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

Chapter 961 Two Golden Crows (Part 8)

After a while, a few more people arrived sporadically.

Some of them looked like villagers from Zhengjia Village based on their clothing, while others looked like office workers or students. They sat in twos and threes on the soft beds, making a total of thirteen people.

One of the women, a middle-aged woman with braided hair and a capable expression, tapped the fluffy hammer in her hand, making a soft "squeak" sound.

"Alright, it's almost time. We can begin today's gathering."

This is the organizer, Zhuo Caiyun.

Yes, the one Liu Sheng met later.

In other words, the one currently acting outside has long been replaced by obsession.

"Who wants to go first?" Zhuo Caiyun asked.

"Me first!" A short-haired female researcher raised her hand and took out a pair of gloves: "These are work gloves, which can improve the protection of your hands and also enhance your dream-making ability."

The moment this concept was mentioned, everyone gasped in astonishment.

It seems that the ability to "create dreams" is quite rare here.

However, after the researcher blushed and gave his demonstration, everyone looked disappointed.

It turns out that this "dream-making" is based on modifying the existing scene and is limited by the range of hand contact—for example, changing the cat pattern on the bed sheet under your hand to a dog pattern.

Even so, it was still swapped by a girl dressed as a student with a lunchbox that always contained hot food.

Then a villager offered to take out a bag of rice, saying that it could be used for planting. Although planting in one's own space would mean starting all over again, it was possible to find a constant transitional space to try.

This was a hot commodity, and many people immediately raised their hands to exchange it.

In the end, the villagers simply replaced their radio with a single station—FM36.7 Midnight Stories—because the radio owner had been listening to this station before being trapped, making it impossible to switch back later.

However, the villager seemed quite satisfied.

Life in this space is peaceful and uneventful, but it is precisely because it is too "untroubled" that people seek out things to do, which leads to these strange demands.

However, there wasn't much to exchange anyway. People were just looking for an opportunity to get together and chat, to relieve the loneliness and despair of being trapped in the dark and hopeless space.

After waiting a while longer, seeing that no one raised their hand, Zhuo Caiyun asked again, "Does anyone else have something they want to trade?"

After a long while, a hand finally rose up tremblingly.

"I...I have something I'd like to exchange."

The speaker was a middle-aged male researcher with thinning hair, who carefully held out a grayish-white seashell.

"This is a seashell that I found when I was excavating the underground palace in the South China Sea... It will occasionally produce pearls if you keep it in water."

"Approximately how many pearls can this produce?" A male office worker in an inexpensive suit asked eagerly, his eyes lighting up.

"I haven't calculated it precisely, but roughly... one will appear after about 150 opening and closing cycles..."

"Old Mu, why did it take so long to bring out something so good?" another female researcher asked with interest. "And when will that opening and closing mechanism be available?"

"Hmm... It opens and closes several times a day, so I didn't notice."

"Such a low probability..."

The office worker was somewhat disappointed.

“But…look at the quality of this pearl.” Old Mu said eagerly, holding up a large, round pearl that shimmered with a soft light.

This drew a gasp of surprise.

Liu Sheng glanced at the analysis results: bead yield rate 1.98%.

It's even higher than what this old Mu said.

She silently shook her head. This kind of thing might be a treasure outside, but it had little market here.

Of course, someone immediately pointed this out.

Even if this bead is good, it won't fetch any money here!

"That's right, this thing is all show and no substance. I really don't know what use it is except for being displayed." Someone else chimed in.

Zhuo Caiyun then asked, "Old Mu, what do you want to exchange it for?"

"I...I want a weapon."

After he finished speaking, a brief silence fell over the room.

A murmur of discussion then broke out.

Zhuo Caiyun shook her head: "Old Mu, you know that weapons are in high demand here. Not many people have weapons as their special items; in fact, they are few and far between."

“But I know that Dr. Zhuo, you… are one of them,” Old Mu said in a low voice.

"But……"

Zhuo Caiyun frowned slightly, a hint of embarrassment showing on her face.

"Please, Dr. Zhuo." Old Mu raised his head, his hands trembling, his eyes red, and his voice filled with a nervous urgency. "I feel like something's wrong with my family. I'm worried about them."

"How so?" Zhuo Caiyun's gaze sharpened.

“I suspect… something has entered my house…” Old Mu began with difficulty. “My wife and children have told me that things are always being moved inexplicably, and they hear strange noises in the middle of the night. Sometimes… my son wakes up and finds himself not in his bed…”

"Old Mu, did you open the door and go out?" Zhuo Caiyun asked sternly halfway through the conversation.

