Chapter 283: Hidden Path Below (Part 2)

Chapter 283: Chapter 188: Hidden Path Below (Part 2)

These weren’t “vines” at all. They were clearly a series of interconnected, blood-red intestines, covered in what looked like thorns.

No wonder they felt so sticky. Fuck!

A wave of nausea washed over Li Miao, but he wasn’t stupid enough to just let go. Instead, he looked left and right, trying to locate the cave.

After sensing the protruding stone platform below and to his left, and the guidance of the Spirit Candle, Li Miao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Having lit the Spirit Candle, Li Miao stood on the slightly protruding stone platform in the middle of the cliff face, observing the cave and its surroundings.

Above him was a thick fog, obscuring the sky.

Before him was a pitch-black cave tinged with a faint, blurry crimson. Several thick, bloody intestines extended from the cave, clinging to the rock wall and continuously splitting and spreading in all directions.

“Yahahahahaha…”

“Ooohooohooo~~~”

Strange sounds echoed from within the cave. They sounded like wails of grief, but also like singing and happy clapping, making his skin crawl.

Just as he’d thought. He hadn’t misheard; the sounds he’d heard when first entering the instance had come from this cave.

‘I should go take a look.’

Having re-equipped his gear, Li Miao took a deep breath and stepped inside.

However, a Formless Power rejected him, roughly pushing him back.

[An unknown Power has denied you entry.]

[You must meet certain conditions to enter.]

“…”

Li Miao fell silent.

He felt as if his nose had turned red and round…

He’d become the clown.

‘No wonder it’s so hard to get in. So I need to complete some prerequisites…’

‘Still, activating a Spirit Candle checkpoint wasn’t bad. It’ll be less of a hassle next time.’

While comforting himself with this thought, Li Miao stubbornly scoured the surroundings one more time.

After confirming he hadn’t missed anything, he reluctantly spent a few points of Wax Oil to teleport back up.

He stared at the single-plank bridge for a while in silence.

Suddenly, as if he’d thought of something, he bent down and left a wax marking.

[Hidden path below. It’s time for flying monsters!]

After doing this, Li Miao dusted the dirt off his hands, the corners of his mouth turning up.

…

Li Miao reached the other side of the single-plank bridge. He placed his hands on his hips, feeling refreshed as he surveyed his surroundings. Behind him, the bodies of a group of High Platform Audience members were gradually dissipating.

Since the hidden path below was a no-go, his only option was to cross the single-plank bridge.

The bridge wasn’t actually that hard to cross. As long as you weren’t startled into making a sound by the eyeball-hands that suddenly popped up, you could get across steadily without attracting the High Platform Audience.

“Why is it another Sky Island?”

After walking a circle around the area, his mouth twitched, and he was left speechless.

But, Sky Island or not, there was still a path forward. This time it wasn’t a single-plank bridge, but a wide, rather artistic-looking stone bridge.

In front of the stone bridge were a Milestone Spirit Candle and a seemingly ordinary brazier.

As Li Miao approached, the brazier flared to life with a WHOOSH, and a string of messages appeared within the orange-yellow flames.

[Audience member from afar, welcome to the Mysterious High Platform to listen to my performance.]

[However, please remain quiet. Only then can you hear the most beautiful music.]

[Please follow the message and take your seat in the audience.]

[Greeting Stone Bridge]

‘Audience… Was this message written by the instance’s boss?’

‘Greeting Stone Bridge must be the name of this bridge…’

Li Miao thought to himself.

The next moment, as if sensing something, he looked up and saw a clear, bright moon in the sky, which instilled a sense of tranquility.

The clouds in the night sky seemed to begin their slow drift.

‘This place has normal weather, too?’

Li Miao’s brow furrowed slightly. He instinctively sensed something was off.

He didn’t advance rashly. Instead, he took out some cheap items like a Pathfinding Stone and began to cautiously scout the path.

But it seemed he had been overthinking it; there was nothing unusual on the bridge.

Li Miao stepped onto the Greeting Stone Bridge with some suspicion, not letting his guard down.

