“Do you mean there's something strange about this city ruin?” Facing the calm and rational Shang Jianyao, Long Yuehong could still relatively easily interpret what he wanted to express.

Shang Jianyao smiled:

“I'm just doing a simple analysis of the current situation of this city ruin and the contradiction between its geographical location.”

“Mm.” Jiang Baimian nodded slightly, “Almost seventy years have passed since the destruction of the Old World. Ruins like this that haven't been excavated must have their own special characteristics: the Marsh No. 1 ruins are located inside the Great Swamp, making them very difficult to find; the Wasteland No. 13 ruins are guarded by the ‘First City’'s army, and no one is allowed to enter.”

“In contrast to them are the Scarlet Wilderness No. 9 ruins. Although they are full of dangers, and many places are still forbidden to humans, it's precisely because they are easier to find and haven't been claimed by any major power that a large number of relic hunters flock there one after another. This has led to some areas being almost 'developed'.”

Her implication was that Taicheng was located in a place where the Icefield was easily accessible. The "Old Task Force" had even reached their destination without deviating much from the old roads left over from the Old World. Moreover, the "Salvation Army" hadn't sent an army to guard this place. The current situation was indeed worthy of deep thought and must have something strange about it.

If Taicheng's location was in the depths of the Icefield, in an area with semi-permanent permafrost, and relic hunters couldn't use the short summers to overcome numerous obstacles and reach it, leading to the city ruins being well preserved, that would be understandable. As it was, it went against common sense from any angle.

Bai Chen said, carefully considering:

“Perhaps the season suitable for human activity in the Icefield is short. After so many years, relic hunters haven't even excavated many of the city ruins further south, lacking sufficient motivation to continue north.”

“That's one reason,” Genava said after modeling and analysis, “But the probability is very low, because the further north you go, the fewer 'Heartless' will remain in the city ruins, and the danger will be relatively lower. Taking all factors into account, spending a little time exploring north yields higher returns and more manageable risks.”

Winter was hard to endure, both for humans and for the "Heartless."

The further north in the Icefield, the more severe this situation became.

Jiang Baimian nodded and looked at Shang Jianyao:

“What are your thoughts?”

She had always believed that she and Shang Jianyao had a large gap in terms of breadth of thinking.

She was still within the realm of normal humans.

Shang Jianyao laughed:

“Such a large city ruin is placed here, the surrounding environment can't be called harsh, and there are quite a few relic hunters hunting and exploring north. Why do they turn a blind eye?”

“Turn a blind eye…” Jiang Baimian's heart stirred, and she suddenly had an association.

Shang Jianyao then showed a gratified expression:

“You remembered it too.

“Namo Amitābha, do you remember the anomaly in Room 302, Building 4, Family Area 2 of the Steel Factory ruins?”

Hearing this sentence, not only Jiang Baimian, but even Long Yuehong and Bai Chen instantly reacted.

As for Genava, because he hadn't personally experienced it, it took him a little time to retrieve the relevant information:

At that time, what Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian saw in Room 302 was an ordinary ruin scene, and they didn't find anything of value, while Long Yuehong, who was peeking from the window, saw two skeletons lying on the bed, covered with a large red quilt embroidered with dragons and phoenixes.

And in the end, under Long Yuehong's prompting, Shang Jianyao touched the small jade Buddha at the intersection of reality and illusion and pulled it out.

This caused the false scene that he and Jiang Baimian had seen before to shatter, and the true situation inside Room 302 was revealed.

Connecting this matter with Taicheng's contradictory phenomenon naturally led to corresponding speculations.

Long Yuehong, who was more eager to speak than usual, said cautiously:

“What we entered was the real Taicheng, while what the relic hunters saw was the false Taicheng, where there were no valuable items, or they were in a difficult-to-excavate state, lacking the meaning of exploration?”

“We were able to enter the real Taicheng because we carried special items originating from a Buddhist holy site?” Bai Chen followed up with a speculation.

As Jiang Baimian nodded lightly, Shang Jianyao smiled and took off his tactical backpack:

“That's what I think too.”

*Pa!*

He found the "Six Senses Beads" and threw them casually on the roadside.

Immediately afterwards, he picked up the lake-green small jade Buddha and threw it on the ground. Jiang Baimian also threw out the "Chaotic Right Hand."

The surrounding scenery didn't change at all.

