a restaurant every day to eat, but for some reason never confess their love.During the long wait, on the eve of the upcoming happiness, the woman married the owner of the restaurant. "Impossible... Impossible!" After a moment of silence, Hoshinozuka suddenly growled out, grabbed her hand, and roughly took off the ring that symbolized that she belonged to someone else. Chinese restaurant rushed to. "Mr. Hoshino!" Yoko Ito exclaimed from behind. The cartoonist turned a deaf ear to it, and only wanted to throw the ring back in the face of his rival, as if there was some kind of force dragging his body in a certain direction. "Mr. Hoshino!!" Yoko's voice rang out in a hurry, and it had turned into a terrified scream, "Be careful! Be careful!" "Ga——" the piercing screeching sound of the brakes pierced the silent rainy night. He was hit by a huge impact and flew three to five meters, hitting the isolation pier all the way.As the figure landed heavily, two rings were thrown from the bloody fingertips, drawing two arcs in the cold rain, one high and one low, and fell into the rain with a ding. The motorcycle rolled several times in a row before coming to a stop, and the racing boy on it also lay motionless on the ground. Seeing the catastrophe, his companions stopped the car and stared blankly for a few seconds.The leading boy was the first to come back to his senses, and with a roar, he led all the gangsters away. "Mr. Hoshino! Mr. Hoshino!" Yoko Ito almost lost the strength to stand up, staggered and knelt beside Hoshinozuka, hugged the unconscious man with trembling hands, turned around and shouted desperately, "Come on!" People! Come on people!" In the torrential rain, all the makeup on the thirty-two-year-old woman's face was washed away, leaving behind a pale and hopeless plain face. There was no one around.However, in a trance of despair, she suddenly heard a subtle singing sound far away, as beautiful as the sound of heaven. Is it hallucination?Yoko Ito opened his empty eyes, looking at the dark night, and suddenly saw the group of elves singing in the rainy night and flying in groups - this, what is this... is it a hallucination?She didn't have time to distinguish, but hugged the person in her arms tightly and frantically called for help. However, no one responded.As if, the world is dead. "Mr. Hoshino, I'm finally waiting for you." The elf with a human head and a fish tail smiled at the newly hatched soul, watching the cold rain in Kyoto pass through that empty body, "Please come with us... we, I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long, long time.” That soul stubbornly stayed where it was, looking at the woman who fell and cried bitterly in the rain. "Mr. Hopson? King, you have already arrived half a year before you." The leader of the merman continued to smile, and made an invitation gesture to the soul, "Our sea country needs to borrow your power very much. We only need you One day, please help us." Although he moved a little when he heard the name Hopson King, the soul remained in place coldly. "Of course, we will also help you." The leader of the merman, with deep and mysterious eyes like the sea, lowered his head and said softly. I don't know what kind of words, finally moved that stubborn soul. Ran Ran rose from the pool of blood, and flew towards the merman spirit who was circling high in the sky. In the early morning of the second day, a piece of news shook the whole of Japan—— Hoshinozuka, the painter of "The Lost Continent" and known as the godfather of the manga industry, was seriously injured by a bosozoku on the night when he finished the last series of drawings, and has already fallen into a state of brain death. Following Hopson King's death from a brain hemorrhage six months ago after finishing filming "The Lost Continent," another celebrity associated with the tome has died.The perpetrator died on the spot, while Yoko Ito, the assistant of Hoshinozuka who was the only witness of the accident, fell into a trance because of the great stimulation. He just stood at the intersection where the accident happened and talked to the sky every day. "Please return Mr. Hoshino to me." She spread her hands and murmured to the cold gray sky in Tokyo, "I love him." In the palm of his hand lay the silver-white diamond ring. ——After the police came that night, she walked on the street all night, and only retrieved this ring. After he leaves, she accepts his final marriage proposal. When Amy woke up, there was an endless blue in front of her eyes. Clear, transparent, bright, just like the most beautiful forget-me-not flower, the purest