greek gods in new york

32

"That thing" gradually gathered into a human shape, suspended in mid-air.

Loki and I looked at each other.

He took my hand.When the other party's fingertips touched mine, I paused in surprise, and then I heard Loki whispering in my ear: "Sorry, that's the only way to go."

A faint divine power passed along my fingertips, and I immediately understood: With the protection of divine power, I don't need to hold my breath.

"What should I do?" I asked softly.

It feels like something has changed from before.

Loki thought for a moment: "Let's try to deal with it first, don't worry, I will protect you."

As he spoke, he raised the hand he was holding, motioning for me to move forward.

I had no choice but to lift the hem of my skirt and take a step forward.

The closer I got to Him, the more I felt the atmosphere around me gradually change.

That kind of feeling is like the consciousness is immersed in some kind of jelly, which is sticky, impenetrable, and a little stuffy.A faint sense of suffocation came, not from reality, but from the spirit.

"We have entered his 'territory'."

Loki explained beside me: "Now, there's no hiding."

I was surprised: "He noticed it?"

Loki asked back, "Look in front of you."

I raised my head wordlessly.

The transparent human figure in mid-air suddenly turned its head as if it had sensed something.

He floated down.

"That thing" imitated Loki and me, landing on both "feet".Just when I was three steps away from him, he suddenly took a step.

I was so scared that I stopped immediately.

Loki: "What's wrong?"

Me: "That—"

I didn't dare to say what happened next.

Because "that thing" has already taken three steps, and it is almost face to face with me.

I raised my hand in shock, trying to cover my face.

But through the gap in the arm, I saw "that thing" imitating my appearance, and also blocked the face.

I:"……"

what happened?

He was... studying?

I lowered my arm again, and "the thing" lowered its hand.

I tilted my head, and "that thing" also tilted its head.

And all of this, Loki always sees in his eyes.

I turned my head to look at him in shock, and without my words, he raised his finger and pointed around me and "that thing".

Following Loki's fingers, I found that around "that thing", there were countless transparent, ribbon-like substances floating in mid-air. These ribbons were heading towards me intentionally or unintentionally, trying to catch me.

But before touching my body, the ribbon will dissipate by itself.

It was the divine power that offset his energy, and then "shattered" like the colorful medium last time.

He is trying to connect with me.

What happens after the connection?

I panicked a little.

Apollo said before that the factory workers who were killed on the set had only one human skin left, and there was His breath on the human skin.

Then after he connects, will I also...

"Don't be afraid, Nicole."

Just when I was flustered, Loki raised the hand that was holding me.

The face-to-face "that thing" also raised his hand.

With Loki's help, I slowly extended a finger.

"That thing" also stretched out his index finger.

His fingertips met mine, as if touching himself in a mirror.

I still hold my breath.

At that moment, the surrounding fell into absolute silence.

Through divine power, "that thing" came into contact with me.

Then I heard, somewhere in the dark, a voice seemed to come from my ears, it seemed to come from my heart, and it seemed to appear directly in my mind.

【——】

what?

I looked up abruptly and blinked.

The face-to-face "that thing" also raised its head.

[———————————

He is talking.

Such absurd thoughts condensed and formed in my mind.

I don't know why I am so sure, but the thought lingers in my heart, as if this is the case.

He is trying to communicate with me.

But I don't understand.

The words formed in the mind can hardly be called language.

It was like a gibberish stuffed straight into my head.

Just when I was trying to understand his expression, Loki used his divine power.

Just like last time, the divine power was transmitted from his hands to my body, and then through my fingertips, I came into contact with him.

Under the action of divine power, the human form formed by "that thing" shattered inch by inch.

First the hands, then the arms, and then the torso and head. It was like the colorful substances in the alley before, and it was broken into countless fragments in my cognition.

The fragments were still floating in the air at first, but when his body was completely shattered, the non-existent wind blew up again.

Loki let go of me abruptly, and with his long legs, he stepped over to the window and opened it.

As soon as the real wind enters, the fragments that do not exist in reality are swept out and disappear.

The pressure around me is also gone.

I step back.

The skirt is new, and I dare not sit directly on the ground, so I can only lean on the table in shock, and look at Loki by the window: "He has spoken, 'that thing' is trying to communicate with me!"

Loki: "What?"

Me: "But I can't understand what He is saying at all!"

Loki turned to look at me in surprise.

He didn't seem to expect this either: "The Outer God is trying to communicate with you?"

I nodded desperately.

Loki: "This—"

It wasn't just me who was shocked, the same emotion flashed across Loki's face.

But soon, he restrained his apparent surprise.

"I will explain this to the new gods," Loki said regretfully, "He actually appeared in a human-like shape, but unfortunately we didn't bring BB here."

