For a while, no one spoke.
Yan Jingxing felt uneasy. He could hear the trembling gasps of the girl next to him. He could imagine the emotions in her heart, but even if he wanted to comfort her, he didn't know where to start.
He had long realized that the situation at Chunzao's family might be complicated, and he was inevitably curious to find out.
Before, he felt that it was difficult to make in-depth inquiries because of the shallow exchange of words; now the relationship between the two has become close, but the truth he wanted came too suddenly and too...heavy.
Just as a bystander, listening to it feels so heavy that it is difficult to breathe, and it is difficult to imagine the mood of the person involved.
Yan Jingxing stared at Xie Yuzhi's calm face, thinking that this girl was really "unusual".
"I gotta go."
After a while, she said.
It wasn't until the driver reminded Xie Yuzhi to leave that he was released from the silence and looked at Ji Chunzao.
"Chun Zao, are you okay?"
The long-haired girl sniffed, her eyes were as red as rabbits, and she responded to him in a low voice:
"I-I'm fine...let's go first."
She rubbed her eyes and patted her cheeks hard, trying to appear energetic.
"Jing Xing, it seems that it is impossible to convince her today. Let's think of other ways next time."
You still refuse to give up.
Yan Jingxing sighed and had no choice but to nod.
…
There were no clouds in the sky and the sky was brilliant. The weather will not change due to people's mood, it is still so beautiful, and the strong sunshine makes people's skin hot.
On the way home, Ji Chunzao said she wanted to use the bathroom, so he stood at the door of the shopping mall and waited for her.
At this time, a black private car slowly passed by on the road. It happened to be a red light, and the car stopped beside him.
Just as Yan Jingxing felt a little strange, the window on the passenger seat rolled down, revealing a girl's face.
The class captain looked at him steadily, and then said:
"Yan Jingxing, I don't know if you pity her as much as I do, or if you really believe her crazy words, but there are some things you should pay attention to: she is a person who easily gets hot-headed, and you need to watch from the side. Don’t let her do something stupid that will affect those around her.”
Xie Yuzhi said it very seriously, probably from the experience of being a roommate. Although she didn't believe Chun Zao's words, she played the role of "caregiver" around Ji Chun Zao for a period of time out of a certain sense of responsibility.
Now, when she said those words in front of Ji Chunzao, she obviously had the intention to just be a stranger in the future - at least from Xie Yuzhi's point of view, so she couldn't help but find herself to talk to.
Of course she had good intentions, but as Yan Jingxing listened, he couldn't help frowning and feeling unhappy.
"Xie Yuzhi, you may think that you know everything, but I am different from you. I only know one thing: 'Chun Zao is right' - I believe her."
Yan Jingxing's tone was firm.
"So, you don't need to say anything anymore."
Xie Yuzhi blinked and seemed surprised.
She looked at the boy in front of the car window as if she were meeting him for the first time. After a while, the team leader looked away and stroked the soft hair falling on her shoulders, looking a little unnatural.
"Isn't it nice that you are angry for her... You are her friend. Chunzao doesn't need me."
It was obviously a very short conversation, but it became very long at this moment. A minute later, the red light turned green and the car started moving again.
He heard Xie Yuzhi whisper goodbye to him.
"goodbye!"
Yan Jingxing waved his hand towards the black car that was driving away. When he turned around, he saw Ji Chunzao standing behind him, looking at him strangely.
"That person just now was Xie Yuzhi? What were you secretly chatting with her about?"
"It's nothing. She told me to watch you carefully and not to act recklessly. It's too stupid to go looking for aliens all day long..."
Yan Jingxing was just halfway through his words when he saw Ji Chunzao looking like he was about to cry and looking at him pitifully. He quickly explained:
"Of course I refused. Don't worry, I'm definitely on your side!"
Ji Chunzao approached him unsteadily, and then fell into his arms.
"Woooo..."
She clutched the boy's collar tightly, pressed her face against his chest, and let out a small, weak sob.
