Chapter 175 True Illusion
Following the simple but clearly pointed map in my notes, I finally set my sights on a magnificent but dilapidated building on the edge of the city center - the Wudan Natural History Museum.
This building is most similar to the stick figure in the notebook, and even though the terrain around it has been damaged, it's pretty much the same.
The museum's tall stone pillars were broken, its exterior walls were covered with mottled stains and withered plants, and its once majestic glass dome was mostly shattered, revealing the deep skeleton inside.
It stands quietly in the dead city block like a huge tombstone.
"...Is this the place?" I whispered to Xiaobai beside me.
Little White whimpered softly, its front paws pawing the ground nervously, as if in confirmation, but also as a warning. Its fur bristled slightly, clearly filled with an instinctive fear of the building.
Without hesitation, I took a deep breath, walked around to the side and back of the museum, and found an emergency iron door that had been pried open. The rusty door hinges made a teeth-grinding groan, and I gently pushed it open to a gap that was only wide enough for one person to pass through.
The interior was pitch black, and the strong smell of dust and some indescribable smell of old paper filled the air.
I looked up and around, but the scene in front of me startled me.
Everything in front of me is eerily neat.
It was not as dilapidated as expected, there were no signs of mutant creatures building nests, and there was not even much of the chaos and filth commonly seen in doomsday.
Not even those pollution sources.
The smooth marble floor, though dusty, was free of debris and cracks. The glass display cases were intact, spotlessly polished, and filled with various animal specimens—African lions, snakes, and various bird specimens—all in vivid poses, as if they would spring to life at any moment.
The signage nearby is clearly visible, and soft energy-saving lamps even flicker faintly and regularly on the corridor ceilings in certain areas, providing basic lighting.
Everything remains the same as it was on an ordinary afternoon in a museum before the apocalypse.
It was so normal… so normal it was creepy.
Time seemed to have paused here, yet countless years flowed silently. A profound silence enveloped everything, even the breathing of Xiaobai and me seemed particularly abrupt. The air was as stagnant as gelatin, and the smell of stale paper grew stronger, almost seeping into my bones.
Xiaobai followed closely at my feet, suppressing a very low roar in his throat. It seemed that his "darkness" was suppressed in some way here, and his body could no longer completely blend into the shadows like in the outside world.
I walked forward cautiously, my shoes making a slight "tapping" sound on the smooth ground. This sound was infinitely amplified in the empty exhibition hall, and was quickly swallowed up by the heavy silence.
Something is wrong.
Something is very wrong.
So long after the apocalypse, the power system long since collapsed, why are the lights still on? Are the specimens undisturbed or damaged? Dust evenly coats the surface, never accumulating or forming cobwebs... It's as if this museum is eternally preserving its "original appearance," resisting all changes and erosion from the outside world.
I quietly opened my real vision, but gained nothing.
This was definitely not a simple distortion of time and space or an illusion. My true vision could see through the illusion, but I couldn't discern the source of this "abnormality."
It felt…real, yet “wrong.” Like a piece of carefully sealed amber, isolated from the world, it preserved the appearance of the past, but its interior had long since deteriorated.
I became extremely alert, my real vision scanning the surroundings like a precise radar, and I walked step by step deeper into the museum, towards the direction that the mark finally pointed to - the paleontology exhibition hall.
The entrance to the paleontology exhibition hall is a huge archway, built to imitate the dinosaur skeleton fossil, white and solemn.
I walked forward slowly. The space behind the door was more open and the light seemed more stagnant than outside.
I held my breath and stepped in slowly.
The exhibition hall remained eerily tidy and pristine. Massive Brachiosaurus and Tyrannosaurus skeletons stood majestically, casting intricate shadows. Glass display cases held various fossils and models of ancient creatures, all in complete silence.
However, when my eyes swept across the area in the center of the exhibition hall that was decorated to resemble a Jurassic jungle, my pupils suddenly contracted and the blood in my body seemed to freeze instantly!
Human figure.
It’s not an illusion, nor is it residual energy. It’s three real figures that I’m extremely familiar with!
Jiang Wang was squatting on the ground, carefully examining the base of a small dinosaur fossil. His profile was still clear, his brows slightly furrowed, and he was concentrating on the object before him. He was wearing his familiar, washed-out coat and seemed not to notice me.
Not far away, Song Nanxing was leaning against a tree model, his arms crossed over his chest, with his signature annoying expression on his face. His lips moved slightly, as if he was saying something to Chen Yubing next to him.
Chen Yubing, still her icy beauty, stood tall and straight in her Investigation Bureau-issued windbreaker. She seemed oblivious to Song Nanxing's words, scanning her surroundings sharply with her cold eyes, her fingers unconsciously tapping the holster at her waist.
The three of them... looked exactly like the ones I'd seen before! Even their expressions, clothes, and even their subtle movements were exactly the same!
But how is this possible? !
Not to mention that I just met Gang Jue and Song Nanxing a few days ago... Is the Investigation Bureau moving so quickly?
A huge sense of shock and absurdity surged into my heart like a tide, almost overwhelming my rationality. I subconsciously took a step forward, my lips slightly parted, and I almost blurted out their names -
"Woo...!" The little white dog under my feet suddenly let out a low growl of extreme fear and warning. It even desperately bit my trouser leg with its teeth and pulled it back with all its might.
Is it an illusion? No, the information fed back by my real vision tells me that they are "real," with warmth, breathing, and even an extremely faint heartbeat! But this sense of reality... is permeated with an indescribable sense of falsehood and patchwork, like the most exquisite wax figure, lifelike but soulless.
Is this some kind of projection based on my memory? Or is this... this weird museum doing something?
I forced down the urge to rush over and shout, my body frozen in place, cold sweat instantly drenching my back. I stared intently at the three "familiar people," concentrating intensely, trying to discern the true nature of this bizarre scene.
At this moment, "Song Nanxing" seemed to have finished talking with "Chen Yubing". He turned his head and his eyes fell precisely on the shadow where I was hiding.
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