The deformed and twisted trees, each and every one of them grotesque and terrifying, seemed to block anyone from entering the temple.
Wen Xishu saw that the insects on this island had become abnormally large, the beetles bigger than a palm and flickering with an eerie blue light, seemingly poisonous.
Giant spiders, as big as human heads, which one would only see on TV, wove their webs and crawled out from the twisted, eerie forest.
No living creatures were spared.
Under the massive radiation effects... whether human, plant, or animal, all had become twisted and deformed.
Wen Xishu could imagine that if he were bitten by the mountain mosquitoes here, his body would instantly be injected with numerous carcinogenic viruses.
Wen Xishu took out the Scorpio dagger, using it as a cane to push aside some of the overgrown branches and leaves, cautiously and nervously making his way to the temple’s entrance.
The temple’s plaque was broken, with only the character "寺" (temple) still visible.
The entire temple appeared incredibly dilapidated.
Wen Xishu climbed the stairs of the temple and arrived at the great hall, where he sensed an eerie presence.
Honestly, if he encountered danger now, it would be very difficult for him to escape. The ascent was hard, and the descent wouldn’t be easy either.
Black fog surrounded the temple, giving Wen Xishu the feeling of being in the Deceit Tower.
The monsters guarding certain areas carried that kind of black fog.
Wen Xishu tightened his grip on the dagger and slowed his footsteps.
At this moment, he suddenly heard a noise behind him.
Startled, Wen Xishu instinctively sidestepped to avoid it. He saw a massive figure swinging a nightstick at his head.
It was a policeman, but his body had long since become deformed, his face full of rotten flesh, with bare white bones visible.
"Sneaky people are surely villains! Die!"
The policeman didn’t expect Wen Xishu to dodge his surprise attack, and he began to swing the nightstick wildly.
Wen Xishu’s movements were incredibly agile. If he could avoid a sneak attack, he could easily dodge a direct one.
"Wait! I’m not an enemy, I mean no harm! I’m not a deformed, twisted person either!"
After dodging several rounds of the policeman’s attacks, Wen Xishu leapt back, raised his hands slightly, indicating he meant no harm.
This action made the policeman frown, but he indeed stopped his attack.
"I came to find the Mage, I came from outside... I want to know the truth here."
No mistake.
This scene was from his dream; Wen Xishu felt a familiar sense when he saw the stairs in front of the temple.
And every time he dreamt, the policeman appeared in his dreams.
So Wen Xishu was sure this was the scene from his dream. In the depths of the temple hall, in that pitch-blackness, surely there was a Mage.
"This world has already collapsed. Even if there are normal people, how could they think of seeking a Mage to know the truth?"
"There are no normal people here. How can you prove there are normal people here?"
The policeman stopped swinging the stick and chose to draw his gun instead.
Wen Xishu simply threw away the dagger:
"How about I... take off my pants?"
He recalled the rule from the TV—the creatures, some of them didn’t have the lower part.
Wen Xishu suddenly felt like he was knocking on a door, trying to get the owner inside to open it.
Saying this made the policeman pause for a few seconds.
Then, a voice came from the depths of the hall:
"Mr. Murata, please stop. Let this visitor come in. If the visitor is not afraid of me, then come inside."
Wen Xishu was certainly not afraid.
He walked into the temple hall, where it seemed light couldn’t penetrate. Stepping in, he felt enveloped in absolute darkness.
Wen Xishu immediately became alert.
But in the next instant, the sound of wooden fish knocking began.
The darkness quickly receded, and the entire hall was bathed in golden light. The previous sense of dilapidation vanished completely.
Yet Wen Xishu sensed that all of this might be an illusion, possibly a trick of the Mage.
At the same time, Wen Xishu saw a Mage dressed in monk robes, kneeling on a cushion, knocking the wooden fish with a sacred and solemn attitude.
"Apologies for the offense earlier, visitor, I am the Mage you mentioned. You can call me Master Lingqing."
The Mage’s age surprised Wen Xishu.
Wen Xishu never expected the Mage to look so young and clean.
Lingqing had a clean face, appearing to be just in his early twenties.
With a clear smile, he said:
"Visitor, you carry too many spiritually charged items, so Mr. Murata thought you belonged to... that God."
Wen Xishu was startled, had they mentioned God already?
"Were you scared by the scene of Rokkasho?" Master Lingqing asked.
Wen Xishu nodded, not denying that he was scared.
In Wind City, the Scorpio sign, through John, brought about the apocalypse with a zombie siege.
And now, who knows which zodiac sign caused the apocalypse with "radiation monsters."
Although both were apocalypses, Wen Xishu had to admit—Rokkasho’s apocalypse was far more terrifying.
Zombies had a few typical shapes, but the humans of Rokkasho had appearances rarer than rare species.
"Actually... my true form now is quite frightening. So I brought you into this illusion. Sorry, I was afraid I would scare you," Master Lingqing said frankly.
So, the Mage was no longer human?
Wen Xishu suddenly remembered, in the Deceit Tower, that short-haired man said the house was full of monsters.