Yan Jingxing's body suddenly froze. He hesitated for a while, then raised his hand and grabbed the girl's slender shoulders.
As if to give her the strength to support him, he held Ji Chunzao's weak body in his arms.
It felt like holding an injured animal, he thought.
…
In the car, sitting in the passenger seat was a girl as quiet as a lady.
She is still young, but her appearance is already stunning. She has a dignified temperament, and it is obvious that she has received a good etiquette education. Even in her own car, she will not relax her manners.
Adolescence is a period of personality maturation and self-formation in a person's life. Junior high school students can be said to be the most rebellious group, but there is no sign of such disobedience in the girl named Xie Yuzhi;
On the contrary, she seemed to have understood what she wanted to do and who she wanted to be in the future a long time ago, and since then, she has been demanding herself with the strictest standards.
At this time, Xie Yuzhi suddenly pulled down the mirror on the passenger seat and stared at his face.
The girl's skin is cold white, and standing in the crowd can make the skin color of everyone around her look yellow; her frost-like beauty will make people look away involuntarily, unwilling to look more directly, as if one more look will make them feel... Ashamed...
Except herself.
She looked straight at the girl in the mirror, capturing the confused emotions in those dark and bright pupils.
Xie Yuzhi took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly, as if to relieve her gloomy mood through her heart.
"Uncle Liu, after you subdued Teacher Gao, did you find anything strange on her body?"
"weird stuff?"
Liu Tie tilted his head slightly and asked doubtfully:
"What do you mean, miss?"
"For example," Xie Yuzhi's words were a little hesitant. It seemed that she was not sure whether she really wanted to say it, "'leeches' or something like that..."
"leech?"
"I mean, are there any signs of being attacked by a creature?"
"Oh, did you mean she was bitten by a poisonous snake or something?" Liu Tie shook his head, "I didn't see any similar wounds on her body."
"Yeah."
Xie Yuzhi carried the mirror back again.
"Did you notice anything, Miss?"
"...No, nothing."
…
Yan Jingxing held Ji Chunzao and felt the girl's slender back in his arms, feeling calmer than ever before.
It was the first time for him to have a physical relationship with a girl of his own age. He would inevitably feel shy and nervous at first, but the awkwardness quickly disappeared in the girl's sobs.
There was a real weight on the chest, and the flowing tears wetted the skirt of the clothes, washing away the random and impetuous thoughts that suddenly appeared in the head, leaving only each other's breath close at hand.
The girl's long hair flows quietly in the sun like ocean waves; her soft body is close at hand, and the body temperature coming from the palms against her back is slightly hot, and her hair exudes a refreshing fragrance. Surround him gently.
During this process, he heard his own heartbeat, and also heard the heartbeat of Chun Zao. The sound had never been so clear before;
As time passed, the heartbeats of the two people gradually overlapped.
A reassuring atmosphere brewed among the young people embracing each other. The girl in her arms also calmed down.
After that, she realized her gaffe and left his arms with a blush.
Ji Chunzao raised her head to look at him sheepishly, with tears glistening in the corners of her eyes.
"…Thank you, thank you."
Yan Jingxing deliberately frowned and said:
"You are finally willing to let me go. You cried so much that you had snot and tears. I was really worried that you would blow it on me."
"I won't!"
Ji Chunzao retorted loudly, then burst into laughter.
"I had a dream yesterday."
Yan Jingxing took the girl's soft palm and they sat down side by side by the flower bed.
He seriously mentioned the dream last night, as well as the recording and analysis of the morning.
This is what he wanted to share.
If it were anyone else, it would just be ridiculous to hear him take an absurd dream so seriously.
But Ji Chunzao must be an exception, because the person she is now is the person she used to be.
"Chun Zao, do you believe me? Although it's just an intuition, I think it may reflect the future to some extent."
The long-haired girl stared at his side cheek.
"I mean, you don't need to be discouraged. Xie Yuzhi looks stubborn, but she will understand sooner or later, because just like I saw you, I also saw her in my dream."
