mijobooks Chapter 115 The Destitute City
Chapter 115 The Destitute City
Chapter 115 The Destitute City
"What's different?" Li Jiuhe asked.
Zhou Yiwen didn't speak for a moment, but instead grabbed Li Jiuhe's wrists with both hands, his lips moving as if he were muttering something.
After a moment, he replied, "I didn't see wrong. You were indeed cursed by the Ghost Fire Curse, but after I removed the Ghost Fire Curse from Investigator Luo, the curse on you has now turned into a state of mutual incompatibility."
"What do you mean by 'water and fire cannot coexist'?" Li Jiuhe asked in astonishment.
Before Zhou Yiwen could answer, the girls behind him walked over and carefully took away the tea that had been placed in front of them.
Seeing this scene in astonishment, Li Jiuhe and the other two vaguely guessed the reason behind it.
At this point, Zhou Yiwen said, "From now on, your body must not come into contact with water. If it does, even a drop will have the same effect as being exposed to sulfuric acid."
He paused, then added, "Of course, if you get wet and then come into close contact with an open flame, those around you will witness a scene they will never forget. Your body will become like a volcano, spewing out substances like volcanic lava, and you will be burned to death almost instantly."
"Water and fire are incompatible?" Li Jiuhe pondered. "Is this incompatibility caused because the ghost fire curse on Luo Shuo was lifted first?"
Zhou Yiwen nodded.
"So if I remove the ghost fire curse from him first, then my curse will become incompatible with water and fire?" Luo Shuo asked curiously.
"No." Zhou Yiwen waved his hand. "He was the main target of the curse. You were just implicated because you were in close contact with him."
He then looked at Li Jiuhe: "I will do my best to remove the 'Water and Fire Incompatibility' curse, but the power of this hidden curse is very strong. Even if the main part is removed, there may still be remnants. You still need to be careful afterward!"
"Okay." Li Jiuhe nodded.
The two held hands, and Zhou Yiwen performed the same operation as before, but it took significantly longer.
As he gestured in the air, his complexion worsened, and he began coughing again.
However, because he was in the process of breaking the curse, he coughed but managed to keep it from stopping.
About three minutes later, Zhou Yiwen put Li Jiuhe's hand down.
His daughter, who was waiting beside him, immediately handed him a thermos and let him sip the warm water.
After a short while, Zhou Yiwen, who had recovered, said: "In the next 24 hours, you should avoid contact with water, but contact with open flames is fine."
"What if it accidentally gets wet?" Li Jiuhe asked.
"It will cause a slight burn to the skin," Zhou Yiwen said. "However, you must not let it come into contact with a large area, otherwise it will still have the same result as being splashed with sulfuric acid. But these remnants of the curse will completely disappear after 24 hours. I'm sorry, that's all I can do right now."
"Thanks."
Li Jiuhe is already very satisfied with the current result. As long as he avoids taking a bath within 24 hours and is not deliberately splashed with a lot of water, there will be no major problems.
His gaze shifted to the boundary stone resting on Zhou Yiwen's lap, and he said, "Then let's not delay, I'll go into this boundary stone to take a look now."
"Aren't you going in 24 hours later?" Luo Shuo immediately reminded him.
He believed it would be safer to wait until the curse had completely dissipated before undertaking the mission.
Li Jiuhe glanced at Zhou Yiwen and noticed that his brows were slightly furrowed. Although he didn't say anything, his eyes revealed anxiety.
Therefore, if they linger any longer inside the Boundary Stone, his four students may never be able to be rescued.
"It's okay, I'll be careful."
Zhou Yiwen grabbed the Boundary Stone and handed it to him: "I don't know what kind of world the Boundary Stone has created. Be careful when you go in. Just don't get too much water on you. A little water will only cause you a slight burn."
Li Jiuhe asked, "If we find them, how do we open the exit of the boundary stone to leave?"
Zhou Yiwen said, "Each of its internal worlds is a checkpoint, and each checkpoint has a key. Once you find the key to unlock the checkpoint, you can leave. But be careful, something might have gone wrong in this world, making it impossible to solve using traditional methods."
