The whole weird world is waiting for me to go to heaven

Chapter 1023 The first clues

"Huh? What does that mean?"

Anna Zhang didn't understand this.

Liu Sheng explained very patiently:
"First of all, we know that we can leave the night market as long as we stay until 6:44 a.m.

"And we can't leave on our own."

Anna Zhang suddenly realized: "Those crossed-out and handwritten notes!"

Liu Sheng nodded: "That's right. It's probably around this time that the night market started to undergo some kind of change that we can't know about."

"So that's why it later became a treacherous place?"

"I'm afraid not." Liu Sheng shook his head.

“Then…” Zhang Anna frowned.

"It must have changed owners once in the middle."

Qiao Yu finally spoke.

She had just finished a whole bowl of snail rice noodles and then asked the owner for another serving.

"You mean, the core of the Ghost Realm has changed?"

“Yes, that’s right,” Liu Sheng replied.

"I've never heard of such a thing before..."

"Actually, it's just that within the mysterious realm, one force defeated the other," Liu Sheng said. "You can see two signs of modification in the rules at this entrance."

"But... the changes might just be a trick to mislead people about the rules."

"Of course it's possible, but we can see two trends in it—"

Liu Sheng raised two fingers.

"One change is from 'self' to 'can', which means that this place was originally a strange place that could be freely entered and exited."

"How could this happen!"

“Because the entire city is now a monster,” Liu Sheng said calmly.

Yes, she has figured it out.

This entire city, including the peaceful mountain village at the foot of Wangmiao Mountain, the whole area—is both a trial space and a realm of unpredictable dangers.

In other words, every single one of them—including Xin Zilin, whom they rescued not long ago—is a mystery.

It's simply a matter of whether or not one is aware of it.

Anna Zhang was clearly not surprised by this.

"Oh...right."

Liu Sheng continued, "Therefore, the boundary itself is not clear, unless another force emerges within it."

"And it was this force that took over the night market, turned it into their own domain, and at the same time changed some of the rules, ensnaring you... all of us in it."

"Therefore, Article Six is ​​crucial."

"Yes, actually, both the fifth and sixth points are very important."

"Fire safety inspections are conducted on shops that use open flames, and according to this rule, the safety of these shops should be taken into account."

"But if this is a rule left over from the original night market, we might have to think about it the other way around now—these shops now belong to this other force."

"If that's the case, wouldn't none of these things be safe?"

Zhang Anna thought to herself, looking around, all she saw were various kinds of night market snacks with smoke rising from them, how could she find any that weren't cooked over an open flame?

“Of course, we also need to consider another factor,” Liu Sheng said slowly, “hygiene inspection.”

“Health inspection…” Zhang Anna frowned, “but what exactly are the three missing words?”

"What it is doesn't really matter; the question is, what would cause it to fail the health inspection?"

"Unclean and unhygienic!"

“Well, of course, it’s hard to say whether it’s clean or not here…” Liu Sheng lowered her voice. “So what we can measure is probably the freshness of the ingredients. But what constitutes fresh ingredients?”

These words finally dispelled the illusion in Zhang Anna's mind.

Her eyes lit up.

Then I looked at the snail rice noodles on the table, and the deep-fried, fragrant pig's trotter.

"These are all pre-made dishes! So... the ones that aren't pre-made dishes are!"

"Yes."

"No wonder the owner of that congee shop emphasized this..." Zhang Anna suddenly realized.

Liu Sheng nodded: "However, it's not a very smart strategy."

"In short, if it's a pre-cooked dish, it only needs to be heated slightly before serving. It doesn't have to be very fresh; it might even have been frozen for tens of thousands of years..."

The more Liu Sheng spoke, the more Zhang Anna felt her stomach churning.

I felt like throwing up the snail rice noodles I had just eaten.

"So we won't see a hygiene license in the store, because it won't pass the food safety and hygiene inspection at the night market."

"Is the first barbecue restaurant there?"

"Have."

“How come I didn’t notice…” Zhang Anna was still puzzled. “But since you knew, why did you still go in?”

"I only found out after confirming and comparing," Liu Sheng said calmly.

"I see."

"So, there are actually two safe solutions to this night market," Liu Sheng continued. "One is to continue into these pre-prepared food shops, and the other... is to enter shops that don't require open flames, and eventually, you can leave safely by dawn."

“But…” Zhang Anna frowned slightly, “then we won’t be able to gain reputation points.”

