After following the two for a short while, Wu Liang saw a stretch of city walls from afar.
Calling them city walls might not be entirely accurate. Upon closer inspection, they appeared to be a stack of rough wooden fences about four or five meters high, intertwined with menacing iron barbs and scattered glass shards cemented to the top.
An old rusty iron sign hung in front of the rough wooden fences, painted with four large flamboyant red characters – Utopia • Two.
"Interesting, No. 2? So that means there must be connections between each Utopian village, right? That's why they are distinguished by numbers?"
Wu Liang couldn't help but feel a bit emotional as he looked at this sparsely inhabited village on a wasteland that seemed to exist only in games.
Bam—
Before he could continue pondering, a gunshot broke the silence of the village.
In the next instant, gunfire erupted in succession, countless bullets raining down with full malice, instantly covering his entire field of vision.
No matter how bulletproof the off-road vehicle was, it couldn't withstand such overwhelming gunfire!
Fortunately, at that critical moment, Wu Liang suddenly burst out a large amount of Mist, completely enveloping the vehicle and solidifying into a barrier before the bullets could hit.
The bullets bounced off as if hitting an endlessly regenerating turtle shell, having no effect on the internal off-road vehicle at all.
The shooting lasted for about ten seconds.
Only when bullet casings were scattered densely at the base of the rough wooden fences did it finally stop.
Before anyone from inside the village could come to investigate, Wu Liang jokingly remarked, "Bros are quite ruthless, not even sparing your own?"
With that, he walked out of the off-road vehicle, dispersed the Mist turtle shell, and dragged the shivering Hazati and his companion out from the shot-up old pickup truck.
But they, too, were wrapped in several layers of Mist turtle shells, preventing them from being torn to shreds along with the pickup truck.
"Those who bring outsiders into the sacred land are not one of us! They've already been contaminated by you!" someone from the watchtower around the rough wooden fence yelled disdainfully at Wu Liang.
Hearing this, Wu Liang grew even more puzzled.
This was quite different from what Mei Xin Mountain had said, wasn't it?
They had mentioned that the Awakened within the city occasionally interact with these Utopian members. Though the attitude wasn't great, communication and interaction weren't completely impossible.
So why couldn't they even enter now?
"Contaminated by me? You all should be grateful that Minister Long didn't come with me. If he heard the word contamination, he'd probably flip this place over."
Saying this teasingly, his body didn't pause and walked directly to the closed gate.
Under everyone's shocked gaze, Wu Liang lifted his leg and delivered a fierce kick!
The heavy iron gate, which could withstand truck impacts, made a muffled sound and toppled with a thundering crash, making the legs of those on the watchtower tremble.
"Enemy... enemy attack! Di Wu City sent people to attack our sacred land! Alert!"
The piercing alarm echoed across Utopia No. 2 Village, and Wu Liang even saw people aiming exaggerated weapons like RPGs at him.
In such a perilous encirclement, he only had time to say one sentence: "Strictly speaking, territorial rights belong to the nation, not personal ownership."
With that, Wu Liang had already prepared to meld with his Nightmare and transform into a Spiritual Body.
Avoiding all physical attacks while also attempting to search the memories of everyone in the village to see if any useful information could be found.
But just as he was about to act, a shout broke through the tense atmosphere:
"Stop! Ah Yimu wants to see this outsider!"
Surprisingly, as soon as everyone heard this name, they all put down their weapons, brought the first three fingers together, and slightly nodded their heads to their brows.
Seeing this highly ceremonial scene, Wu Liang couldn't help but wonder who this "Ah Yimu" was?
The village chief of Utopia No. 2 Village?
Before he could think further, a muscular man with his bare chest exposing his solid muscles walked out from the village, a blue cloth strip wrapped around his head fluttering in the wind.
"Outsider, come with me!"
Completely ignoring Wu Liang's mood and whether he would follow, the muscular man coldly said a sentence and then turned to head somewhere.
But seeing that no one was making a move against him anymore, and some even came forward to repair the gate, Wu Liang decided to follow.
Since he could meet the village chief without merging with the Nightmare, it was worth conserving the chance to merge only three times a day.
After all, this place was already quite close to the Celestial Pool of Tianshan. In a sense, it was already within the range.
It was still necessary to be on guard against potential Fierce Ghost attacks.
Following the blue-clad strongman all the way to the center of the village, Wu Liang marveled at the surroundings.
A main road connected several side roads, with street vendors visible everywhere along the way, selling everything from daily necessities to food and drink, and even firearms and weapons, leaving Wu Liang gaping in astonishment.
Where did they get so many weapons?
Wouldn't it be usual for this area's munitions factories and other places to be under the control of Di Wu City's official division?
Besides that, there were all sorts of entertainment venues, though they appeared somewhat rudimentary compared to those in the city.
But seeing some less serious entertainment venues openly stand by the roadside, Wu Liang couldn't help but feel if this place was a bit too unrestrained?
"What's this if not a modern society? Isn't this a pure wild-west town? Why don't you go to Di Wu City instead, to enjoy the thrill of living freely and potentially dying at any moment?"
He asked the strong man out of boredom.
However, the strong man ahead, who was shirtless even as winter approached, completely ignored Wu Liang and silently led the way.
No matter how noisy the surroundings became, it didn't seem to affect the determination in the man's eyes.
After a walk of more than ten minutes, he led Wu Liang to the outside of a cave.
Exactly! A cave!
Though this Utopia No. 2 Village was indeed located at a relatively high altitude, with many houses on the mountainside, Wu Liang truly didn't expect to see anyone living in a cave in modern society.
"Go inside, Ah Yimu is waiting for you."
This was the first and last sentence the strong man said while guiding Wu Liang.
After speaking, he nonchalantly went to the side of the cave and began standing guard like a sentinel.
Wu Liang shrugged at this and went inside.
He could sense a strong presence of Fierce Ghosts in the cave, possibly even a complete Fierce Ghost hidden within!
Was this Ah Yimu a Fierce Ghost or a Symbiont?
Wu Liang imagined all the possibilities.
But shortly after entering, when he finally saw the so-called Ah Yimu, he couldn't hold it in anymore—
"Holy crap! Mom?"