Strange Things

"Xiang Kun needs our help."

For some reason, upon hearing Lao Xia's somewhat nonsensical remark, Yang Zhen'er suddenly became excited, her mind conjuring up several different battlefields, enemies, and battle situations!

Then all the thoughts converged into one voice: Just as I expected!

Of course, she didn't think too much about what he was expecting. Anyway, she knew that the "help" Lao Xia mentioned was definitely not the kind of "help" like "Xiang Kun is short of money, let's sponsor him some," "Xiang Kun was beaten up, let's help beat him up," or "Xiang Kun is depressed after a breakup, let's go and comfort him."

Look at the people on this bus now, this "lineup". There's Little Bell, a first-grader; Little Apple, a blind girl not yet eighteen; Alice, a half-real, half-fantasy "Little Sprite" from another dimension, like a crispy pork knuckle; and her, a pretty, cute, and smart girl who is powerless.

When Alice appeared and everyone in the car gathered, what Lao Xia said must have represented the situation she had guessed!

The door to New World has opened for her. Although she doesn't yet know exactly how she can help or what her ability to create illusions is for, since Lao Xia said that Chef Xiang needs their help, then she must be useful!

The "Yang Zhen'er moment" is finally about to arrive!

Not only Yang Zhen'er, but Little Apple also had a solemn expression, with her eyes filled with tension, excitement, and barely suppressed anticipation.

She had realized Xiang Kun's extraordinary nature a long time ago, but at that time, her guess was that Uncle Xiang was a channel between this world and another world. She could communicate with the creatures of the other world through some items given to her by Uncle Xiang and some methods taught to her, and ask them for help to make them appear in this world.

But now, as her connection with Alice grows stronger and their understanding deepens, as her relationship with Little Bell grows closer, as she learns more about Little Radish, Gold Glitter, and Egg Pie, and as more and more truths are presented to her, intentionally or unintentionally, she further revises her judgment.

Now she knows that Uncle Xiang is not only the passage between this world and that world, not only the bridge between them and the creatures of other worlds, but also the boss of those creatures, those beings, and even that world!

Little Apple is well aware of her extraordinary nature. Although she still cannot "see" things like ordinary people, she can actually "see" what ordinary people can see and what ordinary people cannot see. The range of her perception and the areas she can explore have long surpassed the scope of normal humans.

Not to mention her ability to use Gold Glitter's sensory connections, her access to Alice's various senses, and her ability to communicate with and summon beings from another dimension and another world to stop crime.

She can even sense the movement of all the water within a certain range.

The Little Apple of today has long lost her former inferiority complex. She even has the idea that "with great power comes great responsibility," and secretly fantasizes about leading many summoned creatures from other worlds to fight against evil forces and criminals.

Of course, because of her uncle's repeated instructions, she was always very careful and didn't even dare to reveal it to her father.

Only in Chongyun Village, when she's with Lao Xia, Little Bell, and the others, can she truly let loose and not hide anything.

Now, hearing Lao Xia's words, she knew that the moment of battle might be approaching!

She'll finally be able to use her abilities to her heart's content!

Or perhaps, the gates to another world will open, and the eight-armed, eight-eyed giant will truly descend upon this world to punish evil, just as he did by that lake, or in Montamira.

Little Apple clenched her fists excitedly, her eyes shining.

As for Liu Shiling, who was sitting in the second row just like her, after hearing what Lao Xia said, her eyebrows furrowed and her first reaction was to reach up to touch the back of her collar. After finding nothing, she remembered that she wasn't wearing a hooded dress today, nor did she have the Jingle Magic Robe that the old fairy sister had "bestowed" upon her.

So she scratched her head, got up from her seat, tugged at the back of the driver's seat, looked at Lao Xia and said, "Roast Chicken Wing Sister, I'm ready! But school starts in three days, so we need to hurry!"

"Tell me, Lao Xia, what does Xiang Kun need us to do?" Yang Zhen'er also spoke up, "I'm the oldest, so give me the dangerous tasks first!" It was as if she had already decided that they were going to do some dangerous missions such as fighting Monster or battling evil forces.

Seeing the excited state of the group of people in the carriage, Xia Libing nodded and said, "Go to bed early these next few days." Then she opened the door and got off the train.

Yang Zhen'er, Liu Shiling, and Little Apple looked at each other, then turned their gazes to Alice.

Alice stood up abruptly from her seat, then bumped her head on the ceiling, forcing her to squat down and hug her knees, saying to them, "Don't worry! The boss will be back soon! Don't be afraid! We're invincible!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Alice disintegrated and vanished, startling Yang Zhen'er.

At this moment, Lao Xia opened the GL8's sliding door.

Little Apple and Little Chubby Girl got off the car first. After Yang Zhen'er got off, she couldn't help but ask, "What does 'go to bed early' mean? Does it mean the mission starts at dawn? Hey, Lao Xia, give me a hint!"

Xia Libing closed the car door, turned to look at her, thought for a moment, and said, "Use your imagination."

"Ah?!"

Xia Libing stopped talking and led Guo and Niu into the courtyard.

Yang Zhen'er knew that Lao Xia's words were not just a simple joke; they must have meant something, otherwise he wouldn't have said them.

But what does it actually mean?

After frowning and thinking for a few seconds, Yang Zhen'er's stomach suddenly growled. She rubbed her stomach, frowning, "So hungry... Strange, it hasn't been long since I finished lunch. Although I was so focused on Alice in the private room that I didn't eat much, I did eat a big piece of crispy pork knuckle, and on the way back I even had Ice Cream... Oh right, it was Alice that turned into ice cream, it's gone after you eat it! Ugh! I'm starving! Lao Xia, cook me a bowl of noodles!"

