Rules-related weird stories: 4016

Chapter 338: Stage Two of the Road - "Safety Boundary"

Old Mo nodded. "Da Vinci was also the founder of sculpture in the art department… Thinking about it that way, don't you feel a lot more balanced?"

Balanced my ass… I feel even more unbalanced!" Lin Yi was speechless, thinking to himself, why do the figures mentioned in textbooks seem more and more confusing now?

But to be fair, it's no wonder those Enlightenment thinkers who engaged in art during the Renaissance were not only good at painting but also proficient in sculpture and architecture. It turns out that from that time on, the discipline of 'art' was far more complex than it appeared on the surface!

Lin Yi was even beginning to suspect that the existence of the Louvre might be the so-called 'gallery' mentioned in the art building?

Filled with masterpieces by art masters, and each piece… is carrying extraordinary characteristics comparable to old kerosene lamps?

On the surface, it looks like the 'Mona Lisa's Smile,' but in reality, it's the 'Grim Reaper's Smile' to the Nightwalkers?

Old Mo continued to explain: "The 'Heliocentric Theory'… was initially proposed by the 'Apostles,' but at that time… never mind, this knowledge point is too advanced. In short, the initial 'Heliocentric Theory' was an exploration of the source of pollution by the Apostles, but it was accidentally leaked out, and it's not the same field of thought as the later 'Heliocentric Theory.'"

"The 'Heliocentric Theory' in science is just a major event that deliberately manipulates public opinion to form a corresponding 'anchor' in that matter."

Old Mo explained fluently, even feeling a bit carried away, while Lin Yi began to glance at his watch from time to time.

Old Mo wasn't in a hurry, but he was getting a little anxious.

It wasn't for any other reason, but because Old Mo was explaining and explaining, yet he was still standing still?

"Um… Old Mo."

Lin Yi couldn't help but call out to Old Mo.

Old Mo turned his head: "What's wrong?"

Lin Yi wiped away some sweat and asked in a low voice, "Although I don't really understand, I still want to ask presumptuously, are we… not moving? I mean, after we left Guihai Tide, are we just waiting here?"

Just now, Old Mo said "Follow me" and led him headfirst into the mist, but he circled back after not walking far, as if he had gone out on patrol.

Hearing this, Old Mo's eyebrows curved slightly, and he nodded. "That's right, we just need to wait like this."

"Oh?"

Old Mo said, "You can understand it this way: inside a machine, although there are a large number of operating parts, some things remain in a constant position, such as the basic framework, or, for example, the… screws that fix the framework."

Old Mo dropped the branch in his hand and gently stroked the incomplete red paint numbers on the broken lamppost.

"These lampposts… are the 'screws'?" Lin Yi asked in surprise.

Old Mo's mouth twitched. "Cough… I just praised you for your good comprehension, but now you're using such a superficial analogy?"

"Uh…" Lin Yi couldn't help but scratch the back of his head awkwardly.

"They used to be."

Old Mo said, "But since the Black Moon Outpost experienced the cleansing of the Doomsday, they have been scrapped… I'm telling you about the framework and fixed points not to explain that this lamppost is that kind of thing, but to guide you to think about…"

"Besides those things, there is also something… that will accumulate with the existence of the framework and fixed points."

Lin Yi immediately frowned. He imagined a precise instrument in his mind but couldn't imagine anything else that fit what Old Mo said, because the word "framework" encompassed many things.

Seeing that Lin Yi couldn't figure it out for a moment, Old Mo said, "Although you are good at thinking, you are always influenced by fixed patterns… I'll just tell you directly."

Lin Yi pursed his lips and nodded seriously.

Old Mo slowly uttered two words: "'Dust'."

"Dust…?" Lin Yi's pupils shook violently, and his mind exploded!

"As the machine runs, some of the dust will be slowly blown into the corners. If it's not cleaned, it will turn into cobwebs or even other dirt."

"These abandoned lampposts have become dust."

