Global Collapse

Chapter 910 The Androgynous Xu Xingcheng

After listening attentively to all of An Zhi Ting Lan's stories, the fat man turned to Gu Mian and asked, "Doctor, doesn't that story about the ghost digging the hole sound strangely familiar?"

Gu Mian was too lazy to analyze what "sounds very familiar" meant. He recalled his experience when he went underground to explore a few days ago.

In the cave closest to the ground, there is a paper figure digging upwards, which is very similar to Anzhitinglan's description.

It can be confirmed that Anzhi Tinglan's experience in the second half took place in that cave. However, she did not see the things that made the noise crawl out of the cave entrance when she was in the sewer pipe in the first half. In the second half, she finally got close to the thing but did not turn on the light, so she did not see what it looked like at all.

"What do you mean?" Anzhi Tinglan looked at the fat man. "You guys have also seen the ghost I'm talking about?"

The fat man recounted to An Zhitinglan the events of Gu Mian's trip to the underground of the Upside-Down City with Xiao Qiao and Guigu a few days ago: "That's about it. The latter part of your description is similar to the situation at the first cave the doctor entered. The paper figure inside that's drilling upwards should be the ghost you encountered in the cave."

After listening to the fat man's description, An Zhitinglan was silent for a while: "The paper figure... You met it underground. It must have been the sewer pipe that was taken up when the Upside-Down City took off, leaving it down here."

“However, there are some discrepancies between our two accounts,” the fat man gestured with his hand to indicate the paper doll’s head. “When the doctor found it in the cave below, it was already decapitated, with its head and body separated. But according to you, Miss Anzhitinglan, the paper doll should still be intact when it met you.”

The fat man was a very polite person and had addressed the other person as "Miss Anzhi Tinglan" several times already.

Liu Ruyan also called her Miss Anzhi Tinglan, but she used a sarcastic tone when she did so. She shrugged and continued the fat man's words: "Perhaps our dear Miss Anzhi Tinglan secretly twisted its head off somewhere we don't know about it."

"Haha." The fat man laughed awkwardly twice, matching Liu Ruyan's joke. "It's probably because the ground shook too much when the Upside-Down City went up into the sky, causing the paper figure to crack."

After a couple of awkward laughs, the fat man fell into thought again: "Miss Anzhi Tinglan said that there are many long caves dug out in the sewers. This information matches what the doctor saw underground in the Upside-Down City. However, according to Miss Anzhi Tinglan, it seems that there is something in each cave."

The fat man felt the hairs on the back of his head stand on end just thinking about it: "There are countless caves, and if there's a paper figure in every one of them..."

“Not only are they in every cave, but they’ve basically all gone to heaven with the Upside-Down City.” The diviner looked puzzled. “Are those underground paper figures also part of the Upside-Down City? Are they also Earth’s creation?”

She couldn't understand what use those paper figures would be if they were truly made by Earth: "Didn't Guigu's friend mention that there were many people on the Upside-Down City? Is it possible that there are paper figures like that underground in other Upside-Down Cities, and that they turn into people on the Upside-Down City to confuse the players who go up there?"

"That's not very ethical, is it? Isn't it supposed to be an oasis, an ideal land? But if the situation up there is really as the fortune teller said, then it's a whole cave of ghosts. The people walking on the streets, living in houses, and hiding under beds are all ghosts. The density of ghosts is even higher than in the dungeon." The fat man said, grinning and touching his arm, as if a ghost was crowding him.

Guigu's friend had already died, and although Anzhi Tinglan had stayed in the Upside-Down City for a few days, she didn't get much information and couldn't determine the true purpose of those paper figures.

Anzhi Tinglan sat on the sofa and said expressionlessly, "I've told you everything I know. What do you plan to do with me?"

As she spoke, she leaned back slightly. Gu Mian sat on the coffee table in front of her, with Liu Ruyan and the fortune teller sitting on her left and right respectively. The fat man sat diagonally opposite her, blocking the last possible escape route. The four of them completely encircled An Zhitinglan, like a fence used to pen ducks in a yard.

A sinister-looking guy with glasses is standing in the background.

Hearing An Zhitinglan's words, the fat man was stunned for a moment: "What punishment?"

Looking at the people surrounding her, An Zhitinglan wondered if they were real or acting: "You're not planning to kill me and bury me in the backyard?"

Once the global game begins, danger will not only come from the instance, but also from everyone in the real world.

When the world sheds its cloak of peace and tranquility, the ugliness in people's hearts can no longer be concealed.

Resources, benefits, and status are all things that can be fought over from others.

