Chapter 78 Even if I lose all my memories, I will still...
Xiao Bao's mother had a smile on her face, a gentle look in her eyes, and spoke very warmly, urging them to eat meat.
"I have gastroenteritis these past two days, so I can't eat greasy food."
"He is religious and does not eat meat."
"She's been dieting recently."
Villager:...
Xiao Bao's mother maintained her smile, nodded, and didn't say much, seemingly unconcerned that they didn't eat meat.
Xiao Bao sat between his mother and grandmother, his hands and mouth covered in oil. He held a bone in one hand, gnawed off all the meat, and then beckoned the golden retriever over.
"Hey, come here, have a bone!"
The village chief's golden retriever kept circling the long table, going wherever there was food.
It ran to Shanran's side, raised its head, stared at Shanran with its big, round eyes, and stuck out its tongue, looking like a large, buttery bread, which was really adorable.
Shanran looked down at it, then looked away after a while, without feeding it, as if she had no interest in the small animal at all.
Cheng Liu and Wei Qing exchanged a glance. Neither of them had ever been affectionate toward unfamiliar animals, so they had no intention of touching them.
Upon hearing Xiao Bao call him, the bored Golden Retriever immediately wagged its tail and ran over.
It snatched the bone that Xiao Bao threw to it and then lay down on the ground to gnaw on it.
After finishing its meal, the golden retriever returned to the village chief's side and looked at him obediently.
The village chief smiled, took a piece of meat, and fed it to the golden retriever, stroking its smooth, soft fur as it ate.
The golden retriever was very comfortable and whimpered, its whimpering blending with the sound of the bell in the village chief's hand, creating a very pleasant atmosphere. This kind of rural life seemed to be the best days after the apocalypse.
The meal went by uneventfully. After exchanging greetings, Shanran and the other two prepared to go upstairs to rest.
The village chief still had a beaming smile, with the golden retriever sitting to the side. After they turned around, everyone stopped what they were doing, turned their heads in unison, and watched the three figures go upstairs.
Shan Ran glanced around the corner and saw that the villagers seemed normal and were still eating.
Noticing Shan Ran's gaze, the village chief raised his hand to greet her.
"good evening!"
In the dead of night, thick clouds obscured the crescent moon, and all was dark. The frogs that used to croak at night seemed to have disappeared, and all was quiet and utterly silent.
A wisp of smoke, so thin it was almost invisible, drifted into two rooms in the corner of the third floor of the dormitory.
A few minutes later, a clear, ethereal bell sound came from outside the door.
"Ring ring..."
"Ring ring..."
"It's getting dark, the bells are ringing, and a silver net has been woven..."
"The dog barks, the child cries, but let's all drift off to sleep together..."
"Get up, get up, wake up and forget the past..."
A strange, hoarse male voice came with the sound of the wind, intermittent and indistinct, yet it seemed to be under a spell, penetrating deep into the mind and resonating with a mysteriously appearing mark.
The mark is triggered when the bell rings in the darkness.
The soft, fragmented sounds were like a tightly woven net, enveloping both rooms completely.
The dark clouds gradually dispersed, casting a dim, silvery light.
Several figures were reflected in the third-floor corridor.
They stood silently at the door, waiting, but the house remained quiet, and they received no response they wanted.
"Woof!"
"Shh, Big Yellow, don't rush."
After comforting Da Huang, the song started playing again, still ethereal and eerie, but with a beat faster than before.
The person chanting was clearly in a hurry.
"....."
A gust of wind blew by, and the bells on the village chief's wrists clashed together, making a crisp sound once again.
Bells + songs + sleeping gas – it's always foolproof.
But there was still no movement inside the house.
The village chief frowned; only then did he realize that something had gone wrong.
After exchanging glances with the people around him, the first few stepped forward and kicked open the door.
Both rooms were empty.
Where are they?
Why aren't you in bed?
"Impossible! They were clearly under my hypnosis; their subconscious will act according to my commands!"
Just as the village chief and his companions were in shock, an explosion suddenly rang out, and the ground beneath their feet shook.
