The wind on the lake is strong, especially at night, and the temperature is still low. After pulling out the jacket I brought when I pulled out the door, Soya looked at Kyoko, who was passing through the lane.
The white-sleeved scarlet robe fluttered in the wind, light and thin, and I am afraid that I can't resist the night wind.
Noting his gaze, Kyoko looked over.
In Xiatian, it was strange that cold was happening, and Zonggu pulled his coat, "Will it be too cool?"
"It's okay." She raised her hand, rolled her long hair behind her ears, and waved her sleeves, "If you wear long sleeves, it feels just right."
"Luckily, the Soul Sacrifice will not be in winter."
"Well. But the actions of institutions are not divided into seasons, and they often act in winter..."
"For example, when I first rounded up Lord Yuedu, it was still snowing."
"Um……"
While talking, another car drove from the lane between the two and stopped in front of the gate.
The spiritualists stand on the lane partition behind the charging window, which does not affect normal vehicle traffic. They only warn various spirits trying to pass here to Kyoto, or intercept and kill them if necessary.
Compared to daylight, working on a night shift at a intersection can even make people feel heavy about the future.
Most of the time, spiritual enlightened people only need to sit on their posts. Compared to keeping a close eye on the passing spirits, what is more important is how to keep themselves awake all night and not fall asleep.
drop--
The gate that blocked the car had been lifted up automatically, but the car did not accelerate. It drove forward a little and stopped again.
The young driver poked his head and looked behind him first.
The Biwa Lake Bridge is a toll road, and the traffic flow is not large, especially after late at night. He is the only car in this lane for the time being.
Another curious ordinary person.
Zong Gu remained silent, looking at the other person, just waiting for him to speak.
"I said..."
The driver looked at him and looked at the witches standing next to the other lanes on the left and right, "Are these witches real witches?"
Lingjue, who is on duty at the intersection, actually does not have the obligation to explain to ordinary citizens, but when it comes to inquiries, they usually do not ignore it because standing guard on the roadside is really boring.
"Yes." Soya nodded.
"Are you with them?"
He nodded again.
The other party asked the common question of all those who would stop: "Then what are you doing?"
Zong Gu's expression remained unchanged, "Guiding the direction for the lost undead."
"Wow." The driver laughed strangely, not taking his words seriously.
Most of the witches next to the driveway are young and beautiful, especially the one standing on the partition on the other side. He turned to the car window on the other side: "Can you guide me, the lost little lamb?"
Kyoko ignored it and looked ahead without blinking.
“…”
After all, it is a highway intersection. If you stop here, you have violated the Road Traffic Safety Law. If you ignore it, the driver can only leave in disappointment.
Soya looked back a few times, and the red taillight quickly disappeared on the bridge. When he turned back, he found that Kyoko was looking at him.
“We really shouldn’t be standing here.”
He smiled and shook his head again.
"For us, this is the most convenient and safest place."
It's just too convenient for passing drivers to catch up with them.
Kyoko nodded without saying a word, and looked forward again.
The night wind kept blowing, and it was already ten o'clock. For the spiritualists on duty at the intersection, this night had just begun.
After standing for a while, Soya and Kyoko sat down on their folding chairs. At this time, there was no need to keep themselves awake by standing.
"Miss Sugawara..."
The witch on the other side made a conversation with Kyoko. Soya took out his cell phone and looked at the news he had just received.
Kirino: At which intersection is Soguchi? Hongzi and I are here to find you.
“…”
He took a big breath.
And her next message was quickly sent.
Kirino: Just kidding ~
If it was one or two o'clock in the morning, he would definitely thank Akane Kirino.
Soya: I was at a highway intersection where I was hit by a big truck when I was distracted.
Akane Kirino didn't send a message for a long time.
Buzz —
Hongzi: Really fake? Don’t scare people.
Hongzi: Qian said she was going to Zonggu now. If it was too dangerous, she would bring you back.
“…”
Soya: Let her stay at home.
