When human society develops to a certain level, people will begin to divide the places where they live into functional areas, from wardrobes and bookcases at home to residential areas, commercial areas, and office areas in cities.
Different areas have different styles. The biggest style of Guanbuzi City’s office area is orderliness.
The buildings are neatly lined up at the same height on the roadside, and the side facing the street is all glass windows, which quietly reflect the moonlight in the dead of night, casting the street below the buildings into a shadowy world where a strange person is wandering.
The tallest shadow at the deepest point is a twenty-story building with a ladder-like shape. It looks like a slender tower that stretches all the way to the moon.
The name of the tower is Wu Tiao.
There were no lights in the Wu Tiao Building, which was an apartment building.
This is no wonder. It is already past two in the morning and tomorrow is a workday. Most of the tenants living here are office workers. If they don't go to bed early, they won't have enough energy to cope with tomorrow's work.
At this time and in this place, the only people still not resting were the patrolling police and Shinji Matou, who had other intentions.
In recent days, he would come here every night, choose a place where he could see the top of Wu Tiao Building, sit or lie there for a few hours. Of course, he was not idle, he was just waiting, waiting for a special existence to appear.
Tonight, Shinji got nothing again. A little disappointed, he left the bench and bought a can of coffee from a vending machine not far away.
"Still not showing up? Did I get the time wrong, or..."
Just as Shinji was about to leave, a human silhouette appeared in his sight.
It's not a metaphor; the girl is actually floating.
His age is estimated to be in his twenties.
A white dress as gorgeous as a gown, and black hair that reaches the waist.
The slender hands and feet revealed through the outfit further highlight the elegance of this woman.
With thin eyebrows and cold eyes, she can probably be classified as beautiful among beauties.
The wind became dead silent.
The chill of the night air was absolutely abnormal for the current weather, and it felt like needles piercing my neck bones.
However, Shinji's heart not only did not cool down because of this chill, but became more and more eager.
"Finally it showed up."
He pumped his fist as if in celebration.
The next second, a gray cloak covered his body, and white feather shoes appeared under his feet, carrying his body into the sky, flying towards the figure of the girl who seemed to want to pick the moon.
Upon closer inspection, there was something clearly abnormal about the girl's body.
Having said that, it is questionable whether ghosts themselves can be evaluated by measuring the age of their lives.
Although I could clearly see the thin cheeks and frail body, I didn't feel any reality, as if it was a hazy mist.
The night wind blew, but the girl's loose white dress and long black hair did not flutter in the wind, but still quietly stuck to her body. She was like a mirage, or an illusion, out of reach.
However, the girl is not a mirage or an illusion. She really exists in the form of a spirit. Shinji, who has rich experience in dealing with spirits, can confirm this.
He rose to the same height as the girl and came face to face with her.
"Good evening, the moonlight is so beautiful tonight, would you like a cup of coffee?"
Shinji said as he handed the can to the girl.
The girl didn't say anything, but her swaying figure suddenly emanated a bewitching magic.
Shinji was unmoved: "Don't use hints on me. First, your hints are useless to me. Second, I'm already flying."
The girl seemed to be in a panic, and her body floated to a higher place.
"Uh, didn't you say you wanted someone to fly with you? Why are you hiding when you see me? Am I scary?"
Shinji sighed in annoyance, spread his rain boots' wings, and chased after the girl.
"Hey, hey, I don't mean any harm, I just want to buy you a cup of coffee and chat with you."
When the girl heard this, she not only did not stop, but ran even faster.
A high-altitude chase began, with the ghostly girl escaping and the cloaked boy chasing her, and the chase lasted for more than ten minutes.
Gradually, Shinji lost his patience to continue chasing and shouted loudly.
"Stop now, or I'll be rude to you if you don't stop."
Of course the girl didn't respond.
Shinji gritted his teeth and increased the output of magic power, and the flying speed increased again.
The moment he caught up with the girl, an inconspicuous cloth bag appeared in Shinji's left hand.
"Sorry, Kibisis!" As soon as the words fell, the buckles of the bag suddenly loosened, and the girl immediately felt a strong suction.
This suction did not come from the physical level, but from the soul level. This suction had no effect on the surrounding environment, but it made the girl unable to move. She was like a drowning animal, struggling desperately but in vain.
The mouth of the cloth bag opened completely, and the suction increased exponentially. The girl could no longer resist the suction and was swallowed into the cloth bag.
"If you can cooperate a little, I won't have to use this magic bag that once held the head of Medusa."
Shinji sighed and fastened the bag's buckle.
"I remember you and Ryougi Shiki were in the same hospital. You flew pretty far."
Relying on the moonlight to determine the direction, Shinji flew towards the outskirts of the city.
Half an hour later, Shinji opened a window on the outer wall of the hospital and landed in a single room.
On the bed in the ward, the girl who looked exactly like the one captured by the magic bag Kibisis sat up with difficulty.
"It's you..."
"It's me." Shinji nodded slightly.
"Are you my enemy?" The girl's expression was different from when she was in the sky. Instead of panic, she looked a little happy.
"It depends on you. If you want me to be your enemy, I am your enemy. If you want to be my friend, then I am my friend."
"Friends?" The girl seemed to be unable to bear the night wind and coughed twice, "I don't have any friends."
Shinji considerately closed the window: "Nothing can become something."
"Thank you, you are such a strange person."
"People often say this - so what's your answer, do you want to be my friend?"
"Hmm." The girl thought for more than ten seconds and finally nodded, "Then let's be friends. I also want to know what it feels like to have friends."
"I like this choice. Since we are friends, I should give you back what belongs to you."
Shinji smiled and materialized Kibisis, unbuttoning it in front of the girl's horrified gaze. The ghost of the girl sealed inside escaped from the magic bag and circled around the girl on the bed.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Matou Shinji. What's your name?"
"Mist painting, Wu Tiao Mist Painting."
On the hospital bed, in mid-air, the two girls spoke at the same time.
PS: I have seen two interesting names for the book friends, one is Clothes Merchant and the other is Beggars Gang. The meaning is obvious, if the clothes are all rotten, then they are the Beggars Gang, and Clothes Merchant makes new clothes for people with rotten clothes. Which one do you think is better