Barrier of Light

Dongzhou Federation, Qinghe District.

23:44.

In the empty light rail station, Gu Shen lowered his head and glanced at his watch while running.

Will he still be able to catch the last train... He was a little worried, but there was a low hum in the distance.

"Boom—"

In the dark and pitch-black tunnel, thousands of brilliant arcs of light burst out in an instant, and the last light rail train slowed down slowly and stopped in front of Gu Shen smoothly.

Seeing the train, Gu Shen just breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned and held his breath.

The door opened, and a rusty smell came.

He took two steps back and looked at the train. The carriage was old, mottled and rusty on the outside, and three neat numbers were written in white paint beside the window:

zero zero unit.

"If I remember correctly, Dateng City...hasn't this kind of train been eliminated a long time ago?"

"Dididi--"

It was too late to think about it, and at the last moment when the door of the carriage was closed, Gu Shen catapulted from the waist and squeezed into the carriage without any risk.

Holding the armrest, he breathed a sigh of relief.

From the corner of the eye, he glanced inadvertently.

Gu Shen was startled.

On weekdays, this light rail is sent to remote suburbs, and the last train is often taken by no one else, only myself, but today...

There was another girl in the car.

This girl was sitting opposite her, only tens of centimeters apart, with almond eyes and peach cheeks, and long hair scattered. She was wearing a pure white lace dress that was so thin that it was almost transparent, revealing her pink shoulders and a large expanse of snow-like skin.

The thin skirt was very white.

But the girl is even whiter, so white that it is dazzling.

The girl stepped on the floor of the carriage on her tiptoes... A heavy book half-opened was lying on her knees, and the breeze from the carriage door opened the pages of the book, making a sound of rustling like leaves falling.

This girl has an indescribable unique temperament, not like a real person in the real world.

Looking at her, Gu Shen felt that he saw a ray of light.

Quiet, soft, holy, ethereal.

Between the pages, the girl raised her head.

The two looked at each other, Gu Shen hurriedly looked away, rubbed his hands and breathed out, hastily covering up his gaffe.

He suspected he was dreaming.

How can there be such a beautiful girl in this world?

And... she wears so little, doesn't she feel cold?

...

...

[The second person... gets in the car. 】

The moment the girl looked up, a flash of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she quickly regained her composure.

She closed the book and looked at the boy seriously.

The young man is now huddled in the corner of the train, rubbing his hands and exhaling, giggling to himself, as if he doesn't know what it means to "get on the train".

"Woo--"

The light rail started slowly, and the arc splashed back and forth to scour the tunnel wall.

Although this train is old, it runs extremely smoothly.

The sound of the electric arc bounced outside the window, after penetrating the glass, only the crackling sound like the rustling of rainwater is left.

The two of them remained silent, neither of them spoke, and the carriage was very quiet. If no one spoke all the time, the light rail would go through the long tunnel and travel silently for about twenty minutes to reach the terminal.

But this silence did not last long.

The girl spoke first.

"A very important question: is there a real π between 3 and 4 . . . ?"

Gu Shen thought he was hallucinating.

Are you talking to yourself?

He turned his head in surprise, looked around, saw the empty interior of the carriage, met the girl's serious gaze on him, Gu Shen stretched out his finger and pointed at himself, and the girl nodded seriously.

He smiled awkwardly, the other party was actually talking to him.

"Between 3 and 4...is there a real π?"

What kind of problem is this?

The answer is of course there is.

But at this moment, Gu Shen hesitated for a moment and did not answer directly.

The reason is also very simple.

Because the girl looked directly into his clear pupils, reflecting a very serious wave of light, this look convinced Gu Shen... This seemingly simple question is not that simple.

The girl stretched out a hand and pointed behind Gu Shen.

Gu Shen turned around.

The interior of this old carriage has been carved with mottled murals at some point... It can be vaguely seen that it is an old scale. It is the two numbers 3 and 4 marked in bold above.

