CH 51

Chapter 51: Unilateral stalking

【3, 2, 1】

The countdown in his ears went to zero.

The white baby nestled in Wen Jianyan’s arms and yawned loudly. Its eyelashes of the same color drooped slowly, covering the snow-white pupils.

The Holy Child fell asleep again.

Its figure slowly turned into light-colored light spots, dissipating in the air little by little.

【The status of the Mother of the World has expired.】

The air surged with a strong smell of blood, sweet and rancid, almost disgusting.

The scarlet walls looked like countless sarcomas were crowded together, and the wet surface was throbbing like a living creature.

One of the corners of the wall was sunken, revealing a black iron door.

The young man stood upright near the door.

Most of the clothes on his upper body were corroded, leaving only some tattered cloth hanging on his white and firm body. The corroded wounds on his skin showed a gradually deepening light red as if they had been smeared with rouge, deeply and shallowly covering the beautiful muscles.

His arms were hanging by his sides, and on the skin that was originally covered by bandages, spell-like black lines stretched out and spread.

Unknowingly, the weird lines had spread from his wrist, extending upward along his slender forearm.

The pale arms that were extending out from the seven black jars, stretching out like noodles, abruptly stopped less than one meter away from Wen Jianyan as if a pause button had been pressed.

Ever since Wen Jianyan’s voice fell, there was only dead silence in the air.

They didn’t move or attack as if they were quietly thinking and contemplating.

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[???What’s going on?!]

[What God the Father and Mother of the World? Help, I can’t understand!]

[Ten-year-old viewers come here uninvited, pointing to the previous two instances of the anchor. After watching them, you will understand.]

[I order everyone who hasn’t watched the replay to watch it immediately! After watching it, you won’t suffer any loss or be fooled! I went straight into the pit in the last instance, but when I saw it I learned a lot (screaming)]

[Aaaahhhhhh even though the situation is so urgent, I still want to say… the anchor is crazy! (Reward points 100)]

[There are tentacles, stripping, as well as tattoos. Help, help, stood up in amazement! (Dazed (Reward points 100)]

[Please, Make these monsters force to undress the anchor more and more! We need more stripped wives!]

The young man raised his eyes and looked lightly at the pale ghost’s hand that was close at hand.

He followed along without changing his face: “According to seniority, you still have to call me Mother.”

After a long silence, the voice sounded again.

Its words were stuttering and unskilled, and the vague and hoarse voice echoed in the narrow space, appearing very puzzled and dazed.

“Mot……”

“-her……?”

Wen Jianyan climbed up the pole and replied with a smile:

“Good.”

There was a piece of “…” floating in the “Integrity First” live broadcast room.

[Damn, you shameless dog liar!]

[Shameless!]

[Where can I complain, there is a shameless human being deceiving ignorant ghosts here!]

[Haahahahahaha lmao. I’m really looking forward to the appearance of that God the Father again!]

[Hahahahahahahahaha boss: When did I have a wife?]

[…Why can’t I understand anything?]

The air fell silent again.

Wen Jianyan’s shoulders tensed subconsciously, counting down the time in his heart.

Although the duration of the prop was over now, it would take some time for his aura to change. If he could deceive the other party during this time and escape from here in time, then there should be no problem.

But if it didn’t work…

He might really die here.

Wen Jianyan withdrew his gaze, walked toward the black iron gate hidden under the fleshy wall, and said casually:

“Step aside.”

“……”

There was still a dead silence around his ears.

Although Wen Jianyan didn’t show it on the surface, his heart was beating wildly as if it was about to jump out of his chest, and his muscles were so tense that they began to convulse.

A few seconds later, the sound of “clack” sounded again, and those pale arms slowly retracted back into the jar little by little. Accompanied by the sound of sticky and wet wriggling, the scarlet flesh walls spread out to both sides, and the tightly closed black iron door was exposed.

Wen Jianyan held his breath and raised his hand to press the doorknob.

