Rules-related weird stories: 4016

Chapter 336: "Returning Tide"

“Imagine the Earth as a piece of paper. If you touch a certain point on this paper with a lit incense stick, that point will gradually turn black and then ignite as the paper is scorched by the high temperature. This is the predicament the Art Building is facing.”

“We are trying to cool down the Art Building area and set up sufficient protection to prevent the temperature from spreading and affecting other areas.”

“The root cause is that thing that causes high temperatures. The constantly spreading temperature is what you call those fluctuations. Once a creature's 'ignition point' is lower than this temperature, it will be ignited.”

“The methods to avoid being ignited, besides strictly screening out things with low ignition points, also include controlling the distance… If the distance isn't far enough, even if the ignition point is high, it will still be affected.”

“And the range of high-temperature diffusion is called the 'Domain'.”

“A domain of pollution.”

“Like lunar tides, there is a cycle of waxing and waning, strength and weakness. And when that 'Domain' reaches its strongest point, it is the period of 'Gray Mist Invasion'.”

“Units carrying transcendent characteristics are likely to form their own domains. And the 'Root's' domain is a very complex composite domain, basically touching on every characteristic.”

“When the Root's 'Domain' produces a pattern similar to a receding tide, those creatures in the campus that have been transformed into sculptures will, according to their instincts and the pull of the receding tide, head to the ocean near the Art Building…”

“That path does not coincide with any road in the real world. In fact, there was no such road in the world, but as more and more dead people stepped onto this road, this road was recorded in a 'observable' form.”

“This process is officially named 'Returning Tide'.”

“Only those who have been 'summoned' can embark on the 'Returning Tide'.”

Lin Yi thought of the Little Genius. In this way, everything completely matched up.

But… if only those who have been “summoned” can walk this path, then why was he summoned the first time he came here?

So he asked, “Old Mo… how do you know about this path?”

“Because I died.” Old Mo said calmly. He glanced at Lin Yi, and found that Lin Yi was not surprised at all when he heard the news. So he knew that Lin Yi must know about him, and he became even calmer. “After I died, as I devoured more and more pollution, I felt this summoning sensation becoming stronger and stronger…”

Lin Yi's expression was solemn, and he thought to himself, 'Me too…'

That summoning sensation became stronger and stronger as he stayed in the campus longer…

‘No… Could it be that I have died before?!’

An absurd and bizarre thought appeared in Lin Yi's mind. He was stunned at first, and then shook his head helplessly.

‘Tch… What is this, am I going crazy? If I died, then who am I?’

‘At least I took the bus to the campus! Liangzi can testify!’

He shook his head, threw this outrageous idea aside, and then pointed to the sculpture in front of him, which was still as firm as a rock in the fierce sea breeze and was still moving forward, and said, “So… they are actually like 'Ten Thousand Swords Return to Their Origin'? But, what can they do after they find the 'Root'?”

Old Mo said: “Moths to a flame, they can't find the root cause at all, and they will be completely annihilated on this road…”

“Some will encounter fanatical believers and be transformed into pseudo-human sculptures.”

“Some will encounter alien angels and be absorbed into the alien angels… Those alien angels don't discriminate. As long as it's at their mouths, they will taste even dung.”

“As for those who successfully reach the seaside, there are two other situations…”

“The first is being affected by the Root's domain, plunging into the sea, and after some unknown transformation, returning to the shore as a purebred Night Walker.”

“The other is being affected by the domains of other units, changing the object of 'regression' from the sea to that unit… and then following their trajectory to other places.”

“The second type, the most common is encountering 'Angels'. When 'Angels' move, the domains they form have an effect close to the Root, which makes people obsessed, pursuing, admiring, and infinitely fanatical.”

Lin Yi murmured: “Pursuing angels… returning to the campus from the coast?”

He was deeply shocked. He didn't expect that after a person died in the campus, they would encounter so many twists and turns.

