thefictionvixens Chapter 7 made me somewhat believe it.
Chapter 7 made me somewhat believe it.
Li Jiu was startled and flinched, throwing the snake to the ground.
"Clang, clang!"
The little snake landed with a crisp sound, and everything around it shattered in response, like a huge mirror being struck by a stone, instantly disintegrating and scattering fragments that vanished without a trace in the blink of an eye.
Li Jiu's heart was still pounding, and before his vision could fully focus, Tang Mubai's voice rang in his ears: "Li bro, what's wrong? Did your hand cramp up from eating noodles?"
Li Jiu looked up in shock, only to find Tang Mubai sitting perfectly fine opposite him, stuffing food into his mouth.
He looked down at the ground again; the two metal chopsticks had already been flung away by him.
In the self-service restaurant, the music was still soothing and the lights were still soft, but the long and complicated syllables had disappeared, and the people around him were looking at him strangely.
Li Jiu quickly picked up his chopsticks and sat down in his chair, feeling uneasy. He stared blankly at the plate he had already finished eating, his mind still filled with the image of the scarlet tomato sauce and the writhing, twisting snake larvae.
"Are you alright?" Tang Mubai's tone was more serious this time. He put down his chopsticks. "Why were you acting like you were possessed just now?"
Li Jiu took a deep breath, grabbed his drink and gulped down several mouthfuls to suppress the shock in his chest before continuing, "I felt like I was dreaming. I think I fell asleep listening to that music, and I vaguely saw a lot of snakes..."
Tang Mubai raised an eyebrow, his face full of disbelief: "Huh? Daydreaming? Have you been masturbating too much and lost your mind?"
Li Jiu wasn't in the mood for jokes, and said with a furrowed brow, "I don't know either... but this Fulong Mountain is rumored to be so mysterious, it's definitely not without reason..."
"Wow!" Tang Mubai was even more surprised. "In the time it takes to eat a meal, you've already sided with the claim that 'there's a great terror in Fulong Mountain'?"
"I did a lot of research before coming here," Li Jiu said in a low but firm voice. "I can only say that I'm now... more inclined to believe that something is definitely wrong here."
Tang Mubai shrugged dismissively, gave him a thumbs up, and continued eating.
Li Jiu, however, had no appetite. Watching Tang Mubai wolfing down his food across from him, he couldn't help but lower his voice and ask, "Do you remember the girl you bumped into earlier?"
"Hey, what do you mean 'I knocked her away'? You're the one who made me hit her!" Tang Mubai immediately raised his head to protest. He was still chewing something, so his voice was slightly muffled. "By the way, I've been wanting to ask you about this. Is there something wrong with her?"
Although Tang Mubai didn't understand, his intelligence was immediately apparent when he spoke.
Li Jiu was somewhat surprised by Tang Mubai's reaction. If it were someone else, brimming with romantic feelings, they would have questioned him first instead of reacting this way: "You also sense that there's something wrong with her?"
Tang Mubai pouted, "I can't feel it at all! But I've loved eating Smart Beans since I was little!"
"The problems I can't solve are ones I look at from the top students. There are many times when I can't do them, but how could you not?"
Li Jiu nodded seriously: "That's true, if I don't know how, I'll just copy someone else's..."
Tang Mubai waved his hand dismissively: "Hey, how can you call it plagiarism when it's a scholar's business?"
"Then it should be called Crane!"
"Besides, even if she's fine, I'll definitely listen to you if you pull me in."
"My dad often tells me that brothers are like hands and feet, women are like clothes, and men should only shop at Heilan Home twice a year."
"So what's the deal with that girl?" Tang Mubai asked.
Li Jiu frowned and asked doubtfully, "Don't you really think she's... a little unlike a normal person?"
Tang Mubai was also completely intrigued by Li Jiu's mysterious demeanor, so he simply put down his chopsticks: "Hey, stop being so mysterious, what's wrong with her?"
Li Jiu leaned forward slightly: "When you took the pass, the way she looked at you was like she wanted to devour you."
"Huh?" Tang Mubai was taken aback, then grinned mischievously. "No... what you're saying is actually making me... a little itchy?"
Li Jiu rolled his eyes: "Do you even understand the kind of 'eating' demons use when they eat Tang Sanzang's flesh?"
"Hiss—" Tang Mubai's smile froze instantly, and he gasped, "Now that you mention it... it really does feel a bit creepy."
"Yeah, didn't you notice the way she looked at you back then?"
"I've been staring at her the whole time, but I haven't noticed anything wrong with her eyes... That's strange..."
Li Jiu was stunned for a moment, staring at Tang Mubai: "You...didn't you see the look in her eyes?"
"No, bro, what's wrong with her gaze? I think it looks perfectly normal!" Tang Mubai was confused.
Li Jiu hesitated for a long time, then suddenly thought of the snake hallucination he had just seen. Could it be... that expression was a hallucination he had seen?
Wouldn't he have just tricked a girl who genuinely came seeking help?
The idea was barely formed in his mind when it was vehemently rejected by a stronger intuition deep within him.
Can't go wrong.
The mind may produce hallucinations, but intuition doesn't lie.
Li Jiu was absolutely certain that the girl was really problematic. This instinctive intuition was the uncanny valley effect, which originated from the underlying code etched into the genes of humans. It was the deep-seated fear and repulsion that arose from an existence that was infinitely close to human form but revealed an inhuman nature in subtle ways.
Seeing Li Jiu fall silent, Tang Mubai didn't press the matter further. He simply lowered his head and quickly shoveled down a few more mouthfuls of food, his cheeks bulging.
Li Jiu composed himself and could only concede, saying, "How about this, next time you encounter a similar situation that feels off, I'll give you a heads-up first, and then you can observe more carefully?"
Tang Mubai swallowed his food forcefully and nodded vigorously: "Alright, alright! I really want to see the kind of weird thing you're talking about."
"But bro Li, let's get this straight: if that really happens, my emergency reaction will be unleashed – a force of nature that will strike fear into everyone and even ghosts!"
Li Jiu ignored Tang Mubai's boasting and got up to pick out some fruit from the pile.
Just then, a barely perceptible commotion broke out at the restaurant entrance.
An elderly man wearing a dark gray, worn-out trench coat walked in, looking travel-worn.
The moment the waiter at the door saw him, his professional expression instantly turned into one of utmost respect. Almost instinctively, he lowered his eyelids and bowed slightly.
The old man simply waved his hand dismissively, and without pausing, headed straight for the fruit section.
The moment the old man stepped into the restaurant, Li Jiu felt as if he had been swept by an invisible cold current. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end, and a layer of fine goosebumps instantly rose on his arms.
An indescribable chill ran up my spine.
He looked at the old man warily, but the old man seemed to only have eyes for the pile of fruit. After arriving at the pile of fruit, he put all the existing watermelon slices into his plate.
There were other people nearby who also wanted to get watermelon slices, but when they saw the old man's imposing manner, they didn't say anything.