“I…” Old Mu lowered his head, “I just want to go see my family…”

"But you know the rules perfectly well," Zhuo Caiyun rebuked in a low voice. "The space we're in now is extremely special, with very clear boundaries that are generally impossible to cross. Old Mu, I don't know how you crossed it, but once you did, the consequences were extremely serious!"

"I understand now!" Old Mu clutched his last few strands of hair, his voice filled with anxiety. "But what can we do? We've already made a terrible mistake... I just wanted to protect them..."

His tone was full of regret.

Upon hearing this, everyone reacted with varying expressions.

Several of them also avoided eye contact.

Liu Sheng vaguely sensed something amiss—these people were probably involved in real-world affairs as well.

In fact, this path is not difficult to reach.

Even Zheng Qiran can do that.

It's just that He Tao is simple-minded and didn't think of that.

But clearly, there is an unwritten but deeply ingrained ironclad rule in this "Sleepwalker Alliance": do not cross the line or interfere in reality, or you will be ostracized or even expelled.

Perhaps this is why Zheng Qiran did not appear here.

Old Mu, knowing he would be expelled, still risked coming to seek help, which shows he was truly desperate.

"Please, Dr. Zhuo," Old Mu said, his voice choked with emotion. "If you're unwilling to give me the weapon, could you... come with me and take a look?"

However, Zhuo Caiyun's expression shifted several times, showing signs of struggle.

In the end, he shook his head. "No."

"You know, even I wouldn't dare to cross that line easily. I'm sorry, Old Mu."

Old Mu's expression immediately turned ashen, and he seemed to lose all support, his shoulders slumping heavily.

Just as the atmosphere was about to freeze, a voice rang out from the side:
"Maybe I can help you."

Everyone looked over and saw a girl who looked unfamiliar. She seemed to have been to the gathering a few times, but she always sat quietly in the corner, so no one remembered her name.

Unexpectedly, she took the initiative to speak this time.

Moreover, this applies to problems that even Dr. Zhuo is powerless to solve.

"You are……"

"My name is Liu Sheng."

"Liu Sheng? Aren't you called He Tao?"

Zhuo Caiyun actually remembered her.

Liu Sheng chuckled and said, "Now it's time to distinguish yourself from the person you are outside, isn't it? Otherwise, it's so annoying to hear."

Few people disagree with this statement.

Some people are seriously considering whether they should give themselves a different name to sever ties with their past.

"Wait, young man, you say you can solve this..." Old Mu was still skeptical. Liu Sheng, however, shut him up with a single sentence: "Anyway, you don't have any other choice, so why not give it a try?"

Old Mu was speechless, and could only hold the seashell, his trembling legs revealing his anxiety.

Seeing that no one else raised their hand, Zhuo Caiyun announced, "Alright, now we can move on to the discussion session..."

Liu Sheng, however, stood up and suggested leaving first.

"Mr. Mu looks very anxious; I'm afraid he won't participate in the rest of the activities today."

Old Mu was delighted, but then hesitated and looked at Zhuo Caiyun, as if seeking permission.

Zhuo Caiyun frowned slightly, but ultimately waved her hand.

Old Mu then hurriedly followed Liu Sheng.

After passing the giant teddy bear, you can still hear Zhuo Caiyun's voice behind you:

"...The space has become much more stable recently. I think we can start seriously considering exploring and developing this space..."

Then came an uproar.

Then they started discussing how to continue.

As you bypass these enormous dolls, the sound gradually fades into the distance.

I came to the bedside and climbed down the rope ladder woven from the bed sheet.

Below was an incredibly deep pool, its bottom completely dark, the water rippling, yet faintly revealing the outlines of some tall buildings, as if an entire city were hidden deep beneath the water.

Old Mu just found two swimming rings nearby.

But then they discovered that a whole kayak had appeared in front of Liu Sheng at some point.

"This……"

"Hurry up and get in, didn't you say you were in a hurry?"

The two boarded the kayak and slowly paddled forward.

They kept looking ahead until they saw a hole with a green "Emergency Exit" sign hanging above it. Liu Sheng rowed the boat and crawled through it.

Then you slide down a straight, transparent long slide.

Looking out through the slide tube wall, you can still see the huge bed, but it's quite far away now.

As you continue downhill, the scenery begins to change.

High-rise buildings sped by, like different residential areas stacked on top of each other, so densely packed that it was unsettling.

