1.

Hong Chen stared at the terrifying creature deadly: "Then what should we do now?"

Lin Xiao pulled her to squat down: "Although this thing only has one eye, it is a compound eye, which is enough for it to see all directions." As long as we walk into that grass, we will be noticed by it wherever we go. ”

Hong Chen rolled his eyes and said, "Then it's not a problem for you to squat in place!"

"In the novel, this spider is cautious and usually hides itself in the shadows under the trees and in the dense grass, which is not easily exposed. If these things in front of you are really set according to the novel, then it should not be able to get out of this bush. And one more point—"

As he spoke, Lin Xiao picked up a long branch from the ground, stretched it into a haystack not far in front of him, and pulled it a few times, and when the branch stretched out, it pulled out a white/turbid liquid silk thread.

Hong Chen avoided it in disgust: "Oh~ What is this, an old phlegm?!"

"It should ...... Sort of. Lin Xiao tilted his head and said after thinking about it. "That's the kind of saliva-like secretion that the spider-man leaves behind, and it helps it stick to its prey. In layman's terms, this should be regarded as its cobweb. There must be a lot of this stuff in this meadow, and the denser the place, the more so, so we must not act rashly. ”

Hong Chen nodded suddenly, blinking as if remembering something, and then asked quietly: "You didn't move a lot when you pulled the grass just now, so you weren't afraid that thing would find you." ”

"Don't be afraid, this thing is not the same as a skinner. They are all deaf, and as long as they are not allowed to see us, they will not be able to detect us, even if they shout around them. ”

Lin Xiao threw away the branch in his hand that was stained with spider silk slime, pointed to his right hand and said, "Let's squat down a little lower to avoid its parallel line of sight, and withdraw from there, the grass there will be sparse compared to other places, and the possibility of being entangled by cobwebs will be the least." ”

"But the likelihood that we will be found will also increase dramatically. Hong Chen reminded, "Are you sure we can outrun those sixteen-legged guys in an open area?"

"I can't, but you should. ”

“So？”

"So, you can run away with me!"

Hong Chen almost rolled his eyes and rolled to his heels: "You don't have true qi again, why don't you run with light skills yourself?"

Lin Xiao looked at her silently: "You said it! I haven't been able to bring up my true qi since I woke up, and I feel like I've been sealed." ”

Hong Chen couldn't help but be surprised: "What?!"

"Let's get over this later, for now we have to get out first, or we won't have a chance when the one under the tree comes here." Lin Xiao took Hong Chen's hand, and the two ran into the trail on the right hand side together.

The spider-man hidden in the shadow of the tree had been digging his head into piles of bushes one after another, as if searching for traces of its prey, Lin Xiao and Hong Chen took advantage of the fact that it had not noticed their whereabouts, seized the opportunity to get out, and ran along the trail for a long time.

Suddenly, a small river appeared in front of the two of them. Hong Chen, who was running in front, suddenly stopped his steps, Hong Chen couldn't react for a while, and directly hit his back.

Hong Chen rubbed the tip of his nose that was hurt: "What are you doing?"

Lin Xiao turned around and said, "I suddenly remembered something. In the original book, the heroine and a boy also ran to a river, found Spider-Man's eyes hidden in the water, and escaped in time to avoid a disaster. ”

The two hurriedly found a boulder nearby and squatted down behind to hide their figures, Hong Chen poked his head into the river and looked at the scene for about five minutes, and wondered: "What eyes? Why didn't I find anything?"

"Actually...... I just looked at it, and I didn't notice it either. ”

Hong Chen turned his head speechlessly: "Then what you said just now is the same as the truth!"

"I just said I remembered a detail from a novel, and I didn't say I saw it. Lin Xiao argued. Besides, the heroine in the novel didn't find it at the beginning because the spider-man happened to blink at that time...... Wait a minute!"

Lin Xiao's whole person suddenly stiffened a little, and he even held his breath. He held out a finger and pointed in a certain direction in the river: "What do you see is that?"

Hong Chen looked carefully in the direction of his finger, and saw that there was an eye as big as a sea bowl hidden under the water, and there were dozens of tadpole-like pupils in that eye, scurrying around in the whites of the eyes.

It's exactly that kind of compound eyes of Spider-Man!

Lin Xiao and Hong Chen gasped in unison, at this time, that eye didn't know which direction they were looking at, of course, it was possible...... Every direction is under its watch.

"Do you think it saw us?" Hong Chen pulled the corner of Lin Xiao's clothes.

"I think I should have seen it. ”

"So what do we do now?"

"Run...... What else can I do!"

"I'm still the same old question - do you think we're sure we'll be able to run past a sixteen-legged thing?"

Lin Xiao couldn't help but be stunned, and the next moment he directly pulled up Hong Chen and ran in the other direction: "What nonsense! It's hard to say if you run now, if you don't run and wait for it to chase over and attack, you really can't run!"

