Why is my journey to the world of anime a strange tale of rules?

Beside the two, Kita Ikuyo wore a complicated expression, hesitant to speak, and finally just sighed helplessly, turning away to continue observing her surroundings.

Pochi-chan, you've definitely been won over by this man.

Kita thought to himself silently.

Although he wouldn't say it out loud, and Mr. Gao kept insisting on their innocence, the atmosphere between the two of them was definitely not that of normal teammates.

This kind of mental communication through physical contact is something Pochi-chan would never do to me or Aoyama-nee. After all, it's a very delicate mental manipulation technique, and one wrong move could transmit some unpleasant memories to the other person. Moreover, in essence, it's equivalent to two people's mental energies touching each other with almost no defenses, attempting to transmit information through such direct communication. To put it in a rather discordant way, it's like two completely Omegas leaning against each other, writing on each other's skin.

Ah, no, no, it wouldn't go that far. And if we really have to use that as an analogy, what about me now that my mental energy is completely enveloped by Mr. Gao and I can't leave? Does that mean I've already been eaten by Mr. Gao?

Kita Ikuyo felt her mind was getting a bit muddled again.

Just when I finally escaped danger and had a chance to relax a bit and exchange information, the two people beside me were acting a little out of sync, and my thoughts started to wander off course. This was just awful…

Patting her cheeks, Kita took a few deep breaths (though she didn't need to breathe right now), then turned her gaze back to the abandoned village outside the cardboard box, continuing to observe and monitor the surroundings. In reality, she didn't need to do this, as she had three clones patrolling the area; if there were any problems, Kita would have noticed them long ago.

While Kita was feeling uneasy, Takami had already seen a completely new scene inside the cardboard box.

That's a small square.

With just one glance, Gao Hai immediately recognized that this place was the small square in Lijia Village, the square that was the only way to the top of Xiaoheishan Mountain.

However, unlike the plaza where I watched the welcoming ceremony for the gods, the small plaza shown by Goto Ichiri is different in many details. For example, there are no trees in this small plaza, and it is overgrown with weeds, clearly not well maintained. Moreover, in the middle of the plaza, the original high platform has been replaced with a relatively low wooden platform, which is also narrower than the previous high platform, and looks quite shabby.

In front of this low platform, dozens of wooden stools were scattered about, and on the sides of some stools, one could still see the dried peels and seed shells of melons and fruits. On one side of the platform, there was also a dilapidated-looking carriage and some simple theatrical costumes and other props.

Did a traveling opera troupe come to this village and perform opera for the villagers?

Gao Hai gazed at these scenes from Yi Li's memory, silently pondering in his heart.

{This stage has sound.}

Then, Goto Ichiri spoke softly again, and after she finished speaking, Takami could indeed hear a muffled sound in the video.

what is that?

As if there was some kind of barrier between them, even though Gao Hai listened very carefully to the sound, he could only hear bursts of noise, and mixed in with the noise, it sounded like music and voices intertwined.

It seemed that some people were clapping and others were cheering.

It seemed that some people were chatting idly, while others were casually cracking sunflower seeds.

With all sorts of voices mixed together, it's difficult to discern any useful information.

However, Gao Hai was not discouraged. He simply continued to concentrate and focus, trying to extract meaningful fragments from these sounds.

Goto Ichiri also clearly noticed this, so she began to repeatedly play the voices from the memory transmitted by her clone for Takami, playing them over and over again, so that he could repeatedly identify these voices.

Little by little, Gao Hai could make out some of the sounds.

He heard the sound of opera singing, and a man's voice singing with intonation.

Tears welled up before she could even speak.

[Your Excellency, please listen carefully.]

[I live in Taipingzhuang, Nanyang]

[Surname Liu, given name...]

What is this song about?

Gao Hai, who knew absolutely nothing about traditional opera, was a little confused.

Let's set aside the sound for now; the key lies with the audience, with the villagers listening to the opera. Their voices might hold clues, and they might reveal what I need to focus on.

Refocus your attention and try again to find clues among the noise.

To Gao Hai's surprise, he found that he could suddenly distinguish these noises much faster this time, as if some kind of force was helping him operate faster.