"When they are abandoned, they will drift with the current, and eventually, like floating garbage, they will be pushed to a stable dead corner and get stuck. These abandoned lampposts, in relation to the Green Forest Belt, are like floating garbage in relation to a river."

Lin Yi took a deep breath of cold air: "Then we… could it be that because we couldn't find the framework, we found some relatively easier-to-find dust instead?"

Old Mo patted him on the shoulder: "You're quick to grasp this point. The framework of the school district is divided into many layers. Those close to the surface are relatively easier to find, but some of the inner layers involving the Art Building are very difficult to find."

"Don't even mention finding the framework; even finding the screws is too difficult."

"So, I took a step back and located an area through dust, and this area is the approximate location where the screws exist."

Lin Yi understood what he meant and asked, "But what does this have to do with the second stage of the road?"

Old Mo looked into the depths of the mist and said in a composed manner, "I don't look at the mountain; the mountain comes to me."

"Gah…?"

"Almost there, look there."

Old Mo gently raised his hand, signaling Lin Yi to look.

Lin Yi quickly moved his gaze forward along Old Mo's finger, and he was shocked by what he saw.

"That is…?"

Not far in front of him was the intersection of the depths of the Green Forest Belt and the edge of the dense forest, the place where light and shadow divided.

The dense fog, like a huge, flowing white curtain, spread wildly through the jungle. Although it was already night, some of the fog was still dyed white by an unknown light, as if it had been given some sacred radiance.

Each tiny droplet of fog shimmered with a hazy light, like countless tiny stars floating within. The cold moonlight struggled to penetrate the layers of branches and leaves, forming straight columns of pale yellow light, clearly visible in the fog, as if guiding a path to a strange world.

The trees here were outlined with blurred contours by the soft light, and the moss on the trunks was a bright green, as if the light had awakened its vitality.

Behind the columns of light, on the dark side, the fog became even more eerie, and the shadows swallowed everything like an invisible beast. The fog was like the cold air it exhaled, icy and thick.

In the mist and darkness, the trees were reduced to enormous, twisted black shadows, like hideous monsters lurking in the dark. Occasionally, a few points of eerie green phosphorescence flickered in the darkness, perhaps the eyes of some unknown creature spying on this mysterious border.

The silence was amplified here, broken only by the faint sound of the fog flowing, like the heavy breathing emanating from the depths of darkness, sending chills down one's spine.

On this dividing line between light and darkness, it was as if two completely different worlds existed, one filled with the unknown, fear, gloom, and terror, and the other even more unknown, more terrifying, more gloomy, and even more horrifying.

There was no safety, nor did it exist; only danger and boundless peril.

"But this place…" A sense of confusion arose in Lin Yi's heart. "Kuai Kuai directly crossed this boundary into the depths back then… Lao Mo went to so much trouble just to come here?"

"Lao Mo…" Lin Yi asked softly, "What is that place?"

He naturally knew what that place was, but the content he knew lacked a bit of the "official" feel, so he still wanted to hear Lao Mo's "official explanation."

Lao Mo looked at the dividing line between light and shadow ahead and said, "That is the school district's 'safe boundary'."

"The school district's… 'safe boundary'?!"

"As long as you don't cross that 'safe boundary,' even if you get lost in the Green Forest Belt, you still have a chance to be rescued by security."

"But if you cross that boundary, you will most likely just be waiting to die."

"Because it is a boundary line, it is not a specific point…" Lao Mo pointed to the beams of light cast by the cold moonlight over there, "Look closely, the boundary is constantly extending, isn't it?"

"Do you remember? The school is built in a mountainous area, and almost every building is surrounded by a Green Forest Belt, and in the depths of the Green Forest Belt, such a dividing line exists…"

"And the location I brought you to is like a tangent point on the dividing line. Crossing from here is the shortest route."

Lin Yi suddenly understood: "Then the area behind the safe boundary, the area where the lamppost with the red paint number is located, will become a 'tangent point' at a certain moment?"