In the capital of New South Wales, Australia, a tall Chinese man walks slowly with two Chinese women in a dark and smelly subway tunnel.

"The subway station here was built in 1960, so it's 60 years old now, which is why it's so dilapidated. Strange things often happen here. The story I told you about isn't even that weird anymore; apparently, someone once saw a mermaid here." The young Chinese man walking ahead said, holding a flashlight.

"Mermaid? The kind from the sea?" the slender, tall girl asked.

The girl's name is Ye Zijun. In March of this year, she and her parents were attacked by thugs in the tourist city of Montamira in Myanmar, but were saved by a "phantom of Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant" that suddenly appeared from the sky. After returning to China, she quit her job and prepared to make a documentary about the "phantom of Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant," and went around interviewing tourists who had seen the phantom in Montamira that night.

Initially, she mainly interviewed Chinese tourists who were in Montamira that day, then returned to Montamira to interview some locals, and then interviewed some non-Chinese foreign tourists who had seen the eight-armed, eight-eyed vision.

The interview process went very smoothly. After learning that she was also a witness to the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant vision" that night, and especially after hearing about her psychological changes and feelings, the people being interviewed, whether Chinese, Burmese, or from other countries, all received her very warmly and were always willing to grant her interview requests.

For a while, two men claiming to be journalists wanted to join her documentary filming project, offering to find her sponsorships and funding. She happily agreed, as she was a newcomer with little experience beyond making vlogs and conducting interviews or documentaries. She was already struggling on her own, especially since she was spending her savings from previous jobs and had to be very frugal. Now that she had professionals to help her and guide her, she was naturally happy to accept.

But she soon realized something was amiss. The two men seemed to be using her good relationship with those who had experienced the "Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant illusion" to ask strange questions unrelated to the subject of her documentary, as if they were investigating something.

This aroused Ye Zijun's suspicion, so she prepared to find an excuse to separate from the two. However, to her surprise, the two took the initiative to say that they had other interview assignments and had to leave. They even arranged for her to be contacted by their media platform liaison, saying that they would continue to provide her with financial support and subsequent production assistance, and asked her to hire one or two assistants to accompany her, and that they would reimburse the relevant expenses.

When Ye Zijun was in Myanmar, she hired Maung Mao Qiang, the Myanmar boy who had saved her, as her assistant and guide. After returning to China, she hired another assistant, and together they traveled to Europe and then to Australia for interviews.

Her assistant, Xiao Ding, is the curly-haired girl walking behind her with the camera.

The girl was wearing khaki overalls and a denim jacket, with her ear-length curly hair dyed pink. She was rather plump, very efficient, and professional in everything she did, including filming. She could also speak decent English and communicate in basic Japanese. After working together for a while, Ye Zijun was very satisfied, and the collaboration was very pleasant.

Xiao Ding previously collaborated with a female internet celebrity who did live streaming, creating videos and live streams of outdoor adventures and experiencing paranormal events. Of course, on the surface, it was all about travel photography and normal travel experience live streams.

However, one time, she and that girl encountered a real "paranormal event." After that, her partner was so frightened that she stopped doing this type of live stream and went to work at a bar. But she remained determined to continue making related content.

Before meeting Ye Zijun, Xiao Ding was also planning to explore and film the story behind the illusion of the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant in Montamira.

For her, being Ye Zijun's assistant, even without a single penny, was something she was willing to do, because it was something she had always wanted to do.

The two women came to Australia to interview several people who had previously seen the Eight-Armed Eight-Eyed Giant vision in Montamira. They also contacted a local international student to act as a translator and guide.

Two days ago, they finished their interview. The international student, the Chinese-American boy walking in front now, told them about a strange incident that happened in an abandoned subway tunnel, which caught their attention. So they decided to come and investigate and film a video, hoping to find something unexpected.

The Chinese boy walking ahead laughed and said, "She's not a mermaid from the sea, not pretty at all, and she has four legs, which is scary."

"I guess they saw some kind of big lizard?" Ye Zijun said.

Previously, when she and Xiao Ding were at the home of an interviewee, they saw a large lizard, almost two meters long, crawling across the yard. They were so frightened that they almost screamed.

"Maybe," the Chinese-American boy chuckled.

A short while later, he shone his flashlight beam on a small door beside the passageway ahead and said, "We're here. It's right there."

Ye Zijun and Xiao Ding exchanged a glance, their spirits lifted, and they quickly followed.

The Chinese-American boy pushed open the door and went straight in. Inside was a long, narrow corridor. After walking for a while, another door opened, leading to a more spacious room. Under the beam of a flashlight, some exposed pipes could be seen on the side. The stench of decay permeated the air, making Ye Zijun instinctively pull up her collar to cover her nose.

"You said you heard someone crying and other strange noises here?" Ye Zijun asked. "There's no crying now, and I haven't heard anything. Are we not there yet?"

The Chinese boy in front suddenly stopped, turned off his flashlight, and his voice trembled slightly. "Didn't you... notice anything strange?"

"Something strange?" Ye Zijun released her grip on his collar, shining a flashlight on the boy's back with one hand and reaching into her pocket with the other to grab a stun gun. Although after spending a few days together, she and Xiao Ding trusted this Chinese-American Xiao Ding and thought he was reliable, they still needed to be cautious when traveling. They had made some contingency plans, including self-defense and notifying others for help in case of danger.

"Yes, strange things," the Chinese-American boy said, turning around with a cold voice, "Like me."

Ye Zijun's flashlight and Xiao Ding's camera, which were both used to photograph the lights mounted on the platform, simultaneously illuminated the Chinese-American boy's face.

On that face, tiny mushrooms sprouted, and moss-like things kept extending from the dark eye sockets.