"Old Mo...?" Lin Yi stared with wide eyes, shocked at the Old Mo before him, "Just now...?"
Old Mo calmly nodded, "Did you just experience an auditory hallucination?"
Lin Yi was greatly shocked, "You knew?"
Old Mo shrugged, "It’s nothing new to me. It’s all ’old routine’; you get used to it after seeing it enough times..."
"Any creature, when traversing the Safe Boundary, will perceive some special fluctuations due to the differences between Layers. It’s normal for you to hear them... But that said, could you tell what those sounds were calling out for?"
"I...I can’t make it out at the moment." Lin Yi shook his head; the voices were both unfamiliar and familiar, yet his reaction lagged, "What’s the matter? Is there a specific reason?"
Old Mo patted the Pig-killing knife tucked behind his waist, "That’s the reason, and it’s okay if you can’t make it out. Let’s go, this journey will be interesting."
Speaking, he continued walking forward. After traversing the Safe Boundary, the whole world around Lin Yi felt vague and unstable in his perception, as if walking through an underwater tunnel. Watching through the tunnel’s glass, everything outside seemed distorted like swaying seaweed.
Thick fog piled up on the ground like cotton, with occasional soft sand and dry leaves rustling beneath his feet. Now and then, a gust of wind blew over, and Lin Ye’s leaves awkwardly swayed, making a dry, rustling sound.
Come to think of it, Lin Yi suddenly realized that along the way, they hadn’t encountered any Nocturnal species or Pseudo-Human Sculptures blocking their path.
Perhaps, as was the case before, they were all deterred by Old Mo’s aura, not daring to violate it.
And after the Safe Boundary, if Lin Yi remembered correctly, they should be entering the Domain of the Desolate Land...
"Old Mo’s ’interesting scenery,’ could that be the Matrix?"
Lin Yi’s mind was clouded, but what did that have to do with the Art Building?
"Could it be... the Desolate Land is just a region on the route to the Art Building?"
He recalled the image of Old Mo gesturing with a branch. Perhaps that Desolate Land was also one of the branches?
"It’s not impossible... Moreover, the Zealot’s headquarters are also in the Art Building. They must have traveled to the Desolate Land using the route by the Art Building. If so, it wouldn’t be unreasonable for Old Mo to take that route from here to the Art Building..."
Thinking this, Lin Yi felt somewhat reassured, keeping his speculations and waiting for Old Mo to reveal the answer.
The two continued walking slowly...
And not far from their path ahead, in the weeds shrouded in fog, figures struggling and writhing could faintly be seen. These figures crawled painfully on the ground, but their bodies stiffened visibly, eventually petrifying completely into hard stones.
This scene was exceedingly abstract since nighttime is the domain of the Nocturnal species and Pseudo-Humans. Yet now, they were being "killed" on their home turf in a way that was incomprehensible, as if all fluids had been drained from their bodies.
May 9, 4023, 21:12, outside the "Safe Boundary."
Lin Yi followed Old Mo continually forward, yet they encountered no Pseudo-Humans until...
A crisp sound came from beneath Lin Yi’s feet.
Startled, Lin Yi quickly looked down through the fog, only to see some fragmented pure white shards under his feet, as if he had further crushed an already broken sculpture.
"Is this... sculpture debris?!"
Old Mo paused and glanced back at the sculpture fragments, his expression indifferent, "Yes, keep walking."
His tone was very calm, without any urgency, as if everything was exceedingly ordinary.
Lin Yi hurried to catch up, "Old Mo, how did these fragments appear here? Only sculptures that have just died tonight could have formed fragments, right?"
If they had died during the day, they would have turned into white powder particles and dispersed under sunlight.
"Yes." Old Mo said, "These were all the Pseudo-Humans blocking our path."
"Blocking our path?" Lin Yi was startled, "Did you kill them?"
Old Mo’s expression was indifferent, seemingly affirming Lin Yi’s guess.
"But... When did you make your move?" Lin Yi couldn’t help but glance at the Pig-killing knife tucked at Old Mo’s waist, "Is there really such a thing as killing people invisibly with Sword energy?"
Old Mo’s lips twitched fiercely, "Idiot... Think again."
Lin Yi shrank his neck and quickly shut his mouth, then tentatively asked, "Could it be... Domain?"
Old Mo then withdrew his gaze, noncommittally saying, "More or less."
Lin Yi instantly grew respectful, realizing that, although he had some suspicions, it wasn’t until Old Mo confirmed his own Domain that he felt properly assured.
At this moment, Old Mo stopped walking, his brow slightly furrowed, muttering, "Hmm, strange..."
"What’s wrong?" Lin Yi asked softly.
Old Mo’s hollow gray eyes swept around before saying, "Someone has been here before..."
"Here...?" Lin Yi was slightly startled; under the cover of the fog, he couldn’t see the path ahead clearly, only able to dimly see overlapping branches and the twisted ancient branches.