"it is good."
In his mind, Li Jiuhe defined rescuing the four students from the boundary stone as a new mission.
Soon, the task information surfaced in my mind.
[Task definition successful. The task is temporarily named "Find the truth about the Boundary Stone and rescue the trainees."]
[Title: Find the truth about the Boundary Stone and rescue the practitioners]
[Level: IV, Grade C]
[Requirements: 1. Find out the truth about the Boundary Stone; 2. Protect the safety of the students; 3. Find a way to get the students away from the Boundary Stone.]
【奖励：1、重置点上限增加8点（当前上限16点）：2、奖励2个重置时间锚点；3、任务总时长延长1个小时。】
[Note: 1. The total duration of tasks you can currently define is 3 hours and 0 minutes. 2. If you complete this Level IV C event, your Sequence Ability will have a certain probability of advancing.]
"It's actually a Level IV C mission!" Li Jiuhe was slightly surprised.
To date, no task he has defined has reached such a high level.
Of course, a high level does not necessarily mean that it is difficult to complete. It may also mean that the task is more complicated, and you don't know if the remaining curse on you will affect the completion of the task.
These factors could all increase the difficulty of completing the task.
Most importantly, if he can complete the task, there is a certain probability that his ability will be upgraded, that is, from the initial stage to the advanced stage.
"Are you ready?" Zhou Yiwen asked, noticing that Li Jiuhe hadn't made a move.
"Alright." Li Jiuhe nodded.
"Grab the Boundary Stone, don't think about anything, relax—" Zhou Yiwen's voice became low.
"Brother Li, please be careful!"
"Handsome guy, be careful! Don't get stuck in there!"
Luo Shuo and Ma Li gave separate reminders.
Just as they finished speaking, Li Jiuhe, who was sitting next to them, vanished instantly.
The boundary stone that Li Jiuhe was holding immediately fell to the ground, but Zhou Yiwen, who was prepared, caught it.
Clutching the milky-white stone tightly, Zhou Yiwen leaned back in his wheelchair, his body relaxing as if all his strength had been exhausted at that moment.
"Dad." His daughter immediately went forward to check on him.
A moment later, she placed the boundary stone from Zhou Yiwen's hand on the coffee table in front of Luo Shuo and the other person.
"Please keep an eye on the boundary stone and don't move it. I'm taking my dad to the bedroom to take his medicine; he needs to rest now. If anything unusual happens, call Old An."
He then pointed to an elderly man in his sixties who had been standing silently by the stairs, waiting for instructions.
The old man looked energetic, and Luo Shuo felt that he might also be a Sequencer.
Suddenly, everything went completely white, and Li Jiuhe could see nothing at all.
At the same time, he also had a strong feeling of weightlessness, as if he were falling from a very high place, but fortunately the falling speed was not very fast.
After a moment, my feet touched the ground, and my heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally settled down.
The whiteness before my eyes was fading, but I could already hear familiar sounds – the hustle and bustle of the city.
Vision has been fully restored.
Li Jiuhe looked around and found himself standing on a street.
The street was bustling with people, vehicles whizzing by, and high-rise buildings all around, clearly indicating that this was a prosperous city.
Li Jiuhe, who had never experienced anything like this before, was still a little dazed. He looked carefully at the shops on the street and quickly realized that this was not any city he knew.
"A deflated city?"
This character is the "瘪" from "小痕三" (Xiaohensan), and no city in reality would have such a name.
However, judging from the population size of this city, it is probably no less than two or three million people, and these people should have been generated along with the world of the Boundary Stone.
Finding those four students among so many people is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Li Jiuhe stood on the street, watching the passersby. He noticed that some people walked alone, hurrying along, while others gathered in groups, chatting and laughing.
If he hadn't known beforehand, he would never have doubted that this world was fake.
He checked his body and found his phone was still there. He took it out and glanced at it, discovering that the time displayed was still before he came in, and it even had a full signal.