Many people do not die at the hands of demons, but at the hands of humans.

She was already used to this kind of thing, but she never expected to be on the guillotine so soon.

Anzhi Tinglan waited on the guillotine for her head to fall, but unexpectedly, the guillotine above her head suddenly spoke: "Aren't you leaving yet? Are you going to stay for dinner?"

Anzhitinglan: "?"

Even half an hour after leaving the apartment, Anzhi Tinglan still felt a sense of unreality. The nights in Lianhua City were cold in winter; the wind felt like sharp knives on exposed skin, and when it entered her lungs with each breath, it felt like icy water in a cold pool, causing a sharp, throbbing pain.

When the fat man asked An Zhitinglan to leave the apartment, he thoughtfully prepared a scarf and pink woolen gloves for her. He also invited her to stay for breakfast the next day before leaving, but An Zhitinglan declined.

She was walking on an empty street, and the smell of the cold wind mixed with the faint scent of laundry detergent from her pink scarf filled her nostrils.

Anzhi Tinglan reached out and pulled down the scarf that was covering half of her face. The cold wind immediately blew in and dispersed the lingering smell of laundry detergent on her nose.

She looked back, but the apartment building where so many strange people lived was long gone. She glanced in that direction one last time amidst the dying howl of the wind, then turned and continued walking into the darkness without looking back.

When they returned after seeing An Zhitinglan off, the clock on the wall was already approaching two o'clock. The fat man sat obediently with his hands side by side on his thighs: "Doctor, are you planning to go to the Upside-Down City next week?"

He was worried that Gu Mian would secretly take the bus to the Upside-Down City, so he went to the station with Gu Mian tonight. He didn't expect to run into An Zhi Ting Lan who was coming down from up there.

Having captured Anzhi Tinglan, who could provide clues, Gu Mian no longer needed to personally explore the city today. She could ask Anzhi Tinglan about the situation before making a decision. Now that she had gathered information and sent the person away, Fatty thought Gu Mian would still go to the Upside-Down City next week.

He didn't really want Gu Mian to go up. Although there was An Zhi Ting Lan who had landed safely ahead, there was also Gui Gu's friend who had mysteriously disappeared further ahead. They still didn't know what had happened to Gui Gu's friend up there. Fatty had a feeling that Gu Mian would also mysteriously disappear if she went up.

"I'll ask Xu Xingcheng tomorrow what he thinks of what An Zhitinglan said." After all, he's a key figure in a low-dimensional world; maybe he can offer some constructive suggestions.

Xu Xingcheng knew about the formation of the Upside-Down City nearby, and a few days ago when he went to explore underground, he even wanted to go with Gu Mian to see what was going on. However, with his crippled hand, it was really inconvenient for him to participate in any adventure activities, so Gu Mian forcibly locked him in the room to prevent him from causing trouble.

By the way, speaking of this...

Gu Mian turned to the fat man: "I haven't seen Xu Xingcheng in the last few days."

The fat man looked at Gu Mian with a serious expression: "Doctor, have you forgotten? You've locked him in the room for days and haven't let him out."

Gu Mian: "..."

They must have starved to death.

Thinking that going to collect Xu Xingcheng's body in the middle of the night would be too much of a fuss and might disturb the sleep of other residents in the apartment, Gu Mian decided to go check on Xu Xingcheng the next morning to see if he was still alive.

The next morning, Gu Mian woke up early, grabbed her key, and prepared to collect Xu Xingcheng's body. Unexpectedly, when she opened the door, she found that the man, who was disabled but determined, had not only survived several days without food but was also full of energy, accusing Gu Mian. Well, he did have the title of an evil god. Although his skills were sealed by his wishing system, he shouldn't have starved to death after a few days.

"You heartless bastards! I left my hometown and came to this unfamiliar place to find you, and you just locked me in a room for days... Gu Mian, what are you doing with that stack of bed sheets you're holding?"

Gu Mian hid the bed sheet behind her back: "What bed sheet? I didn't see it."

"Oh, the doctor said he was worried that if you died too horribly, it would frighten Miss Qiao and the others who live on the first floor when we carried you downstairs, so he brought a sheet to wrap your body before carrying it down," the fat man who was called by Gu Mian to carry the body said truthfully.

Xu Xingcheng pointed at himself in disbelief: "How could I scare her? Even if I hanged myself right now at her doorstep, she wouldn't realize it until the next day."

In short, the new day began with Xu Xingcheng jumping around and making a ruckus.

Of course, while he was jumping around, he didn't forget to respond to Gu Mian's questions about his serious business.

