I Will Teach You How to Hunt Gods

As soon as her feet touched the ground, Yun You finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Earlier, when the Night Watchman was closest to her, the hand holding the gong almost touched the hem of her clothes.

The distance between them was only a few inches at most, a real hair's breadth.

Perhaps, if Yun You had hesitated just a moment longer, or if the Night Watchman had jumped half a second faster, its fingers could have touched the girl.

Yun You didn't know what would happen if she were touched, but her instinctive sense of danger kept warning her: Don't get caught, or the consequences would be unimaginable.

Fortunately, in the end, she managed to escape, using Red Scale's shape-shifting attribute to tear open the incredibly solid door.

But clearly, Yun You hadn't completely escaped danger.

The Night Watchman only paused for a moment, then approached the door, curling its body into a twisted, deformed posture, inching through the large hole Yun You had created, bit by bit through the door.

Although it didn't have a physical form, it seemed to still need to follow the corridor's rules, unable to pass directly through walls.

But even so, being able to alter its body shape at will and curl itself into a ball, it was sure to squeeze through the big hole.

It was only a matter of time.

"Tian Gan... Tian Gan..."

Due to its vocal cords being compressed, its voice was intermittent, like an old radio, stuttering as it spoke.

Seeing the severely deformed body... yet still smiling expression of the Night Watchman, Yun You felt nothing but horror and disgust.

She dared not linger any longer and continued running forward.

The corridor remained largely unchanged, with thick walls on both sides, still lined with doors covered in red symbols for fortune.

However, some of the symbols on the doors had been replaced with couplets.

Red and white couplets.

The red couplets contained festive blessings, words like "Lifelong Happiness, Everlasting Love."

While the white couplets contained strange epitaphs, like "A Legacy That Lasts Forever," "In Deep Mourning."

The couplets were not securely attached, especially the white ones, with only the upper half still adhering to the door, while the lower half fluttered quietly in the wind as Yun You passed by, like strips of white handkerchiefs.

Seeing such a scene, Yun You felt a tingle on her scalp, an inexplicable unease in her heart.

But she had no idea of the meaning of the couplets in the corridor, so she could only run forward with a stiff neck.

[Yun Zai!]

Fortunately, Master Zero suddenly spoke, breaking the silence with its indistinct voice, easing Yun You's taut nerves a little.

[I think I have an idea what's going on now.]

Hearing this, Yun You's eyes lit up, the gloom in her heart dispelled a little.

"What idea? Tell me."

[It's about "the true nature of this corridor."]

Master Zero patiently began to explain, though usually with a cynical attitude, it was quite reliable at critical moments.

[From the moment we entered this corridor, I've been thinking about what this infinitely stretching corridor and ever-changing space really are.]

[Initially, I thought it was an illusion.]

[You've probably experienced the strength of illusions before.]

[Theoretically, as long as the illusion exerts enough force, wide-ranging and comprehensive, it can completely distort a person's five senses, even affecting the sixth sense, causing someone to unknowingly commit great mistakes, like killing a companion they intended to save, or attacking a loved one...]

[We all know that buildings in the world have size limits, and it's impossible for an infinite expanse of buildings to exist, but this corridor presents an endless posture, just the distance we've run together would be enough to circle Yangshan Town ten times.]

[This shouldn't be possible, so I assumed it was an illusion.]

Listening to Master Zero's explanation, Yun You subconsciously nodded.

Indeed, the power of illusions was truly terrifying.

Previously, in the Mine, she was subjected to an illusion, and everything before her changed—all the text she saw and the actions of those around her became entirely contrary to reality.

If Yun You hadn't woken up in time, with Aurora's reminder, she might have ended up like the miners thirty years ago, killing all her companions herself.

"It" was indeed a master of deception.

If "it" was also the mastermind behind Yangshan Town, then it wouldn't be surprising for "it" to create an endless corridor.

[But after thinking it over, I dismissed the illusion hypothesis.]

[Why isn't it an illusion? The reason is simple—because of the Night Watchman's existence.]

[Although initially, we panicked when seeing it, mistaking it for a ghostly entity from urban legends due to its invisible form...]

[But once I calmed down, certain doubts began to emerge.]

[Is it really a false illusion? I think not necessarily.]

[Although the Night Watchman lacks a physical form and can't be harmed by physical means, it exudes an aura—a sour, rotten, disgusting stench.]

[It's the scent of a mutated monster.]

[Maybe I'm still a bit afraid of it now, but I believe it must be a monster, one slightly special but hasn't escaped the monster category.]

[And clearly, the Illusion Realm can't create such tangible monsters; imaginary illusions merely create superficial shells to scare people, not at all capable of relentlessly chasing us like the Night Watchman.]

[So it can't be fake, and the corridor it inhabits also wouldn't be a fabricated illusion—not entirely at least.]

"But... if it's not an illusion, then what could it be?"

Yun You ran desperately, gasping as she asked back: "Besides an imaginary illusion, what kind of power could create an infinitely vast space?"

[Of course, there is.]

Master Zero answered without hesitation.

[Remember the performance robot you encountered when you first stepped into the "Death Domain"?]

[The ability it used might be the problem we're encountering now.]

"You mean... [Cyberspace]?"

Yun You was startled, recalling that peculiar ability.

Cyberspace, a superpower that only a very few mutated monsters can wield.

It can directly carve out an electronic Otherworld in the real world or Death Domain Space, covering an area and the organisms within.

The size of Cyberspace is usually immeasurable; although the external coverage area is constant, internally it can be large enough to envelop a city or small enough to feel cramped to a child.

Master Zero's point is that this endless corridor, in essence, is a Cyberspace created by "it" or some other monster.