AnalogHorror: Rule Kaidan 4016
Chapter 771 - 354 Heading to "Gallery" _2

Chapter 771: Chapter 354 Heading to "Gallery" _2

In front of the World Tree, there is a massive stone platform, which is bare except for a pedestal on it.

Lin Yi’s attention was drawn to the ruined insignia carved on the platform, intricate knots adorned the insignia, with the surviving parts resembling a fusion of weapons and the moon. It looked very much like the symbols on tarot cards or those used in certain ancient rituals.

"That is the totem of the ’Black Moon Outpost’, signifying ’vigilance and struggle’." Old Mo glanced at the complex lines and marks on the broken insignia and explained.

Passing behind the World Tree, a fork in the gallery emerged with a post full of signboards.

Lin Yi’s eyes lit up; it was clearly a signpost from inside the Art Building, directing to various areas within. Apart from some that had been marked with an "×" sign in paint, like "Altar" and "Observatory," the slightly damaged signposts indicated:

’Gallery ←’

’Art Classroom →’

’Sculpture Classroom →’

’Watchtower ←’

...

Lin Yi inspected the signboards that had been smeared with red paint and then said puzzledly, "Old Mo, there’s no sign for the ’Bell Tower’. How should we proceed?"

Old Mo simply glanced at the signpost and said, "The Bell Tower is located in the core area of the Art Building. Once you find the Gallery, you can determine the position of the Bell Tower."

"Gallery?" Lin Yi was slightly startled, and the rules of the Art Department immediately surfaced in his mind.

[You can appreciate the works of other art masters in the gallery. The gallery contains not only paintings, but the only works you are allowed to stop and admire are paintings.]

[If you want to enter the gallery, please meet at least one of the following conditions: 1. Accompanied by an art teacher; 2. Being chased by a sculpture (limited to Alien Sculpture or Angel Sculpture).]

The condition was indeed met as they were being chased by a Sneering Angel.

Besides, the Boss had also mentioned that when necessary, he could choose to adhere to the Sports Student Code while opting not to follow the Experience Student’s regulations... So does that mean he could also selectively abide by the "Art Department Code"?

Before he could figure it out, Old Mo had already started walking toward the Gallery.

Lin Yi quickly followed, thinking to himself that he was being hasty. They had already taken a path completely unbound by rules to the Art Building with Old Mo, without even knowing what rules were followed—what the hell was the point of adhering to any goddamn rules...

In Old Mo’s words, it was about "relative rules," similar to an implicit rule that actually exists both in the regulations for Experience Students and Sports Students—unconditional obedience to all commands issued by security guards, and absolute trust in them.

That’s exactly why they could mindlessly follow the security guard when in trouble, without needing to consider what path the guard had led them on.

Perhaps Old Mo is in a similar situation now?

Possessing a sense of superiority that says, "My rules are above yours"?

So following Old Mo is actually the "rule" they should adhere to at the moment?

Lin Yi felt that this was exactly the case now.

The hall of the Art Building seemed to be an area tending towards circularity. Just like an Ancient Roman dueling arena, it was intersected with corridors that could easily lose you without the direction of signposts.

For some corridors actually contain those dark corners where ’Obsession Sculptures’ with grudges lurk.

And the road leading to the Art Classroom is about a hundred and twenty or thirty meters in that direction, then you will arrive at "Art Classroom-VI".

But if Lin Yi remembered correctly, when Mu Daxian left Art Classroom-VI with Maozi and returned to the Art Building Hall, it seemed like they came down from a spiral staircase.

At this point, Lin Yi realized that the Art Classroom was not a single-story room, but a large classroom that occupied at least two floors, after all, an interior layout similar to an ancient European opera house indeed fits the design logic of several floors.

For example, the door to Art Classroom-VI that Maozi entered was on the first floor, and when they left, Mu Daxian took him to the door on the second floor, and then took the stairs down to the first floor.

The two continued to advance cautiously through the dark corridors, the wind here was also brisk, pushing them forward from behind. If one wasn’t careful, one could fall to the ground, but despite this, Lin Yi never thought about leaning on a wall or anything, after all, in those pitch-dark places under the lamps, God knows what was lurking.

The light screen held by the big eyeballs in Mu Daxian’s hands had shrunk quite a bit compared to before, the supernatural power inside the big eyeballs was depleting faster and faster, and it wouldn’t be long before they could only rely on the dim candlelight in the corridors for illumination.

Watching the slowly contracting range of light, Lin Yi’s heart gradually grew tense, the number of big eyeballs was indeed large, but they seemed not very durable.

Old Mo also noticed this and couldn’t help but frown.

"It seems, an inevitable fierce battle looms ahead..."

Lin Yi, upon hearing this, subconsciously clenched his teeth: "No need for niceties... I’ll cooperate with the recharge if needed."

"Don’t worry, I’ll leave you some room to breathe," Old Mo responded unabashedly, after all, sincerity is always the ultimate skill.

And Lin Yi also experienced the power of this ultimate skill, after all, if Old Mo wasn’t a little bit restrained, he really might kill him.

After following Old Mo through the corridors for a while, Lin Yi noticed that the wind in the corridor had died down quite a bit, even the sound of the wind seemed to be subsiding.

But what followed was a grey mist that began to diffuse through the corridors.

"Grey Mist..." Old Mo muttered, "Looks like we’re close."

He glanced at the big eyeballs in his hand, then stepped into the grey mist.

"Kid, from now on... I won’t have the luxury to look after you. Stick close to me, and in any situation, don’t use your ’Identity Anchor’ to ground yourself in your heart, it would be strenuous for us," Old Mo’s admonishing voice echoed in his ear, "The only anchor you may use is ’being by my side’, understood?"

"Understood," Lin Yi said with an extremely solemn expression, following Old Mo into the grey mist.

The grey mist floated like fluffy cotton on the flagstones of the corridor, walking on it gave a cool sensation and a very subtle sense of obstruction.

At first, Lin Yi didn’t feel anything, but after a few steps out, he suddenly noticed something amiss.

"Old Mo... this mist?"

Lin Yi felt that just below the calves where the mist covered, the flow of supernatural power seemed to be slightly affected, even the circulation of his blood seemed to slow down, and that’s why he felt that cool sensation.

This wasn’t a change in the perceived temperature but suppression of his bodily vitality.

"This is one of the many complex traits of Grey Mist... ’Rejection’," Old Mo said, "When it’s dense enough, it will suppress all supernatural powers except the grey ones within it..."

"While we’re in the Grey Mist, we’re unable to receive effective supplements of supernatural power, especially me, as I’m not a ’living person’, the Grey Mist’s ’inductive’ effect on me is far stronger than on you, and also, my ’Domain’ trait allows me to forcibly absorb the supernatural power of all Polluters within the domain with a Pollution Depth below me, but in the Grey Mist, my Domain will also absorb the grey supernatural power, so on this side of the Grey Mist, I’m the most likely to be ’turned’..."

Upon hearing this, Lin Yi nearly exclaimed, we’re not buddies after all, so in the end, I’m like a leaking nuclear power station and you’re like Ah-San’s nuke? Not only is the trajectory random, but even the damn impact point is random?

Indeed, wherever there’s a Wolong, there must be a young phoenix... damn!