Echoes of the Past

Chapter 49 Nan'an, are you awake?

The skinned buffalo was silent for a moment: "It depends on what price you are willing to pay."

Nan'an watched a skinned water buffalo, which was like a big-butt TV. The speaker was broken and needed to be patted to fix it—using Suiyue's voice, but speaking in a stuttering manner.

Suiyue was already rummaging through her pockets, taking out all the nuts she could find.

"Is this enough?"

"They are too cheap."

Nan'an didn't tease the silly Niu Niu; in her eyes, food was indeed the most precious thing.

He bent down and picked up the leather backpack from the ground; it was the one Nilar had brought in.

The TV demon only "took away" the person, but didn't take the backpack full of supplies with it.

This puzzled him somewhat.

They're actually picky eaters?

Hard-cooked dry rations, a whetstone, several bottles of clearly labeled enchanted potions and emergency potions, several functional scrolls (mostly for protection and lighting), and a few good-quality lighting crystals.

Although young, Nilar was clearly an experienced fog-breaking veteran, and the supplies he carried were practical and complete.

As members of the Ellu family, they use only high-quality, well-made products.

Nan'an didn't find any particularly noteworthy items among them. He closed the backpack and placed the entire backpack in front of the skinned buffalo.

"All of these?"

A corner of the floating cowhide roll extends silently, like a living blanket, gently brushing against the surface of the backpack.

The skinned buffalo remained silent for a few seconds, then slowly shook its head.

"Still, cheap."

The deal failed again.

The two had run out of chips. Seeing Nan'an's furrowed brows, Suiyue swallowed hard and anxiously reached for her big horn.

Nan'an noticed her subtle movements but did not immediately respond.

He hesitated for a moment, then said, "Let's change the terms of the deal. What I need now is..."

Flies swirled overhead at his call.

"Give my little guys a specialized tracking ability against that 'spider television.' Once it reappears, or moves within a certain range of us, the fly fog will immediately sense and pinpoint its location."

The blood-red characters on the leather scroll flickered in alternating light and shadow.

"Cost assessed, complete." Nilar's backpack was suspended in mid-air, pulled along. "One day."

"Wait a minute." Nan'an interrupted the act of skinning the buffalo to complete the transaction. "I have a new idea... Does knowledge have a price?"

"It can be appraised and traded," the skinned buffalo replied. "Scarcity means high price."

Nan An's lips curled into a playful smile: "So, if I offer a recipe that has never appeared in Nora before, that can be clearly reproduced, and that is guaranteed to be unique, as the price of the transaction, after the transaction is completed, will the writer of the recipe forget everything he wrote down?"

"No," the skinned buffalo replied woodenly. "Acquiring information means paying a price."

"Interesting." Nan An smiled and waved his hand, indicating that Nilar's backpack transaction could continue.

The suspended backpack slowly descended towards the leather scroll. The moment it touched the surface of the scroll, it disappeared silently, like a pebble sinking into water, leaving no trace.

At the same time, the swarm of flies hovering overhead in Nan'an all trembled.

Nan'an could sense that a faint but real one-way "connection" had been established between the fly mist and the television set.

As soon as the other party reappears within a certain range, the fly fog will react immediately—at this moment, they are all facing northwest.

"etc."

Nan'an and Suiyue, who had already set off, stopped and turned back suspiciously.

A series of silvery-white ripples appeared on the surface of the cowhide roll, and several lighting crystals and two bottles of magic potions were "spit" onto the ground by the skinned buffalo.

It didn't explain, but Nan'an already understood.

"That's truly a transaction based on integrity."

Guided by the fly mist, the two hurried through the flowerbed.

Perhaps the recent violent extermination had completely wiped out the nearby spirit erosion. As they ran rapidly along the bright corridor, they encountered no obstacles or attacks along the way, only the empty echoes and the monotonous flapping of fly wings.

Suiyue stared at the back of the figure in front of her and couldn't help but chatter: "Nan'an, did you see that kind of nightmare before? I mean that... moving 'metal frame'?"

Nan'an glanced sideways upon hearing this.

"Moving picture frame"—this description is very "Nora."

It involves the naive logic of trying to force familiar concepts onto incomprehensible things when faced with them by local residents.

