Why Is It So San-Lowering

Zhu Yan's gaze crashed into those watery black eyes, and a sudden wave of dizziness hit his brain.

He instinctively tried to close his eyes, but a warm current suddenly seeping into the top of his head restored his clarity.

"Take it easy," Yang Zhanbai whispered. "I don't even dare look at them right now."

Zhu Yan felt a bout of palpitations.

Damn it, what kind of bizarre attack was this?

In just a few seconds, it had left his sanity teetering on the edge.

Zhu Yan's vigilance spiked again. He lowered his eyes, avoiding eye contact with this strange "child."

"What are you doing?" he asked, keeping his eyes fixed on the "child's" mouth.

The knife remained pressed tightly against its soft, greasy skin; he didn't dare relax his grip for a moment.

"We're lining up to buy yogurt," the "child" said in an innocent tone. "Aren't you here to buy yogurt too?"

The directness of the answer was somewhat unexpected.

Zhu Yan steadied himself and asked again, "Do all the stores have yogurt?"

He then added, "If you lie, I'll kill you."

The "child" grinned, revealing small, pearl-like white teeth, and giggled happily.

Zhu Yan heard Yang Zhanbai mutter a low curse, and immediately after, another wave of clear warmth seeped into the top of his head.

"All the stores only sell yogurt," the "child" said. "Aren't you buying any? It's very tasty."

"Do all the stores have berry-flavored yogurt?" Zhu Yan continued.

The "child" tilted its head.

"I don't know what berry-flavored is."

This time, it slowed down its speech.

It was still the innocent tone of a child, as if it could never tell a lie.

"We just buy whatever. We drink whatever the lady boss gives us."

Zhu Yan didn't believe this answer.

He pressed his knife a bit further forward and simply asked two major questions.

"How many stores are there in total here? Which one is the Solace Mother's store?"

This time, even though the knife had already pierced its skin, the "child" still shook its head.

"Don't know, don't know, don't know," it said.

Zhu Yan's mind raced, and he asked another question.

"Why don't you eat human flesh?"

The "child" fell silent for a long time.

About ten seconds later, it slowly simulated a look of confusion.

"What is human flesh? Why would we eat humans?"

Yang Zhanbai poured another two drops of potion onto the crown of Zhu Yan's head.

Zhu Yan felt better again. He began to realize that his sanity had been constantly dropping just now.

Otherwise, why would he feel like his brain was being repaired every time Yang Zhanbai poured the Universal Potion?

This place was too bizarre.

However, if the phrase "what is human flesh" wasn't a lie, did it mean these "children" wouldn't attack on their own initiative?

Gripping the knife, Zhu Yan asked his final question.

"What happens if I kill you?"

Unlike last time, the "child" answered very quickly.

"Hmm. Our order cannot be broken, big brother."

"If you kill me, a new me will naturally be generated."

"That me will line up to buy yogurt for me, eat the yogurt, and then buy yogurt again."

"I hope he gets to drink delicious yogurt today!"

Too bizarre, entirely too bizarre.

Zhu Yan had only asked this question because this "child's" fear of the level-five dining knife was much weaker compared to other terrifying creatures.

His original guess was that killing this "child" might trigger a swarming attack from the other "children."

He never expected to receive the answer that "the order cannot be broken, and everyone can be infinitely generated"!

Zhu Yan was about to break out in a cold sweat.

He twisted his hand to retract the dining knife, then changed the angle and forcefully stabbed the utensil into the "child's" chest.

The greasy, soft, and bouncy sensation actually made him gag. Zhu Yan hurriedly lowered his eyes, watching the "child's" body rapidly deflate like a leaking balloon in his field of vision.

A piece of skin fluttered to the ground, and then, as if propped up from the inside by invisible hands, it began to fill and expand at a visible rate.

A few seconds later, another identical "child" stood up!

Yang Zhanbai hastily dripped potion onto his head. Zhu Yan suppressed the churning nausea in his stomach and quickly stood up.

"This won't work," he said. "I think there's a huge problem here. If we keep dragging this out, no matter how many bottles of Universal Potion we have, it probably won't be enough."

Just asking an NPC a few questions caused their sanity to plummet, requiring the Universal Potion to heal.

Ask a few more questions, and their sanity would be completely gone.

In this situation, activating Roleplay probably wouldn't even work; they would still suffer from inexplicable mental attacks!

"Yang Zhanbai, show them your palm and tell them you are a Hunter and cannot be harmed."

Zhu Yan's brain spun rapidly.

The rule that no terrifying creature could harm a Hunter indeed existed, and mental damage was indeed damage.

Having Yang Zhanbai show the Hunter mark in his hand first might allow him to remain absolutely clear-headed without using the Universal Potion.

The Universal Potion was certainly useful, but right now they desperately needed a completely clear mind.

Wait until four hours later when the mark in Yang Zhanbai's hand disappeared, Zhu Yan would put on another act and reveal his own Hunter mark to see if he could be immune to this damage.

Damn it.

Zhu Yan gritted his teeth.

If it weren't for the need to maintain his lie in front of Yang Zhanbai, he would definitely have shown the Hunter mark in his hand immediately!

"I'll give it a try," Yang Zhanbai said. "Wait a moment, I have a theory."

Right now, the only thing Zhu Yan dared to look at directly was Yang Zhanbai.

Yang Zhanbai's condition didn't seem quite right either. His face was much paler than before, his forehead was covered with fine sweat, and a strand of hair stuck to his temple.

He led Zhu Yan a few steps toward the back of the line, grabbed another little girl, and extended his right hand for her to see.

Zhu Yan cooperatively pressed the level-five dining knife against the girl's neck. "Listen to him!"

Without the threat of a powerful item, these things didn't seem to pay them any mind.

"I am a Hunter," Yang Zhanbai commanded sternly. "Stop your indiscriminate attacks! Mental damage is still damage!"

Zhu Yan knew it had worked—

The entire scene actually shifted slightly, like a transition effect in a movie.

The laughter of those "children" abruptly stopped, then quickly resumed, and everything returned to normal.

He put away the knife and felt another wave of dizziness; Yang Zhanbai pulled him up, and a few drops of the Universal Potion brought him a bit of clarity once more.

"I'm good," Yang Zhanbai's voice trembled slightly, full of lingering fear. "Damn it, our brains were still affected before."

Zhu Yan looked up at Yang Zhanbai. In just those few seconds, his complexion had actually regained its color.

"Hunters cannot be harmed. It took us this long to realize we could use something so simple."

"I explicitly mentioned before we came in that the [Hunter] insignia could be used... If you hadn't reminded me just now, I'd probably still be standing there like a fool, draining my sanity."

The more Yang Zhanbai spoke, the more the lingering dread set in.

To think he had been so severely affected without even realizing it.

Damn it, thank goodness Zhu Zeyu had a sharp mind.

Yang Zhanbai clapped Zhu Yan heavily on the shoulder. "Keep your head down. I'm going to pour half a bottle of potion right over you. After that, don't look at anything. Just follow me, and I'll do the asking."

"If you think of anything, just tell me. It's much safer for me to interrogate them right now since I won't get hurt; it's a far better deal than having you do it."

Yang Zhanbai paused for a moment, then added, "Oh, by the way, did you notice something strange just now?"