"Do you think they became like that because of sunburn?" While waiting for the result, Lian Gui finished the questioning and blocked the camera facing the suspect's face with his coat in front of other police officers outside the one-way glass: "Excuse me, your guess is a bit far-fetched. Just based on the black faces and bloody eyes you saw?"
Shi Yu was still sitting on the chair, head down, as if extremely tired: "Because not only their faces, but also their shoulders, collarbones and even the backs of their hands also had gray and black marks."
Lian Gui: “Hmm?”
"It is obvious that the changes in these parts of their bodies are unlikely to be caused in several times, but all at once. Under what circumstances, what actions, and what directions of damage could possibly fall on these parts of a person at the same time?" Shi Yu said, "Imagine a person standing on the ground with his head tilted up, and the force that causes damage happens to fall from the sky."
Lian Gui thought for a moment: "Even if we can find out the route they walked before the accident, Tianshui Lanwan is so big. Even if they pass through the same corridor, some people may be used to walking on the left and some on the right. What kind of places are they likely to pass by?"
Shi Yu: "Elevator entrance, apartment building door, residential community pedestrian revolving passage."
"A place that can only accommodate one person and has a guaranteed daily flow of people?" Lian Gui nodded, "These places do meet the requirements. So suppose we really find the possible intersection between them. But since all of them have been to that place, it proves that the place is a public area and anyone can go there. Especially the ones you just mentioned, there are hundreds of residents in Tianshui Lanwan, and countless people pass through every day. How come only these few people got into trouble?"
Shi Yu was silent for a few seconds before repeating in a low voice: "Why them? How do you think they are different from the possible victims you imagined?"
Lian Gui: "Let's not talk about anything else. Just looking at their age, the youngest of them is over 40 years old. How can so many of them look around when walking? Just walking to that place and looking directly at the sun is a condition for an accident. When your colleague got into trouble, it was pitch black in the middle of the night. Any young person who suddenly had a chuunibyou attack and looked up at the sky to express his emotions would be more likely to do so than them."
Shi Yu: "After the age of 40, isn't it easier for the immune system to be damaged than that of young people?"
Lian Gui was stunned for a moment, then his thoughts suddenly became clear: "What you mean is that there are more than just a few people who have met the conditions, but they are more likely to get into trouble than others, so we only see them get into trouble?"
Shi Yu hummed lightly: "Survivor bias."
"Well, even if what you said is right, the places where they got into trouble were all different. Some were at home, some were outside, and some were even in the gym. They were thousands of miles away when they were discovered." Lian Gui said, "How do you explain this?"
Shi Yu: "Maybe there's a difference in time between the injury and the onset of the disease."
Lian Gui raised his eyebrows: "There is a delay between them getting infected and the accident? After getting infected, they can still run around until the accident happens and then collapse in front of others? It's really hard to believe that it's possible when you say that. It doesn't make sense at all."
Shi Yu was silent for a long time before he asked, "What organization did you say you belong to?"
Lian Gui: "The Fifth Team of the Special Investigation and Handling Team of the Ministry of State Security for Supernatural Events."
"Since it is supernatural, why do we use materialistic methods to prove its existence?" Shi Yu said in a very light voice, "Why do the sun and the moon rise in the east and set in the west in this universe? Why do people on Earth have birth, aging, sickness and death? Why do the three souls and six spirits leave the body after death, and why do people with excessive resentment turn into evil spirits instead of cats and dogs? Why did the atmosphere suddenly break for no apparent reason, and why did it happen to be broken in the area above Tianshui Lanwan? Do you also investigate the principles behind these phenomena?"
This kind of question, which concerns the natural laws of heaven and earth, cannot be explained by the technological level of creatures in this dimension as humans, at least not now.
Lian Gui was speechless.
Not only because he couldn't find the words to answer, but also because he realized that his behavior of asking whatever he thought of when facing him was too natural.
No matter how reasonable and true the other party's words sound now, they are all fantasy before verification. As a member of the Ministry of State Security, he should always remember "innocent until proven guilty" and "evidence is the only criterion for solving a case."
