Rules-related weird stories: 4016

"Old Mo..." Lin Yi's voice trembled slightly due to the biting cold of the environment. "Have you ever thought, if we accidentally get stuck here and return to campus as fanatical believers, wouldn't that be a mind-blowing scene?"

"No." Old Mo said decisively, then, seeming to realize his words were inappropriate, he rephrased, "That kind of situation won't happen to me."

"But if it were to happen to you... I think it wouldn't just be mind-blowing. With your characteristics, once you fall, it probably wouldn't be as simple as a 'fanatical believer.' I estimate the boss would have a hard time."

"Of course... for now, it would only be enough for her to have a hard time."

The boss... Lin Yi's mind conjured up the boss's image, both commanding and dashing. He hadn't expected Old Mo to rate the boss's combat strength so highly.

Continuing forward, the gray fog before Lin Yi's eyes grew denser. It hung low near the ground, like a gray-white ocean, leaving only limited space above. As the fog churned, it constantly stirred up dust-like particles, obstructing Lin Yi's vision like mist, giving him the oppressive and enclosed feeling of traversing an endless maze.

Walking here, every step was extremely difficult and filled with uncertainty. The surrounding darkness, along with the gray fog, constantly compressed the illuminated area formed by the Big Eyeball, as if unknown dangers could emerge at any moment.

Scattered candelabras in the corridor emitted dim embers. The weak light could only barely illuminate a small area in front of him. The light blurred in the fog but couldn't penetrate the thick darkness. The fog and the sobbing wind intertwined, making the entire space even more mysterious and deep.

Gradually, Lin Yi heard a "ding-dong" sound in the gray fog, as if someone was playing a musical instrument. The sound mixed with the wind and slowly carried over, traversing countless corridors before reaching his ears, where it had become very faint.

"Shush... shush..."

Shadows began to appear on the walls of the corridor. They moved extremely fast, like black hounds, ignoring the laws of physics as they crept furtively on the walls and ceiling.

They seemed to be some kind of special nocturnal creatures, possessing greater agility and lighter figures than purebred nocturnal creatures. Their shapes were also like hounds or leopards, moving in packs. Compared to the purely intimidating hordes of purebred nocturnal creatures, their threat level and harmfulness seemed to have increased by more than one level.

Old Mo took off a Big Eyeball whose light was about to go out, squeezed it hard in his hand a few times, and then threw it out.

The Big Eyeball bounced a few times on the corridor floor, and then a brilliant golden edge bloomed from its interior, clearly outlining the cracks on its surface. Immediately afterward, the Big Eyeball exploded violently.

"Bang--"

The aftermath of the explosion spread out, clearing a portion of the gray fog. The hound-like nocturnal creatures crawling in the area affected by the explosion emitted sharp, painful howls, then hid, staring at Old Mo with fear and extreme resentment.

In reality, they weren't afraid of Old Mo but of the string of Big Eyeballs he held in his hand. When these things were stable, they were like light bulbs, but when they were unstable, they would explode like grenades.

"Go." Old Mo quickened his pace, leading Lin Yi to the area where the gray fog had been cleared.

Although some of the gray fog in that area had been cleared, the surrounding gray fog immediately filled it in, like seawater pouring back in.

Before they had gone far, Old Mo took off another Big Eyeball and repeated the process. The hound-like nocturnal creatures seemed to have no memory, blocking their path one after another, waiting for the moment the light went out.

The string of Big Eyeballs in Old Mo's hand dimmed faster and faster, and the frequency with which he threw "bombs" also increased. In the end, he directly kneaded several together and threw them out at the same time because the power of the Big Eyeballs was not enough.

The light was about to go out, and the dim candlelight was blocked by the thick fog, so Lin Yi couldn't see Old Mo's expression at all.

His fists gradually clenched. The dark and oppressive atmosphere actually caused him to experience some claustrophobia-like anxiety. He began to observe his surroundings more and more frequently, looking at the indistinguishable darkness, his throat slightly rolling, making some low roars:

"Fuff fuff... fuff fuff..."

