No strange things are allowed to evolve!

As for Shenji, a seasoned veteran who was just as cunning as herself, and who was actually an old auntie pretending to be an innocent girl but whose real age was already that of an old lady, Jiang Shu had seen it all, so she had no intention of hiding anything.

As expected, Shenji merely narrowed his eyes: "A promising young man!"

Just then, the two finally reached the entrance, only to be stopped by staff.

"ticket."

He extended his hand to the two of them.

"Oh dear, I wasn't prepared." Jiang Shu feigned surprise: "I've never heard of needing tickets."

The staff member frowned.

Jiang Shu looked at Shenji: "Do you have a ticket?"

Shenji looked speechless and pulled out a QR code from his phone.

"Of course I have tickets. And when you were doing my makeup, you mentioned, intentionally or unintentionally, that you'd never been to a comic convention before and were curious about the rules. You even emphasized that you were short on cash lately. Weren't you implying that I should buy you tickets? I've never heard of needing tickets. Could you be any more fake?"

"Hehe." Jiang Shu, who had been exposed, kept laughing foolishly.

Anyway, he's thick-skinned and doesn't care at all.

Soon, the two passed through security and entered the venue.

Just as they disappeared into the dark crowd, Xia Zhi finally emerged from the small house.

He now held a ticket in his hand, a hint of confusion flickering in his eyes.

"There's a familiar feeling... no... it feels like two different feelings... Is there someone I know here?"

"Hmm...it's probably best not to let anyone know I'm in a place like this..."

Thinking this, Xia Zhi looked around and then walked into the venue as if nothing had happened.

Chapter 190 Watch me pretend to be Tang and fool him

Where did you meet him?

After entering the venue, Shenji asked Jiang Shudao.

"It's right here."

"But this place is so big, we need to stand next to some iconic landmark, right?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Shu looked around and realized that there were indeed far more people at the comic convention than he had imagined. Everywhere he looked, there were dense crowds, making it as difficult as finding a needle in a haystack to find someone.

However, there are no obvious landmarks.

Many areas were fenced off and turned into stalls selling merchandise or homemade fan art, and many signs were blocked.

While it's possible to describe it as "I'm in the place with the most Rem" or "I'm surrounded by Mambo," it's highly likely that no one would know who those people are.

"Hmm...it is indeed very big..."

Jiang Shu nodded.

Shenji, standing to the side, snatched the notebook from his hand with a dark expression.

He glanced around, and then, as if his eyes were auto-aimed, he instantly locked onto a notebook being sold at one of the stalls and began to look through it.

"It's almost two o'clock, aren't you worried at all? What if they can't find you when the time comes and then leave?"

"Understood." Jiang Shu took the notebook back from Shenji, closed it, and put it back on the stall. Then he smiled apologetically at the stall owner: "The proportions are a bit off, and the figures are a little uncoordinated. I need to practice more."

"You're even giving me pointers?" Shenji was somewhat speechless.

The stall owner was a short girl wearing a mask.

These notebooks are all hand-drawn. Jiang Shu could see that the lines were very immature, so they were probably not professional works, but rather attempts and learning pieces as a hobby.

Wearing a mask, probably to avoid being recognized.

As for her personality, she is probably rather introverted. When Jiang Shu picked up her notebook and started flipping through it without asking, she clearly wanted to stop him, but in the end, she was too embarrassed to speak up.

This is normal, since most illustrators and writers who create comics or write erotic novels are relatively reserved and understated, which is a contrasting type.

So she probably never expected Jiang Shu to comment on her or communicate with her, and for a moment she was at a loss.

"If you're talented, keep up the good work."

Jiang Shu offered a word of encouragement, then planned to find a conspicuous place to convey his location to the other party.

But just as he was thinking about finding a high spot, the stall owner suddenly called out to him.

"Excuse me for asking, are you cosplaying Fan Xiaoqin? Although I don't know why you're cosplaying her, I still have to remind you."

The stall owner seemed to have made a huge decision before speaking; he was so nervous that his eyes welled up with tears after only a couple of sentences, as if he was about to cry at any moment. He was clearly prone to tears.

"This won't do. Fan Xiaoqin can't read, so she definitely won't understand it, let alone any sense of proportion. This is clearly out of character, and she'll be thrown into the toilet."

"Surely not?" Shenji asked, somewhat surprised. "Have I been out of touch with reality for too long? Why am I suddenly resorting to using the toilet so often?"

"That's how it is now..." the stall owner said, somewhat embarrassed.

Jiang Shu, however, was concerned about something else: "Is it true or not? Does Fan Xiaoqin also share this sentiment?"

"It's hard to say," the stall owner replied. "This morning there was a cosplayer dressed as Lao Ba who was beaten up because someone put a bag of poop in the toilet and made him eat it, but he refused. Some people may not be fans of the same character, but they just can't stand out-of-character (OOC) behavior."

After hearing this, Jiang Shu deeply felt the difficulty of cosplaying nowadays: "That's really righteous and indignant."

"In short, you're acting too smart right now; you need to be a little more naive," the stall owner advised.

"Well..."

This prompted Jiang Shu to reflect.

