Forbidden Zone of Deception

Chapter 109 Two Customer Camps
A new customer has come in.

However, the customers who came in this time took Jiang Jin by surprise!
The customer in front of me...

No mask!
This made everyone gasp in shock!
This was a man of medium build, wearing a wrinkled gray suit with his tie hanging askew around his neck.

His face had an eerie pale color, as if he had porphyria.

His facial features looked somewhat disproportionate: his eyes were too big, his nose was so flat it was almost invisible, and his lips were as thin as blades, revealing uneven, yellow teeth.

The strange man walked into the store with stiff steps, each step like a toy that needed to be wound up, his knees barely bending. Looking at his gait, Jiang Jin immediately thought of the convenience store manager!

Their walking postures are almost identical!
Jiang Jin immediately recalled rule number 9 of the night shift rules: If a customer appears without a mask and behaves very strangely, please ignore them and treat them the same as everyone else.

Who wouldn't care about that!
Despite his discomfort, Jiang Jin stepped forward and tried to communicate in sign language: "Hello, do you need any help?"

There was no response from the other party.

His eerie face remained expressionless, and his mouth seemed unable to close at all. Upon closer inspection, one could feel a hissing sound coming from his mouth.

Ah Zi hid behind the cashier, her fingers gripping the edge of the table tightly. It seemed her period had left her still quite weak.

Dr. Lin approached silently, with Wu Ge following closely behind.

The strange man seemed to be patrolling the convenience store along a fixed route, without even glancing at the goods on the shelves.

At this moment, everyone was terrified.

Is that strange person a ghost?
Once it suddenly attacks and tries to kill the Reincarnators, they have absolutely no way to resist!
Qiu Feng subconsciously kept making the sign of the cross on his chest, while Lao Chen clasped his hands together in a gesture of prayer. Both were simultaneously seeking help from gods and Buddhas of the East and West; however, most reincarnators knew that deities offering salvation wouldn't appear in the horror dungeon.

Azi's face grew paler and paler, while Murong Yan supported her from behind.

Dr. Lin, Jiang Jin, and Wu Ge stared intently at the strange man.

To Jiang Jin's great surprise, the strange man didn't even glance at the doll shelf when he passed by. Later, when they arrived at the food section, the strange man didn't look at the freezers either.

This finally put Jiang Jin at ease... at least the weirdo wouldn't buy lime juice anymore.

Just then, the strange man entered the dining area. Everyone's hearts jumped; was he going to sit down?
Just then, the automatic door opened again.

Old Chen, Qiu Feng, and the others immediately looked over.

This time, it was a customer wearing a mask.

Before they could react, the masked customer, upon seeing the strange man, actually... rushed towards him at an astonishing speed.

The new customer's movements contrasted sharply with the strange man's—he was agile beyond human capabilities, almost leaping across half the store in an instant to pounce on the maskless oddball.

The masked customer moved so fast that he left afterimages, but just as he was about to touch the strange man, the latter suddenly made a right-angle turn that defied the laws of physics and moved stiffly toward the daily necessities section.

The masked customer missed his target, and then the strange man continued moving in his bizarre gait.

At this moment, the strange man passed by the doll once again.

The doll's glass eyes reflected the strange man, while the masked customer slowed down this time, following slowly behind the strange man.

This scene left everyone's scalp tingling, yet they couldn't comprehend it at all.

[What are they doing?] Old Chen used sign language: [Playing hide-and-seek?]

Wu Ge sneered, his fingers flying across the keyboard: "You think ghosts can play hide-and-seek?"

He pointed to the doorway: "The one without the mask seems to be fleeing."

Murong Yan's fingertips trembled slightly: [The masked man is hunting him.]

She gestured slowly, as if carefully considering each movement: "But why has the speed become so slow?"

As they were discussing, the masked man suddenly headed towards the household goods section. His movements became increasingly slow, a stark contrast to the swiftness he had displayed during the chase.

The masked customer and the strange man moved one after the other. After a while, the strange man actually left through the automatic door.

To everyone's surprise, the masked customer didn't chase after him.

Not long after, the masked customer took a toothbrush, toothpaste, and a pack of cotton swabs and came to the cashier.

Qiu Feng reluctantly stepped forward to pay the bill.

As expected, the other party offered a prepaid card again this time.

After the transaction was completed, the masked customer left.

But what exactly happened before and after this?

Wu Ge calmly gestured: "The masked man was clearly chasing the one who wasn't wearing a mask. But why did he give up in the end?"

Jiang Jin carefully observed the dining area: [The customer without a mask walks in the same way as the manager.]

He mimicked that stiff gait, [as if controlled by something].

Murong Yan suddenly gestured: "Did you guys notice his eyes?"

