Time Traveler Help Hotline

The two chatted for a while until Ji Mo glanced at his phone and gestured, "It's almost time, it's time to go on stage."

No matter how unconventional she is offstage, once she sits in the anchor's seat, Chen Zhuzhu immediately switches to professional mode, at least most of the time.

She delivered her opening remarks smoothly, and then continued broadcasting the new scripts she had accumulated during last month's holiday. She seemed to enjoy herself even though she was in charge of the entire event.

The hotline notification sound finally rang seventeen minutes into the program.

Chen Zhuzhu remained composed and spoke gently into the microphone: "Our first caller for help tonight has arrived. Let's hear what difficulties he's facing..."

However, before she could finish speaking, a series of rapid, labored breaths, as if she were about to suffocate, came through the receiver, followed by a rather familiar voice:

"Feed...it's me..."

"Uncle You?!" Chen Zhuzhu knew who it was as soon as she heard it.

Her first reaction was that it was impossible. Uncle You was a transmigrator that Ji Mo had brought back. Then she remembered that it was Lan Yun who had called the hotline. Uncle You was just a transmigrator who was discovered by chance and had not used the hotline quota.

Danger, realm... Aside from not knowing if it's outside the mortal realm, all the conditions are just right!

Ji Mo also stood up from backstage. Seeing Chen Zhuzhu standing there dumbfounded and not knowing what to say, he quickly reminded her, "Ask him where he is."

Even knowing that You Tianding's ability could keep him alive for the time being, the situation he revealed didn't seem like he could last long.

You Tianding seemed to be running away; heavy footsteps came from behind him, and he was being caught.

"Human, who are you talking to?"

The call was then disconnected.

……

The familiar binding force of the rules fell upon him, only to be easily dispersed like dust.

"Damn it, I'm still too late."

Ji Mo thought he had moved quickly enough, but the moment he landed, he could not sense any signs of life.

"Running away in such a hurry... Is it some kind of eerie entity like Red Eyes? It even knows about the show."

Ji Mo was often troubled by this.

For the victims, they were almost unaware of the program's existence before their first encounter with it, making it difficult for them to trust and seek help immediately.

But for the perpetrators, the names of Sanchuan Tailor Shop and Weifan Realm were enough to make them wary and take precautions against any possible exposure.

If the person seeking help cannot be found immediately, they will be placed under strict surveillance after being transferred, making it difficult to seek help again.

They might not even have a chance to ask for help. The perpetrators, in order to destroy evidence, might simply silence them.

It's pointless to say anything now; Ji Mo can only try to find clues.

Sensing the power of the rules around him, he realized that this place belonged to the realm of rules, and seemed to be a remnant of a modern city.

The location is a modern urban apartment building, similar in layout to his apartment, and even newer.

The kitchen is fully equipped with pots, pans, and utensils, their smooth surfaces almost reflecting one's image, as if they were just purchased and haven't yet been used much.

But in stark contrast were large splatters and drags of blood on the ground.

The dark red blood had almost soaked into half of the living room floor; given the amount of bleeding, a normal human being would have no chance of survival.

Because of this blood, the air was filled with an inescapable stench of blood.

Ji Mo frowned, sniffed the air, and realized that what was wrong was not only the amount of bleeding, but also the smell.

He left the house, closed the door, and went into the apartment hallway. The smell of blood had lessened somewhat, but the stench of decay wafted from other places.

Ji Mo glanced at the other closed doors on both sides of the corridor and chose the nearest one.

The layout inside was exactly the same as the room where You Tianding had stayed, even the placement of the pots and pans was almost identical.

There was bloodstains there as well, but the color had turned black and dried on the floor, indicating that a considerable amount of time had passed.

Inside the bedroom lay a rotting female corpse, its face unrecognizable, emitting a foul stench.

The corpse was wearing a gorgeous long dress, but the upper part was hanging down. One sleeve was torn off, along with the arm, which was ripped off and hung to the side. It was not hard to see the horrific appearance of the arm and skin being torn off before death.

"There are signs of multiple fractures... Hmm... Rather than saying she encountered that kind of thing, it's more like someone was helping her change clothes?" Ji Mo secretly deduced.

If his deduction is correct, then this person must be incredibly clumsy and strong to have caused such a result.

The sense of foreboding in his heart grew stronger and stronger, so Ji Mo immediately turned around and quickly searched the homes of other residents on this floor and even the floors above and below.

The situation in each household is largely the same.

Nearly half of the households had similar bodies that were already dead and had severe lacerations in different parts of their bodies.

Some were lying in bed, covered with blankets, but their heads had been crushed; others were sitting at the dining table with moldy food in front of them, their shoulders showing signs of fractures, as if they were trying to escape but were stopped and their arms were dislocated, ultimately leading to death from excessive bleeding.

All the clues point to the existence of some kind of patriarch in this apartment building, who takes care of all the humans living there.

But clearly, it doesn't know how to control its strength, and all its caring actions turn into deadly attacks.

Ji Mo could even sense the patriarch's twisted tenderness: it knew that humans were afraid of blood and corpses, so once someone had died in a house, no new person would live there, and the deceased would be kept in the position they were in when they died.

