I am a full-level celestial master, you let me enter the strange talk of rules?

As for the bizarre consciousness, Zhang Yangqing can definitely be considered its creator.

What the strange consciousness wants is, naturally, the autonomy of this body.

Even if it didn't dare to compete with Zhang Yangqing, subconsciously it definitely wanted to possess the body exclusively.

It knew it was no match for Zhang Yangqing, so it worked like a slave to survive.

But the more Zhang Yangqing used it, the more it felt that Zhang Yangqing treated it well, because it was learning, thinking, and growing.

After analyzing the sixteen rules given by Zhang Yangqing, the strange consciousness felt that it had grasped the key.

The rules say that to go to the eerie city, you must first find a highway, because only on highways can you find cars driven by headless drivers.

"That's easy," it said confidently as it walked down the barren mountain.

Then, I was dumbfounded.

Before me stretched an endless wasteland.

The dead trees were leaning and crooked; if one hadn't checked that they were dead trees, the eerie consciousness would have thought at first glance that they were countless twisted corpses.

Actually, it felt correct, but it wasn't examined in detail.

A thick black fog filled the air, reducing visibility to less than ten meters.

Beneath my feet was soft, black soil formed from the decay of unknown plants, which made a squelching sound when I stepped on it.

There was no road, no direction, and no signposts.

There isn't even a decent narrow path, let alone a highway.

As the saying goes, paths in the wild are made by people walking, but there are no traces of people walking here.

How do I find it?
The eerie consciousness thought for a moment and decided to find a living creature to lead the way.

The idea was good, but after walking for more than half an hour, they didn't see a single living creature, let alone anything that moved.

Occasionally, a few unknown insects would crawl past its feet, but when it bent down to catch them, the insects would instantly turn into black smoke and disappear, like some kind of 'illusion'.

The audience outside the giant screen in China was dumbfounded.

If they hadn't known that this was the work of a strange consciousness, they would have suspected that Zhang Tianshi had malfunctioned.

The strange consciousness had no idea what to do, so it had no choice but to continue seeking help from Zhang Yangqing.

To be honest, it's a bit strange that someone makes such a boastful claim and then asks for help less than half an hour later.

Before long, one of the body's eyes began to clear, scanning the surrounding area.

Then Zhang Yangqing's voice rang in his mind: "The rules are connected, and in some cases, you have already met the conditions for triggering the rules."

The eerie consciousness paused, then asked, "What rules?"

Zhang Yangqing replied, "Rule 16, are you lost now?"

The eerie consciousness nodded, clearly indicating that it also seemed to realize this.

"Rule 16 says that if you get lost in the wild, look for a one-legged, hopping lantern and follow it; it will lead you to a safe house."

"But this place is the dead of night, I can't even find a living creature, so where would I find a one-legged lantern?"

"Then think about it, what are the characteristics of a one-legged lantern?"

The eerie consciousness recalled the original rules and tentatively asked, "One-legged, can jump, glows?"

Zhang Yangqing neither confirmed nor denied, but continued to guide the discussion: "If that's the case, how does it move?"

"Hop along."

What will you leave behind if you hop along?

"footprint?"

"This place is shrouded in mist; it must be an illusion or formation created by some kind of rule. So you need to take the right path. Can you take the right path on your own?"

The eerie consciousness buzzed in its mind and exclaimed excitedly, "I understand, Great God! I'll go find him right now!"

Zhang Yangqing instructed, "If there's anything else you don't understand, feel free to ask."

This statement seems to offer a hint. The eerie consciousness confidently replied, "That's about enough, Master, you should rest now."

Zhang Yangqing hesitated, but upon hearing this, his consciousness returned, seemingly preoccupied with other matters.

The eerie consciousness began a new round of searching.

It lay on the ground, searching inch by inch.

Beside the dead tree roots, in the cracks of rocks, on the surface of black rotten soil, they searched everywhere that might have a trace.

But an hour passed.

It found many footprints, some of unknown wild animals, some of some kind of myriapod, and even a few that looked like humans, because the footprints showed both feet walking together, which was definitely not the one-legged lantern it was looking for.

Even the most idiotic mind knows that a one-legged lantern must have only one leg, so the footprint can only exist on one side.

But after searching for a long time, it couldn't find anything and began to doubt its own judgment.

Did the expert say something wrong?
No, impossible, the expert can't be wrong.

Did I misunderstand?

It crouched beside a dead tree, staring dejectedly at the ground.

Suddenly, it noticed something sliding down its head.

Looking up, I saw a tree branch break off and fall.

The eerie consciousness picked it up and saw that the branch had broken.

Treetops?!
The eerie consciousness suddenly stood up, darted up a dead tree in a few steps, and climbed upwards by clinging to the dry branches.

When it climbed to the vicinity of the tree crown, it finally saw clearly a series of marks left by a one-legged hop on the surface of those thick branches!

Those are the footprints of the one-legged lantern! Not on the ground, but in the tree!

It turns out the correct path is in the trees; no wonder it felt like there was no end in sight no matter where I walked on the ground.

It began to reflect on its mistakes, realizing that they were entirely due to habitual thinking.

After gathering his thoughts, a strange consciousness leaped and darted among the treetops, following the footprints all the way.

After jumping for less than seven minutes, it finally saw the legendary one-legged lantern.

It was a strange object about half the height of a person.

It was enveloped in a ghostly green light and resembled an ancient paper lantern, but its bottom had only one slender, withered branch-like foot.

It bounced up and down on the treetop, and with each bounce, the light inside the lantern flickered, as if it were breathing.

It has no face, no features, it just jumps forward mechanically and rhythmically, completely ignoring everything around it.

The eerie consciousness tried to greet it, but it didn't react and continued to jump forward on its own.

It appears to be a low-level, mute anomaly that acts solely according to instinct.

According to the rules, the eerie consciousness followed it on the treetop for less than five minutes before stopping.

The one-legged lantern continued to leap forward, eventually disappearing into the black mist.

The eerie consciousness began searching for a safe house nearby.

But the environment here is no different from before; there are still dead trees, still black fog, and still a putrid smell.

The only difference is that the dead trees here are much larger, with trunks so thick that it takes several people to hug them, and canopies that block out the sky.

But where is there any trace of a safe house?
Just then, several figures suddenly appeared in the surrounding darkness.

A monster resembling a wolf but with three tails emerged from the mist, its green eyes fixed intently on it.

A giant spider, the size of a calf and covered in pustules, hung upside down from a tree, its eight compound eyes gleaming with greed.

Several indistinct, wriggling black shadows slowly approached from all directions.

The eerie consciousness glanced at it, thinking, "I thought he was something else, but this is all the cultivation he has?" (End of Chapter)