"Sigh—"
Old Du bolted into the performance hall, a mighty sense of oppression hot on his heels. A massive, invisible monster slammed against the hall's door, shattering windows and doors in an instant. But just as Old Du had said, the "elephant" couldn't enter the building.
"Roar—"
"Roar—"
It kept roaring outside the building but didn't switch to different animal calls. It seemed that only the roar of a fierce beast could express its inner rage.
However, Old Du didn't care at all. Once he was inside, he relaxed completely, took off his backpack, and propped himself against the wall to catch his breath, clearly drained by the ordeal he had just been through.
He who had witnessed Old Du trapping the "elephant" from start to finish now confirmed that the animal trap wasn't something to be measured with common sense. A trap the size of a dinner plate could actually trap a building-sized, incorporeal monster for nearly three seconds.
He was emanating steam-like white mist from his body, as if he had been running himself into overdrive. His body temperature was higher than normal. So he simply took off his shirt, revealing a muscular upper body. His muscles weren't bulky, nor were the lines particularly distinct, but Yu Liang knew those gym buffs would be easily brought to tears by Old Du.
That was because Old Du's body was covered with wounds, knife marks, and a pattern of round holes on his bronze skin, presenting a fierce beauty.
"Are these gunshot wounds?" Xiao Zhize blurted out at the sight of the round wounds. "Do other visitors have guns?"
"No." Old Du said, "The 'break' character charm can only do so much. It can't kill me, but there are always idiots who want to give it a try."
Yu Liang remembered Old Du saying that a character charm's effective range was five steps, and it required locking eyes on the target. Anyone who came within five steps of Old Du and failed to kill him would obviously face a dire end.
Yet the number of wounds on Old Du was unexpected. It seemed Old Du had no defensive character charms, and he was equally vulnerable to attacks.
Were defensive character charms that rare?
"Thank you," Yu Liang expressed his gratitude. With Old Du holding the rear, he and Xiao Zhize made it into the performance hall safely.
"It's nothing," Old Du shook his head. "It's just a matter of expending some materials."
"Metal spoons? They should be available in the store, I can restock them for you," Xiao Zhize offered promptly, having learned his lesson. He didn't ask about the origin of Old Du's animal trap anymore.
Old Du shook his head: "No need, I have prepared a lot."
He looked at the two of them, seeming to know what they were thinking and without any intent to hide, he explained directly: "You must have noticed the 'Unmutated' sign next to the profession on the main page."
"Mhm," Xiao Zhize nodded. "My profession is a financial analyst."
"Complete certain special Strange Stories, and your profession will undergo a mutation, offering you some rather special abilities, but generally no more than three," Old Du continued. "My profession is a Hunter, that's why I can create traps."
"Is that so?" Xiao Zhize fell into thought, then chuckled bitterly, "Forget it, I feel that even if my profession mutates, it won't be very useful."
He was aware that his profession, even if mutated, might not be beneficial, which is why he had little interest in taking extra risks.
"If the chance presents itself, give it a try. Profession mutation is only the first step in getting a firm foothold here," Old Du provided a hint, but he still kept some things to himself.
In the entire Zoo, those with mutated professions numbered no more than five, mostly because most visitors would die within the first Week. The constant onslaught of Strange Stories left them too exhausted to explore the Zoo and unable to seize the opportunity for mutation.
Is that how it is?
Old Du's words also confirmed Yu Liang's previous guess. Unlike Xiao Zhize, getting a mutated profession was something he was determined to pursue.
He could guess some of the abilities granted to Old Du by his mutated Hunter Profession. The first was definitely physical constitution, with a substantial boost at that, as even Lv Xing in his "Howling Cold" state was still outmatched by Old Du; the second was the trap he had used a moment ago; the third must be that peculiar way of drawing the knife.
"Old Du, the 'elephant' we just encountered, was there a Strange Story attached to it?" Xiao Zhize asked. He shuddered at the thought of the invisible monster; if it weren't for Old Du's timely retreat, both he and Yu Liang wouldn't have survived.
