Chapter 115 Night Moon Town (5)
Bai Ye's screen was malfunctioning, so he could only squeeze in and watch it next to Gou Wenyan.
Gou Wenyan chose to broadcast the message publicly, making all the information he exchanged with Cheng Danyang readily available.
[Gou Wenyan: Sister Danyang, what's the situation on your end? We're currently hiding in room 10004, at the home of a Ms. Tao Zhizhi. Lao Bai said it's very eerie, but we're safe for now.]
[Cheng Danyang: We've run into a problem here. Bai Ge's daughter discovered the insect eggs are moving, so they've gone upstairs.]
[Gou Wenyan: How did you get up there? Weren't you stopped?]
[Cheng Danyang: The virtual human was killed by Bai Jin. Kong Yuehan took Bai Jin upstairs. Ding Yue and Brother Lei went to the small park to raid it; they wanted to catch insect eggs for research.]
[Cheng Danyang: Zhang Tao is studying the virtual humans who were killed. I'm standing in the lobby, feeling a bit lost.]
Gou Wenyan turned to look at Bai Ye, "Old Bai, should I use the [Infinite Communication Card] to contact Kong Yuehan and have her verify my conjecture?"
Bai Ye thought for a moment and nodded, "But I'll do it. Kong Yuehan and I are more familiar with each other."
Although he has become an ordinary person, the [Infinite Communication Card] can still be used. Bai Ye doesn't know if this is a bug.
However, he contacted Kong Yuehan and immediately informed her that there was a transparent layer every five floors.
The other end, seemingly oblivious to what was happening, replied after a long delay: "Bai Jin and I are in room 201, the apartment you used to rent. Bai Jin is dismantling the treatment pod."
After a long while, Kong Yuehan's message came again: [Bai Jin destroyed the treatment pod and found a golden thread. I don't know what she's planning. As for the transparent layer you mentioned, we'll verify it when we get to the fifth floor.]
"Why are they dismantling the wards? Shouldn't they be figuring out if these two buildings are the same one?" Gou Wenyan didn't understand.
Bai Ye, however, thought of the time he had entered the screen.
Inside this high-tech device, various threads are also intertwined. Every time information changes or instructions are issued, one of the threads will condense into a cocoon.
So, Xiaobai must have noticed this problem too?
"Xiaobai probably wants to know if our player screen and the healing pod are objects with the same attributes," Baiye explained.
Seeing Gou Wenyan's bewildered expression, Bai Ye explained the structure of the screen.
Then, as if remembering something, he added, "I saw the natives in the small world using urns in the critical zone before. Those things looked like miniature sanatoriums."
"Is it the kind where if you put your hand in, it's all bloody?" Gou Wenyan asked urgently.
Bai Ye was taken aback. "You knew about this too?"
"I know more than I do!" Gou Wenyan's face was grim. "That thing is terrifying. I saw black mist coming out of it with my own eyes. Those monsters were like idiots, willingly going in to be sucked up by that black mist. Oh right, the players seemed not to see it, thinking there was treasure inside, so they also put their hands in..."
Gou Wenyan would never do anything risky.
The first time he saw an urn, he felt that it was a bit eerie. Although he saw players take out a lot of treasures from it, he had seen the black mist and had no desire to take advantage of it.
"The law of survival: be greedy where you can, but put your life first."
Bai Ye nodded in agreement. Gou Wenyan's survival to this day was indeed more than just luck.
Having greed in one's heart but being able to control it is not easy.
Human desires are endless, and controlling them is the most difficult thing.
"You are a supernatural being, so it's very likely that you can see the black mist. It's probably the same substance as those insect eggs."
With nothing else to do for the time being, the two could only wait for information from the other side, so they simply settled down on the sofa to rest.
Before long, he fell into a deep sleep.
Just as I was sleeping soundly, a voice rang in my ear.
"Get up, it's time to pay the rent."
When Bai Ye opened his eyes, he saw that Tao Zhizhi had changed her clothes and seemed to be preparing to go out.
But now, she reached out her hand to him.
"Ms. Tao, are you going out?"
"I'm going on a business trip. Do you think I don't work? But before I leave, I need to collect the rent first."