The cold iron handle was hard in the palm of his hand, and his fingertips exerted force —”squeak.”

There was a hoarse sound of metal hinges rubbing against each other.

The door opened slowly in front of him.

Outside was a long and dead corridor, shrouded in a strange dark red light, and the temperature was extremely low, as if he was in a coffin, making him feel goosebumps all over his body.

Although the scene outside was similar to real life, the cold and ominous atmosphere could be clearly distinguished from the outside world.

Wen Jianyan immediately realized that he was now in the other world that Granny Wen had described.

He glanced quickly at the house number.

1316.

It was the previous room that was tightly sealed by chains and spells, and it looked very fierce at first glance.

However, the chain spells in his memory had all disappeared in this world. Yes, 1316 looked exactly like other rooms in appearance and could be entered and exited normally.

Without looking back, Wen Jianyan walked out steadily at a constant speed.

The door slowly closed behind him, shutting the room with flesh and blood as its inner wall, and the seven pitch-black jars with ghostly hands hidden in it.

“Click.”

The faint sound of the door being locked came from behind.

In the next second, Wen Jianyan started to run away!

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Hahahahahahahahahaha!]

[Hahahahahahahaha lmao. After deceiving the ghost, he slipped away. Worthy of being a dog liar.]

He must run away quickly!

Who knows if the ghosts in 1316 will start reacting suddenly?!

Wen Jianyan held his breath and rushed in a straight line, fearing that he would be caught and dragged back to that room.

After running, he realized that although the corridor itself was still exactly the same, the rest of the floors were still connected to the 13th floor, criss-crossing and overlapping each other, and other floors could be entered by turning a corner.

The concept of space also seemed to have changed. Some apartments were very close to each other, while others were very far away. Some doors were closed, and some were open, like a bloody mouth that could swallow people alive.

Every time Wen Jianyan passed through such a door, the pace of Wen Jianyan’s feet always quickened unconsciously, as if he was worried that something would rush out of it in the next second.

He sighed with some regret.

It was a pity that he didn’t have time to take out his phone to take a photo in the room just now; otherwise, his main task would have been completed.

Suddenly, the phone in Wen Jianyan’s pocket vibrated twice.

“……”

No way?

The main task has been updated now?

Wen Jianyan subconsciously slowed down and took out the phone from his pocket.

Unexpectedly, the main task was not updated, but… it was a phone call.

Could you even receive phone calls in the underworld?

This operator was really powerful.

Wen Jianyan tapped on the screen and connected the call.

“Zzzz…you are…zzzzz…” The voice on the other side was intermittent, and under the influence of the current, it seemed particularly vague, and he could barely distinguish a familiar voice.

…Su Cheng?

Wen Jianyan was stunned for a moment and immediately realized that the other party must have purchased some prop that could contact his teammates, so he was able to call him on his mobile phone.

“…Zzzz…1304, Soul-locking Altar…”

The voice on the other side was cut off.

***

Su Cheng gritted his teeth and ran desperately. In the thick and dark ghost qi, only the screen in his hand was still shining.

In the darkness, countless paper figurines could be seen standing upright in the room, with smiling, pale faces facing his direction.

He could no longer tell where he was now.

After being entangled by ghosts, the concept of space and time in “this world” became very strange, changing all the time.

One second, these could be regular rooms and corridors, and the next, they could be distorted into a plain or a narrow maze. The only constant was the continuous “clucking” sound behind it.

The sound was getting closer.

A strong, gloomy aura came from behind, and the rotten smell followed like a shadow. Pale fingers stretched toward Su Cheng’s neck, but they were blocked by a small translucent cover in the next second.

This was the effect of the difficulty-level hidden prop he got from the last instance. Although it couldn’t resist the direct attacks of ghosts, it could make him immune to touch.

Three times.

“Cluck.”

“Cluck.”

That sound was full of malice, chasing after him and haunting him lingeringly.

Su Cheng took the time to look down at his mobile phone screen.