He was about halfway across when two seated [High Platform Audience] members suddenly appeared on either side of the bridge. They stared silently at the bridge entrance as if welcoming every guest, showing no intention of attacking Li Miao.

Confused, Li Miao could only continue forward.

Then, just past the midpoint, everything changed abruptly.

Space suddenly twisted, and crimson hues appeared as the entire environment rapidly transformed.

The once clear and tranquil moon instantly became a scarlet orb, looking as if it would drip blood at any moment.

The stone bridge under his feet turned into slabs of blood-stained bone. Intestine-like vines crept out from the guardrails, and from the two pillars on the far side of the bridge, a floating eyeball was connected to each, like venomous snakes hovering in the air, staring right at him…

Faint laughter seemed to echo in his mind, though his ears heard nothing.

CREAK… CREAK.

The veins on the two High Platform Audience members were now bulging as they twisted their necks to fix their gazes on Li Miao.

“Heeheeheeheehee…”

“So lovely! So lovely!!!”

This time, the two High Platform Audience members opened their gaping, bloody maws and clapped their hands in delight. Blood dribbled from the corners of their mouths, staining their hair before dripping to the ground…

[You have been tainted by Madness. Maximum Spiritual Value -1. Abnormality progress accumulating…]

Before Li Miao could react, a blurry, blood-red figure materialized and lunged straight at him.

“Holy shit!”

This sudden scene terrified Li Miao, and he instinctively raised his Frost Riding Spear and struck hard at the blood-red figure rushing his face.

SWISH.

The ice-blue trail of his charge seemed to slash through the crimson world, and everything instantly reverted to its original state, as if Time Reversal had occurred.

SWISH!

As if hearing the sound, the two High Platform Audience members turned their heads in unison to stare at him with placid eyes, their appearance nowhere near as terrifying as before.

It seemed they only turned because Li Miao had made a noise.

The Greeting Stone Bridge was once again the quiet Greeting Stone Bridge, as if nothing had happened.

“This…”

Li Miao lowered his Frost Riding Spear, somewhat bewildered.

‘Was that scene just now… some kind of illusion Magic?’

‘Tainted by Madness… just like in Seaside Town, but why did it come with illusions?’

‘Is the “Madness” here a High Level version?’

However, after a thorough investigation, Li Miao found nothing.

‘In Seaside Town, at least you could see a lighthouse, but on this Greeting Stone Bridge…’

He even took care of the two High Platform Audience members, but he still couldn’t find the cause of what had just happened. It was extremely bizarre.

“Strange…”

Li Miao mentally noted the recent event, his vigilance increasing.

‘There’s probably some terrifying monster influencing things from the shadows…’

This made him observe his surroundings with extreme caution as he proceeded.

But he soon discovered with surprise that the rest of the path across the Greeting Stone Bridge not only lacked any terrifying boss, but didn’t even have a single mob. The environment was empty and dead silent, which was unsettling.

Regardless, Li Miao successfully crossed the Greeting Stone Bridge and lit the Spirit Candle.

After crossing the Greeting Stone Bridge, what lay before him was finally no longer a “Sky Island” where you could see the end at a glance. A few dilapidated stone buildings appeared ahead, though they looked like they hadn’t been inhabited for a very long time.

There were many branch paths, some even leading down into the unknown below.

Just as Master Li, suffering from a case of choice paralysis, was pondering which path to take…

The crimson world reappeared.

And this time, the situation was even more terrifying.

A sudden blood moon in the sky, buildings formed from flesh and tissue, and a host of extremely conspicuous monsters.

On the ground, a [Mad Mouth]—shaped like a large maw filled with sharp, black teeth—seemed to be both crying and laughing, like a vicious dog.

In a corner, a [High Platform Audience] stared intently at the highest point, the location of the largest structure, its head bowed slightly as if on a pilgrimage.

Small, eyeball-like monsters with roots growing from their backs, [Torn Eyes], drifted through the air as if on patrol.

[Pale Living Corpses], their abdomens and chests connected only by a few bloody tendrils, also wandered about aimlessly…

There were also other monsters whose information Li Miao couldn’t see clearly, all mixed in with the crimson landscape.

The scene before him was like a bloody Hell.