"Why hasn't this guy Ryoma come over yet, is the traffic jam so serious?"

Seeing that dusk was about to pass, Sousuke Araki took the lantern handed by Yumayumi Kotori and took out a lighter.

"Leave him alone, don't miss the time..."

Although he is not superstitious about the "rules" of these sacrifices, only the respect for the customs can reflect the respect for the deceased.

"Crack."

The faint sparks on the lighter turned into dim yellow flames, moving up the wick and swaying gently inside the lantern.

Toyo Yumayumi, who was beside him, also devoutly lit the lantern in his hand for the ancestors of the Little Bird Tour clan.

Then, the two of them hung the "Soul Fire" on both sides of the elf shed.

Under the light of the lights, the cute "elf horses", "elven cows" and wild "elven centipedes" in the fairy shed become vivid, as if they were endowed with different spirituality.

That's right, Sousuke Araki finally didn't want to eat that expensive, 40-centimeter-long cucumber, and made a rather stylish "hundred-legged human centipede" by himself...

He also boasted that this is the Ferrari of the "elf" world, and it must be very cool for Yukihira and Reiko to come back from this.

"By the way, Little Bird You, there should be more lanterns, right?"

Looking at the things in the elf shed, Sousuke Araki's eyes froze slightly.

"There are but there are... But the number of lanterns should be enough."

Hearing his request, Kotori Yumayumi tilted his head in confusion.

"Please help me get another one, I want to order it for Uncle Qingren alone."

The Menglanpen Festival, which happens to be Uncle Qingren's death anniversary, is also...

Sosuke Araki's birthday.

...

Four years ago, Yokohama City University Hospital.

"Ugh..."

In the ward, a teenager with a golden airplane head was forcibly inserting a bunch of exaggeratedly large and messy flowers into a small glass on the windowsill.

"Sousuke, I've said it a few times. You can visit me as long as someone arrives. Don't pick the flowers downstairs in the hospital. If the nurse sees it, she thinks it's me..."

On the hospital bed, a middle-aged man with glasses and a thin face watched the boy's rough movements with some distress.

"However, Uncle Qingren, it's too monotonous to be white in the ward. If you look forward to it for a long time, you will be bored. How can you not add some color! Anyway, these flowers bloom in the flowerbed downstairs and upstairs are the same for patients. watch……"

"You guy, you're always so headstrong... Forget it, I won't be able to control you in the future anyway, so let's do whatever you want."

The middle-aged man, who seemed to want to say something, smiled helplessly and changed the subject: "Is life in college going well?"

"It's just normal. The Kendo club's food is not bad, there are also gunmen in the exam, and there are a lot of part-time benefits at convenience stores..."

"It's not bad to go to college, to be a gangster, or to be a police officer. In short, it's good for you kids to live an ordinary life."

Lying back on the bed, the middle-aged man put his hands behind his head, closed his eyes and smiled.

After placing the flowers, the boy sat beside the hospital bed and looked at each other worriedly.

"Always think of us, but Uncle Qingren yourself, are you really not going to try chemotherapy? The doctor said there is still hope. If it's a matter of money..."

"No, I am not a problem that doctors can solve."

Seeing the firm expression of the middle-aged man, the teenager frowned.

Don't look at the gentle appearance of this uncle Qingren, but he is actually quite stubborn. Once he decides something, he will not accept anyone's persuasion at all.

"...Sousuke, by the way, today is the Meng Lanpen Festival, and it's also your birthday. It's been twenty years before you know it."

On the hospital bed, the middle-aged man looked at the ceiling and his eyes gradually became deep.

"So, is this why you specially called me here? I don't even know if Uncle Qingren said it. I don't have the habit of remembering my birthday. Anyway, everyone's birthday is Uncle Qingren. registered..."

The young man patted the back of his head indifferently.

For them, "birthday" is more like an unaffordable luxury.

"Ahem, who said I registered casually... I'm 20 years old, but I'm the age at which I can drink and control my life. I already published my first book when you were so old..."

On the hospital bed, the middle-aged man was still muttering to himself, as if recalling the time when he was twenty years old.

"Sorry, as for adult wine, I already drank it with Yukihira last month."

Because the legal drinking age in Japan is 20 years old, on the 20th birthday, many young people will choose to go to an izakaya with friends to have a drunken break and experience the stimulation of alcohol "legally".

For some, though, this "statutory" is clearly just words written on scrap paper.

"Sousuke, unlike Ryoma and Yukihira, you are very strong, stronger than you can imagine..."

The middle-aged man turned his head and looked at the boy in front of him seriously.

"Well, in terms of fighting, physical strength, and size, they are indeed stronger than them."

The boy with a (thick) face (Yan) frankly (without) (shame) accepted his "compliment".

"So, you have to help others, and do your best to do it within your ability."

"Huh? In terms of social class, am I not the one who needs public relief the most?"

"It's okay if no one understands, it doesn't matter if you don't get gratitude, it doesn't matter if you're confused..."

Ignoring the young man's complaints, the middle-aged man turned over, turned his back to the other side, and continued speaking as if he was talking to himself and like Chun Chun's exhortation.

"...Promise me, you will try your best to help more people and bring encouragement to others."

"Even if you go to hell, you have to break through the door as a hero under the watchful eyes of everyone."

"Don't be like me, leave your family and friends behind and die alone."

Hearing these gradually heavy words, the young man turned his face awkwardly: "Bah, bah, blah, blah, blah, obviously for the orphanage, Uncle Qingren is everyone's hero! As long as we are here, you won't be alone..."

Twenty years ago, it was this man who suddenly appeared and saved the dying Daisy Welfare Institute, allowing more and more orphans to be well cared for and grow up.

"What hero, I'm just a deceased person who borrowed from **** for 20 years and wandered in the world... However, the current situation can be regarded as an explanation to 'that one'."

The middle-aged man whispered ~lightnovelpub.net~ and stopped speaking as if he had fallen asleep.

"Hey, Uncle Qingren, what are you talking about?!"

Looking at the middle-aged man who turned his back to him and stopped talking, the boy stood up angrily and walked quickly to the other side of the hospital bed.

Intuition told him that something bad seemed to happen.

Glancing at the middle-aged man lying on the bed, the sharp eyes of the young man instantly slackened.

He slowly raised his head and looked at the ceiling above his head, as if there was something of concern there.

"...Understood, I promise you."

Even so, the tears still filled his eyes and couldn't stop sliding down his face.

It's a pity that the middle-aged man, who was lying on his side and seemed to be just asleep, could never hear his promise.

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