Chapter 90: Comradeship, Deep as the Sea
Darkness enveloped the surroundings, purple and filthy light particles fluttered, churned, and compressed, ultimately forming a double-leaf door that opened toward Su Xiao.
Su Xiao's eyes opened. The dim light above made him realize he was in a cramped room, with wooden bookshelves on both sides, the space between them less than a meter wide.
Su Xiao stood up from the wooden chair. This room was only ten square meters in size, with the bookshelves on both sides occupying more than four-fifths of the space, leaving only a narrow aisle in the middle.
Opposite Su Xiao was the wooden door leading out of this room. It was stained with grime and covered in vertical scratch marks, as if someone had been using them to count the days.
The smell of decaying dust permeated the room, instilling a sense of oppression and a hint of fear in one's heart.
Looking toward the inner end of the aisle, a mummified corpse hung from the chandelier. The rope, woven from medical gauze, had mostly rotted away under the erosion of time, yet it still tightly constricted the withered neck of the corpse.
Judging by the white robe on the withered corpse, it bore a striking resemblance to the alchemist robes of the Sun Church. The inner lining of this robe was black, typical of old-time doctors' attire, from which the Sun Church's alchemist robes evolved.
This doctor had been hanging there for many years. On his wrist was tied a fine hemp rope, intricately woven, likely by a woman—perhaps his wife or daughter, given the patience and detail.
At the other end of this braided rope hung a wooden plaque, engraved with small characters, reading:
'I have done my best, but in the end, I could not overcome the beast within people's hearts. Before I am devoured by the beast within my own heart, I will die like a coward by my own hand. Even if my faith, my wife, and my daughter forbid me from doing so, this is something I must do. Forgive me.'
Su Xiao glanced over this briefly. His time was precious now. Staying in the Nightmare: Castle Ward for one minute would reduce his sanity by 40 points. With his current sanity of 110 points, after 2 minutes and 30 seconds, he would undergo mental beast transformation. In fact, he couldn't last that long—once sanity dropped below 10 points, maintaining clear thinking became nearly impossible.
The locations of Zuiyasi, Shenyin, and Molei were unclear. Team members could not sense each other's positions or track one another.
Su Xiao took a helmet from his storage space. This was the [Church Knight Helmet]. Wearing it reduced his sanity cap by 50%, thereby increasing corresponding resistance.
After equipping the [Church Knight Helmet], Su Xiao's current sanity remained unaffected, changing from 110/545 points to 110/215 points. He could feel that his resistance to the madness surging around him had strengthened. The energy affecting his mind invaded his body much more slowly.
Su Xiao checked the prompt, and sure enough, the sanity loss per minute had dropped from 40 points to 20 points. This was the power of the [Church Knight Helmet].
When exploring high-intensity nightmares like the Castle Ward, the [Sun Helmet] paled in comparison to the [Church Knight Helmet]. If factoring in the [Sedative] that could restore sanity, the [Church Knight Helmet] completely outclassed the [Sun Helmet].
Why did the current Sun Church pursue high sanity caps? Because the method for crafting [Sedatives] had been lost.
With [Sedatives] to restore sanity, the time the two helmets could keep one in the ward differed by a factor of two.
After changing helmets, Su Xiao had much more leeway. He was safe for five minutes.
Ignoring the hanging corpse, Su Xiao sat on the wooden chair and left a mark with his Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. This was the only exit from the Nightmare: Castle Ward. By sitting back on this chair, he could leave.
Su Xiao pushed open the door. Outside was a dimly lit corridor. The corridor was curved overall—this kind of layout was the most treacherous, as walking along it might suddenly bring surprises.
What made it worse was that Su Xiao had fully entered the nightmare, which drastically reduced his perception range. Beyond four meters, his vision was more reliable than his perception.
Su Xiao felt nothing about this. As a close-combat technique-type, his perception range had never been large. There was a joke in Reincarnation Paradise about a close-combat technique-type who got lost while walking one day. A perception-type loudly mocked him, and in the end, the close-combat technique-type rode the perception-type to find his way home.
Su Xiao walked along the curved corridor. A door opened to the side. He silently drew his right-hand sawtooth blade, with a Spirit Shadow Thread tied to the small loop at the end of the hilt.
