# Chapter 50: Eternal Watch
Outside the three-story building that served as the Eternal Watch Town Mayor's residence, Su Xiao gripped the handle of the serrated blade on his back with one hand. Though a door separated them, he could sense that the town mayor inside was problematic.
After knocking moments ago, the other party had opened the door a crack, revealing a murky, brownish-yellow eye covered in bloodshot veins. This raised questions about his mental state. Now, the mayor's tone was too calm—the contrast between his mental state and his tone was too great.
Since entering the World of Paintings, Su Xiao hadn't encountered any Beast Transformers. The Nightmare King he'd faced earlier had undergone mental beast transformation, but the other party was strong enough, and being in the fourth stage of transformation, it wasn't enough to cause him to lose rational control.
The Eternal Watch Town Mayor he now faced had a very high probability of being a Beast Transformer. Even if he hadn't reached the point of losing reason, it was only a matter of time.
Su Xiao made a gesture to Baha beside him. Baha silently took flight, both to prevent the enemy from escaping and to guard against other potential foes. Bubu Wang merged into the environment, retreating while activating various auras simultaneously.
Su Xiao hooked his pinky finger around the end of the blade handle and twisted it. A click sounded from within the Cruel Serrated Blade. He gripped the handle and slowly drew out a serrated longsword. This blade's specifications were similar to Dragon-Slaying Flash, except the edge was rougher, and the entire body was pitch black.
"How should I address you?"
Su Xiao spoke while stepping back, his arm holding the blade bent into a thrusting posture. Though he assumed an attacking stance, a semi-transparent outline of blood energy remained at his previous position—this was to mislead the person behind the door, making them mistakenly believe Su Xiao was still standing there.
"You·Fu·Queller, that is my name."
Mayor Queller's name was somewhat strange. Though this was a transliteration, it had two short syllables at the front.
"Mayor Queller, first meeting. If I'm rude, please forgive me."
Su Xiao's aura contracted. He needed to ensure a single strike would render the opponent combat-incapable.
"Mm, of course. But our current conversation can hardly be called rude—"
Bang!
The serrated blade pierced through the five-centimeter-thick solid wood door. After thrusting this strike, Su Xiao pressed his hand on the blade's spine and pushed downward.
With a scraping sound, the serrated blade cut downward more than ten centimeters. At that moment, a crisp crack sounded as a monster's claw with sharp nails pierced through the wooden door. This monster's claw was several times larger than a normal person's hand, covered in dense black fur that swayed with the airflow.
The claw's thrust was fierce, but it lacked follow-through force, and its size showed signs of shrinking.
Blood flowed from the vertical blade wound on the door. Su Xiao withdrew the serrated longsword, cut through the lock with one slash, and used the blade to pry the door open.
With a creak, the door opened. A monster that roughly maintained human form but had black fur covering its head, neck, and both arms lay half-reclining on the ground. Its head had distinctly wolf-like features. The feeling was that it was transforming from human to half-werewolf, or rather, transforming into a beast.
The beast within each person's heart differed slightly—some were cruel, some were cold, some were ferocious.
Mayor Queller was transforming into the cruel type of beast. Judging from his appearance, he should be in the third stage of beast transformation. At this stage, most ordinary people lose their reason, with only a few strong-willed individuals able to maintain a shred of sanity.
"These are... my internal organs? Such a... tempting smell."
The half-beastified Mayor Queller grabbed his own intestines and other organs with one hand, stuffing them into his mouth, chewing and tearing at them with large bites. This scene was enough to terrify ordinary people into wetting themselves.
"Really appetizing."
Baha muttered as he landed on Su Xiao's shoulder. More than ten meters away, Bubu Wang sneezed. Though accustomed to battle, he still couldn't help sneezing from the smell of blood when battles ended.
Su Xiao stood several meters before the door, ready at any moment to sever Mayor Queller's head. He didn't act immediately, not because he was shocked by the scene before him or because he felt pity, but because he was searching for possible clues.