Otherwise, he would be able to transfer his energy immediately for recording.

"But that's for later, now—"

"how?"

Loki walked forward from the window and glanced at his watch: "We stayed in the biology classroom for nearly an hour and a half."

me?!"

There was an hour and a half?

From my feeling, it was obvious that I entered the teaching building and went straight to the third floor, and then raised my hand to force "that thing" back.

It obviously took only 10 minutes.

That is to say...

Just entering His "territory", the flow of time is different from the outside world.

I'm familiar with this, Meryl's favorite science fiction often has this kind of setting!

"Well," Loki obviously thought the same way, "I have to discuss this with the new god. But don't get entangled now, because we can't even think about it, let's go back to the auditorium."

In an hour and a half, the dance party had already come to an end.

Loki and I hurried back, entering the auditorium when no one was looking.

Even though we kept a low profile as much as possible, we still got a lot of strange stares.

As for why everyone's eyes are so strange——

"You two."

Pandora was the boldest, and said directly in a complicated tone: "In the middle of the night, where did you hide? Don't make out with the grove, Loki, be careful that Ares and Fernando kill you?"

Loki returned Pandora with a mysterious smile.

The handsome young man curled his lips and asked without answering, "What do you think, my dear Maggie?"

I:"……"

It's as if the two of us really went to the grove to make out!

I was expressionless: "I'm going to deal with that thing."

Pandora was stunned, and the gossip heart suddenly disappeared.

Seeing that the atmosphere was getting serious, Loki directly pulled me up.

"This is the homecoming dance, we've missed most of it," he said with a smile on his face, "why the look?"

As he spoke, he pushed me a little harder and pulled me onto the dance floor.

I:? !

"Lo-Kenas, what are you doing?"

"What?"

Under the light, his sea-like eyes were almost black.

Loki tilted his head, still staring at me affectionately.

"Of course it's dancing, Nicole."

The prelude to the music has sounded.

"New gods, old gods, and maybe the unknown 'that thing'," his clear voice sounded in front of me, rising and wandering along with the music, "Before the music and the dance, you have to sit in the back row. "

The tall and thin transfer student leaned down () slightly, and stretched out his hand towards me.

"Otherwise, how can I be worthy of such an amazing you?"

Rocky smiled and said, "Nicole, you are really beautiful today."

be honest.

Even if he knew that Loki had no good intentions, he might not be sincerely complimenting him after having seen countless gods.

——No matter how beautifully you dress up, can you still look as good-looking as Aphrodite and Freya?

But when Loki looked you straight in the face and said this sincerely word by word, I admit, I was still complimented.

……hateful.

Now I understand why he was so narcissistic that he appeared in the face of Aragorn.

Handsome is really convenient!

"how?"

Seeing that I didn't respond, Loki remained unyielding.

He spread his right hand, palm up, and handed it in my direction: "Would you like to dance with me, Miss Hawke?"

I sighed.

"Can you stop grabbing the horse like this?"

That's what I said, but I still raised my hand.

"Let me tell you first," I reminded responsibly, "My ballroom dancing was taught by Fernando, and his level is not very good."

When I put my right hand in his palm, Loki reacted as if stars had fallen into his eyes.

His eyes lit up all of a sudden.

Hope was slowly burning in his handsome face, he held my hand and immediately straightened his back.

I don't know, I really thought that he was a prince with the permission of his sweetheart, and he wanted to lead his favorite person into the dance floor.

Just act.

Probably because my expression was too unpredictable, Loki turned his head sideways: "Cheat yourself, even if it's a short dance, isn't it good?"

I sighed lightly.

As he stepped onto the dance floor, I could feel a lot of stares from around him—everyone had been looking forward to the prom for the transfer student who had been in school for a long time.

"In the past."

The music sounded, and I cautiously raised my other hand, which fell on his shoulder.

"Is this how you deceive gods and men, Loki?"

Loki took me by the hand and held my back politely.

"Rather than cheating."

Under the light, his star pupils were shining brightly.

The god of deception responded with a smile: "I'm more inclined to weave dreams for each other, dear Nicole."

33

By the time Rocky and I returned to the auditorium from the teaching building, the dance was over.

I only had one last dance with him.

So the king and queen of the ball deservedly fell to Catherine and her companions.

But the fiery passion between me and "Cainus Uld" in the grove also spread - until three days after the dance, there were several rumors, not to mention the appearance. Version.

So far, I can't even bother to explain.

Anyway, I don't have the heart to fall in love with my classmates at school. I just want to talk about it. With Rocky as a shield, I'm still happy.

Compared with gossip, knowledge competition is more important.

After successfully passing the written test, the next step is the preliminary round.

