NOVEL ONLINE FREE 17: Not Dangerous
Ye Xing might be a simple-minded fool.
Well… that sounds a bit harsh. Let’s say she’s a little fool with extremely poor observational skills.
That sounds much cuter.
Ye Xing often overlooks many strange details, not paying much attention or giving them much thought.
Secondly, she’s extremely confident in her ability to escape!
Always thinking about running away when facing danger, she doesn’t want to waste her brain cells.
That’s pretty much how she is.
To some extent, Ye Xing, or rather Ye Lan, is the least suitable person to be a Night Watcher.
Ye Xing followed the Troupe Leader with light footsteps, and couldn’t help but start asking some curious questions.
“Um… Troupe Leader, may I ask what your troupe is called, and how many members do you have? Can ordinary theater troupes still perform nowadays?”
“Ah, our troupe is called the Rising Sun Troupe. We have five members in total, including myself. We’re currently on a tour, but from the looks of it, the performances aren’t going well.”
The Tragedy Shadow Troupe is just a code name given by the Night Watchers; it’s not the real name.
Ye Xing tilted her head, somewhat confused: “Are there really so few members in the troupe?”
She didn’t know much about the inner workings of theater troupes, nor did she understand the distribution of members, so she didn’t know what questions were appropriate to ask.
That’s how socially awkward people are.
Fortunately, the path the Troupe Leader led her on wasn’t long, and they stopped after a short walk.
“Here we are.”
“Hm?”
What appeared before Ye Xing was a pitch-black passage, which seemed quite ominous.
“Troupe Leader?”
“Please don’t be afraid, little audience member. This is the passage to the interior of the theater. As I mentioned before, I will perform a show for you alone to watch, so please rest assured, we won’t harm you.”
Hearing the Troupe Leader say this, Ye Xing thought for a moment, then nodded.
“I understand.”
Although going to an unfamiliar place with a stranger she had just met carried considerable risk, Ye Xing still had some safeguards.
Ye Xing and Ye Lan were spiritually connected, and the latter was currently at the Night Watchers’ base.
If Ye Xing encountered danger, her other self could just say a friend was in trouble and directly bring a group of Night Watchers.
The Night Watchers should be a bit more capable than the police.
“Phew~”
Thinking this, Ye Xing took a deep breath to calm her nerves, then walked in.
After entering the dark passage, Ye Xing quickly saw the light at the exit and hastened her steps towards it.
“Wow, what a large theater.”
Ye Xing’s eyes widened slightly, shocked by the strong contrast between the inside and outside.
It felt like she had entered a paradise, completely different from the outside world.
“It’s so dark…”
The lighting here wasn’t very bright, probably because the lights weren’t turned on.
Only the stage was somewhat lit, making the overall atmosphere seem a bit eerie.
The silence here was terrifying, and at a glance, not a single person could be seen, creating an incredibly desolate feeling.
Ye Xing observed carefully.
This theater seemed to have very few technological elements.
There were no robots, various projection touch screens, colorful lights, or anything of the sort. Like the troupe itself, it had an old-fashioned style.
Simple and plain, it was completely out of place with the outside world.
In any case, Ye Xing, who had lived in Yunzhang City for a long time, had never known such a place existed.
“Troupe Leader, is this your theater?”
“Yes, it’s the theater where we survive.”
“Then where are the others?”
“Follow me.”
Then Ye Xing followed the Troupe Leader backstage.
Here, Ye Xing finally saw a few figures as she had hoped.
“Hmm…”
After seeing people, Ye Xing lost the courage to go up and talk to them.
A socially awkward person would never actively seek to communicate with others, especially a timid young girl like Ye Xing.
She came here mostly just to observe.
It would have been better if she could blend into a crowd, quietly reducing her presence in the back while curiously sightseeing.
Unfortunately, she was the only one here now.
