Yes, there is no need to find the crocodile, finding any person will do!
The reminder on the blue light screen sparked a thought in Yu Liang's heart.
As long as he is among people, the "crocodile" behind him would not dare to kill him, for fear that its actions might get exposed to another "crocodile", turning it into a crocodile-targeted "monkey", easy prey for the real crocodile.
Driven by rationality, the crocodile would not make a reckless move.
In the face of life and death, Yu Liang was running faster than ever. He kept a side eye behind him, watching vigilantly for the impending crocodile.
A gust of wind signaled a strong grip on Yu Liang's shoulder, forcing him to the ground. As he lay there, a huge drooling mouth loomed before him.
This is the end.
Despair was welling up in his heart, but the expected end of his life didn't come. The crocodile employee let go of him, narrowing his eyes, displaying a hint of cunning. He seemed to have felt something and hurriedly left the place.
...
He left?
Yu Liang could feel his heart pounding wildly. The after-effect was still circling in his mind, and he felt that all his strength had been drained. If the crocodile shows up again, he would certainly not have the energy to run wildly again.
But it has gone. The crocodile really left.
Huff——
Feeling like he had reached a safety line, the looming threat behind Yu Liang suddenly dissipated, followed by a sense of relief.
Why did it leave?
In this remote place, the crocodile had the upper hand and absolute dominance, it could easily kill him, but it didn't strike.
Moreover, that particular crocodile seemed to know something, and appeared at this time and place, conjuring up the pretext of a "tour guide". Without clear information, Yu Liang should not have had the chance to escape.
Is it because there are only two crocodiles left?
Incorrect, as it had mentioned, it would suffice to just kill the monkey secretly. This was the best opportunity.
Unable to comprehend the situation, Yu Liang attributed it to a game between the two crocodiles, but that didn't mean the crocodile would forgive him. He still had to avoid a situation where he found himself alone.
He looked back at the direction he had used to escape. It was quiet now, only the blue light screen in front of him still displayed "Cannot Be Alone Monkey."
A bus horn sounded from the corner of the Zoo Boulevard. The bus quickly reached Yu Liang. The co-pilot, a young man, leaned out of the window, glanced at him and said, "New visitor? Get in, we're on the same route. If you have any questions, don't ask right away, we will tell you later."
Yu Liang nodded and got on the bus from the opened front door. As the one who activated the Monkey Ghost Story, he didn't have any other options now.
He entered the compartment and quickly scanned the people on board. The number of people was limited, sitting in pairs or trios. He could sense that there were several factions in the atmosphere.
The driver and co-pilot seem to resemble each other; they might be brothers. In the middle of the bus were three women talking and giggling, applying simple makeup; Then, there was a middle-aged man dressed in overalls. He leaned his hand against the bus railing, beside him was a mountain-picking knife that met the length of the ground and a brown-stained flashlight tied to his waist. Next to him was a huge travel bag, full to the brim. Finally, at the back of the bus sat a man and a woman at either ends; they seemingly didn't know each other.
From their demeanor, the two in the back seem tense, probably newbies.
"Not bad, finding three new tourists this morning." one of the three women said, "It's lunchtime, call it a day."
"Alright," responded the driver and parked the bus on the roadside. He turned around, his gaze settling on the lone man, "How do you want to split these newcomers? One for each side?"
The lone man did not respond. Instead, he asked the three new people behind him, "What are your surnames?"
"Surname?" The man in the back row was startled, and then responded subconsciously, "Xiao, my name is Xiao Zhize."
"Xiao? What Xiao?" The lone man looked up. His hair was disheveled and his face stubbly, but his eyes were sharp as blades, piercing Xiao Zhize.
Xiao Zhize responded, "Xiao, as in the Chinese zodiac."
"Hmm, good." The loner man nodded firmly, his eyes full of implied meaning. "What do you do outside? Both of you can tell me about yourselves, and then I'll tell about this place."
