Chapter 96: What Kind of Hobby Is This?
Su Xiao crouched down. His instincts told him there was someone ahead. He thought he had heard a frog croak earlier, but the sound was very distant.
What was even stranger was that, even knowing frogs were unlikely to appear in a nightmare, the sound instinctively made one ignore it.
This ability had the characteristics of the concealment system and had been heavily invested in, the kind of heavy spending that left people dumbfounded.
This ability had strong concealment properties. Lamp Sister hadn't noticed it, and Su Xiao, a melee technique-type, hadn't sensed it at close range either. But this ability had a huge weakness: the user couldn't move easily.
Su Xiao's hand reached toward a higher position, as if touching something. He pinched with two fingers and pulled. Three or four strands of pink hair appeared between his fingertips. No mistake, it was Molei.
Molei had been lying here playing dead. With this information, Su Xiao ignored Molei. If something went wrong, she could be used as a teammate, thrown out like a hidden weapon.
Su Xiao carried the lantern and walked into the passage on the left, entering the storage room. A strange smell permeated the air.
The storage room was filled with various bottles and jars. After searching, Su Xiao found nothing of value. The treasures here had probably been taken away by the Sun Church. For Su Xiao, who had recently looted the Sun Church's treasury, this was an interesting experience.
Leaving the storage room, Su Xiao headed toward the room with the giant glass pillar across the way. He hadn't gone far when he felt he had stepped on something again, seemingly someone's lower abdomen again.
Based on Su Xiao's memory, Molei hadn't been here before. She had clearly moved and then gotten in the way again.
"Croak~"
A trembling sound came out. Being stepped on three times by Su Xiao was not a pleasant experience.
Bypassing Molei, Su Xiao entered the room ahead. A deep, light blue light emanated from within.
The light came from a test tube nearly ten meters in diameter. Inside the translucent solution that emitted the light, a mass of flesh about six meters in diameter was soaking. This fleshy mass was round in shape, with optic nerve-like connective tissue growing at the back. Inside this nearly six-meter-diameter, exposed-flesh mass, a huge eye was wrapped.
The pupil of this giant eye was pitch black, with bloodshot veins in the whites. It looked nine-tenths similar to the Swollen Eye, but it didn't emit murky light.
The super-giant glass pillar was half-buried in the ground. Although the giant eye was huge, it was looking straight at Su Xiao, as if someone had deliberately set it up this way.
Through perception, Su Xiao could confirm that the giant eye was still alive, but it posed no threat. It just stared at him.
Su Xiao pressed his hand against the glass pillar. Inside the solution, the giant eye raised an optic nerve, like a hand, pressing against the other side of the glass pillar, exactly opposite Su Xiao's hand. This thing wasn't dangerous at all; it was actually a bit cute, just ugly.
After seeing this giant eye, Su Xiao pondered whether this was the origin of the Swollen Eye. Or rather, whether the power called "Sea's Resentment" that the Dynasty had obtained from the deep sea came from this giant eye.
This giant eye was a bit cute, but it was a key prisoner of the Dynasty and the Sun Church. Plus, it had coexisted peacefully with Lamp Sister for so long, indicating it was not weak at all. Under the current circumstances, rashly starting a fight with this giant eye would be unwise.
There was nothing else in the room. Leaving like this felt like missing something. Su Xiao thought for a moment, placed the lantern in front of his feet, put his left hand behind his back, extended his right arm horizontally to the side, and pointed his index finger to the right.
After Su Xiao made this gesture, the giant eye inside the glass pillar shifted its gaze, looking to the right where Su Xiao was pointing. On the right wall, there were many small pits of varying sizes.
The gesture Su Xiao made was the one drawn on the wall next to the Swollen Eye when he found it in the Nightmare: Eternal Hope Town. He had made this gesture to the Swollen Eye before, and now that he encountered the giant eye, he naturally had to try it.
The scene was deadlocked. After Su Xiao maintained this pose for 1 minute and 30 seconds, the giant eye's gaze inside the glass pillar returned to him.
[Prompt: You have established contact with the Deep Sea Eye.]
[The Deep Sea Eye will be weakened for 548 days.]
[You have obtained the Mind Seal (After leaving this world, this seal will lose the support of World Force and will no longer be effective. That is, after leaving this world, this seal will disappear).]
[Mind Seal · Passive Effect: Sanity Value +200 points.]
[Sanity Value upper limit has reached 415 points (Hunter's own Sanity reduced by 50% = 165 points + Sun Set bonus +50 points + Mind Seal bonus +200 points).]
...
The Sanity Value increased significantly. Regarding the head barrels, whether it was the [Sun Head Barrel] or the [Church Knight Head Barrel], the 50% increase and decrease in Sanity Value were both calculated based on Su Xiao's own 330 points. The extra Sanity Value from the "Sun Church Set" and "Mind Seal" was not included in this calculation.
If he switched to the Sun Head Barrel, Su Xiao's Sanity Value could reach 745 points. Since there was a way to increase Sanity Value only within this world, Su Xiao estimated that his Sanity Value could easily exceed 1,000.
There was nothing worth exploring in this room. After leaving, Su Xiao headed toward the double doors of the patient ward. He hadn't taken a few steps before stepping on something again.
"Croak?"
This croak was filled with deep grievance and disbelief.
Su Xiao frowned, unable to understand what kind of hobby Molei had.
