AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 527 - 236 Under the Cobblestone_2

Chapter 527: Chapter 236 Under the Cobblestone_2

The covering of sky-blue vapor diluted the force that caused the distortion of layers, hence the cracks started to shrink again.

It could be said that the magma-like tomato sauce hidden beneath the cobblestone road’s layer, its existence, limited the breakdown and fall of layers, tethering the cafeteria’s layer firmly within a "safe" range.

A quite magical linear relationship.

—At least, during the sunlit day, it was like this.

But one could also imagine, when the night comes and the sunlight greatly diminishes, the tomato sauce would not be able to efficiently produce such sky-blue vapor, and the fall of layers would become an inevitable outcome.

Having realized this, he slowly adjusted his breathing, intentionally withdrawing from the state of "My Vision," planning to immediately share this discovery with everyone.

As his vision retreated, the sky-blue vapor he could observe gradually dimmed, and the bloody scent was once again overpowered by the smell of earth.

The sunlight on his body began to exude a warm breath, and Lin Yi felt as if he was returning to the human world from a grey one.

He glanced down at his watch.

6:48.

The "Perception" just now, seemed not to have taken up much of his time.

There was a feeling that time had been stretched.

"What’s up?" Tian Bufan inquired.

"I’ve made a very magical discovery just now..." Lin Yi shared his finding.

Upon hearing this, Tian Bufan’s eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"What’s wrong? Is there a problem?" Lin Yi asked, puzzled.

Tian Bufan said, "This discovery is interesting... but I thought you would have found some clues related to ’Malice.’

Lin Yi was about to shake his head, but Tian Bufan’s mention instead led him to an epiphany: "Do you have a discovery? Or rather... do you have an idea?"

"What other ideas could there be, didn’t we just talk about it?" Tian Bufan spoke, "Since Malice has been diluted, it means it’s not in this layer. I thought you would search this layer..."

"Ah? Young Master Tian, are you overestimating me? Can I actually actively search for layers?" Lin Yi said in surprise, thinking to himself, when on earth did I gain this ability?

"You just said, if you drop through a layer something would happen, and I thought that’s what you meant." Tian Bufan said expressionlessly, "It seems I overestimated you."

"..." Lin Yi was rendered silent.

Brother, I was talking about self-preservation, how could you think I was talking about methods?

But... wait a minute, come to think of it...

The root of the problem seemed to still revolve around... the perception of layers?

"Young Master Tian already believes I can sense ’layers’? Does he have that much confidence in me?"

Lin Yi began to feel the despondency of not meeting a teacher’s expectations during a final exam...

"The inspiration I have is not enough to enable me to explore layers... but since you can’t do it either for now, let’s leave it at that," Tian Bufan said indifferently, "You still need to continue ’adapting.’

"I’m already like this, haven’t I adapted well enough?" Lin Yi was somewhat puzzled, he had improved so much compared to May 6th.

Tian Bufan gave him a faint glance: "First grade has the standards of first grade, sixth grade has the standards of sixth grade... If you take a second grade exam with a first-grader’s level, you’ll only end up with unsatisfactory results."

Lin Yi was taken aback: "Are you saying... my adaptation speed still isn’t meeting your expectations?"

"It’s not my expectations," Tian Bufan replied, "but... indeed, there is a standard."

"Is it to prepare for the ’Grey Mist Invasion’?" Lin Yi couldn’t help narrowing his eyes, "Young Master Tian, did you already know the ’Grey Mist Invasion’ was going to happen?"

"I’ve said it before; the information I know is also unfolded bit by bit," Tian Bufan spoke, "But there is no doubt that some concept-like things must have been in my mind for a long time. But for some reason, even I can only gradually access them..."

"Right, however, I don’t know about the ’Grey Mist Invasion’... but when you just mentioned this concept, I seemed to suddenly ’recall’ some related information."

Lin Yi’s eyes lit up, "What kind of information?"

"What it looks like isn’t important for now... We need to figure out what exactly that ’malice’ was all about." Tian Bufan gave Wei Liang a look, "Why can’t some people feel the malice, while only we could?"

"That indicates the ’malice’ is targeted."

"We don’t know why we’ve become its ’targets’."

"Old Lin... this goes against my exploration plan."

"In my plan, we shouldn’t draw attention... at least, not at this point in time as it would increase the difficulty of our exploration."

"So, even if we can’t find the source of the ’malice’, we at least must not be completely ignorant about it." Tian Bufan emphasized seriously, "We can be at a disadvantage, but we cannot afford to be clueless about it. Identifying the reason would allow us to take precautions in advance."

Lin Yi nodded, but his mood inevitably became somewhat heavy.

The group continued moving forward on the cobblestone path, walking while vigilantly observing their surroundings.

Only Wei Liang, with his lack of sensitivity, was still quickening his pace, truly displaying an attitude of ignorance is courage.

"Old Lin, you guys walk so slowly, if it were time for dinner, by the time you reach the cafeteria with your snail’s pace, the streetlights would be on. Forget about having a meal, even a trip to the convenience store to steal something wouldn’t have enough time!"

Wei Liang noiselessly patted the lamppost beside him, with an expression as if he had been waiting so long that the streetlights were about to thank him and go out.

But his action inadvertently drew Lin Yi’s attention to the streetlight pole beside his hand.

"Liangzi!" Lin Yi suddenly called out, then rushed over as if he had discovered something.

"Fuck, Old Lin, what the hell are you doing?!" Wei Liang’s heart tightened in fear and he quickly embraced the lamppost.

"Don’t hug it, this lamppost has no number!" Lin Yi’s target was the lamppost. As soon as he spoke, he scared Wei Liang into pushing away from the lamppost violently, like a ruthless man breaking up without a second thought.

Lin Yi arrived at the lamppost and observed it repeatedly, "This is it! This is it!"

"What, what is it?" Wei Liang was frightened by Lin Yi’s actions. He wanted to go over and touch him as if Lin Yi had gone mad, but he didn’t dare to.

"Young Master Tian, keep an eye on me! I think I’ve found that ’malice’!" Lin Yi reached out and gently touched the lamppost, then suddenly seemed to remember something and crouched down, using the technique taught by Mu Daxian in his dream to clear away the weeds at the base and found a string of numbers.

"Cafeteria-051"

"’Cafeteria-051’, it really is a numbered lamppost," Lin Yi murmured to himself, "This lamppost had its number erased by the pseudo-human experiencee yesterday!"

"So..."

He stepped past the lamppost, walking out of the area of the cobblestone path.

"Old Lin! What the fuck are you doing?!" When Wei Liang saw this, he immediately became anxious. He rushed over and grabbed Lin Yi’s arm, pulling him back regardless of whether Lin Yi was out of his mind or not.

"Are you possessed? Be careful or you may slip down into the Green Forest Belt!" Wei Liang scolded with a touch of real concern in his eyes.

Lin Yi replied, "Liangzi, I’m fine, besides, it’s flat land ahead, don’t worry."

"Flat my ass? Isn’t that a slope over there? Have you... really spaced out?" Wei Liang instinctively reached out to touch Lin Yi’s forehead.

But Lin Yi’s complexion turned pale, and he abruptly turned his head to look at the lamppost beside him.

Beyond the weeds of the lamppost, there was indeed no flat ground, but... a slope!

He had just... experienced a distortion in his perception!