"That's right…" Lao Mo said, "The inside of the machine is always running. Instead of us going to find it, it's better to stay in one place and wait for it to come."

"When the bus closes its doors and drives, trying to force your way on will only lead to your death… unless you're Jackie Chan."

"But when it pulls into the station and opens its doors, getting on is much easier."

"Bus! Station!" A sense of clarity instantly arose in Lin Yi's heart. "No wonder Mu Daxian brought Maozi so close to here back then, but they never crossed this boundary, while Kuai Kuai and Shan Nan crossed the boundary!"

Looking back now, Lin Yi did indeed discover that the place Shan Nan escaped from back then had a lamppost with a red paint number!

And that lamppost with the red paint number was specifically found and pointed out to him by Kuai Hongji!

Lin Yi couldn't help but ask again, "Lao Mo, would it be useful to pull out this lamppost?"

Lao Mo said speechlessly, "Are you an idiot? Dust can float here, not because dust is so good at floating, but because it's worthless!"

"Pulling it out won't do much good. No matter where you throw it, it will eventually float to a similar fixed point, understand?"

"But if you're talking about usefulness…"

"Don't look at how incomplete the red paint number on this lamppost is, but it's still an old antique that's been handled so much it's almost covered in patina. Some of the residual charm is still there, so picking it up as a self-defense weapon is still possible."

"But anyone with a slightly normal brain wouldn't choose this thing if they had a choice."

"You have the ability to get a lamppost, why not borrow a light from the gymnasium? It's stupid and presumptuous to go to the trouble of pulling out a lamppost and being restricted by the area…"

Lin Yi quickly shut his mouth, secretly wiping a sweat for Shan Nan in his heart. He suddenly felt that Shan Nan was different from others.

The more he understood others, the more he felt they were awesome, like Lao Da, Mu Daxian, and even Liangzi… But how come Shan Nan's value in his heart was getting lower and lower?

Lin Yi didn't know if it was because Shan Nan couldn't win in a fight or in an argument at crucial moments, so much so that just one high-profile raid had ruined his originally decent image.

"That's about enough, let's go." Lao Mo patted Lin Yi's shoulder, then adjusted the comfort of his backpack and took the lead to walk out.

Lin Yi quickly followed.

Soon, the two arrived at the dividing line between light and shadow—the "safe boundary."

Standing in front of the safe boundary, there was a sense of beautiful imagery, as if standing under the aurora in a long night, giving a indescribable feeling.

It was only at this moment, under the illumination of the light, that Lin Yi discovered that the soil at his feet was actually undergoing some subtle wriggling!

It was a strange sense of twisting and extending, just like the way the cobblestone roads he had encountered several times before twisted when the school district map layer fell!

"Don't look, it's disgusting to look at." Lao Mo called out and then stepped over the safe boundary.

Lin Yi followed closely and stepped over as well.

Just as he crossed the safe boundary, a gust of cold and inexplicable wind suddenly swept out from his ear, bringing a cold and ethereal eerie call.

【Lin Yi…】

"Huff—"

This call, like a drop of cold water, slid down along the safe boundary and accurately hit the back of his neck. Then, a terrifying chill went straight to his spine, like thousands of ice needles gently pricking his spine…

【Lin Yi…】

This familiar yet unfamiliar voice rang in his ears again. However, at first glance, it was not the call of the grinning angel or the alien angel (Necropolis), nor was it like the call that appeared several times in the vision in the gymnasium, accompanied by the "clang clang clang" sound of iron chains…

But it was this kind of call that had an indescribable sense of familiarity.

【Lin Yi…】

【Lin…】

"Bang!"

The eerie and cold voice suddenly stopped abruptly after several unhurried calls, as if a mosquito flying around the ear had suddenly been slapped to death, suddenly becoming quiet.

Lin Yi was stunned, but Lao Mo's face appeared in front of him.

Lao Mo's hand, he didn't know when, was placed on his shoulder.