Recognizing Reality

"Leave? Where are we going now?" Chen Xiyao asked as soon as Feng Xue stood up. They'd only just managed to settle down. Why did they have to leave again?

"My estimate was still too conservative. We're not close enough to the outer wall. We might have to make repeated trips later, and staying here could arouse suspicion..."

At that, Feng Xue gave Chen Xiyao a strange look, then added:

"And I'm afraid you won't be able to hold it in."

"Hold what in?" Chen Xiyao obediently followed Feng Xue, but couldn't help asking.

Feng Xue rolled his eyes.

"Going to the bathroom."

"What does that have to do with going to the bathroom? You're not planning to move next to a public restroom, are you? That's way too dirty!"

Chen Xiyao was a '90s kid, after all. She'd seen squat toilets when she was little, and even had lessons at school on how to flush a primitive latrine. As they'd traveled, she'd already associated this area with a slum. The thought of living beside a latrine made her scalp prickle.

"It's not a public restroom. There simply aren't any toilets here. People in this world don't need to use the bathroom." Feng Xue explained helplessly, but Chen Xiyao rolled her eyes just as he had earlier.

"What kind of East Kingdom idol setting is this?"

But after their gazes met for a moment, Chen Xiyao finally began to feel uneasy. Looking at his handsome, serious face, she asked nervously:

"You're serious?"

"Mm." Feng Xue nodded solemnly, then gestured toward the outer wall in the distance.

"If you need to use the bathroom, you'll have to go outside that wall. People here don't use the bathroom, so if anyone notices an unusual smell, it'll be easy for them to realize you're an Outsider."

"An unusual smell..." Chen Xiyao blushed slightly, but Feng Xue had already started walking. Knowing there was no time to dwell on it, she hurried after him.

As the initial tension and excitement of crossing over slowly faded under Feng Xue's cold demeanor, she began to feel afraid. Watching his back, which seemed unchanging no matter what happened, she suddenly realized that she'd been so nervous earlier that she'd forgotten to ask the most important question—

"Um, why are those people hunting me?"

"Strictly speaking, they're only chasing you. They don't want to kill you," Feng Xue corrected her, his back to the girl.

"They don't want to kill me? Then why am I running?" A question mark seemed to appear above Chen Xiyao's head, but Feng Xue continued as though he'd merely taken a breath.

"They just want to torment you in every way they can and leave you with a psychological scar you'll never forget, even on your deathbed."

"Isn't that even worse? What did I do to offend them?" Feng Xue's words left Chen Xiyao feeling awful. Of course, she suspected he might be deliberately trying to scare her, but she could look north right now and see beams of light spreading farther and farther out. The others were clearly searching for her.

As for the possibility that this man had brought all this trouble upon her...

Chen Xiyao hadn't even considered it. After all, he'd been so nimble earlier that he could probably have escaped easily on his own. Instead, he'd insisted on bringing along a stranger like her when he could've just run away. That was an act of kindness in itself, wasn't it?

It wasn't as though someone would deliberately bring along a burden just to make their escape harder.

Of course, if Chen Xiyao had only crossed over in spirit, she might have wondered whether the body she'd possessed belonged to some underworld heiress or something. But she'd clearly brought her own body with her, so there was no reason to suddenly acquire some extra baggage.

Feng Xue was reasonably satisfied with Chen Xiyao's behavior so far. She hadn't made a scene or started suspecting him for no reason. Of course, she might simply be a fool who believed whatever anyone told her, but either way, she was easier to manage than a rebellious girl.

And since she was being so cooperative, Feng Xue didn't mind explaining a little.

"Earlier, you said my name sounded like it belonged to someone from the Flame Kingdom... Have you heard the story of Journey to the West?"

"Journey to the West? Of course I have, though I don't know if it's the same story you mean..." Chen Xiyao was a little surprised to hear the title of one of the Flame Kingdom's four great classics, but answered as carefully as she could. "Um, is it the story about a monk who travels west to obtain scriptures, accompanied by a monkey who can fight, a lazy pig, and a water demon who barely gets any attention?"

"Yeah, that's the one. You know Tang Monk, right? You're a lot like him now. Anyone who knows you exist wants to capture you."

Feng Xue delivered the cruel truth in the calmest possible tone, and Chen Xiyao finally understood her situation.

For a moment, they fell silent again.

Walking down the street together like this was actually somewhat dangerous, but Feng Xue wore his hood up, which helped avoid some trouble.

Though the Assassin Set's stealth was a single-target skill, when you were with someone else, having little presence meant people focused on the other person instead. The effect could even be better than walking down the street alone.

Although Chen Xiyao was an Outsider, the traits of Outsiders weren't particularly noticeable in this world. If she dared to walk along the street "alone" under these circumstances, she might actually avoid attracting suspicion.

They walked along the Landfill Area's night streets, which looked almost like a ghost town, for five or six minutes before finding a suitable place to stay. It was only a hundred meters or so from the outer wall, with no footprints or other traces nearby, suggesting it had been abandoned for a long time. The neighboring houses were also unoccupied, which not only reduced the risk of exposure but also made it possible to renovate the place.

That was how Feng Xue saw it, but Chen Xiyao clearly felt otherwise. She tried her best to hide her distaste, but the place looked even more decrepit than the previous house, whose skylight had a huge hole in the roof. She couldn't help asking:

"Can anyone really live in this house?"

"The temperature in the Landfill Area is constant. You wouldn't catch a cold even if you slept in the street. Unlike traditional houses, living indoors is mostly about satisfying human habits."

Feng Xue explained coldly. He checked the room, and after confirming there was nothing especially dangerous, walked straight to the door. He glanced back at the girl.

"I'm going to fetch two buckets of water. Stay right here. Don't move around."

Why was everything King Crimson again...

In the Real World, [Shi] was consumed a thousand times faster than in Infinite City. You could think of the air in Infinite City as having the "oxygen" necessary for [Nothingness] to live, while the Real World had none. That was why consumption increased so dramatically there. In other words, a supply of [Shi] that could sustain a day in Infinite City would only last for a little over a minute of activity in the Real World.

Before becoming a Weird Tale, there was no way to obtain [Shi] from the Real World. If Feng Xue followed her straight through the door, he would evaporate in no time.