Yan Yueming fulfilled his mission and escorted the man back to Qiaotou with Wen Renjing. When the man saw the town on the other side again, he looked downcast and full of tears, like a good family man who had been coerced.
Li Zheng was still standing where he was. Except for a few snowflakes on his shoulders, his standing posture had not changed.
"Senior, we have captured the man." The first thing Yan Yueming did when he came back was to report to Li Zheng. Li Zheng met his expectant gaze and said, "Not bad."
Yan Yueming was satisfied and smiled sheepishly. Wen Renjing looked very happy, glanced at the man with snot and tears on his face, felt disgusted, and asked quickly: "We have captured him, what should we do next?"
Hearing this, Li Zheng raised his eyes and glanced at the flying snowflakes. The snow was getting heavier and heavier, and the temperature was also dropping rapidly. It was actually dangerous to advance or retreat.
He looked back at his two juniors, especially Yan Yueming, and asked, "Are you afraid?"
To save face when hearing people and sights, you have to say you are not afraid even if you are afraid.
Yan Yueming was very frightened, but he was also sincere. He nodded like a fool. Anyone could see his fear, but he quickly said in a low voice, "But I listen to my seniors, so I'll go with you."
After finishing speaking, he grasped the small golden ax tightly and added: "I still have weapons."
Li Zheng curled his lips in a subtle way, "Then cross the bridge."
"No! You can't go there!" The man trembled and struggled again. "That ghost place is too dangerous. I managed to escape. How can I go back!"
Li Zheng: "Then tell me, what happened in the town?"
The man looked at him, instinctively sensing danger. This danger was not the shocking feeling brought to him by the tender-faced but ferocious Ax Gang, but the oppressive feeling as if a dark cloud was bearing down on him, and a man who looked so beautiful must be deceitful! He couldn't help but took another half step back, and said tremblingly, "You, tell me first, you are just like me, are you a human? You are a human, right?"
Yan Yueming nodded sincerely, "We are."
The man was devastated, "Then why are you arresting me!"
Yan Yueming had already noticed Li Zheng's intention at this moment. Looking at the man in front of him, he couldn't help but think of the first time he fell into the gap. He felt a bit sympathetic, so he took the initiative to explain in a gentle tone: "This is There are gaps, and running around may be more dangerous. And the weather is cold, and people are freezing to death in front of you. How can you go out alone?"
Wen Renjing nodded and agreed, "Yes, the one who froze to death is already stiff."
The man thought for a moment, suddenly felt sad, and spoke very quickly about his experience. He was a little incoherent at first, but he could barely understand the ins and outs of what was going on. According to what he said, he is from Lincheng, his name is Zhao Shen, an older, unmarried and humble social worker. He skipped work today because he was dissatisfied with working overtime during the holidays. Unexpectedly, he wandered for a rare moment and unfortunately fell into the gap.
We are all aboriginal paper people in this strange world. Although we don’t know the details of the gap, we are familiar with the matter of "falling into the gap".
If you suddenly appear in a strange place, 99% of you will fall into a gap.
Lincheng is about 300 kilometers away from Shangfang City, not too far but not too close either. Now that the position of the gap has been disrupted, it is not surprising that Zhao Shen met them.
"I swear I just accidentally squinted for a while under a tree in the park. When I woke up, the sky had changed!"
Wen Renjing asked: "You were in Orange Town as soon as you came in? How long have you been here?"
"I don't know..." Zhao Shen thought of something, with a face full of horror, "Anyway, I woke up in that town, under a tree. It was still morning when I fell asleep, so why did I wake up at night? It was snowing, and I almost froze to death! Every house in the town had lights on, and I could see someone in that house from a distance. Someone! Do you know? Can you believe there are people living in this damn gap? Don’t you see ghosts?”
Yan Yueming could understand him very well. If he went to the quiet neighborhood for the first time and saw someone in the house, he would definitely feel more terrifying than seeing a ghost.
Zhao Shen continued: "Later, later I found a hotel that was still open for business. I was really cold, so I went in because I was cold and hungry. As a result, the hotel didn't charge for accommodation and asked me for money. Do you think there is any? question?"
Hearing this, Li Zheng immediately asked, "How much did you take?"
Zhao Shen was slightly startled, then said: "3, 360... is the market price of an ordinary standard room? Is there a problem?"
He gradually became uneasy. He looked at Li Zheng, then at Wen Renjing and Yan Yueming, feeling at a loss for what to do. Li Zheng looked calm, but what he said made his heart tremble, "That's your life money."
Zhao Shen: "Selling your life for money?!"
This time, even Yan Yueming was shocked.
Li Zheng: "Is this your own quotation?"
Zhao Shen recalled the situation in the store, as if he was struck by lightning, "Yes, yes, no wonder, no wonder the store owner asked me to set the price myself. I didn't dare to go too high. I was afraid that there would be a problem, so I reported it." It’s the price of an ordinary double bed room!”
