Chapter 269: Ghost Walls

Vroom vroom vroom…

The motorcycle moved slowly along the small road through the wasteland under the Red Moon.

A cool night breeze brushed against his face making Lu Xin’s thoughts chaotic and his mood somewhat complex.

He wasn’t sure if it was a lingering effect of the Dancer’s ability or something else.

Even now Lu Xin’s mind kept replaying the Dancer’s strange movements.

Her story and its connection to this village felt like a tangled mess giving him a headache.

He wasn’t currently trying to analyze the principles behind the strangeness he’d seen, like what ability the Dancer possessed. Qinggang had previously recorded a ‘Dancer’ type ability but he didn’t know if they were the same.

That old lady was clearly a monster but not one only he could see. What category did she fall into?

Lu Xin’s thoughts were a jumble right now. He didn’t try to analyze it just dutifully recorded everything in his small notebook.

What occupied his mind more was a feeling so complex it felt impossible to untangle.

The Wasteland and the High-wall City really are different after all…

Who exactly is the Ability User and who is the Pollution Source?

In this village he saw an Ability User harming people and a monster saving them.

But the one causing harm wasn’t necessarily undeserving of sympathy and the one saving wasn’t entirely without fault.

This complexity made things difficult for Lu Xin to grasp.

The clear dividing line had vanished and he really disliked that.

…

“Chen Jing and the others are doing the right thing…”

“How can things work without some order? It just leaves people confused…”

Fortunately Lu Xin was a positive healthy optimistic person. He just drove silently lost in thought for a while before deciding not to dwell on these things. He figured it was better to consider how to get to the main road and find a place to rest…

He’d been careless…

He originally planned to replenish his water supply here but the filtered water barely covered the bottom of one bottle.

Instead he’d used up another one of the two bottles of water he had left.

Now he only had one full bottle and a bottle with barely anything in it left. He probably wouldn’t even dare use it to brush his teeth tomorrow morning.

Moreover the noodle soup he drank earlier was probably a bit salty because not only did he not feel hydrated he actually felt a little thirsty.

He remembered Han Bing’s warning. This was already a dangerous situation in the Wasteland.

He could… die of thirst!

…

Whew. Lu Xin let out a long sigh raised his head and scanned the wasteland under the light of the Red Moon.

And then he realized…

…he was lost.

He was now in an unknown part of the wasteland surrounded by overgrown weeds tall enough in many places to completely hide the road surface. Looking into the distance he couldn’t see any sign of the main road. Even the village he’d just left was gone.

All around him were dense patches of forest scattered across the wasteland.

“Glasses pull up the map.”

Lu Xin strained his eyes for a moment then called out softly.

He didn’t dare speak loudly in the wasteland worried something might hear him.

Data flickered across the left lens of his glasses. Lu Xin saw the map and a blinking dot on it.

The dot showed his current position.

It was clear this position had deviated significantly from the main road he initially intended to take.

Originally after leaving the village he planned to follow the small road back to the intersection where he first turned off the main road.

He had been driving along the small road for quite some time now so logically he should be nearing the main road.

But instead he was even farther away from that main road.

“Night roads are too tricky…”

Lu Xin muttered glancing up at the vivid bright Red Moon. “Good thing the moonlight is bright enough…” he added thankfully.

He determined the direction of the main road on the map picked a small path and drove forward.

The motorcycle’s vrooming sound was exceptionally clear in the silent wasteland.

Among the weeds easily reaching human height it felt like unseen eyes were constantly staring at him gloomily.

After following the small path for a while Lu Xin stopped.

He realized the path he was taking still seemed wrong. He wasn’t getting closer to the main road but rather moving parallel to it.

“Wrong direction?”

Lu Xin wondered taking out the compass from the bag hanging on the handlebars.

He opened it under the moonlight only to see the compass needle spinning erratically like a headless fly.

Some kind of magnetic field was affecting the needle’s state.

Lu Xin had no choice but to put the compass away. He looked into the distance comparing it to the map on his glasses slowly reasoning it out:

“The main road runs straight then curves right up ahead. So if I just keep going straight I should eventually hit it no matter what… Anyway I have enough fuel in the motorcycle. Might as well consider it a scenic detour…”

Having made up his mind he started the motorcycle again.

The motorcycle’s headlight tore a gash in the dark crimson-tinged world revealing the small path faintly visible amidst the tall grass.

“Vroom vroom vroom”

“Vroom vroom vroom”

The motorcycle drove forward for a full half hour before Lu Xin stopped and checked the map again.

Suddenly Lu Xin felt a sharp pang of regret over the wasted fuel.

