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

A chilling atmosphere has returned.

It was at this moment that Xiaohua noticed that the dark house was filled with dolls of all shapes and sizes.

Chapter 8: The Distorted Dolls and the Messages Transmitted in the Twisted Illusion

A chilling feeling, far more intense than when he faced the long-necked monster before, enveloped Xiao Hua's senses at this moment.

My heart started racing because of an instinctive sense of crisis.

Something has its eyes on me.

Such a strong intuition quickly surfaced in the girl's consciousness and took root rapidly.

Even though the other party hadn't truly revealed its appearance yet, and with the red light protecting it, theoretically it shouldn't be able to be directly locked onto. But at this moment, Yurikawa Hana couldn't help but have this thought, feeling like a lost traveler in a desolate mountain, discovered by a predator lurking in the shadows, and being quietly followed.

However, a lost traveler may not know whether a tiger or a black bear is following behind him, but Xiao Hua knows very well that there is something ruthless, possessing extraordinary power, and that cannot be killed by simple physical means. It is currently sharing a room with her, and that thing must already know of her existence.

Hehehe... Hahahaha...

The sound of laughter, like a cacophony of many voices, suddenly rang out in the dark mansion.

There was no way to identify the source of the sounds; they came from all directions, from every corner of the mansion. It was as if countless invisible dark beings lurked around the girl, watching her, grinning and laughing at her.

The sound of footsteps could be heard mixed in with the others, gradually approaching.

It was like someone's breathing gradually fading away from my side, slowly leaving this place.

One sound after another mingled together, making it impossible to discern any useful information. At this moment, Xiaohua could only stand helplessly in place, trying her best to distinguish the useful information and try to find out the enemy's true location.

"call……"

Then, the girl suddenly shuddered uncontrollably, and her breath was accompanied by a wisp of white mist.

It's getting cold.

One second I felt nothing, and the next I felt like I had fallen into an ice cave, so cold that I was shivering all over.

The ability to alter perceived temperature—the divine being had indeed mentioned this. This means that the [Twilight-level monster] has definitely detected my presence. Even if it can't pinpoint my exact location while protected by the red light, it can likely deduce that I, having just banished its [creation], am somewhere near the first-floor living room. That's why it's creating various illusions in this area, trying to lure me into revealing my weaknesses.

It must be hiding somewhere here.

It's even possible that it's already standing right in front of me, but I just can't feel it or see it.

"Huh...huh..."

While trying to maintain steady breathing, the girl carefully moved forward.

Regardless, the best thing to do now is to leave the living room, to leave this place. The living room was already badly damaged, with debris everywhere. If I stay here, my every move will likely be detected. Only by going somewhere else can I truly hide my whereabouts and escape from that thing.

Finally, Xiao Hua took a step.

Hehehe... Hahaha... Want to play games together... Let's play... Play with us...

The children's dolls sitting by the wall suddenly burst into laughter, emitting innocent calls.

Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you!

Several dolls sitting in the kitchen not far away started singing. As the song began, Xiaohua noticed that the originally dilapidated living room had become brightly lit, with colorful balloons hanging everywhere. In the middle of the living room, there was a large table with a beautiful fruit cake on it.

How is this going?

Xiao Hua realized that just by blinking, the scene before her eyes suddenly changed, becoming warm and cozy, like a family birthday party about to begin.

Come and play!

A doll, suspended in mid-air by a rope around its neck, opened its arms and extended an invitation with a hearty laugh.

Come and play with us!

One of the dolls, pinned to the ground by a car, reached out its hand, smiling and extending an invitation.

More and more dolls appeared around us.

The tiny dolls stood in the corner of the living room, on the chairs, on the tables, on the walls and the ceiling, in every place within sight.

They laughed incessantly, their bodies trembling as if in a seizure, being either hung up, crushed, dissected, beheaded, or had their bones broken.

Blood seeped from the doll's body.

The dolls were stained with blood.

The ground was already submerged in blood, and the girl's feet were soaked in blood.

It got colder.

The cold air, carried by the blood, soaks through shoes and socks, travels to the skin of the feet, and then spreads throughout the body.

Even though she already knew from Gao Hai that it was all just an illusion, Xiao Hua still couldn't calm down and couldn't remain composed in the face of such bizarre changes in the scene.

Calm down, calm down, this isn't real, none of this is real!

The girl kept repeating this to herself in her mind, and even pinched her palm hard with her nails, using the pain to ensure that she could concentrate.

The eerie creature lurking around you is likely a child or someone with a strong childhood trauma.

Xiao Hua tried hard to get her mind working, carefully recalling what she had heard in that golden space.

[These strange creatures can be seen, in a sense, as the ultimate expression of emotions and feelings; they are fundamentally incapable of possessing human rationality and thought processes. While exceptions exist, and some strange creatures do exhibit a degree of cognitive ability, they are inevitably limited by their own inherent characteristics. Their past experiences as humans, and the cognition built from their own emotions and reason, allow them to construct their own fundamental rules after becoming strange creatures. It is this power derived from these rules that gives strange creatures overwhelming strength, but also grants them weaknesses they are destined to have.]

These strange creatures from the "hospital," while retaining some degree of cognitive ability, are far less agile than human thought. In fact, precisely because they retain some consciousness, they can sometimes be more foolish than fully mechanized creatures. Whether you can exploit this depends on your observation and judgment. You must understand that when these creatures use their power to try and deceive you, the methods they choose will reflect their own characteristics to some extent, including the "artworks" they create. You must try to understand and analyze why they do this, why they believe that such methods can sway you, harm you, and capture you.