The two had barely taken a few steps out when they heard a shrill howl behind them. The spider-man hidden under the water swooped ashore, three times the size of the one under the tree.

It stood up, a huge gash in its belly, and a dense circle of sharp fangs grew on it, like the gears of a meat grinder.

Spider-Man rushed in the direction the two had fled, sixteen hands and feet supporting his body on the muddy ground.

Hong Chen dragged Lin Xiao upside down to his side with his backhand, grabbed his waist, lifted his true qi, jumped up, and carried the light gong body method to speed through the forest. She dragged the weight of a person, but she didn't receive any impact at all, and she was still as light as a swallow. Rao is like this, and the distance between the two and Spider-Man has not widened further.

"There's a cliff ahead, there's no way!" Hong Chen exclaimed, but he didn't dare to stop easily, for fear that he would fall into the spider-man's hunting web in the next second.

Lin Xiao shouted: "Fall." ”

Hong Chen put away his magic strength, and a "jack pendant" took him to the ground. At the same time, the spider-man chasing after him pounced, and the blood mouth under his abdomen was wide open.

Almost at the moment when he landed, Lin Xiao quickly stretched out his leg and tripped under Hong Chen's feet, and then rolled to the ground with her. Hong Chen lay tightly on Lin Xiao's chest, only to feel a gust of fishy wind passing overhead, and the spider man flew directly over the heads of the two of them under the huge inertia, and fell into the cliff in front of him.

"Is it dead?" Hong Chen poked his head out of Lin Xiao's arms and looked in the direction of the cliff: "Why didn't I hear the sound?"

Lin Xiao pushed Hong Chen away from his body, stood up and walked to the edge of the cliff, and muttered, "It shouldn't be yet." ”

"Could it be that the cliff is too deep for us to hear even if it lands?"

As soon as Hong Chen's words fell, he saw a bloodstained hand suddenly stretched out from the edge of the cliff, slashing at the cliff, it was the kind of hand that the spider man looked on, and its cobweb slime was not far from its feet.

Hong Chen exclaimed: "It is using the stickiness of its own spider silk to climb up. ”

At this time, the spider-man who rushed down the cliff was holding on to the stone wall with his hands, and was about to climb up. Lin Xiao suddenly raised one foot and stomped the spider-man's hand hanging on the cliff, grinding his heel twice by the way. I could only hear the hand making a "click" sound at Lin Xiao's feet, and the bones were broken. Then the spider-man screamed and fell down again, and it was a long time before there was a slight thud - the sound of flesh falling to the ground.

"Alright, this time it's really dead. Lin Xiao clapped his hands to show that he was done.

Hong Chen's mouth opened wide, and he didn't come back to his senses for a while: "How did you know that it would come up?"

Lin Xiao looked back at her, and there was that familiar, foolish look in his eyes: "That's what is written in the novel." ”

Hong Chen barely squeezed out a smile and forcibly swallowed back a dirty word that was about to blurt out.

2.

The two sat down directly on the edge of the cliff.

Lin Xiao looked around: "The field of vision here is empty, and any danger can be detected at the first time." Anyway, there is a cliff behind him, and if you can't beat it, you can jump straight down, and maybe you will wake up from your dream. ”

"Do you think we're really dreaming?"

"Although there are seven-story buildings in this world, and there are some strange realms that we don't know, there are laws between heaven and earth, and no strange thing can go beyond this fixed range. Aside from dreaming, I can't think of a second possibility that would take us from the real world to a fictional virtual world. ”

"That's weird. Hong Chen said: "If this dream is based on the subjective consciousness of you and me, then why are we trapped here, and we are still the kind of objects to be slaughtered?"

"I thought it was weird, too. Lin Xiao frowned and said: "Scientific research shows that people often feel involuntary when dreaming, because they don't realize that they are dreaming, but once they are aware, they can control their dreams in their subjective consciousness." ”

"For example, if you pinch yourself in a dream, the pain will be transferred to the real senses, prompting you to wake up. Is that so?" asked Hong Chen with an example.

Lin Xiao nodded: "This is indeed the most basic form of expression. As he spoke, he pinched his hand, and it hurt a lot, but it hurt very really, and there was no feeling of waking up. "But I can't wake up no matter how I pinch myself now, can I say ......?"

"It's not a dream?"

“...... This is Inception?!"

"You give me death!" Hong Chen slammed a shudder on Lin Xiao's head, "When is this happening, can you be serious?!"

Lin Xiao covered his head and only breathed in pain: "I'm very serious, okay! I'm just giving an example-have you seen the movie "Inception"? Leonardo's Daum Cobb can not only sneak into other people's dreams to steal the secrets hidden in his heart, but also be able to reshape other people's dreams. ”

Hong Chen's eyes widened: "You mean to say that what we are experiencing now is not our own dreams, but the dreams implanted by others?!"

