Give Me Your Blood

Port, container.

Under Xu Wan's highly purposeful guidance, Yu Xing finally stopped in front of a dark green shipping container.

The metal shipping container was also encased in ice. Through the ice, you could see the layers of textured surfaces of the container, which gleamed with a dull, metallic sheen.

The container was more than half a body taller than Yu Xing and even larger than the RV. Its sharp edges were neatly covered with soft rubber.

From the outside, it looks no different from the other containers around it.

Only by listening closely at close range can one faintly hear the muffled hum of machinery operating behind the ice and sheet metal.

"This is it." Xu Wan curled her lips, and at this moment, she looked even more like Snake Woman. She placed her hand on the ice that looked like it would peel off a layer of skin if touched casually.

The ice melted outwards from the center of her palm.

Almost the instant the ice melted, Yu Xing's head buzzed, and he sensed an extremely terrifying and evil power emanating from the shipping container.

It turns out that the box wasn't just another ordinary box; rather, the ice layer was blocking the unique aroma inside!

He only dazed for a moment before snapping back to reality. Adhering to his expected persona, he took two steps back as if he couldn't take it anymore, clutching his head and letting out a muffled groan.

A twisted force was drilling into his mind.

It's like...

A condensed cognitive distortion?

His tongue felt numb, and his unseen tentacles became excited and restless.

Xu Wan pushed open the container door, and Yu Xing heard a woman's seductive voice beside him. Her gentle yet highly persuasive tone whispered in his ear, "It's inside."

"The truth you seek lies within, as does the power that governs this small world. Go in and take a look, child..."

He followed the words without resistance.

He stepped through the container door, a warm breeze hitting him, while at the same time, the suffocating haze in the air and the mechanical sounds around him grew increasingly pronounced.

The light gradually dimmed.

The inside of the container was completely dark.

"Clatter."

Yu Xing's shoes made a much louder sound as they stepped on the metal sheet than anywhere else, but for some reason, she couldn't muster the urge to observe it.

He only felt very cold.

The air was warm, but it was colder for him than outside.

The cold seeped into his bones, making his body feel a slight urge to shiver.

He knew that something was distorting his perception very strongly. No, it should be said that he was feeling the energy that was naturally emanating from this thing. He was extremely clear about what he wanted to do, while at the same time feeling awe for this equally high-dimensional power.

Until the woman's voice, which had been gradually fading, hissed and raised its voice to say to him, "Come and have a look, child! This is the great place of creation."

The barrier that had enveloped Yu Xing's senses suddenly vanished.

For a fleeting moment, his vision cleared, and then a cacophony of sounds suddenly filled his ears.

The laughter and joy of the people, the fake festive atmosphere... everything seemed to penetrate the entire harbor and suddenly reach his ears.

A light screen projection appeared in front of Yu Xing.

The video playing there depicted a corner of the town, with rows of houses containing some of the faces he had seen in the past two days. Townspeople dressed in red opened their doors and excitedly walked out of the stairwells, converging like a river and flowing into the larger neighborhood.

"It's so cold! If it gets any colder, I'm going to freeze to death."

Zhang Yu's voice was mixed in with the crowd and not very noticeable, but Yu Xing still caught it immediately. He shifted his gaze and saw the second screen behind the first one.

The screen showed a large crowd near the altar.

Besides these two, there were a third, a fourth, a fifth... a dense array of light screens filled the space of the container, the noisy images were divided into pieces, messy and disorderly.

This is not just about the size of the shipping container.

The interior space is much larger than it appears from the outside; in fact, it seems to stretch as far as the eye can see.

The light screens obscured her vision. Yu Xing slowly raised her head, and even at the end of her line of sight, the light screens continued to pile up until they became a small black dot in the distance.

"The movie is being filmed all the time." The "Snake Woman" leaned close to Yu Xing's ear, her icy breath brushing against his ear and the back of his neck, sending shivers down his spine.

She gently nudged Yu Xing's body passed through the light screen without any obstruction, seeing even more.

Those were... some dark black instruments.

A camera lens was coldly pointed at him, flashing red light; more cameras were positioned in different locations, all working.

The props were piled on the ground: lighting boards, costumes, wires, large equipment...

They each had their own place, and there were still some leftover empty lunch boxes, plastic bags, and foam-like things on the ground.

These realistic items make the seemingly endless space inside the container look like a real film set.

In the distance, there are also textures of buildings and other structures.

The equipment is all here; the actors are inside the screen.

The director, however, is hidden within the story.

"How is it?" The woman's voice regained some of Xu Wan's tone, asking with a stubborn and strange tone, "This scene was created based on my memory, isn't it atmospheric?"

"It's alright." Yu Xing replied briefly, her breathing heavy, seemingly still not free from the "effects" emanating from the equipment.

He staggered forward until he could touch the nearest camera, then hesitated for a moment as he raised his hand.

"You can touch them," Xu Wan. "Feel all of this! They'll be yours soon!"

Yu Xing then placed her hand on the camera.

The metal was cold to the touch, and felt no different from a normal camera.

But...

The eerie aura emanating from the machine instantly seemed to have found food, frantically coiling around his palm!

In that instant, he "saw" the entire Nanshui Town.

He "saw" the scene split into countless parts, flashing continuously in his mind, with the life stories of every town resident clearly emerging, as if he were always supposed to know.

Overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information, Yu Xing's head was now truly throbbing with pain.

He groaned, covered his head, and squatted down. His messy, dark bangs cast thick shadows on his face, obscuring his eyes, which had quietly turned a deep blue.

"This is..."

His voice was hoarse and broken. "The feeling of... controlling... the whole world?"

"Right now you're only 'reading,' not in control." Xu Wan's high heels approached Yu Xing.

She crouched down, cupped Yu Xing's face in her hands, her serpentine eyes now undisguised. "But, doesn't this feel wonderful? Omniscient, omnipotent, as if everything is under your control."

"You decide the actors' lives, and you can know everything an outsider does..."

"Do you want to truly own this world? Cooperate with me, child."

Because Yu Xing had already shown his ambition, the Snake Woman went straight to the point.

She didn't explain who she really was, but only revealed what Yu Xing desired most.

Under the influence of cognitive distortion, every word Yu Xing uttered seemed to resonate with the soul.

Her breathing suddenly quickened, Yu Xing's chest heaved. "What should I do?"

The Snake Woman smiled using Xu Wan's face; cold-blooded animals don't smile, and her smile was terrifyingly stiff.

Give me your blood.

She murmured softly. (End of Chapter)