Looking at the mall-like building that imprisoned Yan Hu, the reckless Shang Jianyao said cheerfully:
"This is a case of 'It was right there all along!'"
"But the truth is, we didn't wear out our iron shoes at all. We didn't even try to look for Yan Hu," the honest Shang Jianyao retorted.
The reckless Shang Jianyao said this with conviction:
"We considered the matter!"
Not giving the other Shang Jianyaos a chance to refute, he pointed at the mall and said:
"Let's go over there now."
"Are you crazy?" The sinister and vicious Shang Jianyao blurted out, "Do you know what it's like inside? If you want to die, don't drag us down with you!"
The reckless Shang Jianyao argued confidently:
"We have Xiao Chong's tiger skin now. Who would dare to stop us? Who wouldn't give us some face?"
"How can you be sure that those who imprisoned Yan Hu aren't one of the 'Deities'?" The sinister and vicious Shang Jianyao first asked, then, considering that he had become the minority, he offered a suggestion in a friendly tone, "Even if we want to go in and find Yan Hu, we should first find some friendly 'New World' powerhouses nearby to inquire about the situation in that building."
The reckless Shang Jianyao sneered:
"You're just a coward!
"Is it safer to find other 'New World' powerhouses nearby? They might be the guards of this building!"
As he spoke, he strode towards the place where Yan Hu was imprisoned.
"You brainless idiot, do you think you can do whatever you want just because you have Xiao Chong's tiger skin?" The sinister and vicious Shang Jianyao couldn't control himself any longer.
Under his desperate resistance, Shang Jianyao tripped over his own feet and fell flat on the ground.
"Coward!"
"Idiot!"
"Calm down, you two."
……
The Shang Jianyaos began a fierce internal struggle. What was visible from the outside was that he was clearly alone, but sometimes he trotted, sometimes he leaned against the wall, sometimes he stood upside down, sometimes he crawled backwards, sometimes he hugged the lamppost, unwilling to move forward, as if there were several invisible enemies fighting him.
Finally, the reckless Shang Jianyao, who had been gaining momentum recently, and his supporters won the final victory.
Shang Jianyao swaggered to the mall-like building and walked in with his head held high.
With a snap, a light inside the building turned on as he arrived, casting a pure white glow.
This was indeed a large shopping mall, with elevators, escalators, a place where you could see the dome at a glance, and layered areas.
Shang Jianyao casually glanced at the layout and walked easily and naturally towards the escalator on his side, without much observation.
The escalator was powered, carrying him slowly upwards.
…………
Inside a small city, in a certain building.
Jiang Baimian resisted the urge to rub her eyes.
As an Awakened in the "Shattered Mirror" domain, she confirmed that the "Heartless" just now were not her hallucinations, and their disappearance before her eyes was real.
Steadying her mind, Jiang Baimian continued to observe, trying to confirm.
In the process, she also "scrutinized" the activities of those "Heartless," trying to distinguish which ones were ordinary and which ones possessed Awakened abilities.
To her surprise, the "Heartless" that had appeared so far were all doing specific things, with no so-called "foremen," which made it impossible for her to tell who had a higher status.
After a long period of observation, Jiang Baimian analyzed the work of those "Heartless" and divided it into two broad categories:
One was to maintain the integrity and normal operation of the power lines, and the other was to ensure the survival of the current group and improve the surrounding environment.
Thinking of this, Jiang Baimian's heart stirred:
"The latter is necessary for the survival of these 'Heartless' and is a by-product of core work…
"In other words, someone implanted corresponding thoughts in them to ensure the normal operation of the power system…
"Does this mean that there are some important items hidden in this area where the high tower is located that need electricity to be maintained?"
Jiang Baimian used the word "items" instead of "machines" because she remembered that the reason why the Marsh No. 1 ruin had been supplied with electricity for decades was because Xiao Chong wanted to play games.
Although game consoles are also machines, they are still somewhat different from the machines that Jiang Baimian subconsciously thought of.
As her thoughts raced, Jiang Baimian saw several more "Heartless" coming over.
She immediately held her breath and concentrated.
As before, those "Heartless" disappeared without a trace on the way to the area surrounding the high tower, once they crossed an invisible boundary.
…………
"New World," inside the mall where Yan Hu was imprisoned.
Shang Jianyao walked in the darkness, watching the lights turn on one by one as he walked, and then go out one by one.
