Rules-related weird stories: 4016

Chapter 374: "Stargazing Platform"

What kind of information is crucial?

Time?

Space?

Layer?

Or…

A flash of inspiration struck Lin Yi, and countless words coalesced into one sentence:

"Maozi, I'm here to save you!"

Mao Feiyang, who was descending the stairs with a group of art students, suddenly shuddered. Then, a light flashed in his eyes that didn't match his usual temperament.

He seemed to be lost in thought, muttering to himself:

"Everything… proceed according to plan…"

"It's… not time yet…"

Lin Yi was shocked: "What…?!"

However, before he could get more information, his vision flickered again, and he lost contact with Maozi…

"Maozi, he… no, we, indeed have a plan!" A look of surprise and complex understanding appeared in Lin Yi's eyes. "Only I don't know this plan yet…"

"But speaking of which, is Liangzi in our plan?"

Lin Yi couldn't help but feel dazed, and in that moment of distraction, his vision changed again, even more ridiculously this time. He seemed to see…

An isolated island.

If it weren't for the yellow-brown building material unique to the art building covering the ground, he would have thought his consciousness had been blasted overseas by the "Sanctum's" shockwave.

Everything here was constructed from huge yellow-brown rocks. Each stone bore the marks of time, the rough surface covered with moss and mottled cracks, as if telling stories of the past. It stood tall at the highest point of the Black Moon Outpost, so close to the sky that it seemed within reach…

"Wait… where is this?!"

On this "isolated island," he actually saw the Clock Tower?!

The Clock Tower was the highest point in the entire art building, but it seemed it wasn't the only high point. This mysterious isolated island was almost as high as the Clock Tower, but it was on the other side of the art building, an incredibly vast open-air platform, surrounded by an aura of tranquility and profundity.

Open-air platform?

No!

Under the storm, how could there be an open-air platform?

Sure enough, he discovered that the platform was not open-air, but had a completely transparent dome. Outside the dome was a oppressive sky, with swarms of grinning angels flying in the night sky, waiting for an opportunity to invade the huge invisible shield surrounding the art building—the art building's defenses were actually quite good. Lin Yi realized that the only way for the invaders to "somewhat smoothly" infiltrate the art building was through the three stone bridges connecting the observation deck to the art building.

Apart from the stone bridges, the invisible shield formed a terrifying force field, resisting a large number of grinning angels.

"That invisible force field!"

The force field, wave after wave, resonated strangely with his consciousness.

Of course, he knew this had nothing to do with him, because the source of the shockwave was the "Sanctum!"

The domain formed by the "Sanctum," even the edge of the shockwave, constituted a super shield protecting the entire art building!

Incredible!

"This is 'Designer' Amon's work!"

Lin Yi also noticed that the Nightwalkers covering the entire outer wall of the art building did not appear around this dome. It seemed they had not yet spread to this place?

That's not right. Even the Clock Tower with the quantum clock "Sanctum" had been invaded, so how could there be no activity here?

There must be something fishy!

He quickly looked around and indeed found an open, tightly shut iron door. Strangely, when he looked at the iron door and his consciousness penetrated it, he saw a narrow and winding stone staircase. Several candlesticks emitting a faint light hung on the walls on both sides of the staircase, the dim light flickering in the wind, casting distorted shadows on the walls…

He withdrew his attention and looked at the spacious platform, then noticed a huge bronze armillary sphere not far away.

The armillary sphere had long been corroded, and its copper rust presented a dark green color under the dim light. Its gear and ring structure were intricate and complex, as if it were a forgotten time machine.

It was like a divine weapon eroded by time, waiting for someone who could re-polish it.

It stood there quietly, as if adhering to an ancient mission, peering into the mysteries of the universe…

"This is… an armillary sphere? Could this be the mysterious 'Stargazing Platform' in the art building?!"

According to Lao Mo, the Stargazing Platform was no longer open to the public, and even art students needed certain qualifications to come here!

Was he really seeing the Stargazing Platform?