"What happened?"
"Where did the explosion occur?"
Before the words were even finished, another explosion was heard, this time even closer, and the whole building began to shake.
Terrified screams and cries came from all over the dormitory building, and those who were still able to move tried their best to escape from the building.
Some people have died, and most of those who are still alive are injured.
"Walk!"
The village chief made a decisive decision and issued the order to retreat.
He sat on the golden retriever, and the golden retriever's body instantly doubled in size, its teeth became longer, sharp and tough, and its expression became bloodthirsty and ferocious. Where was the cute and cuddly dog from before?
The golden retriever leaped up and jumped directly from the third floor.
The others also tried to escape.
While the golden retriever was still in the air, the third explosion rang out.
The third floor was bombed this time.
The shockwave from the explosion behind him caused the golden retriever to lose control of his body in mid-air. He was struck hard and crashed to the ground.
"Awooo!" it let out a painful scream.
"Big Yellow!" The village chief hurriedly checked the golden retriever's injuries. Fortunately, it had thick fur and a high level of superpowers, so its injuries were not serious.
But others were not so lucky.
When the explosion occurred, the people with the highest superpowers were on the third floor. The people on the first and second floors were not of high level to begin with, and the accident happened suddenly, resulting in the deaths and injuries of most of them.
"You bastards, where are you! Why are you harming our Xianrui Village?!"
The village chief looked around but couldn't find the outsiders. His eyes widened in fury, and he roared loudly.
With a "click," the light switch was turned on, and the factory was brightly lit.
The door was opened from the inside out, and five people came out.
The one in charge was actually the woman who had barely spoken a word from beginning to end.
They had been guarding outside the dormitory all night and hadn't seen anyone come out. How could the other person have come out of the factory?
Could it be that they've already seen what's inside the factory?
The village chief's eyes instantly turned ruthless, but considering the current situation—the village was severely damaged while the other side was unharmed and they were already at a disadvantage—he immediately changed his tune.
He beat his chest and stamped his feet, his face contorted with grief, and pointed at the group of people opposite him, saying, "Our Xianrui Village kindly took you in, treating you to good food and drink, and you repay kindness with enmity, trying to destroy our village and kill our villagers! Aren't you afraid of retribution? I... I'm going to post your stories online!"
"Heh," Shan Ran sneered, "Post it online? Fine, go ahead and post it now. Where's your phone? Where is it?"
The village chief was speechless. He was just saying it; how could he dare to actually send it out?
Seeing that the other party remained silent, Shan Ran continued, "Retribution? You eat your own kind and you're not afraid of retribution, so why should we be afraid of retribution?"
The village chief broke out in a cold sweat, his face turned deathly pale, and his lips trembled, but he still denied it, "I...I don't know what you're talking about?"
Nan Guishang, who was standing to the side, could no longer hold back. He stepped forward, kicked the village chief to the ground, then stepped on his shoulder and viciously scolded, "You dog! How dare you plot against your grandpa! Do you know who I am?"
As he spoke, he rubbed the other person's face with his foot. "Also, we just turned your factory upside down. There was still meat stored inside, scraps, and some broken bones, all from people."
There are still a few half-gnawed skulls in your good dog's kennel. Do you really think we're fools?
"Ahhh!! Go easy! Please go easy, spare me! I... I had no choice, there are so many people in the village to feed, we were just trying to survive! We didn't harm any living people, they were all killed by the monsters!"
Nan Guishang laughed, "Then why are you targeting us today?"
The village chief's eyes darted around. "We...we didn't mean to harm you. We just wanted to hypnotize you and steal your valuables so you wouldn't remember anything tomorrow. We really didn't mean to harm you!"
Nan Guishang kicked him again, yelling, "Still not behaving yourself!"
Shan Ran tilted her head and gestured to Cheng Liu Cong and Wei Qing.
The two men rubbed their hands together and stepped forward, separating the people following the village chief and interrogating them separately.
Finally, the village chief was interrogated again.
They soon learned the whole truth about Xianrui Village.
