In just a few minutes, Zhou Yue had prepared her equipment.
A piece of equipment with an old-world Bagua pattern on the outer edge and a normal mirror in the center hung on the hemp rope tied around the waist of her white robe. In her left hand, she held a black flashlight, and in her right hand, she gripped a transparent plastic water bottle filled with dirty water containing floating ashes. She also carried a loose hemp sack on her back.
This strange and incongruous combination gave everyone in the Nan Ke Temple a sense of absurdity. Zhen Lian couldn't help but ask:
"Abbot, are you going ghost hunting?"
"Something more terrifying than that." Zhou Yue replied solemnly.
Zhen Lian's heart tightened, and he quickly said:
"Abbot, you haven't brought your peach wood sword!"
"That's useless." Zhou Yue answered, based on some unknown theory.
Seeing that Zhen Lian, who was not an Awakened, looked confused, she shook her head and smiled:
"Everywhere is a dream, why be serious?"
After saying that, she turned on the flashlight, letting the beam of light shine on the courtyard.
Then, she walked out of Nan Ke Temple step by step.
Once outside, Zhou Yue covered the unlidded plastic water bottle with her right thumb, leaving only a slit.
As she walked, she swung the bottle, allowing small amounts of talisman water to sprinkle onto the front and both sides.
During this process, her flashlight kept shaking, shining from left to right, from top to bottom, without a moment's rest, as if searching for enemies lurking in the illusory night.
As for the streetlights on both sides of the road, she ignored them.
At the same time, she kept twisting her waist, so that the Bagua mirror hanging on the hemp rope could shine on different places.
If Jiang BaiMian were here, with her understanding of the Old World, she might think that Zhou Yue, the Abbot Zhou, was "performing a shamanic dance."
…………
Inside the "Wild Pigeon" bar, seeing those "Heartless" individuals with their turbid eyes, as ferocious as beasts, Long YueHong felt that if he hadn't known in advance that this might be an illusion, he would probably make the same mistake as Zhang Jiu and start shooting wildly.
On the other side, after hearing Shang JianYao's suggestion to "turn off the lights," the first thought that flashed through Jiang BaiMian's mind was not "this guy is messing around again," but whether this method would work:
If the lights were turned off, everyone wouldn't be able to see each other, and therefore wouldn't treat each other as monsters or "Heartless," launching a self-defensive, crazy attack...
From this perspective, turning off the lights was indeed a good idea.
After all, illusions mainly affect the senses, and vision is one of the most important human senses.
But the problem was, what were the limits of that "Advanced Heartless"'s abilities?
Would it be possible for him to make people see "false" monsters even without light, directly distorting information obtained through hearing and smell and connecting it to the visual cortex, or directly creating corresponding scenes in the target's mind?
If that were the case, turning off the lights would not only easily create more tension and greater chaos, but also fail to solve the influence of the illusion.
What if that "Advanced Heartless" sneaked in while there was no light?
In that instant, countless thoughts collided in Jiang BaiMian's mind, sparking ideas.
Based on her experience and intuition, she made a decision in a flash:
"Don't!"
While shouting these two words, she moved quickly, changing her position, and quickly issued a series of commands:
"Plan Two!
"Close the doors! Close the windows! Nakdani!"
Plan Two was the second of the "Old Task Force"'s common countermeasures, which was:
"Each find cover and hide, observe the situation, do not attack, and wait for further orders."
Condensing such a sentence into the words "Plan Two" could effectively shorten the time.
In such a scenario, every second could be a matter of life and death.
In addition, using "Plan Two" instead of specific commands could prevent the enemy from figuring out what the "Old Task Force" was actually doing, so as not to have the content "altered" by the illusion.
Not attacking also meant avoiding friendly fire.
And the second command was shouted by Jiang BaiMian after completing the first action, lunging towards the door.
At this time, Shang JianYao, Long YueHong, and Bai Chen had each found cover behind low walls separating different areas, pillars supporting the building, and corners with impressively thick brick walls.
The next second, a gunshot rang out.
In their eyes, one of the "Heartless" had drawn his pistol and, driven by hunting instinct, was shooting towards the doorway.
Fortunately, Tahrnan prohibited private fights, there were surveillance cameras everywhere, and the local residents were used to not carrying weapons, as they were of no use anyway, which prevented the chaotic scene from immediately turning into a massacre.
Of course, a few townspeople who lacked a sense of security and those visiting relic hunters and caravan members, while not carrying rifles or submachine guns that were difficult to hide, did have one or two pistols on them.
At this time, when they discovered that they were surrounded by "Heartless," their first reaction was undoubtedly to draw their guns.
But the "Heartless" also attacked them at the same time, wrestling with them, making it difficult for them to draw their guns.
Only a handful succeeded in pulling out their pistols, some shooting at the "monsters" in the doorway, others dealing with the nearest "Heartless."
After a few gunshots, two or three "Heartless" fell to the ground, blood gurgling from their bodies.
