"Not good!"
Wu Pi Fu immediately wanted to pull the three of them to escape, but in the next second, under the clear blue sky, the red light dissipated, and everything around returned to normal.
There were still pedestrians and various noisy sounds, and the previous eerie atmosphere had vanished without a trace.
However, all four were drenched in cold sweat, momentarily unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.
A few seconds later, Xu Rong Yu let out a strange cry, "What was that? What was all that just now!?"
Wu Pi Fu remained silent, while Ya Ma Dai and Xu Shi Lan both had grim expressions.
Suddenly, the bird on his shoulder, Jiu Jiu, flew up, spiraling around before heading towards the city gate.
Wu Pi Fu said, "This is not a place for talking. Let's go, out of the city! We must leave the city!"
At that moment, the three were in a state of panic and naturally followed Wu Pi Fu's suggestion, quickly making their way out of the city.
It wasn't until they had all exited the city that the pervasive feeling of being watched and the chilling terror dissipated.
At this point, Jiu Jiu landed back on Wu Pi Fu's shoulder.
Earlier, while they were eating, Jiu Jiu had consumed many peanuts and some shredded meat that Wu Pi Fu had torn off.
Now, it had displayed its extraordinary abilities, leading the four out of the city.
As the three regained their composure, they all looked at Jiu Jiu.
Even Xu Rong Yu couldn't help but exclaim, "This bird is so extraordinary! It actually knows that the weirdness disappears once we leave the city. It seems there must be great demons and monsters in this Xuan Hua Prefecture."
Wu Pi Fu gently stroked Jiu Jiu's feathers and said, "This bird comes from the world of Base Reality Zero Point Seven, so it is naturally different. But you are mistaken; it is not Xuan Hua Prefecture that has a problem, but rather all the people have issues!"
Xu Rong Yu didn't understand, but Ya Ma Dai and Xu Shi Lan did.
Xu Shi Lan immediately said, "Is it a Nightmare!? All living beings could become its vessels?"
Wu Pi Fu shook his head and replied, "It's still unclear, but now that we are in a place without many pedestrians, the previous eerie feeling is gone. It is evident that it must be related to the number of people. Regardless of whether it is or not, we must start avoiding crowds!"
At that moment, a group of horsemen passed by the four, heading towards the city.
As the horsemen approached, all four felt that eerie feeling of being watched emerge once again, and as the horsemen moved away, that sensation vanished once more.
Thus, everyone no longer doubted and hurriedly moved away from the direction of the city.
After walking for at least two hours, they finally stopped by a wooded area beside the road.
Looking at a nearby post station, Xu Rong Yu asked, "Master, are there really strange things in this world?"
Wu Pi Fu was momentarily speechless.
The tone and content of this question sounded just like a wealthy character from some Hong Kong film asking about con artists.
Wu Pi Fu replied seriously, "The truth is, those things do exist; they just lie in wait most of the time. Of course, it could also be our problem; we are ultimately different from you."
At this moment, Ya Ma Dai and Xu Shi Lan were deep in thought.
Ya Ma Dai then asked, "What is the defensive capability of these things? Can they withstand missiles? What about plasma weapons? Or super-magnetic weapons?"
Wu Pi Fu was silent for a few seconds before saying, "No, where do you plan to find these weapons?"
Ya Ma Dai replied earnestly, "I know some simple weapon assembly techniques, but I need steel, parts, and a power source. If that doesn't work, I can simplify it; I am also skilled in traps, mechanisms, and modifications of ranged cold weapons. Additionally, I have insights into positional warfare, defensive battles, and weapon platform modifications."
Wu Pi Fu continued to be speechless, but he began to seriously ponder.
At this moment, Xu Shi Lan asked, "Wasn't it said that the first five days are a safe period? Why did we encounter a Nightmare so soon?"
Wu Pi Fu answered, "It's not a safe period; rather, during the first five days, Nightmares find it difficult to perceive our exact location. The main brain likely provided some level of protection and interference regarding our location, unless it is face-to-face... and we just happened to come face-to-face with a Nightmare."
Xu Rong Yu remained silent, while the other two were puzzled.
They asked, "When did we come face-to-face with a Nightmare?"
Wu Pi Fu's expression darkened as he said, "Those women in red from the previous Red Lantern Society were using talismans to perform rituals, right? At that time, I saw a humanoid shadow flickering in and out of view, but it was quickly dispersed. I didn't think much of it then, but now that I think about it, that shadow was likely a Nightmare, at least one of them. We were discovered."
Ya Ma Dai and Xu Shi Lan then recalled a detail.
Previously, they hadn't seen the paper figures; it was Wu Pi Fu who had pulled them, and only after touching him could they see it.
In other words...
"Second Stage of Inspiration?"
Ya Ma Dai and Xu Shi Lan asked almost in unison, deep in thought.
Wu Pi Fu nodded.
