long night fire

However, no matter how he comforted himself, the "darkness" was still slowly and unstoppably eroding his heart.

Shang Jian Yao shrank his body, as if he had found a little support in the quiet and dark place.

This made him persist longer than usual, but in the end, the fact that there was only air around him still made him feel lost, his heart beat faster, and his expression gradually wavered.

"Fake..." Shang Jianyao whispered suddenly.

Cold sweat quickly broke out on his forehead, his knees slowly bent, and he squatted down, embracing himself.

……

In Room 196, Shang Jianyao opened his eyes.

He gasped for breath and looked around.

The room was dark, and there was no sound outside.

Shang Jian Yao hurriedly took out his flashlight from under the pillow and pushed the button.

A beam of light shot out and shone on the opposite wall, illuminating the clothes hanging on the expansion screws and the sink next to it.

Looking at the yellowish light, Shang Jianyao's breathing gradually stabilized.

After about a minute, he turned off the flashlight, pulled up the quilt, and fell into a deep sleep.

After an unknown amount of time, Shang Jianyao was awakened by a knock on the door.

The knock on the door was repeated three times and gradually faded away.

Shang Jianyao knew that this was the members of the "Sacrifice of Life" sect telling him that the meeting time was approaching.

——For members who don’t have watches and are far away from the wall clock on the street, the “Life Sacrifice” church will send someone who can keep track of the time to remind them.

As for not wanting to get up after hearing the knock on the door, or not wanting to attend this party for various reasons, that is my own business.

If the decision not to participate has been made in advance, or there are guests staying at home who are not convenient to know about such things, just wipe off the chalk graffiti under the door before the lights are turned off, so that no one will knock on the door.

Shang Jian Yao quickly turned over and got out of bed, washed his face, and brushed his teeth seriously.

Then, he put on a dark green cotton coat, took a flashlight, and went straight to a nearby public toilet for convenience.

After finishing all this, Shang Jianyao followed the familiar road to Li Zhen's house located at No. 35, Area A.

Dong dong dong, Shang Jian Yao knocked on the door three times.

Soon, a deliberately suppressed voice came from the door:

"Life is the most important thing."

Shang Jianyao responded very skillfully:

"New life is like the sun."

With a slight movement, the door opened quickly, and the dim light inside flowed out.

Li Zhen, whose eyes were raised slightly, looked at Shang Jianyao, smiled and said:

"come in."

She quickly stepped aside and let Shang Jianyao walk into the room.

"You can tell us about the real situation outside later." Li Zhen greeted with a smile while opening the door.

"Okay, Aunt Li." Shang Jianyao was very polite.

Li Zhen casually pointed to a location:

"Sit down, it's about to start, you're a little late."

She just said that casually, and didn't mean to blame, after all, it wasn't really time for the party yet.

Shang Jianyao explained seriously:

"I brushed my teeth first."

"..." Li Zhen nodded with a slightly stiff smile, "Okay, very good."

Shang Jianyao walked towards the small bench and sat down.

The bench was relatively short. For a person of his height, he had to curl his feet up as much as possible to allow his buttocks to rest completely.

Seeing that his sitting posture was obviously uncomfortable, Shen Du, who had already arrived, stood up:

"Let's switch places."

"Thank you, Uncle Shen." Shang Jianyao was not polite.

After sitting down again, he looked around and greeted other members.

He has participated in similar church gatherings several times, and he is no stranger to all the members on this floor.

After waiting for a while, the "guide" Ren Jie came out from the room leading to the inner bedroom, and walked between the big bed, the wardrobe and the cabinet.

"Xiao Shang is back?" Ren Jie, who was wearing a polyester shirt, nodded slightly and greeted with a smile.

Shang Jianyao immediately replied:

"Praise be to your tolerance!"

"..." Ren Jie was stunned for a few seconds before she realized that what Shang Jianyao meant was to thank Si Ming for his care, and finally returned safely.

She forced a smile and said:

"It's not so formal, it's just an ordinary chat."

Before Shang Jianyao could respond, she said with a solemn expression:

"The sermon will officially start now, and today's content is about death.

"Life will eventually pass away, just like leaves always turn yellow and fall to the ground..."

Shang Jian Yao raised his hand suddenly.

"What's the problem?" Ren Jie asked a little worried.

She thought that Shang Jianyao had discovered something unusual.

Shang Jian Yao got up and said:

"There are many trees whose leaves do not turn yellow..."

Ren Jie's facial muscles twitched, interrupting his statement:

"It's just a metaphor.

"Similar questions should not be raised until the sermon is over. Listen carefully and don't talk."