He clenched his teeth, and faint heat emanated from between his teeth, actually dispersing some of the fog nearby.

"Shush... shush..."

The hound-like nocturnal creatures around him made more and more rapid noises. Lin Yi even heard the sound of sharp claws scraping against the pitted walls.

"Fuff... fuff fuff..."

Lin Yi's breathing became rapid.

Old Mo also fell silent, and the entire atmosphere became stagnant, with a sense of deathly silence before the storm.

This corridor seemed endless, a straight line extending into the depths shrouded in darkness and gray fog.

After walking for so long, they hadn't even seen the shadow of the art gallery. It was as if the two of them had already become lost in this corridor.

Finally, Old Mo threw out the last few Big Eyeballs in his hand.

The only area of light moved with the throwing of the Big Eyeballs, like a flare thrown into a dark well...

[Howl--]

[Howl--]

In the darkness, countless figures began to pounce on Old Mo and Lin Yi.

"Fuff--" A layer of blood seemed to climb into Lin Yi's eyes. His body arched slightly, and a sky-blue aura floated on his body like materialized armor. A frantic murderous intent, "Tear everything to shreds," spread wildly in his heart.

But at this moment, Old Mo's cold voice, as cold as the ice of the far north, suddenly rang in his ear: "Kid, don't resist!"

If he had only said don't resist, Lin Yi would have hesitated for a moment, but with the addition of "kid," he knew it was definitely Old Mo talking to him.

At this moment, reason overcame his instinct. He tensed his body but hesitated to attack the hound-like nocturnal creatures that were almost pouncing on him.

At this time, Old Mo's eerie sneer suddenly spread out in the corridor, expanding out like ripples!

Lin Yi only felt a cold aura sweep across his skin. The armor-like sky-blue aura on his body instantly disintegrated, turning into the purest extraordinary power that was drawn out of his body...

"This is...? !" Lin Yi's heart thumped. "Isn't this Old Mo's 'domain'? But didn't he just say...? !"

"Could it be that he's been lying to me?"

Old Mo didn't care what Lin Yi was thinking at this moment. His domain expanded with a strong sense of aggression, pulling in all the hound-like Nightwalkers that lunged in. Immediately afterward, the irresistible absorption ability enveloped them, extracting the extraordinary power within them in an extremely violent manner.

The hound-like Nightwalkers twitched and petrified, their bodies withering at a speed visible to the naked eye, and finally turning into countless pure white powdery particles that scattered away.

However, this was just an appetizer. Old Mo's target was not these hound-like Nightwalkers at all, but the Grinning Angels!

This group of Grinning Angels hovered around Old Mo and Lin Yi, watching covetously all the way. Finally, when Old Mo was submerged by the gray mist and abandoned the Giant Eyeball, they couldn't hold back any longer and quietly mixed into the ranks of the Nightwalkers, pouncing on Old Mo along with those hound-like Nightwalkers.

Now, as the hound-like Nightwalkers, drained by the domain, fell, the Grinning Angels could no longer conceal their tracks. They instinctively sensed the problem, but were fiercely restrained by the power-draining within Old Mo's domain.

Lin Yi suddenly realized that, whether it was because the gray mist was affecting Old Mo's performance, Old Mo's domain couldn't completely suppress the Grinning Angels, but could only limit their mobility to a great extent.

Old Mo's gaze slowly swept across all the Grinning Angels in the domain, and a hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes as he muttered, "Too bad... there isn't even one holding a lantern..."

Lin Yi was shocked to hear this. He realized that Old Mo actually wanted to hunt down a Grinning Angel carrying an old kerosene lamp!

After searching in vain, Old Mo, like a butcher at a farm, chose the next best thing when he couldn't find suitable ingredients.

"Surprised? What's so surprising?" Old Mo glanced at Lin Yi, then continued to examine these prey he had taken down. "All's fair in war. I said 'almost impossible to expand', not 'impossible to expand'."