“This is a bit awkward…” The honest Shang Jianyao mocked himself.

Jiang Baimian looked around and said thoughtfully:

“It may be because we have already entered the real Taicheng, even if we throw away the corresponding items, we will no longer produce 'hallucinations'.”

She wasn't so sure about the word "hallucination" because she didn't know exactly what was going on.

“Then what should we do?” Long Yuehong frowned slightly.

The reckless Shang Jianyao immediately answered:

“Continue forward, to the First Senior High School!”

That was the main body of the Buddhist holy site.

Jiang Baimian glared at him:

“Withdraw and re-enter. Let's confirm the situation before proceeding.

“Better safe than sorry!”

“Yes, yes.” Shang Jianyao didn't feel like Jiang Baimian was refuting him at all.

Long Yuehong, Bai Chen, and Genava had no objection to this.

After picking up the items on the ground, the "Old Task Force" members got back into the car and returned along the same route, all the way to the broken belt.

Here, they could no longer see Taicheng.

“Old Ge, you stay here with the 'Six Senses Beads', the small jade Buddha, and wait for news.” Jiang Baimian's choice was without a doubt.

Genava was the only member of the team present who was not affected by the "Six Senses Beads" and other props.

This time, Shang Jianyao not only left the "Six Senses Beads" and the small jade Buddha, but also gave the "Angel of Life" necklace and the Providence-Bestowed Year Guardian Chart to Genava for safety.

“You must take good care of them!” He earnestly exhorted.

Jiang Baimian's lips twitched slightly as she handed the "Chaotic Right Hand" to Genava and set up the auxiliary chip inside her bionic limb to monitor her status.

The four got back into the car, driven by Bai Chen, and headed towards Taicheng.

On the way, Shang Jianyao and Jiang Baimian maintained a high degree of concentration, sensing the surrounding changes in their own ways.

More than ten minutes later, the scenery in the distance made them both silent.

Taicheng, which had previously been "there," seemed to have been buried by giant rocks, mud, and cracks, as if it had been hit by a landslide and only some collapsed buildings were vaguely revealed.

Surrounding the ruins, which were extremely difficult to excavate, were swamps formed by water infiltration, abysses with bottomless chasms, and landslide dams that could collapse at any time...

Anyone who saw this scene would not hesitate to give up moving forward and stop trying to explore Taicheng.

There were many city ruins on the Icefield that were easier to obtain supplies from, and there was no need to die here. The risks and rewards were completely disproportionate!

“There really is a false Taicheng…” After a moment of silence, Long Yuehong said in an almost delirious tone.

He was deeply shocked.

Room 302 of the Steel Factory ruins was just a house of dozens of square meters. It was hidden in reality and covered in falsehood, which didn't feel so exaggerated.

But now, what the "Old Task Force" was facing was a city where millions of people lived in the Old World. It had even been separated into real and false sides!

Shang Jianyao's expression gradually became excited:

“If we don't stop and continue driving towards the chasm ahead, what will happen?”

“Don't court death.” Jiang Baimian succinctly stopped him.

She took a breath and said:

“Let's try a few more times to confirm which items allow us to enter the real Taicheng. This may be of great use later.”

“Okay.” Bai Chen reluctantly averted her gaze.

Since joining the "Old Task Force," many of her past common sense beliefs have been subverted.

After several rounds of experiments, the "Old Task Force" made it clear that it was the "Six Senses Beads" and the small jade Buddha that had the effect.

As long as they carried either of them, the "Old Task Force" could enter the real Taicheng, provided that they were no more than fifty meters away from the two items.

“It's really amazing…” Long Yuehong used this sentence as the closing remark for today's trial.

At this time, the five members of the "Old Task Force" were sitting in the jeep, slowly driving along the car-free streets of the real Taicheng.

Genava, with his red eyes flashing, looked at Jiang Baimian:

“Where do we go next?”

Jiang Baimian already had a plan:

“First, find a city map nearby.

“Then go to Harbor Home, First Senior High School, and Renhui Hospital in that order.”

She had sorted them by the degree of danger—Harbor Home was where Fan Wensi and Li Jinlong once rented, and there must be the fewest secrets. First Senior High School was clearly a Buddhist holy site, and Renhui Hospital involved those vegetative volunteers, which was the riskiest place.

ps: Requesting double monthly tickets at the end of the month~