"If you touch this ruler..."

The girl stretched out a hand and touched the ruler in the air. Her voice became softer, like a gust of wind, sweeping through the carriage, with a hint of sadness.

"Can you touch π?"

Gu Shen was startled.

He suddenly understood the true meaning of this question, an infinite and non-recurring number, a number that only exists in theory.

The precision of this number is infinite.

And the precision on the ruler is limited.

Even if this ruler is magnified hundreds of millions of times, there will never be a point, which belongs to the "π" with infinite precision.

"Gu Shen... what's your answer?"

Gu Shen was a little perplexed, did she know her name?

The hand that the girl stretched out slowly spread out, and there were silver cross patterns flowing on the palm, emitting a glow.

The moment he saw the glow of the cross, Gu Shen felt familiar and warm, as if returning to an old dream, he couldn't help but make the same movement, the boy stretched out his hand, wanting to interlock fingers with the girl.

"..."

Seeing this action, the girl smiled silently.

No imaginary touches.

The girl in the pure white gauze skirt closed her hands and retreated, little by little, to the end of Gu Shen's line of sight. The girl's smile disappeared little by little, and finally only dignified and serious remained.

"Gu Shen..."

"...survive."

The wind in the carriage suddenly dissipated.

"Boom, boom!"

The light rail exits the tunnel—

The light source covering Gu Shen's head instantly shattered.

He suddenly realized that... everything had changed. The moment the mottled train exited the tunnel, it seemed to be washed and washed by an invisible force.

The light rail began to tremble, and the entire carriage was plunged into violent vibrations, like a curved steel snake body, bumping up and down, and the arcs splashing outside the windows were all extinguished at this moment.

The wheel hub collided with the rails, and the ear-piercing friction sound shattered this dream.

Gu Shen looked at the scene in front of him with horror.

The light in the entire carriage dimmed, and it was still empty.

It all seemed like a dream.

It's just that the filter of the dream has changed now, and the bright carriage has become dim. The seat of the beautiful girl before was also replaced by a tall woman in a black dress.

She was wearing a top hat that was wide enough to cover her entire face, holding a stack of old and yellowed newspapers in both hands, reading in the fragmented light, even when she was sitting, she was almost at the same height as Gu Shen.

If you stand up... I'm afraid it will be more than two meters, right?

23:59.

Looking down at the time, Gu Shen looked a little pale.

I may have encountered some kind of supernatural event that cannot be explained by conventional cognition... Although the lights in this carriage are dim, it can be seen faintly. The armrests of the seats are brand new, and the mottled and rust that I saw everywhere before have all disappeared.

Did I actually stay in such a train for 15 minutes?

Gu Shen memorized every word the girl said earlier, especially the last three words.

"Live!"

Gu Shen's scalp was a little numb, he carefully looked at the tall lady who was immersed in reading the newspaper, and felt a strong danger in his heart.

Just when the eyes are gone.

As if "heart-to-heart"--

The woman in the black dress who gave people a great sense of oppression slowly raised her head, and Gu Shen saw two dark and deep real red glows emitting from under the brim of the dark hat.

"This gentleman."

The woman in black dress folded the newspaper, raised her head, and asked politely in a low voice: "I have a very important question... I want to ask for advice."

"You...please tell me."

Gu Shen clenched his fingers, took a deep breath, and tried his best to keep himself calm.

Your own reply doesn't seem to matter.

Because this lady, after finishing her words, took out a boning knife by herself, put it on the newspaper in front of her knee and wiped it slowly, there was a smear of blood on the newspaper.

Then... She opened the dress, and a silver ruler was hanging from the inside of the dress. Two snow-white fingers painted with red nail polish were rubbing back and forth between the 3 and 4 marks on the ruler.

"Just now."

The tall woman who was sitting upright held the boning knife in her other hand, turned her head sideways, and asked in confusion, "Did I... touch π?"