"What rent?" Bai Ye was still half asleep.
Tao Zhizhi's face immediately turned ugly. "You two, don't try to renege on your promise, or I'll kick you out. We agreed on 10,000 ghost coins for six hours."
Bai Ye remembered this and was about to transfer the money when he realized with a start that his player's screen was locked.
That's really awkward.
Left with no other choice, they had to wake Gou Wenyan.
Who knew that Tao Zhizhi would ask for 120,000 as soon as she asked.
"You're robbing me!" Gou Wenyan exclaimed in shock.
Tao Zhizhi: "I was away on a business trip for three days, and I was paid 40,000 yuan a day. So what if I received 120,000 yuan? I haven't even asked you to pay three months' rent upfront as a deposit. I'm only doing this because of my mother."
Gou Wenyan's heart was bleeding. 120,000, 120,000!
Good heavens, this is going to kill me!
“You don’t have to pay. I’ll just take 10,000 yuan. You can come out with me. I’ll lock the door.” Tao Zhizhi said indifferently.
With tears in his eyes and a heavy heart, Gou Wenyan paid 120,000 yuan, then smiled and watched the landlord leave.
The moment the door closed, Gou Wenyan slammed his fist on the sofa, yelling, "You heartless landlord! I've never seen anyone take advantage of someone's misfortune like this!"
"It's rare to find a safe house, so even if it's a bit pricey, we'll split the cost among the six of us after this is over."
Gou Wenyan laughed when he heard this, "Brother, I thought you were being very kind and would take full responsibility yourself."
Bai Ye wore a "how could that be?" expression. "I'm not stupid. This is a collective effort. Why should I pay for it all by myself?"
Then he added, "It's the same on their end. If there are any extra expenses, we have to pay for them too."
The landlord is gone; when the tiger is away, the monkey becomes king.
After spending a lot of money, Gou Wenyan's mentality collapsed, and he started to slack off, looking for food in the kitchen.
With Bai Jin's "eyes," it was immediately clear what could be eaten and what couldn't.
The two of them used the available ingredients to make two bowls of beef noodles. After eating and drinking their fill, they finally felt like they had made a bit of a profit.
"I didn't expect that what Tao Zhizhi said was true. There really isn't a single dirty thing in her house."
Gou Wenyan then looked at the large refrigerator in the kitchen. Every single ingredient inside was so clean that it was hard to believe.
"So you should believe that Aunt Yao and Ms. Tao are really strange."
Gou Wenyan nodded, "But who exactly is this Aunt Yao you mentioned? If she's truly supernatural, how can she appear and disappear so mysteriously?"
Bai Ye shook his head; he didn't understand either.
"Wait, another message came from Danyang."
Bai Ye leaned closer to take a look.
[Cheng Danyang: Gou Ge, we've made a big discovery! Zhang Tao has figured out the true nature of the virtual human—it's a puppet.]
Puppet is a skill possessed only by those of the second-highest level of strangeness, and it is essentially a clone of that creature.
Bai Ye immediately said, "Ask Dan Yang if he can find the corresponding second-highest level of strangeness based on this puppet? Sure enough, a lot of strangenesses have infiltrated Night Moon Town."
"No, this virtual human has existed from the very beginning," Bai Ye immediately realized.
Gou Wenyan was greatly alarmed, unable to imagine what kind of place Night Moon Town was.
[Gou Wenyan: Be careful, Night Moon Town is very dangerous. There should have been many strange things lurking there from the beginning.]
[Cheng Danyang: Understood. Zhang Tao has already followed the clues and is preparing to go upstairs. I'll tell Brother Lei and the others, and we'll go up and check it out too.]
Just as communication was lost on one side, Kong Yuehan suddenly connected with Gou Wenyan on the other.
Gou Wenyan asked in surprise, "How did you get connected to our squad's communications?"
[Kong Yuehan: Bai Jin disassembled the treatment pod, figured out its workings, and then connected it to your communications.]
[Kong Yuehan: No, it should be said that it connected to all the players' screens.]
Before Gou Gou Wenyan realized the problem, Cheng Danyang sent three messages in a row.