The village chief possesses the ability of hypnosis, and the bell serves as his anchor point for hypnosis. With the help of the drug-type ability user's smoke and songs, it is almost always effective.
All the villagers without special abilities or who disagreed with the authorities were killed, leaving only those who had colluded with the criminals.
They tried every means to lure many people in from the outside, and without exception, they were all killed.
If a car is passing by, they set up roadblocks, or they send people like Xiaobao to stage accidents to extort money.
For those without cars, children or the elderly would pretend to be weak and fall down, and the others would help them back to the village.
Even a golden retriever can be used as a tool for deception. Don't be fooled by its seemingly harmless appearance; it is actually ferocious and terrifying, with high fighting strength, and it will bite without mercy.
In short, they devised all sorts of scams; as long as they could get into the village, everything would be fine.
But unexpectedly, they were defeated by this group of people.
Before dying, the village chief asked with resentment, "How...how did you find out?"
Shan Ran raised her hand and conjured a fireball, which she threw at the village chief.
"Your acting skills are quite good. Being too enthusiastic will arouse suspicion, so one of you plays the good cop and the other plays the bad cop."
You all kept up the act until dinner, and to lower our guard, the meat dishes on the table were all made from ordinary animals, without any poison added.
A person's eyes can be faked, but a dog's eyes are hard to fake. Even with superpowers, a beast is still a beast. The way it looked at us when it first saw us was like it was looking at food—greedy and ferocious.
Moreover…
Hearing this, the village chief, who was screaming in agony amidst the fire, lowered his voice, wanting to hear what Shan Ran had to say next.
"Besides, while you were preparing dinner, I had already looked around and seen the things in the factory and the doghouse."
Having gathered enough information, I'd like to see what you're really up to. If you're trying to lure us into a trap, then we'll trap you there.
The village chief stared wide-eyed, wanting to ask Shan Ran how she could leave the dormitory building under surveillance, but her throat had been burned and she could only make a hoarse "hoarse" sound.
Not far away, Xiao Bao and his mother were rolling around in the flames, while Xiao Bao's grandmother had already died in the explosion.
They waited until the raging fire had died down before turning and leaving.
All the evils of Xianrui Village were burned to ashes, bringing an end to the village.
"So you sensed something was wrong with that village a long time ago, but you didn't tell me."
On the way back, Nan Guishang was somewhat dissatisfied and glared at Shan Ran.
Yamaran:......
"It's mainly because you're too righteous."
"Am I too righteous?"
“Yes, I’m afraid that if you know what Xianrui Village did in advance, you won’t be able to control yourself and will want to punish them in advance. That way, we won’t know what their next move is, and there might be some oversights, making it impossible to wipe them all out.”
Nan Guishang suddenly realized and muttered to himself, "So that's how it is. That makes sense. Someone as righteous as me can't tolerate this at all!"
Cheng Liucong and Wei Qing, who were driving, exchanged a glance and barely managed to suppress their laughter.
Ah-Jie clapped his hands with starry eyes, "Our big brother is so righteous!"
"......"
The group of people walked back slowly and noisily, and by the afternoon of the next day they were close to the safe zone.
As they approached the safe zone, Ah Jie finally relaxed completely. He exclaimed, "Although I was injured on my first mission, it was a successful one. I really want to thank Brother and Sister Ran for taking care of me. You both..."
What...what is that?
Before Ah Jie could finish expressing his gratitude, the scene before him left him speechless and wide-eyed.
Cheng Liu was so shocked that he didn't control the force of his brakes properly, and the car jolted violently before coming to a stop.
The safe zone was too far away, so all that could be seen was a glimpse of the winding city wall.
However, inside the city walls, a gray mist shot into the sky, like a chasm tearing through space, appearing out of nowhere with menacing ferocity, standing out starkly and conspicuously.
"Is that... the mist?"
Fog has appeared inside the safe zone!
Without further delay, the group quickly drove towards the safe zone.
"Ranran, where are you?" Meng Xinye's message suddenly popped up on his phone.
"I'll be in the safe zone soon."
