CH 128

“A powerful ancestor predicted that the appearance of the Primordial Elements in the world is a sign of the end of the world… Ah, appearing in this place doesn’t count as an appearance, right?”

San Jie’s voice was gradually drowned out by blistering murmurs. Strange silver stars appeared around the scene in front of Yin Ren. He instinctively looked at Zhong Chengshuo, who held his shoulders.

The surroundings were quiet, and there was no unusual presence of either evil qi or Evil Force.

What happened just now…?

[Take it easy. Take your time. What happened after that?] A weird voice sounded deep in Yin Ren’s mind, as misty as a cloud of smoke.

Who’s talking?

Yin Ren shook his head vigorously. The dim space in front of him revealed faint shadows.

He blinked, and everything in front of him returned to normal. Luo Wanxiang’s hair was strung up a bit by her goggle strap, and the decoration on San Jie’s body shone with a fine light, and her cloudy pupils looked fixedly at Yin Ren.

The subtle voice in his head dissipated without a trace.

“Not feeling well?” Zhong Chengshuo asked while still holding his phone, which was recording, in his hand.

“It’s okay. Perhaps I’m just a little hungry.”

The trance for a moment was like dew on a lotus leaf, and it disappeared in an instant. Yin Ren took a breath and looked at the seemingly endless dry esophagus in front of him.

He hesitated for a few seconds, then took a slow step to stand shoulder to shoulder with Zhong Chengshuo. Zhong Chengshuo got closer, and his gaze behind the lens became a little softer.

“You’re right. We shouldn’t go this way. It’s better to be stable.” Yin Ren involuntarily murmured. “Why don’t I go talk to the Linnan’s people and we turn around?”

“We’ve already gone so far. If we turn around, it’ll be too inefficient. Skirmishes are all about adaptability.” Zhong Chengshuo stuffed a chocolate chip into Yin Ren’s mouth.

Yin Ren subconsciously looked at his lover. Under the gentle gaze of the man, everything seemed to return to normal.

Every time he gave Yin Ren food, Zhong Chengshuo would look over with unwavering eyes, his gaze pure with the intention of “giving you food.” This reminded Yin Ren of a long time ago, when he had encountered countless animals with whom he couldn’t communicate. “Sharing food” was undoubtedly their highest expression of goodwill.

Zhong Chengshuo made him think of them.

Yin Ren touched his lips. Seeing the way Zhong Chengshuo was staring at him without blinking, he couldn’t help but want to kiss him.

Since they had already kissed and Zhong Chengshuo was a clean freak, he didn’t seem to dislike it. When the people from Linnan weren’t paying attention, he would definitely kiss him properly while sober.

Yin Ren then licked the chocolate chip in his mouth; it was indeed his favorite brand.

He was very familiar with the sweet and bitter taste, and it always made him feel at ease. The melted cocoa butter slid across the tip of his tongue and was swallowed into the darkness of his esophagus.

At the same time, in the larger and more unpredictable esophagus—

“Yin Ren, Yin Ren!”

The next moment, Lu Xiaohe’s voice exploded in his ears. Her cheerful voice was full of urgency. “Be careful Don’t touch those things directly!”

The scene in front of him suddenly changed, giving Yin Ren a jolt.

What’s going on?

It was like waking up from a dream. The unique flavor of chocolate was still on the tip of his tongue, but what he saw in front of him was no longer the clearly lit esophagus but a huge rotten cranial cavity.

Luo Wanxiang’s mechanical ball hung from the highest part of the cranial cavity, emitting a strong light that illuminated the hellish scene.

Yellow-white bones were exposed behind the flesh, and half-rotten brains flowed slowly. Above this fetid waterfall, the skull bent into a huge dome. Looking “downstream”, the mucus flowed silently, overflowing over the huge reef-like teeth.

The corpse’s cranial cavity was completely opened up and empty.

It was supposed to be the location of the brain, but there were so many unknown things around that it looked more like a tree root. They were soaked in gray and rancid brain matter, forming an ominous swamp. Unknown insect corpses overturned in the “swamp” and became hills.

The overwhelming white monster crawled all over the skull cavity, and in the middle of the empty skull cavity, a huge orange cone full of holes floated. Countless eyeball structures protruded from the holes, each looking in different directions.

A disgusting murmur came from the cone, making people’s heads go numb.

They had seen such a sight in the Archive. This thing had floated through Guo Laifu’s street of consciousness with great fanfare. Yin Ren searched his memory blankly, but he couldn’t remember how it appeared at all.

No, that wasn’t right. He remembered…

They… They proceeded along the esophagus without any danger and met Shian’s arrangement at the throat.