Just then, someone suddenly knocked on the door outside the interrogation room.
Lian Gui stood up and talked to the people outside for a few words, then turned back and said, "Come out."
Shi Yu was taken to the police office, where the cold air from the air conditioner penetrated his clothes and squeezed his skin inch by inch.
He walked into the door, and for a few seconds his throat couldn't help tightening. He subconsciously raised his hand to grab the door frame, barely stopping his body from shaking. His disordered heartbeat pounded heavily and quickly in his chest.
There were no people left in the office at this time. The supernatural matter was too big, and the attention from above had never disappeared. Now that we finally had some clues, almost all the people who could be mobilized were dragged out to do hard labor.
Lian Gui told him to sit anywhere. Just then, a police officer came running in with a blanket borrowed from some department. Before he could say anything, the blanket in his hand was snatched away by the head of the investigation team in front of him and thrown at the man who was half suspect and half victim.
"You are still a suspect in this case. Even if you didn't call the police number, the city police would have sent someone to ask you to come over. You can't leave for now, so stay here for now."
Shi Yu pulled the blanket off his head and said, "Then I shouldn't stay in the interrogation room?"
Lian Gui said, "Oh!" "I'm more afraid that before the supernatural case is solved, a new tragedy will happen in the bureau."
He had seen thousands of people in this line of work and had become very skilled at dealing with people. Moreover, he could hide his psychological reactions, but he could not hide the complexion caused by physiological reactions. The other person's appearance was obviously unwell.
However, Lian Gui thought about it and felt that he could understand it. After all, the other party had personally verified the existence of the "atmospheric skylight" not long ago. Although he was not directly sent to the hospital unconscious like other victims, he had already suffered the necessary injuries. Later, he heard from Xiao Wang, the policeman who brought him to the Municipal Bureau, that he was indeed in a bad condition when he got on the police car.
※
The office door was closed from the outside. Shi Yu huddled on the bench alone, not knowing when he fell asleep. In a trance, he seemed to fall into a sea of clouds, passing through the bright sun on the other side that made people almost cry, and then floated in the air without landing.
Before your eyes is a stretch of buildings with winding corridors, huge pillars supporting the main hall, and a clear pool built in the center.
There were children squatting in the pool, looking up at the water surface. If they were not paying attention, they would fall into the pool.
An adult who happened to be passing by grabbed the child by the collar and dragged him back: "What are you doing? Do you think your life is too long and you're in a hurry to reincarnate?"
The child fell to the ground, wearing a small white robe, no more than four or five years old, looking like a huge, round crystal bag: "I'm looking at the Tianchi Lake."
Tianchi is the pool next to the two people. Not far away there is a stone tablet with the words "Yun Du" engraved on it.
The adult glanced at the water and said, "Just stand there and watch carefully. Be careful not to fall in."
The child asked, “Why?”
The adults said, "Because if you fall in, you will die."
The child pointed at the water in confusion and said, "But I saw so many people in the pool, and they are not dead."
The adult said: "Because those people are not in the Yundu Pond, it's just that the Yundu Pond is just above the world they live in, so we can see them through the Yundu."
The child asked, "Where is their world?"
The adults said, "The world of mortals—but be careful not to mention this to others in the future."
The child asked, “Why?”
The adults said, "Because you were born in that world, now that you have come to the temple, you should not think too much about the past."
The child asked, “Why?”
The adults said, "Because once you read it, you will fall from the realm of the gods."
The Tianchi Lake is as smooth as a finely polished mirror, and the water is filled with bright white light.
The child stretched out his hand to explore, but he didn't dare to touch the water. He looked at the center of the pool and said, "Why is there so much water in the pool..."
He gestured with his two short hands, "Such a big ball of white light?"
"That's the black flame." The master said, "Do you know why you will die if you fall into the cloud? Because our bodies cannot withstand the tremendous energy contained in the black flame, so if we touch it, we will die."
"Of course, humans in the mortal world are accustomed to calling the remnants of the black flames burning in their world 'sunlight'."
The child said: "But there are so many people in Tianchi, and they didn't die when they encountered Wuyan."