She traced circles around her eyes with her finger, [without blinking or looking at anyone]. Dr. Lin pondered for a moment: [The masked man chased her to the dining area, then suddenly slowed down.]

Wu Ge: [Could it be that the strange man can affect the masked guest's speed?]

Qiu Feng recalled the scene: [The masked man later bought daily necessities. He was very calm when paying with his prepaid card, completely unlike how he had been chasing people earlier.]

Old Chen asked: "Why did you suddenly stop following them?"

His fingers twirled at his temples: "Did you realize you'd chased the wrong person?"

Wu Ge shook his head: "It's more like... something interfered with. Everything changed after that strange man turned around."

Jiang Jin organized his thoughts: [Let's start from the beginning. First, the customer not wearing a mask is clearly abnormal. Second, the masked customer was hostile towards him, but suddenly stopped. Third, the key change occurred after the strange man turned around.]

They began to ponder, realizing the situation was becoming more complicated than they had imagined.

Jiang Jin proposed a hypothesis: "Perhaps the customers are divided into different camps, those wearing masks and those not wearing masks. These two camps are hostile to each other."

"That might be it." Wu Ge's gestures became rapid. "The masked man and the unmasked mortal enemy."

His fingers moved rapidly, simulating a confrontation: [Like cats and mice, natural adversaries.]

Old Chen raised an objection: "Then why did you go shopping again at the end? And why didn't you go out with them?"

Dr. Lin joined the discussion thoughtfully: "Unless…"

His finger paused in mid-air for a moment: "There are certain rules that restrict them. Just as we are bound by the rules of the convenience store, they also have regulations they must follow."

Murong Yan's eyes suddenly lit up, and she gestured quickly: "For example…" She first pointed to the cashier, then to the door, "You can't directly attack someone inside the store? You have to pretend to be a regular customer?"

Jiang Jin walked to the scene of the incident and reenacted the event: "Let's review this."

He first mimicked the stiff gait of the man in the suit as he walked to the dining area, then gestured the masked man's sprinting motion: "The masked man's pursuit was clear, but when he approached the man in the suit, the latter turned and moved, causing the masked man's speed to slow down rapidly."

Dr. Lin organized his thoughts: [Assuming that two camps do indeed exist.]

He held up two fingers, indicating "those wearing masks and those not wearing masks."

Jiang Jin added: "Outside the store, they can fight freely. But once inside the convenience store..."

He pointed to the night shift employee handbook on the wall, saying, "We have to follow some kind of 'customer handbook' that we don't know about."

Murong Yan proposed a hypothesis: "Therefore, the masked man cannot directly attack inside the store!"

Dr. Lin retorted: "If that's the case, why did you rush straight at that strange man in the suit when you first came in?"

Wu Ge's eyes lit up, and he gestured: "Do customers who don't wear masks have some kind of privilege? Like VIP customers who can ignore some rules?"

Azi suddenly gestured: [A shelter! Maybe a convenience store is a safe zone for some beings?]

Murong Yan seemed thoughtful: [So, here's the question...]

She first pointed to the spot where the man in the suit had been standing, then to the masked man's location, asking, "Why did the masked man abandon the pursuit and instead go shopping?"

Old Chen offered his opinion: [Perhaps...]

He made a timing gesture, indicating, "Time's up?"

Wu Ge shook his head: "It's more like..."

He first pointed to his eyes, then to his temples: [His perception was disrupted. As the man in the suit turned around, the masked man 'lost' his target.]

It's important to understand that this is a layer of illusion. Physical distance doesn't represent true distance. Once you're lost, it's not uncommon to find yourself right in front of your target but unable to see them.

Dr. Lin suddenly gestured: "Or..."

His finger traced the replacement action: [A higher-priority task has overridden the pursuit command.]

Jiang Jin suddenly realized something and began to make a purchasing gesture: [Could it be that the customer must complete a higher-priority 'shopping task'? Was this task triggered after arriving at the shelf? So the masked man ended up buying something! Perhaps the rules require him to complete the purchase within the convenience store!]

One thing is quite obvious: after the strange man in the suit came in, he seemed to have absolutely no intention of making any purchases!
After these observations, everyone sat down together to summarize.

Jiang Jin gestured to indicate his final conclusion: [It seems we can assume several possibilities.]

There are two camps: those who wear masks and those who don't.

[They must maintain a semblance of peace within the business premises.]

[There may be mandatory spending tasks to be completed]

Confrontational behavior is subject to venue rules.

Wu Ge concluded by gesturing: "[And...]" He made a note-taking gesture, indicating, "[Continue to observe their interaction patterns; this may be related to our survival.]"

Jiang Jin was thinking about which faction, if there really was a conflict between them, would be the one they could turn to for help? And which faction would pose a threat to them?
Without a doubt, this concerns their final fate! We must find a way to ascertain this, no matter what!

(End of this chapter)