Chapter 61: Treating Guests

"Watermelon People are a bunch of extremely detestable guys! They always pop out for no reason while killers are in the middle of completing a Task to stop them!

"They even take the lives of some young killers; it's simply abominable!!"

The young girl said, turning her head to look at Ding Mo:

"The Dark Assistant was attacked by 'Watermelon People', wasn't he?"

"O-oh, so that's how it is..." Ding Mo listened, stunned.

The "Watermelon People" she spoke of must refer to those indescribable Guaishou, right?

Just as the two were talking, in the distance,

a chime of a bell suddenly rang out!

Dong—! Dong—! Dong—!

Exactly 3 times... Ding Mo waited for a while, and seeing there was no more sound, he drew a conclusion.

When they entered this city, the time was nearly noon.

Perhaps they were too far away at the time and didn't hear the noon bell.

—In the past, Ding Mo had learned about the ringing patterns of the Clock Tower; some ring 4 times a day (Morning Bell, Noon Bell, Evening Bell, Night Bell), while others ring more, varying from place to place.

"It's probably around 3:00 PM now, and the bell rang 3 times accordingly."

This might be a clue; although they were about to leave, it wouldn't hurt to keep it in mind.

After the bell finished ringing, the two exchanged words for a while longer to understand each other's situation.

At this moment, Ding Mo's attention finally fell upon the little girl behind her.

But after examining her carefully for a while, Ding Mo didn't discover anything special. In fact, his gaze kept lingering, making the little girl even more afraid.

Could someone the Processing Bureau pays special attention to be an ordinary person? Ding Mo was completely baffled, yet he truly couldn't see anything.

In the end, he had no choice but to ask: "What... is your name?"

The little girl was about four years old; hearing this, she hesitated for a moment and whispered:

"I, I am called Xiao Yu."

"I see." Ding Mo, who had already obtained her name from the files, was not surprised. Now that the conversation was opened, he continued to press for other matters.

For example: Where are your parents? Your family? Why are you here? What exactly is the situation with this city? Why does the Processing Bureau want to find you...

But just then, movement came from the alleyway on the road.

Gu Zixu narrowed her eyes, glanced at Zhang Yunfan, who was slumped on the ground, and stepped out of the shadows.

But she immediately lowered her weapon.

Because two figures emerged from it—it was Tang Chen and He Xiang!

It was just that at this moment, one was rushing about in a panic, while the other was limp, clothes stained with blood, life or death unknown!

What happened... With the conversation interrupted, Ding Mo walked forward to check the situation.

He saw that Tang Chen was unconscious, and as soon as He Xiang approached while holding him, she asked with an anxious face:

"You guys! Who knows where the nearest hospital is?!"

Hospital? Ding Mo and Gu Zixu exchanged a glance.

The former said: "He Xiang, we have already found the Task target, you..."

"It's too late!!" He Xiang said with intense emotion:

"He is going to die, I have to save him!"

Because of her emotional fluctuation, her voice was a bit loud, seemingly disturbing the Tang Chen in her arms.

He saw his body tremble, his two hands clutching He Xiang's body tightly, and a "he-he" sound came from his throat; he seemed to be quite severely injured.

"..." After a moment of silence, Ding Mo relied on the memory of his arrival and the map provided by the Processing Bureau to point out a path.

Gu Zixu watched this scene silently, without saying a word.

"Thank you... thank you..." He Xiang left after saying this, but after thinking for a moment, she suddenly tossed over a bag of things.

This is? Ding Mo caught it in surprise and discovered it was a transparent bag filled with white powder.

"This is the 'Salt Grain' mentioned in the rules, brought back by my boyfriend. There is a lot of it, I'll share some with you," He Xiang said, a trace of pleading appearing in her eyes.

She suddenly said:

"You, you guys... if you can after you get out, could you please beg the Processing Bureau for me,

"to send someone to the city's Clock Tower to pick us up?"

"..."

"Alright, we will try our best."

Ding Mo and Gu Zixu had no reason to refuse.

The sun had already begun to tilt.