Li Jiuhe pulled up the call log. Since he had called Zhang Song several times before, he tried calling again to see if he could get through.
Soon, a notification popped up saying the call was being connected.
"Feed," a man's voice called out.
Li Jiuhe was taken aback and asked, "Zhang Song?"
The man paused noticeably, then said softly, "Wait a minute."
There seemed to be rapid movement over there. After a moment, the man's voice came again, sounding even softer, but his surroundings had become very quiet.
"Who are you? How do you know my phone number?"
Li Jiuhe said, "My name is Li Jiuhe, an investigator from the Capital Investigation Bureau, and I am your mentor, Zhou Yiwen—"
"Stop!" The man's voice suddenly rose in volume, interrupting Li Jiuhe, "Where are you now?"
"On the streets of Biancheng, I don't know what this street is called." Li Jiuhe was surprised.
"Find a secluded place to talk, quick!" Zhang Song urged, his tone tense.
Li Jiuhe didn't know what had happened, but since the other party had given such a reminder, there must be a reason.
He subconsciously looked up, preparing to find a secluded spot.
But the moment I looked up, I found that all the pedestrians walking around me had stopped, except for those who were further away.
The pedestrians who had stopped all turned their heads to look at Li Jiuhe, who was on the phone.
I don't know what they're looking at, or why they're doing this. These pedestrians, some in twos and threes, some alone, are all staring at him expressionlessly, without moving.
This bizarre scene gave Li Jiuhe the creeps.
He held his phone and looked at these people with surprise.
Zhang Song on the other end of the phone seemed to realize what was happening on his end and immediately asked, "What's the situation now?"
Li Jiuhe sensed something was wrong, and this was something that must have been caused by his own actions.
He didn't dare move his body, but kept his voice very low as he replied to the phone, "I'm on the street now, and the pedestrians nearby have suddenly stopped; they're all staring at me."
Zhang Song, clearly aware of the seriousness of the situation, quickly reminded him: "Don't be nervous, don't show anything unusual! You are now a resident of Biecheng, just like them. You absolutely cannot let them discover you are an outsider! Now, whatever I say, you just repeat—"
"it is good."
"I was still half asleep when I woke up. Didn't you think my dream was weird?"
Although Li Jiuhe didn't know why he said that, he didn't hesitate and immediately repeated Zhang Song's words, trying his best to make his tone sound natural, as if he were chatting with a friend.
Most importantly, he pretended not to realize that he was being closely watched by the pedestrians nearby.
"And I lied to you on purpose. How could I not know your address? I'm already downstairs at your house, I'm coming to find you right away."
Li Jiuhe repeated Zhang Song's words verbatim.
There was a pause on the other end of the phone, then Zhang Song continued, "After you hang up now, make a funny face at everyone who's looking at you, a really funny face with a crooked mouth and squinting eyes, try to make it as convincing as possible. Then find a secluded place, I'll call you back in a bit."
The call was immediately disconnected.
Li Jiuhe's heart was pounding. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but it was clearly not the right time.
He casually put his phone away, then did as Zhang Song had just instructed: he put the middle fingers of both hands into the corners of his mouth, pulled up the corners of his mouth, and then pressed down hard on the corners of his eyes with his index fingers.
At the same time, he stuck out his tongue and deliberately tilted it to the side, making him look like a clown jumping around.
Li Jiuhe remembered that he had never done a similar action since he was twelve years old.
Who knew I'd pick it up again today? Luckily, I still have the basics and haven't forgotten them.
For some reason, after he made a face, all the passersby who were staring at him turned around and stopped paying attention to him, continuing on their way or doing their own things.
It gave the impression that what they had just done was nothing wrong, but rather a very normal behavior.
From beginning to end, these people did not make a sound; the silence was unbearable.
Li Jiuhe breathed a long sigh of relief, but at this moment, the pedestrians on the street, the vehicles driving by, and these tall buildings suddenly gave him an extremely strange feeling. It was completely different from before and no longer seemed so real.
