"Why?"

Standing in front of Fang Zheng was a girl who looked about the same age as Lihua and the others, but she was dressed differently, wearing a red and white shrine maiden costume. She stared at Fang Zheng with eyes wide open, as if she had never expected to be discovered. But the most eye-catching thing was the pair of curved hairs on the girl's head that looked like horns - no, they were horns.

Fang Zheng certainly knew who this girl was. In fact, this cute and weak girl in front of him was the one in the Hinamizawa legend - the God of the Shrine. She was also the real murderer behind the rumored "ghost" that had killed several innocent civilians... This was of course nonsense.

It's strange to say that the entire world of Cicada is about to be destroyed by infinite reincarnation, but it is still very scientific. From beginning to end, the protagonists almost never used any extraordinary power when facing difficulties. At least no extraordinary power, they just faced it with their own strength and solved the problem.

Of course, this is how they were able to defeat the special forces members. I really don’t know whether to say that those guys are too useless or that these protagonists are too evil.

But Fang Zheng couldn't figure out why she appeared in front of him. Logically speaking, this shrine god should share perception with Furute Rika, and only people with Hinamizawa syndrome who have reached L3 or above can... Wait a minute, I've only been here for a day and I'm already at stage 3? Are you kidding me?

Fang Zheng was cursing in his heart, and Yu Ru was also confused at this moment. Obviously, she did not expect that the man in front of her could actually see her.

"Are you a student here too? Anyway, come in first."

At this moment, Fang Zheng also became curious about this. He felt very good about himself and it was impossible for him to have the symptoms of Hinamizawa syndrome, but he saw Yu Ru clearly. No matter what, this was also a very interesting thing. Therefore, Fang Zheng pretended to know nothing and opened the door to invite the other party in.

"Oh, thank you, sorry to bother you..."

At this moment, Yu Ru probably didn't realize that someone could see her so clearly, so she was confused. She instinctively bowed to Fang Zheng, then slowly walked into the room and sat on the chair next to her.

"Would you like something to drink? Tea? Coffee?"

“Ah, no need!!”

Hearing this, Yu Ru hurriedly began to shake her hands vigorously. Seeing her movements, Fang Zheng stopped asking questions. He also knew that Yu Ru was probably just an illusion at the moment, and she probably wouldn't be able to drink even if he gave her the drink. But now is the performance time after all... I can't turn a blind eye to cooperating with your performance.

"I see... By the way, I don't seem to know your name yet?"

"My name is..."

Faced with Fang Zheng's question, Yu Ru was obviously quite flustered. She hesitated for a long time before she lowered her voice and spoke.

"My name is Hanei, Furute Hanei."

"Oh? You're Lihua's..."

"We are relatives..."

This routine in Japan has not changed for many years. When introducing a girl who falls from the sky to outsiders, you can call her a relative. When introducing a girl from another world to outsiders, you can call her a relative. Now even ghosts... no, shrine gods can be considered relatives.

Oh, wait, it seems they are indeed relatives, but the generation difference is a bit big.

"Hello, Haneri."

Fang Zheng muttered to himself and nodded to Yu Ru.

"You may have heard from Lihua. My name is Fang Zheng. I just came here to teach in the past two days. I hope you can give me your guidance."

"I am the one, please give me your guidance."

Yu Ru seemed particularly reserved in front of Fang Zheng. Hearing this, she hurriedly stood up and bowed respectfully to Fang Zheng.

"So, what do you want to see me for so late?"

"……this……"

Yu Ru obviously wasn't very good at lying. In fact, she hadn't realized yet, "I'm just a ghost, how could I be seen by humans? And I was treated as an ordinary person by humans..."

"I, I heard from Rika that there was a new teacher, so I wanted to come and see... ahwuahwu..."

Yu Ru was obviously not very good at lying. She almost lowered her head and blushed as she finished speaking, not daring to look up.

Anyone with a discerning eye can tell there's something wrong with your reaction, girl.

"It's so late, isn't it dangerous for you to come here alone? If you want to see it, why don't you come to school? I haven't seen you in school either."

"Because, because of some reasons..."