"Don't come any closer!" Meng Xin also called immediately. "There's fog in the outer city. You need to go back to the Lucky Come Base right away!"
"Where are you?"
"I....."
Before Meng Xin could answer, a sob came from the other end, "Waaah, Brother Meng, I'm scared..."
"Good boy, Tiezhu..."
Meng Xin had only said a few words when the call suddenly dropped.
Shan Ran, of course, did not listen to Meng Xinye. Instead, she jumped out of the vehicle and flew towards the safe zone.
She flew very fast and dealt with many flying monsters along the way.
The safety zone had contingency plans in place from the time it was established, precisely because of concerns that fog might appear inside.
This time, however, the fog appeared in the outer city. Coincidentally, the outer city had recently received a large number of people, and there had been no time to conduct drills. Many people did not know how to deal with this situation.
This led to great chaos in the outer city.
The people in the restricted area all sprang into action, leading the people from the outer city to the buffer zone.
However, there were too many people in the outer city, and many were still trapped inside.
"Help! Mom, help me!"
People in a bungalow rushed out, and in the chaos of their escape, a little girl and her mother were separated from each other by the crowd.
The little girl fell behind and fell to the ground in the shoving, followed by the horrific roar of a ferocious beast.
A ferocious beast opened its mouth wide, aimed at the little girl's throat, and was about to bite down when a flash of silver light appeared, and the upper half of the beast's head was sliced off.
The dirty blood splattered on the little girl's face, and she cried loudly in fear.
Shanran crouched down, picked up the little girl, and rushed out of the bungalows.
"Niu Niu! My Niu Niu!"
A middle-aged woman with disheveled hair ran over. She was initially at a loss, but she came to her senses after seeing the little girl.
The middle-aged woman scooped up the little girl, thanked Shan Ran repeatedly, and then ran towards the direction where the crowd was being evacuated from the restricted area.
She was just about to get up and leave when she heard a scream behind her.
"Grandma!! Mom....."
The voice sounded familiar. Shan Ran's ears twitched, and she recognized it as the voice of her old classmate Zhan Wenyuan, whom she had met not long ago.
She followed the sound and found the brave squad fighting fiercely next to a pile of ruins.
Zhan Wenyuan conjured many box-shaped jellyfish, which, with the help of her boyfriend's water-based superpowers, killed the surrounding monsters.
Judging from her appearance, it seems that her grandmother and mother are trapped in the ruins.
Shan Ran landed in front of the ruins, carefully trying to discern the source of the sounds inside.
"Yamazome-san!"
Zhan Wenyuan looked at the girl who suddenly appeared beside her and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
“Yuan… Yuan…”
A weak voice came from behind. Shanran found the location and teleported the person out.
A middle-aged woman suddenly appeared next to Zhan Wenyuan, with a steel bar stuck in her shoulder and abrasions of varying degrees on her body.
"Mom!" Zhan Wenyuan cried with joy, wanting to hug her mother, but not knowing how.
"Boss Zhan, don't move!"
Xiao Jiu, possessing both sixth sense and a light-elemental nature, assisted her boss while also rushing over to help provide Zhan Wenyuan's mother with basic treatment.
"My...my grandmother..."
There was no sound coming from beneath the ruins, not even the faintest breath.
Shan Ran shook her head.
Zhan Wenyuan clenched her fists, forcing herself to hold back her tears. Since the outcome was already decided, there was no need to waste any more manpower.
She will definitely find her grandmother's remains and bury them afterward.
"Shanran, you must have something to do, right? You should go ahead, I can handle things here, I won't take up any more of your time!"
Shanran nodded, spread her wings, and flew away.
"Thank you, you saved me again. My life is yours from now on!" Zhan Wenyuan shouted loudly from behind until Shan Ran's figure disappeared.
Shan Ran saved many people along the way, and was getting closer and closer to the mist.
This fog appeared in the southern part of the outer city. Although the area was not large, it caused devastating damage to the southern district.
As they approached the edge of the mist, Shanran stopped.
From the outside, you can only see a very blurry edge around the fog; beyond that, you can't see anything at all.
