harleyscars Chapter 149 The Benefits of Tasting the Witch
Chapter 149 The Benefits of Tasting the Witch
Chapter 149 The Benefits of Tasting the Witch
(Two chapters combined into one, please give me double monthly votes)
In front of Raphael was a natural cave, and in one corner of the cave were some crystals.
Aside from being a bit larger, there's nothing particularly special about this place.
"The Saint of Mysteries," Butis, said, "This is as far as I can take you."
He said with a serious expression, "You must be careful and return immediately after obtaining the sealed item."
Mr. C agreed and beckoned everyone to walk into the cave.
Having advanced to the "Hermit" rank, even in a pitch-black cave, they can clearly see the path ahead.
Raphael's night vision was barely adequate here, so the group didn't use torches or anything like that for illumination.
Raphael looked around at the dark corners of the cave, and he felt that the "Shadow Saint," and even the president of the Aurora Society, were hiding in the shadows, quietly observing them.
It's impossible for the Aurora Society to send only one Saint to deal with such a Level 0 sealed artifact.
But soon, Raphael looked away, for he heard a soft murmur in his ear, which meant he had entered the true ruins.
Mr. C, who was walking at the front, reminded us: "Try to ignore the eating sounds. Although the eating sounds don't have much of an impact on us, if you listen to them carefully, you will still lose control and turn into a monster."
The group agreed and quickly followed.
After walking for about ten minutes, Mr. C, who was in front, raised his hand, and everyone quickly stopped.
Then Mr. C said to Raphael, "Use a living corpse to scout ahead."
Raphael nodded and sent out a living corpse, which stood about ten meters in front of the group.
After walking a few steps, the living corpse suddenly swayed, and then, like a candle that had quickly finished burning, melted in front of everyone.
Raphael thought to himself: You're doing this on purpose, aren't you? You've already used up a zombie at the very beginning.
Mr. C immediately said, "Close your eyes and go through the area ahead! Remember, as long as you close your eyes, you will not be harmed."
"You may encounter, or even touch, some living people, who were the royal extraordinary individuals who explored this place before. At that time, they were not very clear about the rules here. They tried to pass through the area ahead by wearing sunglasses, but they were all left there."
"Their condition is strange, but do not listen to their instigation, and do not stop, or you will have to stay there forever in their place."
"Open your eyes only when I tell you they can."
As he spoke, he closed his eyes in front of everyone, then turned around and continued walking at the front.
Raphael and the others also closed their eyes; Raphael even made the undead under his control close their eyes.
After losing his sight, Raphael's hearing became even more acute than before, and in the cave, only the sound of footsteps remained.
Soon, Raphael found Mr. C's footsteps and tried his best to follow.
Cluck~
Raphael felt as if he had stepped on a patch of flesh and blood, which must have been the melting corpse from earlier. This startled him for a moment. When he closed his eyes earlier, he had noticed the melting corpse and tried to avoid stepping on it.
I still stepped on it.
At that moment, Raphael felt a wriggling motion in his foot; it was moving. Raphael quickly moved his foot away, but the flesh was completely beyond his control and had wrapped around his foot.
Raphael was a little annoyed: You've dirtied my brand new shoes that I just put on.
After trying to shake it off several times without success, Raphael had one of the undead tear the mass of flesh off and carry it forward.
Raphael wanted to examine the state of the flesh and blood in a place where he could open his eyes, in order to deduce what kind of power was affecting this area.
At this moment, Raphael heard the footsteps of others some distance ahead, so he walked quickly forward, but after a few steps he felt something was wrong, because those footsteps had not moved at all.
Raphael hesitated for a moment, but then decided that he hadn't lost his way in such a short time, so he ignored the footsteps and strode forward.
Just as they were getting very close to the footsteps, a voice said, "Watch out, there's a pit ahead."
The voice was unfamiliar; it wasn't from any other Aurora Club member.
Upon hearing the sound, Raphael closed his eyes and continued forward.
There were no potholes ahead.
At this moment, another unfamiliar voice said, "Don't be fooled. If you walk through this area with your eyes closed, you will completely lose yourself."