"En." Shang Jian Yao sat down with a little disappointment.

After that, he listened to Ren Jie's sermon with a very focused expression, but his eyes seemed a little empty and lacked focus.

Not long after, Ren Jie finished her sermon and said to all the members present:

"The next step is to talk about it. You can tell your brothers and sisters about your inner troubles and draw strength from them..."

When she said this, she stared at Shang Jianyao, and suppressed this guy with her eyes, preventing him from speaking.

She remembered that the first time she said similar words, Shang saw Yao suddenly interrupted:

"Not only brothers and sisters, but also uncles and aunts."

After finishing speaking, Ren Jie quietly let out a sigh of relief after confirming that Shang Jianyao could no longer intervene.

In the next second, Shang Jianyao raised his hand and shared his inner troubles:

"I'm a little hungry now."

"Next." Ren Jie responded without hesitation.

A woman in her twenties pursed her lower lips and said:

"Wang Yafei, the director of our 'Material Supply Market', has been supporting the establishment of a 'birth center', thinking that it can reduce the excuses for female employees to ask for leave, and that it can make the relationship between husband and wife better.

"I know this is my personal opinion and it doesn't represent anything, but I can't help arguing with him, and he, and he even found an excuse to transfer me from my original post to the hardest cleaning post... ..."

After listening quietly, Ren Jie raised her arms and acted like shaking a baby:

"God will punish sinners."

She didn't say any more, and said to Shen Du:

"It's your turn."

Shen Du scratched his hair:

"My children are getting more and more disobedient..."

Next, the members shared their troubles such as the death of their loved ones, violent husbands, cold wives, naughty children, and unsatisfactory work, all of which were comforted by others.

At the end, Ren Jie returned to her original position, and said to the members of the cult:

"Next, take communion."

Shang Jian Yao's back straightened immediately, and his eyes were piercing.

Soon, Ren Jie and Li Zhen came out from the inner room, one holding a cylindrical translucent container, and the other holding various tableware.

The container was filled with a white, viscous liquid.

Ren Jie came to Shang Jianyao first, and scooped a spoonful of liquid into the lunch box in his hand:

"This is communion today, yogurt."

Shang Jian Yao took a light breath, and responded unusually reverently:

"Praise be to your tolerance!"

Chapter 6 Consulting

Hulala finished eating the yogurt with some sugar, Shang Jianyao was holding the lunch box, and turned his attention to Ren Jie and Li Zhen.

The two women who were in charge of distributing the sacrament deliberately ignored him, and spooned the yogurt in the cylindrical container to different members one by one in a counterclockwise order.

After the communion ceremony, Li Zhen took the tableware, passed through the middle door, and entered the inner room, while Ren Jie casually chatted with the believers and asked their opinions on today's communion.

During this process, she didn't lean in the direction where Shang Jianyao was at all, because she felt that she could guess what that guy would say.

"He will definitely say 'the taste is good, the portion is too small'. How could such a person be drawn into the religious order? Although the 'Holy Master' has always asked us to develop more young people, especially those who have just reached the age of marriage, but Young people also need to be classified..." Ren Jie took a look at Shang Jianyao, and rationally gave up the idea of ​​sharing his field experience with him.

She walked to the aisle leading to the middle door, turned around, and said to everyone:

"That's the end of today's meeting, you all go back one by one, be careful on the way."

The members present saluted at the same time, left Li Zhen's house separately, and walked to different places at night without street lights.

Shang Jianyao and Shen Du shun the road, both wearing dark green thick cotton coats, holding clumsy flashlights, walking silently along the edge of the surveillance system.

When they were about to separate, Shen Du looked up at the ceiling submerged in darkness, and asked a question:

"What does the real sky look like?"

Shang Jianyao looked at the light beam of the flashlight and said:

"Tall, blue, and empty."

Shen Du fell silent, separated from him, and walked towards his home.

After Shang Jianyao returned to Room 196 in Area B, he caught up on some sleep and waited until the rush hour was over before going to eat breakfast before the cafeteria closed.

After filling his stomach, he came to the elevator hall in the corner of Area C.

Twelve elevators here lead directly to the "research area".

Shang Jianyao skillfully pressed the 25th floor, and then swiped his card and pressed "3" when the elevator was going down.

After arriving on the third floor, Shang Jianyao walked along the corridor outside the metal gate to the innermost room on the right.

"Knock knock." He knocked on the door.

"Who?" came a soft female voice.

Shang Jian Yao reported his name, and finally said:

"Doctor Lin, I want to make an appointment for a follow-up examination."

Doctor Lin in the room suddenly smiled and said: