Chapter 172 Old Dreams

Within the great hall, pairs of scarlet eyes opened.

These skeletons had a familiar, déjà vu feeling… Back in the [Gate] where Meng Xiao was located, there was a similar aura of disaster!

"Buzz, buzz, buzz!"

A strong sense of crisis descended.

Before Gu Shen could even speak, Mu Wanqiu had already charged forward with her blade. This woman was a true battle maniac; once she stepped into the main hall, she never considered retreating.

A huge, snow-white ghostly figure emerged behind her!

One slash!

Mu Wanqiu aimed at the hanging skeleton in front of her, slicing horizontally across—

"Shhhhk!"

The blade light was like a rainbow, directly severing the suspended silver threads!

Mu Wanqiu charged forward with her blade. The skeleton behind her fell to the ground, but despite its seemingly fragile bones, it landed steadily without shattering upon impact.

The tall skeleton did not turn to pursue Mu Wanqiu. Instead, it pulled out a section of bone spur from the darkness and stabbed it towards Gu Shen in front of it.

"...%@!"

Cold sweat seeped from Gu Shen's forehead.

This crazy woman! She said to stand behind her when fighting, but when the real fight started, she didn't care about what happened behind her at all!

Gu Shen suddenly turned his head, and a gust of wind exploded beside his ear.

The bone spur grazed his cheek, narrowly missing him.

How long have these guys been dead? And they still have consciousness?

Gu Shen's expression was gloomy. Before the bone spur could change direction, he swiftly extended two fingers and tapped the tall skeleton's forearm—

With a tap!

A crisp, ringing sound erupted, somewhat melodious.

A wisp of blazing fire was attached to Gu Shen's fingertip. The tall skeleton's forearm was directly shattered by the tap, and it flew away, landing far in the distance.

But it didn't seem to feel any pain. Its other hand was already raised, and now it slammed down towards Gu Shen's head!

"Looking for death. I'll grant you your wish."

A flash of blazing fire flickered in Gu Shen's eyes.

He instantly lowered his head, moved closer, and pressed a palm heavily against the tall skeleton's chest!

"Crack..."

This sound was the real sound of bones breaking!

Blazing fire erupted.

This tall skeleton was shattered from the chest, scattering in all directions!

On the other side, Mu Wanqiu charged into the tide of scarlet, her swordsmanship extremely powerful, with broad and sweeping movements. The skeletons were directly knocked to the ground...

"Something's not right."

Gu Shen vaguely felt that something was wrong.

These skeletons didn't seem to be that lethal.

But why did they give him such a strong sense of danger?

Before he could think more, that strange low鳴sound appeared again in Gu Shen's spiritual sea.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz——"

This sound directly stirred the vibrations of his heart lake.

Gu Shen raised his head.

The dark great hall was filled with scarlet pupils, each gaze staring at him expressionlessly. Like beams of light, they locked onto him and Mu Wanqiu...

The skeletons he shattered.

And the broken bones that Mu Wanqiu cut open seemed to be connected by threads.

These "dead" had long since passed away, and no one knew why they were placed here... But it was certain that they still had a wisp of spirit remaining, and this wisp of spirit was the greatest danger!

Scarlet light descended.

Mu Wanqiu's killing speed became "slow." She wielded her blade, dancing amidst the encirclement of skeletons. [Judge] pulled out a large banner from his huge sleeves and waved it desperately... But he couldn't stop the scarlet pupils from shining. In his spiritual sea, it was as if a storm...

Was constantly brewing, brewing again.

Finally, it bloomed.

……

……

"Kill!"

Gu Shen was awakened by a thick roar.

He raised his head, still in shock. Before him was still that tall and deep main hall, but what was different was that the hall was now illuminated by countless streamers of light...

This place was now a battlefield.

"Rumble rumble rumble——"

Guns and cannons roared.

There were also heavy weapons, and countless rounds of high-logic bullets poured out.

At this moment, Gu Shen suddenly understood.

The real danger that the crucifix pendant wanted to warn him about wasn't the skeletons wearing heavy armor!

But their wandering spirits!

When he saw this scene, the scarlet pupils in the hall had successfully dragged him into a dream!

"This is?"

Gu Shen was somewhat dazed.

Figures rushed out from beside him, drawing their swords and summoning extraordinary power. Ice and fire burned together.

He seemed to have become a member of the "skeletons" in their lifetime, with flesh and blood, even about to charge to the end of this hall with them!

He lowered his head and looked at the heavy armor he was wearing, and the fiery mark engraved on the forearm of the armor. His pupils suddenly contracted.

This mark was the mark of the City of Light!

He immediately understood everything… These skeletons were all Holy Adjudicators of the City of Light in their lifetime!

They were now attacking the Nether King's Palace!

After coming into contact with the Nether King's Fireseed, Gu Shen had tried to understand the past of that Nether King. Unfortunately, those histories of twenty years ago could not be found in the Five Continents database… Not because he didn't have enough authority, but because the real "secrets" were never recorded.

But Gu Shen knew.

Twenty years ago, a battle broke out between the City of Light and the Nether King.

It was a "victory" belonging to the City of Light, and then the Nether King fell.

History is written by the victors.

This past would naturally be recorded in the annals of history by the victors.

"These skeletons were all 'Holy Adjudicators' in their lifetime..."

Gu Shen was stunned for a moment.

If he was pulled into the dream of the Holy Adjudicators and was now in the team attacking the Nether King...

Then could he take advantage of this old dream from twenty years ago to catch a glimpse of the Nether King's appearance back then?

The next moment!

A huge wave of divine thought was transmitted from the end of this deep hall.

"Boom——"

The heavy weapons set up by the Holy Adjudicator Legion were destroyed in an instant, and debris exploded in the sky. Along with it, those extraordinary beings charging at the forefront were also torn apart.

In this wave, Gu Shen felt the aura of "Nether Fire."

That was the real, fully realized Nether Fire!

He subconsciously raised his head, wanting to see what the Nether King looked like twenty years ago... But he was disappointed. These Holy Adjudicators were not qualified to see the Nether King's "true face."

After a wave of divine thought, swords and spears were shattered, and heavy artillery vanished into smoke.

In just an instant.

Gu Shen was directly crushed. He felt his soul and body were separated, leaving his body...

Is this the feeling of "death"?

This question briefly appeared in his spiritual sea.

But the blazing fire gave Gu Shen the answer.

This was not death.

But... another kind of "eternal life."

For the "Holy Adjudicators" who came to attack him, the Nether King directly leveled them with a wisp of divine thought, and then adopted a "cruel" method. He knocked out the souls of those Holy Adjudicators who were charging at the front.

And the "Holy Adjudicator" who dragged Gu Shen into the dream was one of them.

Thanks to him.

Gu Shen truly felt what it was like to have his bones stripped and his skin peeled off by the Nether King.

His soul flew out uncontrollably, and the sound of rumbling river water echoed in his ears.

It turned out that twenty years ago, the Nether River was not as silent as it is now.

Along with him, hundreds of souls of Holy Adjudicators fell and flew.

Their bodies were crushed.

Their spirits were preserved.

Falling into the Nether River was a kind of eternal life for the dead who believed in the Nether King.

But for these "Holy Adjudicators," it was a torture ten thousand times more terrifying than death.

In the Black River, it seemed that a throne stood high.

The tall figure entrenched on the throne was magnified countless times in the reflection of the long river's mist, almost as tall as the sky. He lightly waved his sleeves, and the river water swallowed these souls.

Crushing, resurrecting.

Crushing, resurrecting again.

This Nether River was the real battlefield.

The Nether King gave the Holy Adjudicators "eternal life" and then imprisoned these would-be god-slayers in the real hell. For these mortals, there was only one reason to support them in raising their swords to the throne of God.

Belief.

And the way to destroy this belief was extremely simple.

That was to make them face death again and again, and endure reincarnation...