There are a total of eight teams participating in the New York sub-division. The on-site competition is not only knowledge, but also reaction ability and on-the-spot ability.

Hermes has held us for a long time to practice camera sense and live speech, and the game is next Friday.

In this regard, the patron of competitive events has brought out the last trump card.

"Dangdangdangdang-"

Hermes strode into the classroom with his head held high, then bent over exaggeratedly, making a gesture of helping to make an appearance: "Look who I invited?"

Following him into the door was the gentle and well-mannered old acquaintance Benji.

African-American youths still wear quite British clothes today: cardigans, slim trousers, no hats, but a pair of gold-rimmed glasses on the bridge of their noses.

At first glance, he is a man of culture.

"Benji!"

Pandora and I's eyes lit up.

You know, he is Athena's secretary, that is, the Minister of Education!

It is said that New York's competition subdivisions are more or less handwritten by the Ministry of Education, maybe——

"No no, children."

Benji seemed to know what Pandora and I wanted to say.

Before the two of us spoke, he shook his fingers with a faint smile: "As the person in charge of the co-organizer, I can't say anything, otherwise it would be my negligence of duty, and it wouldn't be considered fair competition."

Me: "Woo..."

Well, Benji's reasoning is certainly valid.

"But-"

Just when I was losing hope, Benji changed the subject.

"But as an existence of the old god camp, I also have reasons to help you win the game."

I immediately raised my head and looked at Benji anxiously: "So?"

Benji couldn't help the smile on his face.

"So, I can't help you," he blinked slyly, "but the other old gods can."

"..."

Doesn't that mean you didn't say anything!

Currently, there are Loki and Pandora participating in the competition, and Hermes is the instructor.

Nearly half of the seven-person team are old gods!

Hermes saw me jumping back and forth between surprise and disappointment, and finally couldn't help it, and laughed out loud.

He reached out to rub my hair: "Silly girl, have you forgotten that Benji is different from us? He means that the old gods with supernatural powers can help us."

Benji: "Huh?"

The civilizational complex of the Azande people tilted their heads seemingly in a daze.

"What are you talking about," he said solemnly, "it's the 21st century, why are there still people who believe in feudalism?"

All right, all of them are old fried dough sticks, I understand.

The old gods have no divine power, so it must not be the old gods who use divine power to help me.

That didn't count as Benji helping.

When Athena asked, naturally it had nothing to do with him.

How clear it is!

Pandora took the opportunity to ask: "Then Benji thinks, which old god can help us?"

Benji blinked: "I gave Nicole a protective talisman earlier, that can help you."

Isn't the protective talisman used to defend against foreign gods? Why—

Oh.

I understood instantly.

When it comes to sneaking fish, my brain turns extremely fast.

What Benji gave me was a rustic Asian New Year picture.

…………

……

In the afternoon, New York Chinatown.

"Are you sure Benji meant that?"

Pandora couldn't bear to look straight at me and took out the huge old-fashioned New Year picture: "There are so many shops, where can I find them?"

I swear: "Such an old-fashioned thing, now the general store will not sell it, but it is easy to find."

Pandora: "Alright then."

The current Chinatown is not like the past. Although the surrounding shops are still in Chinese characters, they still look quite modern.

"We can have something to eat," Pandora said optimistically, "Tso's chicken?"

"It looks like you're from the Midwest."

As a native of New York, it is rare for me to beat Pandora in this aspect: "My classmates told me in junior high school that it was invented by Americans, and there is no such dish in authentic Chinese cuisine."

"Find the store quickly!" Pandora poked me lightly.

Loki didn't know where he went, so Pandora and I had to look for them one by one.

As I expected, these days, ordinary shops will not sell such old-fashioned souvenirs.

After Pandora and I asked a few places, the enthusiastic proprietress showed us the way.Turn left when going out, if the proprietress hadn't reminded me in advance, I wouldn't have seen a small storefront between the restaurants.

After squeezing into the storefront, it feels like walking into a scene from a martial arts movie in the 80s of the last century.

As soon as you enter the door, you will see a shrine on the left. The simple storefront is full of wooden shelves, on which are various stickers, posters, Chinese knots, and decorations and toys that I have never seen before.

"Wow……"

I couldn't help being speechless: "It's already 2018, can these things still be sold?"

You know, rent in New York is very expensive!

Hearing what I said, a person suddenly sat up behind the counter, which startled Pandora and me.

"Why can't it be sold?"

Behind the counter was a young man, he lazily said: "Retro is popular now, and my place is still an online celebrity shop."

Still online celebrity?

I walked to the shelf and took a closer look.

A Bruce Lee poster sold in the triple digits.

At this price, it really has the taste of an Internet celebrity.

