The way that group of creatures—let's call them "cats"—moved opened Yin Ren's eyes.
He was still confused by the other party's words "there are other humans here" when he saw the cats waving their soft limbs and the surrounding corridor on the other side spun rapidly. The cat army followed one after another, entangled a group of people and jumped into the vortex. The next moment, a brand new tunnel appeared in front of everyone.
There was another vortex after another, and physical distance was completely invalid. Everyone seemed to be immersed in a kaleidoscope, and everything around them was dazzling. There was no ground under their feet, but the cats were jumping. The roads were obviously the same, but their steps were very firm.
The cats were familiar with the route and flew into the sky in a certain direction.
Their destination was very close to the tunnel wall. As the cats approached the edge of the colorful tunnel, they saw countless fragments wriggling together to form the outline of a hospice facility.
The bricks here are new and smooth, while the wall there is corroded and peeling. Snow is piled on the windowsills, and raindrops are hitting the glass windows. At the same time, the tiles and weeds in the yard are dyed red by the setting sun, reflecting the blood-red sunset. Beside the flowerbed, the rocking chair is rocking gently, and the "person" on it is like a doll embroidered with scraps of cloth, and every inch of skin belongs to a different person.
This courtyard seems to be made up of countless people's impressions. Every detail is chaotic and fragmented, and only silence runs through it.
The atmosphere of this institution is gloomy, and the chaotic scenery should be scary. However, in the courtyard, benches, grass... every corner is covered with cat-patterned tablecloths. They are so consistent that they look like they were copied and pasted, and the colors are fresh and cute.
Everyone looked at each other, not knowing what to say. Only Dr. Cat had his fur standing on end, and a very subtle expression on his furry face.
Yin Ren understood it a little bit—when he was at Fu's house, he saw those messy paintings of Zhong Yi, and that awkward feeling was hard to get rid of.
[So I don’t want to fight with humans. After we found them, we just kept avoiding them.]
The cat was startled by her and fell back.
[sorry!]
[They may have sensed this and thought we were easy to deal with, so they kept chasing us. I wanted to communicate, but they didn’t understand.]
The cat was overjoyed. It gently placed its soft limbs on Lu Xiaohe's hand and immediately retracted it, with two sweet meows coming out of the holes in its body.
Yin Ren and Zhong Cheng said nothing, the rest of the humans were not yet able to think and communicate. To them, the cat probably just made an unpleasant noise.
Qi Xin crossed her arms, and she was obviously very unhappy that her authority was challenged by such a group of little creatures.
[We are just desperate, we really have no ill intentions.]
As if to prove his point, Gao Mengyu's cat grabbed the tablecloth and covered its body full of holes with it. Unfortunately, its soft limbs that looked like brain grooves were still sticking out, and with the cute cat pattern, its appearance looked even weirder.
Looking at the physique of these cats, Gao Mengyu's cat is definitely the fattest. Compared with the smallest cat in the yard, it is twice as big. At this moment, it is chirping at the rest of its companions, as if it is the leader.
Lu Xiaohe took a few deep breaths and finally pulled her mind out of the extreme mode. She tried not to think about the horror of the elements, but took two steps forward and reached out to the cat's soft limbs.
Many cats did not follow the army to the battle. They coiled their soft limbs and slumped on the tablecloth, treating it as a useful nest. They spread their fourteen eyes on the ground, bathing in the non-existent sunlight.
"Just a bunch of 'loners'."
Three young figures emerged from the countless flashing fragments.
"It has only grown stronger in the last hundred years, so it is quite courageous."
Qi Xin still had a stern face: "No wonder the other side is so poor, but you are so fat, it turns out that someone has specially fed you."
Zhong Cheng said as he took two steps closer to Yin Ren.
"That's what I want to ask as well." Yin Ren looked at the fourteen red eyes, "You said there are still humans here, what's going on?"
"Well, I remember the case file. They ate pig brains?" Lu Xiaohe curled his lips. "Pigs are social animals. It's not surprising that they have such emotions."
said the cat.
"Dead things can't be brought in. These are probably just their own imaginations."
Yin Ren helped with the simultaneous translation: "It just said, 'I survive by eating the loneliness in fresh brain marrow, and humans are very good to me.'"
