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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 7: Forest Illusion
Lin Chuyu cast a strange glance at Chen San. "A curse? What curse?"
Chen San took a deep breath before speaking. "I locked myself in this cage because every time I fall asleep, I sleepwalk. When I wake up, I find myself in the back mountains of Fangwen Mansion, right where I picked up the Vermilion Bird feather. My two companions experienced the same thing; one time, both of us woke up in the back mountains together. One of my companions had his blood drained by something and turned into a dried corpse while we were sleeping together."
"We were terrified, so we left Fangwen Mansion. I don't know where he ran off to. I have a wife at home; I can't embarrass myself by locking myself up in Fangwen Mansion, which is why I came to Underworld Town."
Lin Chuyu thought he was being overly dramatic. "Why not just lock yourself in your own house?"
Chen San replied, "In a place I'm familiar with, even if I close the door, I'll find a way out through the window. Once, I even sealed the windows, but if my wife saw that I couldn't get out, she would cry inside. I didn't want to scare her. After coming here, I gave the key to a girl who helps me unlock it so I can go out and move around."
Ji Zichen asked, "Are you sure it was the Vermilion Bird?"
Chen San exclaimed in surprise, "Who else could it be? I've never had a habit of sleepwalking."
The three of them had reached the back exit of the town, which also had a gate. They hurried through the gate and entered the forest. Ji Zichen began to feel increasingly anxious. "We made it out of town safely."
Lin Chuyu suddenly laughed. "So it turns out everyone in town is just pretending to be spooky."
Ji Zichen couldn't laugh as easily as Lin Chuyu. "That's not right; the townspeople are so afraid of that creature. Pretending to be spooky wouldn't make them that scared."
It felt as if they had entered an entirely new forest—one where every tree stood perfectly aligned, all of equal height with branches of uniform length. The ground was flat and smooth like the pristine Underworld Town.
This kind of forest was completely unfamiliar to Ji Zichen; he felt like an unwelcome intruder. Would they really let him leave so comfortably?
As they ventured deeper, the light became increasingly serene, as if it had just brightened. He wondered if he was losing his mind; he remembered that just before leaving town, it had been midday. Ji Zichen's feelings grew more peculiar; he suddenly felt very uncomfortable, as if he were being bound and thrown into this forest.
Kiko sensed that something existed within the forest—a feeling he had never experienced before.
At that moment, Chen San expressed an unusual sensation. "Do you feel like with every step we take, something is pressing against our ribs? It doesn't hurt, but it's very uncomfortable."
Ji Zichen and Lin Chuyu did not share this feeling. Lin Chuyu asked, "Have you been locked in that cage for too long?"
"Maybe," Chen San replied without much enthusiasm.
He looked ahead and said, "We must have taken a wrong turn. There should be a big wooden bridge after this point, but instead, we’re on a flat mountain path."
"Is that so?" Ji Zichen asked. "But we've been following the main road all along; we haven't strayed from it."
"That's not the case. The path wasn't like this when I came here. The neatly arranged trees indicate we're close to Underworld Town. If those trees and branches are uneven, it means we're far from it. I often travel these mountain paths, and this area is not far from Fangwen Mansion's back mountain. I'm sure we've gone off course."
Ji Zichen, being a non-local, realized he should heed Chen San's words. "So where should we go? Should we backtrack a bit?"
Lin Chuyu quickly interjected, "We can't go back. We might just be lucky to have made it out of town safely. What if we run into the Pursuers if we return?"
The three of them suddenly felt a sense of defeat.
"I don't have any good ideas either," Chen San admitted. "I'm just telling you that this road is different from the one I took before."
There was only one path, and logically, they shouldn't have gotten lost. Ji Zichen grew more worried about their situation as they walked step by step through the eerily clean forest; the feeling of unease intensified with each moment.
What was that unsettling feeling? The more they tried to understand it, the more elusive it became.
Lin Chuyu inadvertently caught sight of a token hanging at Ji Zichen's waist. "Brother Ji, when did you pick up the Judgment Order?" she asked in surprise.
"I didn't pick up any Judgment Order," Ji Zichen replied. "Why would I bother with that broken token? I kicked it onto the roof back then."
Lin Chuyu pointed at Ji Zichen's waist and said, "If you didn't pick up the token, then how come it's hanging at your side?"
Ji Zichen looked down and felt his scalp tingle! That Judgment Order wasn't hanging at his waist; in anger, he yanked it off and tossed it into the nearby bushes. Just as he threw the token, he sensed someone watching him.
To be precise, it wasn't a person staring at him but a tree. Its leaves and tender branches formed a dense goat-like beard, while its fruits resembled large eyes, and the greenish hue of its trunk looked like a parched mouth.
At first glance, Ji Zichen thought he was seeing things. He focused intently on it, but the face vanished quickly, and the tree returned to being an ordinary tree. He couldn't help but wonder if it was just his imagination or an effect of the light. It couldn't be; how could it have been so clear?
"Chen San suddenly pointed ahead and exclaimed, 'There it is! The bridge has appeared!'
In an instant, the three of them galloped forward, and the forest began to stir.
It was not the sound of hooves that filled the air, but the trembling of trees as countless leaves fluttered down, nearly obscuring their vision. The falling leaves coalesced into humanoid shapes, resembling green beings with sinister smiles and agile movements. Ji Zichen's horse tensed, breathing heavily, its back quivering.
As the horses raced wildly, the green beings suddenly transformed into Long Lines, writhing and pursuing them. The Long Lines ensnared the horses' legs, causing all three to tumble to the ground. Lin Chuyu shouted as she drew her Vajra and thrust it at a Long Line that lunged toward her. Upon contact, the Long Line ignited, turning to charred remnants. Chen San fell to the ground in a cloud of dust but wasted no time; he dashed toward his horse and retrieved a Machete from its side.
Just as he grabbed the Machete, the three horses were dragged into the thick underbrush by the Long Lines, their cries echoing from within. Ji Zichen did not hesitate; with a flick of his Water Buddha Bead, three Water Ropes shot out from their left side, pulling them deeper into the grass. Lin Chuyu cried out, 'Brother Ji, wrong direction! The bridge is straight ahead, not in the thicket!'
Ji Zichen replied, 'That's right; we may be deceived, but White Lotus won't be.'
As they were pulled along by the Water Ropes, they soon realized they had emerged on the other side of the wooden bridge.
Lin Chuyu looked around in confusion. 'Did we make it out?'
The Judge and Goddess Luo stood at the bridgehead with ten Officers behind them. Each Officer held a crossbow aimed directly at them. The Judge sneered maliciously and said, 'I am the Yomi Town Judge. You have quite a nice artifact; it seems you can break my illusions. Who dares to bully my daughter? Step forward and face your death!'
The three of them were still on the ground and immediately sprang to their feet in shock.
Seeing them rise simultaneously, the Judge coldly laughed. 'Very well, all three of you will do; let's kill them all! Fire!'”
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