“Truly, they can't rest in peace…”

“It's more than just not resting in peace.” Old Mo said, “It's simply maximizing the use of 'raw materials', even more knowledgeable than us chefs in dismembering an ox.”

Lin Yi asked: “You just said… the Angel's domain?”

Old Mo said: “Any Corrupted, when the corruption reaches a certain threshold, will 'unlock' the domain. I just told you, the domain is like temperature. If you are corrupted too much, it will ignite, and the domain will uncontrollably unfold.”

“'Domains' that mutate in different directions have different characteristics. The authorities have recorded and named some characteristics according to the manifestation of various characteristics. For example, the domain characteristic of 'Angels' is 'Purification'.”

“The effect of 'Purification' initially only acts on the consciousness of intelligent creatures, manifesting as a spiritual echo and transformation… In fact, 'Angels' use their domain to infiltrate and corrupt intelligent creatures within it, forming a hierarchical pollution like the diversion of rivers and seas…”

“The Corrupted can sense the 'Angel', the deeper the corruption, the stronger the sense. However, once a lower-level Corrupted reaches the rivers and seas, they will become a part of the rivers and seas…”

“If you follow their figure, even the bone residue will be purified completely clean.”

Those who chase the light through the fog will eventually become phantoms. The interpretation of this is not limited to the surface level.

It refers both to those who chase the light through the fog, who will eventually wither and die and become phantoms.

It also refers to the fact that this matter itself is a dreamlike bubble.

“I think what you can currently come into contact with should be the Security Guard's 'Domain'—I think you must have seen the Security Guard's domain.”

Lin Yi nodded. He once thought that it was the field opened up by the light of the old kerosene lamp in the Security Guard's hand, but now it seems that it was just the overlap of the light and the Security Guard's domain.

Old Mo said: “The Security Guard's domain characteristic is 'Suppression'… a very powerful suppression-type domain. Any pollution whose depth does not exceed the Security Guard's own strength will be suppressed by him. For people like us who rely on 'pollution' to act, once the pollution is suppressed, it is like a person losing oxygen, and there is no difference from being trapped in a dead end.”

“The greater the depth of pollution and the class gap, the more obvious the suppression effect. In that domain, Night Walkers and low-level Pseudo-Humans die directly when exposed to light.”

Some other "domains" are quite special. For example, the convenience store owner has a domain whose characteristic is named "Insight." When activated, it doesn't directly affect anything externally but allows him to monitor everything within his perception.

Because of this characteristic, the convenience store owner is stationed in the cafeteria at the back of the school district, serving as the last line of defense against the root of the pollution in the school district.

Of course, the convenience store owner's domain isn't limited to this… The more powerful the being, the more domains they possess, and the stronger their characteristics.

For another example, I seem to have seen a domain that allows its owner to move freely through the pollution, seemingly unaffected by it at all…

Old Mo's tone was uncertain when he said this.

Because I did see a figure back then, I suspect such a domain exists… However, that thing flashed by and disappeared immediately, blending directly into the surrounding environment like a chameleon, so I'm not sure if my senses had a momentary issue.

In general, domains are strange and varied. If you ever feel something is off, it's likely you've inadvertently touched some domain, or perhaps you've only brushed against its boundary.

"Even Old Mo isn't certain about it. What kind of mysterious entity is that?" Lin Yi exclaimed inwardly.

"Because all domains have fluctuations."

As they spoke, they approached the statue-like corpse, resembling a walking dead.

Old Mo glanced at it, then went around it, leading Lin Yi past it.

Lin Yi asked, "Shouldn't we do something about them?"

"Do what?" Old Mo replied. "They're already walking corpses. There's no way they can come back to life. They have their own path. Don't make trouble for yourself."

"In this environment, it's already hard enough to protect ourselves."

Lin Yi quickly explained, "I'm not talking about saving them. I'm worried they might attack us. Shouldn't we take them out in advance?"