and brightest gemstone.The water flowed slightly beside her and above her head, soundlessly.The moment she opened her eyes, she actually forgot where she was, but was intoxicated by the blue color, and stared intently, as if she had seen the far, far away depths of that color. Countless elves, with human heads and fish tails, fly in the deepest blue.Sing or dance. There is a star-shaped platform with fire burning on five sharp corners, and a huge dragon is depicted on the platform.There is a huge piece of jade in the center of the platform, like a snow-white egg.Numerous sharks sang and prayed around it day and night. In front of the golden throne enshrining the dragon god, a young king with a crown raised his head. He has a face as perfect as a god. "Huh?" Amy woke up suddenly and sat up all of a sudden - those illusions disappeared in an instant.what is this?The phantom I saw just now in the deepest part of the blue was the grand occasion of the sea country sacrifice how many years ago? When she sat up, she found herself in a kingdom under the sea. There is a wall made of coral on the side, and the ubiquitous blue is the clear sea water, which permeates every space. For some reason, she moved freely underwater, breathing as freely as on land. "Are you awake?" There was a gentle question beside him, a snow-white arm supported the gold plate in his hand, which contained fresh aquatic plants and shellfish, "Please eat. The king will come right away." "Is this the sea country? Who is your king? It's strange...why don't I choke in the water?" Already having the experience of entering Yunhuang, Amy is not flustered at this moment, but just curious.The snow-white arm stretched softly and was terrifyingly long, holding the food in front of her. Girl dill!Amy could tell at a glance: the merman woman in front of her was not a living person, but a girl who had been dead for a long time. Nuluo smiled, and answered softly one by one: "You can move freely because you are wearing water beads. This is indeed a submerged sea island. Our king is called 'Lan'. Except for him, We are all just spirit bodies - our bodies, still imprisoned in the 'Zihe Chariot'." "Lan..." Touching the bead in her neck, and silently reciting the name, Amy's heart suddenly moved, "I want to see him. He brought me here, what exactly does he want me to do?—Is it...is it to let Hai Kingdom resurrection?" "The king is in the temple, talking with the previous dream weaver." Nvluo smiled, her voice was soft all the time, "Just wait for a while, the king will come to see you soon." "The last dream weaver? Sister Xiao Yin?" Amy was really surprised this time, and jumped up, "You have also arrested Sister Xiao Yin! ——How can this be done!" The girl jumped Getting off the jade bed, he grabbed Nvluo, panicked and eagerly said, "She can no longer use her mental power! You, how could you do this! After it's over, the evil spirit will be angry... Take me to see the Emperor of the Sea!" Nuluo's arm was like a cold vine, and when she grabbed it, it quickly shrank and faded, shrinking into the ground. Amy didn't care about anything, and didn't want others to lead the way, she ran out on her own, trying to find the mermen's temple and bring sister Xiao Yin back. When I stepped out, I realized that I was just on the top of a high coral reef. Outside, there is an endless azure blue, slightly rippling.Numerous seaweeds rise and fall with the undercurrent, and the skylight shrouds overhead, and fishes can be seen swimming in groups and going to the distance. Amy was suddenly stunned—— This is a huge ruin, stretching as far as the eye can see.In the far distance directly opposite, there is a vaguely high platform, which is obviously where the temple is located. A flat and wide avenue leads directly to the altar. Huge stone strips are all over the bottom of the sea, carved with exquisite patterns, showing what a glorious civilization there used to be here.On both sides of the avenue, there are houses made of coral, up to three stories, exquisite and exquisite.However, these artwork-like buildings collapsed in a sudden disaster, cracked and fell asleep quietly on the bottom of the sea, covered with seaweed and aquatic plants, and became a paradise for fish. And on both sides of the road, there are snow-white flowers blooming. Those white vines sprouted from the ruins, grew and extended, covering both sides of the avenue.Those vines formed a barrier like a forest belt on both sides of the road, entangled with each other, full of fine and beautiful white flowers, and the leaves were as beautiful as the feathers of a