False Humans.
This is a urban legend from the twenty-first century in Wu Pifu's memory.
The legend states that among the bustling crowds, there exist beings that appear human but are completely unknown entities.
Where they come from is unknown, how long they have existed is unknown, and what exactly they are is also unknown.
The only thing known is that they randomly select passersby as their prey, perhaps as food, or perhaps simply for hunting, because even their very existence is a mystery, it is entirely unclear whether they need humans as sustenance.
From what Wu Pifu knows about this urban myth, False Humans hunt humans; others either cannot see them, or there are legends that claim they can see them, but they appear no different from normal people.
However, in the eyes of their selected prey, they become extremely terrifying.
They approach you at the speed of a normal person, walking or running, while bystanders remain completely unaware of any anomaly.
You cannot kill a False Human with any weapon; you can only flee, and the False Humans will hunt you like a cat chasing a mouse.
No matter where you run, they will always find you, closing in on you in the crowd or in open spaces, and ultimately...
No one knows what will happen to you—whether you will be killed, transformed into a new False Human, or sent to some terrifying place, perhaps the secret research base of the creators of the False Humans, or the experimental platform of some mad scientist.
In any case, you will disappear.
The most terrifying part is that no one knows.
Because all your relatives, acquaintances, and friends will completely forget your existence; all traces of your past will vanish without a trace.
This is most of what Wu Pifu knows about False Humans; at least, this is all he remembers.
So when he saw a False Human walking towards him from the crowd, he immediately grabbed Qiu Qiu and turned to leave, pondering how to evade the False Human, or perhaps see if he could kill it?
(No, too risky, because it’s unknown whether this is some kind of touch kill; if it is a touch-and-die scenario, then that would be walking into a trap.)
Wu Pifu silently thought, and then his eyes suddenly narrowed.
As soon as he turned around, he saw two more False Humans approaching him from behind.
He looked around and found that five or six False Humans had surrounded him from all directions, and the only escape route without False Humans was the subway station?
Wu Pifu was about to explode; he had never considered entering the subway station.
There was no doubt that the False Humans were forcing him into the subway station, where there might be even more terrifying things...
It was very much like a plot from a small game he had played before, where the protagonist was forced into the subway station by False Humans and had to evade them while searching for fallen change to buy a ticket to escape with his life, although in the end, he still faced a False Human coming towards him, leaving a cliffhanger.
He did not want to experience what it would be like to face a False Human in the confined space of a subway car.
So, he could not be forced into the subway station!
At that moment, Wu Pifu planned to take Qiu Qiu and leap over the crowd immediately.
What a joke, did these mere False Humans, with the speed of ordinary people, think they could surround and catch him?
The entire city being filled with False Humans would be more believable!
But just then, Qiu Qiu let out a small sound.
Wu Pifu immediately sensed something was off; he quietly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Qiu Qiu shook her head, seeming very uncertain as she said, “Just now, I think I saw a few very tall people, but they flashed by, maybe I was seeing things.”
Wu Pifu's expression immediately darkened.
Clearly, these False Humans seemed to have a way to sense his intentions, so when he planned to leap over the crowd to escape, they immediately turned Qiu Qiu into a hunting target as well, a momentary switch, then it stopped.
There was no doubt this was some kind of warning.
Wu Pifu narrowed his eyes, carefully observing the approaching False Humans.
He truly had thoughts of fighting them; at worst, he would die once.
If it really was a touch-and-die scenario, then he would just keep running, but if he could defeat them... unless each of these False Humans had explosive power of dozens of tons or more, otherwise he could truly take down one with a single punch.
But...
Qiu Qiu could not.
She was now in a human body, unable to fly, and her physique was very weak, even weaker than an ordinary adult male.
She wouldn’t even need to be directly attacked; just being caught in the battle’s aftermath could lead to her immediate death.
After death, she would reappear, and by then, he would truly be unable to protect Qiu Qiu.
“Ha...”
Wu Pifu quickly walked towards the subway station with Qiu Qiu, saying as he walked, “Qiu Qiu, a monster has already set its sights on us. Don’t look around; the monster’s target is now set on me. You can’t see them, so you won’t be harmed by them. If I let go of you later, you must dart to the side as fast as you can, understood?”
Qiu Qiu, looking tense, slightly lowered her head, just watching Wu Pifu holding her hand, and softly said, “Mm, understood.”
Wu Pifu led Qiu Qiu down to the lower part of the subway station, while the False Humans continued to chase from behind, but they were not running, just moving at the speed of ordinary humans walking briskly.
As they walked, Wu Pifu carefully observed the surrounding humans.
There were both men and women, of three different skin colors, all appearing normal.
Even in detail, they were the most ordinary humans, each hurrying along.