Then two people walked over. They were two men dressed in black, one wearing a mask with a mysterious smile, the other wearing a formal suit and holding a cane, looking like a polite young man.
“Ah…”
Ye Xing blinked, somewhat confused.
She had met “familiar faces” again.
……
Meanwhile.
The elite Night Watchers at the base were organizing information about the “Tragedy Shadow Troupe.”
Bai Tu, Cai Xun, and Bu Jie were among them.
As mentioned before, the Tragedy Shadow Troupe had appeared in many cities.
The Night Watchers in those cities who had encountered them naturally compiled some useful information.
The Tragedy Shadow Troupe Strategy Group was specifically responsible for collecting this information.
Whenever a city experienced a Star Eclipse caused by the Tragedy Shadow Troupe, they would quickly contact and share all information, while inquiring about any new information to update their content.
Cai Xun stared at the text on the screen, his mouth twitching slightly.
“It’s really detailed, they even included impressions after being affected…”
Cai Xun was looking at information about the Deceiver.
He had been affected by his ability earlier and almost lost it.
Tonight when he lifts his blanket to sleep, he’s afraid the Deceiver might be smiling at him. Just thinking about it gives him goosebumps.
“One of the Tragedy Shadow Troupe’s Star Eclipses, codename Deceiver, wears a mask covering the upper half of his face, individual’s origin unknown.
Star Eclipse effect: concept removal and concept replacement. For example, removing apple from the fruit category, the target won’t consider an apple as fruit when seeing it, then replacing the concept of apple with stone, the target will only think it’s a stone when seeing an apple.
Overall, it can be summarized as ‘a white horse is not a horse’ and ‘calling a deer a horse’, it’s a mental type of Star Eclipse, extremely harmful to ordinary people’s mental state.
When confronting him, Night Watchers must maintain a firm and calm thinking pattern. Only when realizing that the situation doesn’t conform to logic can one break free from the Star Eclipse effect…”
……
In the theater.
The Troupe Leader began introducing to Ye Xing.
“This is one of our troupe members, you can call him the Deceiver. He can use his skills to bring spectacular visual feasts to the audience.”
The Deceiver smiled and nodded to Ye Xing: “Hello, nice to meet you.”
Ye Xing nodded nervously: “Um, hello, me too.”
After seeing this person, her inner monologue became more active.
Deceiver?
Judging from this name, he must be very good at deceiving people, right?
Ye Xing had already raised her guard, but she wouldn’t be deceived anyway.
As long as she’s not deceived, he’s not a dangerous person.
Um… that’s right.
……
Bai Tu looked at the document in her hand, lost in thought.
“This guy…”
One of the Tragedy Shadow Troupe members, codename Gentleman, wears a formal suit and top hat, carries a cane, extremely polite in speech and behavior, individual’s origin unknown.
“The Gentleman, huh…”
It was this guy who interrupted her attack on the Deceiver.
That sudden mental shock was really painful, almost making her faint.
Then Bai Tu looked at the description of his ability and gained some understanding.
The Star Eclipse effect is roughly forced etiquette, able to release a large-scale mental domain.
People within the domain become extremely polite, even to a pathologically extreme degree, only returning to normal after leaving.
This was summarized by the first Night Watcher who encountered the Gentleman, and it’s not complete.
Later Night Watchers made new discoveries.
For example, the Gentleman can implant a mental imprint on people, and their state during the imprint’s duration is the same as within the domain, only returning to normal after the imprint disappears.
During this period, if they engage in impolite speech or behavior, they will suffer painful mental shocks.
This guy’s mental pollution on ordinary people is even contagious. If there weren’t Night Watchers specialized in dealing with this, some areas would have fallen long ago.
So the Gentleman is also called the “Politeness Devil” by Night Watchers.
“So dangerous…”
Bai Tu looked at another section.
Besides the Deceiver and the Gentleman, the Tragedy Shadow Troupe also has a mysterious Troupe Leader, but…
Star Eclipse effect unknown.