Hongzi: Akane has already gone downstairs.
“…”
After making a mistake, Soya had to take a photo of his working environment on the spot and send it to Akane Kirino.
Kirino: A liar!
Soya: After all, it is a highway intersection, and it cannot be completely ruled out that the possibility I just mentioned is just the one.
Tongye: I just went to the Buddhist altar to shang an incense stick for Zonggu.
Soya: Can you say it differently?
After chatting for a few words, Akane Kirino suddenly mentioned the photo he had just posted again.
Kirino: Is the witch on the left side of the photo Sugawara Senior Sister?
Soya flipped upwards, Kyoko was talking to the witch on the other side. There was only her back in the photo, and she didn't show her face at all.
Soya: Yes.
Kirino: Why is the senior sister there?
Soya: It happened to be lined up together.
Kirino: It's really suspicious.
Soya: If it was intentional, I would have let myself schedule night shifts every day.
Kirino: Still very suspicious.
After saying a few perfunctory words to Akane Kiri, Zong Gu put away his cell phone, and his mind drifted away with the lake breeze.
She looked like she cared about it but didn't care too much, and she had noticed how many...
"——Student Fangming."
Kyoko called him lightly and brought him back to his senses.
Zong Gu raised his gaze and a figure staggered over from the middle of the lane. His body was broken, his arms were hanging down like a broken one, and his face was indifferent.
Another spiritual body is about to die, probably between a vengeful spirit and a wandering spirit.
Zong Gu came to the conclusion at a glance, and seeing his confused state, it was not much different from You Ling.
Walking through the window of the toll station, the staff sitting inside were ignorant, but the spirit suddenly stopped and stared at the ground beneath his feet.
He had at least some consciousness, Zong Gu thought again.
In the lane on the ground, in addition to the guide arrows, there are also warning words left with spiritual power that can only be seen by spiritual bodies and spiritual enlightened people:
[Do not disturb the people, do not enter the household, and those who violate the violation will be killed without mercy.]
Simple and rough, and this is just the first warning to the spirits passing through the pass.
【Don't stay in Kyoto for a long time.】
[Shrines and temples, those who enter will die.]
[Don't enter Kyoto Imperial Garden.]
......
The text warning on the ground came from the hands of the spiritual master who was on duty here a few days ago. The content was numerous and mixed, almost limiting all places to go after the spirit body entered Kyoto;
However, there will not be many spiritual bodies that truly follow, otherwise they would not need to be on duty at various intersections entering Beijing at night and hunting everywhere during the day.
While looking down, he moved his steps and the ragged spirit body took a long time to walk to Soya and Kyoko.
"Can you see clearly?" Zong Gu said.
"clear."
He stopped, his body was a little unsteady, and a smile squeezed out on his broken face, "Don't make trouble, I can understand."
Zonggu looked at him, "It's still time to look back."
"Ah." He opened his mouth, as if he didn't know what to say, but he had no intention of turning back.
It’s useless to persuade me only once.
Soya looked at Kyoko on the other side of the lane and said, "Go over."
"Ah." The spirit body stood in a daze for more than half a minute, suddenly nodded to the place where there was no one, and continued to walk up the bridge.
The ragged figure swayed, as if it would be blown down from the bridge by the lake wind at any time. Both of them looked back for a while.
Among the spiritual enlightened people, there is a saying that being able to "see" is actually a punishment.
From a certain perspective, spirits are the continuation of another form of life, but they are incomplete at the beginning of their formation, and more or less death will always make them lose something;
Sober and fierce, gentle but confused, the spirits are confused, but unconsciously transfer their sorrow to the bystanders.
The more compassionate you are, the more painful it is.
Some people choose to turn a blind eye, while others want to change all this from the source.
Kyoko turned around first.
"If Huangquan does not return to the original order for a day, this situation will not disappear."
"Um."
Zong Gu also turned around, met her firm gaze, and nodded again.
The two looked at each other and smiled.
