Chapter 342: The Town of Paper People

Chapter 342: Chapter 9: The Town of Paper People

Stepping into the town, Duan Fei found it far more exquisite and devout than he had imagined.

A Curse Charm hung by the door of every home. The script on them was wild and masterful, possessing a powerful style all its own.

If he could use Feixin right now, he would’ve taken a picture to contact Bald Qiang and have him take a good look at what the script meant.

The town was surrounded by water. According to a notice board out front, the town had a total of seven entrances, each a small, rather quaint-looking bridge.

And because it was surrounded by water, the town’s name was also water-related: Water Town.

Water Town had a population of 14,000, and the locals all worshiped a branch of Daoism called the Ascension Sect.

Furthermore, the town had no police station. All matters had to be brought to the local Elders, who would pass judgment.

After reading the information on the notice board by the entrance, a trembling Little Fatty followed Duan Fei into Water Town.

The instant he stepped onto the small bridge, the surrounding scenery suddenly changed.

The faint, intermittent crying from before abruptly vanished. A cacophony of sounds—the din of a crowd, the clatter of carts, the shouting of children—erupted, washing over him along with the aroma of street food that permeated the air.

A crowd of people had suddenly appeared on the previously silent street.

These people pushed out old handcarts, and the various snacks displayed on them were immediately readied for sale. The calls of vendors rang out, instantly filling the place with a human touch.

Perhaps because it had just rained, there weren’t many people on the streets, but the vendors remained fiery with passion, hawking their wares with great enthusiasm.

As he took in his surroundings, the unease that had been forced upon Little Fatty suddenly vanished, replaced by a festive, joyous feeling.

“Duan Someone, this place is pretty nice,” Little Fatty said sincerely.

Duan Fei, however, glanced around and replied coolly, “Mm.”

“Oh, come on. You’re a total goofball, so stop acting all high and mighty. Come on and have some fun.”

“You were scared to death a minute ago. How are you suddenly not afraid?”

“…Yeah, that’s right. Strange. Why did I stop being scared all of a sudden after coming in? Oh well, let’s go have some fun first.”

Watching Little Fatty grin foolishly, Duan Fei felt he had most likely been captivated by the illusion.

At that moment, Little Fatty had completely forgotten what happened earlier and was happily rushing toward a nearby stall.

An old man making cotton candy pumped the machine’s pedal. The device spun rapidly under his control as the sugar in the central canister melted from the heat. It then flew out of the small holes due to centrifugal force, transforming into silky threads.

Looking at the confection, Little Fatty asked excitedly, “Sir, how much is this?”

“A newcomer? I’ll give you one for free.”

“Thanks a lot, sir.”

Little Fatty immediately picked one, then looked back at Duan Someone and asked, “Duan Someone, you want one?”

“I’m good,” Duan Fei immediately replied, shaking his head.

“Then I’ll eat it for you. Sir, I’m picking one for my friend!”

The man in front of him looked at Little Fatty with confusion, then glanced at the empty space behind him.

Nevertheless, he forced a smile and handed Little Fatty the wooden stick, which was wrapped in spiderwebs.

Just as Little Fatty took the cotton candy and was about to take a bite, Duan Fei had already raised his Crowbar, struck the treat in Little Fatty’s hand, then lifted the Crowbar high and brought it down hard on the vendor.

Watching the man collapse, his head bleeding profusely, Little Fatty couldn’t help but shout, “What are you doing?!”

“Nothing. Just saw something that made me uncomfortable. Besides, haven’t you noticed that no one around us is paying any mind?”

At that moment, Little Fatty’s wandering mind finally began to focus.

He glanced around and discovered that no one seemed to have seen what happened. They were still hawking their wares along the street, keeping it bustling with activity.

The feeling was as if the entire town was putting on a play, and everyone was an Actor on a stage, with only the two of them as the exception.

Swallowing hard, Little Fatty hastily tossed the cotton candy from his hand and asked, “So what do we do?”

“Let’s gather some clues first. Don’t eat anything here, don’t touch anything, and if anyone calls you over, just ignore them.”

“What if they use force? I’m so frail, I don’t think I can handle it. You know that besides my computer skills, the only other thing I have going for me is my face.”

“Little Fatty, how about you just die here once?”

“Brother Duan, I was joking. Let’s keep going.”

Ignoring the vendors’ cries from both sides of the street, Little Fatty followed Duan Fei, continuing onward.

Even though he knew there was something wrong with the surrounding vendors, Little Fatty, for some reason, found it hard to focus. After just a short while, he would forget that this was a dangerous place and would instead be captivated by the surrounding merchandise.

Even when Duan Fei frequently reminded him that something was wrong, his mind felt light and floaty. He would forget everything in an instant and couldn’t stop his eyes from landing on the things around him.

Fortunately, he had Duan Fei by his side.

Whenever he found Little Fatty’s mind wandering, he would quickly pull him back, and they would continue their search.

Although Little Fatty saw a bustling marketplace, in Duan Fei’s eyes, everything was completely different.

In the town, red lanterns swayed in the wind, while multicolored paper effigies pushed paper carts at the roadside, hawking all sorts of strange things.

These paper effigies were not delicately crafted, and their expressions were wildly varied, looking almost comical.

And the things they sold were far from simple. For example, the cotton candy Little Fatty had just wanted to eat was actually spiderwebs. ‘I can’t even imagine what that would taste like,’ Duan Fei thought.

The fried sausages were actually fried rats, the roasted corn was tree roots, and the shaved ice was just a pile of sand. The origins of the colorful liquids on top were unknown, but they were definitely not edible.

The entire town was a town composed of paper effigies.

Bringing Little Fatty here was to use him as bait, luring these paper effigies to take the hook in order to gather more intelligence.

And in fact, it had been the right decision.

Little Fatty held a fatal attraction for these paper effigies. They started to do everything in their power to lure him to their side, attempting to make him eat their products.

Food seemed to have a special significance in this instance; eating and being eaten were both accompanied by some kind of mystical contract. One wrong step could lead to eternal damnation.

As they slowly moved forward, Little Fatty suddenly trembled, which put Duan Fei on alert. He drew his Crowbar.

The Little Daoist had suddenly appeared beside Little Fatty. Frowning, he said, “Didn’t I tell you not to come down? So why did you? If you want to get yourselves killed, fine, but don’t drag my master into it, okay? What’s the situation up on the mountain? Don’t tell me that cook has already started preparing a meal.”

Swinging his Crowbar, Duan Fei asked, “Then shouldn’t you have something to say?”

“You’re two mortals. What’s the use in telling you anything? Let me tell you, don’t—”

Before the Little Daoist could finish his sentence, Duan Fei hefted his Crowbar and swung it viciously at him.