Grotesqueries of the Old Domain

Chapter 41: Rules

After following Song Jianguo through this strange world for several minutes, Zhang Wenda no longer looked at the surrounding scenery.

He was looking at himself—he seemed to have changed as well.

He remembered very clearly that before coming out, he had deliberately worn a blue-and-white school uniform because he was afraid of the cold at night, but now he was wearing a black T-shirt and a jacket.

It wasn’t just his clothes—even his body had changed.

He touched his buzzcut and looked at his legs.

His height and size had changed too.

He was obviously no longer a child—he was at least eighteen now.

“Seems like it’s not so bad,” Zhang Wenda murmured to himself, stroking his chin and glancing around.

As soon as he thought this, he expected to feel a little happy.

However, Zhang Wenda realized he couldn’t feel happy.

It seemed that after becoming an adult, he could no longer feel joy.

“Is it that once you become an adult, you can never be happy again?” Zhang Wenda kept trying.

But no matter how he tried to cheer himself up, he just couldn’t do it—not even forcing a smile worked.

And when Zhang Wenda looked down, he was even more shocked to discover a shackle on his left leg at some unknown moment.

It was exactly the same as the manacles worn by those strange false people.

“Damn it, where did this thing come from!” He struggled violently, trying to get rid of the shackle.

But the more he struggled, the tighter it got, biting painfully into his flesh.

At this moment, Zhang Wenda finally understood what the rabbit meant by “It’s for your own good.”

All the changes after growing up clearly had a huge side effect.

“Meow! Meow meow!” Hearing the sound of a cat, Zhang Wenda quickly looked up and saw a little girl holding Song Jianguo by the tail, dangling her upside down.

He couldn’t handle even the slightest emotional disturbance.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Wenda was greatly shocked and, ignoring the shackle, immediately ran over.

“Kid, you can’t grab a cat like that!”

He carefully scooped up Song Jianguo and hurried away from the brat who was rolling on the ground, crying and throwing a tantrum.

He wasn’t afraid of the child.

What he feared were the mother scolding the child and the father watching the scene from the side.

God knows what those people really were from another perspective.

After all, anything capable of lifting Song Jianguo with one hand definitely wasn’t small.

After walking a few steps, Zhang Wenda set Song Jianguo back down and gave her a little push again.

“Let’s go. If we’re out, just head home and let me know when you get there.”

“Meow meow meow!” But Song Jianguo didn’t move, instead shouting loudly at him, clearly angry about what had just happened.

“Hurry up, don’t throw a tantrum, I’m running out of time.” Zhang Wenda gave the little black cat a gentle push, causing her to stumble forward.

The black cat let out a loud cry at Zhang Wenda again before baring her teeth and angrily striding ahead.

Zhang Wenda looked down once more at the shackle and followed behind the black cat.

Gradually, they arrived at a road paved with prefabricated humans.

Seeing the neatly arranged backs, Zhang Wenda felt uncomfortable.

But seeing Song Jianguo already walking on them, he eventually stepped up as well.

The feeling underfoot was no different from stepping on real people, giving Zhang Wenda goosebumps as he walked.

Yet none of the others seemed the least bit disturbed.

Cars zoomed along the road at high speed.

In the adult world, the cars had no tires.

Instead, they were equipped with large fingers of prefabricated humans.

The finger-thick as utility poles-replaced the function of tires, swiftly sliding along the road with afterimages, pulling the cars forward at high speed.

By now, Zhang Wenda was no longer as shocked as before.

No matter what happened in this world, he found it normal.

“Wait, where’s my backpack? And my lollipop? I remember bringing them.”

Zhang Wenda rummaged through his pockets and eventually pulled out a leather wallet, a thumb-sized laser pointer, and a cigarette pack with only one cigarette left.

He stared at the cigarette that used to be his lollipop, momentarily stunned.

It was as if everything had changed with adulthood.

He shook his head and hurried to catch up.

After following the human road for two more minutes, Song Jianguo veered off onto a side path.

“Hey, pay attention to the time. Have we gotten out yet?” Zhang Wenda asked while checking the numbers on his digital watch.

Song Jianguo didn’t answer, just kept jumping forward with her furry black cat head down.

Finally, with just one minute left, Song Jianguo stopped in front of a welcome tree filled with hanging oranges.

She reached out and parted the leaves.

When Zhang Wenda saw the little bird’s nest on the tree, his face lit up with understanding.

It seemed they had indeed gotten out.

They had returned to Song Jianguo’s bird nest.

“Not bad, Jianguo. You’re actually useful at the crucial moment.”

Feeling relieved, Zhang Wenda grabbed her and vigorously rubbed her cat head.

Song Jianguo clearly hated this and bit his hand hard.

“Alright, alright, quit it.” Zhang Wenda put the bristling black cat down. “I’m about to turn back, help me keep watch.”

Time ticked by second by second.

As the yellow number 1 gradually turned to 0, Zhang Wenda began to feel the world around him destabilize.

Just when only a few dozen seconds remained before he turned back, Zhang Wenda suddenly remembered something.

“Will I get punished by the rules in this state?”

With the countdown nearing its end, he immediately decided to test it.

If he wasn’t punished now, it would mean the rule’s penalty was based on his age.

Time ticked down.

Zhang Wenda looked around and quickly grabbed Song Jianguo. “Let me ask you! How old are you? Where did your cat ears come from? How did you learn to read?”

After asking, he anxiously waited.

But soon he realized—“No! This won’t work! Song Jianguo is a cat right now! Asking her can’t trigger the rule!”

“10… 9…” Watching the numbers shrink, Zhang Wenda threw the cat and scanned the area, dashing toward a distant pedestrian.

“6… 5… 4…” He rushed in front of the person and shouted, “What’s your name! How old are you!”

The moment the words left his mouth, excruciating pain erupted.

A bloody gash instantly appeared on his cheek.

Everything around him—those bizarre, kaleidoscopic scenes—vanished like smoke.

In that instant, he saw it.

He finally saw the entity that inflicted the punishment!

Zhang Wenda saw the monster that had somehow appeared to his left.

It was a twisted creature, three to four meters tall, its body covered in holes, with deformed joints.

At that moment, it too was vanishing rapidly with everything else around.

And just before it disappeared completely, the last thing Zhang Wenda saw was blood on the scythe in the monster’s left hand!

All the punishments from the rules had come from it attacking him!!