You are my wife, don't doubt it!

This series of complicated actions took only half a second, and then Shen Jie slid over as if nothing had happened and reached out to hold the stainless steel railing.

"Why are you here..." Shen Jie said to Xiao Yao gently, "Why are you here just now?"

"Huh?" Xiao Yao was a little slow to react: "Something happened, something serious."

The friends around them gathered together and started talking. In addition to A Fei and Zhou Xiaoying, there were a few guys I had seen at the KTV that day, and of course, there were also a few faces I had never seen before.

The few people who had seen Xiao Yao greeted him warmly, but a boy Xiao Yao had never seen turned to Shen Jie and asked, "Shen Jie, is he your man?"

"Oh, it's none of your business. Are you annoying?" Shen Jie gently hit the man and turned to Xiao Yao: "Go change your shoes."

"The situation is urgent. I don't have time to play now..." Xiao Yao lowered his voice.

--split line--

Xiao Yao carefully held the railing at the edge of the skating rink and took a few clumsy steps on his roller skates.

"Do you know how to do it?" Shen Jie curled her lips and said in a low voice.

"Yes, there's nothing I can't do." Xiao Yao said.

"It looks like you're not very good at it." Zhou Xiaoying's fat boyfriend said, "Shen Jie is the figure skating champion of our junior high school. Let her teach you."

In fact, Xiao Yao really knew how to skate, although he could only skate forward and not very fast. After getting used to it, he could follow Shen Jie and skate in circles on the wooden floor.

At this moment, Xiao Yao held Shen Jie's hand, and the girl's hand was as warm as ever.

Xiao Yao knew that in an occasion like an ice rink, it was normal for boys and girls to hold hands and skate together, even if they were not in a relationship or had any ambiguous relationship.

Although he had dreamed of holding the hand of such a beauty of the same age, at this moment, his mind was full of Yu Luying and Xiao Xiong. He couldn't even remember who took the initiative to hold his hand. He was not in the mood to carefully experience and savor Shen Jie's... first hand holding?

"How did you find me?" Seeing that there were no familiar people around, Shen Jie's face darkened and even loosened her hands a little.

Xiao Yao was about to speak when he stumbled and the girl grabbed him.

Then, the hands clenched again.

"I..." Xiao Yao's heartbeat finally started to quicken, and sweat slowly began to form on his palms.

"You really know how to pester me. We agreed to contact each other after the final exam." Shen Jie continued to slide forward slowly with Xiao Yao: "You walk slowly with your figure eight steps first, pay attention to adjusting the center of gravity of your body, and don't be too impatient. Play for a while and then go back. If you pester me again, I will also..."

Not bad, Xiao Yao thought. At least after meeting, Shen Jie didn't behave as...heartless as he had imagined.

"Exams, exams, exams," Xiao Yao said, "Is this how you nervously prepare for your final exam?"

Shen Jie was about to retort, but Xiao Yao continued, "I came to see you not because of any emotional dispute, but because of something serious. I really don't know why you blocked my text messages - first of all, Shen Tianyun hasn't been home for several days."

"What?!" There was a hint of anger in Shen Jie's tone.

"Then, Yu Luying and Xiao Xiong - oh, they are my classmates. I probably lost them in the mirror of the cashier."

"What?" Shen Jie seemed to be able to say only these two words.

At this time, the song of "Butterfly" was heard again in the skating rink.

Ay, Iyaiyai

Ay, Iyaiyai

Ay, Iyaiyai

Where's my samural?

I've been searching for a man

……

"Let's go to the middle," Shen Jie said loudly, "Those people on the outside are sliding too fast and could easily bump into you."

As Shen Jie slid Xiao Yao towards the deeper part, Xiao Yao explained to her everything that had happened today.

"What what what what?" Shen Jie became more and more confused. "Doesn't the mirror lead to 30 years later? How can it be a... virtual world? Did you run into Zhou Qi from your school at Qiangui? Why didn't you tell me anything?"

Before Xiao Yao could answer, his phone rang. It was Father Yu.

He had already arrived at the cashbox and was very annoyed when he couldn't see Xiao Yao, so he asked him to come over quickly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to involve you..." Xiao Yao put down the phone, feeling very anxious. He wanted to explain to Shen Jie again, but he couldn't figure it out.

"Okay, stop talking." Shen Jie stopped him, "After all, this is an urgent matter involving human lives, right?"

She was in no mood to have fun anymore, so she took Xiao Yao's hand and walked back to the edge of the skating rink.

"Are you leaving so early?" Ah Fei asked as they were changing shoes.