"I have indeed seen similar ones." He did not deny it.

"Did such strange things exist in the Gray Star Era?" Suiyue stared in astonishment, her mind racing. "Is it a product of lost high-level alchemy? Or some kind of... uh, an exceptionally large magical image crystal?"

If you insist on calling it alchemy... well, you can call it that too.

Nan An's lips twitched slightly.

After all, it doesn't seem entirely unreasonable to explain it in this direction.

At least in the function of "recording and reproducing images and sounds", there are indeed similarities.

During the move, Nan'an's mind was still in a mess.

He couldn't understand why a "television set," a creation clearly belonging to another technological civilization, would become a constituent material of the nightmare in Nora's Black Mist.

But as he revisited his memories, his expression grew increasingly solemn.

"The structure resembles a mirror and is enclosed in a huge picture frame. When it is in a dormant state, it is hazy and opaque, like a piece of glass, from which you can clearly see the reflection."

"When it enters an active state, the mirror sparkles and emits an incomprehensible, unusually noisy sound, accompanied by strange, seductive, rhythmic melodies."

This is Nilar's description of the nightmare that caused his father's disappearance.

It perfectly corresponds to the TV set's nightmare.

Nan'an cannot explain the sudden appearance of this material that transcends the level of civilization with simple terms like "wish fulfillment" or "cognitive distortion."

Judging from Nilar's description, this "television," or at least this type of bizarre nightmare, had been active in the black mist long before he was resurrected in this era, and had caused people to go missing.

This means that its existence may not be directly related to itself, but rather it is more like a strange creation "drawn" or "imitated" by the black mist itself from some unknown source.

The fly fog finally stopped in front of a heavy stone door.

The door is made of dark metal and heavy reddish-brown wood, with the surface carved with faded reliefs of believers and thorn patterns.

The door was tightly shut, and no sound could be heard.

Nan'an and Suiyue exchanged a glance, then simultaneously reached out and pushed against the cold, heavy door, forcing it inward.

A tooth-grinding scraping sound rang out; the stone door was unusually heavy, but it was not locked.

As the door crack gradually widened, a scent reminiscent of sunshine left over from sun-drying quilts in winter wafted out.

Only when the door was halfway open, enough for one person to pass through, did the sounds that had been blocked out by the heavy stone door suddenly rush into their ears like a flood bursting its banks.

"What are you waiting for? Moonlight Grass Essence Hair Removal Cream removes all types of hair, and enjoy 20% off when you buy now!"

"Next stop: Royal Capital Central Square. Passengers who wish to disembark, please prepare to get off. If you do not wish to disembark, that's fine too. Next stop: 'Guillotine'!"

"According to the latest forecast from the Weather Fairy, a large-scale increase in fog density will occur in the northern part of Nora tomorrow. Fog breakers are advised to take precautions and avoid going out unless absolutely necessary. If necessary, you may venture out!"

"A brand new flavor! Portable chewing gum, roasted rock lizard flavor! Bringing you a different kind of taste bud impact, damn it, I'll punch you twice!"

"Dear viewers, welcome to this episode of 'Legendary Figures.' Today, we are honored to have with us the legendary paladin who led the 'Morning Star Knights' three hundred years ago, a direct descendant of Lord Roland..."

GG words, subway announcements, weather forecasts, news program opening remarks...

Countless noisy and chaotic sound fragments, with inconsistent sound quality and completely unrelated content, mixed with background music of unclear meaning—sometimes passionate, sometimes mournful, and sometimes light electronic sounds—exude an inappropriate charm, much like the Romance of the Three Kingdoms distorted by fate, always releasing special settlement music that brings a sense of relief.

Nan'an and Suiyue stepped into the church.

This place is much grander than the side aisles and small chapels we passed earlier.

The towering dome seemed to disappear into the shadows, and even though the huge stained-glass windows were covered in dust, they still let in mottled, dim light, cutting out several hazy beams of light in the air.

Tiny dust particles floated in the air, slowly rising and falling in the occasional beams of light.

Frankly speaking, if it weren't for the almost heaven-defying loudspeaker echoing from the television screen, most people would be captivated by the grandeur of the church at first glance.

Their gazes were immediately drawn to the figure on the altar.

