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

Water overflowing with curses.

The foul waters that spread from the depths of the soil beneath these mountains and rivers cannot be truly eradicated.

Now, Gao Hai could feel it, felt something overflowing from the water, something trying to climb out of it.

"Is the water that is supposedly cursed in ancestral teachings ultimately a consequence of its own actions?"

Sensing the twisted and insane aura emanating from him, Gao Hai muttered to himself, finding the situation somewhat ridiculous.

Chapter 57: Different Actions in Various Directions and the Unlocking of New Areas

The body was eventually recovered smoothly without any abnormalities.

The Red Moon level players present were on high alert for a long time. Among them, Cat Brother and Jack Tower tested it several times until the Taoist shook his head and said, "It will not pose a threat to us." Only then did everyone stop being wary of this thing.

It seems that Gao Hai's direct sensory observation of the unusual scene beneath the corpse caused the thing that had been following it to disappear. In this sense, the unidentified entity appeared solely to be perceived. Therefore, after Gao Hai, who became aware of its existence, appeared, it ceased its actions.

What a strange creature! Are there such harmless creatures in Red Moon-level dungeons? Or is it just that I happened to choose the right way to deal with it, which is why it appears harmless?

Splash...drip...drip...

The corpse, pulled from the well, was dripping foul-smelling, dark yellow water droplets. At first, when the thing was soaking in the well, Gao Hai couldn't quite make out its exact size. But after pulling it out, based on the torn clothes and the size of the broken bones piercing through the flesh, he deduced that the girl was only about 1.3 meters tall when she was alive, but had now swelled to almost 2 meters.

Given the possibility of malnutrition, the girl was likely between 12 and 15 years old when she died.

Girls this young are being sacrificed to the gods as brides? This village is truly inhuman in every sense of the word. It feels like all the distortions and obsessions that exist in this instance so far are man-made disasters caused by the villagers themselves.

Thinking this, Gao Hai pulled back the rope and turned the corpse, which had swollen into a gigantic shape, over. He then saw eyes, a nose, and a mouth sewn together with needle and thread. The blackish-yellow hemp thread had slightly disintegrated after being soaked for so long, and an eyeball had squeezed out from a rotting wound on one side of the eyelid. Dead black maggots and rotting flesh were stuck together, oozing a yellowish-brown, semi-solidified grease that resembled pus. In short, both its appearance and smell were quite unique.

"It goes really well with rice."

Cat Brother, standing to the side, remarked with emotion.

"He died a horrible death, how come he didn't turn into a zombie?"

Guo, who had been on high alert and ready to deal with the strange creature, was on guard for a while, but then he discovered that the thing really was just a corpse. He couldn't help but mutter to himself in confusion.

"At least for today, this thing won't threaten us. As for tomorrow, I can't predict it. The thing involved with this corpse is very powerful, and my blessing can't predict too far ahead."

The Taoist priest, after recalculating once more, spoke, his expression towards the corpse showing a hint of curiosity.

"Well, at least for now... nothing is left on this corpse. It's just a corpse."

Gao Hai frowned as he stared at the corpse, and after carefully sensing it for a while, he finally spoke.

If Jianzi were still here, she would probably have been able to determine whether the body posed a threat while it was still stuck underneath... no, she probably would have been able to determine by pulling the thing out completely. I, on the other hand, had to pull it out to confirm. Other players are even worse than me; they can't fully assess the danger even with the body right in front of them.

Subconsciously, Gao Hai recalled the time when Jian Zi was assisting him, and his expression dimmed slightly. However, he quickly recovered, banished these distracting thoughts, and focused his attention on the present matter.

{Report: The search area has been expanded to 20 kilometers. No trace of the paper figure has been found so far, and no one has entered the forest area.}

At this moment, Goto Ichiri's communication came through the temporary mental link established by the obsession object. The clones she sent out had spread to a considerable distance, but they had not been able to find a single paper figure, and she did not know where those things had gone.

The teacher has now arrived at the shore of the "Water Ghost Lake." Just like in the previous two playthroughs, the lake is in an extremely abnormal, almost completely frozen state. There are no traces of any fish or insects, and the surface of the water is always completely still, as if it were a mirror.

"Just to be on the safe side, it's better to seal this thing up."