Li Zheng's expression did not change, "How many are left?"
"Oh, oh." Zhao Shen quickly took out his pocket. Because he was too panicked and afraid, the money fell down while taking it out. He hurriedly picked it up and looked at them as if asking for help, "I, I'm really too cold. I was so hungry, so I used some, and now I have so much left, about two hundred yuan. What should I do? Will I die? "
Li Zheng: "You're still alive, aren't you?"
Probably his calmness and calmness infected Zhao Shen, so although Zhao Shen was still scared, he was not so panicked. But the next second, Li Zheng said ruthlessly: "But your life has been sold to the hotel, and once the money and money are spent, no matter how far you run away, you will come back here again."
"What should we do?" Zhao Shen was numb, pulling his hair, his voice trembling.
"Redemption." Li Zheng said concisely.
As for how to redeem it, this is a technical issue.
Wen Renjing then asked: "Since you sold your life and lived well in the hotel, why did you suddenly run out again?"
"Ha, hehehehehe..." Zhao Shen suddenly began to sneer, as if he was possessed by something dirty in a horror movie, that kind of smile that was superficial but not smiling, "You don't know, when you first entered the hotel, It was quite normal. After I got the money and checked in, I started fouling and fouling non-stop. I felt like I was even breathing wrong. It was like Sibuxiang was following me and picking at my skin. Brain, do you know? I just need a straw to suck it! I shake my brain now and it feels like it’s full of paste! It’s paste!”
The more he spoke, the more excited he became, and his saliva flew everywhere, as if he was in a daze, "I am only at peace when I spend money to enjoy services. This is not a proper consumerist trap!"
Yan Yueming was shocked when he heard this, not because of the meaning revealed in Zhao Shen's words, but because of Zhao Shen's state. This reminded him of the wanderer on No. 11, who was sometimes sober and sometimes crazy. Zhao Shen hadn't reached this point yet, but he only had two hundred dollars left in his life.
Two hundred yuan, how much is Xiao Ming worth? How long can you survive in the small town?
Li Zheng also had some thoughts in his mind. Zhao Shen shouldn't have been in Orange Town for a long time. The places he went to were limited, and just a hotel was enough to scare him out of his wits.
At this time, the wind and snow intensified, and the cold wind blew like a knife, causing both Yan Yueming and Wenren to sneeze. Li Zheng glanced at the other side of the bridge again and made a quick decision: "Let's go."
As soon as Li Zheng moved, Wen Renjing and Yan Yueming immediately followed.
"Hey!" Zhao Shen finally calmed down a little. Seeing that they were already walking towards the bridge, he finally gritted his teeth and followed, "Wait for me!"
As Li Zheng walked, he introduced them to the rules of the town.
“There’s one cardinal rule in this small town: You must practice what you preach.”
"Pay attention to every word you say. Once you say it, you must abide by it. The simplest example, if you casually say that you want to eat Chinese food later, then your next meal must be Chinese food. This applies to We, also apply to NPCs."
"There are many NPCs here, all residents of the small town. They look like ordinary people in appearance. They act strictly according to their own character settings, and they are all different."
Li Zheng said as he walked, calmly and calmly. He has always disliked reading from the textbook, so he never approved of Que Ge's problem-solving tactics. On-the-spot teaching was more interesting.
On the other side of the bridge is a stone road. The road is not straight, but curved. After walking about 300 meters, they passed the first house.
Just now on the other side of the bridge, because it was a snowy night and there was a certain distance, Yan Yueming could not see clearly. After arriving here, he finally saw clearly that the architectural style of this orange-red town was simply a hodgepodge.
There are very ordinary cement bungalows, three-story European-style self-built houses, wooden houses, Chinese-style courtyards with white walls and black tiles, and old tube buildings with five or six floors. They have everything. Looking around, there are still lights on the old water tower.
It was snowing outside and there were no people on the street.
Through the windows of every house, Yan Yueming could vaguely see figures passing by, but he couldn't see them clearly. There are street lights on the side of the road, very ordinary ones, but half of them are broken.
"Pa." A moth flew into the flame and hit the lampshade.
"For small town residents, we are all outsiders, and outsiders need to live in hotels. Only by invitation from local residents can you enter their houses."
Li Zheng looked far away and continued: "In addition to hotels, there are other functional buildings in the town. The most important thing is that you can make phone calls in Orange Town."
Wen Renjing blinked and reacted immediately, "A phone that can connect to the real world? I heard my mother talk about such a special contact point before, but I didn't expect it to actually exist?"
"Everything is unknown, which means everything is possible." Li Zheng's words came leisurely in the wind and snow, "The wind and snow are different, the gaps are changing, we have to make this call as soon as possible."
But before that——
Li Zheng glanced at Wen Renjing and Yan Yueming, and estimated that their physical strength had reached the limit, so he said: "Let's go stay for a while first."
