Chapter 223: Chapter 222: Worm of Erosion (12)_1
“Bring me through the challenge?”
In the corridor, the Interlocutor looked at Fu Qian with eyes filled with shock and doubt, clearly completely unexpected of such a proposal.
“What’s wrong? You should still have a way to enter with me, right?”
Fu Qian smiled mischievously at him.
“There is a way, but—”
“I know, I don’t need your help this time.”
“I can feel it, my time hasn’t come yet—”
“No worries, then. Gaining some proficiency is also good.”
“Any other issues?”
Fu Qian stared at the Interlocutor in front of him, smiling yet not.
As of now, whether this person was friend or foe, he maintained a considerable degree of reservation.
This task had too many inconceivable aspects, and the Nightmare Corridor was even more unheard of.
The more it was so, the less Fu Qian was willing to let the Interlocutor lurk in the shadows.
He was determined to drag him along, to observe his reactions.
If this person was unwilling to walk together, Fu Qian wouldn’t mind standing off with him on the side for a while.
Come to think of it, the last time in Xinjian Prison, he seemingly counted 7 groups of 9, right?
He could strive for better this time.
Anyway, now that his abilities had recovered and Transcendence was available for use at any time, the initiative was in his hands.
“Alright, since you’re so insistent.”
The Interlocutor gazed into Fu Qian’s eyes, seemingly seeing his determination.
“Then I’ll accept your token of thanks.”
“That’s more like it!”
Fu Qian’s smile grew even brighter as he pointed behind the door.
“Just walking in together should do, right?”
“We might not end up in the same place if we do that, and I can’t enter in this form right now.”
As the Interlocutor spoke, his body quickly shrunk and flattened, until he became as thin as a piece of paper.
The paper drifted to Fu Qian’s side, then slowly wrapped around his hand, turning into a sinister tattoo.
“I can only exist in this form to minimize rejection to the greatest extent.”
“Also, I should remind you, the scenes of Nightmare are constantly changing, your previous experiences will not suffice as references.”
“I understand.”
Fu Qian responded, then stepped directly into the room.
A tangible darkness immediately enveloped him.
…
“Fu Qian, are you okay? Why is your face so pale?”
The moment he regained perception, a familiar voice rang out beside his ear.
It sounded like there was no change—damn it!
Fu Qian turned his head and saw the counselor, who was showing concern for him.
The person was right, but at this moment, their head was carried in their hands.
William could grow in strength by collecting sins and not suffer from the negative effects that come with it.
That’s because he was merely the Goddess of Sin and Punishment’s tool.
Just as a knife in the hands of a murderer, no matter how many it kills, the sin of murder never falls upon the weapon itself.
But for the sake of efficiency, a murderer could sharpen it to a finer edge.
Yet no matter how sharp it becomes, once one chooses to become a tool, their potential as a person is lost.
No wonder this thing needs to be controlled—if it becomes rampant, the consequences would probably be quite exaggerated!
Fu Qian let out a deep sigh.
Besides, there was another important piece of information in the summary, that is, the last sentence—there are many such pitfalls alongside the path to godhood.
From this sentence, it was almost certain that this was not the only path of vow.
In Fu Qian’s earliest conception, the Transcendents’ path to promotion was supposed to be a series of divergent roads.
At each node, one would choose a branch through a special ritual and continue deeper.
So, keep going like this until you stand shoulder to shoulder with Divine Beings.
Now it seems that in addition to the hard-to-find divergent roads, there are quite a number of pitfalls on this path, the kind that one can’t climb out of once they fall in.
Utmost caution would be needed going forward.
After summarizing the gains of this trip, Fu Qian activated the mark on his wrist with satisfaction.
Time to clock out and go home.
As the scenery shifted, Fu Qian was already in his own living room.
It was noon outside, and everything inside was just as he had left it.
Has it really run out of charge?
As a qualified young person, Fu Qian reached for his phone first thing, only to find it completely unresponsive.
Not surprisingly, considering he had been away for several days.
Fortunately, due to good living habits, Fu Qian never left leftovers out.
So even after several days, there was no odd smell in the air.
With skilled movements, he plugged in his phone and turned it on, and soon a barrage of notifications began to sound.
Is it really that exaggerated?
Fu Qian frowned, checking the messages and missed calls from different people.