Pretending nothing was wrong, Li Jiuhe walked along the street.
A moment later he found an alley, turned in and kept walking until he was almost at the end.
There was no one here, just a pile of green trash cans.
Li Jiuhe took out his phone again and looked around, then looked for the strange pedestrians at the other end of the alley.
Thankfully, things seem to be back to normal now.
I waited there for a while, and then my phone vibrated. It was Zhang Song calling.
Li Jiuhe subconsciously glanced around quickly before answering the phone.
"Hey, is anyone around here?" Zhang Song asked.
"No, I went into an alley," Li Jiuhe said. "I just saw that this alley seems to be called—Shannan Alley."
"Shannan Alley, wait while I look for it." Zhang Song seemed to be searching for something.
After a moment, he said, "Okay, I found it. Your street is called Shannan Street. You can't use mobile maps here. Just keep walking straight along Shannan Street and pay attention to the street signs, but don't let passersby see that you're looking at the signs. When you finally arrive at Haidong Second Street, there's an abandoned basketball court there. We'll meet there."
"Besides you, who else is there?" Li Jiuhe asked.
"They're all here. I'll call them over," Zhang Song said. "We'll talk in detail when we meet. It's not safe to talk on the phone right now."
"it is good."
It seems like something is very strange; it can't be explained clearly in just a few words over the phone.
After hanging up the phone, Li Jiuhe immediately left the alley, paying attention to the road signs and markers along the way, but not daring to look at them directly, only glancing at them quickly before finding the right direction and heading off.
He walked and stopped frequently, not daring to interact with other passersby, and even less daring to take a taxi.
Most importantly, Zhang Song didn't tell him to take a taxi on the phone, which means that having too much contact with the people here is definitely not a good thing.
After walking for about an hour, we arrived at Haidong Second Road.
Li Jiuhe acted as if he were a resident of the city, walking "familiarly" to an abandoned basketball court that was enclosed by iron railings.
He looked around and saw that the nearest passerby was dozens of meters away, and the iron railing behind him had been destroyed.
Li Jiuhe immediately turned around, bent down, and crawled inside.
He hadn't expected the city to be so big; it took him more than an hour just to get to the gathering place. He wondered if he could finish within his three-hour task time.
If I can't handle it, then I'll just have to leave first.
They can restart the mission after they get out, but the consequence of doing so is that the world's timeline waits for no one, and the survival chances of the four students trapped inside the boundary stone may be even lower.
We walked quickly inside, soon bypassing a wall that had collapsed halfway, and entered the abandoned basketball court.
The weather in this desolate town is damp, and the basketball court, which has not been used for a long time, is covered with moss and is a bit slippery to walk on.
Before he could even look around after entering the basketball court, a hand reached out from one of the changing rooms next to the court, waved at him, and then disappeared back inside, leaving no trace.
Li Jiuhe cautiously approached quickly.
When he arrived at the door, he didn't go in immediately, but instead glanced at the slightly ajar door.
The door was pushed open from the inside, revealing four people: three men and one woman, all staring warily at Li Jiuhe.
All four students have gathered here, so it seems Li Jiuhe doesn't need to waste time searching for them one by one.
He walked into the changing room, which smelled damp and musty, but the four people in front of him were either sitting or standing, and no one seemed to care.
A stocky young man introduced himself: "I'm Zhang Song. Are you the investigator from headquarters that Teacher Zhou sent to rescue us?"
Li Jiuhe nodded. He didn't have time to waste and asked, "What's the situation here? Why can't we get out? Has your training here finished?"
As soon as he finished speaking, all four of them looked rather unpleasant.
Zhang Song replied, "The training is over, but not only are we stuck here, everyone is also cursed. It's a regional death curse, the kind that can't be broken."
"A regional death curse?" Li Jiuhe wondered.
His understanding of curses was rudimentary; judging from the words, the curse was confined to the area of Biecheng and could not be broken.
"I told you when I came in yesterday that something was wrong with the Boundary Stone world this time, but you didn't believe me," a thin man said in a low voice.
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