Chapter 4 Who Am I 3

There was no blood.

Theoretically, there should have been a massive spray of blood, but not a single drop appeared.

Lin Xiangjun frowned and stared intently at the break in Sun Tao's shoulder. She seemed to vaguely see a film-like substance tightly adhering to the wound, holding the blood back like a plastic bag filled with water. However, before she could get a clear look, the middle-aged man was spun around by the security guard, who proceeded to rip off his left arm in the same manner.

Then, holding those two still-twitching arms, the security guard couldn't even wait a moment and began to take large bites right then and there.

Abnormalities don't care about being civilized, polite, or clean. They wouldn't worry about whether blood splattering on the ground would make it difficult to clean up.

In an instance, the more tense and afraid a human's spirit is, the easier it is for them to be contaminated. So, if there are people around, they might even intentionally fling flesh and blood onto them to create fear.

Then why didn't any blood flow out?

【3. Please consciously take care of the neighborhood's hygiene. Do not litter anywhere, and keep the neighborhood grounds clean. If you see trash, please throw it in the green trash can. There are no black trash cans in the neighborhood.】

So, the security guard did that to maintain the neighborhood's cleanliness.

In Rule-Based Anomalies, rules are binding for both humans and abnormalities; both sides must obey their own rules, or they will face punishment.

Although the degree of punishment might be the same—for example, violating a certain rule results in losing a leg—the damage a rule inflicts on an abnormality is clearly much smaller by comparison.

For a human, losing a leg means losing mobility, which indirectly equates to death. But what about an abnormality? Setting aside whether losing a leg affects their mobility, even if they were truly incapacitated, an abnormality could still hide until the instance ends. They aren't like humans who must complete a task to leave, nor do they have enemies lurking in the shadows at all times trying to induce their death.

This leads to many situations where an abnormality would rather violate a rule themselves just to bait a human, much like a human willing to risk poisoning just to eat wild mushrooms.

Right now was a perfect opportunity for baiting. The security guard didn't even have to do much; he just needed to make his feeding scene a bit messier.

Why didn't he?

Because this is a Death Rule.

A Death Rule is a hint for clearing the level buried among many rules that is closest to the event itself. It is precisely because it is closest to the abnormal event that anyone who violates it will meet an inevitable end.

A two-star instance actually gave it to her right at the start.

Is this instance that simple?

Lin Xiangjun was somewhat surprised and felt a vague sense of strangeness, but with no more clues at the moment, she could only keep this point in mind for now.

While she was thinking, the security guard was almost finished eating.

Although Sun Tao wasn't exactly burly, that arm was dark, lean, and wiry—clearly the result of years of manual labor under the sun.

Yet, in the old man's mouth, that arm was like stewed pork hock, and the bones were like potato chips or egg rolls. In less than two minutes, he had eaten it all clean, without a single fragment of bone falling to the ground.

Sun Tao was pinned down, unable to move or speak. He could only watch in pain and horror as one of his arms was eaten clean by the old man.

"Ah!"

"He's... he's eating people!"

Right, those three outside the gate hadn't come in yet.

The three who hadn't entered were much more free. Wang Zixuan's scream was so loud it almost shattered Lin Xiangjun's eardrums. Aunt Wang collapsed to the ground, tears streaming down her face. Zhuo Xing simply leaned against the wall and vomited all over the floor.

He's quite lucky; with that act of vomiting all over the place, he'd be dead the moment he stepped inside.

Glancing at Sun Tao and sensing he probably wouldn't live much longer anyway, Lin Xiangjun turned her head and continued looking for clues.

His death could be considered valuable; at least it tested out a Death Rule.

As Lin Xiangjun walked further in, she carefully observed the neighborhood.

This neighborhood was clearly quite old. The ground was paved with red and white patterned tiles. Due to long-term use, the originally bright colors had turned into dull, faded shades. Interspersed among them were a few new tiles, which looked as conspicuous and strange as lice on a bald man's head.

The greenery consisted of common landscaping trees and plants, but these plants hadn't been well cared for; they were withered and yellow, looking as if they wouldn't survive long.

The buildings were old, the facilities were old, and the paint on the railings was peeling off in patches. The red exterior walls of the buildings were bubbling everywhere. Fortunately, the hygiene was indeed well-maintained; to the naked eye, there was no trash on the ground.

However, there was no trash, and there were no trash cans, nor could any Cleaners be seen.

On the road, a few old men and old ladies were strolling slowly with cloth bags full of vegetables, chatting as they walked. Several mothers in their early thirties sat by the roadside, while not far away, a few young children squatted, playing with toys.

It looked like a perfectly ordinary neighborhood.

Clues for a two-star instance weren't that hard to find. On the neighborhood's bulletin board, Lin Xiangjun found a table listing the names of residents and their unit numbers.

The number recorded on the table was about three hundred households, far fewer than the capacity of a normal old neighborhood.

Lin Xiangjun was assigned to Room 404. The announcement showed she lived with two other people; judging by the names, they should be her parents, but since the announcement didn't specify, this remained to be confirmed.

"404..." Lin Xiangjun muttered, suddenly remembering a cold joke she once told her best friend.

"We're going to have a group event at 404 today, but we won't be able to find Room 404."

"Why?"

"Because 404 not found."

"...You INTPs' cold jokes are beyond freezing." Li Jingjing rolled her eyes hard.

Although the current situation was far from a relaxed or pleasant environment for jokes, Lin Xiangjun was still amused by her own memory.

But this smile looked like something else entirely to the three people behind her.

As Zhuo Xing passed her, he said spitefully in a voice that wasn't loud but was definitely clear enough for her to hear, "Some people really have no sha—, they can actually smile after getting someone else killed."

He probably originally wanted to say Lin Xiangjun was 'shameless', but due to the rules in the neighborhood, he forced himself to swallow the word 'shame'.

However, since everyone present was Chinese, completing such a simple fill-in-the-blank wasn't difficult.

Lin Xiangjun glanced at him sideways, striving to express her contempt to the fullest.

"I wasn't the one who ate him. You don't have the guts to curse the abnormality, so you only dare to vent your anger on me?"

"Besides, go look for yourself. He's still breathing. Are you wishing death upon him?"

Zhuo Xing was momentarily speechless.

"Now that you've read the rules, you'd better behave. That old man only ate one meal; he might still be hungry. Don't end up becoming someone's midnight snack."

"Don't you feel even a little bit guilty for getting someone killed?" Zhuo Xing was truly fuming.

All four of them had seen Lin Xiangjun's actions when she was reading the rules upon entering.

If she had just given a warning then, Sun Tao might not have died. That was a human life; how could she be so at peace with herself?

Lin Xiangjun didn't quite understand this man's logic.

Did she pry that man's mouth open and pull his tongue to make him swear? Or did she invite that iron-toothed old man to taste the original flavor of a middle-aged man's unwashed arm, complete with sweat and grime?

She didn't do any of that, right?

And this could still be blamed on her?