Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

While they were thinking, Zhenfei was already slowly climbing down the well wall, with Tangyuan following beside her. Because there were two women going down the well this time, and neither of them was very large, they were basically moving down in parallel, unlike the male players who had to move up and down alternately.

At that moment, Gao Hai's message also rang out through both the mental link and the temporary mental link. He had already led his clone Yili through the village and was heading towards the road leading up the mountain.

This time, he will be heading to the mountain god temple, a place he has never been before, except for the one he investigated once during his second playthrough with the help of the Fishing Gang.

Unlike before, Gao Hai has now established a connection with the mountain god. Therefore, when he enters the temple, he will theoretically not be attacked by the mountain god's power and will be able to enter and exit smoothly.

Hmm, that should be right, right?

To be honest, although Gao Hai wanted to be more confident, he was still a little uneasy considering all the mess he had gone through since entering this instance.

However, there was no way out now, so he stepped forward and, together with a clone he had summoned, walked through the forest path to the front of the somewhat dilapidated mountain god temple.

{We've arrived, this is it. One mile. Send your clone in to scout ahead first.}

Looking at the open gate ahead, and inside the gate, the statue of the mountain god and the burning incense and candles, Gao Hai pondered for a moment, then spoke to Yi Li through their mental link.

Okay, sure!

Ichiri, who was not yet familiar with this kind of mental link, answered in a very nervous voice.

{Wow, that's so loud! Ichiri, don't shout so loudly in the mental link. This mental link is different from the link established by the object of obsession; it's very stable, so just use a normal speaking tone.}

Perhaps due to being too nervous, Ichiri forgot to switch to a private frequency, which caused Chika, who was inspecting the roof in the village, to be startled.

I'm so sorry!

Hmm, the sound is still quite loud. It's probably because Ichiri is a little shy after learning about the special nature of this mental link from Chika. Ichiri's state is indeed a bit unsteady right now. But as long as it doesn't affect his actions, it's not a big problem.

Take a step forward.

This clone, which bore a 60% resemblance to Ichiri, strode confidently into the mountain god's temple like a runway model.

Gao Hai waited in place for about a minute or two, and then saw the clone walk back backwards in MJ's moonwalk pose, even bumping into the threshold of the temple gate.

{No problem, there's no sign of any active, eerie creatures inside.}

Yili whispered to Gao Hai through the mental link. This time, her voice was so soft that Gao Hai had to strain to hear what she was saying.

{Is there no problem? That's good.}

Nodding slightly, and mentally asking Kita to monitor the changes in the surrounding environment, Takami then stepped into the mountain god temple.

The pungent smoke from incense and candles filled my nostrils, making me cough lightly twice.

Gao Hai narrowed his eyes slightly, and then he saw an old man with a hunched back silently sweeping in front of the mountain god statue made of black rock.

At that very moment, as if sensing Gao Hai's gaze, the old man stopped what he was doing, slowly turned his head, and revealed a wrinkled and scarred old face. His mouth opened to reveal yellowish-black teeth, most of which were rotten.

Chapter 110: The Shaping of the Illusory Wind and the Image of Dark Connection Between the Crowded Wailing Things

Gao Hai knew of the old man's existence.

During her first playthrough, in Liu Family Village under the cover of night, Kaguya encountered a kind-looking old woman and had a brief exchange with her. Kaguya discovered that while the old woman appeared to be alive, she was actually a puppet mechanically repeating certain phrases, devoid of any autonomy. Then, the people of Li Family Village appeared directly inside the mountain god's temple and, with the power of the mountain god, almost wiped out the entire Gao Hai squad. In a sense, that was the most satisfying death, at least much more so than the two times they were killed by the blood flower later.

Now, Gao Hai also saw the old man in the mountain god temple on the side of Lijia Village.

You can sense that the other person's body has life activity similar to that of a human, but there are basically no fluctuations in their mental thoughts.

It's a truly magical feeling. Before his soul was torn apart and he was resurrected with great difficulty by the power of the Blood Flower, Gao Hai's mental strength, though powerful, was completely incapable of directly sensing the mental activity of others from a distance. But now, with just a slight thought, he can clearly identify the old woman's abnormality and immediately realize that she lacks any human thought ability and is merely a living puppet made of flesh and blood.

However, it seems that the situation is somewhat different from what Kaguya encountered.

Although it wasn't particularly obvious, Gao Hai vaguely sensed that the old woman he was seeing had changed somewhat. Yes, it seemed that the old woman's demeanor began to shift after she saw him. This feeling was strange, and Gao Hai wasn't quite sure what the specific reason for this change was.

step-step-

The old woman slowly took steps and walked towards Gao Hai.

Gao Hai immediately became alert, prepared for this thing to suddenly transform into a BOSS and fight him for three hundred rounds.

But that didn't happen. The old man walked up to him, bowed respectfully, and grinned.

"This humble servant warmly welcomes the new clan leader. May I ask what you require?"

Those respectful words made Gao Hai understand what was going on.

So that's how it is. This old woman was essentially a puppet created by the villagers of Li Family Village. Therefore, after seizing the land deed from the Li family, I became the master of this puppet and could give her orders.

Couldn't it have been a young and beautiful female puppet? Why did it have to be an old lady who looks seventy or eighty years old? This style is really unpleasant to look at.

