That was no mere “gaze.”
The instant the least conspicuous pair among the billions of eyes above that city of flesh and blood cast down its blood-moon-like line of sight, time, space, and even causality—the fundamental laws that made up the mortal world—were crushed into powder in a single moment.
An Mu’s steel-like will became as fragile as glass run over by a great wheel. He felt that he was no longer a battle-hardened Bureau captain, but a paramecium pinned to a microscope slide. Everything about him, from the first tear of his childhood to every tactical thought flashing through his mind at this very instant, was pierced through by that gaze, dissected, and then judged with emotionless indifference as “meaningless.” His sense of existence was being stripped away at terrifying speed. A fear born from the depths of his soul surged up like a black tide, about to drown him completely.
Mo Fei’s sensation was even more direct. His physical strength, enough to split mountains and shatter stone, and his blazing battle intent ignited by rage and courage, seemed to become a handful of snow beneath the sun under that gaze, rapidly melting and evaporating. He felt his burly body turning transparent, as if in the next second it would completely disintegrate into the most insignificant dust in the universe. He wanted to roar, but no sound came out; he wanted to swing his battle-axe, but his limbs were as heavy as if filled with lead. It was a suppression of power that transcended every dimension. In his world, courage and rage had become so pale and powerless for the first time.
“Error… error… logic… unable to model… data overflow…” Lan Ce’s brain, the thought palace he trusted most, which was like a supercomputer, crashed completely at this moment. The world in his eyes was no longer analyzable objects and energy, but had become a chaotic vortex composed of mad colors and irrational geometry. He saw straight lines weeping, circles screaming, time like a severed snake, devouring itself with head and tail reversed. The wisdom and logic he took pride in became the first line of defense to be destroyed when faced with this incomprehensible “truth.” Holding his head, he silently collapsed to his knees, fine threads of blood seeping from his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth.
Only Bai Yu experienced something entirely different.
The instant that gaze descended, the Hei Yan within him—that nightmare that was always elegant and composed—let out, for the first time, a shriek almost filled with terror, mixed with greed and excitement.
“A higher-order ‘concept’! A mature ‘Reaper’ that feeds on ‘existence’ itself! No… no, that’s not right… this still isn’t its true body… this is only… only an insignificant shadow it has cast! The shadow of a ‘Gardener’!”
Hei Yan’s source power, filled with chaos and madness, contracted wildly in the depths of Bai Yu’s soul. Like a venomous snake encountering its natural predator, it instinctively coiled itself into the tightest defensive posture. It was precisely because of this layer of defense that the direct spiritual impact of that gaze on Bai Yu was weakened by ninety-nine percent.
But that did not mean he was unscathed.
He “heard” it. He heard the stars wailing, heard light rotting, heard silence itself let out a deafening roar. He “smelled” it. That “wind” mixed with the scent of ozone and interstellar dust was the breath emitted when the universe died. The births and destructions of countless worlds were forcibly poured into him, that meaningless torrent of information stirring madly through his mind like a red-hot iron rod.
“Pfft—”
Bai Yu spat out another mouthful of black blood. His body swayed, nearly toppling to the ground. The porcelain vessel of his soul, barely glued together by Hei Yan’s power, now gained countless more fine cracks.
However, it was also because of Hei Yan’s existence that he became the only one among the four still capable of thinking.
One second before the four of them were about to be completely crushed by that gaze, the owner of that gaze seemed… to lose interest.
Deep within the opening, that pair of enormous blood-colored moon-wheel eyes slowly blinked.
Just that once.
As if a Creator God had yawned, or as if a giant whale had cast a bored glance at plankton. That terrifying gaze, enough to overturn reality, shifted away so casually.
As the gaze moved away, the writhing wound on the ancestral hall wall that led to the city of flesh and blood began to heal at a speed visible to the naked eye. That darkness capable of devouring everything rapidly contracted inward. The maddening scene of billions of eyes and fleshly buildings vanished behind the healing wall like a stage curtain being drawn shut.
“Boom!”
After one final, faint muffled sound of space closing, the wall returned to its original state: still that ordinary mud wall, mottled and stained with a century’s worth of dust. As if that hellish scene just now had only been a collective hallucination produced by the four of them amid mental collapse.
The higher-dimensional threat had withdrawn.
But the terror it left behind was like a vicious curse, forever branded into the depths of their souls.
“Roar—!!!!”
Before they could recover from that ultimate fear, a roar filled with endless resentment and pain exploded like thunder from level ground, instantly dragging them back into the tangible hell before their eyes!
It was that out-of-control “bride”!
Without the restraint of the “death-substitution curse,” and without the suppression of rules from a higher-order existence, the resentment she had accumulated over who knew how many years as a “sacrifice” completely broke free of its shackles at this moment, turning into a monster that existed purely to spread suffering and destruction.