Those who had drawn their guns did not entangle, nor did they linger, retreating as they fought, heading towards the exit they had chosen.
In their eyes, there were just too many "Heartless" here, some even carrying guns. It was better to wait for the robot guards to handle it.
At this time, having heard Jiang BaiMian's instructions, Shang JianYao, Long YueHong, and Bai Chen each bent over and approached the windows, slamming them shut.
After doing all this, they found cover nearby, took off their tactical backpacks, took out a medicine from inside, and swallowed it directly.
Jiang BaiMian had already closed the door and was approaching the most chaotic area, sometimes crawling, sometimes rolling.
She did not join in, but used the cover of the low walls around the dance floor and card area, raising her left hand and extending it slightly outwards.
Sporadic gunshots rang out, and the group of "Heartless" continued to wrestle with each other, all in a state of hysteria.
Jiang BaiMian remained calm, not interfering, and occasionally changing her position, approaching the crowds in different areas.
The few remaining gunmen finally retreated to different windows, trying to climb out and leave this dangerous place.
*Snap!*
One of the gunmen was struck below the ear and fainted on the spot.
He didn't even see who the attacker was.
Shang JianYao squatted down and explained to him:
"It's more dangerous outside. You might as well just faint here for a while."
At the other windows, Long YueHong and Bai Chen also knocked out the gunmen who were fleeing in panic.
This was the hidden meaning in the second command:
"Close the doors" and "close the windows" also meant that people could not be allowed to open the doors and windows. If the latter situation occurred, a certain amount of attack could be used as appropriate.
Time passed second by second, and the "Heartless" who used all means of grabbing, biting, pinching, and ramming gradually felt tired, and their eyes slowly closed.
"You carry the pole, I lead the horse..." (Note 1)
When the song from Shang JianYao's small speaker sounded, the "Heartless" fell down one after another, just like the people who had taken sleeping pills on the "Pangu Biology" radio program.
That's right, they had all inhaled the anesthetic gas released from Jiang BaiMian's left hand.
And Shang JianYao and the others had taken the neutralizer, Nakdani, in advance.
This was the best way Jiang BaiMian could think of to protect the humans here to the greatest extent.
Therefore, she had Shang JianYao, Long YueHong, and Bai Chen help her close the doors and windows.
"Hoo..." Seeing that the "Heartless" had all fainted, Jiang BaiMian couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
Then, she said loudly:
"No one has come in!"
That "Advanced Heartless" hadn't taken advantage of the previous chaos to sneak into the "Wild Pigeon" bar!
This was the judgment Jiang BaiMian had made based on the biosignal induction.
--She believed that the "Advanced Heartless" definitely did not understand this aspect of technology and knowledge. After all, only "Pangu Biology" possessed it. Therefore, no matter how much the other party distorted her senses and "covered up" its tracks, it would leave flaws due to its own "illiteracy," not knowing how to manipulate the biosignals.
According to the surveillance just now, Jiang BaiMian was certain that no external biosignals had entered.
This was a bit strange.
Could it be that even a "Heartless" was so cautious, only entering to hunt after both sides had suffered heavy losses? Just as Jiang BaiMian had this thought, Shang JianYao answered loudly in the music:
"He's afraid of you!"
*Tui!* Jiang BaiMian first spat, then paused, a little stunned:
Was it possible that the "Advanced Heartless" wasn't taking advantage of the chaos to sneak in and hunt because he was afraid of something?
Something in this room made him afraid...
Since humans needed to pay a price to awaken their abilities, did the "Heartless" also follow similar rules when they possessed abilities?
Of course, being a "Heartless" itself could also be considered a price paid.
While Jiang BaiMian's thoughts were racing, Shang JianYao had already raised his head and said to the surveillance cameras in the bar:
"Speak! Why aren't you talking?"
That's right, there were surveillance cameras in the bar, and she didn't know if they were connected to Tahrnan's network... In short, she had to find a way to notify the robot guards and the major sects that something had happened. They all had certain abilities... Jiang BaiMian felt that they couldn't just keep waiting in the "Wild Pigeon" bar, but they couldn't blindly rush out either.
At the same time, she was also glad that, so far, the "Advanced Heartless" hadn't made them hallucinate. The "Old Task Force" could maintain effective communication -- they all saw each other as "Heartless."
But whether this state would continue, and for how long, was not something Jiang BaiMian could guess right now, so she wanted to find a solution before the situation worsened.
…………
Inside the "Dreamlike" hotel, even without turning her head, the landlady, Ai Nuo, could feel someone lingering behind her -- sometimes approaching, getting close to her neck, and sometimes moving away, bringing gusts of cold wind.
Ai Nuo stared at the computer screen, trembling as she muttered to herself:
"If, if you come again, I, I'm going to attack indiscriminately.
"Although, although I can't pinpoint where you are, I, I can attack indiscriminately!"
Note 1: Don't need me to annotate it, right?
PS: Last half day for monthly votes, will update earlier at midnight ~