Wu Piwu had long known that heightened inspiration was not a good thing.
This perception was two-way; it was not just his own inspiration that allowed him to sense those strange phenomena, but it also enabled those strange phenomena to sense him.
When he awakened, there were still many seniors around.
These seniors even included several from three or four shifts prior, and they had obtained a wealth of information from maintenance personnel in other districts, most of which they generously shared with Wu Piwu.
According to the nightmare patterns explored and summarized by some seniors, nightmares generally consisted of urban anomalies that already existed in that world, such as demons and spirits, or those deities and Buddhas that many people sang about, which were the most likely sources of nightmares.
Secondly, there were many types of nightmares.
They were called nightmares because they specifically targeted maintenance personnel entering the dream world, while other anomalies in the dream world did not necessarily do so.
In fact, some anomalies might even communicate, trade, or impart power to maintenance personnel.
Thirdly, the perception of nightmares towards maintenance personnel was supernatural; it did not rely on eyes or certain organs for sensing.
In the words of the seniors, within a certain higher-level perception system, the entire world was a sea of darkness, and only life possessed radiance.
In the perception of nightmares, it was about sensing this radiance.
When maintenance personnel entered, their radiance, under the protection of the main brain, was no different from that of ordinary people, with only slight differences.
Thus, unless faced directly, it was difficult for nightmares to detect maintenance personnel within the first five days.
However, once the five days passed, the radiance of maintenance personnel would grow increasingly intense until all nightmares in that world could sense it.
Moreover, this perception was two-way; the higher the inspiration, the brighter the radiance in the darkness, allowing one to see nightmares, and naturally, nightmares could see you as well.
Finally, this radiance was merely a general description.
Nightmares would not carefully distinguish between maintenance personnel and the indigenous inhabitants of the dream world.
Most nightmares were also some form of ignorant "thing," with only a small portion possessing what could be called self-awareness.
In many cases described by the seniors, it was common for nightmares to slaughter maintenance personnel along with the surrounding indigenous inhabitants of the dream world.
Therefore, Wu Piwu had not deceived Xu Rongyu.
Currently, Xu Rongyu had no choice but to follow them to survive, although this survival was not guaranteed.
After all, they only needed to endure for five days, while Xu Rongyu could only remain in this world indefinitely, which was essentially an unsolvable predicament.
However, at least within five days, Xu Rongyu could indeed rely on them to survive.
The food at the relay station was relatively plentiful, consisting mainly of rice, flour, vegetables, and radishes, along with some pieces of cured meat and dried fish.
As an official relay station, it also needed to accommodate some official personnel, and since the Qing court had not completely collapsed yet and still maintained effective governance, there was indeed a sufficient stock of food in this relay station outside the city.
Wu Piwu had money; several hundred taels of silver were enough to purchase a lot of food.
He also bought a cart for transporting goods and a donkey.
Since it was a joint purchase and not a robbery, the small official at the relay station received the silver, took a little for himself, and did not say anything out of line.
The four of them then drove the donkey towards the charity house.
Along the way, Xu Rongyu appeared lost and dispirited, completely devoid of the cleverness he had shown earlier.
In contrast, the two newcomers, Yamada and Xu Shilan, had regained their composure and even began to chat and laugh along the way.
Wu Piwu truly regarded these two newcomers with newfound respect.
In the battles on Gaia, Yamada's combat power was off the charts, and her mentality was astonishing.
Xu Shilan, despite her flirtatious appearance, also had a remarkable mindset.
Do not think that this bizarre supernatural horror was easy to handle; telling stories and listening to them was one thing, but encountering them in reality could scare some people to death.
Xu Rongyu had been captured by Wu Piwu, with his life and death in someone else's hands, yet he could still joke and ask for meat and wine.
However, upon encountering this grotesque sight, his mentality began to crumble; this was the true norm.
Wu Piwu said to the two newcomers, "It seems your energy before becoming maintenance personnel was quite impressive."
Yamada and Xu Shilan were slightly taken aback.
Yamada then laughed heartily, saying, "It's just a matter of death, or as you said, unable to seek life or death. But the same effect applies to the third battle against the bio-beasts. You don’t know; the comrades who died at my hands number at least eighty, if not a hundred.
This was not shooting them in the back, but rather they fell into the hands of special bio-beasts, being modified, parasitized, and mutated. The worst instance involved over twenty comrades whose heads were embedded in the shells of bio-beasts. They were still screaming in agony, not yet dead, but their mouths and eyes could spray bullets.
Having seen such cruelty often, these bizarre phenomena are nothing to fear."
Xu Shilan smiled and added, "Let’s not even mention the fourth battle. After the war, the solar system, aside from the sun, turned into fragments of nebulae. Even before the fourth battle broke out, the thirteen singularity technology companies, along with some dubious black technologies, the dark side of the government, and some strange tales I’ve only heard of, produced horrors that were not much different from these."
Wu Piwu shook his head, only able to sigh at the sheer audacity.
As they chatted and walked, they soon saw a dirt road appear beside the official road.
