I created the myth of the Great Old Ones.

"No, why are you surprised?"

She then looked at Lu Ban.

"I don't usually pay attention to these things, and I didn't even pass last year."

At this time last year, Lu Ban was still a nobody struggling to make a living. In just one year, he has become one of the highest-grossing directors in China. It can only be said that the course of history is sometimes more important than personal struggle.

"Then you should definitely treat us today."

Qin Tiantian picked up the menu and decided to order some more.

"Shouldn't you be the ones treating me to this meal?"

Lu Ban countered with a question.

"Tsk, what a petty man."

Qin Tiantian put down the menu, not paying much attention, since she had already ordered a lot and probably wouldn't be able to finish it all.

"I heard your movie is going to be screened overseas?"

Feng Yu did not join in their banter, but instead asked another question.

"Yes, I think it's necessary to expand into international markets and grow bigger and stronger."

Lu Ban answered decisively.

"They're quite ambitious."

Feng Yu chuckled. At that moment, the waiter brought out the appetizers, and the three of them officially began their meal.

We chatted and ate, and by the time we finished eating it was already ten o'clock.

After leaving the exhausted Qin Tiantian at home, Lu Ban and Feng Yu took a walk in the neighborhood.

"It seems you've found a way to resist pollution?"

Feng Yu walked ahead, and a few stars could be seen in the early summer sky. If it were someone else, they might try to identify which constellation they belonged to, but in Lu Ban's eyes, the stars in the sky might all be enemies.

"That's right. To combat the pollution from other realms, we must first enter the pollution ourselves. That's what I'm doing now."

Lu Ban nodded.

"You have discovered one of the fundamental rules of this world."

Feng Yu spoke in a tone as if praising a student who had answered a math question correctly.

"All knowledge in this world is accompanied by pollution, and so is this planet. The more humanity explores knowledge and the more it understands the world, the greater the impact of pollution on all of humanity. Look, humans, who lived like insects in caves millions of years ago, can now destroy themselves effortlessly."

Are you referring to nuclear war?

Lu Ban understood Feng Yu's description to some extent.

Originally, humans were just like any other animal, and the limit of what an individual could do was only to influence a few miles around. But with human evolution and the accumulation of knowledge, the range of influence that humans can exert has become larger and larger, and the depth of their impact on themselves and their surroundings has become more and more severe.

This follows the same pattern as pollution.

However, the pollution caused by such knowledge is very minor, and because of the long time span, the consequences are even smaller, far less than simply seeing those indescribable creatures directly in a foreign land.

In reality, if primitive people suddenly saw modern cars and cell phones, they might be so frightened that they would worship them as gods and lose their rationality.

"Yes, to become stronger in other realms, you need more knowledge. The more knowledge you gain, the more you will be corrupted. The more insane you become, the stronger you become. Most of the gods you have seen are already insane, and a few are close to insane."

Lu Ban wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he sensed a hint of self-deprecation in Feng Yu's tone.

Is there a way to become stronger while avoiding madness?

Lu Ban couldn't help but be curious.

"At present, no."

Feng Yu shook his head.

"However, when pollution spreads and those crazy ideas become common knowledge in other lands, the overall strength of those lands will increase, just like what you have seen."

This is easy to understand. A primitive person might be terrified at the sight of a mobile phone, but given time and the opportunity to learn, he could learn to use it. At that point, the mobile phone would become common knowledge for the primitive person, and its appearance would no longer frighten him, but his understanding would be forever changed.

"Has the Silent Land been trying to prevent the corruption of the alien world from deepening within a controllable range?"

Lu Ban asked another question. From another perspective, his current actions are also gradually polluting this world, which is something the Silent Land is clearly happy to see.

For this reason, Lu Ban temporarily believed that the Silent Land belonged to the friendly forces, or at least, not the enemy.

"That's how you see it, but the deeper reason is not."

Feng Yu stopped and turned to look at Lu Ban.

"What's the reason?"

Lu Ban couldn't help but ask, then paused and raised his hand again.

"Does this reason also imply a certain degree of pollution?"

In the Silent Land, knowledge represents pollution. If one is passively exposed to knowledge, the pollution effect will be more pronounced, leading to a decrease in rationality and corresponding physical alienation. If one acquires knowledge through self-exploration, the pollution effect will be relatively milder, and the impact on the body will be smaller.

These are all Lu Ban's personal experiences.

