This girl who was so frightened by us that she sat down on the ground is Xiaojing, who once survived with Joan in the ruins.

This is the woods on the outskirts of the mirage, and she is a student of Liucheng, why is she in such a place? Joe Licorice and I looked at each other.

Xiao Jing finally came back to his senses after being stunned for a few seconds, looked at Qiao Licorice and asked tremblingly, "Qiao, Qiao An's sister?" ”

"It's me. Are you okay? Qiao Licorice stretched out her hand and helped Xiao Jing up.

I carefully observed the latter, and I had to be very vigilant when I encountered someone who shouldn't be here in such an unusual place. Sometimes, after the demon has drawn the victim into another dimension, he will first disguise himself as an acquaintance of the other party and make the other party relax their guard before hunting. Although Xiaojing is not very familiar with me and Qiao Licorice, he is in this kind of ghost place, so there is nothing wrong with being careful.

However, I can't see any signs of danger from her body for the time being, both my eyes and my intuition tell me that she is a fake human being, and there is nothing special about her whole person except that she is afraid that she will not be able to stand on her feet. If I had to say it, her clothes were dirty, and her exposed skin had a few small wounds. Perhaps she had already encountered demons before she met us, and then managed to escape with some twists and turns.

Her gaze shifted from Joe Licorice to mine, but she didn't seem to recognize me. And perhaps because my scrutiny was too explicit, she hugged her body as if she was cold, and asked fearfully, "You, ...... you?"

"Law enforcement warlock, Rensai." As soon as I reported to my home, I remembered that the middleman had drunk my real name in front of her, and added, "It's okay to call me Li Duo." ”

She was stunned, as if she remembered something, and gradually revealed a stunned expression, "I—I remember, I've seen you before, in that place where there are a lot of monsters...... It turns out that it wasn't a dream......"

"Of course not." I said, "And didn't you see me when you went to the Security Bureau for a medical check-up after that?" ”

"Well, I remember, I've seen it. Strange, why didn't I just remember it......" She touched her forehead in confusion.

"Don't you remember now? Let's not mention this yet. I said, "It's not very safe here, so let's talk about it while you move." ”

"Go this way." Qiao Licorice glanced at his compass and said to Xiao Jing, "Follow us." ”

"Okay." Xiao Jing hurriedly approached us, "Do you know how to get out of here?" ”

"I don't know yet. But as long as we keep up, we won't be in danger again. Qiao Licorice smiled and pointed at me, "This Brother Li Duo will protect us." ”

We continued to move. At this point, I was able to conclude that there was really nothing wrong with this little scene. However, I was still curious about why she was here, so I tried to ask a few questions. It's just that now she has recalled what happened in the ruins, and she has shown a suspicious attitude towards me, which is not very good for conversation. I'd told her and Joan before that I used to be a wicked person, and that's probably what made her not trust me. Even if I put that aside, I have the impression that she has always been a suspicious and timid girl, looking at me with suspicion from the beginning.

However, she had experienced such a thrilling and terrifying thing at the beginning, but she had easily forgotten what she had for breakfast last week. If I live on the so-called "normal life track", I guess it's about the same as her. And now I can't even imagine what kind of mentality she has towards the secret event and the self who has experienced the secret event.

Qiao Licorice took over the task of inquiry, but Xiaojing's attitude was still very "cautious", and the conversation was quite unsmooth. I think that, just like I saw her before, she probably wondered "why did you meet an acquaintance in such a ghost place", and even suspected that we were pretending to be demons.

But no matter how worried she was, she could only follow us every inch, looking around in fear from time to time, like a frightened cat.

Quietly, I reached into my pocket, felt the "Quick Talk" amulet that Joan had given me, and injected some spiritual power into it.

"Why are you here?" I asked, "Are you coming alone?" ”

The "Quick Talk" amulet has the power to break through the psychological defenses of others and make people willing to speak the truth. At this moment, her vigilance melted away like a snowball of boiling water, and she answered me honestly, "I came with my mother, but I was separated from her." ”

Qiao Licorice glanced at me thoughtfully, and then asked Xiaojing, "Can you elaborate more?" ”

Xiaojing closed his mouth. It seems that the "Quick Talk" amulet can only be used for conversations between me and the other party, and cannot allow third parties to enjoy the benefits of the amulet. I had to repeat the question of Joe Licorice. Hearing this, Xiao Jing seemed to be unaware that there was a problem with her different attitudes, and told me the ins and outs of her appearance here.

According to Xiaojing, just last night, her mother suddenly made a decision to take her to the mirage for some reason, and even contacted her school to ask her for leave. Although she asked her mother for the reason, her mother kept it secretive and talked about him left and right. And just this morning, her mother drove her out.

Unexpectedly, when driving to the forest road, the mother and daughter fell into an unknown fog. The fog around is getting thicker and thicker, even to the point where driving is seriously affected. What's worse is that this originally short forest road seems to be endless, and even if the fuel is exhausted, it is still impossible to leave it.

After encountering this kind of thing, they were completely dispossessed, and they couldn't even muster up the courage to get out of the car and explore. Although some attempts have been made to contact the outside world, the signal has not been conveyed. And so much time has passed, it stands to reason that the sky should have been dark, but the time seems to have stopped in the daytime, and the light has not diminished at all. As far as the eye can see, there is a vast gray mist.

After some more time, they still had to get out of the car. Because out of the thick fog, a huge monster clad in black metal carapace suddenly rushed out and attacked their car.