Xu Rongyu was quite familiar with the terrain here; a horse bandit unfamiliar with these areas could easily be surrounded and exterminated by the officials, or if they attempted to rob a merchant convoy, they would likely miss the opportunity entirely.
Xu Rongyu led everyone onto this dirt road.
Perhaps to dispel the fear and unease in his heart, he spoke up, "There are three charity houses around this city, one of which was burned down two years ago. Now only two remain, and the one we are heading to is called Yijia Charity House. Originally, it was…"
Yamada asked, "So, what is a charity house?"
"A place for storing dead bodies."
Xu Rongyu replied casually, then paused, likely considering that he would have to face that terrifying anomaly with these people.
He explained, "We Chinese are different from you barbarians. We value returning to our roots; our bodies and skin are given by our parents, so even in death, we wish to return to our hometown. This is something you barbaric beasts naturally do not understand. However…"
"In such a vast world, how many people have the means to return home after death? Most bodies end up in the wilderness, taken by wild beasts. That’s why charity houses exist to store their remains until their descendants come to escort them back home, returning to their roots. At the same time, these charity houses also provide a refuge for distant relatives of wealthy families, preventing them from becoming destitute in chaotic times."
Xu Shilan pondered and said, "So this is a place to store corpses? But there will also be living people?"
Xu Rongyu replied, "Most charity houses in other places have living people, but this Yijia Charity House has none left. They…"
Xu Rongyu shook his head.
At that moment, Yamada suddenly asked, "Piwu, are you alright? Will the dead cause anomalies or nightmares?"
Wu Piwu was somewhat speechless.
He said, "Just call me Wu. As for whether a large number of dead bodies will trigger any strange anomalies… it’s very possible. But this is, after all, baseline reality 0.9, with only slight deviations from the real world. At least in the dream worlds of baseline reality 0.9 that I have experienced, I have not encountered any anomalies aside from nightmares."
Yamada nodded in understanding.
The group continued along the small path.
After a while, they vaguely saw a cluster of wooden buildings ahead.
Suddenly, at that moment, Wu Piwu halted, standing still without moving.
Yamada was the quickest to react.
As a veteran of the third battle, he would have died long ago without such vigilance.
Less than a second after Wu Piwu stopped, he immediately positioned himself behind Wu Piwu, standing back to back with him.
Xu Shilan's reaction was slightly slower, but she also took just over a second to stand beside the two men, forming a triangle.
In contrast, Xu Rongyu, the horse bandit, had driven the donkey at least five or six meters further before realizing something was wrong.
He then disregarded everything and nearly rolled and crawled back to the three, looking around in terror.
After waiting for five or six seconds, with no movement around them, the three began to feel puzzled.
Yamada asked, "Is there something there?"
Wu Piwu remained silent for a moment, then reached out to touch the skin of the three.
He wanted to test whether he could share his inspiration with them.
At the moment of contact with Wu Piwu, all three felt a chill run through their bodies.
Then they saw vague human figures behind a row of trees leaning towards the charity house.
Even under the bright daylight, these figures existed.
This was not some paranoid delusion; they were truly semi-transparent, non-human shadows, each missing limbs, with some appearing half-rotten.
There was no mistaking them for humans.
Xu Rongyu's legs went weak, and he half-kneeled down, trembling uncontrollably, while the other two stiffened momentarily but maintained their defensive stance.
Wu Piwu, however, remained calm, his qi flowing, resembling a crouching tiger, filled with bloodlust, madness, and battle intent.
Perhaps this was the confidence that came with skill; Wu Piwu did not feel he was born a warrior.
In the past, he too had feared these supernatural entities, but now, having reached the Dark Energy stage of National Art and mastered the Tiger Demon Technique, he truly was not afraid of these wandering souls and wild ghosts.
Even the paper figures from before only made him feel danger, not fear.
Of course, this was likely also related to the characteristics of National Art.
Practicing National Art itself could cultivate courage; even the most cowardly and incompetent individuals, as long as they persistently trained in National Art, could become brave, strong, and unyielding.
As he circulated his qi, the chaotic thoughts of the Tiger Demon Technique surged, and a sense of unyielding spiritual light suppressed everything.
The qi in his body surged, and his body temperature began to rise, causing those around him to feel faint waves of warmth.
With such changes, the ghostly figures over twenty meters away actually stirred slightly before gradually disappearing from sight.
After at least ten seconds, Xu Rongyu began to breathe heavily, and the other two also sighed in relief.
Yamada immediately asked, "With so many ghostly beings, do we still need to go in?"
Wu Piwu looked towards the distant charity house and said, "Why not go in? These are all dead; they won't be transformed by nightmares. Being with them is far better than being with a bunch of living people who could turn into paper figures at any moment, right? Let’s go, we’re entering the charity house!"
Although the three could not articulate what was wrong, comparing it to the paper figures they had seen earlier, these ghostly shadows felt far less eerie and terrifying.
At this moment, they had no choice but to follow Wu Piwu towards the charity house.
(End of Chapter)