Faced with Senior Li's warm invitation, Yan Yueming shook her head like a rattle.
Li Zheng let him go boredly, but listened to his explanation word for word: "I'm sorry, Senior Li. I can't die yet. I have an aunt to support, and she only has me as a relative. I'm not married yet, so I have a little desire to live without a boyfriend, maybe next time. When I realize all these things in the future, if you invite me next time, I will definitely agree to it..."
Yan Yueming gradually began to talk nonsense and became confused.
Li Zheng was keenly aware that he had a mental problem, and was about to knock him out with a knife, but before the knife could hit him, Yan Yueming took a step forward and just avoided it.
"Senior." Yan Yueming opened her blurred eyes, almost leaning against his body, looking up at him and said, "You are so handsome."
Li Zheng: "..."
Yan Yueming: "Hey."
Li Zheng was not flattered by the sudden appreciation. He ruthlessly raised his knife again and knocked Yan Yueming unconscious. After Yan Yueming completely collapsed on him, Li Zheng raised his head and looked at the window on the second floor of No. 12.
A middle-aged man was leaning against the window, cracking melon seeds, spitting out the melon seed shells without any sense of morality, and saying, "Dog man, man."
Li Zheng smiled.
I don't know how long it took, but Yan Yueming woke up and found herself lying on a strange bed. He rubbed his head and was surprised to find that his head was wrapped with gauze, and he quickly sat up.
Where is this? Why am I here?
Yan Yueming was stunned for a while before he remembered that he seemed to have seen Li Zheng before he fainted. The injury on his head must have been treated by Li Zheng for him. What about Senior Li? What about Senior Li, who is older?
After finally seeing the savior, but now the savior was not in front of him, Yan Yueming's first reaction was to go find him. He hurriedly got out of bed, opened the door and ran out. He walked all the way through the corridor to the living room outside, and saw——
He is as big as Senior Li. He is sitting in the armchair in the living room, as if he has just returned from the red carpet of the film festival. He has his legs crossed, holding a crochet hook, and elegantly... knitting a palm-sized woolen doll?
Next to him, there was a middle-aged man with light green stubble in a wrinkled suit. He sat on the ground dejectedly, struggling with the tangled wool.
"Ah..." It seems that the way I got up is wrong.
Yan Yueming rubbed his eyes and turned to leave. As he walked, he was still wondering, was he dreaming? Wait, that's not right, is he dreaming now?
He looked back again.
That's right, that's Li Zheng, it's not his imagination.
"Senior?" Yan Yueming walked back quickly.
"Yes." Li Zheng glanced at him indifferently and stopped what he was doing, "Are you awake?"
Yan Yueming shook his head, as if he was really not dizzy anymore, so he nodded honestly.
Li Zheng asked him to go to the dining table to eat, and then glanced at the man sitting on the ground. The man sighed, but stood up resignedly and went to the kitchen to serve Yan Yueming food.
"Who am I messing with..." He muttered while working, and finally brought out three dishes and one soup, fried prawns with green onions, braised eggplant, twice-cooked pork and tomato and egg soup. It was very homely and hearty. Dishes that Yan Yueming never thought of.
Before that, he had eaten two compressed biscuits in a row!
"Let me ask first, are we still... still in the gap?" he asked in a low voice.
"Yes, this is No. 12. Well, look out of the window. Isn't that house over there the No. 9 where you used to stay?" The man took out a piece of paper to wipe his hands, his brows were full of frustration. It looks like he has been beaten many times by life.
"Wait a minute." Yan Yueming reacted, "How did you know I was staying on No. 9?"
"I saw it. You were sneaking around alone, first hiding in No. 9, and then hiding out. You were here and there, just like a puppy marking its mark." The man said, marking himself Amused.
Yan Yueming's eyes widened, as if he was facing a formidable enemy. He never thought that there was someone hiding here!
In other words, this person was there from beginning to end. Yan Yueming thought he was very hidden and well hidden, but he didn't know that his every move was under the prying eyes of others.
But it wasn't over yet. The next second, the man said again: "I also saw the homeless man in No. 11 throwing something at your No. 9."
throw things? Throw something? Why didn't I know... No, I know! Yan Yueming instantly thought of the ball of paper hidden under the bed, and also quickly remembered the scene when he entered the master bedroom on the second floor.
He remembered that the window facing No. 11 was open. If the person threw something from No. 11, it could theoretically be thrown in. The paper ball rolled on the ground, and finally rolled to the bottom of the bed, where it was picked up by Yan Yueming. The paper ball hitting the ground would not make a loud sound, so Yan Yueming would not hear or notice it downstairs.