There were complicated runes floating on the rotten flesh, and under the guidance of the brilliance of the runes, all the “attachment” monsters who had left gathered there. The white hyphae limbs were overwhelming, and they penetrated deeply into the corrupt muscle tissue, blocking the passage of the head of the corpse cage tightly.

The runes flickered, and the little monsters piled up frantically. Accompanied by the unpleasant sound of space squeezing, a crack gradually appeared in the void.

From the outside world, its size was far from being called a “gap”, but for them at this moment, it was already huge enough.

Piles of white little monsters trembled and moved, their eye structures splashing tears. They looked like they were hiding from the orange cone, yet they also seemed to be deliberately leading it towards the members of Shian.

The scenes were clearly imprinted in his memory.

…Why didn’t he remember it just now? What’s the matter with this weird sense of fragmentation?

Yin Ren thickened his evil qi layer on the surface of his body to ensure he wouldn’t touch those monsters. San Jie cut her wrists and drenched the human bone necklace with blood. She held it aloft, chanting something under her breath as if she were singing.

Zhong Chengshuo dutifully stayed behind; his whole body was tense, ready to fight at any moment. Perceiving that Yin Ren was looking at him, Zhong Chengshuo tilted his head and slightly blinked at him.

[After that?] The wonderful voice passed through Yin Ren’s mind again, blurred like an illusion.

There it is again.

There was no abnormal feeling in his body. It may be the remnants of some kind of environmental technique. It was imperative to deal with the battle in front of him. Yin Ren concentrated and prepared to summon his ghosts.

“Let’s go!”

Luo Wanxiang, who was lying on the ground, shouted.

Wait, lying on the ground?

The sense of absurdity like waking up from a dream struck again, and Yin Ren was stunned on the spot.

The surrounding environment became much dimmer. Yin Ren slapped his cheeks hard, but still didn’t find anything wrong. Not to mention the influence of the evil qi, there wasn’t even the slightest trace of magic around.

But he seemed to be “fragmented” again, and a large part of time was missing.

Is this the ability of the cone monster? …Why does it seem like other people are fine?

No, the other people aren’t “fine”.

The cranial cavity was still the same, and Luo Wanxiang was indeed lying on the ground, but her mouth was full of blood, and she couldn’t speak loudly. Her gaze was no longer clear, as if she had been affected by something. Even so, she still raised her arms high, trying to attack the conical monster with a laser.

San Jie covered her ears and knelt on the ground. Tears kept flowing out of her blind eyes while her bone rod was deeply inserted in front of her.

The situation was so weird that Yin Ren couldn’t help but feel a chill in his back.

Fortunately, Zhong Chengshuo was still standing behind him, and the breath was warm and familiar.

“Don’t be in a daze. Ge Tingting also encountered a cone monster over there!”

In the unilateral headset, Lu Xiaohe reminded them with a hoarse voice.

“Fu Tianyi’s situation isn’t good, so it’s best to let them join us. Yin Ren, Hu Tao is over there. You have to order her to cooperate! …Damn it, I should have followed Xiao Zhong’s suggestion…”

[Hehe, I thought that kid from the Fu family was powerful, but it turned out he’s just an amateur*. He can’t even keep up with his own spirit weapons, which is almost depleted.]

*Three-legged cat (三脚猫) Idiom referring to someone who has only a superficial or limited level of skill or ability in a particular area, especially in a way that appears clumsy or unskilled.

At the same time, Hu Tao’s message was jumping on the screen. She made no secret of hiding her gloating tone.

[It’s not impossible for me to help with the rendezvous. That cat said it would take about five minutes… These guys are too cowardly and just running for their lives at this level!]

[Lu Xiaohe’s judgment is correct. You should also be careful and don’t touch those things.] This time, before Yin Ren had finished thinking about the situation, the reply in his hand was sent out without authorization.

What’s going on?

The whispering voice lingered in his ears from time to time.

[And then what happened?]

[And then what happened?]

[And then what happened?]

The weird sense of reality tearing came in waves, and Yin Ren’s thinking was half a beat slower than his movements.

He wanted to look back and call to Zhong Chengshuo, but he couldn’t move his body. As the tearing sensation intensified, he felt like a ghost attached to his own body, watching helplessly as it moved, fought, and conversed.

This time, it was Zhong Chengshuo who took a step forward and walked to Yin Ren’s side.

“I can’t continue to be lazy. My grades will be affected,” Zhong Chengshuo said in a low voice. “That thing can’t affect me. I can cooperate with you.

‘No, it can’t be like this,’ Yin Ren thought.

The situation was weirder than he expected. If it was just the arrangement of Shian, it would be at most the extent of “releasing monsters to affect emotions”—what he felt now was too evil and was definitely not a normal “attack”.

