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

Although they may have come here to fight with lofty ideals in life, they are now merely inanimate objects bound by their own rules, no longer the same individuals as they once were. Therefore, to pass through them without conflict, one must find a loophole in their rules; otherwise, nothing else matters.

This is really troublesome. But judging from this feeling... these monsters don't seem to be very effective at locking onto living people. Their power seems to be targeted at monsters?

Realizing that these strange creatures weren't paying much attention to him, Gao Hai didn't hesitate and immediately took out an item he was obsessed with from his black watch.

It was a black cloak.

This cloak originated from Evalist, a cultist who sponsored Gao Hai during the process of clearing the Nightfall Middle School dungeon. After wearing or draping the cloak, the user can reduce their own presence, making it less likely for monsters and living people to notice them.

As a Dark Night-level obsession item, this black cloak is undeniably simple and practical. However, it's not without its side effects. Its origins seem to be linked to cults; calling it a cult cloak wouldn't be an exaggeration. The black color covering the cloak isn't fuel, but dried blood. The wearer will be increasingly influenced by its spiritual power, becoming addicted to destruction and killing. Furthermore, if killing occurs while wearing it, the influence will gradually intensify, the cloak slowly merging with the wearer, ultimately devouring them alive as a sacrifice.

However, such side effects were negligible for the player, so the cloak's degree of loss of control was quite mild. Furthermore, such a complex loss of control effect couldn't possibly be achieved through experimentation; Gao Hai could only forcefully probe the thing's problems using Jianzi's perception. To be honest, the scene was quite spectacular. After Jianzi activated the cloak, it spewed out a flood of blood, submerging the entire living room, and then summoned a bunch of incomplete, eerie creatures. Of course, Gao Hai immediately summoned the police officers, and ultimately, they successfully removed the creatures.

{Put this on, and you never know what might happen next.}

After covering himself and Hayasaka with a cloak and confirming that the gazes cast by those strange soldiers had disappeared, Takami did not feel that things were safe. Instead, he quickly took out a jade pendant and put it on Hayasaka's head.

This time, he took out the [Soul-Suppressing Token], an item of obsession also sponsored by a fanatic. This item has the function of stabilizing the wearer's spirit and resisting various corrosive effects. Because it was only at the Dark Night level, this item was meaningless to Gao Hai, but it could be of great help to Hayasaka, so for safety reasons, he put it on her.

Facing the approaching monsters, Takami and Hayasaka, cloaked, walked directly through their ranks.

Having lowered their profile, these strange soldiers completely ignored the two people passing among them, as if they couldn't see them at all. Takami, focused on avoiding physical collisions, didn't think much of it, while Hayasaka quietly kept a watchful eye on their surroundings. Kita, however, looked back at the direction the soldiers were heading, wondering where they were going.

Copycat.

The dilapidated mountain stronghold was ablaze with fire.

Fully armed soldiers, brandishing spears and short swords, had stormed into the mountain stronghold. Flames could be seen burning everywhere, and the entire stronghold was in ruins.

Were these soldiers here specifically to attack that mountain stronghold?

No, something seems off...

The scene before my eyes seemed to be distorted; soldiers, bandits, flames... all sorts of things were mixed together, presenting a bizarre and fragmented state.

There was no way to observe anything further.

Despite wanting to observe more closely, Kita watched for several seconds but found that the image in her vision only became distorted and fragmented, without any further changes.

She then realized that because her mind was always enveloped by Gao Hai's own, the information she received from the outside world and the information she interacted with were significantly limited. In places where one needed to unleash their senses to obtain clues, she would fail to achieve the necessary perception because she couldn't extend her mental energy. Therefore, if she truly wanted to know something, she had to let Gao Hai perceive it himself.

{There's something going on. These soldiers are heading towards the mountain stronghold; it seems they've come here to attack it. That's what I initially thought, but then I sensed a strange connection between the soldiers and the stronghold, as if they weren't actually in the same place… Hmm, I can't quite put my finger on it. Mr. Gao, would you like to try observing them?}

After a brief moment of thought, Kita decided to tell Takami about the matter and let him make the decision.

{Is that so? If that's the case, it seems there's more to it than expected. Hmm... Anyway, let's get out of here first. I know what you mean, but now's not the time. There's a big guy chasing us. To confirm the situation, we have to turn back. If we run into them on the way, we'll have to start all over again.}

After hearing the information provided by Kita, Takami did have the idea of ​​investigating further. However, after hearing the death goddess's cry of "Mommy is here," he decisively abandoned the idea and refocused his attention on escaping.