Nan'an held down Suiyue's hand, indicating that they shouldn't rush to do anything.

The television demon seemed to be in a semi-dormant state, quietly "sitting" in the center of the altar platform.

Its four metal spider legs were bent, supporting the main body of the television set, like a strange, enshrined statue.

The V-shaped antenna droops slightly, like a wilted ahoge (a type of hair sticking up).

Several octopus tentacles, each inlaid with a button, lay limply on the edge of the altar.

The power cord at the end still dragged on the ground, with one or two tiny sparks occasionally flying from its tip, producing a faint crackling sound.

Considering what happened earlier, when Nan'an punched and shattered the tentacle barrier, this scene is definitely a defeat cutscene.

In certain special games, a selection option can be added to give players a greater sense of control.

Just like with regular television, after the annoying "GG" (Ghostly Encounter) ended, the main program continued.

The Nightmare TV fell into a brief silence, and then the black screen slowly lit up again.

The scene shifted rapidly, and Nan'an Suiyue's brows furrowed more and more as she watched.

What the heck? What is this being broadcast?

One second ago, Nilar and his father, dressed in ancient adventurer attire and wielding longswords and shields, were bravely fighting a flame-breathing dragon in a dense forest.

The next second, the scene abruptly switched to a dark-toned modern urban street scene.

Nilar was being scolded by his father, who was sitting behind his desk. In the office not far away, workers, like those in a mass production, peeked out from their workstations, looking around curiously and whispering among themselves.

If that were all, it wouldn't be enough to make Nan'an frown.

Interspersed among those rapidly flashing, fragmented images with constantly shifting backgrounds are countless other figures.

They wore costumes accumulated over hundreds of years, from the Gray Star Era to the Black Mist Era, like extras moving between different "scenes".

Sometimes they become part of a team of heroes who fight to defeat the Demon King, shouting and charging in front of the magnificent castle.

At other times, he transforms into a working-class person rushing to catch the subway, carrying a briefcase.

There were no costumes or props; he wore the same outfit from beginning to end.

Nilar and his father are not the main characters either; in the fragmented scenes, they are mostly extras.

The TV show "The Nightmare of the Television" fairly allocates roles suitable for each participant to be the lead, emphasizing an equal distribution of resources so that everyone gets a share.

Therefore, one can see such a strange sight in Nan'an—a group of magicians who can run, jump, fly, and throw fireballs, waiting obediently for security checks at the subway entrance—the X-ray machine equipped by the security personnel is made of a dragon's head, a troll's skull, and a slime's gelatinous body.

The subway, on the other hand, is a necromancer manipulating the spine of a dragon to speed by, and the handrails seem to be some kind of sticky jelly.

A genius imagination, like one who has eaten mushrooms.

A voice seemed to echo in Nan'an's ears.

"Nan'an, are you awake?!"

Nan'an soon noticed that it was not completely still.

In that seemingly semi-dormant state, the television demon was slowly and continuously performing self-maintenance.

A gap silently slid open on the metal panel on its side, near where the TV casing connects to the spider legs below.

The crevice did not contain a mechanical structure, but rather a wriggling, dark red, semi-solid substance resembling melting jelly.

Several thin, hair-like metallic tentacles, their tips shimmering with a faint light, peeked out from the gap, like sophisticated tools with independent lives, gently brushing over a tiny scratch on the outer shell—the masterpiece left by the nibbling of flies.

The whiskers shimmered with blue light, smoothing out all scratches in their wake like an iron, as if they were being welded.

"That's interesting. A combination of flesh and machine, capable of sucking people into a television for a theatrical loop?"

Nan'an now had a basic understanding of the power of that punch.

When I pushed open the door, the TV was already showing signs of malfunction and error messages; the nonsensical "GG" message said it all.

Despite its frail body, there has been no record of it being defeated by the Fog Breakers for a long time, and the only information about it is a cold recounting of Nilar's father's death.

This means that all along, when the Fog Breakers faced the Nightmare of the Television Machine, they were most likely killed by Chu Jian. Not to mention the means of attack, even whether it could be killed was questionable.

Nan'an may be the first person on record to successfully breach its defenses.

Thinking of this, his heart burned even more as he tiptoed to the edge of the altar.

"I have to give you another punch."