No, it's not just a feeling, there really is a force helping me.

It was Dean Jonathan's blessing that helped users find clues more quickly or determine if there were any valuable clues in places like libraries where information converged. Ah, I see. Since I initially tried to identify the most distinct opera singing sound from the jumbled, indistinguishable voices, the blessing interpreted those sounds as "converged information" and activated it?

The unexpected surprise made Gao Hai happy for a while, and then he continued to focus his attention on the sounds. Soon, encouraged by the blessings, Gao Hai was able to hear the villagers watching the play talking.

Sigh, this year's harvest isn't great again.

It hasn't rained for quite some time; if it weren't for the river water irrigation, the seedlings would probably all have died.

The river is almost dry; this can't go on.

[I'll hold on as long as I can; that's how things have been all these years anyway.]

Okay, okay, let's just watch the show and not think too much about it.

It seemed to be two villagers who were on good terms chatting, and as they talked, they started to sigh.

"Mom, I want that big beard."

"What are you talking about? That's Bao Zheng, the beard of the Fifth King of Hell, those are divine possessions, not something for you to play with!"

【Yes, yes, I think you want a club!】

【Waaaaaahh ...

This is a conversation between a middle-aged woman and a child. Halfway through the conversation, the woman seems to start hitting the child, who is crying incessantly.

This opera troupe is so unprofessional! I've heard that the person singing a ghost song can't move their head; if they move it around, it won't work.

Hey, this is a poor, remote place. What talented opera troupe would come here? Only those who can't afford to eat would come and try their luck.

That's true. I don't know where the clan chief found these opera singers. It would be good if they could stay in our village.

【What a load of rubbish! These people live in the village, eating our food, drinking our water, and sleeping on our property. If you really want to keep them, are you going to support them?】

Hey, what are you arguing about? I was just saying something, I'm not trying to get really worked up.

I think you're asking for a beating; it was already looking like this year's harvest wouldn't be very good anyway.

Oh, is this going to be a fight?

These were a few hot-blooded young villagers, and it looked like they were about to fight. Some villagers who were originally watching the show turned their attention to them.

None of this seems to be important information.

Gao Hai frowned as he continued listening to each segment.

It's certain that the opera troupe was invited by the village chief during the Lunar New Year. The troupe itself was extremely unprofessional, bordering on third-rate. However, for this village deep in the mountains, it was the best opera troupe they could afford. This also means that at this time, the village actually maintained contact with the outside world, and this connection shouldn't have been too weak; otherwise, it would have been impossible for any young villager to notice the troupe's lack of professionalism.

Then, during this period, the villagers didn't seem to be doing very well. Even with the irrigation from the river in Xiaoheishan, problems were still likely to arise when the weather turned bad. However, the fact that these villagers could discuss the harvest so casually, and even if they felt it wasn't going to work out, just saying things like "we've managed all these years," proved that even in the face of a disaster like a poor harvest, this village could at least weather it. It wasn't the kind of small village that would simply disappear after a disaster.

And one thing is certain: at this time, there were no strange forces causing trouble in the village, and... it seems there was no belief in the Little Black Mountain God? At least from the words of the middle-aged woman who beat the unruly child, it can be inferred that this villager believed in folk beliefs about heaven and hell, not some mountain god. No, perhaps the Little Black Mountain God already existed at this time, but the villagers only worshipped it as an ordinary mountain god, and no one would deliberately mention it.

In other words, this "Li Family Village" existed during a "normal" period, is that right?

So, where does the problem lie?

As Gao Hai continued to listen, his pupils suddenly contracted slightly, and his mind became completely focused.

I heard a familiar voice.

Although it was someone's voice that he had only heard today, Gao Hai was certain that he could not be mistaken.

He heard Li Ziyong's voice.

Was that person from the same period as this opera troupe?

[Thanks to you, Brother Du, this time. Based on my understanding of the outside world, it's practically impossible to find a theatrical troupe willing to come into the mountains.]

