Although it was necessary to let the townspeople rest in peace, no one could think of a way to do it for a while.
They explored most of the town, but found nothing unusual except dense grass, wet ground, and people performing a grand pantomime.
After being busy for nearly two hours, they had to stop exploring and choose a less "busy" street to rest.
Looking at the people who kept coming and going in front of him, Kun Lan grabbed his hair and said, "Damn it, what kind of power is controlling all this! We have used all the methods we know, energy reconnaissance, ability perception, large-scale electronic scanning, but we can't get any clues!"
I also used the black fog to carefully "observe" the bodies of those "actors", especially the conditions inside their bodies.
But.
Nothing at all.
All I know is that all the water has left their bodies and there is no liquid left in them.
Normally, they would be unable to move in such a situation.
Their brains even shrank into a walnut, dry and incapable of any function!
Tianyang tapped his forehead lightly with his fingers and decided to change his thinking.
"Quinlan, you have lived in the wilderness. How do you forage for food?"
Kun Lan said casually: "There are many ways. You can hunt in the wilderness, steal in the gathering place, or rob the passing merchants. As long as you don't get caught, why are you asking this?"
Tian Yang did not answer, but continued to ask: "If, I mean if. If it is an extreme environment, you can't find animals to hunt in the wilderness, there is no gathering place nearby, and no merchants pass by, what will you do?"
Kun Lan crossed his arms over his chest and said, "This is simply impossible. If I were to fall into such an unfavorable situation, I would deliberately create wounds on myself."
"The smell of blood will be carried by the wind, and as long as there are carnivores nearby, they will be attracted."
Tian Yang raised his head abruptly: "Attract it. Yes, we can't find the reason, but we can make that thing jump out by itself."
Kun Lan looked confused: "What are you talking about?"
Tian Yang did not explain but guided him: "Think about it, why does that thing, or that power, make the people in the town perform pantomimes over and over again?"
Kun Lan spread his hands and said, "How should I know? I am a normal person. I am not a madman or a monster."
Tian Yang saw that he didn't follow his train of thought, so he had to give the answer himself: "Purpose! There must be a purpose for doing this, and this purpose is related to interests."
"There must be some kind of vested interest that would prompt this town's pantomime to be performed over and over again in the dark."
Kun Lan loosened his hands: "Go on."
Tianyang stood up, as if thinking. He paced back and forth, making Kunlan dizzy.
"Damn it, Baimao, why don't you just say half of what you want to say? What about the rest?"
"I'm just thinking about it."
Tian Yang shook his head: "No, I don't need to know the specific purpose or the benefits. I just need to know that the thing needs this pantomime to be repeated."
“So, if on stage, some of the actors were disrupted or unable to perform, what do you think that thing would think?”
Kun Lan blurted out: "What else do you think? He must be furious. I understand!"
He slapped his thigh and said, "White Hair, you mean that we should destroy this pantomime and let that thing jump out by itself."
"Yes, this is the only way I can think of now."
Tian Yangxuan began to think: "However, this stage is very large, and there are many actors. If we want to attract the attention of that thing, it may not work if we just do some inconspicuous damage or target one or two actors."
“That’s easy.”
Kunlan jumped up, "We razed a city block and caused massive damage. I just don't believe that thing can still sit after the stage has been torn down."
Tianyang glanced at him.
Kun Lan made him feel guilty: "No way? Forget it, let's think of another way."
"No."
Tian Yang said seriously: "You are right. If we demolish the stage, pantomime will not be able to be performed as usual. Besides, these actors have performed for long enough. Letting them die with the stage is also a good destination."
“Sometimes, simplicity and brutality often hit the mark.”
Kun Lan laughed: "Right, I think so too, there's no need to overthink everything!"
"In that case, let's go back to the car. There are explosives in the car."
Soon, they fetched explosives and installed them into the structurally fragile building.
After a busy procession, Tianyang and others retreated to a safe area. The two captains exchanged glances, and then at the gesture made by Kunlan, a team member pressed the detonator button.
Boom!
Bursts of explosions came from deep in the block ahead, accompanied by red rising and thick smoke, and countless buildings collapsed.
They were like rotten giants that could not bear the weight and fell down heavily, kissing the ground fiercely.
The ground was shaking, and a corner of the stage was obviously violently demolished in a huge explosion.
A moment.
Everyone, including Tianyang, felt a palpitation in their hearts, as if they heard an illusory roar.
The atmosphere has changed.
The quiet, dead and solemn atmosphere in the town changed.
Just like the calm sea surface, there are undercurrents surging beneath the sea.
Tianyang quickly looked at Kunlan, who shouted, "Prepare for battle!"