I'm not slow either, so why does it feel like that thing is getting closer and closer? Is it flying here? It keeps calling "Mommy here, Mommy there" all day long. Did it sacrifice its own mother to run so fast?

Gao Hai cursed the relentless bloodstains in his heart, quickened his pace, and weaved through the silently advancing soldiers, speeding up his journey forward.

From leaving the wooden house to crossing the road outside the ruined village, and then passing through the soldier monsters to enter another dirt road, Gao Hai only took about a minute. This was achieved even though the road conditions were too complicated, and he dared not proceed at full speed. As he ventured deeper into the forest and away from the village, Gao Hai could vaguely sense that the surrounding space was beginning to change subtly again. It seemed that he and Hayasaka were about to be teleported to a new area.

This would completely verify the teleportation mechanism. However, to trigger it, the prerequisite is to disrupt the welcoming ceremony between the mountain god and the villagers, thereby shaking the mountain god's power to stabilize the space. Gao Hai couldn't say for sure about the pros and cons at the moment.

Where will I end up next? Will it be a relatively safe place with a safe zone, or another dangerous environment?

Considering the thing chasing him closely behind, Gao Hai could only pray in his heart that he could get into a relatively safe place and that the thing chasing him could be delayed for a while so that it wouldn't catch up too quickly.

Teacher, it's probably best to temporarily stop focusing on hearing.

Alice's voice suddenly reached my ears, carrying a hint of seriousness.

Gao Hai was taken aback by the sudden prompt, then noticed the firelight ahead and the shadowy figures reflected in it.

This is the small square in the center of the village.

Throughout the explorations so far, it has been observed multiple times that there are many subtle variations in different spaces, but overall they are not very different. It is an open area used by the villagers for gatherings, celebrations and ceremonies.

Now, a large number of villagers have gathered in this small square.

Takami, who appeared here carrying Hayasaka, stood behind these villagers.

They did not look back at Gao Hai.

The villagers, whose bodies swayed slightly and whose feet seemed glued to the ground, did not turn around to look at Takami and Hayasaka, but silently stared at the high platform in front of them.

On the large wooden stage in the center of the square, several figures were standing, dancing and singing.

Gao Hai heard the powerful, resonant sounds of those things.

Since ancient times, it has been said that kind-hearted people are happy to do good deeds and give alms.

The desires of the wicked are immeasurable.

[Doing good deeds with a kind heart is a just act of God's will.]

Heaven rewards those who persevere; blessings will come to them.

Gao Hai was unable to discern or appreciate what play the figure on stage was singing or what the deeper meaning of the lyrics was.

He only sensed the intense resentment in the voice.

It seemed to have completely lost its reason and the ability to think, and had gone completely mad. All that remained was a surging, twisted hatred that took root and sprouted, occupying the mutilated body and sustaining its activities.

The villagers who had been watching the opera were already swaying precariously. Many of them collapsed to the ground, their bodies still twitching unconsciously, their eyes completely glazed over, as if their souls had been stolen away.

Their bodies quickly turned pitch black, gradually dissolving and staining the ground black as well.

Then, from within the surging darkness, something slowly emerged, like…

puff!

Gao Hai used his mental energy to condense a sharp spike, which pierced directly through his own eardrum.

Hayasaka, who was being carried on his back, also groaned at the same time, temporarily blocking his hearing with two thin needles.

The instant his eardrum was ruptured, Gao Hai found that the scene he was seeing vanished. He was still walking along a road in a dense forest, and the so-called small square, villagers, and opera singers had left no trace.

Is it an auditory hallucination?

Or is it some kind of polluting force transmitted through hearing?

There was no doubt that he had just been targeted by the power of the [Opera Troupe]. This strange entity, whose existence Gao Hai had known about not long ago, had found him and almost affected him in the brief moment before Gao Hai had received a warning and was about to take action. He didn't know where the thing's true form was or why it had suddenly made him the target of its rules.

Fortunately, it was quite easy to get rid of. A simple ear-poking was hardly something a Red Moon-level monster should be capable of. Gao Hai was curious about the nature of this [Opera Troupe] and why they had such blatantly flawed rules. However, this wasn't the time to dwell on such questions. Therefore, Gao Hai focused on escaping and sped through the road ahead.

The charred and withered trees are gone.

I can't pinpoint exactly when it happened, but when I finally noticed, I realized I was walking in a lush, dense forest, on a dirt path through the woods.