Old Mo was stunned for a moment, not expecting Lin Yi to not have a saintly heart but instead to be completely the opposite, preferring to strike first…

Although he doesn't have a saintly heart, this is… too much, right? Killing the dead again?

"We could take them out, but there's no need. It's too time-consuming," Old Mo said. "We can just go around them. There are many more ahead. How long would it take to deal with them one by one?"

Lin Yi was startled: "There are many more ahead?"

Old Mo nodded and said, "'The Tide to the Sea' is a very long process for them, like walking on the road to reincarnation. People who died within a certain period are all on this path. What we need to do is to keep overtaking them, that's all."

He patted Lin Yi's shoulder: "Let's go. The scenery ahead… is more interesting. Seeing how interested you are, I can introduce you to it along the way."

Hearing this, Lin Yi quickly composed himself.

After walking for a while, Old Mo suddenly asked, "By the way, what time is it now?"

Lin Yi looked down at his quartz watch.

"It's 20:58…"

Old Mo was a little surprised: "So precise?"

Lin Yi raised his hand: "It's a quartz watch, after all, known for its stable and accurate timekeeping."

Old Mo glanced at Lin Yi's wrist with a strange expression and muttered: "A quartz watch… I didn't expect it to be so retro. Alright, remind me in ten minutes."

Lin Yi's eyes lit up: "Oh? Does the path we're taking have something to do with time?"

Old Mo nodded slightly: "Sort of. I need to calculate a rough distance based on the passage of time, to avoid accidentally going too far."

Old Mo's words suddenly confused Lin Yi: "Ah… going too far? Aren't we following them to the seaside?"

Old Mo's expressionless face and dead fish eyes glanced at Lin Yi in rare fashion: "When did I say we were going to the seaside?"

Lin Yi instantly felt like his CPU was about to burn out, but after recalling it, he realized that Old Mo had indeed said they were going to the art building from the start, not the seaside.

He was stunned for a moment: "Wait… isn't the art building by the sea?"

Old Mo sneered: "Buddy, do you want to hear what you're saying? The art building is by the sea and there is an art building by the sea are two completely different concepts, right?"

"The Tide to the Sea leads directly to the seaside, that's right, but it's still very far from the art building we're going to… Although that distance isn't far for the 'me with you' now, it's better to save a little energy if we can."

"Moreover, it wouldn't be good for either of us if we accidentally ran too far."

"After all… you're not an emotionless mobile energy source."

Old Mo patted Lin Yi's shoulder earnestly.

Lin Yi twitched his nose and muttered, 'Wow, you're actually a pretty good person.'

"Alright, in ten minutes, we'll leave this path," Old Mo instructed, then quickened his pace.

Lin Yi perked up and quickly followed.

Ten minutes later.

May 9, X023, 21:08, on this "Tide to the Sea" avenue where even the strong wind couldn't disperse the mist.

Lin Yi was like someone buried in the icy plains, braving a blizzard, his small body enduring the increasingly rapid sea breeze. The fishy, stinky smell was like someone holding a warm, wet clump of poop over his mouth and nose, accidentally letting him inhale a mouthful.

"Time's up! 21:08!" Lin Yi shouted.

Along the way, they surpassed one statue-like corpse after another, including one or two "acquaintances," such as Zhou Yuting.

Just like the little genius back then, Zhou Yuting's statue-like twisted face was also filled with almost tangible fear and struggle.

Upon hearing this, Old Mo immediately stopped and grabbed Lin Yi's shoulder.

"Stand here for now, let me observe," Old Mo said. "There might be some deviation, so we still need to make slight adjustments."

As he spoke, he looked around in the mist, like a lost sailor searching for a lighthouse in the night.

While searching, he continued to move along the Tide to the Sea with Lin Yi.

After walking at a very slow pace for about three minutes, Old Mo suddenly said, "Found it!"