"You saw that even Huo Shu, a Nascent Soul stage cultivator, couldn't leave here safely. Don't you want to quit early?"

Zhang Anna smiled and said, "Fortune favors the bold, isn't that an old saying from your Eastern Empire?"

"and--"

Her eyes deepened.

"You two probably don't plan to just lie around and wait out the night, do you?"

Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu exchanged a glance.

"Yes, of course not."

……

Zheng Wanshou wiped his mouth as he got up.

Now the entire night market doesn't feel cold to him anymore.

I felt a scalding liquid flowing through my veins, like the oden I had just eaten, warm and comforting my stomach.

The stall owner seemed to like Zheng Wanshou quite a bit.

"welcome……"

"Thank you."

The lights in the night market were eerily cold.

Even the neon signs projected a kind of colored light that looked like it was covered with a layer of gray, giving off an unlucky feeling.

But for Zheng Wanshou, seeing these things was enough.

The only problem is that my face feels heavy.

It seemed that the thing weighing on his eye sockets was getting heavier and heavier, dragging his face down.

He had no choice but to take off his sunglasses and push them up.

I wiped my hands with my sleeve to feel the wetness.

Just as I put my sunglasses back on, I saw three women come out of a snail rice noodle shop called "Luose Shengxiang" (meaning "fragrant snail rice noodles"), and they still smelled of fermentation.

The one with blonde hair is definitely Zhang Anna.

She happened to turn around and saw Zheng Wanshou standing there, so she smiled and greeted him:
"Hey, Senior Brother Zheng! Are you alright?"

"What? You really want something to happen to me?"

"Senior Brother Zheng, what are you saying? Of course not!"

"That's good. You seem to be doing quite well." Zheng Wanshou nodded coldly.

Zhang Anna's smile, though captivating to him, held a hidden meaning that he knew all too well. Meanwhile, Zhang Anna took the hand of Liu Sheng, the young woman in the blue dress beside her, smiling brightly.
"Fortunately, I had Junior Sister Liu with me, so I was safe on this trip."

But before Liu Sheng could even lift a finger, a tall, strong woman named "Qiao Yu" forcibly pulled her hand away.

"I see……"

Zheng Wanshou drawled out his words, his eyes behind his sunglasses fixed on Liu Sheng, scrutinizing her closely.

But to everyone's surprise, Liu Sheng's first words were:
"You ate oden, right?"

Zheng Wanshou remained silent.

Zhang Anna: "Junior Sister Liu, what are you saying?"

"It's nothing. I just wanted to remind Senior Brother Zheng that everything comes at a price."

"Is that so?" Zheng Wanshou didn't respond, only saying it lightly.

"Senior Brother Zheng! You've completed your transaction?" Zhang Anna stared wide-eyed in surprise, looking Zheng Wanshou up and down. "But you look perfectly fine. Could it be... that you traded his eyes?"

Zheng Wanshou slowly took off his sunglasses.

The entire eyeball is visible.

"Do you see eyes?"

"Oh, the eyeballs are still there."

Zhang Anna pursed her lips, and even noticed Zheng Wanshou's eyes darting around, and asked curiously:
"So Senior Brother Zheng really isn't blind. There's been a suspicion in our sect because you always wear sunglasses, and even when you take them off, you remain motionless, like you're not seeing anything."

"Heh, now you know."

Zheng Wanshou got the confirmation he wanted, put his sunglasses back on, and smiled with satisfaction.

"Alright, it's about time," Liu Sheng said. "We need to continue."

"Wait, where are you going?" Zheng Wanshou asked.

"Senior Brother Zheng, as I mentioned before, we have a conflict of interest, so please don't ask so many questions. Let's each fight our own battles."

Zheng Wanshou said, "You're not planning to go from shop to shop like this, are you? Although these shops are like shelters, you won't gain reputation points this way."

"So, what are your thoughts, Senior Brother Zheng?"

"Since this is a strange place, there must be a strange core within it. It is because of its unyielding obsession that it has influenced the entire night market. The shopkeepers and stall owners here probably died at its hands, which is why they are bound to this strange place."

Zhang Anna immediately said, "Junior Sister Liu said the same thing!"

“It seems Junior Sister Liu really does understand.” Zheng Wanshou gave Liu Sheng a deep look. “Then it’s even simpler to explain.”

“We just need to arouse the resentment of these shop owners, and then use the tracking talisman to trace back to the core. That way we can find out where the core of this strange place is and solve it.”