Thinking this, Gao Hai coughed lightly, put on a serious face, and then thought for a moment before telling Yi Li in the mental link to pay attention, and then looked at the old woman in front of him and spoke.

"I need to check the things of those sorcerers that I collected earlier."

Gao Hai tried to imitate the way the villagers of Lijia Village spoke.

"Okay, please come with me."

The old woman nodded slightly, showing no unusual reaction, then turned and walked towards one side of the lobby, heading straight towards a wall.

Upon closer inspection, Gao Hai discovered numerous characters written on the wall, seemingly survival rules summarized by the survivors of Liu Family Village under the cover of night. Clearly, the two mountain god temples in different spaces were actually interconnected; it was just unclear why one temple contained a mountain god statue while the other's statue was empty.

That said, why did she walk up to the wall? Was it Platform 9¾?

Just as this thought crossed Gao Hai's mind, he saw the old woman stop in front of the wall, tap it, and then part of the wall disappeared, revealing a downward staircase.

Okay, looks like it's a Souls-themed illusion wall.

Gao Hai did not hesitate and followed the old woman downstairs.

Although there might be traps, Gao Hai had to go through them in the current situation. After all, to perfect the god statue, he needed to collect the four core obsession items within this cycle. If he delayed this process until the next cycle, Gao Hai didn't dare to imagine how much the blood flower would change. This cycle had only just begun, and that thing had already become active, seeking an opportunity to break free of its seal and come looking for him.

call--

I felt the wind.

A chilling, putrid, eerie wind that sent shivers down one's spine.

This wasn't Gao Hai describing the wind; rather, the wind blowing towards him did indeed contain an eerie quality.

Please... spare me... please... spare... me...

No... I have family... Please let me... leave...

Even if I become a monster... I will never... let you... beasts go...

Those things were truly and vividly surrounding Gao Hai.

Twisted, deformed, fragmented, and cruelly dead in all sorts of ways, things that cannot find peace.

They cannot harm Gao Hai.

In this dark underground world, the power of the mountain god of Xiaoheishan Mountain is enough to suppress everything. Therefore, no matter how fierce these monsters are or how terrifying they look, they cannot touch Gao Hai. They will only pass through his body without leaving a trace.

That's right, it's just an illusion.

These things, which have been suppressed for countless years, are nothing more than phantoms when they release power, as they cannot escape the suppression of the mountain god.

When Gao Hai passed through them, he only felt gusts of cold wind, which was the limit of what they could do.

huh-huh-

It was nothing more than a chilly gust of wind.

huh-huh-

It was nothing more than a relentless, sweeping gale that never subsided.

huh-huh-

It was nothing more than a dense mass of rotting flesh and blood crowding the entire underground space, howling and accusing incessantly, struggling helplessly, until it transformed into an endless evil wind.

A headless, ragged woman.

An old man, his body mangled and mangled.

A twisted, blackened man burned to a crisp.

Various things that had lost their normal human form, no longer possessed humanity or self, and were merely remnants of insane obsessions, crowded densely around Gao Hai, constantly screaming and roaring.

But this makes no sense.

In this dark and damp underground space, their roars and screams would not cause Gao Hai any harm. Even if Gao Hai was not a powerful figure far surpassing Red Moon level players, but just an ordinary person, they still could not hurt him, and could not cause him the slightest damage under the suppression of the mountain god's power.

Gao Hai didn't know if this underground space could only be opened by the patriarch of Li Family Village, or if any villager of Li Family Village with a certain status could enter.

The only thing he was certain of was that these people must have entered and exited this place countless times, and seen the phantoms of these strange creatures countless times.

slam-la-

The rotten copper coin was kicked up by Gao Hai's footsteps.

Some silver dollars and a very small amount of gold ingots were mixed in, shimmering with a mesmerizing color in the dim candlelight.

There were also some items whose exact nature was unclear, but a closer look revealed them to be anything special—objects placed haphazardly or carefully throughout the underground space. Some of them had decayed, while others remained intact, still showing signs of their former brilliance.

The source of those eerie creatures crowding this underground space lies within these things. Hidden within these blood-stained, still foul-smelling objects even after a long time are one after another objects of obsession.

Gao Hai walked among these treasures for over a hundred meters before finally seeing something different.

{These things...}

He had originally thought he would see the object of his obsession with the strange wedding dress.

But before seeing that thing, what Gao Hai saw first were black stones piled up in the corner, and some stone statues that had been carved and gradually taken shape, resembling mountain god statues.

Judging from their appearance, these statues differ slightly from those in the main hall, resembling more the Guanyin statue of the Goddess of Mercy who grants children. For ordinary people unfamiliar with deities, distinguishing the genuine from the fake would likely be nearly impossible. Yet, within these disguised statues displayed here, Gao Hai could clearly sense a subtle malice, a nascent, yet-to-be-released, malevolent desire.

It really looks like it.

Gao Hai squatted down in front of a statue.

It looks almost exactly like the statue I saw in Shirakawa's apartment.

If the large statue in the mountain god temple and the statue in the Shirakawa Apartment are somewhat indistinguishable at first glance, but become similar upon closer inspection, then this small statue is almost identical, making it impossible to tell them apart.

And there are many, many more of these identical statues here.

{…}

In the silence, Gao Hai reached out and gently touched the statue.

His spiritual power also spread out, entering the interior of the statue to feel the cold malice that had been brewing within it and could not be dispelled to this day.