Chapter 4: Streetlights and Invisible Walls
Liang Xiaoyu didn’t dare to move a muscle.
Holding her breath, she recalled everything she’d learned about pythons while searching for anacondas in the Amazon, desperately trying to think of a way to escape.
Before she could devise a plan, the python suddenly began to retreat, inching its way back into a distant pond.
She didn’t even bother to wipe her face; inch by inch, she crept away, and when she thought she’d put enough distance between herself and the snake, she turned and ran.
Only after twenty minutes did she collapse to the ground, retching violently.
She nearly vomited bile.
Pulling out a bottle of mineral water, she didn’t care about wasting it and poured it straight over her face.
Looking up at her livestream, Liang Xiaoyu managed a wry smile.
After taking a moment to calm herself, she spoke slowly.
“Honestly, I’d rather be eaten by a dinosaur than have a python slobber all over my face.”
“Do you have any idea how big it was? Even without revealing its whole body, it must have been thirty or forty meters long.”
“I get now why that place was labeled the Snake House. I seriously suspect this python was raised by someone.”
“I’m filthy—disgusting! I’m scarred for life when it comes to French kissing.”
After blurting all this out in one breath, Liang Xiaoyu didn’t even glance at the comments; she just kept her head down and walked on.
Though she’d once followed a scientific expedition to the Amazon specifically to track down forest pythons, she’d never had to actually catch one herself—let alone have one lick her face.
And who knew what that snake had eaten? The taste of its saliva... ugh!
Right now, she almost wanted to feed herself to a dinosaur.
As she wondered how to get out of the Snake House, she suddenly noticed a distant light ahead.
In the dim forest, the brightness was striking.
Delighted, Liang Xiaoyu jogged toward it.
The light seemed close, but it took her ten minutes of running to see it clearly.
Streetlights!
At the heart of the forest, there was a wide road with tall street lamps lining both sides.
Liang Xiaoyu practically stumbled and tumbled her way over.
Only when she stepped onto the marble road did she finally start to relax.
Clinging to a lamp post, she nearly burst into tears.
It was just too much.
She’d had so many close calls!
Lifting her phone, she saw a flood of admiration in the livestream chat.
“There’s actually a road like this on the mountain?”
“Doesn’t anyone think this road is too well-built? This has to be staged!”
“The ground doesn’t look like ordinary marble.”
“Check out those streetlights—such a unique design!”
“Why do I feel like there’s something on both sides of the road? I thought I saw something flashing—can the streamer try touching it?”
Liang Xiaoyu saw the last comment.
Through the stream, she also felt something gleaming behind her.
She turned around but couldn’t see anything. After all, that was exactly where she’d just come from.
As she pondered this, she suddenly heard a strange cry.
Right then, three dinosaurs burst out of the jungle behind her.
They weren’t particularly large—only about a meter tall—and their bodies were covered in fine feathers.
Velociraptors!
Liang Xiaoyu recognized them instantly.
She swallowed hard and reminded herself: The movies always say if you see these things, whatever you do, don’t run. Stare them down fiercely, pretend you’re not afraid…
“Ah!”
The velociraptors charged straight at her, and Liang Xiaoyu screamed in terror.
Then—
Bang!
The three velociraptors slammed into an invisible wall, blue sparks flickering in the air.
They bounced back.
The raptors paced back and forth, roaring at Liang Xiaoyu.
One couldn’t resist and leaped again.
This time, Liang Xiaoyu saw it clearly: behind the streetlamp, about three meters away, blue light shimmered in the air—as if something really was blocking the way.
She frowned. But she had just walked through there herself.
She glanced at her livestream and asked hoarsely, “Does anyone know what’s going on?”
Pointing at the raptors, which were still glancing around and roaring at her, she added, “It seems like something’s keeping them out.”
“Xiaoyu, get out of there!”
“Streamer, do you have superpowers?”
“An energy shield! This is proof it’s just a movie shoot!”
“Try touching it with your hand!”
Liang Xiaoyu hesitated, but since there was no way she could outrun these creatures, she decided to give it a try.
She reached out and touched the air outside the streetlamp.
A hard, slightly springy surface met her hand.
As she touched it, a blue glow appeared.
She withdrew her hand, and everything returned to normal.
Nothing was visible at all.
“Does anyone know what kind of technology this is?” Liang Xiaoyu asked in amazement.
In the livestream chat:
“I’m an associate researcher at the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences—I’ve never even heard of anything like this.”
“Can any cultivation experts explain?”
“With my experience at the Nascent Soul stage, only a True Immortal could set up such a mountain-protection array.”
“Do you guys think the streamer is playing around? This is real, for crying out loud!”
“Is anyone nearby? Anyone tried going up the mountain?”
“The military has already sealed off the area—no way to get in!”
“Damn, could this all be real?”
“Streamer, I’m with the cyber police…”
…
Liang Xiaoyu sighed. “Looks like no one knows.”
She waved at the velociraptors. “Bye-bye!”
Realizing the creatures couldn’t reach her, her spirits lifted.
To be sure, she tested the other side of the road and found the same invisible barrier.
Though she didn’t understand how it worked, Liang Xiaoyu felt an intense sense of safety.
She sat down, drank some water, and even raised her bottle in a toast to the distant raptors.
One of the velociraptors tripped and fell again.
She burst out laughing and finished the rest of her water.
After bragging a bit with her viewers, she started to feel conflicted.
Now she faced two choices.
One: follow the road uphill—there might be danger, but she’d definitely see more amazing sights.
Two: head downhill—more likely to get out, but she’d miss out on all the wonders.
Liang Xiaoyu barely hesitated before deciding to go uphill.
As for all those things she’d said earlier about getting out alive…
Since when do women have to keep their word? Hmph!
Besides, now that she’d calmed down, she found this place utterly fascinating.
Dinosaurs.
Transformers.
Giant pythons.
These were all legendary creatures!
Who would have thought they actually existed in real life?
If she didn’t see more of them, she’d regret it even in death.
“Does anyone know what material this road is made from? Looks like a single slab of stone—it’s beautiful.”
“Dinosaurs! Huge dinosaurs! Oh, that’s an ankylosaurus—looks so majestic. It can’t get through either, haha.”
“It’s exhausting to walk—if only there were a sightseeing car.”
…
Liang Xiaoyu chatted idly with her viewers as she walked.
Her stream had never been that popular—usually she only had four or five hundred thousand viewers at a time.
But now, to her astonishment, her viewership had soared to number one, nearly thirty million!
Virtual gifts and special effects flooded the screen.
She tapped the screen and checked the backend—her followers had jumped from four hundred thousand to over eight million!
All in just a few hours.
Liang Xiaoyu was amazed.
“Everyone, just enjoy the stream—there’s no need to send gifts.”
“Hey, guess what I see?”
Liang Xiaoyu looked up with delight.
In her field of vision, a gray building appeared, faintly discernible in the distance.