【Number of times the prop is used: ⅓】

Both of his legs were sore and swollen, and his muscles and bones were aching. The cold air rushed into his lungs, bringing pain like a knife, and his physical strength was slowly being exhausted, his ribs twitching and aching.

Su Cheng realized very clearly that the speed of his escape was slowing down.

The time between prop uses was getting shorter.

He didn’t have many points, and he could only redeem a life-saving prop at most once, but… the time he could resist was probably also limited.

There was no doubt that he would die.

This cold fact was like a heavy stone, pressing firmly on Su Cheng’s heart as if he had swallowed a cold piece of iron, which fell heavily into his body, making his breathing difficult and his eyes hot.

I really want to live.

I really want to see the sunshine in the real world again.

Su Cheng subconsciously tightened his fingers, and the hard edge of the phone was pressed against his palm, but he didn’t feel any pain.

Since entering “this world”, he had been unable to contact Wen Jianyan.

However, just now, he finally got through to the other party.

This made Su Chang heave a sigh of relief.

…At the very least, he could do something for his teammate before he died.

Although Wen Jianyan disappeared after entering this world, their mission did not change because of this. While struggling to survive under the siege and attack of the paper figurines, they searched for the trace of the soul-locking altar.

Finally, they found the stolen soul-locking altar under the shrine.

But the moment they got the jar, the entire space changed, and the “cackling” monster crawled out of the jar and started chasing them.

Su Cheng didn’t know what happened to the others; he only knew that if they were being chased like him, then the soul-locking altar should still be in 1304.

What’s more, there should be no guards around it.

…He just hoped Wen Jianyan could understand the message he just sent.

Su Cheng prayed secretly in his heart.

***

The door of 1304 was open, and it was pitch black inside.

Wen Jianyan turned on the flashlight and carefully shone it into the room.

The whole room was empty.

There was no sign of any anchors or ghosts. The air was so quiet that it was almost dead silent, and the peace was unbelievable.

Wen Jianyan: “…?”

He frowned slightly in doubt and walked into 1304.

He looked around the entire house, and suddenly his gaze fell on the table next to the shrine.

A familiar jar made of black pottery was placed there, looking particularly prominent.

…Soul-locking Altar?

Wen Jianyan stepped forward and carefully picked up the jar.

In the next second, a familiar voice from the system sounded in his ears:

【Ding! Congratulations to the anchor for obtaining the hidden item (common) in the instance! 】

【Collection degree 2/5】

…Something didn’t feel right.

Wen Jianyan frowned even tighter and looked up at the space he was in.

According to Granny Wen’s description, the soul-locking altar should be the key to the entire instance, which meant, it was part of the main line. In this case, it couldn’t be obtained so easily. But since he entered 1304, he had never encountered any ghosts or monsters. Even Su Cheng, who called him at the beginning, was nowhere to be seen.

And……

Wen Jianyan lowered his head and pointed the flashlight at the ground, where there was blood, footprints, and scraps of paper.

There seemed to have been a fight here.

Then, there was only one possibility.

The anchors found the soul-locking altar, but they were also entangled by ghosts at the same time, and Su Cheng called him to tell him the location so that he could come to collect the results.

Wen Jianyan took out his mobile phone, bought a communication prop in the system store, and called Su Cheng.

The phone connected but was cut off after a few rings.

He should be right.

So where is Su Cheng now?

Corridor? or in a certain room? Which floor? Which room?

No, it shouldn’t be.

Wen Jianyan quickly denied his thoughts.

What they were in now was another world. The structure of the space had changed, and the location of the physical things should no longer be important, what mattered was the issue of dimension.

He lowered his head and began to look at the pottery jar in his hand.

Its surface was cold and dark, and the smooth patent leather had peeled off over time. It was heavy and seemed to be full of things. The mouth of the jar was not sealed tightly, emitting a faint smell of blood.

Wen Jianyan carefully opened the mouth of the altar and shone inward with a flashlight.