Before You Tianding, countless other victims had perished here.

The only saving grace is that You Tianding's body was not found here.

Finding no other clues in the apartment, Ji Mo turned his attention to the strange things that were nearby, and then discovered something outrageous.

This place is not within the Hope City area, but there are exceptionally few strange occurrences here, so few that it can be described as sparsely populated.

But similarly, there are no humans here.

Ji Mo randomly picked a strange creature, but unfortunately, because the creatures were all of low level, they didn't seem very smart.

"Who is the most powerful and mysterious creature here?"

"Die! Die! Die! Die! Die!"

"Which supernatural entity is responsible for that apartment building nearby where many people have died? What are its characteristics?"

"I don't know, I'm a weirdo who just recently wandered here."

After killing and questioning several strange beings, Ji Mo finally got some useful answers from the fifth one.

"What recently occupied that area wasn't an eeriness, but a strange tale, which is why the nearby supernatural entities were driven away?"

This answer was beyond Ji Mo's expectations.

Wasn't it said that the ghost stories of Hope City were restricted so they couldn't help the resistance?

No, there are no human camps nearby; it seems more like a case of a ghost story involving private land enclosure.

Through Mary, Ji Mo also learned that not all the strange tales in the world of rules live in Hope City. Some of the strange tales hate being bound or encouraged by their own humans and choose to build their own territories in other uninhabited areas.

Yes, it's a no-man's-land, not a ghost-free zone.

For the safety of their own people, ghost stories often involve clearing out any strange occurrences in the vicinity.

In a sense, the fact that ghost stories dare to live alone and raise humans is also a form of acknowledgment of strength.

"But many humans died in the apartment..."

After thinking it over, Ji Mo felt that the explanation of "the strange tales have temporarily left, and the territory has been invaded by a strange force" was not quite right.

"It would be better to ask Mary, who is also a ghost story enthusiast."

Last night, Ji Mo and Mary exchanged contact numbers. Mary left different numbers in everyone's phones, and she didn't contact them purely by telephone, but by the karma between the two of them.

"Ji Mo?" Mary was somewhat surprised by his call.

"I'm in the realm of rules, could you come over here?"

"You're going to Hope City so soon?!"

"No, you go first, the sooner the better."

Mary's grumbling voice came from the other end of the phone, complaining about something like, "Don't they know the Mortal Realm suppresses power? They actually made me go back to the Realm of Rules in person."

It's pitiful that someone who can travel across worlds using the power of cause and effect via telephone still has to go to the customs office to complete the procedures for leaving the country and outside the mortal realm before she can use her abilities.

Ji Mo returned to the apartment to wait for her, and also contacted Chen Zhuzhu to inquire about the situation: You Tianding did not call the hotline again, and the program broadcast was proceeding smoothly for the time being.

Half an hour later, Mary called.

"I am Mary, and I am currently in the Rule Gate Rock Swamp."

hang up.

"I am Mary, and I am currently at the Rules of the Cliff."

hang up.

"I'm Mary, and I'm downstairs at the apartment building."

The three phone calls were made in one go, taking less than a minute in total.

Ji Mo looked out the window and, sure enough, saw Mary's figure.

"This is the power of cause and effect from the supernatural tales..." Ji Mo exclaimed inwardly, "Does it lack the original strength after being suppressed by the mortal realm?"

When Mary was in the mortal realm, she couldn't even teleport long distances; she had to take a high-speed train to cross cities. Therefore, the humans she selected were all from the same city.

Ji Mo had long suspected that Mary wanted to cut off contact with Bai He, largely because Bai He contacted her too frequently, with destinations ranging from the north to the south, and sometimes even traversing the entire continent.

Even with modern transportation, Mary couldn't stand running around the map like this.

Mary flew up and smelled the blood as well. She waved her hand dismissively, "What happened? Did that weird thing happen?"

Mary would never have come if it weren't for Ji Mo's backing from Sanchuan and the fact that she had helped her yesterday.

The strange tales are complicated and the entry procedures are strict. If someone enters and exits the country multiple times in a short period of time, they will be listed as a suspected human trafficker and monitored for a long time, making it inconvenient for them to find humans to play with.

Ji Mo shared the clues he had discovered and his own speculations: "It's more like the ghost stories temporarily left the territory, causing the territory to be invaded by strange forces, and all the humans were killed."

"...It's hard to say." Mary's face was pale, as if she had realized something. "I'll go check on the other bodies."

After randomly examining several corpses, she came to a chilling conclusion: "It must have been the ghost that kept them who killed them... Don't look at me like that. Just because a ghost loves humans doesn't mean it can't kill them."

The underlying code of ghost stories doesn't contain a rule that humans will self-destruct upon death. Otherwise, if ghost stories raised humans to old age and death, wouldn't they also die of shame? Mary explained it this way.

"...Don't tell me it's because love at its extreme turns into hate, and the result of hate is to revert to a bizarre instinct to kill."

Mary shook her head: "No, if I'm not mistaken, the love in this ghost story is supposed to be normal. Well, normal in a ghost story."

Have you ever heard the saying?

"The cat abuse section racks its brains, but it's not as good as a cat lover's brilliant idea."