Chapter 63 Contamination

It turned out that I was the one being contaminated... The moment that realization dawned, Zhang Yuanqing felt like he was splitting into two, half of him lucid and wise, the other half chaotic and twisted.

It was like in those old folk tales, a walking corpse unaware of its own death is suddenly awakened.

“This is a MutaGen’s instance, an evil class’s instance. I’ve replaced the role of the demon beast Haas. I’m the villain on the ship. Why do I feel like the crew members are the monsters? My perception is being distorted…”

No wonder the crew members were so afraid of him. It was because everyone knew he was a mutated monster, yet they had to cooperate with him, to keep his condition stable.

No wonder his dorm room had been cleaned. The crew members didn't want him to remember the identity of “Lieutenant Stephen.”

The Stephen in the diary also had his perception distorted, believing that the crew members had all mutated, and only he was normal. It was a logical loophole. If the crew members had all mutated into monsters, why would Lieutenant Stephen be spared?

Actually, Stephen was the mutated monster.

“Damn it, from the moment I entered the instance, I was contaminated. My perception was subtly distorted, creating illusions… Why can’t the power of the Sun God purify this distortion?”

Zhang Yuanqing sat weakly on the long chair, his right hand pressing against his head, a look of pain on his face. His expression was somewhat ferocious, his eyes sometimes calm and normal, sometimes cold and gloomy.

This was the struggle of his own will against the contamination on a spiritual level.

If he had opened the drawer in the captain’s cabin last night and read James’s notes, he would have immediately woken up. But he chose to play it safe, which was very likely a choice made under the influence of the contamination.

Subconsciously, he didn't want to open the drawer. Back then, he didn't want to be awakened.

“What’s wrong?” Yin Yaojun Zhu stepped forward, a little nervous.

She didn't know what had happened to Yuan Shi Tianzun, but she could sense that he was in a very bad state.

My mind is contaminated, contaminated by a high-level evil force… Zhang Yuanqing tapped his head. I can't tell which is the real me, I can't tell reality from illusion anymore.

In his perspective, the crew members and the Holy See’s Lingjing Xingzhe (spiritual realm walkers) were mutated monsters, covered in scales and tentacles. This he had seen with his own eyes.

But James’s notes and various details in the instance told him that Lieutenant Haas was the one who had been contaminated.

Yin Yaojun Zhu’s thoughts were clear. She brought the small loudspeaker to his ear and shouted, “Quickly circulate the Pure Yang Cleansing Record. You must believe in the power of the sun. Any filth will vanish in the sunlight. Your spirit has indeed been contaminated. In the battle just now, you subconsciously ignored the power of the Sun God. You don’t want to use it, because it will eliminate the contamination and improve your condition.”

Zhang Yuanqing immediately sat down cross-legged, exhaling and inhaling the power of the Sun God, gradually making his breathing hot, and slowly lighting up his lungs with golden light… Suddenly, that mysterious, ethereal whisper echoed in Zhang Yuanqing’s ears again.

It was like unconscious murmuring, or some unknown language.

Zhang Yuanqing’s consciousness instantly fell into chaos, unable to maintain the circulation of the power of the Sun God. The veins on his forehead bulged, and dense, hard fleshy buds protruded from his neck, ugly and disgusting, extending towards his chest hidden by his clothes.

“A little disgusting…” Yin Yaojun Zhu commented, and seeing Yuan Shi Tianzun’s ferocious and painful expression, she knew it wasn't the time to complain, and hurriedly said, “Evil-warding Talismans, are there any more Evil-warding Talismans?”

“What’s an Evil-warding Talisman…” Zhang Yuanqing’s brain was sluggish. He hesitated for a few seconds before answering, “Long gone…” His painful expression suddenly vanished, his face calm, a calmness mixed with indifference. He smiled and said, “Yin Yao, well done. We've dealt with the Holy See’s Lingjing Xingzhe. Next, we just need to seal the demon seed. Use that coffin to seal the demon seed.”

“Okay, there are two knights alive in the hold. Let’s go down and deal with them.”

He seemed to have completely forgotten what had just happened.

Yin Yaojun Zhu was greatly alarmed. Yuan Shi Tianzun’s perception was distorted, and he even had hallucinations.

Yin Yaojun Zhu retreated repeatedly, one hand gripping the Mountain God Scepter, the other holding up the small loudspeaker, “Yuan Shi Tianzun, contaminated, contaminated, contaminated.”

The sound system in her waist pouch emitted a “zzzz” sound of electrical current: “Important things are said three times.”

Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. He carefully scrutinized Yin Yaojun Zhu, his expression becoming increasingly unpleasant, his eyes colder and colder, “Yao, have you been contaminated too?”

After becoming a Yin corpse, Yin Yaojun Zhu’s body had long lost sensation, but at this moment, she seemed to experience the long-lost feeling of her scalp crawling.

In Yuan Shi Tianzun’s vision, she might have also turned into a mutated monster covered in tentacles and scales, with an ugly face.

So, next, was he going to kill her?

At this moment, she heard Yuan Shi Tianzun sigh, “Yin Yao, I can only seal you away first. Don’t worry, I’ll find a way to save you. If all else fails, I can summon Old Bastard, no, I mean my You Qing.”

The Cat King sound system “zzzz”ed, emitting a low male voice: “He still loves you!”

Yin Yaojun Zhu was too lazy to pay attention to the sound system, her expression grave.

He really had gone mad. “Old Bastard” was an appellation that Yuan Shi Tianzun only dared to say when he was being a bit cheeky, but You Qing was something he would never dare to say.

Yuan Shi Tianzun had already taken out the black coffin, intending to use it to seal Yin Yaojun Zhu, completely forgetting that he had just said he was going to seal the demon seed in the coffin.

Sealing the demon seed was his only remaining rationality, but subconsciously, contaminated by the demon seed, he could never seal the demon seed.

Yin Yaojun Zhu retreated a few steps, quickly thinking of a solution, despairingly realizing that in the Lingjing Xingzhe instance, she had no way out. If she were in the real world, she could ask the saints who had returned from the dead for help, or at worst, she could ask Tian Fa (Heaven's Punishment) for assistance.

But in the Lingjing Xingzhe world, she was on her own. The only items she could use were a pair of sliding shoes, a staff, and a sound system that only spouted nonsense and played vulgar, explicit audio.

Even if she wanted to summon her Shizun (revered teacher), she would need summoning rituals and materials.

As her thoughts raced, Yin Yaojun Zhu’s heart stirred. She slapped the Cat King sound system, “Drum sounds!”

“Zzzz…” The Cat King sound system’s speaker emitted an electrical sound, and the next second, heavy drumming began, echoing in the enclosed captain’s cabin, boom, boom, boom…

Zhang Yuanqing frowned, feeling somewhat annoyed by the drumming, and grinned, “Cat King sound system, even you’ve betrayed me? Fine, I’ll seal you up together…”

He suddenly pressed his head, revealing a look of pain, “Yin Yao, I can’t tell, I can’t tell reality from illusion!”

Seeing this, Yin Yaojun Zhu breathed a sigh of relief. She had asked the Cat King sound system to play the drumming not to suppress Yuan Shi Tianzun. The suppressing effect of the drumming was negligible for a level-six peak saint.

Her purpose was to have the Cat King sound system awaken Yuan Shi Tianzun’s normal side.