"Because the black flame you see is wrapped in a layer of spiritual light, blocking the black flame and the world they live in, which will protect them from being harmed by the black flame."
"Why are there spiritual stars outside the world they live in?"
"Because that was set up by the Lord God to protect them." The Lord said, "What do you think the water in the Yundu Pond you saw is? That is the Lingyao laid by the Lord God. Because there is a Lingyao as a prison, we will not be burned by the black flames inside when we stand here. Do you remember why you came to the temple?"
The child asked in confusion: "Because the position of God is missing?"
"Do you know why the throne is missing?" The Lord lowered his eyes and looked at him, with pity in his eyes that he could not understand. "About four years ago, or five years ago? Anyway, the previous owner of this throne you have now, he violated the precepts and touched the black flame. Do you know what happened to him later?"
The child subconsciously asked: "What happened?"
“His body was burnt black, his eyes were bleeding, and his soul was shattered into pieces,” he smiled, “but he never died—because his throne protected him. In the end, he begged me to strangle him to death.”
The child was inexplicably bewildered.
"Of course, that's all in the past. Just listen to it." The adult stood up. "Anyone who is close to the black flame for a thousand miles will have their body burned black; those who are close to the black flame for a hundred miles will have their body dehydrated and their eyes ruptured; those who are close to the black flame for a few miles will be dissipated like flying ash."
The child listened quietly: "If the humans under the pond touch Wuyan, will they be the same as us?"
“They?” He laughed. “They are much more fragile than us who have divine status. They don’t even need to be a thousand miles away. Even if they are tens of millions of miles away, they will feel pain in their eyes if they stare at the black flame for a long time. If it weren’t for the spiritual light set up by the Lord God, they would not be able to survive.”
"Of course, without the Lord God, we would not be able to survive."
"The only one in this world who can resist the rules of heaven and earth like Wu Yan is the Lord God."
The child followed him out of the hall, and exclaimed in a daze, "The adults are so awesome."
The distance gradually increased, and the child's voice could be heard faintly through the palace: "But, what if, by some chance, the spiritual light outside Wuyan is gone..."
"Impossible."
"Why?"
"The spiritual star is maintained by the power of the Lord God himself. As long as the Lord God is still alive, the spiritual star will be there. If it really dissipates one day, it is either because the Lord God is no longer here, or because the Lord God no longer wants to protect the world and has taken the spiritual star away personally."
"What if one day the Lord suddenly decides not to protect us?"
"No, if there really is such a day, it must be because someone has made a mistake that has disappointed the Lord God. Otherwise, the Lord God will never give up on us - so the spirit will never dissipate. Do you understand?"
"oh……"
I couldn't hear what happened next.
The clouds and mist in front of me were layered one after another, and my body seemed to be suspended in mid-air, shaky but unable to find any solid ground.
Shi Yu opened his eyes and a thin layer of sweat seeped out of his forehead. He tried to stand up, but as soon as his hands moved, they fell down again limply and he couldn't exert any strength in his limbs.
Not having any water for a long time felt like a fire in my chest and abdomen, burning and twisting, and my vision was dark.
The sky in Nanhang City has completely darkened. The summer night wind brings a heat that makes people's hearts crazy, and the entire Public Security Bureau is brightly lit.
Lian Gui ran in from outside with sweat on his forehead and pushed open the office door with a bang.
Shi Yu's long hair was loose, and half of the blanket on her body had fallen to the ground. Her lips were pale, and she heard the noise while her consciousness was blurred. She raised her eyes and cast a very light and brief glance in the direction of the door.
Lian Gui stood blankly at the door of the office.
He had no idea what he was thinking during that glance, he only knew that when the other person's eyes fell on him, the roar in his mind and the clamor of his blood boiled and pressed into his heart, bursting the dam when it beat.
He suddenly understood why he had abused his power to release people from the interrogation room, send people home, exonerate people, and even believed in those speculations without any verification and without reason.
The other person's eyes looked very much like the one he had seen by chance in front of the Yundu Pond in the divine realm a long, long time ago. They were so similar that he almost had the illusion that the person was still alive.
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