Monsters, naturally, are demons. In this case, if they did not escape, they would just sit and wait for death, so they had to get out of the car and flee, and rushed into the woods in a panic. But because she fled too hastily, the distance between the mother and daughter was slightly widened, and the daughter could no longer see where her mother was.

As in the daytime, the fog here seems to have had the effect of dispersing, and Xiaojing is completely alone, wandering in the woods that are flooded by the thick fog.

The experience of walking in such an open place, but only being able to see a very narrow space due to the thick fog, awakened the primal fear deep in her genes, and made her spirit to the limit.

She didn't dare to scream or walk quickly, for fear of alarming the monsters that might be wandering in the depths of the fog.

I don't know how long she walked, but she finally saw someone other than herself, that is, us.

Xiaojing finished talking about his experience as if he had let go of all his psychological burdens. As I listened to her story, I sighed in my heart at the power of the "quick talk" talisman. She was so suspicious of me just now, but at this moment, she actually knows everything about me and says everything.

At the same time, I caught the suspicion in her words.

If what she said was true, then she should have been lost in the fog. In the fog of the Fog Demon, "Lost" is a special phenomenon that occurs in people who do not have advanced awareness, and it is difficult for the lost and non-lost to meet in the fog. However, we and Xiaojing met normally.

This time the fog seems to be different. I vaguely felt that way.

For example, although the world does not know how many people die in car accidents every year, the probability of a person dying from a car hit by going out is still very low, and Xiaojing has encountered a hidden event for the second time.

Although it can't be said that it was definitely not due to her bad luck, but her previous statement inevitably made me care, so I'd better ask again for the sake of caution.

"You said your mother suddenly decided to go to the mirage, but didn't tell you why?" Joe Licorice asked concernedly, "So do you have any guesses about this?" ”

"Guess ......" After talking about the encounter, Xiao Jing didn't seem to squirm anymore, and also answered Qiao Licorice's question, "Maybe it's because of that person...... It's because of my father. If there is anything in the mirage that makes my mother care, it is only him. ”

"Your father is in the mirage? Was he there on a business trip? I asked.

"No, my mother divorced him a few years ago, and then took me from the mirage to Liucheng, and he continued to stay in the mirage." She said.

"Divorce? What is the reason? Joe Licorice asked.

"I was a kid back then, and I didn't know much. I heard my mother say that my grandparents were both people who did law enforcement work on the front line, so that person inherited his father's business and joined the government. But he misbehaved, and was later kicked out of the unit by his superiors, wasting the hard work of his grandparents. Xiao Jing talked about this, and his tone revealed a strong sense of contempt, "I was still in elementary school at the time, and that person drank heavily every day, and he scolded his mother when he had nothing to do, and he seemed to have fought fiercely?" I don't remember exactly. Later, I didn't know where I met some fox friends and dogs, and it seems that I was still gambling outside to make money, and I got into trouble with people in the black zone. Mom couldn't stand him anymore and divorced him. ”

"Later, he also found Liucheng from the mirage market and said that he wanted to get back together with his mother." She said dismissively, "How can you get back together with that kind of guy!" ”

It sounds like a hopeless person, but when I heard her say "law enforcement work", just in case, I still took out my work ID from my pocket, "Law enforcement work?" Could it be that your father and your grandparents' documents look like this? ”

"Huh? No, no, it has nothing to do with you. My mom used to take me to his place of work to see it, and my grandparents were both serious law enforcers, and they were on TV news, and there were awards and pennants in the house. Speaking of this, she couldn't help but add, "It's completely different from that person, he is simply a waste of society." ”

She didn't even want to call the other party her father, she only said "that person", and seemed to want to get rid of her relationship with her father. Speaking of the back, her face became a little wrong, and she seemed to regret why she had told us why she had told us.

"Anyway, maybe it's something that happened to that person lately. My mother has suddenly become very wrong these days, she has been chattering all day, and she suddenly decided to go to the mirage, and now she has become like this again......" She looked at the fog around her, and her face became uneasy again, "I don't know where she is now, is she safe and sound......"

After a moment of silence, she asked again, "Well, I've wanted to ask since just now, where are we going?" ”

"We're still figuring it out, and we're looking for clues to get out of this fog." Joe Licorice said.

Xiao Jing couldn't help but ask: "Is there no one from the outside world to come to the rescue?" ”

"Nope. You can think of this fog we're in as if it were the same place that swept you and Joan into another dimension last time. And, no matter how much time has passed, it is only a moment for the outside world. As she spoke, it occurred to me that if the fog was a blood-biting arrangement, then she must be trying to do something with it. Judging by the fact that she hasn't attacked her for so long, it's likely that her target isn't ours.

In other words, most of us are simply affected.

Then I added, "If you really want someone to come to the rescue, you might as well think of us as rescuers." Due to the responsibility of the Security Agency, we will not save you from death. ”

Originally, her expression was disappointed, but when she heard the second half of my words, she still regained some energy. Last time, I and Qiao Licorice rescued her from the ruins, and my words should have sounded somewhat useful to her.

Suddenly, I noticed a slight change in the fog. At first, I thought I hadn't looked closely, but as I progressed, I realized that the fog was slowly fading at an imperceptible rate.

I looked at Joe Licorice, "Are we heading out of the fog?" ”

"No, according to the compass's instructions, the clue to leave the fog should be in the hinterland of the fog......" She also noticed that the fog was fading as she advanced, "We are not moving away, but deeper." ”

After a while of further progress, we finally broke out of the woods and onto a road. The fog in the field of vision became thinner and thinner, and later it became possible to see clearly even from hundreds of meters away.

And continuing along the road, we finally entered the mirage.

Or rather, the mirage that has been destroyed.

(End of chapter)