Deep in the Living -
Chapter 104 - 98: Talisman
Chapter 104: Chapter 98: Talisman
Tap!
Unconsciously, the tongue-snapping sound pulled Luo Di back to reality.
He then realized that he had already boarded the bus, and even sat in his usual habit of the last row by the window.
Outside the window, there was no scenery; the bus was rapidly traveling through a lengthy tunnel.
The entire bus was empty,
except for the driver at the wheel, who was wrapped in bandages like he was severely burnt, two hands seemingly tied tightly to the steering wheel.
Due to the view, Luo Di couldn’t observe the full picture, nor did he rashly get up to check on the driver’s condition.
He had not easily boarded this non-existent bus just to get off midway or to interrupt the driver; he simply waited quietly and continued his disguise as an ordinary passenger.
"Is this the requirement to go to the nursing home? To the extent of needing this much, truly stringent."
In less than five minutes, the bus gradually slowed down.
Not yet exiting the lengthy tunnel, but the destination had arrived.
Zzzt!
The brakes screeched, the front door opened.
Inside the bus, the red light turned on simultaneously, indicating the final stop had been reached.
The bandaged driver still sat at the wheel motionless, silently waiting for the passengers to disembark.
Since only the front door was open, Luo Di had to walk past the driver to get off the bus, a process that could potentially result in contact.
Yet, Luo Di did not take out the Zombie Blade from his backpack, but just pretended to be an ordinary person, empty-handedly walking towards the front door.
When he was almost parallel to the driver, he glanced sideways.
Through the gaps in the bandages, one could see that the driver was not only severely burnt but almost appeared mummified and extremely aged.
The eyeball that was not covered by the bandages was nearly shriveled and rigidly staring straight ahead, not looking at the disembarking passengers.
Just as Luo Di stepped off the stairs, Snap! The driver suddenly tore the bandages wrapped around the steering wheel.
Hearing that sound, Luo Di instinctively prepared for battle,
but the anticipated attack didn’t come; the driver only lifted his mummy-like arm, pointing towards the front windshield, as if indicating the direction Luo Di should go.
Zap!
His other hand also moved the switch for the high beam headlight.
The dark tunnel ahead was fully illuminated, with the exit about fifty meters away.
However, this semi-circular exit was blocked, sealed by the nursing home’s gate and walls; such a scene was obviously not possible in reality.
"So, this is already the Corner-like Space?"
After a false alarm, Luo Di stepped off the bus and first turned his head back.
The tunnel light at the rear of the bus had completely gone out, engulfed by darkness, running back would likely result in being swallowed into the ’Physical Corner’.
The spreading darkness loomed, and if he did not enter the nursing home within a certain period, it would engulf him.
"There’s no turning back, anyone who comes here only has one path—to head to the nursing home."
Luo Di didn’t stay in place but walked towards the nursing home’s gate at a normal walking speed.
Halfway through this merely fifty-meter journey,
Boom!
The bus behind him started up again.
This was a bus made with new energy technology, multi-motor driven, accelerating to a hundred meters in just 5.1s.
Luo Di only had two choices,
1. Run full speed toward the nursing home and pass through the iron gate.
2. Unleash all his strength in an instant when the bus is about to hit and dodge by rolling sideways.
As the bus began to accelerate, he made his decision inwardly. Even though the first method was the safest, Luo Di disliked the feeling of being "passive", and didn’t want to be led by the nose by others.
He turned around, facing the accelerating bus.
Bursts of heat were already spilling from his back, the muscles in his legs fully tensed, Luo Di’s focus reached unprecedented heights.
25m,
20m,
15m,
10m,
As it neared, just before Luo Di prepared to sidestep,
He suddenly felt an anomaly on his breast pocket, even glowing slightly.
The peace charm given by Yu Ze surprisingly unraveled by itself, floated towards the bus, entering through the window in a tricky angle, and adhered to the driver’s head.
Zzzt!!
The bus screeched to a halt, less than half a meter from Luo Di.
Just as he was marveling at the wonders of the peace charm, footsteps came from inside the bus, where no one should have been. Apparently, someone was about to get off.
...