Mental beast transformation was a common occurrence in the Sand World. Su Xiao hadn't come this time to eliminate Beast Transformers, but to find the source of Eternal Watch Town's strange sounds, thereby completing the faction mission.
Su Xiao suspected that Mayor Queller's mental beast transformation was caused by the appearance of those strange sounds. If so, this mayor was a decent person. Being able to reach the third stage of mental beast transformation while still maintaining a degree of rationality, not falling into chaos or frenzy, showed his will was relatively firm. The reason for his mental beast transformation might be that he'd been constantly worried about the town's safety, gradually undergoing mental beast transformation under the influence of the strange sounds.
After a moment, Mayor Queller's body suddenly trembled. The murky pupil in his right eye showed signs of contraction. Under intense pain stimulation, two situations were most likely: temporary clarity, or complete beast transformation.
"It's not... me. The cause... isn't me. It's... here."
Mayor Queller used the claw tip of his index finger to tap his own head, then his expression began to turn ferocious.
Pfft!
A half-human, half-wolf head was severed. Mayor Queller's headless corpse fell to the ground.
[Prompt: You have killed Mayor Queller.]
[Prompt: You may choose to conceal this news or announce it.]
[If you choose to conceal this news, the residents of Eternal Watch Town will fear you and minimize interactions with you.]
[If you choose to announce this news, your reputation with the Sun Church increases by 264 points.]
...
Killing Mayor Queller did not yield World Source or drop a treasure chest.
Su Xiao had two choices: conceal or announce that Mayor Queller had undergone mental beast transformation. Announcing this news seemed to immediately gain Sun Church reputation, but in reality, it would bring continuous trouble.
After this news was announced, the town's residents would begin to panic, which could lead to more Beast Transformers appearing, bringing endless trouble. The appearance of more Beast Transformers would bring greater fear, causing at least half of the town's residents to begin mental beast transformation.
Interestingly, in the Sand World, no one dared to exploit or oppress the common people here. After all, no one wanted to wake from their afternoon nap to find a large group of beastified commoners gathered outside their door. That was a scene only seen in Beast Transformation Zones.
The current 264 points of faction reputation, compared to the 5400 points rewarded by the faction mission, was just a small gain, not worth the risk.
"Woof."
"Good."
Su Xiao hadn't made any noise during the battle. Additionally, the town's population was small, and the mayor's house was located at the back of town. Mayor Queller's death didn't attract anyone's attention.
Baha flew into the room. After detecting the entire three-story building, he found a total of three incomplete corpses. These were Mayor Queller's wife and a young man and woman, presumably the mayor's son and daughter-in-law.
Half an hour later, in an empty residential house next to Mayor Queller's home, Su Xiao removed his hood, took out a cigarette, and lit it. The mission time was 2 days. According to the information provided by the commission, the strange sounds in the town only appeared at night. Listening for the source of these sounds tonight was key to resolving this matter.
Su Xiao lay back in a recliner, preparing to rest briefly. Since entering the Endless Desert, he hadn't had time to rest. He'd been seriously injured before, and after treating his wounds, he hadn't rested before directly handling the faction mission.
Su Xiao released his perception. A faint fluctuation came from afar—it was the mark on Molei. Good, that mark hadn't been discovered. In 3-4 days, it would be time to harvest.
When Su Xiao opened his eyes, the dim yellow sunset streamed in through the window. He'd been sitting here all afternoon. Not only were there no strange sounds, even rodents didn't come near this area. The surroundings were exceptionally quiet.
He checked the time. It was already 6 PM. Su Xiao continued waiting.
The sky outside gradually darkened. It wasn't until late at night that Su Xiao heard any so-called strange sounds.
As for asking the town residents and investigating, Baha had already tried. Almost all town residents had heard the nighttime strange sounds. But when asked for details, their expressions gradually became confused and irritable. It seemed that if pressed further, these town residents would undergo mental beast transformation on the spot.
If one or two people were like this, it could be explained by acting or coincidence. But all town residents being like this was enough to indicate a problem.