"We have something to deal with first. Can you tell everyone for me?" Shen Jie took off the disposable thin socks provided by the skating rink and looked around for the location of the trash can.

"I understand, I understand." Ah Fei smiled maliciously, took something out of his pocket and threw it to Xiao Yao: "Be careful!"

Xiao Yao was stunned, and subconsciously took the small paper box: "What is it? Bubble gum? ... PLAYBOY?"

Before he could figure out what the thing was, Shen Jie had already snatched it from his hand. With a whoosh, the paper box flew straight towards Ah Fei: "Go to hell!"

"Ah!" Ah Fei, who was hit right in the nose, let out a scream that was unclear how much of it was real and how much of it was acted.

Shen Jie put on her shoes and socks angrily, and stuffed the pair of disposable socks she had changed into Xiao Yao's trouser pocket: "Let's go!"

Again? Xiao Yao looked at his trouser pocket, drew a "?" in the air with his right hand, and then was dragged by Shen Jie's arm and left "Shui Mu Nian Hua".

The girl took the boy out of the "small world" and walked quickly towards the cash box.

Under the bright neon lights, the night of this city begins.

Chapter 56 Divine Hiddenness

2022-12-29

Shen Jie walked lightly and very fast.

Xiao Yao hurried a few steps before he finally caught up with her.

"By the way, what is your relationship with Zhang Zhengkai?" Xiao Yao pretended to be casual and glanced at her.

The girl's slender waist rose and fell rhythmically with her steps.

"Aren't you in a hurry to save people? Why do you still have the mind to think about these things?" Shen Jie was a little confused.

"No, just asking." Xiao Yao waved his hand.

The girl was silent for a few seconds, then she spoke in a relaxed tone, "He is my... suitor, right? Have you finally come to your senses? You were so close to him before."

Xiao Yao put on a calm tone of "I knew that a long time ago" and said: "Oh, but isn't he a junior high school student?"

"Yes." Shen Jie said as a matter of course.

"...Did you invite him to Zhou Xiaoying's birthday?" Xiao Yao hesitated for a few seconds, but couldn't help asking.

Shen Jie shook her head: "Come here uninvited."

Xiao Yao felt a little relieved: "You didn't reject me because of him, did you?"

Shen Jie didn't say anything for a long time, then kicked a small stone away.

"I found this in the private room of Qiangui today," Xiao Yao took out Zhang Zhengkai's GBA, "Zhang Zhengkai dropped it. Can you help me return it to him?"

Shen Jie frowned: "I get annoyed when I see him. It's too late to hide from him. You have to pay it back yourself."

Hearing her say this, Xiao Yao felt a little happier, but then he thought of the uncertain fate of his two good friends, and his brows frowned again.

He followed Shen Jie around a corner, and the shining "Money Box" neon sign appeared at the end of the street.

Thinking of what "Shen Jie" said in that "love hotel room", Xiao Yao asked again:

"He really likes you, doesn't he?"

"Maybe. Why don't you just ask him?" Shen Jie stopped and looked a little unhappy: "Don't you have anything else to talk to me?"

"Since he likes you so much, have you never considered agreeing?" Although the other party clearly expressed his disgust, Xiao Yao did not give up.

"Strange," Shen Jie said, "If someone likes me very much, I will agree to him. Then how many people should I agree to?"

"That's right." Xiao Yao shrugged: "Let's go, don't stand there."

Shen Jie's expression suddenly changed from impatience to interest: "Wait, from what you said, you want me to agree to Zhang Zhengkai?"

"Absolutely not!" Xiao Yao was stunned and made a solemn statement: "I mean...Father Yu!"

The tall young man was sitting by the fountain, wearing a faded denim jacket with a white sweatshirt on the upper body, khaki cropped pants on the lower body, and sneakers on his bare feet.

When he heard Xiao Yao's voice, he stood up and turned around with an unhappy look on his face: "Where have you been? Where did you take our Yingying? Who is this?"

Before Xiao Yao had time to respond to this string of questions, Shen Jie had already politely revealed her dimples: "Hello, Father Yu, I am Shen Jie."

"Shen Jie is my...good friend." Xiao Yao specifically emphasized the word "good".

Seeing the girl bowing to him with a smile, Father Yu also realized his own rashness and impatience, and put on a friendly expression: "Hello, Xiao Shen."

"The situation is urgent, so I'll be brief." Xiao Yao cleared his throat.

It’s a long story in short, but it’s actually not that short.