Watching the two walk further and further away, Ding Mo heard Gu Zixu's soft sigh.

In fact, he also understood that these two would likely not return after this departure. As for the "send someone to pick us up" mentioned just now, it was merely holding onto a glimmer of wishful thinking.

There was a high probability that no one would ever enter this city again.

There was a reason why this place was hard to find even a single person. He didn't know how many of the rules in the "Immigration Code" issued by the Processing Bureau were useful, and how many were useless.

Anyone could figure out with their eyes closed that if one could survive just by following the rules, they wouldn't be needed at all.

In the rules, the "Clock Tower" seemed to be a special place, possibly a shelter.

But going to the Clock Tower... no one could guarantee they would survive.

Ding Mo thought, raising the Salt Grain in his hand to examine it. The tiny crystals emitted a crystalline white glow under the sunlight.

Besides, could this thing really be used?

The sun slanted further toward the west.

Ding Mo and his group walked along the main road, Gu Zixu carrying Zhang Yunfan on her back, while "Xiao Yu" followed behind everyone.

It had to be said, Gu Zixu's stamina was truly good; despite her petite frame, she carried Zhang Yunfan, a grown man, and walked with even more ease than Ding Mo.

Passing one intersection after another, the shops along the street were all operating autonomously, maintaining a strange kind of "bustle."

Ding Mo could not help but recall the contents of the "Immigration Code" once again.

He discovered that among them, "Salt Grain" had indeed been mentioned many times, but compared to an "antidote,"

he felt it was more like a type of "anesthetic," used to temporarily numb the cognition of those polluted by the weird.

For example, this rule:

-) Light pollution in this city is severe; there are no stars at night. If you see a starry sky, please immediately swallow a "Salt Grain" and dial 119, then wait where you are; do not walk around at will!

If it were an "antidote," why would one still need to dial 119? And why is walking around not allowed?

This rule seemed as if it were afraid that the pollution on someone who had been polluted by the so-called "starry sky" would "spread"!

That was why "119" was needed to completely contain it!

Walking for a while like this, the group indeed did not encounter any danger.

As expected, the main street was the safest place.

When they came, they had to recognize the path and be careful of potential threats in the surroundings, so progress was slow. But now, the few of them had some idea about this city, and they were returning the same way, so the speed naturally picked up.

Before long, Ding Mo wiped the sweat from his forehead and suddenly shifted his gaze,

seeing that familiar milk tea shop!

This meant they were not far from the boundary!

"Huu, huu..." Gu Zixu panted slightly, sweat also crawling across her delicate face.

However, this discovery also made her eyes flicker.

"Number 2, let's make a dash for it in one go!"

Ding Mo turned back to look at her and found her expression as determined as if she were about to join the Party.

"Alright!"

He still replied.

Behind them, Xiao Yu heard this, a trace of curiosity appearing in her eyes. As she walked,

she licked the ice cream in her hand.

The ice cream was emitting white icy mist and radiating cold air, completely out of place with everything around it.

Ding Mo's gaze happened to look over at this moment, and he couldn't help but be stunned.

"Where did you get that?"

His gaze suddenly became vigilant.

Hearing the commotion, Gu Zixu turned back and also discovered the abnormality of the ice cream.

The group stopped at once.

"?" Xiao Yu tilted her head at the question and pointed to an ice cream cart shop on the side of the street:

"I bought it over there."

"?!" Ding Mo looked toward that cart.

However, in that cart stall, a fan was blowing at an empty seat out of thin air, which was truly weird.

"How did you buy it?" Ding Mo had to ask again.

"Of course I used money, big brother, do you want to eat some?"

As Xiao Yu spoke, she took out a "five-dollar bill" from the backpack she had been carrying, which had a small bear doll pinned to it, and handed it over.

"Xiao Yu can treat you!" she said prettily.

"..." As the words fell,

Ding Mo and Gu Zixu exchanged a glance, both seeing that something was wrong in each other's eyes.

Just as they were silent,

a sudden "mist" unexpectedly shrouded the entire street without any warning!

No,

if someone were looking down from high above, they would discover,

it had shrouded nearly half the city!