The night grew deeper. Su Xiao checked the time—it was already 10:53 PM. Logically, the strange sounds should have appeared by now.
Bubu Wang yawned. He'd been quietly listening to the surroundings, but he was about to fall asleep from boredom without hearing anything.
Confirming there were no sounds or abnormalities in the vicinity, Su Xiao began to think from a different perspective. Mayor Queller's dying words had been: "It's not... me. The cause... isn't me. It's... here."
When Mayor Queller had pointed at his own head, was he trying to express the beast in his heart? Or the beast in his mind?
His phrase "It's not me, the cause isn't me" meant that the strange sounds in this town weren't caused by him. The latter half, "It's here," expressed the source of the strange sounds.
Even if Mayor Queller had beastified, he wasn't much different from ordinary townspeople. None could clearly describe the specific source of the strange sounds, only vaguely express their feelings.
Nighttime, brain, indescribable sounds of unknown origin.
Connecting these together, Su Xiao thought of what it was—dreams! Nighttime and brain were both related to dreaming. The indescribable strange sounds of unknown origin were actually the sounds Mayor Queller and the town residents heard in their dreams while sleeping at night.
Why were they all so confused about the source of the strange sounds? Of course—few people could remember what they dreamed about. If someone asked, "What did you dream about last night?" most people couldn't answer, unless it was a particularly memorable dream.
Even if they remembered, it would be vague, only recalling one or two key factors, like the strange sounds in the dream that gradually caused mental beast transformation.
Su Xiao took out an arm-thick metal tube and pulled it open. Mechanical bees flew out, hovering around the residential house to stand guard.
After doing this, Su Xiao took a deep breath. By adjusting his breathing frequency, he gradually changed his blood oxygen content, allowing himself to fall asleep more quickly. Soon, he was asleep.
Ding ling ling!
The timer's alarm rang. Su Xiao opened his eyes and checked the time. He'd slept for over an hour. This sleep was unexpectedly comfortable, but he hadn't dreamed at all.
This was a serious matter. If he couldn't resolve the town's strange sounds and make the cause public, he couldn't complete the faction mission. As Su Xiao's first faction mission, failure would immediately cost him his status as a Sun Church member.
In that case, he could only go with Zuiyasi, Wude, and the others to seize the scroll fragments from the Blazing Sun Lord. Not only would the number of obtainable scroll fragments be limited, but the risk would also be high. The gap between this and gaining benefits within the Sun Church was too great. Moreover, this was an opportunity to upgrade the [Oath Emblem·White Dragon] to a high grade.
The loss from failing the faction mission was significant. Su Xiao began to ponder: why hadn't he heard the strange sounds after falling asleep? Was his reasoning wrong? Or was the location where he slept wrong, preventing him from entering the dream?
Thinking of this, Su Xiao took Bubu Wang and Baha out of the residential house and entered the neighboring Mayor Queller's home. After searching, he found the mayor's bedroom and the bed where he rested.
This bed was very old. The originally white sheets and bedding had yellowed, and the fabric felt hardened and rough when touched.
Su Xiao lifted the bedsheet and looked under the bed. Beneath it were fist-sized, pale white skulls. These skulls all turned their gazes, using the black holes of their eye sockets to meet Su Xiao's eyes.
Seeing this, Su Xiao's mood improved somewhat. Not only did he not find these little skulls creepy, he actually found them quite pleasing—each one was uniquely shaped.
Su Xiao's mood improved because his deduction was correct. He lay down on the bed, placed the Cruel Serrated Blade beside him, pressed one hand on it, and closed his eyes.
A very hazy feeling appeared, as if he hadn't fallen asleep but had penetrated some kind of barrier and gone to another place.
[Prompt: You are about to enter Nightmare·Eternal Watch Town.]
[Current Sanity: 538/545 points.]
[Entering Nightmare·Eternal Watch Town requires consuming 30 points of Sanity.]
[Prompt: Exploring this area will continuously reduce Sanity at a rate of 10 points per minute.]