Zuiyasi stepped out of a room. He stood at the doorway, not exploring immediately, but waiting. If Shenyin was nearby, he could restore Zuiyasi's sanity, allowing him to continue exploring. If not, Zuiyasi would immediately return to the room and leave the nightmare ward through the "entrance."
"Where's Shenyin?"
"Not sure. My perception range—"
"I—"
Clang!
A sawtooth blade embedded deeply into the wall beside Shenyin's ear. A few strands of black hair fell, drifting down.
"Are you trying to... pierce my head?"
"Hahaha, are you stupid? Speaking behind a close-combat technique-type—if he used a long blade, he'd cut you with a sword technique."
Molei, who had just stepped out of a room, mocked mercilessly. Shenyin recalled that, indeed, he had been speaking toward Su Xiao's back just now.
"Shenyin, next time you speak, 'cough' first. If you suddenly make a sound, it's easy to accidentally hit you."
Zuiyasi raised his hand. Black worms, split from tentacles, surged away from the ground around Shenyin and eventually merged back into Zuiyasi's arm.
"Alright, I'll remember."
Shenyin's tone was serious. He had realized that his teammates this time included two gods—gods who could instantly kill him in one move.
A semi-transparent light orb appeared, about the size of a fist. It slowly flew toward Zuiyasi and merged into his body. This was Shenyin's ability to restore sanity.
Zuiyasi said nothing, just pointed behind himself, indicating that Shenyin should stand there.
"Everyone, move aside."
Molei raised her chin slightly. Including her sanity shield, her sanity value was as high as 867 points. Currently, she had 437 points left. As the team's tank walking at the front, she was well-suited for the role.
Behind Molei was Zuiyasi, then Shenyin, who could restore sanity. Su Xiao was at the rear. Don't think his position was safe—being the rearguard was no easy task.
The four team members advanced along the curved corridor, passing over a dozen doors. Opening them revealed similar layouts: bookshelves on both sides, and a doctor hanging from the chandelier at the inner end of the aisle.
It seemed that every doctor in the castle had feared death, yet each had dared to face it. Before hanging themselves, they had undergone great inner struggle. Even in death, they chose not to undergo mental beast transformation—that was their choice.
At the end of the curved corridor was a double-leaf wooden door. Molei pushed it open, revealing a straight but wider corridor. This corridor was about five meters high and four meters wide, with a row of hanging lanterns with candles on the ceiling.
On both sides of the corridor were various passages, each about two meters wide, making the area seem like a labyrinth.
Following the main corridor, the four advanced about ten meters when a sound came from the passages on both sides—a drop of water hitting the ground.
Splat, splat.
Wet, sticky footsteps on the marble floor. Under the candlelight, Su Xiao saw a humanoid creature emerge from a passage on the right.
This humanoid wore loose, gray-white patient clothing. Its head was a large tumor, nearly a meter in diameter, engulfing its shoulders. Blood seeped from the tumor.
Strangely, the blood didn't flow downward but upward, forming droplets that floated into the darkness above the passage.
The big-headed patient had no facial features—its head was just a large tumor. Yet it emitted a crying sound, speaking in a sobbing tone: "Save... save me. The mistakes of the royal descendants shouldn't be borne by us."
"Alright, how should we help you?"
Molei quickly responded. She was skilled in negotiation.
"Are you royal descendants? Answer yes or no. Don't say anything else. Don't try to deceive me."
The big-headed patient's voice calmed slightly. Hearing this, Molei immediately replied, "No."
"You're not royal descendants, nor doctors. Who let you into the ward area!"
The big-headed patient's voice carried anger and accusation.
"We are doctors."
"You are not. Definitely not. Are you royal descendants? Answer yes or no."
The big-headed patient was stubborn. Molei sighed and answered with a touch of sorrow:
"Yes, we are royal descendants. We've kept you waiting."
"Royal descendants! Royal descendants!! Your mistakes provoked the ocean's wrath. Why should we bear it? Ah!!"
On the big-headed monster's tumorous head, dozens of underdeveloped eyes opened. In these eyes reflected a murky orange light—the "turbid light" of the Swollen Eye. Though not as strong, it was still threatening. Being hit by the "turbid light" would immediately cause dizziness, tinnitus, double vision, and weakness.
The big-headed monster's transformation nearly infuriated Molei. It had just asked if they were royal descendants—a deadly question. Answering yes or no was both wrong.
Now, it was a matter of who could run faster. Comradeship was on full display.