A constant stream of ferocious beasts surged out from inside. Shan Ran took out his newly acquired double-edged sword and fought his way through the fray.
Suddenly, a familiar figure emerged from the mist.
Meng Xin was also covered in a layer of water film, carrying a little boy on his shoulder, and soon arrived outside the mist.
Many ferocious beasts followed behind him, but Shan Ran dealt with them all.
"Ranran!" Meng Xin was initially delighted, then worried. "How did you get in? Get out!"
He then tried to pull Shanran away.
He felt a nameless fear; the fog was so close, it seemed to foreshadow that Ranran was about to encounter some danger.
After handing the little boy over to the guards in the restricted area, Meng Xin also took Shan Ran's hand directly.
"Ranran..." Meng Xinye's tone carried a hint of pleading.
The shadow of helpless waiting outside the fog of District 5 a few months ago once again loomed over Meng Xin's heart. She would rather Shan Ran be a selfish person than have her fall into any danger again.
Shan Ran tugged at Meng Xinye's hand and smiled reassuringly.
"Xinye, this time it's coming for me. If I don't confront it, it will follow me wherever I go. Running away will only bring me no peace. Do you understand?"
Meng Xin also remained silent.
His tense shoulders gradually relaxed, as if he had figured something out, and he felt much more relaxed.
He tightened his grip on Shanran's hand. "Can I come with you?"
Shan Ran smiled and said, "Of course, if I go in, I need to bring someone with me to ensure I can come out safely."
Meng Xin was completely relieved. He let out a long sigh of relief. "Shall we go now?"
Shanran nodded. "Okay, let's go now."
She led Meng Xinye by the hand, and the two of them cleared away the monsters along the way as they walked inward.
"We need to get to the center of the mist, where we'll see a black vortex in the sky. If we touch the vortex together, we can enter the mist."
As they walked, Shanran reminded Mengxin of things she also needed to be careful about.
“Inside, we absolutely cannot let go of each other’s hands, so that we can ensure that we enter the same illusion and wake up in the same cocoon.”
"Yes, I will never let you go."
"In the illusion, you will lose all your memories and be implanted with another set of memories that do not belong to us at all. So you must be firm. The you deep inside will not change. We must find each other to successfully break the illusion."
"Yes, I will definitely find Ranran. Even if I lose all my memories, I will find you."
"besides....."
Just as Shan Ran stepped into the mist, a voice suddenly interrupted her from behind.
"Shanran! What are you doing!"
Shan Ran subconsciously turned around and found several familiar figures standing behind her.
Nan Guishang and his group rushed back, and the young members of the Brave Squad also stood aside.
Seeing Shan Ran's figure disappear into the mist, Nan Guishang panicked completely, ignoring even the man she was holding hands with and only noticing the girl.
Shan Ran didn't say anything, just waved her hand behind her, then turned around and disappeared into the mist the next second.
Nan Guishang froze on the spot, then without thinking, wanted to rush in after him.
"Ah Shang!"
An arm tightly gripped Nan Guishang, preventing him from moving forward.
The red-haired youth turned to the man beside him, "Brother, what are you doing? Don't stop me!"
Although Chandler's digital information-based superpowers are not very aggressive, they are slightly higher than Nan Guishang's, approaching level B, which is C+. Therefore, it will be somewhat difficult for Nan Guishang to get rid of him.
However, at this point he was too impulsive to listen to anything and just wanted to go inside.
"Big brother!" Ah Jie grabbed Nan Guishang's other arm, tears streaming down his face. "Don't be impulsive! Apart from those who were inside when the fog first descended and managed to escape, of all the people who went in afterward, only Sister Ran and Captain Kunwu Yecheng managed to come out alive!"
"Since Sister Ran dared to go in, she must have been confident. You should trust her!"
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Author's Note: Thank you to the little angels who donated nutrient solution: Lihe, nickname is up to you, I wish you a lifetime of prosperity, Yoshitaka Eiko, and Yingyou!
Thank you to the little angel who threw the lightning bolt: Do you want steak? It's Yingyou!
Thank you for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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