The cat said "a while", and it really meant a while. Less than three minutes after the cat finished speaking, before Lu Xiaohe could calm down, a strong light suddenly hit the courtyard.
"The stains on Gao Mengyu's tablecloth are exactly the same."
[I don’t know. I don’t know much about humans.]
The cat admitted it honestly.
Gao Mengyu's cat took the lead in apologizing, and the whole cat was almost spread out like a pancake.
Qi Xin stood there, watching coldly. Yin Ren wanted to open the barrier to protect everyone. However, the spell could not be used, there were too many people, and the original form could not be easily revealed. The ghost king was stuck in the spot miserably, and only had time to use his body to block Zhong Cheng's words.
Is it the essence of "loneliness"? No wonder he got along so well with Gao Mengyu. There is indeed no hostility around. I don't know if it's because of the lack of food or because of their nature. Most of the "loneliness" are lazy and have nothing to do with the word hostility.
As soon as she spoke, the chatter of "loneliness" in the yard suddenly stopped.
Huang Jin and Ge Tingting were both confused, but the expression of veteran member Lu Xiaohe relaxed a little.
[But they will definitely call you soon, and you can go and meet them.]
Now that his hair could not move, Yin Ren simply held Zhong Chengshuo's hand and looked around.
Along with a huge explosion, a powerful and ferocious force hit him in the face.
Before the aftermath of the explosion had dissipated, their enemies officially appeared.
She remembered the Gao Mengyu case.
There were flashes of light, bullet-like explosions, and vibrations. The small yard was shaking wildly, and there was a tendency to collapse. Cats in the yard were squeaking and running around.
"During the Gao Mengyu missing case, this Yuanwu accidentally passed through the gap and wandered into the human world." As a bridge between humans and Yuanwu, Yin Ren quickly tried to smooth things over, "Cheng Shuo and I have had contact with it before, and it is relatively friendly to humans."
After listening to Yin Ren's translation, Lu Xiaohe was the first to lose her composure. She strode forward and grabbed the cat's soft limbs: "Are there other humans here? Who? Where are they?"
Led by Gao Mengyu's cat, they lined up in a square in front of Qi Xin according to their size, spreading their soft limbs, looking ready to be slaughtered.
Yin Ren almost laughed out loud.
The leading woman had long hair and a torn red shirt. She stood in front of the three people, tall and strong, smiling freely, and twirling something shiny on her fingertips. Yin Ren's pupils shrank, and he barely got a rough idea of it.
It was a ring fastened to a bracelet.
Following closely behind her was a female police officer. Her uniform was clean and tidy, and her short hair was neatly done. She had a serious face and held a gun tightly in her hand, with the muzzle of the gun pointed at everyone.
Behind the two men was a young man who looked gentle and kind, full of scholarly temperament. On his chest was a relatively new security card.
"How strange."
The long-haired woman laughed.
"I say, if you want to cause cognitive pollution, at least bring out some people we know. What the hell is this?"
Her voice is loud, clear and real.
Three humans, three humans who can move freely on the other side and even have the means to attack. The faces of two of them are in the files of this mission data.
The disbelief built up, exploding into a brief moment of confusion—
"Zhong Chengfeng!" Yin Ren pointed at the policewoman and shouted, reaching out to grab Zhong Cheng and said, "Is that your sister? Her face looks exactly like the photo!"
Huang Jin's goal was more pragmatic. He stared at the long-haired woman in shock: "Isn't that the missing Meng Huai?"
Lu Xiaohe's focus was a little off the mark. She looked at the man with the work card and said, "Who is that? The one who disappeared in the Shi'an office two years ago... I remember it was the rear commander..."
As she spoke, her eyes gradually lit up, revealing a hint of joy and hope. She instinctively wanted to move forward, but Dr. Cat blocked her with his body, trapping her tightly.
"Are you all idiots?! How is it possible that nothing happened to those people after almost 30 years!" it screamed, "That could be cognitive pollution!"
"Wow, you did a good job on cognitive pollution, and you acted really well."
At the same time, the woman who looked like Meng Huai asked curiously.
"It's just that it's unrealistic for a cat to speak human language. What's the matter? Is it because too much animation information was extracted? Come on, let's transform and see?"