Standing by the fountain, Xiao Yao told Father Yu everything from how he first discovered his missing classmate in Qiangui, how he mentioned the matter to Yu Luying, how Yu Luying insisted on looking for Zhou Qi in the mirror, to the long adventure in the mirror this morning. He only omitted the details of the conversation between "Yu Luying", "Shen Jie" and the "green-eyed boy" in the hotel room.

"What? You heard me talking in that world?" Shen Jie's curiosity was further aroused.

Father Yu frowned and said, "You should wait for me to come back."

"That's what I said, but Yu Luying..."

"Okay, boy, you are a man," Father Yu patted Xiao Yao's chest gently, "Don't subconsciously put the blame on women when something goes wrong."

Xiao Yao opened his mouth but said nothing.

"I have two questions," Father Yu tapped his temple while thinking, "When did you first discover that you could pass through the mirror? Was it at the birthday party of that classmate you mentioned?"

Xiao Yao and Shen Jie looked at each other and said nothing.

In theory, lying and concealing things will interfere with other people's judgment.

But he instinctively resisted, resisting letting the Yu family know about his special relationship with his daughter and Shen Jie.

Seeing that he looked embarrassed, Father Yu smiled tolerantly and did not continue to ask: "Second question, why did you bring Xiao Shen here again? Don't you think you don't have enough good friends who have been dragged into trouble by you?"

Father Yu also placed emphasis on the word “good friend”.

Xiao Yao also found it difficult to answer this question.

Sometimes, when you don’t know how to answer a question, the best way is to ask it back: “Father Yu, do you believe what I said? Have you ever heard of this world behind the mirror before?”

Father Yu lit a cigarette for himself: "Have you heard of Shenyin?"

"Disappeared?" Xiao Yao said.

"Zhang Zhengkai seemed to have mentioned to me that there was a Japanese cartoon called something like Kamikakushi. I wasn't very interested and didn't ask in detail," said Shen Jie.

"Yes, this word is often used in Japan. To put it simply, it means that people are missing, there is no clue, no one is alive, no body is dead. The Japanese call this kind of disappearance 'Kamikakushi', which means the hiding of God. In fact, many such incidents are just pure criminal cases. But there are exceptions.

"In some cases, the person concerned is seen moving around in the area where he or she used to live; in some cases, the person concerned occasionally contacts his or her family; in other cases, the person concerned returns after a long time, usually claiming to have had a bizarre experience, or claiming to have just stayed in one place for a while.

"There are many legends about this kind of story in history, such as the Peach Blossom Spring in China, the story of Wang Zhi's failure to win the imperial examination, and the famous legend of Urashima Taro in Japan. Although some of them are indeed pranks or simple myths and legends, some people believe that in addition to the visible and tangible material world, there is also a spiritual world, that is, a world of thought."

Xiao Yao interrupted Father Yu's speech and asked, "Spiritual world? The world of ideas?"

Father Yu shook his head: "To call it the world of ideas is a bit of an exaggeration. The world of ideas in Plato's philosophy is the origin of all things, and what you have encountered is most likely just someone's subjective cognitive world, a distorted concrete projection."

"Perception? It's a bit... complicated." Xiao Yao said with difficulty: "Someone, who is it?"

"How should I know?" Father Yu answered simply.

"The mirror can reflect our appearance," Shen Jie thought, "I didn't expect that it can also reflect the appearance of our hearts? Usually that's just a metaphor."

"Is heaven above the clouds?" Father Yu looked up at the sky. "Is hell below the mantle? Only the ancients thought so. In fact, whether it is heaven or hell, angels or demons, the spiritual world generally does not intersect or have an entrance to the material world. If this kind of thing happens, if it is not the intervention of God, then it is the result of some kind of witchcraft and ritual magic."

"Witchcraft, ritual magic." Shen Jie, who grew up with a materialistic education, chewed on these terms that were very unfamiliar to her.

"Ritual magic, planetary magic, and natural magic correspond to Plato's three worlds." Father Yu explained casually, "You just need to know that this is the case. The church prohibits magic to protect ordinary people, because the more you know, the more dangerous it is."

"That is to say," Xiao Yao became excited: "Father Yu, do you really have some knowledge in this area? Do you know how to rescue Yu Luying and the others?"

"Frankly speaking," Father Yu took a few steps back and forth, "it may be a deeper level than 'some research'. Is it really just a coincidence that my niece encountered such a thing?

"Is it God's will, or are they playing a big game?" Father Yu murmured.

"them?"

A gust of evening breeze blew by, and Xiao Yao suddenly shivered.