The puddle of writhing flesh-mud before the head table had now swollen to a horrifying degree. It stood three meters tall, like a mountain of flesh forcibly stitched and compressed together from countless corpses. Upon that meat mountain, there was no fixed form, only human faces twisted in pain and screaming silently, like reliefs from a nightmare, constantly bulging out of the flesh before sinking back down again. Hundreds of pale, swollen arms of varying lengths stretched out from every corner of the meat mountain like wildly growing poisonous vines, flailing and clawing madly in the air, their fingernails clogged with black filth and clots of blood.
At the very center of the meat mountain, an enormous, disproportionate face with only a mouth suddenly opened wide. There were no teeth or tongue inside that mouth, only a vortex of flesh and blood emitting a stench of blood and rot. The roar that had torn through the air just now had come from there.
“Everyone! Center on me and tighten the defense!”
An Mu’s voice was the first to break the dead silence. He forcibly suppressed the trembling from the depths of his soul, and the instincts of a commander made him instantly make the most correct judgment. He yanked Lan Ce, who was still in a daze, behind him, while roaring at Mo Fei.
“Mo Fei! Wake up! Your enemy is here!”
That roar was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard against Mo Fei’s soul. His eyes, scattered by fear, refocused. When he saw the mountain of flesh made of suffering before him, the rage and grief that had been suppressed earlier found an outlet like magma and erupted once more.
“Ahhhhh—!!!”
He let out a beast-like roar. Within that roar was lingering fear toward the higher-dimensional existence, but even more than that, there was undisguised killing intent toward the ugly monster before him! He gripped his battle-axe in both hands, and scorching battle intent rose from his body once again, forming white waves of air visible to the naked eye.
“I’m going to… chop this pile of rotten meat… into scraps!!”
The amalgamation of resentment seemed enraged by his roar. That huge mouth opened again, but this time what it released was not sound waves. Instead, from that vortex of flesh and blood, dozens of severed arms wrapped in black mucus and still waving violently shot out! Those arms were like arrows loosed from the bowstring, carrying shrill whistling sounds as they shot toward the four from every direction!
“Lan Ce! Sonic barrier!” An Mu calmly ordered.
Lan Ce had also recovered by now. He quickly took a disc-shaped device from his backpack and slammed it onto the ground.
“Barrier deploying!”
“Bzz—”
A semi-transparent energy shield with faint blue ripples instantly unfolded, firmly protecting the four of them within. The severed arms that shot over slammed fiercely against the barrier, producing dense muffled thuds. Black corrosive mucus hissed on the barrier, sending up clouds of white smoke, but it could not penetrate even the slightest bit.
“The barrier won’t last long! Its resentment energy is too strong and is rapidly neutralizing my sonic frequency!” Fine beads of sweat seeped from Lan Ce’s forehead.
“That’s enough!” An Mu locked his gaze on the monster and rapidly issued orders. “Mo Fei, frontal assault. Draw its attention! Lan Ce, find its energy core! Bai Yu, how are you?”
“Not dead yet.” Bai Yu leaned against a pillar and slowly stood up. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were unusually bright. “Its core… is already gone.”
“What do you mean?”
“Its ‘core’ was the curse of being the ‘bride substitute.’ Now that the curse has been transferred, it is like a puppet that has lost its strings, a vessel that has lost its soul.” Bai Yu’s voice rang clearly through the link. “All its actions now are nothing but the… instinct of resentment belonging to those sacrifices it devoured. It is powerful, but also very ‘hollow.’ It has no intelligence, only anger.”
“In other words, as long as we can withstand its anger, we can win?” Mo Fei asked through the link.
“No, exactly the opposite.” Bai Yu shook his head. “A pure amalgamation of resentment is the hardest thing to kill. If you destroy part of it, it can quickly replenish itself from the surrounding resentment and reassemble. Unless… we can find a new ‘core’ it ‘cannot refuse,’ then purify it completely together with that core.”
In the instant they communicated, the amalgamation of resentment saw that its long-range attack was ineffective and let out an even more furious roar. Its enormous body of flesh began to writhe violently, pressing toward the barrier around them like slime. The blood-red carpet on the ground seemed to answer its summons as well, churning and boiling as it transformed into blood-colored tentacles that lashed madly against the sonic barrier on the verge of collapse.
“The barrier’s about to break!” Lan Ce shouted.
“Mo Fei!” An Mu’s voice rang out.
“Coming!”
Mo Fei roared. In the moment before the barrier shattered, he charged forward of his own accord toward that mountain of flesh! Compared to the monster, his figure looked incomparably tiny, yet he was like a mad bull, carrying a tragic momentum that allowed no retreat.
“Get the hell… out of my way!!”
He poured all his strength into his twin axes. Two silver arcs of axe-light crossed in midair, forming a huge X-shaped slash that cleaved viciously into the meat mountain!
“Shhk—!”
A sound like a hot knife cutting through butter rang out. A huge wound deep enough to reveal bone was forcibly hacked open across the front of the amalgamation of resentment by Mo Fei. Countless agonized human faces were torn apart in the slash, letting out soundless wails. Black, stinking blood gushed out like a waterfall.
However, there was not the slightest joy on Mo Fei’s face. Because he saw that huge wound writhing and healing at a speed visible to the naked eye. The scattered pieces of flesh around it seemed to be attracted by a magnet, frantically converging toward the wound. In only two or three breaths, that wound, enough to be fatal, had recovered completely.
