Infinite Nightmares

The group began searching through the crowd, deliberately picking a direction completely opposite from Liu Jianming.

"What kind of person would think you could crush a hen and turn it into a chick?"

After some thought, Zhang Wenda amended his profile of the target. In addition to ’psychopath,’ he now considered ’imbecile.’

He couldn’t imagine anyone other than those two types thinking that way. Even someone with complete amnesia like Song Jianguo wouldn’t come up with something so bizarre.

Zhang Wenda searched meticulously, but after making a full circuit, he still hadn’t found anything unusual. The people here, whether vendors or customers, all seemed perfectly normal, as if this were just an ordinary corner within Thought Wave One.

"Excuse me, sir. Could I ask you something?"

Zhang Wenda stopped an elderly vegetable vendor. "You’ve been around here a while," he said. "Have you seen anyone... strange? You know, someone who looks like an imbecile or a psychopath?"

The old man thought for a moment, then pointed at Zhang Wenda and his companions. "You folks."

’That can’t be right. How? Does this person act and behave normally? But would a normal person think you can crush a hen and turn it into a chick?’ Zhang Wenda couldn’t wrap his head around it. He seemed to have hit a dead end.

"You’re useless. Watch me," Song Jianguo said, sending all her cats out to act as scouts.

With strength in numbers, the Black Cats were excellent at finding people. It wasn’t long before they reported back. They hadn’t found a person, though. Instead, they had found some strange ladybugs.

When Zhang Wenda and the others walked over, they saw the ladybugs on the trees gradually gathering and merging, eventually forming a red steamed bun.

’What does this mean? Bugs gathering to become a steamed bun? A crushed hen turning into a chick? What the hell is going on with this Thought Wave?’ Zhang Wenda wracked his brain but still couldn’t figure this Thought Wave out.

Zhang Wenda considered tasting the bun to see what was wrong with it, but he decided it was too risky.

"Relax. Aunt Flo’s here. I’ll be your food tester," Aunt Flo said. She reached out, grabbed the red bun, stuffed it into her mouth, and began chewing heartily.

The moment she bit down, Aunt Flo’s face puckered. Zhang Wenda could even see green bug juice dribbling from her mouth as she spat repeatedly. "PTUI! PTUI! Goddamn it! This isn’t a bun at all, it’s still bugs in my mouth! That’s disgusting!"

"Is it poisonous? Do you feel anything else unusual?" Zhang Wenda pressed on.

"No, just disgusting," Aunt Flo said, still spitting.

’Ladybugs turning into a bun... what does that represent?’

Although they had now found two anomalies, Zhang Wenda couldn’t see any connection between them.

Another thing was very strange: they had been told this Thought Wave was extremely dangerous and that several groups had already died, yet so far, they hadn’t been attacked at all.

He still had no leads, but his experiences over the past few days hadn’t been for nothing. Zhang Wenda had already thought of a strategy.

"From now on, we’re not looking for the person. We’re looking for all kinds of anomalous rules!" Zhang Wenda said to the other two.

"It’s just like at the Youth Palace. Every bizarre rule is bound to have its own underlying logic!"

"The more anomalous rules we find, the better our chances of piecing together this person’s behavioral logic from all these anomalies!" Zhang Wenda said with absolute certainty.

This time, Zhang Wenda expanded the search area again, moving beyond the market to cover the entire town.

Thankfully, with the help of the cats, covering the whole area wasn’t difficult.

However, when the sun was high in the sky, the cats and the humans regrouped at the market, still empty-handed. They hadn’t found any new, bizarre rules.

"Ugh, I’m dead tired!" Song Jianguo complained, her face a mask of impatience.

"It’s okay, Mimi. Let’s take a break before we get back to it." Aunt Flo walked over to her, gave her a hard jab with her elbow, and then looked up at Zhang Wenda. "Mimi’s starving. Let’s get something to eat."

Having skipped breakfast himself, Zhang Wenda suddenly felt parched at her words. He headed toward a nearby food stall, deciding they’d continue the search after eating.

"Boss, three bowls of fried noodles and three sodas," Zhang Wenda said, pulling Song Jianguo down to a seat at a low table.

"You got it! Be right with you."

’I wonder how those other two are doing. Can’t let them find it before we do,’ Zhang Wenda thought while waiting for their food.

He’d originally thought that most jobs for the Big Circle would be combat-focused. He never expected to be playing these kinds of games.

"Relax, relax, no need to rush. At least it’s not dangerous, right?" Aunt Flo said, gently stroking Song Jianguo’s head.

"Telling *him* not to rush is a waste of breath," Song Jianguo retorted, shoving a hand, sleeve protector and all, into her clothes to scratch an itch.

"No one will mistake you for a mute if you keep your mouth shut."

Just as Zhang Wenda was about to say something more to Song Jianguo, three steaming bowls of fried noodles were brought to their table, along with three chilled bottles of Sprite.

"Let’s eat. After we’re done, we’ll go find those two and see what they’ve discovered. Maybe we can cooperate."

Zhang Wenda took out a pair of disposable chopsticks, but as he went to split them, sharp scythes sliced the flimsy wood into several pieces.

Without normal hands, even eating was a problem for Zhang Wenda. Anything made of wood was like tofu in his grasp. Even iron items wouldn’t hold up. Only ceramic and steel were barely usable.

He glanced from side to side, then his gaze fell on Song Jianguo, who was grinning and gloating at his expense. "Hold on. You can eat after you feed me."

At his words, the grin was wiped right off Song Jianguo’s face.

Though a hundred percent against it, she was under Zhang Wenda’s orders. With a scowl, Song Jianguo picked up a massive clump of noodles and jabbed it toward his face.

Just as Zhang Wenda swallowed the huge mouthful and prepared for a second bite, the sky instantly went dark. The bright noon had become midnight in a flash.

Even more bizarrely, the once-bustling market fell eerily silent. In that same instant, everyone—the stall owners and the crowds alike—vanished without a trace.

In an instant, the market had become a pitch-black, ghostly realm.

Suddenly, a chill ran up Zhang Wenda’s spine. His body blurred, shifting a meter to the left in an instant. The moment he stopped, the ceramic bowl of fried noodles shattered into a dozen pieces, taking the low wooden table with it.

"Watch out! We’re under attack!" Zhang Wenda’s unnatural body blurred as he flipped and dodged rapidly within the small tent. Something, invisible in the darkness, carved a path of destruction right on his heels.

Hearing his warning, Song Jianguo and Aunt Flo tensed up, quickly commanding the Black Cats to form a protective fortress around them.

But after a moment, they realized nothing was happening to them. Zhang Wenda was the only one under attack.

Aunt Flo’s eyes landed on the scattered fried noodles on the ground, and she instantly put it all together. She yelled to the rapidly dodging Zhang Wenda, "Kid! It’s a new anomalous rule! You can’t eat fried noodles in this Thought Wave! You get attacked if you eat the fried noodles!"