Chapter 380: Why Did They Run Away?
That evening, Zhao Dayong initialized an early exit from work, arriving home an
hour ahead of schedule.
He had acquired two strategic assets on his way back: a kitchen cleaver and a
large sack of salt.
The cleaver was technically a culinary tool, but holding it provided a marginal
boost to his "Security" parameter. The salt was a folk-protocol he'd heard from
the older generation—claiming it could ward off evil. Though the Empire's
official Administrative Bureau never ratified such "Superstitious Variables," a
significant portion of the populace still relied on them as a psychological
buffer.
Liu Min stared at him as he entered, brandishing the new blade. "We already have
a knife in the inventory. Why did you manifest another one?"
"This one's sharper. High-tier edge-alignment."
"What are you planning to slice that requires such a sharp edge?"
Dayong didn't provide an answer. He set the cleaver on the living room table and
placed the salt beside it. Liu Min looked at the knife, then at the salt, and
her expression underwent a slow, grim transformation.
"Zhao Dayong, state your data. What are you actually trying to say?"
Dayong took a seat and relayed the "Data Audit" his colleague had provided.
District 4 South: High-intensity Scourge Zone. Root of Rule-Based Scenarios.
Cleaned, but not 'Sterilized'.
Liu Min was silent for exactly thirty seconds. Then, she stood up.
"I am initializing the packing protocol. We are evacuating."
"Wait, wait, wait," Dayong grabbed her arm. "Let's not crash the system just
yet. The Empire did perform a cleanup, and the Punishment Legion patrols here.
It might just be the building's structural flaws. It's not necessarily an
Anomaly."
"Do you truly believe that logic?"
Dayong opened his mouth, then closed it. "...The probability is low."
"Then what are you waiting for?!"
"I… I want to verify the variable one last time." Dayong's expression was a mess
of conflicting parameters. "We spent our entire savings on this unit. The
contract is locked, the down payment is processed. If we flee because of a few
audio glitches, and it turns out to be a false alarm… do you have any idea how
complex the refund logistics are?"
Liu Min stared at him. "Is your life-timer more important, or the down payment?"
"Both are high-priority!"
"ZHAO DAYONG!!"
"Fine, fine! Life is the primary objective! But listen: I'll stand guard
tonight. if there's another 'Event,' I'll investigate. If we confirm a threat,
we evacuate overnight. Deal?"
Liu Min looked at him as if he had suffered a total system failure. "You're
going to investigate… with a kitchen cleaver?"
"Ever since the Empire took over, Anomalies have had their 'Aggression'
parameters capped. I'm not looking for a boss fight; I'm just doing a visual
audit."
"Audit what? What do you expect to see?"
Dayong patted the cleaver. "It's a morale-booster."
Liu Min took a deep breath, mentally cursing Dayong through eight generations,
but ultimately sat back down. "Fine. You stand guard. At the first sign of a
Logic Error, we exit immediately."
"Confirmed."
Dinner was a low-quality affair; neither had the appetite for a high-tier meal.
After tidying up, Dayong polished the cleaver and set it on the nightstand. He
sprinkled lines of salt across the threshold and the windowsills.
Liu Min watched the salt-barrier, feeling like she was a character in a
low-budget horror flick.
22:30. Lights out.
The pair lay side-by-side, their sleep-cycles completely disabled. The room was
deathly quiet. Outside, the rhythmic march of the patrol grew distant, leaving
the alley to the occasional sound of crickets.
Dayong gripped the handle of the cleaver, his muscles tensed for a
combat-trigger.
Ten minutes passed. Zero activity. Twenty minutes. Still nothing.
Just as Dayong was about to de-escalate his alertness, Liu Min gripped his
wrist. "Temperature drop. It's here."
Dayong felt it too. The chill returned, flowing from the doorway like rising
water. He slowly sat up, tightening his grip on the blade. He activated his
terminal's light.
The beam swept the doorway. Nothing. It swept the corners. Nothing. It swept the
window—
He swung the light back to the door. On the floor, the salt-barrier had a
Structural Fracture.
It wasn't that the salt had been blown away; a section of the line was
indented—as if something had stepped through, yet hadn't fully made physical
contact.
Dayong stared at the broken salt-line. A "Cold Sweat" debuff manifested across
his back instantly.
"Dayong..."
"Silent Protocol. Now."
They held their breath. Five seconds. Ten seconds.
Then...
"GREETINGS!"
A voice manifested from the doorway. It was significantly clearer than the
previous nights. Still soft, but every word was processed with 100% clarity. The
tone was incredibly friendly—overflowing with a long-repressed, "high-frequency"
excitement.