On the map his position seemed unchanged still maintaining the same distance from the main road.

What the heck?

He’d clearly been driving for a while…

…

“Glasses show me the route I just took.”

Lu Xin said softly. The image on his left lens began to change. Soon Lu Xin saw a green line representing the path he had traveled. It clearly showed that for nearly two hours he had been constantly moving but his route formed an elliptical shape on the map repeating over and over again in circles…

So…

Lu Xin looked up at the eerie sinister wasteland a legend slowly coming to mind:

“Have I run into a Ghost Wall?”

…

Lu Xin couldn’t help but feel a jolt of excitement.

He loved hearing ghost stories as a kid. He’d heard countless tales like this but this was the first time he’d actually encountered one.

What were you supposed to do when you hit a Ghost Wall again?

He recalled a few solutions:

1. Put your underwear on your head and walk straight ahead you’ll be able to leave.

2. Spit three times over your shoulder.

3. Walk straight ahead cursing continuously without looking back.

…

Lu Xin pondered for a moment and rejected the first option.

He pondered a bit more and rejected the third option after all swearing wasn’t nice.

Then he hesitated glanced around to make sure his sister wasn’t nearby and quickly spat behind him three times.

He then gripped the handlebars and sped forward.

Half an hour later he stopped.

Because he clearly recognized a large rock by the roadside. This was where he had spat.

He really shouldn’t have believed those legends. So unscientific.

All that walking for half an hour wasted. How much more fuel did that cost…

Taking a deep breath Lu Xin sat on the motorcycle slowly lit a cigarette and started thinking about a scientific solution.

First clearly outline the problem encountered: Ghost Wall.

Problem description: Unknowingly walking in circles in a specific area.

Core problem: A ‘ghost’ is disrupting one’s thoughts and perception…

From this one can deduce the method to solve the ‘Ghost Wall’:

Find that ghost!

…

…

“Uncle aren’t you supposed to be an old hand at this? How could you get lost?”

Under the same Red Moon a modified truck bumped along slowly. Inside a middle-aged man with a large beard and a pair of dirty underwear perched on his head slammed a map onto the dashboard cursing:

“Can’t make heads or tails of this damn map…”

“It must be because you didn’t mark the map carefully! Otherwise how could we follow the same route back and still not find the way to camp?”

…

“Didn’t you see I marked it carefully on the map?”

In the passenger seat next to him sat a young man in a denim shirt also wearing underwear on his head retorting indignantly “If anything it’s your fault! You insisted on searching a few more villages before dark. How much stuff could possibly be in these tiny rundown villages?”

“Great now we can’t get out. We won’t make it back to camp. Do you think the Boss will wait for us?”

…

“Even if he waits he’ll chew us out properly…”

The middle-aged man grumbled annoyed frowning as he looked out the window. “Damn this is freaky. Did we really run into a Ghost Wall?”

“Don’t talk about ghosts at night! Spit spit spit…”

The young man in the passenger seat shivered slightly spat forcefully outside then turned back quietly adjusting the briefs covering his head. “Uncle is this folk remedy of wearing underwear on your head even working? Nothing’s changed for ages…”

“It’s just getting smellier…”

…

“This is what the ancestors said…”

The middle-aged man also looked puzzled. “Could it be that ghosts after the Red Moon don’t understand the ancestors’ rules?”

Hearing this shaky explanation the young man was completely stunned his face crumpling. “Maybe we should… wait until dawn to leave?”

“No absolutely not…”

The middle-aged man shook his head frantically saying “In this damn place it feels okay as long as we keep moving. The moment we stop I get panicked…”

“Then…”

Hearing this the young man froze completely looking ahead with confusion.

“Go keep going!”

The middle-aged man swore fiercely “Back in the day when I fought those madmen I dropped ’em one shot one kill.”

“I’ll be damned if I believe we can’t get out of here now!”

…

The truck extravagantly floored the gas pedal lurching forward along the small road.

However the burst of momentum quickly dissipated.

In the headlights they saw a crooked-neck tree growing ahead on the winding path.

There were obvious axe marks on it very distinct.

This was the marker they had made when they first realized they were going in circles.

“What do we do now…”

The young man turned to look at the middle-aged man. “Uncle if we keep driving like this we’ll run out of fuel soon…”

“Let me catch my breath first…”

The middle-aged man let out a heavy sigh. “What other ways are there to get out?”

“Curse loudly?”

“Spit three times behind us?”

“Carry a knife to look tougher? Hell I’ve even got a gun isn’t that tough enough?”

…

The young man trembled saying “Could it be… the ghosts after the Red Moon are too traditional? They only recognize knives not guns?”