Japanese horror stories...

Everyone's heart sank upon hearing this.

Players of the Killing Game generally believe that,

in terms of horror stories, or rather, horror literary works,

the horror level of East Asian countries far exceeds that of other regions.

Whether the protagonists of European and American horror literary works are vampires, werewolves, witches, piranhas, or deformed dolls and chainsaw killers,

at least they still have physical forms and can be contacted on a physical level.

In other words, even if players don't find the pattern, they can still fight back.

East Asian horror stories, on the other hand, often feature spirits who have suffered injustice and harbor strong resentment and hatred.

Many times they are invisible, intangible, and untouchable.

Even if players wear heavy bulletproof vests, carry Gatling machine guns, and are armed to the teeth, they can still be instantly killed at any time.

Even with spirits as the main characters, there are subtle differences between Chinese and Japanese horror literary works.

In Chinese horror, the world of spirits is also ordered, emphasizing the cycle of karma, just retribution, and the existence of the underworld, ox-headed and horse-faced guardians.

The targets of revenge by demons and monsters are mostly those who have done evil deeds or those ignorant people who trespass into the territory of spirits—demons who go too far will even be arrested and brought to justice by the underworld.

The existence of spirits is a warning to the living,

emphasizing that Heaven is watching what people do.

Japanese horror, on the other hand, is often irrational.

The monsters have no autonomous consciousness and will indiscriminately attack and retaliate against all living beings. They cannot be resolved with "love" or "forgiveness."

The methods they use are even more bizarre and unpredictable, completely unreasonable.

Rather than being dominated by spirits, it is better to say that they are dominated by "irrational abnormal phenomena."

The subtle differences in the horror cultures of the two regions may stem from different folk cultures—Japanese culture pays more attention to individual pain and despair, and the high-pressure reality of modern society further amplifies this.

Most players would rather fight aliens for hundreds of rounds than sit in Kayako's house.

"...It seems we drew the worst lot."

Wanli Fengdao was silent for a while, and sighed.

Xing Hechou nodded silently and said, "If you encounter any abnormal situations later, please don't hesitate to teleport away."

Wanli Fengdao asked, "What about you?"

"If I can guarantee that my consciousness is clear, I can still use the last life-saving method."

Xing Hechou said, "Of course, if things are really impossible, I can only retreat."

"Ha, that's good."

Wanli Fengdao nodded, just as he was about to ask more questions,

he heard the wheels roll over the stone pavement with a "clang". Looking closely, he found that the surrounding trees had become sparse and short at some point,

and the sky had gradually brightened from pitch black, turning into an evening scene of twilight.

Li Ang frowned and looked out the window, "This is..."

A stone road paved with smooth cobblestones, grass covered with glistening dew, roadside benches for pedestrians to rest, flower beds, fountains, statues, cherry blossoms, azaleas, peonies, shrine buildings, and roadside signs written in Japanese.

The outside of the window was no longer a dense primeval forest, but a Japanese-style public park.

"This can be considered crossing the area."

Xing Hechou looked back and could still see the deep forest with torrential rain, and the sense of separation between the two areas was extremely obvious.

He turned his head and took a deep breath, "Let's drive a little further."

"Okay."

Wanli Fengdao nodded and drove the car silently in the empty park,

the wheels rolling over the broken yellow leaves, leaving two straight muddy marks on the ground.

"Why can't I see anyone?"

Li Ang squatted in the back of the car, clinging to the window with both hands, and looked out, "Could it be that the residents of this Japanese island city knew we were coming and hurriedly made a banner 'Warmly Welcome Players to Travel to the Japanese Islands'?"

"Why do I feel like you paused subtly in that sentence?"

Wanli Fengdao glanced at the rearview mirror and complained, "There may only be horror stories and no living people in this city. Be careful that what you say is recorded by something, chasing you and asking you to keep your word."

"Ha, that would be great."

Li Ang spread his hands and smiled, "I have seen it in many Japanese literary works,

when you encounter a non-human being, you can pick up a camera and point it at them for an interview,

asking them how old they are this year, where they are from, what their current occupation is, and their future prospects in this industry,

and you can pass without injury."

"What kind of interview is that? Isn't that just an introduction?!"

Wanli Fengdao complained weakly and turned a corner along the road.

Liu Wudai was indifferent to the conversation between the two, glanced out the window, and said softly, "I can't hear the sound of birds, insects, or the engine and horns of vehicles,

or other types of urban noise.

This is an empty city."

"The drone is still unusable."

Xing Hechou, sitting in the passenger seat, collected the drone's box and turned to look at Li Ang, "Brother Li, can your bees still be used?"

"Yes."

Li Ang took out another hive, slightly opened a crack in the back door of the car, and let hundreds of soldier bees adapted to the urban environment fly out along the crack, swarming over the vehicle, rising to the sky above the city, and flying in different directions.

Soon, the soldier bees, overlooking the city from a high position, transmitted enough information by vibrating their wings and emitting pheromones.

After the queen bee retranslated these chaotic information, it was finally passed on to Li Ang,

allowing him to quickly draw a rough overview of the city with paper and pen.

"The city area is about 200km2, and the forest coverage rate is very high. The north and south of the urban area are low hills, and the middle is a plain traversed by a river. The east has a large area of ancient mountain cities, ancient shrines, and temples.

We are now at the southernmost tip of the city.

The edges of the urban area are pitch black, and we can't see any roads leading to other places for the time being."

Li Ang handed the sketch he had just drawn to his companions for circulation, while he secretly rubbed his temples.

The IQ of the soldier bees was still a bit low, and they could only collect fragmented information through simple sensory organs, and then the queen bee would integrate and summarize it and translate it to Li Ang.

Understanding the information of the bees is like eavesdropping on the faint sound of a piano coming from a distant residential building in a hot construction site, and transcribing it in the form of sheet music.

It is extremely difficult, very tormenting, and consumes a considerable amount of sanity value every time it is used.

Xing Hechou took the overview map and looked at it carefully, praising Li Ang for his superb painting skills.

Then he stared at his pocket watch, told Wanli Fengdao not to rush into the city center, but to drive around the inner roads of the park back and forth, left and right,

and through triangulation, combined with the pocket watch's pointer, found the location of the passage to the next layer of Sheng Nanwang's dream.

It was in a residential area in the east of the city center.