Then, wouldn't 'Starry Night' also be here?!

The edge of the Stargazing Platform was surrounded by a circle of waist-high stone pillars, on which were carved various mysterious secret patterns, totems, and mysterious symbols. These profound trajectories formed patterns of constellations.

However, these carvings had become blurred under the baptism of time, and the lines of the constellations seemed to be stretched and twisted by dark forces. The constellation patterns, originally symbolizing hope and guidance, now exuded an unspeakable strangeness.

In the very center of the Stargazing Platform, there was a huge circular stone platform, covered with ancient runes. These runes emitted a faint blue light, like a response from a distant starry sky…

Although the wind and clouds were howling and the gray mist was invading, starlight still gathered at this circular stone platform. Under the dark clouds, a few rays of light somehow penetrated down and fell on the circular stone platform…

Lin Yi was immediately captivated. In that starlight, it seemed that whispers from the depths of the universe were coming…

His consciousness slowly drifted towards the center of the Stargazing Platform. His perception spread out from here, and the whole world was shrouded in darkness, with only the distant stars twinkling with faint light.

This Stargazing Platform was like a bridge connecting this layer to an unknown starry sky layer, or a cursed place, full of mystery and unknown terror…

【…Sto…re…stjer…ner…】

【St…ore…stjer…ner…】

【Store…stjer…ner…】

He seemed to hear some kind of call, like a Daoist child hearing the eternal Daoist sound, and his soul trembled.

He seemed to sense an interference from the layer. He didn't even realize that as soon as his consciousness approached here, it seemed to be deeply attracted. He hadn't sensed anything definite yet, but it seemed he had already been caught.

He was about to forget that he was in the Stargazing Platform, forgetting everything. In his consciousness, there seemed to be only a starry sky left, and the call from the depths of the starry sky.

Just as he was about to sink, a strange change occurred in his vision. His consciousness seemed to be disturbed by a brute force, and was pulled away from that place.

"This… me…? What… just now…?" Lin Yi was shocked, and when he suddenly woke up, his soul trembled with fear.

“The Stargazing Platform is not a place you can linger in at your current state…” The Watchman's voice, like narration, echoed in his mind.

“So that really was the Stargazing Platform? Is it the starry sky, or the pollution produced by 'The Starry Night,' that wants to keep me there?”

“Quite the opposite. 'The Starry Night' has always been there. It's your consciousness that sensed the existence of 'The Starry Night,' so you tried to stay there… No one can withstand the impact of 'The Starry Night,' including you as you are now.”

“Then will I be able to see it in the future?”

“We'll talk about the future later.”

The field of vision gradually faded, and the qi wave pushed to its limit.

Ten seconds passed, and Lin Yi's consciousness, which had seemed to be torn into countless fragments, quietly gathered again, coalescing at the clock tower.

“Time's up.” The Watchman's voice rang out, “To accommodate you, I delayed this qi wave by half a minute.”

“Half a minute… delayed?” Lin Yi glanced at his watch. The current time was only 2:24.

“It really was only half a minute… Half a minute, yet it felt so long?” Lin Yi couldn't help but sigh, “I clearly knew that the qi wave's propulsion would only last ten seconds, but when my consciousness followed the qi wave's propagation, I forgot the passage of time…”

“Even now that I'm back, I feel like a long time has passed…”

“'Time' is like that. The more detailed the perception, the more subtle you feel the passage of time.” The Watchman said, “When your perception is sensitive to a certain degree, when you release your perception, you will have the illusion that time is frozen… This is the relativity of time.”

“Moreover, there are also completely opposite situations. You think only a moment has passed, but in reality, you have been lost for many years. The situation of Dream Weavers getting lost in layers of dreams has happened in every generation, and it's very common.”

Lin Yi nodded slightly, but seemingly due to the focus of his attention, he didn't notice that on the wrist of his hand wearing the watch, only two hand bones remained, as if cast in gold. Azure blue energy, like a nanomaterial, constantly moved on his hand bones, causing his flesh to regenerate rapidly.