Although he felt that as long as the makeup looked similar and the behavior was roughly the same, it was fine, but since this was the rule, he should respect it.

Chinese etiquette emphasizes adapting to local customs when in Rome.

However, in that case, I won't be able to send messages to Wuyi.

Because the character can't type and doesn't understand high-tech stuff.

"Let me think..."

"Let me think about what Fan Xiaoqin would do..."

......

Xia Zhi was wandering around.

He wasn't entirely unaware of anime conventions, and he had even heard of some of the popular anime characters. After all, with the development of the internet, some things that break out of their niche will inevitably creep into your head, even if you don't want to know them.

However, this was indeed his first time here.

There's a big difference between hearsay and experiencing something firsthand.

"They're so energetic!"

Looking at the vibrant young people in front of him, Xia Zhi couldn't help but reminisce about his own youth.

For a time, he was also addicted to reading martial arts novels and comics from Hong Kong and Taiwan. After being introduced to these exciting works by his classmates, he often used his pocket money to borrow them from bookstores.

After reading all the best-selling works on the market, I turned my attention to Japanese manga, which was just starting out at the time.

What impressed him most was, for example, Dragon Ball, which had just been published at that time.

Although there were no Chinese versions at that time, and they were all pirated copies that were smuggled from abroad and then crudely translated into Chinese in China, with blurry pictures and fonts, he still watched them with great eagerness and enjoyment.

It's no exaggeration to say that he has read all the novels and comics that were popular in the 1980s and 90s, making him one of the earliest generations of old-school anime and manga fans in China.

Back then, there were no electronic devices, let alone the internet as we have today. Children lacked entertainment activities, and their greatest joy was playing and chasing each other, pretending to be characters from comics or novels.

There were no fancy costumes or elaborate makeup, but no one doubted that they were playing the role they loved.

This is the earliest form of cosplay that the older generation has ever done.

However, amidst the nostalgia, Xia Zhi also felt a sense of helplessness and loneliness.

Because the characters he knew well, apart from a few big IPs that are still popular today, have all disappeared. Not to mention you can't see them at the comic conventions right now, even if you mention them online, very few people would know them anymore.

After a brief moment of reflection, Xia Zhi glanced down at the time.

There were only two minutes left until the agreed time, but Jiaofen had not sent any new messages to inform him of his exact location.

This puzzled Xia Zhi.

Of course, he didn't doubt that he had been stood up, nor did he doubt that Jiao Yi was unaware of how difficult it would be to find a stranger in such a place.

He casually glanced around, wondering if the other person was hiding in the shadows observing him.

Only if the other party already knows your whereabouts will they not be in a hurry to find you, right?

If it were me, I would definitely do the same.

However, Xia Zhi is never one to relinquish control to others.

Even if the opponent is in the shadows, he will find them first, turning a disadvantage into an advantage and changing the balance of power.

But just as he was about to open his God's-eye view and sweep through the entire venue like a sweeping plate,

suddenly.

The loudspeaker in the square announced this.

"Dear visitors, good afternoon. We have an announcement to make now. Parents of Fan Xiaoqin, please come to the visitor center. Your lovely child has gotten separated from you and is waiting for you at the broadcasting station."

The announcement was broadcast three times.

Fan Xiaoqin?

Isn't this exactly the role that the Giving Society plays?

so...

Actually, he wasn't observing him from the shadows.

Instead, they became one with their character?

Yesterday, Xia Zhi specifically looked into Fan Xiaoqin and knew that if it were really Fan Xiaoqin, she might actually be capable of doing such a thing.

"So I was overthinking it."

Turning his gaze away, Xia Zhi strode towards the visitor center.

As Xia Zhi got closer to the visitor center, he slowed down his pace.

Because he noticed that the familiar aura he had sensed before was gradually becoming more pronounced.

And because he was closer this time, he gained more information from it.

Two auras, one strong and one weak. The stronger one was disguised; Xia Zhi could only sense its familiarity, but couldn't identify it. The weaker one...

"Why is Jiang Shu here?"

Almost instantly, Xia Zhi connected the dots to the whole process by which Jiang Shu obtained the Boundless Sand.

"So...you're involved in dedication?"

This confirmed his earlier suspicion: the Dedication Society posted that message in order to secretly help Jiang Shu.

There is indeed a mysterious and powerful figure behind Jiang Shu.

And that mysterious powerful figure was someone I knew; otherwise, his aura wouldn't have felt so familiar.

With this in mind, Xia Zhi made thorough preparations and finally stepped into the visitor center. After consulting with the staff, he went straight to the broadcasting room.

But as soon as he stepped into the broadcasting room, he froze on the spot.

Jiang Shu was sitting on the counter, leisurely swinging his legs, holding a balloon in his left hand and an ice cream cone in his right.

Two staff members were trying to comfort him.

They probably thought he was a special case; anyway, the helplessness and sense of death on their faces didn't seem like acting.

Not far from Jiang Shu was a familiar wheelchair.

Although the person in the wheelchair looked like a middle-aged man, Xia Zhi was absolutely certain that it was Shenji.

what's the situation?

Is divine intervention also a form of dedication?

That's impossible.

Or is dedication actually...?