It turns out that after working so hard, I ended up feeling lonely? Yan Yueming's hair became wilted when he thought about it.
"His name is Lao San." At this time, Li Zheng's words interrupted his random thoughts.
The third child raised his chin towards him as a greeting, "Okay, you can just call me the third child like him. As for me, as you can see, I am a loser, and I am usually quite unlucky. I am unlucky, and I lost my temper again the day before yesterday. I came in, I was walking inside, and I ended up here. I didn’t mean to ignore you, I was probably sleeping when you came in. When you woke up, you were already in No. 9. Isn’t there Boss Li’s entry and exit instructions there? , quite safe.”
Yan Yueming came to his senses, "Then why don't you stay on No. 9?"
The third child: "There is a mark on the door, didn't you see it? No. 9 is relatively safe, and No. 12 is not bad. It is a gentleman's home, more suitable for a homeless man like me. As soon as I enter the house at No. 9, I will think of—— "
Before he finished speaking, Lao San glanced at Li Zheng and the crochet hook in his hand. The next second, the crochet hook seemed to have eyes, grazing in front of Lao San's body like a sharp arrow, and inserted diagonally into the table.
The third child hurriedly avoided it and looked at Yan Yueming again, winking, but saying nothing.
"Do you have anything to talk about?" Li Zheng turned his head leisurely, looked over, and raised the hand that originally held the crochet hook. The third child sighed resignedly, pulled out the crochet hook from the table, and handed it back to him respectfully, "You have it."
Yan Yueming also behaved instantly, picked up the rice bowl and concentrated on eating.
This meal almost moved Yan Yueming to tears.
It was really delicious. He had never thought that an ordinary braised eggplant in oil could be so delicious. His taste buds came alive, his whole person came alive, and he truly felt: he was still alive, he was still eating, Senior Li came to save him, and he still had a bright future.
very nice.
After learning that the meal was cooked by Lao San, he felt much better about Lao San. Yan Yueming politely and seriously said thank you to him. For a moment, the third child was touched.
Look, there is true love in this world.
But this harmonious and friendly atmosphere did not last long, and was ruthlessly interrupted by Li Zheng. His ancient and unwavering eyes glanced at them, and finally fell on Yan Yueming, asking: "Are you full?"
Yan Yueming nodded, "I'm full."
Li Zheng then put down the crochet hook, put the crocheted items into his pocket, stood up and said, "Let's go then, you have a practical class today."
Yan Yueming was stunned, "Practice class? Take it now?"
Li Zheng: "Do you have any objections to my course schedule?"
How could Yan Yueming dare? He quickly followed. When the two of them walked out of the door, the third child looked at the dishes on the table and sighed again. Why did he meet Li Zheng again? Nothing good will happen if you run into him.
But what can he do? Unable to fight again and again, unable to resist but unable to resist, I can only accept my fate and do housework here. Who made the rules in this shabby house to be——
Gentlemen love to be clean.
Oh shit.
The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. While washing the dishes, he raised his middle finger to the sky. But then I thought about it, the little brothers outside would definitely be worse off than him when they met an acting teacher like Li Zheng.
What a wonderful little brother, he actually dared to act like a hooligan against Li Zheng.
Hope he is safe and sound.
Outside the house, walking on the asphalt road again, Yan Yueming's mood was completely different. When he first arrived here, he was alone, nervous and scared, with no one to communicate with, and he didn't even dare to shout loudly for fear of breaking the rules.
But now that I have eaten and drank well and am in good spirits, look at this road and these houses. Is it scary?
Is it that scary?
"Can you see the road clearly like this?" Li Zheng turned around and looked at Yan Yueming, who was hiding behind him and following suit. Yan Yueming's swollen heart was instantly pierced. He took half a step out and asked, "Senior, how are we going to go to class?"
Li Zheng stopped in the middle of the asphalt road, put one hand in his pocket, and asked: "Do you recognize all the signs?"
Yan Yueming told in detail how he found the mark, picked up the paper ball, and how he overcame his fear and poured water on the mirror. Finally, he said: "I have written it all down."
He is always very verbose when speaking, but although Senior Li's teaching style is unique, he never interrupts him. This made Yan Yueming always feel that Senior Li was actually a good person.
Li Zheng: "That kind of mark is called Hobo's mark. It is a secret code that has been circulated among wanderers since ancient times. Once upon a time, there was a professor who taught linguistics who fell into the gap and taught how to use this set of codes. Also stayed.”
Yan Yueming: "In the past? Did the professor escape?"
Li Zheng: "No, he will stay here forever."
Yan Yueming was speechless for a moment.
Li Zheng: "I shouldn't have given you a practical lesson so early, but since you are already here, the time has come. The first lesson is to identify marks."