“Damn it! It doesn’t even work at all?!” Mo Fei failed to land an effective blow and immediately pulled back, avoiding dozens of arms reaching out from the wound.
“Physical attacks are ineffective! Its essence is an energy body!” Lan Ce immediately gave his conclusion.
“Then use energy attacks!” As An Mu spoke, he drew a strangely shaped handgun from his waist. The gun body was not metal, but made from some kind of pure white bone. A crystal emitting a gentle white light was set into the muzzle.
“‘Purifier’ Round No. 3. Highly effective against resentment-type Evil Nightmares!” An Mu aimed at the monster and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
A pure white beam composed of highly concentrated purifying energy shot accurately into the monster’s body.
“Awooo—!!!”
For the first time, the amalgamation of resentment let out a true scream, one filled with pain. A large amount of white smoke rose from the place struck by the beam. Flesh tissue rapidly dissolved, leaving behind a huge hollow.
However, before An Mu and the others could rejoice, an even stranger scene occurred. The corpse of the groom, Lin Sheng, who had been sitting upright at the head table all this time, suddenly moved his lowered head slightly.
A resentment purer, more ancient, and colder than that of the amalgamation of resentment emanated from his body. Like invisible threads, it quietly connected to the monster that was being purified.
Within the hollow purified out of the monster, wisps of the groom’s black resentment spread rapidly like ink dripping into clear water. Not only did that black qi not clash with the monster’s resentment, it instead acted like a catalyst, making its regeneration speed even more terrifying! The hollow purified by the shot was filled in just one short second by newly grown pitch-black, sinister flesh tissue!
“What’s going on?” An Mu was shocked. “The groom’s resentment is ‘helping’ it?”
“No, not helping.” Bai Yu’s pupils abruptly contracted. He finally understood the final link. “It’s assimilation and fusion! The groom’s curse needs a ‘bride’ as its vessel and anchor point. The previous ‘bride substitute’ was destroyed by us. Now, this even more powerful monster composed of pure resentment has appeared. For the groom’s curse, this is a… more perfect ‘vessel’!”
“He wants to turn this monster into his true, inseparable… resentful spouse!”
This terrifying conclusion made everyone feel a chill run through their bodies. If the groom’s curse and this amalgamation of resentment were allowed to fully merge, what would be born would be an unbeatable, perfect rule-based Evil Nightmare with both a “core” and “intelligence”!
At that time, all of them would become sacrifices in this eternal wedding, never rotting away.
“We can’t let them merge!” An Mu made the decision instantly. “Mo Fei, Lan Ce, stop the groom’s resentment transfer at all costs! Bai Yu, what is that ‘new core’ you mentioned? Speak, quickly!”
“It’s ‘obsession’!” Bai Yu’s gaze pierced through the chaotic battlefield and locked tightly onto the groom’s corpse that was sending resentment to the monster. “This monster is hollow, so it will instinctively accept the groom’s resentment. But it is also made from the resentment of countless young girls who were sacrificed and died unjustly! What is the deepest obsession in their hearts? Not revenge, but release! To be saved!”
“What we need to do is not kill it, but ‘awaken’ it! Use an ‘obsession’ that can resonate with it to replace the groom’s resentment, making it collapse from within!”
“What obsession could be stronger than the groom’s hundred years of hatred?” Mo Fei roared while madly hacking with his battle-axe at the flesh tentacles trying to approach the groom.
“There is one.” Bai Yu’s gaze became exceptionally complicated. He looked toward the main hall of the ancestral hall, toward the wall that had returned to normal behind the burned portrait.
“It is Awan’s obsession.”
He slowly said, “The real Awan, the young girl sacrificed to the mountain god. Her soul may have long since dissipated, but her love for the groom, Lin Sheng, her attachment to this village, her unwillingness and sorrow… must still remain somewhere in this space! That is the true starting point of this story, and only it can end this story!”
“Where do we look?”
“The back mountain! The sacrificial cave!” Bai Yu’s tone allowed no doubt. “There must be something there that belongs to Awan! That is the true ‘core’!”
However, just then, the corpse groom, who had already established a preliminary connection with the monster, seemed to perceive their intentions. His eyes, which had been tightly shut all along, suddenly opened!
What kind of eyes were those? There were no pupils, no whites, only an expanse of inky darkness, as if condensed from the deepest hatred, impossible to dissolve!
He stood up stiffly. A pressure of resentment far more terrifying than at any previous moment descended with a crash! This time, the target of that pressure was no longer the monster, but Bai Yu and the other three uninvited guests who intended to disturb his “new marriage”!
“It’s over…” Lan Ce’s face instantly turned deathly pale. “The groom… has awakened.”
Now, what they had to face was the awakened source of the curse, which was in the midst of fusing with the amalgamation of resentment.
Before them was the horrifying resentful wedded pair taking shape; behind them was the awakened century-old Corpse King.
The four of them seemed to have fallen completely into a hopeless situation.
Sob, EDG ()