The advertisements in the subway had text, but this text was not in any language Wu Pifu recognized; clearly, this was not Earth, nor any human country he knew.
At the same time, Wu Pifu gleaned some information from these advertisements.
This world, or rather this country, was experiencing war; it was unclear who they were fighting against, as recruitment advertisements occupied more than half of all advertisements, and alongside the recruitment ads were enormous mechas.
The designs of the mechas were also unlike any he knew from games, appearing with round heads, some humanoid, some beast-like, and others resembling spiders or octopuses.
It seemed this world had developed a mecha civilization.
As he walked and observed, Wu Pifu soon arrived at the ticket hall.
He did not rush to move but casually waved one hand, and the bystanders didn’t even react before he had a large stack of banknotes in his hand.
Then he approached the ticket counter, listening to the words of the staff in front of him.
When it was his turn, he spoke the monosyllables mentioned by the previous few staff members and handed over two banknotes.
The ticket clerk glanced at him, took one of the banknotes, then handed him two tickets along with some change.
Wu Pifu smiled, took everything without looking, and led Qiu Qiu into the subway station.
This world was truly too similar to Earth civilization; even the entrances and exits of the subway station were almost identical—swipe the ticket, enter, then the corridor, platform, and so on.
However, as soon as he reached the platform, Wu Pifu immediately stood still at the entrance of the platform.
Because the entire platform revealed its true nature in his eyes!
The platform was still normal, and its revealed truth was merely ruins, but the subway was different.
The trains on both sides were filled with various organs, mucus, and intestinal-like substances, and the arriving subway trains were actually biological structures, resembling hollow tongues.
The most terrifying part was that when people entered this tongue, there were actually a few human bodies that melted into the tongue, but the surrounding people were completely unaware.
Then, they reformed, but transformed into False Humans over two meters tall.
Wu Pifu's expression grew serious as he looked back and saw six False Humans entering from the ticket counter.
Although they couldn’t reach him immediately, it was only a matter of time.
“... So, forcing me onto the subway is to turn me into a False Human?”
Wu Pifu immediately understood the intentions of these False Humans; even his instincts were warning him that he absolutely could not board the subway train.
He looked around and found only one exit, while the six False Humans had spread out over two meters, closing in on him and Qiu Qiu like a net.
Seeing this, Wu Pifu immediately pulled Qiu Qiu and headed towards the restroom.
As they walked, he said to Qiu Qiu, “Once we get in, you stay in the innermost stall and lock the door. Unless I call you, you absolutely cannot come out. If I die, you stay in the stall and buy time. I will come back here as soon as I revive. If you also... then follow what I said before, find a hidden spot and quietly buy time, understood?”
Qiu Qiu nodded nervously, and Wu Pifu dragged her into the men's restroom.
At that moment, a young white man was on the phone in the restroom.
He saw Wu Pifu pulling in a beautiful girl, and this beautiful girl was wearing a very large outfit for her, appearing almost empty inside.
The young man immediately exclaimed and started chattering away, but unfortunately, Wu Pifu could not understand him.
The main brain could translate languages, but only in the dream world; during the weekends, neither text nor speech was translated.
So Wu Pifu ignored the young man, walked to the back of the restroom, and confirmed no one was using it before he let Qiu Qiu in, sternly saying, “Unless I call you, absolutely do not open the door!”
Qiu Qiu nodded.
Wu Pifu watched the restroom stall door close before turning back to look at the restroom entrance.
Soon, one, two, three, a total of six False Humans walked in.
The young man was washing his hands, still making faces at Wu Pifu, but when the six False Humans entered, he sensed something was off and immediately tried to exit the restroom quickly.
At that moment, Wu Pifu stepped forward, the ground cracking as he charged towards the first False Human, his palm striking out, a lightning-fast imprint landing on the False Human's chest.
At the moment of contact, a tremendous suction force yanked at Wu Pifu's arm, trying to drag him in, as if the False Human were not a solid entity but some kind of void.
In that instant, the unquiet spiritual light in Wu Pifu's sea of consciousness burst forth brilliantly, followed by an almost invisible red light emanating from his body.
The next second, Wu Pifu's palm struck the False Human's chest, and with one blow, the False Human's chest exploded from its back, along with its spine flying out, landing against the wall beside the young white man's head.
Wu Pifu retracted his palm and saw the False Human sway for a moment before collapsing to the ground, its corpse visibly decaying at a rapid pace, quickly transforming into a two-meter-tall skeletal figure.
The young white man gaped at all this, stunned into silence, unable to say a word.
Wu Pifu felt a sense of relief, sensing the consumption of unquiet spiritual light and blood energy, then chuckled, retracting his hand and clasping his fists.
“Wu Pifu, I have met you!”
(End of Chapter)