Yu Ru couldn't even cry anymore. She knew that whenever she could leave Lihua and appear with others, it was basically when those people were sick. Therefore, Yu Ru was very curious at first. Although Hinamizawa syndrome does have an incubation period, it didn't make sense for Fang Zheng to get sick after just one day. But what surprised Yu Ru was that the man in front of her didn't look sick at all, and he could actually see her completely!

You know, even L5 patients with severe disease can only hear her voice vaguely at best!

Come to think of it, girl, if you keep apologizing to those seriously ill patients, won’t that make them more suspicious?

"Well, um, I'm so sorry to bother you. I have something else to do so I have to go back first. I'm so sorry, please don't tell anyone that I'm here!"

After saying this, Yu Ru finally couldn't sit still anymore and hurriedly got up and left. Fang Zheng raised his eyebrows as he watched her leave, but in the end he did nothing.

Frankly speaking, Yu Ru's appearance was a surprise to Fang Zheng, but it was a good start. He had always hoped to find an opportunity to discuss with Li Hua. But if he went directly to her house, Li Hua would obviously not believe him. She might have some doubts about his appearance, but she might only be careful to test him at first instead of coming directly to her house.

Perhaps for Lihua, this failure is tolerable, but Fang Zheng is different. He knows very well that although Lihua's ability seems to be very similar to Tom Cruise in "Edge of Tomorrow", in essence, they are very different. Tom Cruise will go back to the whole world after his death, but Lihua is more like jumping to a parallel world than going back in time. After she fails in this world, Lihua will find the timeline of another world and start over.

But just because Lihua can travel through the world doesn't mean Fangzheng can do the same. Because his power is time, and it doesn't involve parallel worlds. Moreover, Lihua's power comes from Yuru, which is "for one person only", so Fangzheng is not willing to try it. If Lihua in this world fails to achieve her goal, will he go to the next world with her to start over?

And now, with Yuiri as a mouthpiece, Rika might take some other actions.

Thinking of this, Fang Zheng reached out to pick up the mug beside him and took a sip of coffee. Then, he turned his head and looked out the window at the dark night sky.

Echoing in the night sky is the low chirping of cicadas.

"Pear Blossom! Pear Blossom! Pear Blossom!!"

"What's wrong? Hanei?"

Seeing Yuru appearing in front of her in a panic, Rika frowned. She glanced at Satoko who had fallen asleep not far away, then turned to the other side and stared at Yuru with dissatisfaction.

"Where have you been? Why didn't you answer me when I called you?"

“Oh no, oh no, it’s really bad this time! Aaaaaaah!”

"What happened?"

Seeing Yuuru in such a panic, Rika couldn't help but become curious.

"I, I've been seen!!"

"What?!"

Hearing Yuru's answer, Rika's face showed an expression of great surprise.

"What do you mean by being seen? Can anyone see you?"

"Yes, yes, it's the new teacher who came today. I went over there in the evening and wanted to see how he was doing. But I didn't expect that he would find me, and he even invited me in to sit for a while!"

"Is there anything unusual about his behavior?"

At this time, Lihua's expression gradually became solemn. She certainly knew the conditions for Yu Ru to appear in front of others.

"Has his condition already entered stage L3?"

"No, no, no, he's normal, that's what's strange. His behavior is different from everyone else! When he looked at me, he seemed to be able to see my existence very clearly, and he treated me as an ordinary student and asked me a lot of questions..."

Having said that, Yuiri bit her lower lip and then looked at Rika.

"Lihua... I think that Mr. Fang Zheng might be the hope that can help us escape this fate."

“…”

But this time, Lihua did not speak. Instead, she lowered her head and thought for a moment, then slowly sat down against the wall and looked out the window. Seeing her strange reaction, Yuru tilted his head and looked at her curiously.

"…Rika?"

"I have no idea……"

As she spoke, Lihua curled up her trembling body. This was not because of fear, but because of excitement. A person who had never appeared in the previous reincarnation, a person who could communicate with Yu Ru like herself. Just as Yu Ru said, perhaps this man was the hope that could save her from the sea of ​​suffering.

But will he really help her? The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The girl who has experienced nearly a hundred reincarnations knows this very well.

If that person is unwilling to help me, or even if he is willing, he will be the same as Akasaka...

Thinking of this, Lihua lowered her head and closed her eyes.

Do you really want to give it a try this time?