Whether for himself or for her, he wanted to restore the order of another world to its original state, and Zong Gu said to himself again.
The time of night passes slowly, and the first half of the night has not passed.
There are not many vehicles passing by the Biwa Lake Bridge, but there are no rules for spiritual bodies. There are often times when there are fewer. Occasionally, no one can be seen for a long time, but the next moment, there are spiritual bodies passing by in groups.
When it was almost eleven o'clock, without warning, a large group of spirits emerged outside the toll station.
The staff in the charging window yawned and looked back, not understanding why the witches suddenly acted in a stern manner and were holding a black weapon in their hands.
"That's... a katana?"
Zong Gu waved his hand twice to adapt to the feel.
The weapon is not easy to hold. It is not the knife he often uses, but is uniformly configured by the mechanism, but it will not be too hindered when used.
"Be careful-" one of the witches shouted, "Preferential protection of themselves."
"yes!"
Looking at the spiritual body that was getting closer, Zong Gu held the knife with one hand and took out his cell phone with the other hand, telling the situation here to the spiritual enlightened people who were guarding the other side of the bridge.
He is a liaison officer on both sides and decided to draw lots before.
“Do you need support?”
"No need for the time being, just be prepared."
"Okay, please be sure to be safe."
"So too."
After hanging up the phone, Soya looked at Kyoko again. His eyes fell on another witch beside her, and he resisted the idea of letting her stand on his side.
Care will cause chaos, and it will be troublesome to cause panic among others.
“Preferential protection of yourself.”
Kyoko looked over and nodded at him.
Soon, the spirits rushed over.
Zong Gu took a rough look and found that the number was about two or three hundred.
Such group of spirit bodies often have one or several tough leaders. Under their constraints, there are usually no individuals in the team who make trouble. They only have the purpose of reaching Kyoto.
.
The leader of this team was at the forefront, holding his hands high, indicating that he did not carry the weapon to hurt people, and was frank.
"We're just passing by, without malice—"
As he walked, he shouted, "Please give high praise to the Lord Lingjue—"
Everyone was fully focused, and no one put down their weapons.
Perhaps because Zong Gu is the only male among the Lingjue, he was regarded by the leader as the leader of the Lingjue group in Qiaotou, "Please believe we really have no malice."
“…”
Zong Gu looked at the witches and saw that they were all looking at him, so he had to stand up.
He temporarily lowered the black blade in his hand and looked at the leader, "You are the leader."
"Yes."
Zong Gu looked at the stopping team behind him again, "You stay here and let them pass first."
"no problem."
It was obviously not the first time that the spiritual body in the lead had experienced this situation. He stood next to him and greeted the spiritualists behind him:
"Everyone goes—"
The stagnant teams moved again, passing through the toll station in an orderly manner, gathering on the road surface on the other side.
"Why do they listen to you so much?" Zong Gu asked casually.
"Because everyone wants to arrive in Kyoto alive and participate in the Soul Sacrifice Club... Although we are all dead." The leading spirit body said, "I used to be... Forget it, I won't mention the past, I just use my past work.
Some experiences bring everyone together.”
Zong Gu nodded without asking any more questions.
After all the spirits passed through the toll station and arrived on the bridge, he put down his weapons and signaled that the leader of the spirits who were "hostages" would come to meet with them for a while.
"I hope all of you can keep your original intentions."
"Thank you. Goodbye."
The spiritual army passed smoothly, and there was no friction between the two sides, and they both breathed a sigh of relief.
The witches looked at each other, and their inner gratitude was written on their faces.
"There are too many... Fortunately, no accident happened."
"yes."
"I'm really worried that the spirit will suddenly mutate."
"What's even more terrible is the chain reaction."
Putting away the samurai sword, Soya thought for a while, and contacted the liaison officer on the other side of the bridge and told the other party what happened here.
From the process to the result, he only states the facts and does not put forward any opinions that may affect the other party's judgment.
"I see."
"be safe."
"OK."