That's right, the key lies in understanding, in correctly understanding and analyzing the characteristics of the opponent's force, and thus deducing the opponent's weaknesses.

The creation of the illusion of dolls, simulating a scene of children celebrating their birthdays and adults and children enjoying themselves together, reveals a strong correlation with family elements.

The dolls that mimic gruesome corpses in various ways could indicate extreme emotional changes or overly intense traumatic experiences. In other words, this eerie creature either actually witnessed these gruesome corpses in its lifetime or imagined them in its mind more than once.

Ultimately, the person transformed into this "work of art" by this grotesque object was likely the mother in this family. It compensated for her pain and resentment in a distorted way, stuffing disobedient children into her mouth, forcing her to feed her unappreciative husband with disgusting grease, and even giving her the heavenly sound she craved. While the final effect is utterly repulsive, the very act of choosing the mother as the subject of the work speaks volumes.

So, is this strange creature a mother or a child?

Mr. Gao Hai said that because the object of obsession possesses a strong eerie aura, it cannot be concealed by hallucinations, and one can immediately sense its unusual presence upon seeing it. I've already checked the rooms on the third floor and found nothing, and I don't think there's anything in the living room either. So, the next thing to focus on are the rooms on the second and first floors that I haven't visited yet.

The bloody color continued to spread.

However, Xiaohua, who had gradually calmed down, wasn't overly frightened. She had learned from Gao Hai that these strange creatures could only create limited illusions; they couldn't conjure up powerful illusions like hiding a door or completely altering the layout of a house. At most, they could only create some frightening noises. Their real threat lay in their ability to modify living people and the mental erosion effect of close contact. The former was protected by red light, so there wasn't much to worry about; as for the latter, at least for the time being, it didn't pose a threat.

Thinking this, Xiaohua lowered her head and looked at the data displayed on her phone screen.

[Willpower: 84%]

It's already dropped by 5% in just a few minutes?!

Never mind, we have to take action now!

Without further hesitation, Xiaohua patted her chest forcefully to encourage herself and began to move forward, wading through the bloody water.

As she moved forward, she could feel her feet kicking up various debris in the living room, knowing that her actions must have attracted the attention of the thing hiding inside. But she couldn't worry about that now; she could only quicken her pace and try to find a place where she wouldn't be easily noticed before attempting to search for the object of the other's obsession.

Are you here, big sister?

All the lights went out the moment Xiaohua stepped out of the living room.

In the pitch black, only the crimson light emanating from the phone screen continued to flicker, protecting the girl amidst the crackling noise.

But she could already hear heavy footsteps slowly following behind her.

And a chilling breath blew against the back of my neck.

Big sister, do you know where Mommy went?

Amidst the dull, emotionless words, something brushed against the girl's back, as if someone was groping behind her, searching for her location, and actually touched her.

This sudden touch completely stunned Xiao Hua, who had been barely managing to maintain a normal mindset.

Hallucinations have no substance and cannot provide a real tactile experience. At most, they might create an illusion by mixing with the cold aura of the strange object, like the blood just now. But the feeling of being touched by something is absolutely impossible to simulate. At that moment, I must have really been touched by something.

Why didn't the protection trigger when the phone indicated bloodshed?

Could it be that this thing, this strange creature, can actually touch me?!

"Here you are, big sister. Excuse me, could you please give my mother back to me?"

The small doll had already lowered itself in front of Xiaohua, looking at her with its dark eyes and speaking softly to her.

Two hands reached out from behind and gently embraced her.

slam-la-

The relentless downpour seemed to fall on the dark city without ever stopping.

In this residential area shrouded in rain, the once peaceful and comfortable atmosphere has vanished, replaced by an eerie and gloomy ambiance, and the shadowy figures of things lurking in the darkness, peering at every door and window.

"Ugh... I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Yotsuya Miko sat on the ground with her back against the wall. Noticing the movement beside her, she tilted her head slightly, smiled at the person next to her, and said...

Two clearly visible blood holes remained on her face.

After gouging out her own eyes, Miko has shown no intention of regaining them, continuing to act as if she were blind. Of course, having already received multiple blessings, even without her eyes, Miko can clearly perceive her surroundings and it doesn't affect her actions at all. However, even if she says so, the person beside her still wouldn't feel at ease.

"What nonsense are you talking about? Such an injury... such an injury... what are you going to do now that you've seen her?"

Seeing her daughter's trembling fingers, the mother wanted to touch her daughter's cheek, but dared not actually touch it. In the end, she could only look at her with tears in her eyes, trying her best to suppress her sobs.

The two of them were currently in Gao Hai's own residence in the real world, in the storage room in the backyard.

Because she forgot to close the window, Miko, who was under special attention from the enemy, had to flee here with her mother to hide. Xiaohua was too busy to protect her, and Miko didn't even dare to show that she cared too much about Xiaohua. She could only abandon her and run away, then hide in this place with only one door and no windows.

If only we could start over when I opened the window instead of when I went down to the living room on the first floor. That time was already too late. Xiaohua… she is now…

Seeing Zi's heavy heart, despite having heard Gao Hai's promise to find Xiao Hua more than once, she still felt uncertain and couldn't put her mind at ease about her carefree friend in the current situation.

[Sizzle... sizzle sizzle...]

The only light source in the storage room, namely Miko's red-glowing cell phone, suddenly emitted a piercing noise.

"Mom, what's the new message?"

Knowing that Gao Hai was relaying the message, Jianzi immediately asked, and Jianzi's mother also quickly picked up her phone and looked at the text on it.

"Hey, this is... it says here that Xiaohua has been found. She's still alive, and her location is about 150 meters away from us."