A group of "lonely" cats curled up innocently - pitiful things, they really did nothing.
Meng Huai joked but she didn't slow down. She adjusted her posture for a while and said, "Cheng Feng, assist!"
"receive!"
The policewoman who looked like Zhong Chengfeng opened fire, and this time Yin Ren learned his lesson. He grabbed Zhong Chengshuo and Lu Xiaohe, who were closest to him, and stepped back several steps.
Where the bullets hit, there was another series of dangerous explosions, and another fierce force burst out. Qi Xin floated into the air calmly, determined to watch from the sidelines.
Strange. Yin Ren moved his nose to distinguish the difference in the ferocious power of the two attacks.
In every explosion, two evil forces would appear in pairs. In just two attacks, as many as four evil forces appeared.
He couldn't figure out the principle for a moment, but one thing was certain - the enemy was using the power of evil as a weapon.
"Be careful." Dr. Cat rubbed against his feet without knowing when. "The enemy on the opposite side may be an illusion, and these cats may be an illusion. Or even earlier - after entering the other side, everything is an illusion. This is theoretically possible."
It twitched its beard seriously.
"Don't do it if you can. You don't know who will get hurt..."
“It’s not an illusion.”
Zhong Cheng said as he picked up the cat by the scruff of its neck and threw it politely at Fu Tianyi's face. He widened his dark eyes and looked at Zhong Chengfeng who was not far away.
His nominal sister now looks a few years younger than his physical body.
"Leave it to me."
Having said that, Zhong Cheng patted Yin Ren's shoulder and walked forward. Then he spread out his empty hands and raised them above his head, a standard surrender gesture.
Seeing this man who looked like a compatriot suddenly approaching, Zhong Chengfeng hesitated. She fired a few more shots, but all of them hit Zhong Chengshuo's feet.
Zhong Cheng said he chose the most empty spot in the courtyard and stopped leisurely.
The next moment, the scene behind him changed.
Imagination brought back memories, and half of the home of the Zhong family appeared behind him.
The patched-up walls, the scratched floor, the old dining table, the oil-stained kitchen, the outdated cabinets, the tacky TV wall... all these scenes were slowly sketched out behind Zhong Chengshuo.
Zhong Youde, with gray hair and wearing an apron, was bringing a bowl of beef stew with potatoes to the table. Cheng Xuehua was holding chopsticks. She was thin and small, as an old person should be. Her face was wrinkled like a dried fruit.
Zhong Chengfeng's shooting stopped.
The policewoman stared blankly at the scene in front of her, her lips slightly parted, her serious expression cracked, revealing a bit of heat and sadness.
"Dad, Mom..."
"Cheng Feng!" Meng Huai warned.
“It’s not cognitive pollution.” Zhong Chengfeng lowered her gun slightly, her eyes reddened, “The house… has become much older, much has been moved, and much has been changed… My parents… have also…”
Zhong Chengfeng licked her lips and took a deep breath. She ignored the tears that were falling, turned the gun barrel and spoke directly to Zhong Cheng.
"Who are you?"
There was a hint of urgency in her voice.
Zhong Cheng looked him up and down for a while and did not answer immediately.
He turned to Meng Huai and raised his left arm in the other direction.
The memory that appeared this time was the elevator and corridor in the basement of Shi'an.
[I don't think you are a person who gets carried away easily. I brought you here today to show you the 'basic' of Zhi'an - Phenomenon A-A3, fierce evil.]
Li Nian appeared near the elevator.
It was Professor Li, familiar to everyone. He was still serious, dressed like a dean, and the wedding ring on his slender finger reflected a pale light.
Because it was the perspective in Zhong Cheng's memory, Li Nian looked into the void, and met Meng Huai opposite him. This look was like the gaze of Medusa, and Meng Huai froze for two seconds.
"Security Security Class B Special Investigation Team, Nineth Science Post, Zhong Cheng said."
Zhong Cheng took a step closer to the two frozen people and raised his hands again.
"I have come to the other side to look for clues in order to investigate the disappearance of Meng Huai, Zhong Chengfeng, and He Huan."
Hearing the name Zhong Cheng said, Zhong Chengfeng wanted to step forward eagerly, but was stopped by Meng Huai - unlike Zhong Chengfeng, Meng Huai's face was as black as the bottom of a pot.