Then, after running for a while, Gao Hai saw the familiar Little Black Mountain, the familiar [Water Ghost Lake], and this basin area surrounded by mountains that he had visited more than once.

However, no village was seen.

Compared to the other spaces Gao Hai had visited before, the biggest difference between this place and the previous ones was that it seemed that the "Li Family Village" did not exist in this space at all, or rather, there was not even a single man-made object to be found in this space. Everything about it felt completely natural and unpolluted.

But the instant he arrived in this space and confirmed that there was no "village" here, Gao Hai sensed a gaze upon him. That gaze came from within the Black Mountain Range, from the deep, dark entrance between the mountains. There, a gaze was fixed on him, clearly and steadily observing him in this rare instance of unobstructed spatial conditions.

Gao Hai knew that it was the gaze of the mountain god of Xiaoheishan.

Chapter 82: Things Not to Be Touched and Unnoticed Anomalies

within reach.

At this moment, Gao Hai could clearly feel that the existence of the mountain god of Xiaoheishan was already within his reach.

No place I've been before can compare to the sense of presence I feel in this space.

All the mountain gods I had encountered before could not match the power and purity I was experiencing at this moment.

Such a profound, such a clear, such a definite power.

Is it lucky?

Or is it extreme misfortune?

In any case, he did arrive at this place.

Majestic and magnificent, towering snow-capped mountains reaching over 6,000 meters high, and lush primeval forests stretching from below the snow line, covering the entire field of vision. This mountain range, devoid of any trace of human activity—no villages, no farmland, no dirt paths trodden by human feet—is the place where the [Little Black Mountain God] belongs, and is the manifestation of this being's external power.

In other words, were the true mountain gods, from the very beginning, beings who did not require human faith and were completely unrelated to humans?

Until the refugees who fled to this place and settled down, the mountain god had no connection with humans? No, it's possible that even when the settlers arrived, the mountain god still had no connection with humans, no strange and complicated sacrificial rituals, and none of the ugly behaviors we see today. It wasn't until someone dug something out of the [Ghost Cry Cave], someone brought out something belonging to the mountain god, that everything changed, forcing the mountain god to establish contact with humans?

No, that's not right.

Thousands of years ago, the mountain god participated in suppressing the blood-red flower and ultimately became the main vessel for sealing the blood flower.

Currently, it seems the greatest significance of sealing the Blood Flower is likely that it liberated human civilization from its constraints. Perhaps in ancient times, the Mountain God was already accepting offerings from humans and protecting them. That's why He intervened against the Blood Flower and paid a heavy price in the process. Hmm... if we speculate in this way, then the later refugees actually reconnected the Mountain God and humanity, rekindling the broken contract.

...Then, they most likely corrupted and distorted the contract, leading to a series of disastrous consequences.

Although it was just speculation, Gao Hai estimated that his thoughts wouldn't be too far off from the truth. However, knowing these things wouldn't change much; what he needed to do now was try to survive and find a way to truly break through this instance. The mere mention of a mountain god's "source" didn't prove anything. But now that he was already here, perhaps he could try contacting the mountain god in this form and see if it would produce any different results?

Gazing at the lush green forest that still shone brightly in the night, Gao Hai gradually began to have some thoughts.

It's best not to do that, teacher~

But before he could actually act, Alice's voice suddenly rang in his mind, causing his body to stiffen instantly.

Immediately afterward, a strong, chilling sense of terror surged through his body. Gao Hai's breathing became erratic for a moment, his eyes widened, and all the muscles in his body twitched involuntarily as he struggled to keep from collapsing.

Can't go any further.

The mountain god is now in such a state that we can no longer approach him.

While Alice genuinely wanted to reward her incredibly lucky teacher, getting too close like this was absolutely out of the question. If the teacher didn't want to die so inexplicably, if she didn't want her hard-won life to end like this, it was best to keep her distance. That way, Alice could continue to offer hints, and the teacher would have the opportunity to continue receiving help from Alice.

The girl's playful voice reminded me.

Gao Hai closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The lush primeval forest, the murmuring place entwined with crimson flowers and vines, shimmered in his pupils.

Neither Hayasaka nor Kita could see this scene; the former had low perception, while the latter's mental energy was completely enveloped by Takami, preventing him from actively probing. Of course, the more important reason might be the parasite that Takami's body had never been completely eradicated, originating from that uncontrollable entity within him.

It's just an illusion.

Although the scene was incredibly terrifying, Gao Hai knew it was just his own hallucination.

However, if he continues to approach the location of the mountain god, and if he really tries it recklessly, some things that originally only existed in his imagination may become real.