What is all this... exactly?
The two hurried along, glancing around.
The grid of streets began to twist strangely, making them feel dizzy, as if they were about to get lost.
In the distance, the faint sounds of animals screeching could be heard, like a zoo.
Suddenly, a blue-clothed figure appeared in front of Li Yuan, smiling broadly, and asked, "Would the guest like to visit the Miracle Beast Garden? It’s free today~"
Li Yuan felt a moment of confusion, and just as he was about to respond, something occurred to him, so he pretended not to see him and didn’t hear him speak...
"Guest, it’s free today~" The blue-clothed figure continued to promote with a smile.
Li Yuan simply acted as if he didn’t exist.
After several such instances...
A strange sense of suffocation came over him inexplicably, and the next second, Li Yuan felt cold sweat breaking out all over his body, involuntarily shivering, and when he opened his eyes again, there was no blue-clothed person.
Pang Yuanhua was looking at him anxiously and said, "Senior, are you alright?"
Li Yuan looked around, only to find the streets seemed more and more complicated, but the paths kept getting narrower.
He said, "Didn’t you see the blue-clothed person?"
Pang Yuanhua said nervously, "We should head back."
Just then, a small figure came running from the side of the road, a girl wrapped in a blood-red scarf.
The little girl shouted, "Brother, buy a flower for sister."
Li Yuan continued to pretend she didn’t exist.
The little girl shouted again in a cute voice, "Sister, sister, you’re so pretty, you’d look even better with a flower. Let brother buy you one."
Pang Yuanhua also acted as if she couldn’t see her...
The little girl continued trying to sell to them, the surrounding sounds began to blur, like being separated by a layer of mist, but with another blink, the cold wind swept over, where was there a little girl?
There wasn’t, and the roads around them began to narrow more and more, like a crooked shadow cast by the pale moonlight, leading to who knows where ahead.
Though not knowing where, in the distance, bustling, ethereal noises could still be heard, as if it was another marketplace, or the Miracle Beast Garden, or somewhere else...
However, wherever it was, this place... was already the farthest they could reach.
Even though Pang Yuanhua was so skinny that her skin wrapped around her bones, she also broke into a cold sweat in shock, and said, "Let’s go."
The two turned swiftly together, evacuating at high speed.
As they left, Li Yuan glanced at the surrounding shops...
Then, he realized... those shops had changed...
...
The two ran out at once, and the paths began to widen, the light became bright again, the air returned to normal... a sense of safety was restored...
Li Yuan exhaled a sigh of relief and asked, "Where do you plan to go now?"
Pang Yuanhua said, "On this street, there’s a mansion where most of the cadavers live, a plaque there reads ’Zhong Mansion,’ so... we call it the ’Zhong Mansion.’
Senior, you can come with me, there are many wing-rooms in Zhong Mansion, though we often share a room with several people..."
"If there are so many wing-rooms, why share a room?"
"Because sometimes there are peddlers and some strange guests, or even ghosts that come in, so we need to free up as many wing-rooms as possible to prevent them from having nowhere to stay.
Despite this, living in the wing-rooms, apart from worrying about food, there’s nothing else to worry about.
Between cadavers, there are some unwritten rules: first, not to disclose the existence of this place to outsiders, and second, no fighting except for goods and money."
"Who enforces these rules?"
"The Mansion Master and the Elder Council."
"The Mansion Master and the Elder Council?"
"Yes... the Mansion Master and the Elders are all cadavers who have lived for a long time, and logically, they should have saved enough money to ransom themselves, but for some reason, they remain here."
Pang Yuanhua talked on and on.
And Li Yuan could see the power structure of a cadaver gradually forming before his eyes.
However, he did not believe all the cadavers of Great Zhou were here.
"If Senior comes, you can share a wing-room with me, right now it’s me and another woman living in that wing-room.
The woman’s surname is Long..."
Pang Yuanhua seemed to fall into a memory, saying, "She... is very strong."
Her pace of speaking returned to normal, "Senior might get more information from her."
Afterward, Li Yuan followed her for a while longer.
The Zhong Mansion wasn’t hard to find, just behind the vendor street at the entrance, around a lane and right turn, it was a mansion that covered a large area, and on the road leading to this mansion... noticeably more people appeared.
"Senior, shall we go in?
I’ll take you to register with the Elders."
As Pang Yuanhua said this, she suddenly turned her head in surprise.
Because, at some point, Li Yuan had stopped walking.
"What’s wrong, Senior?" Pang Yuanhua asked.
Li Yuan said, "I’ll go for another walk."
"Alright..."
A moment later, the two reached the street, with the return path right in front of them.
Only then did Li Yuan say, "Thank you, Miss Pang, but I have this problem."
Pang Yuanhua realized, smiling, "Then shall we go back... no, wait a moment, I’ll get the Life Atlas for you."
Li Yuan said, "I’ll wait for you outside."
"That’s fine too."
...
Li Yuan didn’t like being passive or surprised, especially with so many passive and unexpected events.
Entering Hua Mo County, encountering the Ghost Servant; lifting the curtain in the Carpenter’s Shop; entering the bizarre cadavers and Evil Ghost streets, then delving deep into the street, subsequently arriving at Zhong Mansion...
These incidents were all unexpected.
He had no control or sense of security over any of the information, so he wanted to step out first, wait until he had a clear understanding, and then proceed.