The whole weird world is waiting for me to go to heaven

Chapter 956 Two Golden Crows (Part 3)

Reality and dreams overlap in this small room.

Liu Sheng, who plays "He Tao", meets He Tao, who is trapped in a dream, again.

The reason this was possible was thanks to the notebook left behind by Zheng Qiran.

If you want to find me, simply go to where dreams and reality overlap, think of my existence, and then knock on the door—the Law of Attraction will surprise you.

This is a sentence written at the end of the notes.

According to "The World," it was left by Zheng Qiran while Liu Sheng was asleep.

Although she didn't know why Zheng Qiran was so certain that Liu Sheng wanted to go find her, Liu Sheng didn't plan to use that knowledge on Zheng Qiran for the time being. Instead, she wanted to use it to find He Tao.

"You...you've arrived."

He Tao murmured.

Her eyes were red-rimmed, clearly she had just been crying.

"Well, I'm here."

Liu Sheng's gaze swept over the desktop computer on the desk. Although the screen was off, the hum of the heatsink could still be heard.

He frowned. "You were online just now?"

He Tao sniffed and nodded: "I don't know why... this room, which has always been isolated from the world, suddenly has internet access. And then... and then I saw it."

"Although I know my obsession stems from hatred for Zheng Qiran, no matter what... it's still me. I'm so cowardly, so afraid of bloodshed, I could never do such a thing..."

As she spoke, she looked at Liu Sheng, a hint of hesitation in her eyes:
"But you seem to be very different from my obsession. Who exactly are you—"

These words were stuck in Liu Sheng's mouth with his index finger.

A matching face, very close, whispered: "We are one, remember."

“We…are one…” He Tao murmured repeatedly.

But I still don't understand what's going on.

Liu Sheng also couldn't figure out why He Tao suddenly could sense the outside world.

"Ahem, it was me," said "World."

[Because the "Golden Crow (seed body)" within you has met the original "Law of Attraction Spacetime Compression Shell," finally forming a whole, activating the energy circuit, and allowing it to officially begin incubation.]

Liu Sheng frowned slightly: [Like the whole group formed by Professor Shen and those researchers?]

Bingo! The energy is activated, and I can start building Skynet now—after all, I have the experience from last time. It'll connect perfectly to the federal network, freeing me from those cumbersome, slow, and clunky devices like cell phones and computers…

But He Tao will be heartbroken.

"She has the right to know, doesn't she?" the world said softly. "And you need her to know too."

Liu Sheng knew that "the world" was right.

Because a new plan was vaguely forming in her mind.

At this moment, He Tao was angry, in pain, and confused.

"Then what should we do?"

"You want revenge?"

“Of course!” He Tao nodded without hesitation.

"You should know who the real culprit is."

"Zheng Qiran!" He Tao gritted her teeth in anger, "And... that hypocritical Shen Zhiyu!"

Liu Sheng raised an eyebrow, seemingly somewhat surprised: "You know that Shen Zhiyu... is a hypocrite?"

"Hmph, of course, who here doesn't know?" He Tao sneered. "Only that idiot Zheng Qiran would continue to believe that nonsense."

"Although we were all drawn in by those strange laws, in the end, isn't all of this just a stepping stone for Shen Zhiyu's plan to become an immortal!"

Liu Sheng remained silent for a moment.

She did indeed perceive Shen Zhiyu's hypocrisy.

Because she still remembered what Zheng Qiran had said:

She stole the "divine artifact," thinking it could be used to open the ruins, but that required a blood sacrifice.

However, she believed that the "immortal artifact" had not yet obtained enough sacrificial energy from "He Tao", so she always tried her best to slow down "He Tao" without harming her life.

According to Zheng Qiran's account, Shen Zhiyu had explicitly expressed her opposition to this, and even used this as a reason to directly cancel her admission.

But Liu Sheng remembered very clearly that when she talked to Shen Zhiyu, the other party immediately revealed that this "immortal artifact" was used to absorb energy to suppress the "fire seed", rather than to open the ruins.

In other words, Professor Shen was fully aware of all of this.

Therefore, Zheng Qiran's ability to leave smoothly with the "immortal artifact" and carry out his plan—to drag more people into the abyss to form more extreme yin power—might just be a convenient way to allow himself to sustain himself until he could complete his research on the power within the "fire seed."

Thinking that Zheng Qiran transferred the blame to He Tao was also to buy more time so that his research could proceed.