"Almost...... There's one more thing I don't understand. Although the story of "Inception" is very nonsense, the medical use of hypnosis can indeed use the psychological environment of people to shape a dream based on the inner world. But the problem is that no one hypnotizes us at all, how did we get here?"

"Eh~ you reminded me. Hong Chen suddenly remembered something, "There is that kind of monk in the Quadruple Building who specializes in illusion......"

"Look, I just said that it must be these people from the Quadruple Building who did it!"

"Don't get in the way! When this kind of monk who majored in illusion cultivation reached the realm of Dacheng, he also had the ability to rely on other people's dreams to cast illusions, which was called 'Nightmare Technique'. ”

"Nightmare?" Lin Xiaoqi said.

Hong Chen explained: "Through the illusion cast by the Nightmare Technique, the dreamer can enter the role of the slaughtered, and take all kinds of damage in the dream, but he cannot awaken his original ability to defend and counterattack, as if he is in a nightmare. ”

Lin Xiao gasped: "Such an evil door! If the dreamer fails to break the illusion and dies in a dream, is it considered to be awake? or dead?"

"If you die in a nightmare, your physical body will wake up. It's just that what wakes up is only the shell, and the soul in the sea of consciousness is shattered the moment it dies in the dream. ”

"What you mean is that if you die in a dream, you wake up and become ...... Vegetative people?!"

Hong Chen nodded: "That's what I said." ”

"Then it seems that this is indeed an illusion constructed by nightmares. Lin Xiao turned his head to look at the dangerous dense forest, "We are indeed slaughtered now, and my true qi is strangely sealed...... Then it all makes sense. ”

At this point, Lin Xiao suddenly frowned and said, "Wait a minute, there is something wrong." Why is it that only my true qi has disappeared, but yours has not?"

Hong Chen was stunned for a moment: "This ...... How do I know?"

"Could it be that this nightmare is just for me?"

"No way, I'm here too, which means that this dream even includes me. ”

"Could it be that the caster's cultivation is not enough, and he can only control me alone?"

Hong Chen tilted his head and thought for a while: "It's not that this possibility is impossible. Merely...... Looking at the composition of this dream, it is realistic to the extreme from various angles, and the cultivation of the person who performs the nightmare technique is definitely not bad, and there is no reason why I can't control me. ”

"Wait, unless......" Hong Chen seemed to think of something, and suddenly showed an extremely strange expression, "This dream can only trap people?"

There are two key points in this sentence, and it is obvious that Lin Xiao only grasped the most obvious one: "You are not human?!"

"I'm not. ”

"You're really not human!"

"Repeater, you!" Hong Chen glanced at Lin Xiao angrily, "I'm a spirit, not a human, are you satisfied!"

Lin Xiao felt his heart touch fiercely, and in the memory of the summer, the image of the red-clothed sword spirit appeared in front of his eyes again.

Hong Chen saw that Lin Xiao looked like he was in a state of despair, and stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers vigorously in front of him: "What do you think? Do you need to be so shocked? You yourself said that the people in the Quadruple Building are a group of weirdos, your teacher Xiao Ye and her cousin don't know how old they have lived, do I feel strange if I am a spirit?"

Lin Xiao came back to his senses and shook his head.

Hong Chen said: "Let's get down to business first. Let me ask you, have you ever heard of a strange beast called the 'Dream Tapir'?"

"Dream tapir?" Lin Xiao thought for a moment with a frown, "I remember that in the legend, this creature feeds on dreams and can devour dreams, and can also make devoured dreams reappear. ”

However, in Chinese legends about dream tapirs, there is no depiction of eating dreams, and it is said that there are records in the wild history that the use of tapir fur as cushions or bedding can avoid illness and bad luck, and there is also the custom of painting tapir paintings to ward off evil spirits, and there were people in the Tang Dynasty who painted tapir patterns on screens to ward off evil spirits. ”

Hong Chen listened to Lin Xiao quietly: "Now I want to tell you something. ”

"What's the matter?"

"That's what you just said...... It's all!"

Lin Xiao's eyes widened: "Sister, it's heart-piercing!"

Hong Chen touched Lin Xiao's hair with a smile and said, "Brother, let me ask you, do you know which book is the most complete of your records of foreign beasts in the five thousand years of the Triple Building?"

"Do you need to say that? It must be the "Classic of Mountains and Seas". ”

"That's right. "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" is an important ancient book of the pre-Qin period, and it is also the oldest book rich in myths and legends, its content is mainly the geographical knowledge in folklore, including mountains and rivers, geography, ethnicity, sacrifices, witch doctors, etc., and also preserves a lot of ancient myths and legends and fables. Hong Chen said as if he was in popular science knowledge.