He wanted to call out to Zhong Chengshuo and suggest that they use more of their strength to quickly leave this ghost of a place.

But in the rancid skull cavity of the Corpse Cage, he heard his voice say, “Okay.”

His voice even added happily, “I’ll be your glasses, and you’ll be my hair… Just remember to take it easy, okay?”

Zhong Chengshuo hummed and drew out the baton he had used in battle with Yin Ren. He shook his hand casually, and the body of the baton staggered, revealing a sharp blade. Fine talismans were engraved on the sharp blade.

It could only cause physical damage to evil things, but it wasn’t a rare spirit weapon, so it was just right to use it publicly.

The moment the weapon was in place, Zhong Chengshuo rushed towards the giant object not far away. Luo Wanxiang yelled after him as she tried to stand up.

“Okay, so you were hiding your true abilities before, huh?”

She got rid of her broken goggles.

“It’s not hiding.” Zhong Chengshuo swung his blade in an arc and explained sincerely, “I’m just physically strong. Without mechanical protection like you, I can get injured easily.”

“Fine, fine.” Lu Wanxiang said, “Don’t talk nonsense. Hurry up!”

The two science posts became the front. Yin Ren “watched” himself stand behind San Jie.

San Jie’s hands and wrists were all cut, and her face was pale. Yin Ren watched as he used a spell to stop her bleeding. “Use your ancestors to suppress them.”

“What about you?”

“I’ll support the offensive… First, I will help them ‘see’.”

“Beetles are approaching at 9 and 10 o’clock. A group of beetles is approaching! Protect the battlefield!” In his unilateral headset, Lu Xiaohe shouted hoarsely. “Damn it, Shian went all out this time…!”

“Fu Tianyi and the others are almost here. Shian must have a way to drive away insects and monsters. Adjust your strategy according to the next step.”

Zhong Chengshuo made a quick slash. The blade scraped against the bulging eye of the cone-shaped monster. Luo Wanxiang’s laser shot without hesitation, causing the cone-shaped creature to let out a louder screech.

Yin Ren cast a spell in the empty space, and countless crimson light spots emanated from his palm, sticking to the orange-red cone-shaped creature.

These light spots were entities that burned, visible even to the science post. They were ideal for marking the slow-moving giant.

The orange-red cone-shaped creature was covered in sporadic red light, and on Zhong Chengshuo’s lenses, a constellation-like outline gradually appeared. Zhong Chengshuo took off his glasses, turned his head slightly, and smiled at Yin Ren with some awkwardness.

No… Stop…

He didn’t know why, but this thought seemed imprinted in Yin Ren’s mind, causing a burst of pain. His internal organs seemed to be frozen, and he wished that time would stop.

Can’t go on like this…

Yin Ren tried to make other moves to disrupt the situation. As the battle gradually progressed, he was eager to release some of his Evil Force, wrapping everyone up in his hair and forcibly taking things off the established track.

However, in that strange sense of tearing, he was just a “bystander” who couldn’t even manipulate his evil qi.

Everything, from the large scattered light point spell to the flow of evil qi in his body, seemed to be proceeding according to a script in an orderly manner. Yin Ren’s heart was filled with nameless anger three feet high, but his body beat calmly, unable to even produce a cold sweat.

“3 centimeters… 2 centimeters… 0.8 centimeters… Yandu’s people are coming! Be on guard!”

Bang!

A large, rough piece of horsehide wrapped into a package resembling a shell smashed through the rotten flesh and wetly hit the ground.

Another cone-shaped monster followed closely, darting into the skull like a dart, and was then instantly marked by Yin Ren’s crimson light spots. At the same time, the two people from Unit 9 and the Yandu group scrambled out of the horsehide in bewilderment.

Although, Huang Jin looked at the scene outside, he briefly made a move to try to climb back in.

In front of him, the blade of Zhou Chengshuo’s police baton was cutting towards the giant cone-shaped monster, followed closely by Luo Wanxiang. The two science post members formed a barrier and confronted the strange creature.

“What are your combat countermeasures? Synchronize it!”

“Auntie Tao’s physical fitness is not good, so the Yandu group will go and deal with the insect swarm first!”

Lu Xiaohe was talking while Dr. Cat was screaming. His ears were jumbled with voices, and the brilliance of countless spells flashed through the darkness. In the fishy and chaotic space, two orange-yellow monsters were like warning lights, painfully piercing the eyes.

Yin Ren looked at his hands, and flickering black spots appeared in his vision.

It shouldn’t be like this. It shouldn’t continue…

……

“Don’t rush. Take your time. What happened next?”

The voice, very close to Yin Ren, was coaxing him carefully.

“Keep remembering. How exactly did your partner sacrifice himself?”