The ascetic monk fell silent for a few seconds before saying, "You could say that."
"What exactly is that thing?" Sun Hang stepped closer. "Would it be convenient to tell us?"
"Human desire," the ascetic monk said.
"What?" Sun Hang frowned.
"Desire made manifest," the ascetic monk replied. "When you see it, you'll understand... But before that happens, I still hope you'll choose to leave this place."
Sun Hang caught a faint stale odor from the ascetic monk. It was like the dusty, moldy scent that drifted out from between the pages when an old bookcase sealed for years was opened.
It was not particularly unpleasant, yet it gave him a sense of distance, as though they were separated by an age.
Sun Hang increasingly felt that this ascetic monk resembled a walking human-shaped antique. Or rather, he seemed more like one of those undead creatures that usually slept in tombs and occasionally rose from the dead to wander around.
Yet there was no trace of an Anomaly Meme on the ascetic monk. He had a heartbeat and pulse, he breathed, and blood flowed through the veins beneath his skin—none of those traits matched any of Sun Hang's guesses about his true identity. For a moment, Sun Hang even wanted to pin the monk to the ground, cut him open with a knife, and properly study his anatomy.
The four of them gradually approached Nanhua Town. Every so often, the ascetic monk stopped and rhythmically tapped the ground several times with the wooden stick in his hand before continuing onward.
With every pause, the angle of their route shifted slightly.
At first, Sun Hang thought the monk was tapping the ground with his stick to detect traps. But as he gathered more and more data samples, he discovered that the