"I'm in the finance industry." Xiao Zhize answered first. The man's aggressive presence made him uncomfortable, but he didn't dare to object and just answered truthfully.
"My name is Huang Yijia, a college student." The girl on the other side answered. She was somewhat shy, and her voice was very low when she spoke.
"Yu Liang, a kind of writer." Seeing that the other two had done so, Yu Liang also said honestly, without standing out.
"A writer... then you should know quite a few words, right?" The loner man looked deeply at him. With a turn, he addressed the two men and three women, "Ok, I will take these novices. Major Wu, Ali, any objections?"
His words were filled with unquestionable authority. Though seemingly isolated and disadvantaged, he carried the most domineering momentum.
Major Wu was the driver, and Ali was the leading one among the three women.
The Wu in the front passenger seat instantly changed his expression and exclaimed anxiously, "You're taking them all? Old Du, didn't you hate dealing with newbies the most? You never used to..."
"Fine." However, Major Wu agreed without hesitation. "That's it for today, you can get out of the car now."
Seeing this, the small Wu could only suppress his dissatisfaction but remained silent.
Hmm?
Yu Liang was slightly surprised and took a deep look at Old Du, the loner man.
It seemed that Old Du decided to take the novices unusually because of the surname "Xiao" and his own identity as a writer?
What's so special about "Xiao" and "knowing many characters"?
"Huang...Yijia, right? You should stay with us, sweetheart." The woman smiled charmingly and walked forward, reaching out to take Huang Yijia's hand warmly. "Our place is a gathering spot for female visitors. It's better for you to join us. We can help each other."
Huang Yijia glanced at Old Du. She instinctively felt that it would be better to follow the three older sisters, so she made up her mind, "Alright, I'll go with you guys."
So four of them got out of the car first. Yu Liang noticed that they were heading towards the grassland animal exhibit area; Old Du in the front seat shouldered his backpack and said to the two, "Come on, let's get out of the car."
Old Du also headed towards the grassland animal area, but at a much slower pace. It seemed he intended to explain the situation along the way.
"My name is Du, just call me Old Du." He said, "This is Changhong Zoo, one of the strange worlds."
"Strange world? What's that?" Xiao Zhize asked, still somewhat confused. "Changhong Zoo? Is this part of an escape room scenario? How do we get out? I really don't have the heart to play this right now."
"Well, it's not wrong to think of it like that, but this 'escape room' is quite large, and there's no escape." Old Du laughed. There was no warmth in his smile. "There's no key. This zoo has no key."
Before Xiao Zhize could react, he continued, "I'll cut to the chase now. Don't interrupt me."
A single look from Old Du forced Xiao Zhize to swallow all his questions.
"This place adheres to a basic rule that exists in all strange worlds, the rule of text. Each item has two fundamental things - a name and a substance. These elements can be combined with the items collected in the zoo. For example..." Old Du paused to think. He stopped, took off the large backpack from his back, and took out a few things: two flintstones, some homemade tinder, and an unidentified insect.
"Watch, now I'll make a fire." He lit a small flame with the flintstones and tinder, then picked up the dead bug and put it in, "I don't know the name of this bug, but its 'substance' is a 'bug', so combining it with fire will make a 'candle'."
As he finished speaking, a torch-like object appeared in Old Du's hand. The top was filled with red candle wax, just like a candle.
"What is this!" This magical change greatly surprised Xiao Zhize.
"What was created is not a candle, but this type of torch." Although Old Du had previously combined them in this way, he still had doubts. "I don't know why either."
Meanwhile, Yu Liang was touched. It seemed that he could understand, but a peculiar feeling arose.
Unburned torches are generally referred to as "焋", those used for holding are called "candle", and those placed on the ground are "焰." However, this kind of nitpicking internal logic is something ordinary people would not understand.
Could it be that the existence of this strange world is to promote Chinese culture?