"Did someone come down from the Upside-Down City? That person told you that the buildings above are all upside down... There are also interconnected caves beneath the Upside-Down City, and a group of paper figures, whose purpose is unknown, flew up into the sky along with the city..."

"You ask me if I know anything like this? Although I used to wander through various lower-dimensional worlds, I've never seen anything like this. The train between the Upside-Down City and the ground departs early Sunday morning, right? I'll go up and take a look next Sunday. Maybe I can find something by conducting an on-site investigation."

As Xu Xingcheng spoke, he unwrapped the gauze from his hand. His hand had fully healed under Gu Mian's treatment, and his five fingers no longer dangled from his palm like wind chimes.

"After I came to the real world, I can't enter the dungeon without a player's identity, but I should still be able to get to that Upside-Down City. As long as I get on the vehicle, even a dog can get on, right?" As he spoke, he naturally turned his gaze to the mechanical dog, Xiao Hei, which was huddled in the corner of the room.

Since Xu Xingcheng took Xiao Hei away, it has malfunctioned. Instead of asking people "Are you happy?", it keeps making "What?" noises.

Noticing that Gu Mian's gaze was also drawn to the mechanical dog, Xu Xingcheng pointed his long, beautiful finger in the direction of Xiao Hei: "This thing can call people, did you notice?"

"Call me someone? My name isn't Gu Kuaile." Gu Mian listened to Xiao Hei's idiotic repetition, "And not 'what' either."

"That's calling me. Have you forgotten my formal name is Slaughter? It's not very smart and only emphasizes the first word of my name."

Hearing Xu Xingcheng's words, Gu Mian frowned: "Does it recognize you?"

Gu Mian has spent quite a bit of time with this dog, but she has never seen it bark at her.

He acquired this mechanical dog from a courier station in the amusement park world. It was originally a happiness survey robot on the street, but the owner of the courier station stole it from the street and modified it into a courier sorting robot.

Even after being modified, it still only had its original sentence: asking everyone it met if they were happy.

However, after Xu Xingcheng got his hands on it, the dialogue changed. It kept saying "sha" and "sha". Gu Mian always thought that the mechanical dog was broken. She never expected that it was calling Xu Xingcheng's real name.

“I’ve seen many similar mechanical dogs in the lower-class areas, but their intelligence is far inferior to this one. You can tell that this one has been modified.” Xu Xingcheng picked up the noisy mechanical dog and examined it closely. “It seems that the person who modified it recognized me and made it remember my appearance.”

"Do you know the owner of the Bird Thief Express on NPC Street?" Gu Mian couldn't tell how intelligent Xiao Hei was, so she only revealed the identity of the person who modified Xiao Hei.

Xu Xingcheng fiddled with the little black dog in his hand: "Never heard of it. There aren't many people who can recognize my identity. In all the lower-dimensional worlds, the number of people who can recognize me is very small... There is only one person who can both recognize my identity and has the ability to modify the mechanical dog."

Gu Mian followed up on Xu Xingcheng's question by asking, "Who?"

"The one from the old world is called Divergence. I have been to that world many times to try to find my past, but I have found nothing. The key figure in that world is Divergence. He is a person who likes to study things, but his whereabouts are unpredictable and he is even harder to find than me."

Gu Mian first learned the name "Divergence" from the conductor's notes on the Time Escape Train.

The fat man recited word for word the train conductor's description of the Divergent in the manual: "There is a person called 'Divergent' who often comes to ride the train in the old world. He is very mysterious and doesn't talk much. The reason for emphasizing him is because this NPC looks like a big shot. You can go to the old world more often to look for this NPC. Don't think about how to mess with my train every day."

After reciting the above text, the fat man analyzed seriously: "However, when the train conductor described this key figure, he used the word 'male,' which seems to be a different species from the landlady you just mentioned, Doctor."

"People like us give ourselves an identity when we're out and about. We can be male or female. Speaking of which, I still have quite a few clones left in the lower-dimensional world's dungeons. Maybe one day you'll meet a female Xu Xingcheng..." As she spoke, Xu Xingcheng's eyes narrowed happily, seemingly quite satisfied with her female version.

Gu Mian had no interest in researching what Xu Xingcheng, who had undergone gender reassignment surgery, was like; he remembered something else.

In the first chapter of the New Year, I will perform a ritual to wish Gugu a year of daily updates (Heaven and earth are dark and yellow! Updates come from all directions! Soul, return! Soul, return! Ahh. It's raining! Ahh. Soul, return! (Perform a ritual) (Shamanistic dance) (Circling around the incense burner) (Offering incense))