Dayong's hand was vibrating. Liu Min's fingernails were digging into his arm.
"My name is Chen Xu! I wanted to initiate a greeting the moment you relocated
here, but I couldn't stabilize my vocal output until now. Today, finally..."
The voice paused, as if organizing its speech-parameters.
"Finally, I can produce sound! I am so happy! You live here now, right? This is
wonderful! This courtyard finally has inhabitants! I've been the only unit here
for so long… the loneliness was hitting terminal levels! Ever since you moved
in, my 'Happiness' variable has been pegged at maximum—"
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
Liu Min screamed.
It wasn't a standard, "scared-girl" scream. It was a soul-shaking, high-decibel
shriek that likely alerted every unit in the entire block.
Dayong was so startled by the outburst he nearly threw the cleaver across the
room.
"GHOST!! THERE'S A GHOST!! DAYONG, NIGERUNDAYO!!! RUN!!!"
Dayong's brain hit a "Blue Screen of Death" for half a second. He was supposed
to investigate, but his legs felt like they had been welded to the bed-frame.
Chen Xu was equally stunned. He drifted at the doorway, his soul-body—which had
only just stabilized its vocal output—recoiling half a step from the sheer
volume of the human's scream.
Wait. Why are they screaming? Ghost? Am I a ghost? Technically, yes, but that's
a bit harsh, isn't it? I'm just trying to say hello!
Dayong finally sprang from the bed. He held the cleaver aloft, standing barefoot
on the floor as he pointed the terminal light at the door.
He saw nothing. The voice had ceased. The chill remained.
Liu Min had retreated to the furthest corner of the bed, buried in the quilt
with only her eyes visible. "Dayong, have you lost your mind?! Why are you still
standing there?! RUN AWAY!!"
Dayong gripped the knife, his hands shaking violently, but he didn't move his
feet. It wasn't bravery; it was a logic puzzle.
Run? Where to? The voice manifested from the doorway. To exit, I have to pass
the doorway. If I charge out now, I'm literally closing the distance with the
threat!
"DAYONG!!!"
"I am calculating the path—"
"STOP CALCULATING AND RUN!!!"
Dayong's brain processed the variables for two seconds and reached a decision.
He hoisted the cleaver, took a deep breath, and charged toward the door.
Chen Xu, floating in the hallway, watched as this man brandished a kitchen knife
and sprinted directly at him. His entire soul-structure went into a "State of
Confusion."
Why the blade? I just initiated a greeting protocol?!
Dayong covered the distance in three strides. He hit nothing. He saw nothing.
But the "Chill-Drift" brushed past him as he felt something spectral move out of
his way.
His skin erupted in "Goosebump" status.
"Is it gone?!" Dayong shouted back to Liu Min. "I think—"
"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S GONE! RUN, YOU IDIOT! IF IT RAN AWAY, YOU RUN TOO!!"
Dayong froze for another half-second. Then, he truly ran.
Brandishing the cleaver, barefoot, he sprinted out of the bedroom, through the
living area, nearly tripping over the unboxed crates. He braced himself against
the wall, stabilized, and continued his "Tactical Retreat."
As he hit the courtyard gate, he yelled back into the house:
"WIFE! STAND BY! I AM GOING TO SUMMON THE PUNISHMENT LEGION!! I WILL BRING
REINFORCEMENTS TO SAVE YOU!!!"
Then he was gone. Sprinting through the 11:00 PM alley in his boxers and an
undershirt, holding a kitchen knife.
Liu Min, left in the room, heard his footsteps fading into the distance. She sat
in the quilt, her eyes wide, her entire frame trembling with fury.
"ZHAO DAYONG, YOU COWARD!! YOU SAID YOU WOULD STAND GUARD!!!"
Chen Xu drifted in the corner of the yard, watching Dayong's silhouette vanish
around the corner of the alley, then watching Liu Min screaming curses from
inside the house.
He remained silent for a long time. Then...
"...I only wanted to say hello."
No one heard the output.
But Chen Xu felt that in his entire life—no, in his entire existence—he had
never encountered a logic error of this magnitude.
He tried to initiate speech; the human initiated a weapon-draw. He didn't even
move to attack; the human initiated a total evacuation. And he was ordered to
flee by his own spouse.
Chen Xu shrunk his soul-body, drifting next to the new sapling.
Sovereign Kaito was right, he thought. Interacting with the living… is a
terminal-level complexity.
☆☆☆
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