Compared to Li Ziyong's voice during the festival, this voice was noticeably younger and more energetic. However, the cheerful and gentle tone remained the same, making Gao Hai feel as if he were a tiger smiling at him with its eyes narrowed.

【That's not entirely true. After all, your Li family has been supporting our business for so long, so it's only right that we help out with a small favor.】

Gao Hai didn't recognize the other person's voice; he was certain he had never heard it before. But as soon as the voice rang out, Gao Hai felt an inexplicable unease, as if the person's very existence was utterly repulsive.

However, no matter how Gao Hai felt, the conversation would not end there. Li Ziyong continued to talk with this "Mr. Du," drinking and chatting happily, like two close friends.

"What are you saying, Brother Du? You have been a tremendous help to our Li Family Village. Without you, our little village would not have survived."

[Haha, it's a win-win situation! I benefit, you benefit, and we all drink and eat together – that's the right way!]

"Good, good, good, the right path, that's right, this is indeed the right path. Brother Du's insight is indeed better than mine, and his eloquence is far superior."

"Brother Li, please don't say that. Living deep in the mountains, yet passing down the tradition of education generation after generation—that's truly admirable. As for me, I'd barely learned to read when my father sent me off to learn arithmetic, and after that, he made me help out in the business. It's a pity, I really wanted to study."

Hey, Brother Du, if you still want to read these, I can lend you a few copies.

"Hahaha, forget it then. Even if I wanted to study now, I don't have the time or energy. Alright, I brought seven goods with me this time, mostly from the city, and they're all in pretty good condition. You pick the good ones first, and then you can give the rest to the bachelors in the village."

[Alright, alright, let's not talk business now, let's continue listening to the opera, Brother Du (accompanied by the sound of metal clashing)]

Hey, Brother Li is a straightforward man. Doing business with Brother Li is really good. Let's continue listening to the opera then. (A faint metallic clanging sound, like sifting and counting)

Okay, okay, let's experience the life of the upper class in the city today.

【That's right, we're all upper-class people today, haha】

Amidst their laughter, the two seemed to have become true buddies, praising each other, sharing drinks, and telling jokes, some risqué and some innocent, laughing non-stop. An outsider might have mistaken them for cultured individuals.

But Gao Hai had already understood some things, things he realized he should have thought of long ago.

Is this guy surnamed Du a human trafficker?

That's true... Li Family Village is located deep in the mountains, and this isolated environment is inherently unfavorable for population growth. Furthermore, given the ancient context, the villagers likely only wanted sons and not daughters, as only men could handle the heavy farm work and support a large family under the then-current productivity. However, if this trend continued, the village's isolation would inevitably lead to a male-to-female ratio, and the increase in bachelors would bring even more problems. Unfortunately, Li Family Village's environment meant that women from other villages wouldn't want to marry into it, which is where human traffickers came in.

Considering the historical context, although it's a normal development, this kind of thing is still disgusting.

However, all of this is in the past, it's over, and it should have no connection to Li Family Village now. For one thing, judging from the reactions of the villagers Gao Hai encountered, they seem to have given up on having children. After all, whether it was the female Dark Night level players or when Zhen Fei and the others were trapped, the villagers' attitude was to simply and decisively kill and dismember them, which completely contradicts Li Ziyong's behavior in this past information.

Perhaps it's because after the instance was created, these villagers, having coexisted with the monsters, all transformed into something else? So, why am I hearing this information?

Jonathan's information filtering blessing ensures that Gao Hai can quickly obtain valuable information. The villagers' casual chatter may seem meaningless, but with a little thought, one can analyze a lot of things from it. So what special information is contained in this conversation between the clan chief and the human trafficker?

Speaking of which, I heard that someone in your village discovered some kind of treasure?

At this moment, the man surnamed Du suddenly spoke up and asked a question.

"Oh, you know about this too? It seems the news has really spread throughout the village. I even told Qi Gou not to go around telling anyone. Young people, they just can't keep their tempers up. But it's not anything important, though I'm afraid the truth will disappoint Brother Du."

Li Ziyong sighed, but his tone didn't seem surprised.

baby?

Seven dogs?

Is "Seven Dogs" someone's name? Li Seven Dogs?