Cat Brother pulled out a large, black coffin from somewhere, lifted the female corpse by the leg with one hand, stuffed her inside, and then closed the coffin. Because the corpse had swelled up so much, Cat Brother had to use some force to close the lid. As a result, Gao Hai heard a sound like something bursting from inside the coffin, and he had no idea what had happened inside.

"Looks like we were lucky enough to open this passage without any danger. Now that the passage is successfully opened, who should go down and explore first? If this well really does lead to another dimension, we should definitely explore it thoroughly, right?"

Jackta, who had been observing from the sidelines, smiled and spoke up, revealing a somewhat eager expression.

But Gao Hai only turned his head to look at Yi Li, who gently strummed the guitar in his hand a few times, and a new clone appeared out of thin air next to the girl. Then, he put on sunglasses that he didn't know where he pulled out and rushed straight down to the bottom of the well.

Pfft!

After a muffled thud, the clone completely disappeared into the water and vanished from sight.

"The task of exploring new areas still requires consumables. Please keep watch around here. If something goes wrong, something else might climb up this passage. Our current task is to guard this entrance and exit."

Gao Hai earnestly instructed the players beside him. Cat Brother nodded and continued to squat down to look at the deep, dark water at the bottom of the well. Jack, on the other hand, pursed his lips, seemingly regretting not being the one to go down and explore. It seemed this guy was quite keen on actively venturing into unknown areas.

{arrive}

Goto Ichiri suddenly spoke, then transmitted the images she saw through the mental link to Takami.

At first, Gao Hai could only see blurry phantoms, with various dark and distorted colors randomly pieced together, constantly intertwining and twisting, as if performing some kind of transformation, or like a few images refreshed during the map loading process to prevent players from getting bored.

But soon, the image began to clear, and various details slowly appeared. Through this clone's perspective, Gao Hai was able to see what the space he had not yet successfully reached looked like.

The sky appeared dim and dark.

It's hard to tell whether it's day or night; it seems like both dimness and brilliance exist simultaneously, and the two states are mixed up in this place, making it difficult to distinguish one from the other.

I saw lights.

Dark red lights, shining brightly under the dim sky.

Outside the open courtyard gate, long streets were lined with bright red lanterns. These lanterns were simply designed and clearly made by the villagers themselves, exuding a cheap feel and traces of a bygone era.

Gao Hai saw the large double happiness symbol written on the lantern.

The lanterns here are almost identical to those in Liujia Village under the night sky. Is there some kind of connection between this place and that space?

Thinking this, Takahashi observed the constantly shifting perspective, watching the clone summoned by Goto Ichiri climb out of the well and stand on the ground. Amidst the dripping water, the courtyard, which was no different from the Li family compound on Takahashi's side, came into view. At first glance, it seemed as if the clone had returned to Takahashi's side, but in reality, that was not the case at all.

{The clone... is getting a little out of control; this clone can only move within ten meters of the well opening at most...}

Ichiri's voice became somewhat strained. After passing through the well, the distance between the clone and the girl seemed to have increased to an astonishing level, to the point that the power of the blessing was almost unable to maintain control over the clone.

{This is just a preliminary exploration; there's no need to go too far. Just let the clone move around within the controllable limits to confirm whether the area is dangerous or safe.}

Gao Hai quickly spoke to Yi Li, while also glancing at the [Water Ghost Lake].

At this point, [Teacher] had already made tentative contact with the lake water. Under Gao Hai's command, it first threw a stone into the lake. The stone pierced the surface and sank without creating any ripples. Then, [Teacher] broke off a branch and tried to stir the water. However, as soon as the branch entered the water, an extremely strong force came from underwater. Even with [Teacher's] physical strength, it couldn't hold onto the branch and was pulled down in one swift motion, almost dragging [Teacher] in with it.

This situation made Gao Hai realize that there might be something extraordinary in the [Water Ghost Lake], so he told Lao Guo, who had already cooled down and was waiting on the side, to rush forward and jump into the water first.

It looks like it.

The moment the rescue team members touched the water, they were pulled down by some invisible force, and their connection with Gao Hai was instantly severed, putting them back into the cooling-off phase.

Although he had anticipated this turn of events, Gao Hai still felt genuinely uneasy that the rescue team member couldn't even last a second.