According to his previous speculation and Jiang Baimian's calculations, he knew that Yan Hu was on the fourth floor, where there was only a faint light that was about to go out.
Before long, Shang Jianyao arrived at his destination and saw that a gray-white roller shutter door blocked the entrance.
"Nothing happened." The reckless Shang Jianyao looked around and said smugly, "I told you, who would dare to stand in front of Xiao Chong's, friend?"
The others chose to remain silent.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Shang Jianyao slammed the roller shutter door hard.
"Is anyone there? Is anyone there?" He shouted loudly as he slammed.
After shouting many times, he shook his head in disappointment:
"Has Yan Hu been deprived of his senses? He didn't even react…"
When he knocked on the door just now, he noticed that the situation here was indeed very similar to his previous experience:
The door seemed to be welded to the wall, and the wall was indestructible!
In other words, he couldn't break in violently.
The sinister and vicious Shang Jianyao coldly replied to his colleague:
"You're making so much noise that you're drowning out a lot of sounds."
"That's right!" Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and hit his left palm.
He calmed down and put his ear to the roller shutter door.
In the silence, Shang Jianyao heard a small and weak voice:
"Save me…"
"It's really you, Yan Hu!" Shang Jianyao replied with unusual excitement, with a feeling of meeting an old friend in a foreign land.
"Save me…" Yan Hu's cry for help was as faint as a mosquito's buzz.
Shang Jianyao rubbed his chin and said with a smile:
"I can't open this door right now.
"If I want to save you, I'm afraid I have to fully understand the cause and effect of the matter and find out where the problem lies."
That roller shutter door seemed to have some kind of shielding effect. In theory, Yan Hu was weak, hungry, and close to unconsciousness, and would instinctively try to extract the consciousness of the humans around him, but Shang Jianyao didn't feel anything.
After Shang Jianyao repeated the words several times, Yan Hu finally reacted:
"Who are you… Do you know me?"
"I saw your body on Heart Lake Island," the honest Shang Jianyao never lied, "I need to know what you've been through to figure out how to save you."
As far as Yan Hu was concerned, in the current situation, he had to treat a dead horse as a living one, let alone the other party had indicated that he was willing to help him.
Even if it was a trap, he would jump into it without hesitation.
So, he forced himself to cheer up and said intermittently:
"I entered here at first, and soon after, I suddenly became dull and unable to think about anything.
"Then, a voice told me to come here, and I came here in a daze and was locked in this room.
"In the beginning, I was too eager to extract a large amount of my believers', consciousness as food to replenish my consumption, which caused them to either die or become, 'Heartless', unable to provide me with, food.
"Later, whenever I was about to starve to death, someone would give me a little food, so that I couldn't die or live, and always maintained this, weak state."
"Who is providing you with food?" Shang Jianyao asked.
"I haven't seen it, I don't know, who it is," Yan Hu replied weakly.
Shang Jianyao changed his angle:
"Who made you become dull?"
"Don't know." Yan Hu's tone was full of undisguised hatred.
"This is very similar to the 'Idiot Halo', an Awakened in the 'Zhuang Sheng' domain," Shang Jianyao said to himself.
He didn't let Yan Hu waste too much energy on this meaningless question, and asked sincerely:
"What do you think that person locked you up for?
"Well, finding the motive for the crime will help lock down the corresponding suspect."
Yan Hu didn't care about his strange metaphor and was silent for a long time before saying:
"I suspect, he wants, my body."
"What?" Shang Jianyao was shocked, "Is he a rapist?"
As for whether it was a man or a woman, it didn't matter.
Yan Hu had been talking for a while, and his words were a little smoother:
"No, I don't mean, that.
"When I still had, enough food, I observed the situation here from the window.
"The lights here rarely disappear, which means, it is difficult for them to return to reality.
"Here, here is perhaps a mental prison."
Clap clap clap, Shang Jianyao applauded for Yan Hu:
"You can draw such a conclusion just by observing, you are really amazing."
Yan Hu had no energy to be polite and said to himself:
"The person who dealt with me may want to transfer his consciousness into my body when the opportunity arises, so as to escape back to reality.
"My neighbor, Montees, has such an ability, and even if he doesn't possess it himself, he can achieve his goal by obtaining, corresponding props.
"If I am not, mistaken, that person is still in different places, locking up several people like me, for more choices, just in case."
ps: Asking for double monthly tickets at the end of the month~