ostrich.At a glance, the snow-white sea of ​​flowers stretches all the way to the end of the temple. Amy's exclamation was frozen in her throat - so many...so many girls and vines! In that catastrophe in ancient times, how many mermen died in an instant? She guessed that sister Xiao Yin was in the temple on the high platform at the end of the avenue, but seeing the countless pale arms in front of her, she couldn't help shivering. "Dreamweaver." Suddenly, a voice smiled, "Are you awake?" Looking in the direction of the voice, Amy suddenly exclaimed: "Lydia!" The female employee who just died the day before yesterday stood quietly on the road of ruins, bowing deeply to her.The woman who died wearing a wine-red evening dress seemed to be a different person now, wearing an ancient costume: a robe reaching the floor, a white flower crown on her hair, and a strange symbol drawn between her eyebrows. "I'm not Lydia." After saluting, he stood on the avenue and looked up at the girl who woke up on the coral reef, but there was an unpredictable smile on the other side's face, "Lydia is just a floating phantom, and that mortal body has long since died ——I am the sea witch who serves the Dragon God: Ningguang, returning to the sea country at the king's call." "Sea Witch..." Amy froze for a moment, then swept down the ocean current from the top of the coral reef, and carefully looked at the woman in front of her. It has indeed changed quietly: long dark blue hair, green eyes, with a corolla woven by female dill, and under the floor-sweeping robe, what is exposed is not the feet, but the tail fin of a fish. "But..." Amy asked blankly, "What about Johnson? What about him?" "He jumped into the sea with a heart of death, and his soul has already arrived in the sea country." Speaking of the lover in the world, his face remained calm, "He will be reincarnated as a citizen of the sea country and become our brother. Live with us in the sea." "Brother?" Amy blurted out in surprise, "He's your boyfriend!" Ningguang smiled: "It's okay. When he wakes up in the red lotus, he will forget everything." "It's not fair!" Amy cried, looking at Ningguang angrily, "He didn't jump into the sea with his life to be your brother! You brought him here but didn't marry him, it's not a lie Is it?" "He is willing to jump down," Ning Guang ignored her, turning his head away, "just like I am willing to go back to the sea country." "But he is not willing to forget!" Amy chased after her, running on the avenue carved with patterns. "Then what do you want me to do!" Ning Guang suddenly stood still, turned around and shouted in a low voice, losing his calm demeanor. "Marry him!" Amy pointed to the altar in the distance, "I will accompany you to see the Emperor of the Sea, and tell him, you are not going to be a sea witch, you are going to marry someone. Anyway, he is now reincarnated as a sea king." people, isn't it?" The corner of Ning Guang's mouth moved slightly, as if there was a wry smile, but there was no answer. This eighteen-year-old dream weaver is really enviable.The ancient jade of the gods hangs on the neck, possessing rare creativity in the world, and even being favored by the gods.This girl with great spiritual power is well protected, she has always been so innocent and pure, she sees all things simply, ignores the intermediate process and directly points to the result. "I can't abandon my people." In the snow-white forest formed by female roses, the sea witch stood quietly. Amy trembled, and looked up at the jungle of corpses covering the bottom of the sea. "They're already dead...you..." She mustered up her courage and managed to run without stopping. "They're not dead!" Ning Guang's eyes were firm, and she gently and lovingly stroked those cold vines, and those vines also twisted and wrapped around her arms, "Come and touch them, their hearts are still beating slowly .” "They are not 'dead' in the true sense - after the fission of heaven and earth three thousand years ago, the clansman escaped back to the sea with the protection of the dragon god, but they could not live in the dirty environment at that time. In order to avoid suffocation on the seabed, The king presided over a ceremony, exhausted almost all his strength, sealed all the clansmen into Zihe chariot, and slept on the bottom of the sea in the form of a girl." "Sleep for three thousand years?" Amy was surprised. "Yes." Ning Guang sighed slightly, looking at those vine-shaped fellows, "It's really a long time... So long ago, they all thought they were really dead and couldn't wake up." "Let the Emperor of the Sea bring