Thinking about it, the retro storefronts in Chinatown, selling old things from the 80s, can indeed attract many people.

Is the New Year picture that Benji gave me bought here?

"Are the two ladies here to buy something?" asked the young man.

"Ah, let me ask."

I took out the disliked New Year picture: "Is this from your shop?"

The young man took a look: "Oh, yes."

After speaking, he pointed to a corner of the store counter: "It's over there, it can't be disposed of, you want to get it for you to dispose of as old paper."

I:"……"

Pandora: "..."

The promised old god has consecrated me, I was tricked by Benji, right?

Forget it, here we come!

Pandora and I walked suspiciously behind the shelves.

Through the shelf, I saw the young man lying back again.His reclining chair is lower than the counter, so you can't see him at all.

"I'm not afraid of us stealing things," I murmured, "This store is too——Wow!"

I was walking in front, and as soon as I turned to the shelf, I suddenly ran into an elderly man sitting behind the shelf, and I was so frightened that I yelled on the spot.

As soon as I yelled, Pandora yelled too, followed by the old man sitting on the bench: "Who is it?!"

The young man behind the counter sat up again: "What's wrong?!"

Me: "Here, there is someone here!"

youth:"……"

Across the shelf, I could also see the young man rolling his eyes on the spot.

"Grandpa, help them get the New Year pictures!"

Shouting this, the young man lay back for the third time.

Ok……

It turned out to be the boss' grandfather.

Although it was really unexpected to bump into a living person unexpectedly when I turned a corner, I was a little embarrassed to scare the old man.

"Excuse me, sir," I said cautiously, "I want to see this one on the shelf."

In Chinatown, many elderly people do not understand English.

The elderly man in front of him looked about 70 or [-] years old, with white hair and beard, wearing a simple white coat, sitting on a wooden bench.

I was afraid that he could not understand English, so I handed over the New Year picture in my hand.

Unexpectedly, the old man took the New Year picture and looked at it twice, then nodded: "I want this, it's on the left."

It would be nice if you can speak English!

I breathe a sigh of relief.

"Sir, do you know what is on this painting?" I asked curiously.

"Stove Lord." The old man replied to me in Chinese.

"what?"

The old man returned the New Year picture to me: "Stove Lord, the god of the stove, the god of the kitchen."

His words were mixed with English and Chinese, and I couldn't understand them.

It was Pandora who slapped his forehead: "Isn't that the Chinese Kitchen God!"

Kitchen God, I know!

In Greek mythology, there is also Hestia, the kitchen god, who is in charge of the hearth, fire and family.

It turns out that the Kitchen God in China is a male.

As soon as I thought about it, the old gentleman in front of me shook his head.

"It's not the same, it's not the same," he said. "In the past, life was hard and we had no food to eat. We enshrined the Stove Lord and hoped that the Stove Lord would give us food. Now we don't have to worry about food or drink. We still worship the Stove Lord and bless the family with peace. , exorcising evil and avoiding filth, but also welcoming good fortune and good luck.”

I turned to look at the shrine hanging at the door of the store.

In East Asian culture, it is true that gods are still worshiped until now.

I have a lot of Asian friends, and of course I know this.

Even if people no longer sincerely believe in them, they will still set up shrines and burn incense to make offerings. It is not so much a belief in the gods as an expression of good hope for the future.

As the old man said, the Stove Lord only cares about the stove, but people still hope that he can make the family happy.

"It's quite practical."

I agree with this very much: "Everyone is a god, so let's be more lenient."

The old man smiled: "That's right."

Like the Greek gods, the division of labor is so fine, you have to worship gods for everything, and it is troublesome to enshrine so many gods.

"It's more practical, so now every household still worships the Stove Lord."

"Then what did Benji ask us to find?"

Pandora whispered in my ear: "There are people worshiping, why come to New York?"

She was speaking in my ear, but the old gentleman turned his head.

"There are Chinese in New York," he said, "and there are worshipers."

"Ah... what about the mainland?" I was at a loss.

"Divided by region," the old man replied with a kind smile, "There are Stove Lords from all over the country, each family has its own Stove Lord, and in some places, there is still the Stove King's grandma."

Such a comparison is not only practical, but also scientific.

As the Kitchen God, Hestia was in charge of the whole of Greece, and the Kitchen God was like a consul, one god for each place, so convenient!

and……

I looked at the old gentleman in front of me meaningfully: "Grandpa, you are the Stove Lord."

The old man still had a friendly smile, but opened his mouth in Chinese: "I can't understand English."

I:"……"

Pandora: "..."

The two of us looked at each other and went straight forward.

"grandfather!!"

The shining thighs are right in front of your eyes, and you have to hug them no matter what: "From today onwards, you are our real grandpa!"