Chapter 60 The Cage of Nether Ghosts

"Very good."

The Grand Judge was stunned. He hadn't expected Gu Shen's answer to be so straightforward.

This young man's performance since entering the arena had been extremely stable... completely different from what was described in the files. He had thought this was an introverted, shy, and weak little fellow, but in fact, it was the complete opposite. Beneath the delicate face was a meticulous mind, a calm style of doing things, and a lion-like, majestic heart.

"Then... let's continue."

Tang Qingquan slowly extended his palm, pushing the Cage of Nether Ghosts in front of Gu Shen, gesturing for him to proceed.

He wasn't deliberately trying to make things difficult for Gu Shen.

In his more than ten years in the Yinghai District, he had single-handedly handled countless thorny cases, and had seen countless out-of-control individuals in the Extraordinary Court. Among them were heinous criminals who claimed to be innocent, and perfect victims who disguised themselves flawlessly... Over the years, sometimes when he looked at himself in the mirror, he felt like a stranger.

It was as if he no longer possessed human emotions such as "mercy" and "sympathy." In the courtroom, everyone else could be emotional, but he, as the Grand Judge, had to maintain the final calmness and rationality.

From the moment he received Gu Shen's file.

He vaguely sensed that something was wrong... This was a doubt that he couldn't figure out no matter how hard he tried. It was intuition, the feedback his instincts were giving him, that this young man was definitely not as simple as the file said.

This assessment was not just about Gu Shen's potential.

That was why he insisted on having Gu Shen complete the third test of the sealed item.

He wanted to use his Cage of Nether Ghosts to see what the dark side of this young man's heart was really like.

The characteristic of the Cage of Nether Ghosts was very simple.

Dreamers would see their darkest emotions inside this lantern. The greater the evil thoughts, the more ghosts there would be inside the lantern, and the stronger the power would be... The moment the dreamer awakened, they would be drowned by the nether ghosts in the cage, and all they could do was use their willpower to fight against their own "evil thoughts."

That is... to slay the ghosts!

Although this characteristic sounded simple, it was actually extremely intense.

The ghosts transformed from evil thoughts inside this lantern were not something normal people could contend with.

Those who could kill their own evil thoughts in the "Cage of Nether Ghosts" were all people with great perseverance, truly extraordinary people.

…

…

Beneath the oiled paper skin of the lantern, a faint fire was burning, as if a living person was dwelling inside, slowly breathing.

From the initial feeling, the sense of oppression this lantern gave him was much stronger than the other two sealed items!

He reached out and grasped the slender pole connected to the top of the lantern.

With a "chi" sound.

The moment he touched the lantern, the flame in the core seemed to burst out of the oiled paper skin, almost filling Gu Shen's vision.

This time, entering the dream was scarier than the previous two times.

And Gu Shen's awakening was also faster than the previous two times.

The flames that burst out of the cage seemed like an illusion, or a magic show. After the fireworks dissipated, Gu Shen stood in an endless darkness, with what felt like the ebb and flow of tides washing under his feet.

He held the lantern, which was the only light in this world.

And the flame in the lantern was extinguishing little by little... The tides under his feet surged back and forth, with a tendency to rise.

After unraveling the Azure Dice and the Sands of Time, Gu Shen's spirit was already quite exhausted.

Looking at the dark world, a very strong sense of crisis welled up in his heart…

He subconsciously shouted, "Chu Ling—"

This time, before Gu Shen could speak, Chu Ling appeared one step ahead.

Countless black codes spread out like wings. Because the world was very dark, this code seemed to have been born in this dream, and there was no trace of disorder or disharmony.

Chu Ling hovered in the air, and as she heard the sound of her name being called, she gently placed her hands on the young man's shoulders: "I'm here."

The lantern flame flickered violently.

Gu Shen's expression was solemn. He lowered his head, looked at his chest, and murmured, "I feel... like something is being pulled out of my chest. Is it an illusion?"

"..."

Chu Ling didn't answer directly. She said softly, "You've unraveled two dreams. Do you still have any energy left?"

Gu Shen shook his head. He didn't force himself. "It's probably difficult for me alone... I have a hunch that this dream is more dangerous than the previous two."

"The Cage of Nether Ghosts... a former S-rank sealed item, is now severely damaged."

Chu Ling's voice was unusually solemn. "But even so, it's still more dangerous than the previous two dreams... the Azure Dice and the Sands of Time combined!"

S-rank sealed item?

Gu Shen's expression tightened... According to the danger level classification, the Tall Woman he encountered on the light rail was only A-rank.

A sealed item could actually reach an S-rank danger rating?

While the two were talking.

The lantern light had almost completely extinguished.

The tide under his feet was getting higher and higher. Gu Shen felt as if he was being swallowed by the endless darkness, and his lower legs were icy cold. The tide had already submerged him to this point and was still rising... At the same time, the feeling of being pulled away from his chest was getting stronger and stronger, as if a hand was clutching his heart, and with the scouring of the tide, it was exerting force little by little, trying to pull his soul out of his body!

"When the lantern fire goes out, the evil ghosts pour out."

The girl's voice echoed in the darkness: "The greater a person's evil thoughts, the stronger the ghost in the cage..."

Gu Shen took a deep breath, adjusted his state, and used this to deal with the pulling force on his soul in the dark.

Asking himself, he didn't steal or rob, and could only be considered a petty swindler at best.

The evil ghosts in the cage shouldn't be particularly powerful, right?

"Gu Shen, haven't you always been curious about what your extraordinary ability is?" Chu Ling said slowly, "Soon, you will see it."

Next.

The last sound in the dead world was:

"Chi..."

The wick weakly extinguished.

The whole world fell into darkness, and at the same moment, the extremely dark world slowly lit up in another way.

Before Gu Shen's eyes, a huge...

Vertical pupil slowly opened.

This vertical pupil was like a scarlet sun, burning with boundless blood-colored fire. The moment it opened, a strong impact vibrated and directly turned the lantern in Gu Shen's hand into ashes in an instant.

Strong light shone.

Gu Shen completely saw what the evil ghost in front of him looked like…

One vertical pupil after another lit up in the distance.

The boundless tide was actually flowing out of a giant, fully drawn mouth. Gu Shen was standing in front of the giant mouth, and the whole world seemed to be swallowed by the evil ghost... And at this moment, countless infant-sized soul bodies were rushing out of the giant mouth like locusts.

The dream trembled violently, tottering, and looked like it might collapse at any moment.

Gu Shen's face was pale.

These are his... evil thoughts?

This is simply human purgatory.

…

…

The review team fell into absolute silence.

Including the Grand Judge.

Everyone was staring at the dream-entering teenager holding the lantern with a ghostly look.

In the real world, the flame in the core of the "Cage of Nether Ghosts" was burning extremely vigorously, even making a whimper like boiling water. Flames splattered in batches, projecting onto the oiled paper skin... reflecting one vertical pupil after another.

The vertical pupils were as scarlet as blood.

Each one was shocking.

And they just kept appearing, appearing, and then appearing again, finally stacking up... densely packed, densely packed.

Countless evil ghosts smeared a thick layer on the outside of the lantern.

The Cage of Nether Ghosts could reflect the truth about the evil ghosts in the dream on the outside.

And this phenomenon... was the first time.

How great was this evil?

Boundless! Almost swallowing the entire dream world!