"Mr. C has long been replaced. He was created here—he wasn't someone from outside the cave."
Raphael suddenly stopped in his tracks. The unfamiliar voice, thinking it had persuaded Raphael, quickly said, "Before exploring these caves, I worked with your leader, Mr. C, so I know him."
"The last time he entered here, the real Mr. C went in, but the imposter came out."
"So many people died in the first two Aurora expeditions, but he was the only one who wasn't even injured, which is very unusual."
"I have a pair of sunglasses here. Once you put them on, you'll be able to tell which one is the real Mr. C."
Raphael raised his hand: "I'm just curious about how you all are doing. Are you lonely here? Do you miss your families? Do you miss the vibrant life outside?"
There was a two-second silence in the cave, but immediately afterward, furious voices rang out from the other side: "I'll tear his mouth apart!"
"That bastard is absolutely despicable!"
"Come here if you dare!"
"I'm going to gouge your eyes out!"
Raphael laughed and said, "Sorry, I touched a nerve. To express my apology, I'll give you a gift."
As he spoke, Raphael instructed the living corpse, which was clutching writhing flesh, to throw the mass of flesh toward the furious voices.
puff~
They fell to the ground, and those people seemed to have never existed.
Although Raphael was curious, he knew that business was more important, so he said to them, "If you can't stand everything here, I suggest you take off your sunglasses."
The insults stopped, and they all fell silent.
Raphael knew they dared not, because that would be tantamount to suicide.
If they continue to wait here, they might encounter other explorers, giving them a chance to sell their sunglasses.
Moreover, precisely because their current state is strange, they are even more hesitant to take further action, as doing so might worsen their condition.
They dare not gamble.
Raphael raised his hand: "Goodbye."
Then, leading the zombie, they walked quickly forward.
After walking for about ten minutes, he finally heard Mr. C's voice: "Over here!"
After walking a little further, Mr. C said, "Alright, you can open your eyes now."
He asked, "When did you fall behind?"
He thought Raphael hadn't even made it past the first hurdle.
"I tripped over a melting zombie," Raphael explained simply, then added, "The people I encountered along the way seemed to be in a strange state."
Mr. C nodded: "They seem to be in a state between 'existence' and 'non-existence'."
He offered no further explanation and led the group forward.
There was a brightly lit area ahead. Mr. C said, "Take off your shirt and cover your head so you're always in the shade."
He solemnly warned, "Remember, never look up, or else—"
At this point, he looked at the few small piles of ashes in front of him, which were clearly the result of looking upwards.
Everyone took off their shirts, placing themselves in the shadows as they moved forward.
Upon entering the sunlit area, Raphael felt that the light source above his head seemed to be moving, and there was a constant murmuring sound. He couldn't make out what it was saying, but it seemed very important, giving him a strong urge to look up and see what was making the sound.
But as long as you keep telling yourself not to look up at the sky, you can completely resist this impulse.
They soon passed through a sunny area, and the light suddenly dimmed, revealing a village ahead.
Mr. C said, "Keep your eyes on the road ahead, ignore the delicious food, women and gold in the village, and walk quickly past there."
"Remember, no matter what you see or hear, do not give any response, and do not let your emotions fluctuate too much, otherwise you will never get out."
"Closing your eyes won't help in this area; those sounds and images will still penetrate your ears and eyes."
After speaking, Mr. C continued to lead the way.
Upon entering the village, one sees many people busy preparing tables of delicious food.
The food is exquisitely presented, making it very appetizing at first glance.
Then the aroma of the delicious food wafted into everyone's noses, making everyone feel their stomachs rumbling and wanting to try it.
However, everyone endured it, swallowing hard as they hurried forward.
Then came piles and piles of gold pounds, piles and piles of gold, with people constantly asking them if they wanted some. People were constantly talking about what kind of life they could live with 1 pounds, how many gold pounds a piece of gold could be exchanged for, and so on.
Two members of the Aurora Club were tempted, but everyone knew in their hearts that the money here was fake and couldn't be taken out of the country.
So the tension remained high, and no one went to take the gold pounds and gold.