And he… had even blocked out the pain of the flesh separating.

The infusion of the 'Sanctuary' qi wave destroyed his physical body, leaving only the tendons, bones, and heart that had been 'tempered' when climbing the steps.

Old Mo in the distance saw the absurd and bizarre scene appearing on Lin Yi's body. He opened his mouth in shock, his expression seeming to say, What kind of demon did I bring here along the way?!

Of course, there also seemed to be a hint of regret in his eyes—such a fun thing, given to the Watchman to play with. If only I had developed it more along the way…

The Watchman calmly observed the changes in every inch of Lin Yi's flesh, then asked, “Didn't you see any strange things? Something that made you feel strongly uneasy or restless?”

“Too many…” Lin Yi said weakly.

“Well, it's okay if there weren't any, after all… wait, what did you say?!” The Watchman's words of comfort were just about to come out, intending to have Lin Yi accept another 'Sanctuary' flush if it really didn't work, but he didn't expect Lin Yi to say there were too many?

Lin Yi slowly said, “There were a few times in the middle when I felt like I was going to be left behind, and then it seemed like you pulled me out. I felt that those places were very problematic…”

“If you think the item you're looking for is in a place I consider special, then it should be in one of those places.”

“Several times…?” The Watchman pondered, then denied, “No, that's not enough. ”

“That's not enough?”

“When Dream Weaving, falling into depravity is a very normal thing. Plus, it's your first time, so naturally it's full of crises… But the item I want to find should be very easy for you to distinguish. Think carefully, has this kind of situation occurred?”

“I…” Lin Yi thought, and finally took a difficult breath, “You pulled me out so many times, did you sense anything any of those times?”

The Watchman said, “For you, it was one time after another, but for me, only 'half a minute' has passed. In this half minute, you were falling into depravity with almost every breath. I was constantly on the verge of waking you up, using the qi wave of the 'Sanctuary' to interfere with your depravity.”

“For you, I may have saved you many times, but in my opinion, I only saved you once.”

“So I need you to discern for yourself, was there a most special time?”

“If we're talking about a special time, there were quite a few, but if we're talking about the 'most'…” Lin Yi muttered to himself, “The Stargazing Platform… I did feel it was very special…”

“The Stargazing Platform?” The Watchman said, “Tell me more.”

“I saw an armillary sphere covered in copper rust…”

“The armillary sphere… That was designed jointly by the 'Star Chart Maker' and Lord Amon. It's not the thing I'm looking for. Remember, it's an item, at least, in your perception, it should appear as some kind of 'item'.”

“It must be an 'item'…” Lin Yi scratched his bald head. He had originally wanted to mention the circular stone platform that gathered starlight, but it seemed that wasn't it either, “It wouldn't be 'The Starry Night,' would it?”

“Naturally not.”

“Then I won't mention it…”

“What about things outside the Stargazing Platform?”

“Outside the Stargazing Platform…” Lin Yi recalled the visions that had almost led to his demise, “I saw a deep well covered in moss. It seemed like there was something below?”

Hearing the words “deep well,” the Watchman hesitated for a moment, then said, “Something is buried there, it's very useful, but it's not what I'm looking for.”

“What's buried there?” Lin Yi asked curiously.

“Answer my question first… What about other places?” The Watchman seemed unwilling to answer, avoiding the question.

Lin Yi's curiosity grew, but he still pondered. For some reason, his subconscious seemed to avoid that bedroom.

It wasn't until he went through it again that he suddenly clapped his hands, “Oh, I thought of it!”

“There seems to be a bedroom!”

“'Bedroom'?” The Watchman's voice seemed to have a slight fluctuation, “What kind of bedroom?”

“It's a small bedroom that's very pink and blue, and there's a big white bear plush toy inside.” Lin Yi described the scene he had seen, “It looks like a little girl's bedroom…”

The Watchman's breathing became heavier: “Does it also have a painting hanging on its wall?”