The slide went faster and faster, and the outside scenery gradually blurred, leaving only chaotic light and shadow and blurry color blocks.

Old Mu gripped the handle tightly and couldn't help but scream.

Liu Sheng reminded him: "Focus, think about your home."

"Yes Yes Yes Yes……"

Finally, the slide reached its end.

The kayak suddenly plunged down.

The two of them also fell into a cold pool of water.

The surroundings were deathly silent, with only the sound of water gurgling from the pipes overhead. The pool was dark and deep, with an indescribable eeriness.

Old Mu struggled in the pool, grabbing onto a hard object to get up, only to find that the pool was very shallow, barely reaching his waist.

As for what the hard object you just grabbed was...

Feel it carefully—

Five cold, hard, thin objects were clearly visible; touching them upwards revealed them to be flat...

"Hand! Hand! Someone's here!" Old Mu suddenly cried out in alarm.

The sound exploded in the deathly silence and echoed in the vast emptiness.

With a "snap," Liu Sheng turned on her flashlight.

A beam of light shone in front of him, illuminating a pale and stiff face, but it calmed Old Mu down.

These are mannequins in the shopping mall.

As the flashlight beam moved, it illuminated more of these dolls, lying haphazardly and abandoned in the pool.

The faces were crudely drawn, a far cry from real people, but at first glance, they looked like corpses submerged in water. Yet the painted eyes, reflecting the light of a flashlight, somehow possessed a realistic luster.

Shining the flashlight upwards, one could see a fairly large shopping mall atrium, but it had long been abandoned, surrounded by layers of dark, unlit railings that made it impossible to see clearly.

The escalator had stopped working and was even overgrown with vines. The sightseeing elevator in the middle, which faced the pool, was pitch black, but you could vaguely feel eyes shining from it. However, when the beam of light shone on it, there was no one there.

Only a few palm trees planted in the courtyard still live on, baring their fangs and claws, like giant beasts standing in the darkness.

Liu Sheng was the first to step out of the pool.

Old Mu followed closely behind, stepping on the wet ground to the sightseeing elevator.

The elevator seemed to have been out of service for years, but strangely, when Liu Sheng pressed the up button, the elevator doors opened slowly with a piercing sound.

The room had a musty, stale smell from being poorly ventilated for so long.

Old Mu swallowed hard, his legs feeling weak.

But the little girl seemed fearless and walked in calmly.

He calmly turned to Old Mu and asked, "Which floor do you live on?"

Old Mu was stunned for a moment: "Thirty-two floors."

So Liu Sheng pressed "32" on the elevator panel.

Old Mu blinked. This shopping mall clearly has no more than six floors, so where did the thirty-two floors come from?

Moreover, is this elevator even moving?
As if in response to his questioning, the elevator doors slowly closed, and with a creaking sound, it actually began to rise, swaying gently.

As you ascend, looking out through the glass, you still see the abandoned shopping mall, only it has been stretched countless times vertically.

The lush, towering palm trees, like giant beasts, looked down on the two tiny figures; and the two figures, in turn, looked down at the large pile of discarded mannequins in the pool, which, viewed from above, resembled a tangled mass of flesh.

The elevator continued to climb, passing over the tops of the palm trees. The mall below grew smaller and smaller until it passed through the top floor, where the top gradually shrank into a dot and slowly disappeared from sight.

With a "ding," the elevator stopped.

Because the display panel is broken, it's impossible to tell which floor we're on.

But when the elevator doors opened, a simple wooden door was revealed, and even the aroma of braised meat wafted out.

Old Mu's heart skipped a beat.

My eyes welled up with tears without me even realizing it.

"Is this your home?" Liu Sheng asked.

“That’s right!” Old Mu sniffed.

Liu Sheng sighed, "I didn't expect to arrive here so quickly after only a few scene changes. It seems you really have a deep affection for your family."

Old Mu forced a smile, feeling embarrassed.

"Is that the kitchen behind here?" Liu Sheng asked again.

"Yes... I'm busy with work and rarely go home, but whenever I do, I always want to cook something delicious for them..."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on Old Mu's face, revealing that he was genuinely happy about the matter.

This appearance inexplicably reminded Liu Sheng of Liu Ruhai, and the corners of his mouth involuntarily curved into a smile.

However, Old Mu's smile soon faded.

"Unfortunately, I can never go back..."

"And what took all of this away, I don't even know 'who' or 'what' it was..."

He shook his head, his gaze falling on the wooden door, his hand trembling slightly as he placed it on the doorknob.

(End of this chapter)