Chen Xiao walked into the Array drawn on the ground, and just like he had thought, this strange pattern connected two spaces together, ah, and the other end of the connection must be that apartment. However, it might be because it was drawn incompletely or there was some defect, in any case, this was clearly a half-finished product.
One second he could feel touching something, but the next he couldn't, and occasionally there would be a specific angle where he could catch a glimmer of gentle light, but as soon as he blinked, it vanished without trace.
Ordinary people encountering such a bizarre sight would definitely think, "Fuck, what is this ghostly thing, space magic?"
Well... that depends on the definition of magic. A hundred years ago, if you said, "Give me a few iron sheets and some copper wire, and I can let you talk to someone a thousand miles away," that would have definitely been considered magic. You'd likely have been hung up and burned at the stake if you dared to say that back then, but now everyone has a mobile phone and no one finds it odd! Light beams stick to a projection screen and display incredibly lifelike images, radio waves correspond to a fixed frequency, and a little radio can capture voices from far away. Don't even mention how many years ago, even now if you asked someone to explain how it works, most would only have a vague idea, yet no one thinks these things are magic.
So it's like this, you use iron wire to wind around, letting a bunch of metal sheets fly through the sky with wings attached, and it's science when you make something zip along the ground with wheels, but other people draw some symbols with pen and ink, shift the space slightly, and it's magic, isn't that a bit unreasonable?
This might be like tens of thousands of years ago when a monkey killed a tiger with a wooden stick, so everyone thought tools made from wood were really powerful. But what if that monkey had burned the tiger to death with fire? Maybe then everyone would have started studying elements!
These thoughts are a digression, though. The main point of all this was to explain that Chen Xiao squatting there, staring at the Array on the ground and chuckling to himself, wasn't the behavior of a lunatic without purpose. He thought it might be the medium for another kind of science. So, although he didn't know what use it was, he still memorized the strange symbols drawn on the ground in his head.
And this... took him a full five minutes.
The pattern was really too complex and without any discernable pattern, and added to Chen Xiao's consistent attempts to understand the connections between the strange symbols, it took a long time, and the result... Of course, he didn't come to any conclusion.
"Huh!" Chen Xiao was not the least bit discouraged, for sure, if he really could understand another entire branch of technology just by looking for five minutes, then this story wouldn't be worth writing. Now he hummed contentedly and straightened up.
"It seems like I've forgotten about the real business," he muttered to himself softly.
Now, there was nothing of interest left in the basement, and Chen Xiao turned and directly walked up the stairs. Although he really wanted to sit down and pore over that pile of books, the most important thing at the moment was to meet the one who had pulled him into this space... "Who knows what kind of freaky thing it is."
...
...
Pushing open the door to the basement, in front of him lay a living room, similar in structure to the basement, which connected to a narrow corridor with a room on the side, door closed. Through the crack under the door, a pale yellow light could be seen.
Chen Xiao frowned, this space wasn't large, and from the current angle, except for that small room, he could almost see everything, and there was a very illogical phenomenon regarding this building.
Which was... there was no door!
There wasn't just a lack of a door, but also no windows, only walls built entirely out of wooden planks.
"Hmm... this is hard to explain, could it be that the door to this building is inside that small room by the corridor? But based on the structure, that should definitely be a study or a bedroom, right? Who would put a door in such a place!" Chen Xiao pondered, then suddenly, as if he had understood something, he thought, "Oh... that would make sense then."
"So that Array is used for..."
Just then, the small door beside the corridor was abruptly opened, and "Eyeball-kun" staggered out. Unfortunately, its gaze was directly upon Chen Xiao, and their eyes intersected.
Although "Eyeball-kun" lacked facial features like a nose or eyebrows, Chen Xiao clearly sensed that when it saw him, it was momentarily stunned.
...
Immediately afterward, it began to "smack smack" its hands on the ground to support itself, and moved rapidly towards him!
Chen Xiao, watching a big eyeball moving his way, didn't act overly panicked. Instead, he felt slightly annoyed, thinking, "What's this thing going to do, splash me with tears?"
As he thought this, his hand reached into his pocket and gripped the only weapon he had, which was the pen he used for writing on paper.