Although he already had certain psychological expectations, Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but shrink his pupils and subconsciously gasp.

Inside the jar were human bones.

Judging from the size of the bone, it should be a baby less than two years old. All the skin and flesh had disappeared, leaving only the strange, bluish-black skeleton. A faint rotten smell and an extremely strong smell of blood were emanating from it.

With the shaking of the jar, one could faintly see something reflecting the light below through the bluish-black bones.

Wen Jianyan was slightly taken aback.

He overcame his heart’s resistance, reached into the jar, pushed the bones away, and discovered the shimmering object beneath the bones.

That was……

A bagua mirror.

The color of its border had been dyed a weird blue-black color, but other than that, it was exactly the same as the side that Granny Wen handed to Wang Hanyu.

Although it had been sealed with the remains of the corpse for an unknown number of years, the mirror was still as bright as new, and there was a dark red talisman stuck on the mirror.

Out of prudential considerations, Wen Jianyan did not take off the talisman.

He carefully lifted the talisman, changed the angle, and carefully looked at the bagua mirror in front of him with the light of the flashlight——

His face did not appear in the mirror.

Inside the mirror was a pitch-black mist. A terrified little figure was running wildly, and behind him, the darkness surged. The pale monsters were chasing after him, and the distance between them was shortening at a speed visible to the naked eye.

This is……

Wen Jianyan was stunned for a moment; his eyes widened slightly.

Su Cheng?

He was actually trapped in the mirror?

In the “Integrity First” live broadcast room:

[Oh God, so this is the ability of this monster. No wonder the location and scene inside was always changing.]

[This should be considered a type of illusion, right? I remember that there should be props that can help the anchor escape in the level-C system store, right? Anyway, I just went to the next door to check, and the two anchors seemed to have escaped. I don’t know which room they are teleported to now, after all, the space inside the mirror is out of order.]

[Ah, then the anchor who is still trapped in the mirror is finished? I remember that he is  just a level-D like our anchor, right? There is no way to buy props!]

[Damn, I also remembered.]

[No, I quite like the other anchor.]

Just as the audience felt sorry for Su Cheng in the barrage area, they saw Wen Jianyan make a move that surprised them.

The young man raised his hand and groped at the mirror, as if trying to find a way in.

[?? He doesn’t want to go in, does he?]

[Is there any bigshot who had seen this instance and can answer, is this feasible?]

[It’s not feasible. I’ve probably seen the instance of the Antai Community seven or eight times. Except for the mirror given by Granny Wen, which had a spell cast on it and allows its holders to travel in different spaces, other mirrors can’t be used. Unless you are pulled in by a monster, there is no way to take the initiative to enter.]

[Hiss, if that’s the case, then it’s over.]

[It’s a pity… I remember that the ability of the other side is of the precognition type, right? If this skill is cultivated, and then teamed up with the talent of the dog liar, it should have been very good.]

[It’s too late to say this now, the other side is going to be finished now.]

Wen Jianyan frowned, staring fixedly at the bagua mirror in front of him.

He just went around the system store, but he couldn’t find any way to enter the mirror or pull his teammates out of the mirror.

Even if there was, it was probably in the levels that he had not unlocked yet.

Under the slightly shaking light source, the darkness inside the mirror became thicker and thicker. The monster was approaching rapidly, and Su Cheng’s running speed also dropped significantly.

Could it be…

Could he really do nothing but watch?

Wen Jianyan’s fingers tightened subconsciously.

At this time, his gaze swept up, and he was stunned for a second.

He didn’t know when the Flower of Delusion had cooled down, but because Wen Jianyan’s life was not in danger, it had not been activated.

【To use or not? 】

【Use.】

Wen Jianyan held his breath slightly and glanced at the description of the mirror in front of him.

At this moment, he seemed to suddenly think of something.

Wen Jianyan jumped up, put the mirror in his pocket, turned around, and ran out!