"So that's it..." The little girl clenched her fists and raised the corners of her mouth unconsciously, "I didn't do anything wrong, nor did I think wrong."
Just as Yan Jingxing expected, Ji Chunzao accepted what he said without hesitation and cheered up.
"Humph, even though Yuzhi already has a 'I don't want to have anything to do with you' attitude, I haven't given up!"
She pretended to punch the air in front of her a few times.
"I will definitely let her see the truth."
"...What are you going to do?"
"Of course I have a way. Have you forgotten my abilities?"
"You mean 'calling aliens'?"
Yan Jingxing thought for a while and said.
"Let's not talk about whether you can overcome your own psychological barriers now. Even if you can activate your ability and call the aliens, will you be able to convince Xie Yuzhi? Judging from the condition of the 'Spirit Leech', she may not be able to would admit similar circumstantial evidence.”
As long as they have not seen it with their own eyes, it is impossible for them to believe anything beyond their understanding. This is the common people.
"And...this kind of thing is very dangerous."
His tone was quite serious.
The horrific incident that occurred in the cram school today will undoubtedly leave a lingering fear in the hearts of all those who have experienced it.
This matter is not over yet. Although the police came and took away Teacher Gao and the first victim, there is a high probability that they will not be able to solve the root problem because ordinary people cannot see it at all.
Spirit leeches... those alien creatures, I originally thought I could just avoid them, but I didn't expect that they could actually reside in the human body, control their actions, and even use them as a medium to infect other people. Even Ji Chunzao didn't know this. things.
In addition, the girl said when we last met that the reason why she has a psychological barrier to "calling" may be because something very unusual happened after she used this ability last time——
Thinking of what Xie Yuzhi mentioned about her childhood experiences and her own insistence that her parents were taken away by UFOs, all of the above made Yan Jingxing's heart covered with a lingering haze.
"Jing Xing, I know what you are thinking."
Ji Chunzao glanced at him.
"About what Yuzhi said about the disappearance of my parents, that's basically all I know, because I lost my memory after that."
"Amnesia? By the way, you mentioned that your memory before elementary school is very vague."
"Well, I think it must be the sequelae of that incident. The only thing I remember is that I was in a forest and saw a strange light shining in the sky at night, and then the car was sucked up into the sky... …It’s blurry, but I’m sure I saw it.”
The girl spoke as she recalled, her tone sounding like she was talking in her sleep.
"That's why I wonder if they were taken away by aliens."
"...could it be related to your ability?"
Yan Jingxing was silent for a moment and finally asked.
He knew that he could think of this possibility, and as the person involved, she must have thought about it, and probably even struggled with it countless times.
When Ji Chunzao realized the possibility that her "superpower" was the reason for her parents' disappearance, how much psychological pressure did she bear?
"Maybe? I'm not sure."
Ji Chunzao raised his face again to peek at his expression, then lowered his head and answered in a relaxed tone.
"But no matter what the outcome, I have made up my mind that I don't want to stand still anymore."
What else could Yan Jingxing say? This is a decision made by the person who is under the most pressure, and there is no room for others to comment.
"Going back to the question you just mentioned, how do we make people believe in the existence of aliens? It's actually very simple. I think the problem is that the leeches are still too small."
"……Small?"
"I have this feeling. If the 'alien creature' summoned by me is large enough, even ordinary people can see it."
"..."
Bigger than a spirit leech?
That thing is already more than ten times the size of ordinary insects, right? If he had grown older... Yan Jingxing couldn't help but shudder.
At this time, a white giant figure suddenly appeared in his mind.
"Do you believe me?"
she asked quietly, throwing the recurring question back.
"certainly."
Yan Jingxing nodded and gently caught it.
Although he still hesitated in his heart, in the dream last night, the astronaut showed him where Xie Yuzhi would be in the future.
In this case, everything will go well, right...?
"Okay, I'll do it!"
Ji Chunzao smiled at him. This time, there was no trace of hesitation or uneasiness in the girl's smile.