"Then do you know that "The Classic of Mountains and Seas" was originally just a book purely introducing geography, folk culture and ancient myths and stories, and in its first version, there was no content about alien beasts. ”

Lin Xiao frowned suspiciously: "Really, fake, then where did all these records of divine beasts and fierce beasts that we see now come from." ”

Hong Chen pointed to the sky: "It's from the four-story building." ”

3.

Lin Xiao only felt that the impact of this information was so huge that he couldn't breathe: "There are actually things about your four-story building in the ancient books of our three-story building, did you think about it when you made up the story?!"

Hong Chen sneered: "Then do you think that these powerless mortals in the Triple Building, have the life to see these legendary beasts? ”

Lin Xiao was speechless for a moment: "So the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" was written by the people of your four-story building?"

"Of course not. Hong Chen shook his head and said, "The part of the record about the strange beast was written by the people of the Quadruple Building, and the original name was "Shenzhou Strange Beast Record", and later this book was lost from the Xiuzhen realm to the earthly world, and was obtained by Emperor Shun at that time, and after it was handed down, it was compiled into the "Classic of Mountains and Seas" by pre-Qin scholars. ”

"It's really alive and learning. Lin Xiao nodded thoughtfully, and suddenly the conversation changed: "But you have told me so much, what do you want to express?"

"I would like to say that the Classic of Mountains and Seas is the most comprehensive and authoritative record of alien beasts since ancient times. Hong Chen said patiently: "But you just said, where does your understanding of the dream tapir come from?"

"The history of the rivers and lakes. ”

"Have you read the Classic of Mountains and Seas?"

"Yes. ”

"Are there any records of dream tapirs among the strange beasts recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas?"

"This ...... It seems that there really isn't. ”

"Don't you think it's strange? Hong Chen said, "Since the Classic of Mountains and Seas is the most comprehensive record of alien beasts, why is there only one name in the record of the dream tapir, and no further detailed records are made?"

Lin Xiao thought about it carefully, and found that he still couldn't figure it out, so he said, "It's good if you just tell me no." ”

Hong Chen smiled coldly: "Because almost all the people who really met the dream tapir died, and occasionally a few who were lucky enough to survive either lost their minds and went crazy or became stupid, and they would only keep repeating the name of the dream tapir, and then immersed themselves in their nightmares until they were scared to death." ”

Lin Xiao couldn't help but shrink a little: "Is it so terrifying?"

"Uh...... Have you ever played Dragon Fantasy?"

"Played. ”

"One of the skills of the game's sixth class, 'Dream Tapir', is 'Fear'. This shows that the saying that dream tapirs create 'fear' is still widely accepted by later generations. ”

"So the ability of this alien beast is to create fear, and then use fear to scare the target to death?"

"Pretty much, the dream tapir's ability is to plant a nightmare in the mind of the prey, and use the fear created in the dream to break down the mental defenses and destroy the prey's spiritual sense, so that the prey can be at its mercy. Hong Chen continued, "This nightmare-like skill has only one flaw, and that is that it is ineffective against the Heartless. ”

Lin Xiao raised his eyebrows: "Are you a heartless?"

"I am the spirit, and naturally I am the mindless. Hong Chen shrugged his shoulders and said.

Lin Xiao blinked in surprise and asked, "The last question - is this kind of thing really like the pictures in those books, it is a cute ...... Weevil-nosed pig?"

Hong Chen was stunned: "Is there any significance to this question?"

Lin Xiao glared and said, "Nonsense! If this guy really looks so weird, I have no reason not to notice it at all!"

Hong Chen replied, "I don't know, and no one knows what the true face of the dream tapir is. This kind of strange beast has actually appeared in both Chinese civilization and Western civilization, and it will transform into the kind of creature that represents the supernatural in that civilization to approach the target, and in the process of approaching, it will be familiar with everything about the prey, and then implement the hunting plan. ”

"For example?"

"Like black cats, ravens, and ......"

"Wait a minute!" Lin Xiao suddenly snorted, "You just said that the dream tapir will transform into a symbol of the supernatural creature and approach the hunting target?"

"That's right. ”

"I vaguely remember...... The black cat is one of the ominous representatives of the people. ”

"Well, it seems that there is such a saying. ”

"Do you remember why I asked you to come to our dormitory tonight to fight the Three Kingdoms Killing?" Lin Xiao suddenly asked a question that sounded completely unrelated to "Dream Tapir".

Hong Chen didn't understand what he meant for a while, so he replied truthfully: "It's not that you said that you are missing one, and then you don't want the ...... next door who has a cat."

The moment these words came out, a thought flashed through his mind like lightning, and the pupils in Hong Chen's eyes shrank in shock, meeting Lin Xiao's gaze. The two looked at each other for a moment, and shouted together:

"Yang Chenghuai's cat!"

【To be continued】