"It's so fake. Li Nian obviously despises Shi An the most." She said, "This information can be deduced from our memories. My love life is happy, Cheng Feng's parents are healthy, it's like a wish come true... Your eyes should be less human, right?"
[I just said that they are difficult to communicate with.]
Gao Mengyu's cat clung to the tablecloth and grumbled to himself. Yin Ren touched its soft limbs and didn't know what to say for a moment.
He didn't remember all the details like Zhong Cheng said. And there were so many people here, if he showed his true form, it would be no different from an indiscriminate attack. The joy of being able to walk freely on the other side didn't last long, and the feeling of powerlessness came over him again.
"If you need more evidence, I can accompany you to... Lu Xiaohe?" On the other side, Zhong Cheng was about to continue the negotiation when he saw a figure stumbling forward.
Lu Xiaohe shook off Huang Jin and Ge Tingting's hands and limped towards the other side. Her expression was a little distorted, and there were too many emotions in it, and finally all of them flooded her red eyes.
"Lu Xiaohe!" Looking at Meng Huai's clenched hands and Zhong Chengfeng's gun ready to shoot, Yin Ren couldn't help but shout out.
Just as he was about to catch up, he heard a trembling cry.
"Don't come over here!"
Lu Xiaohe continued to move forward without looking back.
"You too, Zhong Cheng said the same thing, don't come over here!"
Zhong Cheng said to keep his imagination going, frowning as he looked at Lu Xiaohe's back. Yin Ren clenched his fists, and when he stared at the other person with full concentration, a strand of hair moved slightly.
The two places were not far apart, and although Lu Xiaohe was walking quite fast, it seemed as if he had been walking for a whole century.
"Security Security Class B Special Investigation Team, 9th Science Post, rear commanded by Lu Xiaohe."
Lu Xiaohe stopped, only four or five steps away from the three people opposite him, and his voice was so hoarse that it was frightening.
"To make a long story short, I reluctantly believe that you are Meng Huai, Zhong Chengfeng, and the person who disappeared in the Shian Office. Your current operation is a basic action unit consisting of black-seal non-scientific posts, red-seal scientific posts, and rear-end command."
"Ms. Meng Huai was once a member of the Emergency Response Department. She should have the means to verify the authenticity of our human identities. No matter how harmful it is, please verify it on me. Of course, if you are fake, I think my teammates can also tell from this."
Meng Huai narrowed his eyes: "You are quite courageous. Do you know—"
"I'm in a hurry."
Lu Xiaohe interrupted her.
She stared at Meng Huai, and the nine groups almost retreated at the same time. Lu Xiaohe usually spoke softly and had a very good temper, and no one had ever seen her show such an expression.
Longing, anticipation, eagerness... and a deep, overwhelming fear of losing.
"We are here to investigate the disappearance of Meng Huai and Zhong Chengfeng 29 years ago, as well as the recent disappearance of He Huan."
She spoke word by word.
"He Huan is my mother."
In the end, countless emotions found an outlet - the repressed fuse finally burned to the end, and her imagination behind her exploded instantly.
The hugs of her mother during her infancy, the quarrels and clashes during her school years, and the cuddling during her college years. As Lu Xiaohe grew up, her baby clothes turned into school uniforms, and the school uniforms turned into simple clothes. Finally, she held the medical bill tightly and accepted Shian's offer.
At the same time, her mother grew from a young woman into a plump woman, but was then devoured by illness and became emaciated.
The two rise and fall, like the waves and the sand.
All kinds of imaginary pictures are built into walls, almost covering the sky and the earth.
The most central and clear picture is the day when the mother disappeared.
The greenery is lush and the sunshine is bright.
She just disappeared like that, and people who disappeared nearly thirty years earlier than her are standing here, and people who disappeared two years earlier are also here.
But what about mother
"You can calculate against each other, find countless loopholes, and argue with each other for three days and three nights. But I can't wait."
Lu Xiaohe gritted her teeth. Behind her was her entire life. They kept flashing, piling up layer by layer, so heavy that it was suffocating.
"Do it, Ms. Meng Huai."
(End of this chapter)