Forcing your way in is probably not an option. According to the currently known rules, water in this instance is divided into two states: flowing water and still water. It seems that the Water Ghost Lake is currently classified as still water. This means that you may need to obtain something from the Fox Queen to enter or exit smoothly, otherwise you will be dragged away by that formless thing.

Perhaps we could try driving a fire truck in... No, that wouldn't make any sense, and it would be too conspicuous. A fire truck is more of a surprise tactic for me, so it's best not to expose ourselves beforehand unless absolutely necessary.

So, we can't find anything in the directions of "paper doll" and "water ghost lake" for the time being?

This result wasn't entirely unexpected, but it still left Gao Hai feeling somewhat helpless. He couldn't help but worry that his actions of destroying all the notice boards might mean that this loop had completely cut off the route to Liu Family Village under the cover of night, leaving him with no choice but to postpone this exploration task to the next loop.

A shadow suddenly fell over Gao Hai.

He looked up and saw a massive roof that had been generated and covered the entire courtyard by the combined power of the obsessions of multiple players.

Walls were also being generated all around, like rows of small blocks growing out of the classic pixel game "Minecraft".

Despite its rudimentary and unsightly appearance, at this moment, the Li Family Compound had indeed become the Li Family Mansion in a physical sense, with the entire building area completely enveloped by the massive roof and thick walls.

Over 70% of the village houses have been connected, and underground passages have been built for about 40% of the houses. However, due to time constraints, the passages are currently quite narrow, and larger individuals may not be able to use them.

Hayasaka's voice came through the temporary mental link, earnestly reporting to Takahashi the work results of the Dark Night level players.

Approximately how much longer is expected to take to connect all the houses?

Gao Hai asked earnestly in the mental link.

{It should take at most an hour, but if we hurry, it should be done in under forty minutes. However, this is based on simply and crudely connecting different buildings with walls and roofs, which may result in many more obstacles in the village, hindering rapid passage.}

The person who answered this time was Kaguya, who was monitoring the village's activities with Hayasaka.

We can't worry about that now; it's best to get it fixed as soon as possible, since we don't know when the second round of "Night" will arrive.

As Gao Hai replied, he shifted his focus back to the perspective of Goto Ichiri's clone. By this time, the clone had circled the well several times. Although the clone couldn't stray too far from the well due to poor signal, it had still managed to gather some intelligence through its reconnaissance over time.

First, it's certain that there are likely villagers active in this village with red lanterns. The clone clearly captured the laughter, voices, and sounds like bowls, chopsticks, and porcelain cups clinking together, suggesting a banquet was being held.

Moreover, occasionally, sounds like suona playing and drumming could be heard, sounding like a play was being performed or a grand ceremony was being held.

But that's not the most crucial point.

squeak-

With a clear sound, the main gate of the Li Family Compound was slowly pushed open.

Dressed impeccably, Li Ziyong helped an elderly man with gray hair out of the house, chatting and laughing.

Then, he turned to look at the guitar clone, whose body was contorted due to poor signal, and froze on the spot.

Chapter 58: An Abnormal Village, Abnormal Villagers

To be honest, Gao Hai was quite nervous when he first saw Li Ziyong appear.

After all, he'd been tricked by this thing once during his first playthrough, and now, on his third playthrough, he'd finally found a way to get rid of it, only to have it reappear like a persistent ghost. The thought that this thing might still have some tricks up its sleeve made it impossible not to be nervous. For a moment, Gao Hai even wondered if this was a trap, or if this thing was deliberately waiting here to attack him.

But then Gao Hai realized that the other person seemed even more nervous than he was.

"A monster?!"

A look of extreme terror appeared on Li Ziyong's face. He screamed and instinctively protected the old man as they retreated into the house.

At that moment, the expression on the man's face was exactly like that of an ordinary person seeing a terrifying monster, so much so that Gao Hai, who had been tense and ready to fight, was stunned and couldn't understand what was happening.

What's going on?

Why does it seem like I'm the one who's the one being weird?

What are you doing here, a Red Moon-level village chief of a ghost village?

Bang!

From the perspective of the clone, the main building's main door had been slammed shut.

The fact that the other person didn't seem to be acting at all was quite perplexing. Could it be that... space and time are separated within this instance? So, different villages in different spaces might contain different versions of the same person?

Thinking this, Gao Hai used the clone's perspective to look around again. After confirming that there was no new information, he sent a mental communication message to Yi Li.

Cancel this clone; it's more than enough.