In reality, Molei wasn't looking to be stepped on. After concealing herself, she could lie on her back on the ground and slowly move her body. The slower she moved, the harder she was to detect. The condition was that she had to lie on her back, with her entire back touching the ground.
Earlier, when Lamp Sister was in the utility room, Molei thought, since she was already here, she might as well explore. She figured she'd have to consume a good sanity-restoring item later anyway.
With Lamp Sister nearby, Molei only dared to move at an extremely slow pace toward the storage room. Just as she was about to succeed after great effort and enter the storage room, something happened: the coded door suddenly opened, and Lamp Sister entered the secret room.
This delighted Molei. With Lamp Sister in the secret room, she sped up. Then, Su Xiao, carrying the lantern, walked out of the secret room. In Molei's despairing eyes, he stepped right on her lower abdomen.
Molei's thought at the time was: 'Fine, step on me. You can't see me, you can't sense me, so stepping on me is understandable. But why did you have to test with a second step? Huh? And then you pulled out four of my hairs.'
Being stepped on wasn't the most frustrating part. Given Molei's current position, she was moving at a snail's pace. Su Xiao, with the lantern, was much faster and entered the storage room first.
Seeing this, Molei changed her target to the room with the giant glass pillar. Then, after exploring the storage room, Su Xiao stepped on Molei again along the way. With the same destination, the probability of being stepped on was high.
Seeing this, Molei decided to endure it. She would just leave, right? So she started moving toward the patient ward door. But before she could get far, Su Xiao, who was about to leave, stepped on her again.
Zuiyasi, lying on the dissection table pretending to be dead, watched the whole thing. Of course, he knew why Su Xiao's foot couldn't avoid it. Playing dead wasn't easy, and maintaining a serious expression while doing so became very difficult in this situation.
Just as Su Xiao was about to bypass Molei, he noticed her semi-transparent form appearing. For some reason, she was lying on her back, bending her legs and pushing off the ground with her soles to move forward. Perhaps because she was moving too fast, she could no longer stay hidden.
With a bang, the coded door closed behind Molei. She got up and fled, estimating that even if Lamp Sister could open the door, she'd have to figure out how. This place was not safe; it was time to run.
Click~
The coded door was opened by a mechanism. Inside the secret room, Lamp Sister stood there, one foot stepping on a mechanism lever, her searchlight head emitting murky light.
Molei, who had been running, saw the door open. She hugged her shoulders, leaped, did a 180° spin in midair, and then slapped down onto her back against the wall. She closed her eyes, stretched her legs, and croaked~
Su Xiao carried the lantern and walked out. Knowing the solution, this nightmare wasn't too dangerous. Passing through the patient ward, main corridor, and curved corridor, he returned to the room he had entered. A castle doctor was still hanging there.
Su Xiao sat on the chair blocking the passage. This was the nightmare's exit.
Everything became blurry. After a strong sense of rejection, black-purple light and shadow flickered before Su Xiao's eyes. When his vision cleared, he was standing in the Sanctuary Hall, with the open castle ward door ahead, its darkness and purple light still present.
Su Xiao's Sanity Value was at 36 points. He took off his head barrel and walked toward his safe room. After a few steps, he noticed that Room 5's door was slightly ajar.
Zzzt~
The Realm Severing Thread shot out. Su Xiao stood in front of his safe room door, opened it, and pulled the thread.
The opposite Room 5 door opened. Inside, a faint light shone from the ceiling, but the room was otherwise empty.
The Trace King from Room 5 had left, destination unknown. Su Xiao entered his safe room and closed the door. Soon, Bubu Wang and Baha returned. Su Xiao learned that the Trace King from Room 5 had entered the third inner painting world.
Su Xiao lay back on the sofa. Not far away, the maid, Anas, was singing a lullaby. This made Su Xiao feel his mind gradually relaxing. A peculiar energy, purely mental in nature, that had invaded his body drifted out. This energy was too special, not even in the same system as Cyan Steel Shadow Energy. It belonged to the mental system, too ethereal to be devoured by Cyan Steel Shadow Energy.
Soon, the third inner painting world would begin. Su Xiao estimated this was the final round of searching and competing for painting scroll fragments. In the fourth inner painting world, it would be the final battle. Most likely, there wouldn't be a single painting scroll fragment there; it would be the place where the participants fought to the end.
The lullaby was very effective. Su Xiao's Sanity Value gradually recovered. After about six hours, his Sanity Value was fully restored.
With full Sanity Value, his thoughts became much clearer. Su Xiao sat cross-legged and meditated. After two hours of meditation, the Void Tree announcement appeared.
[Announcement (Void Tree): All participants must enter the inner painting world: Seafloor within 10 minutes.]
Receiving this prompt, Su Xiao opened his eyes. The third inner painting world was at the bottom of the sea. This was both expected and lucky. He didn't believe the Sun Bird, Taihakak, would dare chase him to the seafloor. If it came, he would make sure it didn't return.
Su Xiao unfastened the wolf claw pendant from his waist and replaced the [Wolf Blood · Moon Ornament] with [Deep Sea Slumber].
[Deep Sea Slumber (Immortal Rank · Pendant)]
Equipment Prerequisite: 6 points of Stamina Attribute.
Equipment Effect (Unique): Grants underwater breathing ability, increases underwater movement speed by 1.2 times, increases Health Point recovery rate by 270%, and enhances the effect of consumed potions by 30% (Recovery Potions, functional potions, etc. Permanent enhancement potions are ineffective).
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