Chapter Sixteen: The Unknown Eye
Walking through the narrow gaps between scattered monsters, the silence was absolute. The red mist flowed soundlessly, merging with the grotesque masses of flesh around them. The group seemed to have entered a purgatory built from blood and flesh. The massive shadows looming on either side, even though they posed no threat once their boundaries were understood, still filled every heart with dread and oppression.
Except for Mu Chen, everyone else wished desperately to leave this peculiar passage as soon as possible. No one uttered a sound along the way. Only when they reached the other end of the passage did the group finally breathe a sigh of relief.
“Sade, push me back through and let’s walk the route again.”
Mu Jiu’er could hardly believe her ears. “Brother, are you insane?!”
Why would he want to go back after finally getting out? Mu Jiu’er puzzled over it, unable to fathom his reasoning. Was the previous journey not thrilling enough for him?
Seeing her bewilderment, Mu Chen explained in their private channel, “Wait here. There’s a treasure inside that I have to go back for. Don’t worry, your brother is no Zhao Yun, and this passage isn’t Changban Slope. Just this once…”
In the end, Mu Jiu’er couldn’t dissuade him; she had always yielded to him since childhood.
...
A few minutes later, Sade pushed him back into the passage.
[You realize that something capable of granting you extraordinary powers is within 500 meters of your location, but it has not yet fully gathered and formed.]
[You realize that time is running out. Once it completes its condensation, it will regain its sanity in only five minutes. You must find and contain it within those five minutes, or it will awaken as an independent lifeform.]
Reading this message, Mu Chen involuntarily hissed.
What on earth was this thing?
Countdown: 85:46:18…
[You discover the tumor-flesh mountains, due to their severe dispersal, will begin to converge en masse in ten minutes.]
Time was tight and the task dire. He ordered Sade to quicken their pace, pressing forward through the infernal landscape.
Where was it? Having failed to find it before, he decided to make these giants relocate once more.
“Boom! Boom!”
From afar, continuous rumbling echoed from the direction of the tumor-flesh mountains. A bird’s-eye view would reveal the monster horde had formed a labyrinthine maze.
Seven minutes until the monsters gathered…
Cold sweat streamed down Mu Chen’s face as he continued his search.
“Sade, go deeper to the right.”
Three minutes left…
“Damn it, where is it?!”
Tense all over, he was prepared to retreat at any moment.
Fifty seconds…
“Boom!”
Suddenly, Mu Chen’s expression changed. If the previous rumblings had been caused by them, this was the monsters gathering on their own. The ominous thunder nearby made his heart sink further.
He wouldn't survive until the item formed; to continue would only guarantee his death among the tumor-flesh mountains sooner or later. Once the monsters converged, escape would be impossible.
He glanced at the countdown in the sky: 85:36:48…
“When the second hand hits eighteen, exactly ten minutes will have passed.”
Mu Chen now regretted going so far. He shouldn’t have insisted.
“But this isn’t the time for regrets. If I don’t want to die here, I must escape before the monsters gather completely. Otherwise…”
Clenching his teeth, he ordered Sade.
“Head back the way we came at full speed.”
As the master and servant rushed back, the red mist within a kilometer radius vanished in the blink of an eye.
Such an anomaly could only mean the item had successfully condensed, and it could even affect the red mist?
Not far overhead.
A floating eye, formed of black lines, hovered about twenty meters up in the air, less than a hundred meters from Mu Chen. The eye was slowly descending.
“Sade, hurry to where the eye is falling!”
“Boom, boom, boom!”
The tumor-flesh mountains began to converge.
Fortunately, with the red mist gone, their vision cleared, allowing them to barely avoid the surrounding monsters.
They were less than thirty meters from the falling eye.
Seeing the black sphere ahead, Mu Chen’s anxiety mounted.
“Sade, forget about me—go get the eye!”
As Sade dashed toward the sphere, Mu Chen could only pray.
Ten seconds later.
“Master, I have succeeded.”
Holding the black sphere, Mu Chen kept his focus split.
“For the rest of the way, don’t worry about direction—just pay attention to our safety and speed. Follow my instructions!”
“Head backwards!”
Boom!
The rumbling continued all around.
“Left!”
As they pushed forward, the monsters grew ever denser.
“Left again!”
At this moment, Mu Chen tried to recall their route while watching the eye in his hand.
[You realize the eye in your hand is extraordinary—perhaps you should try placing it before your own eyes.]
Seeing the prompt, Mu Chen didn’t hesitate. The journey is never over until the last mile, and he remembered the earlier warning: the eye was about to awaken!
Resolutely, he pressed the eye to his own.
[Containment failed! Sanity score forcibly reduced by one.]
“…”
Try again!
[Containment failed! Sanity score forcibly reduced by one.]
“Sade, circle right and go straight!”
[Containment failed…]
[……]
The item in his hand was now a burning hot potato.
After five consecutive failures and sanity deductions, Mu Chen felt dizzy.
With no other choice, he gambled everything.
[Containment failed! Sanity score forcibly reduced by one.]
[Containment successful!]
There was no time to heed the messages in his mind—his vision had changed dramatically.
He looked up.
Mu Chen’s eyes were hollow and pitch black, and a message appeared before him.
[You glimpse a fragment of the truth, but what shocks you most is the “black eye,” for you discover that once it is activated, the red mist can no longer affect your vision.]
[Black Eye (Activated)]
[Special Effect 1: Consumes 2 points of mental energy. For five minutes, any target gazed upon will lose 2% of sanity per second.]
[Special Effect 2: ???]
[Special Effect 3: ???]
[Passive Effect: See through all illusions, immune to any hallucinatory effects.]
“……”
Without a mirror, Mu Chen wished he could see what he looked like now.
When another massive tumor-flesh mountain blocked the passage ahead, Mu Chen muttered to himself from his wheelchair,
“Foolish as a mortal, such calculations only lead deeper into the abyss, until nothing remains.”
“Sade, my servant, obey: turn back immediately!”
...