"Oh, that's different from Junior Sister Liu's plan."

"What's your opinion, Junior Sister Liu?"

Liu Sheng did not answer, but just stared coldly at Zheng Wanshou.

"Heh, Junior Sister Liu has also realized our rivalry and is keeping a close eye on things..."

"Because I'm wondering what your plans are."

"My plan, of course, is to live a good life," Zheng Wanshou said.

Liu Sheng frowned, and after a long while said, "In short, we are not on the same page, so let's part ways here."

Without saying anything more, he turned and left.

Qiao Yu followed behind, leading the dog.

Zhang Anna smiled at Zheng Wanshou and eventually caught up with him.

"Ah……"

Zheng Wanshou then went back into the snail rice noodle shop they had just left. Covering his mouth and nose with his sleeve, he sneered as the shop owner approached to ask what he wanted to eat:
"I want……"

……

This time, Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu went even further.

Anna Zhang followed behind, almost losing track of them due to the thick fog in the night market.

Fortunately, there was the tracking talisman she left on the two of them.

That's how it was able to stay close behind at the right time.

"It seems they want to get rid of me..." Zhang Anna muttered to herself, "Luckily, I already know their strategy."

Liu Sheng hadn't been avoiding her at all.

Instead, he exchanged a talisman drawn by Qiao Yu with the shopkeeper in front of her as payment for the three bowls of snail rice noodles.

She had been craning her neck to see what was being drawn, but the shopkeeper had carefully hidden it away, so she didn't have time to see it clearly.

However, according to Liu Sheng, it was a talisman similar to the "Taiyi Life-Protecting Talisman" used to protect the shopkeeper's safety.

Anna Zhang subtly pursed her lips.

She didn't quite believe it.

but……

Thinking in this direction should solve the problem.

Since these merchants are willing to accept it.

She gradually came up with an idea.

Ahead, Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu finally turned into a shop.

Anna Zhang hurriedly followed him inside.

This shop is no longer a snack shop; instead, it's a souvenir shop selling all sorts of random trinkets.

They're supposed to be souvenirs, but they contain items from all over the place—keychains, fridge magnets, plush toys, etc.—and you can't see any local characteristics.

It's like the shop owner bought them wholesale from a place that specializes in producing small commodities, without any regard for the consequences.

Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu walked around inside for a while before finally deciding to buy the slightly inferior plastic dinosaur that Xiao Tian was holding in his mouth, which was already wet.

After all, the boss was already glaring angrily.

When it came time to make the transaction, the shopkeeper's eyes widened even more when he saw the talisman that Qiao Yu took out.

This time it was a surprise.

"I didn't expect you to be able to produce something like this. Taoist priests come to our place in waves, but you are the most sensible of all."

"Yes, let's think about it, perhaps there is a peaceful way."

"Peace is impossible," the boss said, putting away the talisman without hesitation. "But... good luck to you."

"Then I'll trouble you to help us promote it well," Liu Sheng said with a smile.

"If it works well..." the shopkeeper said cautiously.

Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu walked out one after the other.

Because this trade also included Zhang Anna, she gained another 144 seconds.

However, they quickly moved on to the next place, without using up all their time.

This made Anna Zhang feel that it was a bit of a waste.

However, she also understood—

They are setting up a formation.

A certain array formed by the distribution of talismans.

That's why they're in such a hurry to finish as soon as possible, and they don't care about the rest time at all.

In addition, they seem to have a particular approach to choosing shops.

It wasn't just that it didn't meet hygiene standards; there also seemed to be a deliberate choice regarding its location. However, she couldn't understand how Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu had determined the location among so many shops and stalls in the night market.

Moreover, she always felt that this kind of behavior was not secretive at all, and that soon, the forces here would come knocking on her door...

However, to my surprise, other things arrived even faster.

This time, Zhang Anna followed Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu out of the shop one after the other, and the first thing she heard was a slightly noisy sound outside.

Looking around, one could see several strange and eerie creatures waiting at the door.

One person was holding a cleaver and a large ladle – probably from the food street area; another was a strange person with a hairstyle like a hedgehog with highlights, covered in holes, rivets, and metal rings – from the beauty and hair salon area; and a person covered in grinning, strange dolls – supposedly from the trendy toy area.

These were all ancient artifacts to Zhang Anna, and she had no interest in them.

The only thing that interested me was their greeting to Liu Sheng and Qiao Yu upon their first meeting:
"Excuse me—could you sell us that talisman?"