Chapter 47: Two Roads
“We land on our feet!”
Irene stood on a large dark rock, holding the kitchen knife with both hands with great effort, and tried to make a pose that she thought looked very imposing facing the night wind, and shouted at the empty valley bottom.
Yu Sheng poked the doll's head with a finger, almost poking her off the stone: "Don't make such a fuss. We haven't found Hu Li yet, and you're attracting Hunger's attention in advance."
"That thing doesn't rely on hearing," Irene jumped down from the rock in disappointment, tightened the rope buckle holding the picture frame, and then looked up to observe the surrounding situation, "... It's really desolate, and just like you said, it's very eerie and weird, as if the sky is covered with something."
"Be careful," Yu Sheng glanced at Irene, who was so small that she could hardly show any fighting ability. Although he knew that this doll had many strange abilities, he couldn't help but remind her, "If something really happens, you must protect yourself first - I am not afraid of death, but you are different. You and I are not sure whether your soul can survive once this temporary body is destroyed."
"Don't worry, I will protect myself. To be honest, hunger is not a big threat to me." Irene raised her head. "Dolls are generally not affected mentally. And more importantly, I won't be hungry."
"Yes, you won't be hungry, but you are usually very greedy. I have to put the water in front of you before I drink it." Yu Sheng muttered and glanced at his feet.
The several large plastic bags he brought were all there, which made him feel instantly relieved - he was right to be so cautious and meticulous when opening the door. He pushed all the "loads" through the door, so at least the start was smooth.
Yu Sheng bent down and easily picked up the food, which was quite heavy for an ordinary person, and looked up at a distance not far ahead.
The collapsed and dilapidated temple stood quietly in the night, not much changed from when he left.
"Let's go over there first. Hu Li should be nearby. I can feel it." Yu Sheng said softly, stepping into the night.
Then he just took two steps when he heard Irene yelling behind him: "Hey, wait a minute! Slow down! I can't catch up!"
When Yu Sheng turned his head, he saw a 66.6-cm-tall little doll dragging a kitchen knife in one hand and keeping its body balance with the other hand. It bypassed several large rocks on the road as if climbing over mountains and then trudged on the gravel-covered stone beach at the bottom of the valley, taking one deep step and one shallow step.
She has to crawl over obstacles that an ordinary person can cross in one step, or go around them for a long time...
Yu Sheng watched this scene in silence, then he sighed, walked over and squatted in front of Irene: "You should just sit on my shoulders - don't say 'hi'!"
Irene instantly became happy, holding up a kitchen knife and ran towards Yu Sheng: "Hey! You are so nice!"
Yu Sheng suddenly shouted: "Put that thing away first! Even if you change the direction of the blade, it will be fine!"
My goodness, a living puppet with bloodshot eyes rushing towards his neck in the dark night with a kitchen knife in hand. This scene is too damn scary.
Yu Sheng is not afraid of death, but he is afraid.
…
"Where are we going?" Li Lin shivered as the cold wind blew through the forest, a growing sense of uneasiness lingering in his heart, "This is still the border area..."
"Foreign land, Nightfall Valley, current depth L-3, gradually sinking to L-4, danger level assessment... According to the data records, it is above level three," Xu Jiali's voice came from the side. This strong man, who was nearly two meters tall, had connected a portable depth sounder to his eyeballs at some point. At this time, he looked around and said quickly based on the data in his mind, "This foreign land is classified as 'wilderness' - big trouble."
Li Lin's eyes gradually widened, and with Xu Jiali's reminder, he finally recalled the information he had come across during the training.
The "wilderness" type of alien domain is large in scale, has no clear boundaries, and no clear exits. It requires meeting specific conditions or leaving at a specific time and direction. The depth of L-3 means that this place is basically completely isolated from reality and operates according to rules that violate reason. There is a high possibility of mental and cognitive erosion and interference if you stay here for a long time. The third level of danger means that there is obvious malice here. Something is entrenched here and will actively attack and try to kill invaders - the threat is fatal and cannot be avoided or confronted by methods such as "obeying the rules".
To operate in a foreign land of this level, it usually requires at least a whole team of Secret Service agents, more than a dozen people, fully armed and carrying heavy equipment.