His expression remained grim as he said, "Moreover, the seniors have repeatedly reminded me of one thing: when we see them, they see us too. Now that the Nightmare is clearly aware of us, it will surely attack in the coming days. I just don't know what level this Nightmare is—whether it is a Level One Nightmare or a Level Two Nightmare."
Xu Rong Yu had been listening to the conversation between the three, many of the terms he didn't understand, but the beauty of the Chinese language is that one can grasp the meaning through context.
So, he was somewhat muddled but still caught on.
He suddenly shivered and said, "No, Master, I'm just a meat ticket you guys have kidnapped. Even though a hundred thousand taels of silver is a lot, my father only has me as a son. He has to pay this money, whether he wants to or not. These demons and monsters are not something my small body can contend with. Master, just treat me as a fart and let me go!"
Wu Pi Fu chuckled and said, "You can leave if you want."
Upon hearing this, Xu Rong Yu hesitated to take a step forward, not because he feared Wu Pi Fu would kill him with a single strike, but because he was truly terrified of the previous bizarre horror.
Let alone the fact that people in this era are generally superstitious; even in the twenty-first century, where Wu Pi Fu grew up, if someone truly encountered demons and monsters, they would surely be scared half to death.
This is not a matter of bravery; as long as humans are alive, they will feel fear towards these non-living entities.
Although Xu Rong Yu was curious about these things, he had only heard about them for entertainment in the past.
He had killed many people and had even slept among corpses, so he naturally didn't think there would be any vengeful spirits.
But now, witnessing it firsthand and experiencing it personally was entirely different.
He suddenly knelt down, giving Wu Pi Fu three loud bows, and humbly said, "Master, please give me a real assurance. If I leave now, those things will let me go, right? After all, those things are coming for you, and I am just a nameless nobody, insignificant, right?"
Wu Pi Fu looked at him with a face full of pity and said, "I won't hide it from you; to be honest, I'm sorry, but now you are also a target of those things. How should I put it... you don't think those things rely on their eyes to see, do you?"
Xu Rong Yu was instantly dumbfounded.
Even if he didn't understand science, he was still influenced by the feudal superstitions and ignorance of this era.
However, he wouldn't think that those strange and bizarre things were seen with the eyes; they must have some celestial magic or terrifying abilities to seek out living beings.
Wu Pi Fu continued, "When we see them, it is indeed 'seeing,' but it can also be perception. They 'see' us too, but in their view, who knows what we are? Perhaps we are food, or some peculiar image or color marked in a specific way. And you standing with us, do you want to gamble whether they can distinguish you?"
"Also, don't believe in those tales that say things like 'spirits repay kindness' or 'if you haven't done anything wrong, you won't fear ghosts knocking at your door.' They teach you to be a good person, but when you truly encounter a ghost, will you still believe a ghost's words? I would truly admire you if you did."
This was also the reason Xu Rong Yu knelt down and wanted to escape.
He genuinely recalled those sayings from the tales, but upon hearing this, he remembered the phrase "ghost stories abound" and immediately froze in place, his expression shifting between fear and uncertainty.
At this moment, Xu Shi Lan asked, "So what should we do next? We need to stay away from people and survive for five days, right?"
Wu Pi Fu thought for a moment and said, "We need to avoid people. Right now, we should gather food. You see that post station over there? Let's go and take as much food as we can from there. Whether we buy or seize it, we can't worry about that too much now. We need to obtain as much food as possible, and then we need to find a place with few people, where traffic is minimal. But it also can't be a completely open, unprotected wilderness. We need to conserve our strength and have some defensive facilities..."
As Wu Pi Fu spoke, he also felt a headache coming on.
Because such places were exceedingly rare.
Any place with buildings generally had people.
Even abandoned temples in the wilderness would have travelers passing through, whether they were merchants or beggars; it was impossible to find a completely deserted area.
Suddenly, Wu Pi Fu thought of something.
He pulled out a sea conch from a plain cloth bag at his waist.
The three looked at him in confusion, and Wu Pi Fu suppressed his embarrassment and said, "Mysterious sea conch, where should we go to find a place that has complete buildings, can shield us from the wind and rain, can serve as a defensive stronghold, and has few people passing by or arriving? Or is there any way to avoid contact with large crowds?"
The sea conch trembled slightly, and a voice mixed with the sound of waves emerged from it, saying, "Stay away from the living, and get close to the dead."
Wu Pi Fu almost crushed the sea conch in his hand.
He laughed in anger and said, "Good, good, good! Well said! Listening to you is better than listening to a hundred others! I know to stay away from the living, but you want me to get close to the dead? Get close to the dead!?"
A flash of inspiration struck Wu Pi Fu's mind, and he immediately looked at Xu Rong Yu and asked, "What did you say was the place where the meat ticket gets paid?"
Xu Rong Yu didn't understand at first and instinctively replied, "The charity house."
Wu Pi Fu laughed heartily and looked towards the post station, saying, "Let's go buy food, or seize food, and then..."
"We'll go to the charity house to survive these five days!"
(End of Chapter)