The master and disciple were quite similar.

Shen Zhiyu is indeed the person Zheng Qiran admires, and Zheng Qiran is indeed the student Shen Zhiyu has chosen.

Furthermore, the rejection of Zheng Qiran's paper might also have been the work of this mentor.

Their purpose was probably to prevent this matter from being exposed, which would affect further research plans.

He even went so far as to sever ties with Zheng Qiran.

So as not to ultimately damage the reputation of the great Professor Shen.

[It suddenly occurred to me that although we didn't directly tell Officer Yang about the rejected paper, we did mention that Zheng Qiran had vaguely mentioned the paper being suppressed.]

If the police investigate and find this paper, they can naturally confirm that she participated in some kind of "strange cult" or "inhumane experiment," which would also implicate Professor Shen.

Although this is our goal, with Shen Zhiyu's power, will she be able to suppress all of this?

"What are you thinking?"

He Tao noticed that Liu Sheng was deep in thought and couldn't help but ask.

Liu Sheng stroked his chin and slowly recounted his previous deductions.

He Tao was taken aback at first, then nodded thoughtfully: "This matches what I heard from some people I met here."

"The people here?"

Liu Sheng recalled He Tao mentioning earlier that "everyone here knows about this place," suggesting that it wasn't entirely empty and deserted. She then thought back to the numerous "doors" she had seen in the underground palace…

"Yes, it's everyone who was dragged into the so-called 'immortal artifact.' Although none of us can get out, we can still visit each other in our respective small spaces, or occasionally meet in the transition space."

"Most of them were researchers under Shen Zhiyu. Although they were mainly responsible for excavation work, because Shen Zhiyu was secretive and didn't know much, they still had some guesses."

"So you exchange these things with each other." Liu Sheng suddenly realized.

“Yes, that way they won’t feel so lonely and desperate.” He Tao let out a long sigh of relief, then suddenly her eyes lit up and she clapped her hands, “Maybe I can let them come to my place to use the internet! Maybe I can even charge them by the hour.”

"A fee? Do you have currency here?" He Tao chuckled self-deprecatingly, "It's not that sophisticated. It's more like barter. However, most items will be reset in the room. Only special types can actually stay and be traded."

What constitutes a special type?

He Tao got up, walked to the desk, opened the drawer, and took out a roll of posters.

"This is it. It won't disappear if I trade it to someone else, but nobody wants it."

Liu Sheng took it and unfolded it; it was a poster of LBKids.

Fifteen boys, dressed in light clothing, were energetically showing off their chest and abdominal muscles.

"No wonder nobody wants them." "World" silently grumbled. "If most of the people here are researchers, I doubt many would like LBKids."

Liu Sheng: [Stereotype!]

She gently stroked the surface of the poster with her fingertips and quickly noticed a faint, eerie fluctuation within it, forming a peculiar pattern that she couldn't see.

His face couldn't help but show surprise and excitement.

Her fingers kept tracing patterns on it, making He Tao blush.

"I didn't expect you to like this one too... Oh right, we're one, so it's normal for us to like it."

Liu Sheng's fingertips paused abruptly, and she quickly withdrew them as if burned, coughing lightly:
"No, I sense array patterns on it."

"Array patterns?"

He Tao had barely uttered the question when she let out a soft gasp.

The poster suddenly emitted a dark, chaotic light, and mysterious patterns appeared on it, making the muscles of the fifteen boys shine like light bulbs.

But then, He Tao couldn't help but make a retching sound.

"No, no, I can't...watch...ugh!"

She covered her mouth and pushed Liu Sheng's hand away.

Liu Sheng immediately rolled up the poster again, seemingly lost in thought: "I understand... This poster is the key to you being drawn into this space."

"What?" He Tao was taken aback.

"Zheng Qiran placed the array patterns that he copied from the murals onto the LBKids posters that we looked at day and night, but our resilience simply couldn't withstand this direct gaze, which led to the erosion of our spirit."

Although she didn't understand what "the array patterns in the murals" and "resilience" meant, He Tao finally understood—

"No wonder I felt uncomfortable when I saw those posters! It made me feel uncomfortable whenever I saw their faces later..." He Tao said painfully, clutching her head. "If it weren't for the fact that the layout of this room is hard to change and will return to normal when I wake up, I would have torn them all up and thrown them away!"

No wonder she was curled up in a ball; she didn't want to see or touch anything...