After speaking, Old Mo slowly stretched out his hand, and golden energy covered his palm like liquid. Then, he grabbed one of the Grinning Angels, using the golden energy to counteract the Grinning Angel's penetration of the layers, gradually turning it from a ghostly form into a tangible one.

The Grinning Angel struggled constantly, trying to use its own characteristics to absorb the extraordinary power in Old Mo's body in reverse—and it really succeeded!

A trace of the extraordinary power in Old Mo's body was actually drawn by it, and there was a tendency for it to separate from his body!

Old Mo frowned, cursed inwardly, and pulled out the pig-slaughtering knife, directly cutting off its wings, which had the most materialized parts, cleanly.

Old Mo threw the wings on the ground, letting them begin to show the trend of transforming towards the Giant Eyeball, while he ignored the "crippled Grinning Angel" and turned to take the wings of the second Grinning Angel.

And the Grinning Angel whose wings had been cut off by Old Mo at the beginning began to undergo strange changes. It maintained that semi-transparent, floating ghostly posture, constantly making hideous and painful roars. Its form faintly showed signs of distortion, and all its attention fell on its wings. It struggled, reaching out its palms weakly towards its wings, but eventually continued to become illusory and disappeared into the air.

The third Grinning Angel also had its wings cut off by Old Mo, and began to show that incomprehensible symptom of disappearing.

Old Mo put the pig-slaughtering knife back into its sheath, and then reached out to grab the four pairs of wings, using the golden energy to accelerate their transformation into strings of Giant Eyeballs.

In a short while, four strings of Giant Eyeballs appeared in his hand.

Holding the four strings of Giant Eyeballs, Old Mo looked like a sausage vendor, or a thief standing under a grape trellis holding string after string of grapes.

Soon, the grape-stealing thief moved. Old Mo directly picked off a Giant Eyeball, crushed it forcefully, and threw it out like a stone to test the way.

"Go!" Old Mo said loudly, "The Grinning Angels won't be fooled a second time. We must enter the gallery before this light goes out!"

The mixed extraordinary power drawn from the hound-like Nightwalkers and the Grinning Angels floated in the domain like virtualized particles. However, Old Mo did not absorb these extraordinary powers, but chose to take Lin Yi away directly.

"Okay!" Lin Yi was puzzled, but followed immediately.

The gray mist filled the entire corridor, and the dim candlelight tried its best to open up only a tiny area. Without the Giant Eyeballs, Lin Yi would not be able to travel here at all.

After walking for a while, Lin Yi gritted his teeth and asked, "Old Mo... the light intensity here is not enough for me to come back, right?"

Old Mo paused slightly, but did not deceive Lin Yi: "Indeed, it's not enough... so we need to hunt down a Grinning Angel, not only for his 'dorm manager' proof, but also for that lamp."

"After hunting down the Grinning Angel, I will tell you exactly what to do. Follow me first, to the gallery. The duration of these four pairs of wings is not shared..."

Burning a piece of wood at the same time and burning four pieces of wood at the same time both last the same amount of time as burning one piece of wood; the only difference is the brightness and temperature.

As they walked deeper and deeper into the corridor, even the brightness provided by four strings of Giant Eyeballs together was very tight.

And just after they left, some of the hound-like Nightwalkers did not continue to hunt them down, but stopped at the place where Old Mo's domain had appeared, greedily and frantically devouring the part of the extraordinary power that was wandering in the air.

Gradually, those hound-like Nightwalkers began to mutate, and they constantly began to merge with each other...

Finally, a majestic figure slowly stood up from the gray mist.

It had the characteristics of Nightwalkers, and had some human-like outlines, but apart from that, it could not be said to have any similarities with humans. It had no eyes and no facial features. The part that looked like a head had three or four, waving like independent tentacles, and making some strange whispers:

【…fanTome…】

【fan…Tome… fRa… for…RidEn…】

【fanTome… fRa forRidEn…】