The earliest one was from Young Master Qin, who had called him on Sunday.
From the following records, although no one answered at the time, he didn’t find it too strange.
Two days later, the missed calls from him became dense, almost one every few hours, and he even left voicemails asking for a callback.
A day later, the phone clearly turned off, and there were more numerous notification texts.
In addition to this, there were various phone calls attempting to come through.
Wu Qingyu, Tan Ying, and this one… Pei Yanqing?
Fu Qian flipped through the records, matching them with his memory.
Seems like I’ve made quite a stir!
“That thing is your reliance for survival here, in my opinion that’s not a good idea at all.”
“Why do I feel that what you’re doing is an even worse idea? Using that thing’s perception to replace my own, ending up paralyzing myself like a child.”
Fu Qian said in a low voice.
“I’ve said before, the ability is triggered by me, but I don’t control the specific manifestation.”
“However, since it’s like that, it means in this Nightmare, being in such a state will give you better chances to escape.”
“I’m finding it a bit hard to imagine.”
Fu Qian complained as he looked down at his body.
Right hand with black armor and yellow patterns, clearly the same state as the last time he dug into himself.
The left hand was still somewhat normal, but a huge pattern featuring a Human-faced Worm’s body was devoid of any aesthetic appeal upon close inspection.
“Are you alright?”
At this moment, the counselor had approached, cradling his head, his tone filled with concern.
“And as a student, why do you have such a large tattoo?”
As soon as these words were uttered, many heads around emitted gasps of shock, as if they had seen something utterly unforgivable.
The guy holding his head in his hands has some nerve to talk!
And your point of concern is a bit odd, isn’t it? Out of my whole body, this tattoo should be the least noticeable part, right?
Although a string of retorts went through his mind, Fu Qian did not voice them.
His intuition told him that directly provoking these people by making them aware of their own state could very likely be a death flag.
“It’s just a sticker, teacher,”
Fu Qian said with a smile, showing off his arm.
“Think about it, who would tattoo such an ugly pattern on their body? It’s completely illogical!”
“That’s true,”
The counselor paused for a few seconds, his tone softening.
He even moved his two arms up and down, as if nodding in agreement.
Sure enough, after the previous ordeal, their thinking had become extremely simple, and they might be operating on just a few fragments of thought.
Fu Qian silently made this judgment and immediately stood up.
“But I really do feel a bit unwell. May I go back and rest for a while?”
“No problem, you may go!”
The counselor responded without surprise and even took the initiative to clear a path for him.
Fu Qian swiftly packed his things into his bag and slung it over his shoulder as he left.
To his surprise, the corridor was bathed in the pale glow of the Red Moonlight at the moment.
Outside the window was a clear night.
[Task Update: Find the child and break the Nightmare.]
The prompt for a new task finally sounded.
Not only had the weather changed, but the task had been updated as well.
“Where are we going now?” Fu Qian asked as he bathed in the moonlight.
“Of course, we’re looking for a way to escape! Weren’t you doing the same thing last time?”
This person apparently couldn’t hear his own task.
Fu Qian silently made that judgment.
“But this time it seems quite normal. There’s not even a trace of fog.”
“Indeed, that kind of fog that could awaken spirituality has completely dissipated.”
The Interlocutor’s voice was puzzled as well.
“However, there are always abnormalities, like the group of people in the room who are clearly deeply affected.”
“If you don’t have any clues for the moment, I suggest you look for other blessed individuals.”
“I was thinking the same thing.”
Fu Qian spread his hand, revealing a card in his palm.
It was the library card from that book.
Besides himself, there were three other names on it, all of whom had borrowed the book previously.
There was also someone known as Liang Yuntian. Liu Yi was nowhere to be seen in the classroom just now either.
…
After descending the stairs, Fu Qian stood still and observed for a while.
Although it was night, visibility was quite good, and Sister Ox-head was nowhere to be seen around him.
“The essence of the Nightmare remains the same, but its form is influenced by consciousness.”
The voice of the Interlocutor sounded in time.
“The reason we have these scenes is due to similar memories and concepts being projected.”
“I see. I thought it was way too close to real life, albeit the fidelity isn’t high.”
“Projection… but not necessarily your projection.”
“Hmm?”
“It could be the last person who died here.”