Further on, all sorts of beautiful women appeared: some young and delicate, with a touch of shyness, others voluptuous and alluring.
Some of them were completely naked, while others were half-naked, striking alluring poses.
This reminded Raphael of the witch Sophia, and he silently judged these women in his heart by the standards of a witch.
Raphael discovered that after having slept with a witch, other women just seemed the same to him.
Even if she's prettier than a witch, she definitely won't be as happy as a witch.
At this moment, a member of the Aurora Society made a slight response, and then many women surrounded him. The wanton moans and shy gasps rang out at the same time, and the Aurora Society member was completely captivated.
No one went to save him, because to do so would be tantamount to giving a reaction.
The remaining women became even more explicit in their actions, and even started flirting with each other.
Raphael shook his head, which reminded him of Audrey and Hugh, two women he had met in life who had left a deep impression on him. The former had a beauty that struck straight to the soul, while the latter made him feel like he was committing a crime and becoming a beast just by thinking about it.
Thinking about this, the scene in front of me no longer seemed interesting.
After walking for another two or three minutes, everyone finally emerged from the village, their faces flushed.
Only Raphael remained calm, not because he was arrogant, but because he had seen better things.
The Aurora Society members who stayed inside are definitely not going to get out.
Mr. C said, "Take a break, everyone get ready, we're about to have a battle."
We had only walked for about an hour. Physically, everyone was fine, but mentally, we felt very drained.
Raphael sat down on one side of the cave and closed his eyes to rest.
Western Continent, Langya Mountain.
Raphael stared at the corpse before him, its face contorted in a sinister smile, and cursed, "Damn it, am I trapped in a ghost wall?"
This was the third time he had encountered the body.
After descending all night, he felt he had reached a more central area of this underground region, where he began to encounter some strange things.
-
For example, the corpse in front of me with a strange smile.
There were many corpses nearby, some facing the mountain wall and others facing the interior of the cave.
But this corpse is special; it faces out of the cave, so anyone who comes outside can make eye contact with it.
Raphael was puzzled. He hadn't lost his way, so why had he passed through this place three times in a row?
He didn't believe in ghost walls or anything like that. "Living corpses" themselves possessed some undead-like abilities, which could effectively combat the kind of abilities that evil spirits had to make people lose their minds.
Since it's unlikely that the problem lies with me, it's most likely that there's something wrong with the cave.
Raphael pondered for a moment. There must be some natural spirits or evil spirits in such a special cave. He could capture them and ask them what was going on.
Raphael then activated his spiritual vision and saw a ghost wandering deep within the cave.
He immediately led the undead over, first suppressing the ghosts, and then forcibly communicating with them.
Suddenly, fragmented images flashed before Raphael's eyes. First, he saw several scenes of normal life, which were probably memories from before the ghost came here.
Next, the scene shows them being organized and arriving at Langya Mountain, then entering underground. In a certain area of the cave, the ghost's life suddenly vanishes. It's as if—as if someone took it away—
Raphael suddenly recalled some of the abilities of the "Thief" pathway, and perhaps his life really had been taken away.
The subsequent scenes were completely chaotic, making it impossible to distinguish the order of events. These must be memories from after becoming a ghost.
Ghosts have virtually no concept of time and space.
Raphael saw a terrifyingly tall figure drift into a narrow cave filled with morning glories.
Fear and towering presence are the hallmarks of a ghost. Raphael, seeing that the other was floating forward, deduced that it must be an evil spirit.
Raphael then saw someone walking normally in the spacious cave, when suddenly the cave space became illusory, and the direction of the cave changed!
Those people, completely unaware, headed in another direction.
After ending the psychic session, Raphael thought to himself: It really was a problem with space!
This reminded Raphael of some of the spatial abilities of the "Apprentice" pathway.
Raphael then recalled that there was a fork in the road that could bypass the area where the space changed.
However, the fork in the road looked very narrow and not very deep, so he hadn't taken that road before.
Raphael immediately crawled into the fork in the road, and after passing through an area where he could only move forward on his knees, the path opened up before him, revealing a field of morning glories in full bloom.
He was slightly taken aback, as if he had entered the realm of that evil spirit.
>