And they are only on investigative missions - in other words, the goal is just to collect intelligence and evacuate alive, rather than trying to fight the entities here, which would require more manpower or more senior special forces personnel.
Li Lin looked at his side. Including Xu Jiali, there were two Secret Service agents at the scene. Although one of them was a deep diver, a special personnel specialized in fighting against entities, the incident happened suddenly and this macho man didn't bring much equipment with him.
There is also an underage "ghost detective" who takes on outsourced work next to him, and he is said to be an investigative type.
My fate is completely screwed.
"Give the food in your hand to the little girl over there," At this moment, Xu Jiali, who had the most experience on the scene, broke the silence and ordered seriously, "Li Lin, you and I will use this."
Li Lin quickly woke up from his feeling of "my fate is screwed" and followed the instructions from the senior operator without hesitation. He handed the two bowls of instant noodles directly to the still confused Little Red Riding Hood, and then reached out to take the things handed to him by Xu Jiali.
It was a needle-free syringe, and the light green liquid inside glowed slightly in the night.
Sanity blocker.
Li Lin looked up in astonishment at his colleague who had the syringe against his arm.
"The entity generated here is 'Hunger', which has the tendency to attack mentally," the sturdy man said calmly, "You should know what it is from the name - take an injection first. Although the sequelae are greater than those of the nebulizer, it can at least ensure that you will not lose your judgment within 48 hours."
Li Lin nodded, and with a "hiss", the sanity blocker in the syringe was injected into his body.
Little Red Riding Hood at the side reacted instantly after hearing the name "Hungry". She immediately stepped forward and said, "Wait, then you guys hurry up and eat. Your bodies are still those of ordinary people. I can withstand much more than you - and I have snacks with me..."
"Listen to me," Xu Jiali interrupted her directly. The nearly two-meter-tall man stood in the night, almost two heads taller than Little Red Riding Hood. He looked down at the girl in front of him with an extremely serious expression, "I know your situation."
Little Red Riding Hood opened her mouth, but finally said nothing.
Xu Jiali patted her shoulder, and her deep voice seemed to carry a reassuring power: "This is also for us - your wolf pack is our greatest hope in fighting against the entity, you must maintain your fighting strength."
Li Lin watched Little Red Riding Hood squat down beside a stone and began to eat the instant noodles that had already turned cold silently. He turned his head and glanced at his colleague next to him with a look of some doubt.
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Xu Jiali shook her head slightly and lowered her voice: "If she gets hungry, her wolf will eat her."
In the darkness of the night, the wolves whimpered restlessly in the woods.
In the cold wind, malicious "gaze" is spreading in the valley.
Yu Sheng and Irene searched carefully in the ruins of the dilapidated temple.
The ubiquitous stench became increasingly strong, even penetrating into one's nostrils as if it had a conscious mind, making one feel extremely uncomfortable.
Irene simply stopped breathing.
This made Yu Sheng very envious.
"Are you sure the fox is here?" Irene held a kitchen knife in one hand and Yu Sheng's hair in the other. She rode on the latter's shoulders and stretched her neck to look around. "I can't see anything..."
"Confirmed," Yu Sheng said casually, "There is a weak connection between her and me, established by blood - and there is also a weak connection with you, although you may not be able to detect it yourself."
"Yes, really?" Irene looked at Yu Sheng doubtfully, then looked down at her hands, as if wondering what the other party meant by "weak connection".
At this moment, a slight rustling sound suddenly came from the silent ruins, interrupting Irene's thoughts and Yu Sheng's actions.
The two of them raised their heads almost at the same time and looked in the direction where the sound came from.
A white figure cautiously emerged from behind a collapsed wall.
The silver fox tail swayed gently in the night, and the furry ears trembled slightly in the wind. The fox girl who crawled out of the ruins stared at the figure standing not far away with wide eyes. When she finally saw who it was, she immediately laughed happily.
"My benefactor!"
Hu Li ran out from behind the broken wall, sweeping over the broken bricks and tiles on the road like a gust of wind, and quickly circled around Yu Sheng twice before stopping in front of him, with pure joy and a little disbelief on his face: "You, really came! Benefactor, really?"
"It's me, it's me, it's true," Yu Sheng also laughed happily, and then immediately put the things in his hand on the ground, "I brought you a lot of delicious food, you don't have to go hungry from now on."
(End of this chapter)
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