The Nether King looked down at the scene in the long river. His face was covered by a thick fog. Although he did not speak, Gu Shen felt the will that this dark god seat conveyed to those who had fallen into the Nether River.

It was actually very simple to be free.

Just revile the light.

As a member of those who "fell into the Nether River," this Holy Adjudicator also suffered cruel torture.

At this moment, Gu Shen was forced to "empathize."

In his mind, the life of this Holy Adjudicator was constantly flashing.

In this life, there are always people you care about.

The appearance of relatives, loved ones, children, and comrades appeared in the mind of this Holy Adjudicator... Under the shroud of the Nether River, the spirit of the Holy Adjudicator was twisted, and he could only watch the faces in his mind wither, shatter, and wither.

At first, his will was very firm.

But as the Nether River washed his memory again and again, piercing the softest part of his heart again and again.

The pain kept stacking...

He began to waver.

He gradually "believed" that all this was real, and that it was "light" that caused him to endure such sin.

Gu Shen silently watched all this.

The methods of the former Nether King were too terrifying, and these Holy Adjudicators began to collapse one after another.

Although he was only a [旁观者], his spirit was also impacted. If other extraordinary people with weak willpower fell into this dream, at this time, it was very likely that they would not be able to distinguish between dream and reality, and substitute themselves and the Holy Adjudicator into one person.

And the final outcome... naturally, there was only a mental breakdown.

Gu Shen looked at the boiling Nether River, the dense death energy, and those Holy Adjudicators who originally believed in the light, but eventually suffered a mental breakdown.

History recorded the victory of the City of Light.

But it did not record the sacrifice of these Holy Adjudicators...

A trace of painful unwillingness suddenly涌现 in Gu Shen's heart.

Until the last moment of collapse, the Holy Adjudicator he was attached to still believed in the light and was unwilling to succumb to the methods of the Nether King, but in "his" heart, a trace of resentment was uncontrollably produced.

This long Nether River, endless torture.

Until he collapsed, he had not seen the "light god seat" he believed in.

With a "bang"!

The soul of the Holy Adjudicator exploded and was swallowed by the Nether River, without even splashing a wave.

Gu Shen lost his attachment.

He did not leave the dream. After the Holy Adjudicator died, this nightmare should have ended.

But it didn't.

An inexplicable force pulled him.

This dream did not end there.

For the dreamer, the real torture began after the "Holy Adjudicator" died.

He was no longer anyone else, but himself.

Above the throne at the end of the Nether River.

That tall and towering dark figure leaned forward slightly, as if to press the weight of the entire world on Gu Shen.

Gu Shen subconsciously raised his head.

He looked at the stalwart figure at the far end of the long river.

On the Nether King's hazy face shrouded in mist, two familiar scarlet pupils gradually ignited, and finally shot out, falling on him.

In Gu Shen's mind, familiar figures began to emerge one after another.

Grandma... Chu Ling...

Teacher... Senior brothers and sisters...

Crow... Gu Nanfeng... Little Iron Man...

He knew that this was the set of tricks used to torture the "Holy Adjudicators."

Next, this set will be used on himself.

The real killing intent turned out to start from here... After the Holy Adjudicator died, the "Nether King" in the dream would cast his gaze on the dreamer. The scarlet gaze in the hall was the curse left by the Nether King to the dead body of the Holy Adjudicator. These people who believed in the light would serve the Nether King "after death," taking their resentment and killing all intruders who set foot in the Nether King's Palace.

Gu Shen did not dodge, but continued to maintain eye contact with the Nether King.

The mighty black wind at the end of the long river swept through the entire nightmare.

Gu Shen suddenly smiled.

"One of our own."

He stretched out his finger, gently pinched a wisp of faint flame between his eyebrows, and whispered to the Nether King on the throne, "I also hate 'light,' the light of the City of Light."

……

……

(Everyone has been waiting for a long time. This chapter took a long time to write, and I am finally satisfied. There is another big chapter today. I can't guarantee that it will be sent out in the afternoon, but I will write a little longer and try to avoid斷章.)

(End of this chapter)