Chapter 237: Second simulation plan
"This can't even stab accurately? Did your cerebral thrombosis not get properly treated?"
Lin Ye let out a sarcastic laugh, copious amounts of blood gushing from his mouth and nose. Yet even with his heart pierced through, he still hadn't died. His mental energy burned like a faint spark in eternal darkness, forcibly igniting his life to unleash one final burst of light and heat.
"Keep making her kill me! Keep making me kill her! Let's see how long it takes you to finish us off!"
Lin Ye roared loudly.
Of course he wasn't actually angry over such a trivial matter. It was just that the other party had forcibly manipulated Jessica to stab him when he was already doomed to die. This behavior convinced him that the entity had autonomous consciousness and possessed a certain degree of malicious amusement, giving him an opportunity to gather information.
A massive shadow appeared above the village, enveloping the entire Night Inscription Village. Countless black flesh threads descended from above, covering the entire village like rainfall.
One by one, the flesh threads pierced into Lin Ye and Jessica's bodies, completely controlling their physical forms. Then, under the manipulation of these threads, the two began an extremely bloody close-quarters slaughter.
……………………………
[Remaining Simulation Attempts: 9]
Buzz buzz buzz... Lin Ye opened his eyes. Jessica, who had just torn his body apart with a short blade, was sitting in the driver's seat operating the vehicle. The silver-gray jeep hadn't been scrapped yet.
"You're awake? Since you're awake, go to the back seat and change your clothes."
Jessica delivered the exact same line as in the previous simulation.
But this time Lin Ye didn't respond. Instead, he lowered his head, covered his face, and began sobbing, pretending he didn't dare make any sound.
"...Damn it, you're the most useless D-Class personnel I've ever encountered."
Jessica sighed, somewhat regretting bringing this waste along.
"...I don't want to go back... I beg you... I really don't want to return to that place..."
Lin Ye cried while whispering.
"No. Because you're D-Class personnel, I can't just dump you outside. I also don't have time to send you back to base, so you have to come with me into Night Inscription Village... Didn't you lose your memory?"
Jessica suddenly noticed something off.
"...I had a nightmare... terrifying insects... bizarre giants... and those villagers..."
Lin Ye sniffled while speaking intermittently.
"Tell me everything you know."
Jessica abruptly pulled the jeep over to the roadside. Having suddenly discovered a new source of information, she decided to first listen to Dylan's nightmare.
Lin Ye began fabricating an ambiguous story that seemed both plausible and dubious.
He wasn't doing this to deceive Jessica, but because this approach was most beneficial for both of them.
First, this time Lin Ye planned to use limited violence to solve the problem. He needed to infiltrate the village to gather information. They couldn't deal with that aerial monster - currently the enemy was stronger, and they needed to understand that monster's weaknesses through Night Inscription Village.
To infiltrate the village required Jessica's cooperation. For someone as strong-willed as Jessica, she would never casually change her plans. So Lin Ye had to be sufficiently useless for Jessica to abandon that reckless plan that had almost succeeded.
If not for the aerial monster, they would have already fought their way through Night Inscription Village.
Second, Lin Ye needed a channel to convey the known information from the previous simulation to Jessica. Dylan's nightmare served as a good channel for this.
Finally, Lin Ye wasn't sure when that flesh thread had attached to them. Maybe when they killed the giant monster with appendages, maybe when they entered Night Inscription Village, maybe when they entered the spiritual energy-free zone... or perhaps it was already above their heads right now.
Therefore, Lin Ye couldn't reveal any information related to himself. The more useless and inconspicuous he appeared, the more likely he could break free from the monster's restraints at critical moments.
This was why Lin Ye had to disguise himself.
After listening to the nightmare Lin Ye fabricated, Jessica looked at him with a bewildered expression. She felt like she had heard many important pieces of information, but upon careful consideration, they didn't seem that significant after all.
Lin Ye had no choice either. He feared the aerial monster might detect flaws in his story, so he mixed the important information with numerous chaotic nightmare fragments. But this didn't matter because when the time came, he would suddenly have a flash of insight and remind Jessica of the crucial information.
When that happened, Jessica would naturally connect it to the intelligence from the nightmare.
"...Forget it, let's go in first. Tell me immediately if you remember anything. Hurry up and change your clothes."
Jessica started the jeep and drove toward Night Inscription Village.
The jeep entered the abnormal prohibition zone again. Jessica's expression shifted slightly, but she didn't stop. Instead, she accelerated as if making up her mind.
After changing clothes, Lin Ye hung his head as if resigned to his fate, contemplating how to deal with the monster in the sky.
'It appeared after we cleared out all the oversized villagers. Why didn't it stop us before? Did it not care, not want to, or was it unable to? What exactly is the purpose of those oversized villagers? Why do earthquakes occur after they die?'
Lin Ye continuously pondered various possibilities, but lacking essential information, he couldn't reach a definitive answer.
While Lin Ye was contemplating these questions, the jeep arrived at the entrance of Night Inscription Village.
Some villagers spotted the jeep. They didn't show excessive reactions but instead enthusiastically waved greetings.
Jessica drove the jeep into Night Inscription Village, and soon several villagers stopped the vehicle.
"Hello, we're traveling around the world. It's getting dark and we happened to pass by your village. Could we stay here overnight?"
Jessica rolled down the window, revealing a friendly smile.
Just looking at her smile, no one would imagine that this lady would prefer clearing out the entire Night Inscription Village over inefficient communication.
"Traveling around the world? Really? The inn is at the end of this street. You can drive straight there."
The villagers made way with half-doubtful expressions. They felt Jessica was lying, but the "traveling around the world" reason seemed so fake that it almost didn't feel like a lie.
After all, if someone really wanted to deceive others, they should come up with a more believable excuse.
Lin Ye almost couldn't hold back his laughter. This was the first time he'd encountered someone so terrible at lying.
Soon, Jessica drove the jeep into the small courtyard of the inn. Calling it an inn was generous - it was actually just a common two-story building found in villages.
The innkeeper was an elderly man with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes. After collecting payment, he happily led them to the second floor.
The second floor had only east and west rooms, and they could choose either.
Lin Ye stood by the window admiring the scenery outside... All the oversized villagers had disappeared.
During the previous simulation, they had killed some villagers outside before entering the village. Some changes might have occurred in the village during that time.
"What's wrong? Did you remember something?"
Jessica walked over to the window and asked softly.
"...I'm not sure either. The village in my dream seemed different from this place... There seemed to be things like utility poles standing over there."
Lin Ye pointed toward the roadside.