About ten minutes later, news of the peaceful passage of the spiritual army came from the other side.
"No problem?" Kyoko was also paying attention to the situation on Soya.
He nodded, "Yeah."
"That's good." She breathed a sigh of relief for her colleagues on the other side of the bridge.
"I heard from Miss Noma that when she and Miss Huai were on duty at the county intersection, they encountered such spirits passing through in groups, and there were always several spirits that suddenly mutated without warning."
"I think the spiritual team just now shouldn't have been so stable from the beginning..." Zong Gu said.
After passing Lake Biwa, Kyoto is already close to you. The spirits that will mutate due to small pressure will probably be eliminated halfway through the way.
Kyoko deeply agreed and looked forward.
And this is the only thing worth paying attention to and recording in the first half of the night.
The remaining hour was as calm as before, and it lasted until midnight, when the witches suddenly became a little restless.
"It's finally time to have a midnight snack... I never thought I was so hungry at night before."
Some people brought homemade food, but most people, including Sunya, had no experience and could only wait for the late-night snacks arranged by the institution.
After five o'clock, a small car stopped outside the toll station.
A middle-aged man got out of the driver's seat, opened the car door at the back, and then got off another woman, and the two looked like a couple.
The couple prepared for a while by the car, and when they came over, there was an open box hanging in front of them, filled with rice balls and sandwiches of various flavors.
"What kind of flavor is this?" Zong Gu asked, pointing to one of the rice balls.
"Salmon rice ball."
"Is salmon...wrapped inside?"
"Yes."
"I want two."
"OK."
He brought two salmon rice balls for Zong Gu, and the middle-aged woman took out a bottle of drink from the cloth bag next to him.
“Coffee and Milk.”
"Thanks."
"You are welcome."
After crossing the driveway, she continued to move forward and asked Kyoko to choose a midnight snack.
"A plum rice ball."
"Okay. There is also coffee and milk, please take it."
"Thanks."
Zong Gu watched from the side, "Is one enough to eat?"
Kyoko nodded, "Enough."
He picked up one of the rice balls, "We can have half of each person."
She smiled.
The middle-aged woman who was distributing the midnight snack had already walked to the other side. Zong Gu sat down, tore open the packaging bag outside the rice ball, and bit it down.
The taste is average, or it is very ordinary, but it is fine to fill your stomach.
After finishing the two rice balls gratefully, Soya drank coffee and milk and said to Kyoko: "Tomorrow night, I will bring the rice balls myself, including the one from Kyoko."
She nodded and showed a thoughtful look again.
"What's wrong?"
"Is it too late? Fang Ming will go to Kyoto tomorrow night."
"Well...I can prepare early."
"Why let me prepare for tomorrow's late-night snack," Kyoko said.
Zong Gu was stunned and nodded quickly, "Okay."
The middle-aged couple who brought midnight snacks to the on-duty Lingjue people stayed until everyone finished eating and drinking before packing the packaging bags and milk bottles and driving away.
It was already past midnight, and after the duty started in the second half of the night, fewer cars passed by the bridge became.
After eating and drinking, you are prone to sleepiness, especially at this time. After sitting for a while, Soya stood up, and Kyoko was the same.
By two or three in the morning, I couldn't see a car on the road.
Because of leisure and sleepiness, the second half of the night seemed particularly long.
The witches exchanged positions with each other to send boredom, because Kyoko was not involved, and Soya stayed in her own position.
It was four or five o'clock, and the witches were a little more energetic because someone suggested watching the sunrise.
"Wow……"
"For the first time I feel that seeing the sunrise will make people so touching."
"Can you change shifts..."
"No, there are three hours left."
In the morning, the traffic flow on the bridge gradually increased, and the roaring sound of the engine forced the witches to force themselves to keep their spirits.
Finally, it was eight o'clock, and they changed shifts with the next group of spiritualists on duty, and then boarded the bus back. After a while, Soya and Kyoko began to nod and shake frequently.