Everyone held their weapons tightly, the intelligent weapons deployed all weapon platforms, and Tianyang and Kunlan drew out their weapons.
then.
They saw that the grass spreading throughout the city and the vines covering the buildings seemed to come alive in an instant.
The long black grass was dancing wildly, with a clear goal, rolling towards Tianyang and the others.
They are like a group of black snakes, millions of them, densely packed, entangled with each other but 'flowing' in the same direction at the same time.
Those dark vines did not move, but each vine had bulges and bumps on it.
Then the epidermis broke, and eyes popped out from inside. Countless eyes, no matter where they were, looked in the direction of Tianyang and the others!
At this moment, everyone felt the feeling of being the center of attention. They were like actors thrown onto the stage, being watched by countless virtual audiences.
Countless gazes, penetrating space and obstacles, fell on them.
It was as if in an instant, I no longer had any secrets, as if I was exposed naked to the air.
This kind of psychological pressure is enough to make a person collapse!
“Flare!”
Tianyang yelled.
A soldier quickly fired a flare overhead. As the brilliant light bloomed, the eyeballs on the surrounding vines all closed, and from somewhere deep in the town, layers of disembodied screams were heard.
"flame!"
Tianyang called again.
A red streak spurted out from the Queen, and the rolling flames licked the black grass.
boom!
A large area of grass immediately caught fire, and the fire spread rapidly. When Xiang Tianyang and others approached, they were separated by a firebreak that everyone had quickly established.
In the flames, the long black grass twisted and lashed wildly, shaking off billions of sparks that floated all over the sky.
"How's it going? Is it burning
"It hurts, so get out of here!"
Kunlan shouted and challenged, the firelight illuminating his face.
His eyes were flying wildly.
The ground began to shake, the grass retreated, the vines shrank, they were like receding waves, rolling back and returning to one point.
Then.
The ground cracked, and huge cracks spread from the depths of the town towards where Tianyang and the others were.
Car wreckage, mud and rocks, lamp posts, corpses, and even collapsed buildings all fell into the abyss.
In the abyss, there was a dark shadow expanding, contracting, and wriggling.
Suddenly.
A column of mud gushed out, and the debris of countless things fell out of the mud and rocks and fell to the ground.
Tianyang waved the moonlight and released the crescent sword energy, destroying the heavy objects thrown at everyone without retreating a single step.
When the 'raindrops' in the sky subsided, from the thick smoke and from the abyss, an indescribable shadow jumped out of the ground and appeared above the earth.
It was an indescribable monster. It used black grass and vines to build its body. Its whole body was constantly wriggling, and it looked like it was formed by a group of black worms.
Bubbles would occasionally appear between its body and in the gaps between the black grass and vines.
There were images flickering in those bubbles.
It seems that a story is being played out in every bubble.
Stories about the people in the town!
At the top of it, or maybe it could be called a head, a number of illusory faces appeared.
The human face.
They are crying, laughing, roaring, sobbing, acting out all kinds of life experiences.
"What kind of monster is this..." Kun Lan looked at it absentmindedly.
"God knows."
"But now we can be sure that it is the culprit that caused all this."
Moonlight pointed there, and Tianyang murmured, "That's enough."
He lowered his center of gravity slightly, rushed out suddenly, and walked away.
"Wait for me!"
Kun Lan wanted to follow, but then he remembered something and slapped his head: "Don't just stand there, open fire! Shoot hard, shoot!"
The team members and soldiers came to their senses and poured their firepower on the monster.
In the light of the flare, the monster's body immediately exploded into many fireballs, and the grass leaves were blown into pieces.
Its body suddenly split apart, hissing, and a crack appeared in its body. In that crack, illusory, colorful light rushed out like a river.
In that river of light, bubbles with their own images kept floating up.
The sun's first rays hit him, and he instinctively tried to avoid them, but then his brain twitched violently. In an instant, he felt that his body and soul were split into countless tiny pieces.
He saw countless messy pictures flashing before his eyes.
He saw the mother crying and hugging her son's thighs, begging him not to use the money to gamble... .
He saw his father who had received a terminal illness report, but he forced himself to smile and told his daughter who was preparing for an exam that it was just a minor illness...
He saw the bride regretting her marriage and leaving the wedding, and the groom breaking down in tears...
He saw a little girl silently writing the words "Dad, I love you" in her diary... .
memory!
Tianyang suddenly realized that these were all the memories of the townspeople!
That monster feeds on people's 'memories'
PS: Well, today is another seven chapters. Two chapters are saved, which means I wrote five chapters in one day. Not bad, at least I am more diligent than a donkey, serious face.
PS2: Go to sleep, and when I wake up I want to see a surge in monthly tickets~