them back to life." Amy was surprised. Hearing that sentence, the sea witch's eyes flashed helplessly, she sighed and lowered her head: "But we lost the dragon god. And our king exhausted all his strength in that great change, thousands of I have been sleeping in the crystal coffin for a year, and I didn't wake up until a year ago when I felt that the world of Yunhuang had undergone drastic changes again." —— Another drastic change in the world of Yunhuang a year ago?Was it when Bi Xie and Sister Xiao Yin finally gave up on that dead continent that alarmed the Sea Emperor? "However, after losing the Dragon God, with the king's current strength, he cannot reawaken all the clansmen." Amy finally understood when she heard this: "Oh, you want me to wake them up, don't you?" However, after thinking about it, he still shook his head: "Impossible—even if the flood dragon cannot be awakened, how could it be impossible to awaken the clansmen with the power of the Sea Emperor?" Ningguang smiled slightly, but didn't answer directly, but just walked forward: "Follow me." Amy followed her hesitantly, walked along the avenue, turned a corner, and came to an underwater garden. "Wow..." Her eyes lit up, and she blurted out in surprise, causing a school of fish to swim away in fright. There, it is full of extremely gorgeous "flowers"-if you look closely, it is sea anemones and starfish, as well as unnamed corals and algae.The plants in the deep sea are beautiful and peculiar that have never been seen in the world, and everything surprised Amy.They use coral as soil, blooming luxuriantly on the bottom of the sea, dotted with countless small and gorgeous shells in the middle, spitting out pearly light when they open and close. Amy was startled by the wonderful scene in front of her, and forgot to continue asking, just looked around and walked into the garden. In the past year, she followed Taotie to see all the scenery on land, but she knew nothing about the underwater world. This is a large-scale garden, the ground is covered with carefully polished shells, and countless deep-sea rare plants are planted along the trails, imitating land-based mountains and rivers, stacked with rockeries, and carved with precious stones and gold. The appearance of birds and animals is lifelike. It represents what kind of civilization peak this submarine country has reached. In the middle of the garden, there is a huge pond, on which a strange huge red lotus blooms. "Ah!" Amy exclaimed, "Is this the red lotus you mentioned for soul reincarnation?" "Yes." He stared at the lotus with gentle eyes, "It is specially prepared for those souls who want to come to the sea country at all costs." "Will many people want to come to Haiguo?" Amy was surprised. "Well... At a certain time in Yunhuang, the sea country was the dream of everyone on land." Ningguang smiled, as if recalling that heyday, "It represented wealth, art, beauty and eternal life. Countless people hugged it With the heart of death, one after another came here. Then, wake up on the lotus pond, gain a new life, and integrate into our nation." "Become the same fishtail as you?" Amy felt incredible. "Yes." Ning Guang glanced at her and smiled, "Is the fish tail bad?" "Uh, no, no." Amy blushed suddenly, and said in a low voice, "I just... feel... very inconvenient." "In the water, it is convenient to have a fish tail." Ning Guang didn't bother with the young dream weaver, but turned to look at the lotus pond, and said slowly, "Anyway, the king can't see you yet, Let me tell you a story..." "I know everything about the sea country and the merman!" Amy thought that the merman witch was going to teach her a lesson again, so she quickly argued, with a hint of pride on her face, she urged, "I'm going to see sister Xiao Yin! " "The former dream weaver received a very good reception. People like Wang will never force her to do anything she doesn't want to do. You can rest assured." The sea witch suddenly sighed, turned and stared at Amy, holding her hand He raised her hand, put it on his forehead in awe, and said dreamily: "Dream weaver, if fate gives us a chance to meet each other at this moment in a thousand years, then I want to use you to share that passage." The years are left to history." "What I want to tell you is a story that is not in the history books. And those who know it have almost no chance to pass it down—but, I don't want all this to be buried in the deep sea after I die. So , please, stop and listen for a while." "Ah?" Dreamweaver raised his head instantly, Amy's curiosity was aroused, and she raised her ears, "What do you think?"