Yan Yueming immediately became solemn. Unfortunately, he didn't have pen and paper, so he couldn't take notes. He could only prick up his ears and listen carefully.
"First of all, you have to remember that all official rescuers, including me, will use the formal written version of the 'Access Instructions' when we are sane."
"The second point is that only wanderers can use marks. Including but not limited to Hobo marks."
Hearing this, Yan Yueming couldn't help but ask, "What is the definition of a homeless person?"
Li Zheng: "People who stray into the gap are collectively called wanderers. People are good and evil, so the marks they leave cannot be fully trusted."
While talking, the two of them stepped forward again, and now reached the door of No. 11.
The mark on the doorframe of No. 11 means "the owner is not at home", and there is a man in ragged clothes hiding inside. Yan Yueming said: "I don't know if he is still in there now."
Li Zheng: "Then do you think No. 11 can enter?"
Yan Yueming thought about it carefully, "Can I enter?"
"Then come in." Li Zheng walked forward without saying a word, and Yan Yueming immediately followed. But when he got to the door, he was blinded because Li Zheng asked him to go in first.
Just come in. Firstly, Yan Yueming wanted to show off, and secondly, he was not particularly afraid of Li Zheng, so he did some mental preparation and boldly pushed the door open, which was quite heroic.
The room was quiet and slightly dark because there were no lights on. But it was already daytime after all, so it wasn't completely unclear.
Yan Yueming took every step carefully and not very quickly. Looking back at Li Zheng, he was always following behind, strolling leisurely. Yan Yueming calmed down and continued walking forward, carefully observing everything around him and tentatively speaking.
"The owner of the house is not at home, so the sofa and coffee table are covered with white cloth. There is dust on it. It really looks like it has not been moved for a long time. The man should not have moved either. There are footprints on the back window. That person should be The one that climbed in through the back window was the same as what I saw at the time.”
Li Zheng's expression showed no emotion or anger, "Continue."
Yan Yueming continued to explore and continued: "The footprints lead to the corridor. A cursory observation shows that there is no basement here, and no taboos have been violated since entering. It may be because the owner of the house is not at home. So there will be fewer rules?”
Li Zheng nodded slightly, "9, 11, and 12 are all relatively safe marks."
Yan Yueming didn't expect that he was right. He couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief and continued to walk forward with more confidence. "The man went upstairs. The path he explored should be safe. Let's follow. Let’s go to the second floor?”
The first rule of survival for ordinary people: follow the path that others have taken, and avoid thunder.
Without saying much, Yan Yueming took the lead again and walked up to the second floor with slow but firm steps.
However, after arriving on the second floor, the situation was not as simple as on the first floor, because there were only footprints on the stairs of those who had gone but not returned. Yan Yue Mingzai searched carefully and found that the person was missing.
Under what circumstances, leaving here does not require leaving footprints?
Yan Yueming even opened the window and looked down, but did not find any jumping off the building. The result could only be: "He disappeared? Did he get into a place he shouldn't have entered again?"
Li Zheng leaned against the wall gracefully and asked, "What do you think?"
Yan Yueming knew that this was another test question for him, so he thought hard about it. There is no attic or basement as mentioned in the entry and exit instructions No. 9, and there are no rooms that should not exist. No matter how you look at it, it is normal. The footprints on the ground were messy. It was obvious that the man had walked back and forth many times on the second floor, but there were no footprints coming downstairs, so Yan Yueming could not tell where exactly he disappeared.
If the gaps are connected, the way of connecting may be different from what Yan Yueming thought. For example, the world in the gap may not be a complete map extending in all directions.
How to get across from one gap to another?
The senior climbed out of the grave, but the family of three drove along the asphalt road, only to come back again.
Suddenly, Yan Yueming thought of a word in his mind, "leap forward", jumping from here to there like a black hole. He told Li Zheng his inference. Li Zheng did not directly answer whether he was correct or not. Instead, he grabbed a pen from the pen holder in the study and came back.
In front of Yan Yueming, he let go of his hand, and all the pens fell to the ground. Some rolled away, and some overlapped each other in a complicated manner.
"Some gaps intersect and you can go directly. Some gaps do not intersect and there will be a jump. The way is the same as when you fall into the gap." Li Zheng half-crouched in front of the scattered pens and looked up at Yan Yueming, " Every home of world consciousness is full of strange things, but this is just the most ordinary and least dangerous one. The official archives call it - Silent Street."
Yan Yueming murmured this name, feeling it was particularly appropriate.
"Senior, how many gaps did you pass through to come to me?" Yan Yueming asked.
"Three." Li Zheng said.
so far.
Yan Yueming couldn't help but think.