Old Du shook his head, "Unclear, no one has triggered it. According to my experience, only those Strange Stories that provide benefits are this difficult to trigger. But for us, it's like a natural disaster—something to avoid if encountered. If there are no buildings nearby, then you're just out of luck."
He pondered, "Someone had touched it before, but their descriptions were inconsistent—some said soft, others said hard. We can only be sure that touch is not the condition to trigger that Strange Story."
Yu Liang was momentarily stunned by these words, rapidly connecting the dots in his mind.
Indescribable.
Elephant.
Infinite variations.
Almost instantly, Yu Liang thought of an ancient text.
Blind men and an elephant, each gave different accounts.
One who touched the tusk said that the elephant was like a radish; the one who touched the ear declared it was like a winnowing basket; the one who touched the head insisted it resembled a rock; the one who felt the trunk described it as a pole; the one who touched the leg stated it was like a pillar; the one who touched the back said it lay like a bed; the one who felt the belly claimed it was like a jar; the one who touched the tail believed it was like a rope.
"I think I might have a guess about its original form," Yu Liang's tone was uncertain, but he was sure of the answer in his heart.
Old Du and Xiao Zhize's gazes fell on him, and he voiced his thoughts, "Blind men and an elephant, it could be an elephant."
It was not a difficult guess. Anyone with the information Old Du had could have a moment of insight and come to this conclusion, but unlike Old Du, the other visitors did not have the luxury of surviving, let alone collecting so much information.
With this reminder, fragments of memories surged in Xiao Zhize's mind, and he asserted confidently, "Indeed, if we think about it, we're like the blind men, and the 'elephant' we see changes as we observe it."
Old Du then asked, "Blind men and an elephant? I don't quite remember that one; tell me roughly what it's about."
"It's about several blind men who have never seen an elephant before and each touches a different part, so their concept of what an elephant is is completely different in their minds," Yu Liang explained briefly.
"Is that so? Just like that, it seems hard to make use of," Old Du slowed his pace, contemplative. However, after thinking for a while and finding no key connection, he let it go.
He glanced at the entrance of the performance hall and said, "This guy seems to still be around, let's stay in this performance hall for a bit."
"Okay," Yu Liang responded. They had been staying in the lobby since a while ago. He looked around; the hall was spacious, with several rows of unoccupied seats and a small movable blackboard nearby with some chalk sentences on it. Near the reception, there was a female staff member, but she seemed to have endless work on her computer and hadn't looked up at them even once.
He had wanted to ask the receptionist about the performance hall, but adhering to the principle that special employees might carry Strange Stories, Yu Liang did not approach the counter but instead walked towards the small blackboard.
"The night exhibition is not available today. Please, visitors, follow the left pathway to enter the performance hall." The small blackboard displayed this message, not far from which was a round exhibit hall with some commemorative exhibits and photos with descriptions on the walls. From here, the hall branched off into three different pathways, leading to varying locations.
Old Du came up from behind and after looking at the blackboard for a while, he flipped it to reveal the dirtied backside.
"Animals Devouring Humans Performance," six simple bold characters surrounded by crudely drawn cartoon animal images—a tiger with a human head between its jaws, the head smiling gruesomely in its mouth, wild lions, and wolves dividing human limbs among themselves, their faces smeared with red blood, each transformed into dramatic painted faces.
"This is..." Xiao Zhize was startled by the sight, his face turning pale instantly. The images on the blackboard had a childish innocence of children playing house, but the horror and eeriness were equally apparent.
Old Du thought for a moment: "It could be an advertisement for the day exhibition. We shouldn't come near the performance hall in the next few days."
Yu Liang leaned closer to the blackboard, carefully observing the red marks.
That wasn't chalk; it was paint, indelible paint, meaning the content on the back of the blackboard was not going to be easily changed.
There were also no dates of advertisement; compared to a day exhibition notice, he thought it more likely to be part of a permanent night exhibition program.
Night exhibition?