[Cheng Danyang: Gou Ge, the forum has been reset and updated, and suddenly a lot of hidden posts have appeared.]
[Cheng Danyang: Holy crap! The sky has fallen! Half of the players on the forum are actually weirdos! The anonymous forum has been verified with real names!!]
[Cheng Danyang: Brother Gou, Brother Bai, Night Moon Town is a den of monsters!!!]
The three messages were all incredibly explosive.
Bai Ye watched from the side, extremely anxious.
"I wonder what's going on over there. Damn it, why can't I check the forum in the dungeon world?"
As soon as Bai Ye finished speaking, Gou Wenyan took out a card.
“【Virtual Card】, what is this?” Bai Ye had never seen such a prop card before.
Gou Wenyan inserted the card into the screen and explained as he operated it: "I drew it from the lottery pool at the convenience store. It allows me to log in from different locations regardless of spatial distance. I'll log in to the forum now using my virtual identity. Danyang is making a big fuss about it, and I don't know what's going on. It's better if we see it for ourselves."
After saying that, Gou Wenyan pressed the last number and smiled broadly, "The shop owner didn't lie to me, it really works."
Bai Ye: "..." I don't want to say anything more about being envious.
After the eerie forum was reset, all the player nicknames that had posted or replied to were refreshed. Their nicknames not only became their real player names, but also included their corresponding player levels.
For example, in the top post today, there was a player whose nickname was "I want to eat a poisonous apple". Now that nickname has been turned gray, and below the nickname is a small horizontal line that reads: Du Shuinian, Advanced Player.
At first, players didn't know what was going on, but when they looked at their nicknames and saw the corresponding changes, they quickly understood.
Most players were panicked; the sudden exposure to such a transparent and bright environment made them feel extremely insecure.
However, a small number of players are happy, believing that this real-name authentication method will make the forum cleaner and reduce the number of troublemakers.
The related discussion posts are very popular, but one post was pinned to the top by a player who spent a lot of money.
Gou Wenyan clicked on the post, and the poster used an emergency broadcast to reveal the true face of the forum. After the real-name system was implemented, the suffixes of those real names not only included player level, but also a mysterious level.
In other words, what has been exposed includes not only the players, but also the supernatural.
A post has caused a huge panic, and players who are still in Nightmoon Town or the dungeon lobby are all discussing one thing.
So, what exactly is "weird"?
And what exactly is the purpose of the person behind the scenes in the forum where players and the supernatural coexist, and in the dungeon game where players and the supernatural coexist?
As Gou Wenyan browsed through his posts and comments, he indeed found a small number of strange things mixed in.
"They are mostly high-level anomalies, and there are a very few that are actually second-highest level anomalies."
Bai Ye followed along until he saw a familiar name, then suddenly called out, "Wait, let's go back and look at the previous comment."
Gou Wenyan stopped and pulled up the scroll. "What's wrong? This is a sophisticated and eerie message, but I don't think there's anything wrong with the content."
Bai Ye stared at the sophisticated and eerie name, narrowing his eyes. "Wen Yan, I know this sophisticated and eerie person."
"What! You know him?"
"Yes, this high-level anomaly appeared in one of my dungeons."
Bai Ye looked at the name Liao Xianfeng and quickly remembered his face. He was the one who had briefly served as his instructor in the critical instance.
"Wenyan, look up the name Liao Xianfeng. I need to see all his comments or posts."
Gou Wenyan didn't understand why, but he did as instructed.
All traces of Liao Xianfeng were quickly unearthed.
Ten pages in total.
Gou Wenyan watched and sighed: This high-level weirdo is not easy to deal with. He appears in the dungeon and is also quite active in the forum.
The number of comments and posts is more than that of normal players.
"Does he live on the forum? He's always jumping around. His most recent post was at 2 a.m. today. Goodness, a total of 68 comments, posted by three different threads." Gou Wenyan was precise with the exact number.
Bai Ye, however, was analyzing Liao Xianfeng's post. After reading it, he said, "Have you noticed that Liao Xianfeng, this high-level weirdo, is doing popular science? He is answering questions for human players, and all his replies are based on knowledge points related to weirdness."
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