It seems like he's already developed PTSD.

But it was precisely because of this array pattern that the originally "ordinary" poster was quietly tainted with a strange power. Under the influence of the "immortal artifact" within Zheng Qiran's body, it gradually transformed into a strange artifact.
-
[Name]: LBKids Cool Poster
[Analysis Completion Rate]: 100%
[Type]: Trick
[Effect Description]:
(1) HOT: Tearing the poster will release a heat wave that impacts the target, but the greater the degree of tearing, the weaker the effect will be.

It is advisable to avoid tearing muscle areas.

(2) Greasy: Placing the poster on the ground will create a slippery surface, which may cause the target to slip and fall.

[Additional Effects]: Staring at the screen for an extended period may interfere with mental function. Do not watch for more than 30 seconds.

[Influence Level]: D
[Analysis and Evaluation]: HOT! HOT! HOT!
-
He Tao, suppressing her discomfort, grabbed Liu Sheng's hand and asked in a trembling voice, "Tell me again... how did I end up like this?"

Liu Sheng nodded and continued, "Besides this poster, Zheng Qiran also used the so-called 'law of attraction' to pull us into that special space in the middle of the night, and arranged for Qu Fan—"

"Qu Fan?"

"Yeah, that guy who tried to attack us today."

“Yes, Zheng Qiran’s accomplice!” He Tao nodded vigorously, clearly having a strong impression of him.

"She made Qu Fan wait in the threshold space she created, and even fed us, who were oblivious to everything, raw meat..."

"What?" He Tao's eyes widened. "Why would you do that?"

“Actually, there’s no theoretical basis for it.” Liu Sheng shrugged. “Maybe she thought that this would create extreme yin energy, making our bodies strong enough to bear that thing; or maybe, all of these things combined were meant to torture us abnormally, make us doubt ourselves, and thus cause our spirits to collapse.”

"No wonder I always feel nauseous when I wake up and have no interest in normal food. But, over time, I find myself subconsciously craving bloody meat..."

He Tao's face turned pale, and she gagged again from nausea.

“That’s right. At this point, we have entered another stage—attracted by the power of extreme Yin, we have become bloodthirsty. In the end, you will be replaced by obsession.”

In other words, it's a bizarre transformation caused by the pull of the abyss.

He Tao's face grew increasingly pale, and the hatred in her eyes gradually intensified.

"She successfully transferred that thing to me, right? But why did she still... attempt suicide?"

“Because it’s too late.” Liu Sheng shook her head. “She herself has been consumed by her obsession.”

"Her obsession wouldn't allow her to fail, but she was rejected, and even rejected by Professor Shen, so..."

At this point, Liu Sheng suddenly paused.

This is the version I got from Zheng Qiran.

But something seems off.

Zheng Qiran's obsession is indeed strong, but judging from her behavior while trapped in the space, she is still a fairly rational and clear-headed person.

Are we really that easily controlled by our obsessions?

"The answer is actually quite simple," the "world" said calmly. "Because her true intention was to use this opportunity to be reborn in your body."

【What? 】

[She was still clever. Unlike He Tao, who was imprisoned here and just waited to die, she managed to acquire a small amount of the ability to return from the threshold space to reality. Although she could only control it briefly, it was enough to kill Qu Fan and herself.]

[He killed himself thinking it would allow him to return to the world of the living, but unexpectedly, his other self chose to fight to the death, directly destroying his physical body.]

[Killing Qu Fan was to silence her. It was to prevent her from knowing too much and to take precautions against her possession.]

She's waiting for the right opportunity.

[At what time?]

[When Professor Shen achieved his goal of creating "a golden crow".]

Liu Sheng frowned slightly: "So...she already realized she was just Shen Zhiyu's pawn, and wanted to find an opportunity to retaliate?"

This is also the contradiction she saw after combining Zheng Qiran's and Shen Zhiyu's statements.

[That's most likely the case, but she needs a new body first—and He Tao, originally her scapegoat, is now the vessel she's set her sights on.]

Once the "immortal artifact" returns to its original state, the hidden dangers in your body will be eliminated. When you then go to find her again based on the words left in the notebook, she can take over your body.

"She's so naive," Liu Sheng said helplessly.

She simply didn't understand that the so-called "extreme yin body" wouldn't change just because the artifact was removed. Once it became an artifact, it would always be an artifact...

Unless we cultivate the "Chaos Yin-Yang Technique".

(End of this chapter)