As we talked, we began to search aimlessly in the woods.
Along the way, we saw many strange and unusual scenes, including spirit banners stuck in the open ground, piles of stones, and scarecrows.
Under a tree in the woods, a monkey looked at me curiously at the three stones arranged in the shape of the Chinese character "冂" and the several palm-sized scarecrows behind them. "Young Master Duan," the monkey said, "could these childish things really be an illusion? Even if we're stupid, we wouldn't be fooled by these things, would we?"
I glanced at the stones and scarecrow on the ground and said, "This thing is called 'building a city out of earth,' and along with 'cutting grass to make horses' and 'scattering beans to make soldiers,' it's all a magic trick from the second volume of the legendary Qimen Dunjia. The illusion technique isn't as simple as you think. According to the Judge's Record, certain special magnetic fields can affect a person's endocrine system through external changes, stimulate their motor nerves, and cause symptoms such as nerve excitation, hallucinations, and illusions of time and space. At that time, any inconsistency in the outside world will be magnified infinitely in our eyes."
Qu Ruilin caught up at this moment, and his face turned pale when he saw what was on the ground: "I recognize this place. I was fooled by this illusion before! I saw a house here, and people were living in it. I wanted to force them to tell me how to find Wei Shengnan, but as soon as I got close, the house disappeared!"
The monkey asked with some skepticism, "It's just a few stones arranged in the shape of a door. How can you be sure that what you saw before was this place?"
Qu Ruilin looked around and replied confidently, "Although I don't recognize this house, I recognize the scenery here. I'm 100% sure that this is the place I came to before!"
I gripped the knife tightly in my hand: "When you came here before, were you in a safe situation, or were you on the run?"
“We had only been separated for a short time when I came to this place. I saw the houses disappear and felt that something was wrong, so I fled the scene. In my memory, there was a path outside, but as you can see, there is actually nothing here.”
Qu Ruilin paused for a moment: "I ran along that road for a while, and when I saw a small river, I thought I would rest for a bit. But as soon as I got to the riverbank, a large group of paper figures rushed out of the bushes. After that, I was completely lost in the forest. I could only search for Wei Shengnan and the others while looking for a way out! In the end, I stumbled out of the forest by accident, but I found that I could not get back no matter what!"
"If there were a road here, would it also be marked with some special signage, like these stones, to mislead people's vision?"
The monkey, drawing inferences from this example, said, "If the paper figures here are all lying in ambush in specific areas, attacking people who accidentally wander into the woods, then if we just find those props that mislead us, can we avoid the areas where the paper figures roam?"
"My lord, isn't your argument a bit too frivolous? If I were from Ping'an Village, I certainly wouldn't have tolerated such an obvious flaw when designing this place. Besides, look around here, where are the landmarks? I think my elder brother's theory is more reliable. Perhaps only those affected by the magnetic field can discover the problem here, or perhaps people in different mental states are in different dimensions and see different things."
Lin Que scratched his head: "Although formations are a kind of metaphysics, I think they can also be explained scientifically. Just like the magnetic field of the Bermuda Triangle can affect airplanes, formations can also affect people, making us like mental patients, seeing a world that only mental patients can see, similar to entering a world after eating mushrooms and getting poisoned!"
"Go away, you can even mispronounce words when reading the newspaper, so don't bother teaching me!"
The monkey rolled its eyes: "Young Master Duan, what should we do next?"
"Judging from the terrain, this small formation should be there to block us from advancing. Let's continue forward and see."
I kicked over the stones and scarecrows on the ground and said, "The monkey was right about one thing. I feel that all the paper figures here are moving around in a fixed area to attack strangers who break in! If we don't know the right way, we're bound to run into these guys."
"What I'm worried about is something else entirely, which is where exactly we should look for Wei Shengnan and the others."
Jiang Man looked at the pitch-black forest around her: "The area we're in is too big, and nobody knows where Wei Shengnan is. How are we going to find her?"
Qu Ruilin had been thinking about this matter, and blurted out, "Shengnan and the others must have left some marks since they got lost in this forest. As long as we find the marks they left along the way, we have a good chance of finding them."
I did not reject Qu Ruilin's idea. Since we did not know the exact location of Wei Shengnan and the others, the only thing we could do was to search for their traces along the way, just like a search and rescue team.
Ping'an Village is located in a locust grove, which is a low-lying area. The trees in our area are very dense, and the visibility is quite limited. Moreover, all the trees around us look pretty much the same. Not to mention finding Wei Shengnan, even I am getting confused.
As they walked, Jiang Man suddenly spoke up, "Have you heard the sound of the river?"
We can't go any further!
Qu Ruilin reminded me from the side, "I was attacked by the paper dolls because I walked to the river in the woods. The person who designed this place must have thought the same thing. For lost people who want to resupply, water is of utmost importance, so the riverbank is very dangerous!"
"Let's go take a look!"
I disagreed with Qu Ruilin's plan: "The riverbank is dangerous, but the probability of finding people is also high. If Wei Shengnan and the others really did not find their way out, then going along the direction of the river is a wise choice. The people of Ping'an Village set up paper figures by the riverbank, presumably to prevent this."
When Qu Ruilin heard that this direction might lead to Wei Shengnan, he didn't say anything more, nodded, and followed us.
As the sound of the rushing water grew louder, the monkey walking beside me suddenly turned on its flashlight and shone it into the bushes ahead: "They're here!"
"Splash!"
Before he finished speaking, the bushes in front of him shook violently, and then several paper figures rushed out of the woods, waving their hands.
"Crackling and popping!"
The paper figures didn't rush over; instead, they threw what they were holding at our feet from a distance.
I looked down and saw that what they were throwing were all brightly colored venomous snakes.
"Pfft!"
The monkey swung its arm, severing a venomous snake in mid-air, and growled, "Something's wrong! Retreat!"
"We can't retreat. These guys are the ones who guard this river. If we leave now, all our efforts will be in vain!"
I kicked a snake that was crawling towards me away and rushed forward to meet it: "Stay close to me, we have to get through!"
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