[Ten minutes earlier]
Anna took her eyes off for less than two minutes, and Luo Di at the bus station had disappeared.
She sprinted over immediately, her huge frame and incredible speed causing the waiting crowd to scatter in fear.
Reaching the spot where Luo Di had just been sitting on the metal bench, she looked around but could not find anyone, not even a trace of his presence.
"Excuse me, did any of you notice a man here just now? A young man with black hair and yellow skin?"
People waiting around shook their heads; they were all either watching videos or chatting with friends, hardly noticing an unremarkable young man like Luo Di.
Anna was almost certain without checking the surveillance that Luo Di had succeeded. This incident, lingering for half a year, was still effective; their gamble had paid off.
But the most crucial issue arose—Luo Di had entered alone.
"Yu Ze!"
Anna immediately called out the name, the only hope for regrouping the team.
"Don’t worry, I’m here!" Yu Ze jogged over nonchalantly and sat directly on the metal bench, then rubbed the spot where Luo Di had just sat with his two fingers.
"Ooh, it’s still warm! Our friend must be feverish!"
Yu Ze pulled a yellow talisman from his attire, a hybrid of a Daoist robe and a casual shirt, and drew something on it with the same fingers he had used to touch the bench.
After finishing, he used an intricate technique to fold the yellow talisman into an origami bird and threw it into the air.
As soon as it left Yu Ze’s hand, the paper bird came to life and flew quickly into an adjacent alley.
Yu Ze’s demeanor changed abruptly to one of extreme seriousness, "Follow it!"
At his command,
both sprinted off at the same time,
Anna’s speed was ranked 30th in the city’s school league. Although her large frame and bone structure impacted her speed to some extent, she was not slow by any means.
She quickly caught up with the paper bird.
However, Anna noticed that Yu Ze, running beside her at the same speed, seemed to do so with remarkable ease, almost without a proper running form, as if he needed only to touch the ground with his toes to move swiftly.
The two wove through the alleys,
running for over twenty minutes before finally stopping,
in front of a dead-end alley that had no surveillance and was cluttered with household trash, foul-smelling and damp.
While Anna was catching her breath, before she could ask about the next steps,
a strange sword was already in Yu Ze’s hand, targeting the rubbish-laden wall in front of him, and he slashed diagonally.
Buzz!
The wall and trash remained intact.
However, a bizarre cut revealed itself as if a space had been sliced open.
The strange sword in Yu Ze’s hand also disassembled and disappeared with the opening of the space, as he gestured invitingly.
"Miss Anna, come quickly! This seam might close any time."
"Okay," as Anna ran over, she also asked, "Did you cut open a Corner-like Space?"
"To take a class in the Capital, one must have some unique skills, right?"
Both stepped into the slit and, in the blink of an eye, were inside the bus.
Seeing the driver now tagged with a yellow talisman, Yu Ze walked off the bus with a satisfied expression, "Phew~ I didn’t expect you to use the peace charm I gave you so soon.
Not bad, my friend. You actually managed to fool them with pure disguise.
Considering that the target is a seasoned Pseudo-Person, it wasn’t easy to deceive him."
Luo Di, seeing the two come off the bus, was not surprised; he had long recognized Yu Ze’s uniqueness, so such an encounter was only natural.
The only unexpected element was the peace charm on the driver’s head, as if Yu Ze knew something was going to happen today and thus had given it to them.
Luo Di pointed to the driver clad in talisman paper, "Does this thing always trigger in dangerous moments?"
"It can only prevent minor incidents like this. If we encounter real trouble, you’ll have to rely on yourself. With your strength, whether you use it or not doesn’t much matter."
"Thank you."
"Why so polite? Things have suddenly become interesting. I never thought such fascinating Pseudo-Persons could emerge in this fringe city. Your keen eye impresses me! To pick out something almost like winning a lottery ticket.
Be careful next, creating such a large-scale Corner-like Space that can absorb on its own is tough to handle.
The opponent is fully qualified to participate in the interstice screening and has a high probability of winning."
"Let’s go."
Luo Di’s gaze moved forward, and the small team officially headed towards the ’non-existent nursing home’.
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