Chapter 241 - 240: Just Take a Look

Chapter 241: Chapter 240: Just Take a Look

Huangfu Miaomiao looked around nervously. "It... it really is turning red..."

Ye Zheng immediately went on alert, her body tensing as she stared at the smoke-wreathed mountain. "I encountered a similar mist when I killed Koshei."

Feng Ling paused, turning to ask her, "Who’s Koshei?"

"The Maze Master of Daling Forest," Ye Zheng replied. "An evil figure from Slavic Mythology. Hideously ugly, skeletal in appearance, and also known as the Undying Demon King."

Feng Ling blinked. "He sounds tough. Since you killed him, you must have gotten Koshei’s Card, right? Did you turn it over to the state?"

"Of course. Koshei’s Card is stored right in my phone." Ye Zheng paused mid-sentence, her brow furrowing as she looked at Feng Ling. "Is this really the time to be talking about this?"

"I’m just curious," Feng Ling said with a small smile. She was interested in all the Maze Master Cards.

Beside them, Huangfu Miaomiao whispered nervously, "The mist is getting redder and redder... It’s the Maze Master. It must be nearby, but... why can’t I see it..."

Feng Ling narrowed her eyes, gazing at the mountain ahead.

The smoke had mostly cleared, revealing the mountain’s form after the explosion.

The mountain now looked like a failed soufflé, its upper half having collapsed inward, leaving the edges high and the center low.

Thick gore spread out from the base, emitting a pungent, coppery stench.

The Maze Master must be inside this mountain. They had blown it open, which was why the surrounding mist had turned red. It was the system’s way of warning them that danger was imminent.

Still, Feng Ling didn’t quite understand. Why would a Maze Master be inside a pile of flesh? ’Is it an egg that needs to absorb nutrients from the meat to hatch?’

"Let’s go. We’ll head down and take a look."

Feng Ling turned and started downstairs.

Ye Zheng followed her.

Huangfu Miaomiao trailed behind them. "...B-but the mist has already turned red."

Feng Ling called from ahead, "It’s already been blown to bits. Red mist or not, we have to go see."

Huangfu Miaomiao knew Feng Ling’s style all too well. If she found the Maze Master, Feng Ling would definitely charge in for the kill, giving her no time to mentally prepare.

"We haven’t found the Maze God Statue yet. Don’t... don’t just kill the Maze Master right away..." Huangfu Miaomiao said tactfully. "If you kill the Maze Master, the Maze God Statue will disappear along with the Maze."

Feng Ling said, "I’m just going to look."

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

’That’s really hard to believe.’

...

The three of them went downstairs and headed forward. The ground was covered in sticky, foul-smelling gore, leaving them nowhere to step.

The mountain, originally seven stories high, was now only three after the explosion and collapse. The limbs were piled even more densely. Blood-stained eyes turned slowly, and dark mouths continued to open and close, breathing.

The mountain... was still alive.

Upon this realization, Ye Zheng’s expression turned exceedingly grim. She said at once, "We need to blow it up again. Are there any explosives left?"

Huangfu Miaomiao said quietly, "We already used more than half. The rest might not be enough."

Su Yuqing had prepared the explosives. There had been enough to demolish an ordinary residential building, but he hadn’t expected the Maze to contain such a gigantic and resilient creature that could survive a massive explosion.

Feng Ling said to Ye Zheng, "Since we don’t have enough explosives, we’ll have to choose our target carefully."

Ye Zheng nodded, her face somber.

They continued forward, getting closer to the mountain. The gore on the ground was thick enough to stick to their feet, with chunks of flesh and bone fragments mixed in.

Feng Ling faintly heard a muffled, chaotic noise.

She immediately turned to look at Ye Zheng and Huangfu Miaomiao. Seeing their strange expressions, she knew they had heard it too.

"There’s a strange sound," Feng Ling said in a low voice.

Ye Zheng frowned and nodded. "Yes. It sounds like a lot of people talking in an auditorium—a total racket."

Huangfu Miaomiao looked from side to side. "Where is the sound coming from?"

"Don’t bother looking," Ye Zheng said, her eyes fixed coldly on the mountain. "It’s coming from that pile of flesh."

The mountain of flesh was heaving, squirming.

Feng Ling boldly took a few more steps closer and could finally make out the cacophony of voices—

"I don’t want to die, I want to live, I don’t want to die, I want to live..."

"I’m so hungry, so hungry... I just want a full stomach..."

"I have to win! I have to win!"

"I don’t want to die, I want to live..."

"I want money, I want lots and lots of money!"

"I want to be beautiful... beautiful..."

"I don’t want to die, I want to live! I don’t want to die, I want to live..."

...

Feng Ling looked up, stunned.

A mountain of corpses in a sea of blood, yet it roared with the sound of a thousand human voices.

From this bloody mountain came countless prayers!

The voices grew louder, more chaotic! Each one seemed to strike her eardrums directly, making her entire head buzz!

Then, she heard a sharp roar: "Feng Ling! Move!!!"

Feng Ling snapped back to her senses. Looking at the mountain again, she saw the disfigured limbs on its surface tearing through muscle and sinew, clawing their way out!

One after another, complete bodies crawled out from the dripping gore. They used skin for drums and bone for bells, the vague beginnings of a Divine Travel Team taking shape.

But the atmosphere now held none of the joy of a divine procession, only endless, bottomless hate!

"Dammit! Stop looking!—"

Ye Zheng unleashed her Spiritual Suppression, momentarily overpowering the monstrous hatred, and forcibly dragged Feng Ling away to retreat!

Feng Ling sprinted along with her, but her eyes seemed to have a will of their own, constantly glancing back at the mountain behind them.

Ye Zheng, at her limit, bellowed, "Haven’t you seen enough?! Your greatest weakness is your overwhelming curiosity!!!"

Huangfu Miaomiao would normally be the first to side with Feng Ling, but right now, she couldn’t help but want to applaud Ye Zheng. Feng Ling was always like this—the moment she grew interested in something, she’d throw all caution to the wind!

Feng Ling said, "We’re running the wrong way. The safe house isn’t in this direction."

Ye Zheng: "..."

Huangfu Miaomiao: "..."

Feng Ling shook off Ye Zheng’s hand and pointed to a building. "This way, this way. We can take a shortcut across the rooftop."

They quickly ran into the building and up to the roof in one go. Only when they saw that the Mouse Monsters from the divine procession below weren’t pursuing them did they slow down a bit.

As Feng Ling led Ye Zheng and Huangfu Miaomiao along the shortcut, her mind was still on the mountain from before.

She said, "I think I saw the Maze Master."

"What?!" Ye Zheng was startled and immediately asked, "Just now? What does the Maze Master look like?"

"Yeah, just now. When those Mouse Monsters were crawling out, a black section inside the flesh was exposed. It had really shiny scales," Feng Ling said. "I was about to get a closer look when you dragged me away."

Ye Zheng’s temper flared. "The Maze Master had already released its Spiritual Suppression, and all those Mouse Monsters were scrambling to get out! You were just standing there like an idiot waiting to die! How could I not drag you away?!"

"It was certainly a bit dangerous just now," Feng Ling said, though her tone was as flat as plain water.

’But I really didn’t expect it...’ She recalled the mountain’s strange state, lost in thought. ’To think there were so many wishes contained in all that flesh... Oh, wait.’

She thought about it again more carefully. ’It’s desire.’