"Looking at the speed of this rush, it seems very urgent. Is this guy coming to attack me? Is it planning to jump up and slap me with its 'foot'? Should I poke it?" At this critical moment, Chen Xiao couldn't help but let his thoughts run wild, even imagining the disgusting scene of the eyeball's thick white substance spraying out after being poked with a pen.
Time flew by in an instant, and while Chen Xiao was absorbed in his silver world of thoughts and preparing several contingency plans, "Eyeball-kun" had already reached him.
After that...
It didn't make any move to attack, it simply hopped on the spot and looked at him with its big watery eyes.
In fact, it seemed to be capable of nothing else but staring.
"Uh... it looks like it's not here to attack me!" Chen Xiao thought, and for a moment, he didn't know what to do.
"Eyeball-kun" swayed back and forth, desperately trying to convey its intentions to Chen Xiao, then turned and ran back to the entrance of the hut, where it bounced a few times.
"Is it asking me to go over there?" Chen Xiao thought, and cautiously walked over, ready to strike at any moment!
Upon reaching the door of the small room, Chen Xiao peeked inside.
...
...
"Shit!!!!"
That casual glance turned out to be significant, as he didn't even express his astonishment with a "Whoa," but cursed out loud in his heart.
If the image of "Eyeball-kun" was somewhat horrific and bizarre, then the scene within this cabin was way more grotesque. "Eyeball-kun" even seemed a bit cute in comparison.
...
This room was located right above the basement room but was much more spacious. Near the door was a row of bookshelves messily piled with many books. Across from the door, there was a long wooden table that took up an entire wall, with many hollow shelves above it holding various bottles and containers that looked like surgical equipment. Among these containers was a pink lamp giving off a soft yellow glow, which felt oddly out of place.
Actually, the environment and the furniture were not the main issues that made Chen Xiao swear. It was the person sitting at the table.
This person could be described as morbidly fantastical and full of creativity!
She wore a white dress that resembled a sheet with a hole cut out for the head. Her black hair reached her waist. She had her back turned to Chen Xiao, her face not visible, but from the silhouette, it was clear that she was a woman. She was fervently drawing something, with the sound of her pen moving swiftly creating a "shush" sound.
Next to her on the wall hung a dirty, transparent bag containing some murky fluid... with a lung inside it!
Yes, just a lung, which extended a rubber tube hanging outside the bag, rhythmically expanding and contracting, clearly breathing.
Several thick blood vessels led out from the bag, some extending into her clothes and others connected to a glass jar containing a beating heart.
Beside it was a relatively large transparent tank with a pale yellow brain inside. Random blood vessels and white fibrous tissues were plugged into her black hair, and the brain was covered with electrodes, occasionally sparking with "clicking" sounds as if there was a short circuit.
Chen Xiao's eyes twitched, noting that this person had externalized her organs. He had the strong urge to comment, "Don't these things make you feel empty being outside the body? And that lung, wouldn't connecting it to an air pump allow you to skip even breathing? What's the point of having that heart so close to you, to squeeze it if it doesn't beat fast enough? And why implant so many electrodes in the brain, do you think it's not intelligent enough and needs a stimulus? It feels like you've made yourself so smart, it's a bit over the top!"
After letting loose a barrage of criticism, Chen Xiao still felt it was not enough, so he silently added in his heart another succinct "Shit!" to soothe the shock the body modification maniac had inflicted on him.
At this moment, since the "lady" was so engrossed in her work, she hadn't noticed Chen Xiao standing at the entrance. And Chen Xiao, unsure whether to knock or say hello, contributed to the awkward atmosphere.
The "Eyeball-kun" at the side looked dumbfounded at the pair, deciding that continuing like this was no use, so it wound up its... uh, eyeball, and forcefully rammed into the door.
With a loud "bang," it clearly hurt, but it had no hands to rub the pain away. Only then did the "bizarre lady" finally turn her head around, belatedly realizing someone was there.
...
To Chen Xiao's surprise, the woman looked quite young, probably in her twenties, with an unhealthy pale complexion and visible veins beneath her skin. Her eyes were bloodshot from a lack of rest, but if one could overlook these and ignore the messy organs hanging next to her, she could be considered quite a fresh and cute girl.
"Oh, you're here, I didn't notice!" The girl said, scratching her head embarrassedly, then gave a slight smile.
Her pretty eyes squinted, and the corners of her mouth tilted upwards.
Chen Xiao was taken aback as he looked at her.
...