So to some extent, there is indeed verbal sparring in Quiet Place.

Once you've explored and acquired a certain level of knowledge about deep corruption, you can simply share that knowledge with your enemies. If they're not strong enough to withstand it, they'll likely be corrupted and mutated.

It has a similar effect to the ramblings of Lu Ban's great being.

"Of course, and it's a very deep-seated pollution."

Feng Yu smiled.

"I came here to verify these things, and I got the answers, but I also paid a price."

She suddenly leaned closer and pulled down the neckline of her dress, very close to Lu Ban.

Lu Ban saw that there were no welfare scenes that the people would like to see.

It was empty. A huge mouth with countless teeth lay across Feng Yu's chest. Inside the mouth, countless writhing tentacles were trying to close the abyss's maw. Deeper inside, countless eyeballs rolled, peering at Lu Ban through the gaps.

It's as if the entire body has become an empty shell, with only the large mouth remaining, trying to disguise itself as a human.

Lu Ban looked up and saw that Feng Yu's smile had not changed at all.

Chapter 288 Let's go on a trip together!

Subconsciously, Lu Ban conjured up the [Last Words] in his hand.

If Feng Yu is replaced once, he could be replaced a second time.

Who knows if the person standing in front of Lu Ban right now is actually her?

"Don't be nervous."

Feng Yu's lips curled up even more, as if mocking Lu Ban for making a mountain out of a molehill.

"It's just been slightly polluted, like the plants on your body, a form of mutation that's within a controllable range."

She took a step back, straightened her collar, and outwardly, Feng Yu was no different from any other human.

"This is the price of gaining knowledge. If this body becomes too polluted, I might replace it with another one sooner. Maybe the next time I see you, I will be Qin Tiantian."

Feng Yu spoke gently about something terrifying.

"..."

Lu Ban was speechless for a moment.

Spending a lot of time with Feng Yu makes you subconsciously overlook some things.

For example, Feng Yu is not a real human being; she is just pretending to be human and living with everyone else.

As a being capable of traversing different realms and replacing someone, Feng Yu's values ​​are inevitably different from those of ordinary humans.

For Feng Yu, the body is merely a vessel that can be replaced at will; the soul, or rather consciousness, is the true self. The body is to her what clothes are to humans: she naturally likes beautiful clothes, but if they are damaged beyond repair, they can only be thrown away or turned into rags to wipe the floor.

"Just kidding."

When Feng Yu saw that Lu Ban remained silent, he narrowed his eyes.

"I can only become her after she dies in an accident."

"That makes it even scarier, okay?"

Lu Ban couldn't help but complain, but from his conversation with Feng Yu, he also vaguely gained some knowledge.

That is Feng Yu's way of avoiding pollution.

Under normal circumstances, organisms become corrupted when they acquire knowledge, and over time their bodies become alienated. However, Feng Yu's race can change bodies, or even use the bodies of other races, to completely replace a person.

Therefore, Feng Yu can use the body of "Feng Yu" to acquire knowledge and endure pollution. When he can no longer bear it, he will abandon this body and enter other containers.

In this way, Feng Yu can acquire more knowledge while minimizing pollution.

Of course, there is no doubt that Feng Yu's mind has been greatly corrupted, but this level of mental corruption does not seem to be terrible to her, probably because the threshold is different for each race.

Northerners will scream and shout when they see cockroaches from the south, while southerners will just think, "Is that all?" when they see cockroaches from the north. It's a difference in thresholds.

Lu Ban was like a northerner encountering a huge southern cockroach, which even flew up. Feng Yu then swatted it to death with a slipper, and even glanced at the corpse with white pus oozing out from the sole of the slipper.

"...Is this how your race resists pollution and acquires knowledge?"

Thinking of this, Lu Ban couldn't help but ask.

Feng Yu didn't answer, but just blinked.

Even this matter, being a form of knowledge, contains elements of pollution.

If Feng Yu were to tell Lu Ban this directly, it would also have some irreversible effects on him.

Knowing too much in a quiet place is really not a good thing.

"So, you can't just tell me the deeper reasons you mentioned earlier, can you?"

Lu Ban pressed for more information.

"That's right, but I can show you."

Feng Yu nodded slightly.

Just like when he showed Lu Ban the horror movie theater in his own world last time, Feng Yu could impart knowledge to Lu Ban by showing it to him directly.