The whistling wind passed by his ears, and his strong heartbeat hit his eardrums, forcing him to run faster and faster, rushing in a certain direction with a strong purpose.

The young man raised his foot and kicked open the door of 1316.

The squirming blood-red wall seemed to pause slightly, and a stagnant, faint voice sounded, looking extremely puzzled: “Mo…ther…?”

Wen Jianyan showed a smile: “That was a lie.”

The sticky sound of the wall crawling became clearer and louder, and the temperature of the air seemed to drop instantly.

“Lie….?”

“That’s right.”

The corners of the young man’s lips were raised, and the amber pupils gleamed with an evil gleam. The end of the voice was slightly raised, and the voice was soft and smiling:

“The relationship between us is very simple. It’s just that your father stalked me unilaterally and couldn’t get what he asked for. He even refused to let go after being stabbed by me.”

The wall squirmed, the mouth of the clay pot vibrated, and pale palms slowly protruded.

“As his believer, you should avenge him, right?”

Wen Jianyan’s speech speed accelerated.

“Of course, I won’t bother you to do it this time.”

Before the tentacles protruded from the wall, Wen Jianyan quickly activated the one-minute golden body he had just bought from the store and then took a step forward and rushed straight toward one of the jars.

He reached for the pale hand with one hand and put the other hand into his pocket, holding tightly to the bagua mirror, and silently recited Granny Wen’s spell in his mouth.

The young man raised his face and showed a bright smile:

“I regret it very much and decided to take the initiative to die.”

***

Su Cheng’s physical strength had reached its limit.

His face was frighteningly pale, hot sweat trickled down his forehead, falling to the ground, and every part of his body was emitting an overwhelmed wail.

He gritted his teeth, and finally opened the system store with trembling fingers.

The points had bottomed out.

All the props had been used up, and he had lost the ability to struggle.

Su Cheng’s eyes were red with unwillingness.

……Oh shit.

He let out a slow breath , gradually slowed down his pace, collected himself, and finally made up his mind, slowly turned his head and looked behind.

In the thick darkness, the stiff faces of countless paper figurines were smiling at him.

“Cluck.”

“Cluck.”

The ear-piercing sound of bones rubbing against each other sounded, and a pale figure gradually approached.

Its body was slender like noodles, its joints were twisted in other directions, its bony bones protruded from under the skin, and its face had no facial features, with only a scarlet mark.

The pattern of the mark was strange, like a spell.

“Cluck.”

The pale and slender monster approached Su Cheng, crawling on the ground with its limbs at an astonishingly fast speed, almost reaching iim in the blink of an eye.

A strong stench came to the nostrils.

Su Cheng’s face was pale, and he closed his eyes subconsciously.

In the next second, a hot palm pressed hard on his shoulder, and a strong force pulled him back!

“…?!”

Su Cheng stumbled and fell backward, opened his eyes almost in horror, and subconsciously looked to the side.

The young man appeared by his side at some unknown time.

His upper body was almost half naked; his white and firm arms protruded from the tattered clothes, and his slender palms were pressed on his shoulders.

“Baby, how about letting this guy go?”

He didn’t look at Su Cheng. His side face looked smooth and graceful, a pair of amber eyes stared straight at the monster in front of him, and the corners of his lips curled up in a half-smile:

“…to save face for mom.”

“Cluck.”

“Cluck.”

The pale figure paused slightly, as if it was extremely puzzled by Wen Jianyan’s words, but it still rushed forward in the next second——!

“Don’t giving up?”

The young man sighed regretfully.

“Forget it.”

He pulled Su Cheng back suddenly, then bowed his body and dodged to the side at a tricky angle. At the same time, he raised his hand and slapped the talisman that he tore off of the bagua mirror on its face!

The next second, the monster’s body froze.

“Unfilial things.”

Wen Jianyan gave a short laugh, his tone slightly cynical:

“Just like your trash father.”

The author has something to say: 

Gong, who lost his wife for no reason and got a black pot on his head: …???